e trenches helping to make the world a
pleasant place to live in. He's a good shot, too."

The lady read the letter hurriedly to herself; then regaled me with bits
of it.

"The life here is very," she read. "That's all he says, at first--'The
life here is very.' I should judge it might be that from what I read in
the papers. Or mebbe he couldn't just think of the word. Let's see!
What else? Oh, yes--about digging. He says he didn't take to digging at
first, not having gone there for any common purpose, but one day he was
told to dig, and while he was thinking up something to say a million guns
began to go off; so he dug without saying a word. Hard and fast he says
he dug. He says: 'If a badger would of been there he would of been in my
way.' I'll bet! Squat wouldn't like to be shot at in all seriousness.
What next? Here he says I wouldn't dream what a big outfit this here U.S.
outfit is; he says it's the biggest outfit he ever worked for--not even
excepting Miller & Lux. What next? Oh, yes; here he tells about getting
one.

"'Last night I captured a big fat enemy; you know--a Heinie. It was as
dark as a cave, but I heard one snooping close. I says to my pardner I
keep hearing one snoop close; and he says forget it, because my hive is
swarming or something; and I says no; I will go out there and molest that
German. So I sneaked over the bank and through our barbed-wire fence that
everyone puts up here, and out a little ways to where I had heard one
snoop; and, sure enough--what do you think? He seen me first and knocked
my gun out of my hands with the butt of his. It got me mad, because it is
a new gun and I am taking fine care of it; so I clanched him'--that's
what Squat says, clanched. 'And, first, he run his finger into my right
eye, clear up to the knuckle it felt like; so I didn't say a word, but
hauled off quick and landed a hard right on the side of his jaw and
dropped him just like that. It was one peach I handed him and he slumped
down like a sack of mush. I am here to tell you it was just one punch,
though a dandy; but he had tried to start a fight, so it was his own
fault. So I took all his weapons away and when he come alive I kicked him
a few times and made him go into the U.S. trenches. He didn't turn out to
be much--only a piano tuner from Milwaukee; and I wish it had of been a
general I caught snooping. I certainly did molest him a-plenty, all
right. Just one punch and I brought him down out of control.