I9I43 With the Greek Army 



they borrowed the dowry of a newly married woman, 

 six heavy rag carpets or mats. A proverb current in 

 the Orient asserts that '' Dieu a cree trois c hoses a cutting 

 nuisibles; le serpent, la punaise, et le Turc'' (God ^"^'"'^ 

 created three noxious things: the snake, the bedbug, 

 and the Turk). One of the men being detailed to 

 stand guard, he wished to come into the room and 

 walk back and forth all night in front of our bunks; 

 we persuaded him, however, to patrol the passageway. 



These young fellows were largely coal miners from 

 West Virginia. Nicolas Monstrousis (from New 

 Hampshire) was very enthusiastic about " Constantine 

 XIV," and the capture of Constantinople which was 

 to restore the glitter of the ancient Byzantine Empire. 

 Yet the others showed scant interest in military glory, 

 and Sergeant Mille Volos from West Virginia said to 

 me confidentially: "I don't see what all this is about; Legitimate 

 I don't know why Christians should want to cut each '^""^^^ 

 other's throats." Volos was extremely interested to 

 find out where in the world they were; they only 

 knew they had marched up from Salonica to guard a 

 bridge in the woods over some petty river. So I gave 

 him my map of the Balkans, than which nothing 

 could have been more appreciated. 



As pay each soldier drew a much depreciated Lot of the 

 drachme (franc) every month. Conditions in camp '°^^''' 

 were all very primitive. The men slept in a barn-like 

 structure, a screened-ofi^ raised platform at one end 

 being occupied by an officer with a writing desk. 

 Breakfast and supper consisted of coarse, sandy 

 bread, cheese, and coffee. For the noonday meal — 

 which we shared with the company — we had half- 

 cooked beans boiled in a huge caldron, the thin broth 

 serving as soup. 



I 595 3 



