ply trains to catch up with the rapid progress of
the forward troops, met us on every hand. They might have been, as we
recall them now, prophecies of what we, too, were to undergo in this
sector.

We had only a day's respite. On the 24th, a large number of the battery
were allowed leave to visit La Ferte. The civilians had not long
returned to the city, from which they had fled when the enemy had
advanced beyond Chateau Thierry, and shops were only beginning to be
restocked. Fruits and vegetables were plentiful but at high prices. Meat
was altogether lacking, and eggs were few. No restaurants were open at
all, and few cafes. To secure a meal, one had to first buy the food, and
then seek a housewife who would cook and serve it.

Next morning came a sudden order to move, and, three-quarters of an hour
after its receipt, the battery was on the road at 9:30 a. m. The way led
through places whose names were already known to our ears for the
splendid fighting American troops had done there--Coulombes, Bouresches
and Belleau woods. In the golden fields of wheat were big splotches
where shells had torn up the black earth; trampled spaces often held a
mound marked by a rifle stuck bayonet first into the ground--time was
only enough to bury the dead, not yet sufficient to put wooden crosses
over them. Along the roads was equipment and material of all kinds,
abandoned by the Germans in their hurried retreat, or cast aside by the
Americans pushing on in pursuit.

At night the battalion camped in the woods above Epieds. Early next
morning the carriages were pushed under the shelter of the trees to hide
the signs of troops from enemy aeroplanes scouting overhead. So close to
the lines were we now that no movement could be made in the open by day.
At 9 p. m., the guns moved out to go forward into position, leaving the
wagon train here. The battery had not gone far when a heavy rain began
to fall. The road, through the dense woods of the Foret de Fere, was
narrow, muddy, and full of ruts. "Cannoneers to the wheels," was the
constant cry. Splashing through water and mud to their knees, the
dismounted men tugged at wheels sunk far down in the deep ruts and
holes. "Horse down!" came the cry from a Fifth Section caisson. The
animal was on its back over the edge of the road, so that it could not
regain a footing on the road, and if it rolled the other way the horse
would be lost in the ravine below. With prolongs around its body, the
me