money was gone. We never did find out wether they was blown
up or skipped.

Were goin to move out of here now in a day or two. The Captin says
were goin to a more active sector.

Yours till you read it in the papers
_Bill_

_Dere Mable:_

Were in a new posishun. That sounds like those vawdevel fellos that
paint themselves gold an stand on one leg or a hired girl. It aint
nothin like that tho. In the army a posishun is anywhere your guns
happen to be. Just now ours is in a woods an a couple of feet of mud.

The horses is showin wear to. If theyd done half the work I have theyd
be wearin a tin jacket labeled corn Willie long ago. Most of them is
so thin you could hang your hat on there hips an there ribs would make
a good letter file.

Every horse has got a gas mask tied under his chin. They think there
nose bags an pretty near break there necks tryin to get at them. Ive
showed my horse his mask open an everything. He doesnt seem to catch
on tho. Thats the trouble with these French horses. You cant make them
understand.

The Captin sent me back in the woods on a little undertakin job today.
Lem Wattles horse had succeeded in dyin after bein at it for two
weeks. It was the only thing he ever put any effort in. Just to look
at him you wouldnt see what took him so long. That horse just couldnt
do anything quick tho. It seems Im always buryin horses. There so darn
contrary theyll drag themselves for miles just to die at my feet.

We was sittin on the corps restin a while before we started to work
when we heard one of those high powered wash boilers go off back by
the guns. A minit later another landed. We postponed the funeral an
went back to collect the identificashun tags. One shell had lit right
behind my gun an thrown mud all over it. The other had planted itself
in a field just outside the woods.

Now we got to pull out of here tonite an go somewhere else like a
fello tryin to sleep on a park bench.

A lot of the fellos families is givin there letters to the newspapers.
Sometimes they print there picturs with them. Lem Wattles what never
had his name in the paper before except when he used to get arrested,
showed me a piece about two feet long with his face on top. Of course
none of the things he rote about ever happened. He was back at trainin
camp when he rote them. Lem will fight if you call him a liar tho.

[Illustration: "LEM WATTLES WHAT NEVER HAD HIS NAME IN THE PAPER"]

I dont mea