ou from this spot! I have a
sinking feeling, that this is going to be a long letter, and I wonder
how I will ever find time to finish it.

The day after my last long letter I left Chaumont with another girl to
go to an entraining point just out of Gondrecourt, where we were to
serve chocolate to the departing troops. We started in an automobile
with all our baggage, a "Y" man being our chauffeur. As usual, orders
were vague and mixed, and we landed in several wrong towns, before we
found out where we were wanted. This however entailed so much driving
over exceptionally lovely country, that we really didn't mind. At
length, in the late afternoon we reached our destination, Barisey la
Cote, a railhead, and I believe the most desolate spot in France.
Picture a freight yard in all its heat and hideousness, and a
collection of wooden barracks, no trees, and you will see the place.
Big Bay is pretty in comparison. The water was bad, and had to be
chlorinated and hauled from afar, the weather was blazing hot, the
dust lay inches deep on the roads, ready to rise in a stifling cloud
at the passage of any vehicle. Here we found some five hundred men
(about a hundred colored), and many hundreds of mules and horses. Part
of the 7th Division was there temporarily on its way home. The rest
were the railhead force.

The first thing for us to do was to search for a billet. As always,
the officers could not be outdone in their courtesy to us women in the
A.E.F. and every effort was made to make us comfortable. A little
asbestos shack of two rooms was turned over to us, and an orderly
assigned to us. I wish you could have seen "Mac, the housekeeper" as
we came to call him, the most lovable little Irishman who took the
best of care of us. For beds we had two wooden frames with chicken
wire stretched over them, and plenty of blankets. As we expected to
stay ten days it was worth while making our little home attractive, so
with a few scarfs that I had, and flowers, photographs and books, we
made a charming living-room which men and officers appreciated to the
full. My companion, Miss B., is a jolly girl and we have become great
pals. She plays ragtime "to beat the band," which is a good
accomplishment over here. Both of us being short and dark, we have
been taken for sisters everywhere.

The entraining work at the railhead left us a great deal of spare
time, and we decided to open a little "Y". An open shed with a roof
was procured and