marin, or the cherry trees on the
sides of the mountain being the chief points of interest. The canes were
a great help in climbing the hills.

For the first time since our arrival in France we were paid, and in
French money, and that evening "vin rouge" reigned supreme in the little
village. It didn't take us long to become accustomed to francs and
centimes, instead of dimes and quarters.

Within two days after reaching Ranspach we sent out small detachments of
litter bearers to Nennette, Duchet and Wagram, as the 35th Division was
already moving up to relieve the French. The last named detachment
returned two days later, because no American infantry was to hold that
portion of the line. Still later the detachment at Nennette moved to
Larchey.

After studying the maps and roads of the sector, the company commander
decided to divide it into two subsectors, the one on the right centering
at Larchey, and the one on the left at Mittlach. Accordingly, on June
29th, two detachments from the company left Ranspach together. One
detachment of ten men, Lt. Bates, was to take to Larchey; the other of
seven men, Lt. Monteith, was to take to Mittlach. As the company had no
ambulances, all the men hiked, carrying their packs. One of the Sanitary
Service Units commonly known as the "S. S. U." had been attached to our
company for ambulance service, so one of its Ford ambulances started out
by another route to haul the officers' luggage and some medical supplies
to the two stations. There was a box of surgical dressings and a box of
food for each station. And herein lies one of the mysteries of the war.
The ambulance stopped at Larchey first, as it was the nearer of the two
points, but while the box of surgical dressings reached Mittlach, the
box of food never did. Was it left at Larchey or lost in transit? Before
the two detachments reached Larchey they separated, the detachment
headed for Mittlach keeping the main road. When it arrived at Mittlach
late that evening the Ford ambulance had already gone, and it left no
food box there. Sgt. Pringle accused Sgt. Knight of the theft, and
therein lies an argument to this day.

In each of the two sectors the same plan was followed so far as the
handling of casualties was concerned. Detachments of litter bearers went
out to the different dressing stations established by the sanitary
detachments of the infantry. These dressing stations, or infirmaries, as
they are sometimes called, were lo