d. Directly the Hun withdrew last spring,
she came back to the wilderness which had been created and commenced
to spend what remained of her fortune upon helping her peasants. These
peasants had been the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the Hun
for three and a half years. When his armies retreated, they took with
them the girls and the young men, leaving behind only the weaklings,
the children and the aged. Word came to the Red Cross official of
the district that her remaining son had been killed in action; he was
asked to break the news to her. He went out to her ruined village
and found her sitting among a group of women in the shell of a house,
teaching them to make garments for their families. She was pleased to
see him; she was in need of more materials. She had been intending
to make the journey to see him herself. She was full of her work and
enthusiastic over the valiance of her people. He led her aside and
told her. She fell silent. Her face quivered--that was all. Then she
completed her list of requirements and went back to her women. In
living to comfort other people's grief, she had no time to nurse her
own.

These "oeuvres," or groups of workers, settle down in a shattered
village or township. The military authorities place the township in
their charge. They at once commence to get roofs on to such houses
as still have walls. They supply farm-implements, poultry, rabbits,
carts, seeds, plants, etc. They import materials from Paris and
form sewing classes for the women and girls. They encourage the
trades-people to re-start their shops and lend them the necessary
initial capital. What is perhaps most valuable, they lure the
terror-stricken population out of their caves and dug-outs, and set
them an example of hope and courage. Some of the best pioneer work
of this sort has been done by the English Society of Friends who now,
together with the Friends of the United States, have become a part
of the Bureau of the Department of Civil Affairs of the American Red
Cross.

The American Red Cross works through the "oeuvres" which it found
already operating in the devastated area; it places its financial
backing at their disposal, its means of motor transport and its
personnel; it grafts on other "oeuvres," operating in newly taken over
villages, in which Americans, French and English work side by side
for the common welfare; at strategic points behind the lines it
has established a chain of relief warehous