THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



of the boy, and we came back after an all days trip, feeling very 

 tired, dirty and dusty. When we reached home things began to 

 happen, for though we did not know it, the big drive had started 

 again in this region, and we found a most urgent telegram from 

 Captain Boyer (Red Cross Zone commander), telling us to come 

 immediately to . It had been sent in the morning. We for- 

 got all about being tired in the hurry to get off and left 



again an hour after we had returned, leaving most of our posses- 

 sions, which we hope will be safe, if we ever get back before they 

 start the offensive in that region. 



We left at seven and drove all night, over roads we had never 

 heard of before, without lights. I kept Helen busy leaping out 

 to read the signs. One road we got on we discovered had a series 

 of signs reading: "Route interdite," "Danger de Morte," etc. 

 We must have got on the road to Rheims ; the only thing to do 

 was to keep on till the signs stopped, which they eventually did. 

 We could hear the firing all the time, but fortunately nothing 



came our way. We finally came into sight of about 3 130 in 



the morning just in time for their fourth air raid that night. We 

 went on into the town and were treated to two more before morn- 

 ing. Things were in a dreadful way there ; Helen immediately 

 went on out to the hospital. She has been perfectly splendid. I 

 can't describe that hospital with its thousands of wounded coming 

 in all the time, and only four French surgeons to care for them. 

 We all pitched in and did what we could, but we altogether 

 were only a handful, and there were so many of them. 



When they began shelling the town, they evacuated that hos- 

 pital to , and Helen went on down there with them to work. 



Sarah is there too now ; she turned up one morning when we 

 had almost given up hope of her finding us. 



I was most anxious to go too, but driving seemed to be my 

 job and they kept me at that. Mrs. Forest and I stayed on in 



until we were almost the last civilians in the place. It was 



pretty heavily shelled every day, several times a day, and as long 

 as I live I shall never forget the whistle of those shells as they 

 came over our heads. My job seemd to be to go after the refu- 

 gees in a town before it was shelled. Captain Boyer has been 



most thoughtful, and while we were in , as my car was the 



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