The Project Gutenberg EBook of "Same old Bill, eh Mable!", by Edward Streeter

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Title: "Same old Bill, eh Mable!"

Author: Edward Streeter

Release Date: May 3, 2005 [EBook #15758]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: (cover page)]

[Illustration: "MARCHED TILL MY PACK GAINED A HUNDRED AN FIFTY POUNDS"]

"Same old Bill, eh Mable!"

BY

EDWARD STREETER

27TH (N.Y.) DIVISION

Author of "Dere Mable," "Thats me all over, Mable"

_WITH 27 ILLUSTRATIONS IN BLACK-AND-WHITE BY_

G. WILLIAM BRECK
("_Bill Breck_")
27th (N.Y.) DIVISION

[Illustration]

NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

_Copyright, 1919, by_
Frederick A. Stokes Company

PREFACE

The rightful place for a preface is at the end of a book or, better
still, the scrap basket. My only reason for setting it here is lest
someone read and, misunderstanding, take offense.

Not for one moment has there been any thought of making light of that
splendid, almost foolhardy, bravery which has characterized the
American soldier. It was he himself who made light of it, as he did of
the whole war, and probably would of doomsday.

Nor is there anything unkind or deprecating in his attitude toward the
Frenchman. He met a race so distinct from his in ideals and customs
that there was no basis for understanding. Failing to understand, he
followed his usual rule in such instances and laughed.

One of those veterans of a dozen battles, chancing to glance over
these pages, may say that the dangers and horrors of those last five
months have been underrated. They, however, belong to a comparatively
small and enviable minority. Those who turned the tide in July, 1918,
and who knocked the line at St. Mihiel into its proper place in
September, also bore the brunt on the Meuse and the dreary
mud-spattered monotony of the Army of Occupation. The great mass of
the American army saw but a few brief weeks of fighting during October
and November. Thousands of other B