A SOLDIER’S MOTHER IN FRANCE _By_ RHETA CHILDE DORR Author of _Inside the Russian Revolution_ [Illustration] INDIANAPOLIS THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT 1918 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOK MANUFACTURERS BROOKLYN, N. Y. _To the other mothers; I dedicate this book._ _Rheta Childe Dorr._ _September, 1918_ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. WHERE THE LONG TRAIL LED 1 II. I ADOPT THE AMERICAN ARMY 8 III. SEEING AMERICA OVER THERE 16 IV. PIONEERS, OH, PIONEERS 25 V. WE FINISH WHAT CÆSAR BEGAN 33 VI. GOING TO SCHOOL IN THE ARMY 41 VII. OUR BOYS DISCOVER THE PAST 49 VIII. THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY 57 IX. OUR FOREIGN LEGION 66 X. THE GENERAL HIMSELF 74 XI. GENERAL ALLAIRE’S FINEST 82 XII. INTO THE TRENCHES 89 XIII. WRITE TO HIM OFTEN--BUT 100 XIV. WHEN THEY WIN WOUND STRIPES 108 XV. FIGHTING WOUND SHOCK 116 XVI. HOW THE WAR AGAINST TRENCH FEVER WAS WON 125 XVII. THE GREATEST MOTHER IN THE WORLD 132 XVIII. FRANCE APPROVES THE EGREC EM SAY AH 140 XIX. BEAUTY AS USUAL 148 XX. BLED WHITE 156 XXI. THE REPATRIATES 164 XXII. FRENCHMEN, NEVER FORGET 172 XXIII. THE NEW WOMAN IN FRANCE 180 XXIV. POUR LA PATRIE 188 XXV. BY WAY OF DIVERSION 196 XXVI. WHEN THE BOYS COME HOME 203 XXVII. WHAT KIND OF WAR WORK 211 XXVIII. THE DARK OCEAN LANES 219 XXIX. CLEMENCEAU THE TIGER 227 XXX. FROM ALL FOES, FOREIGN OR DOMESTIC 237 XXXI. LAFAYETTE, WE’RE HERE 246 A Soldier’s Mother in France CHAPTER I WHERE THE LONG TRAIL LED On the lapel of my coat I wear a little pin, a pin with a single star, ruby red on a bar of white. My only son is a member of the American Expeditionary Force in France. More than a million American women wear pins like mine. Some have two stars, three, even four, and every one covers a heart heavy with anxiety and foreboding. That little service pin which mothers wear, fathers, too; sisters, sweethearts, wives, is a symbol of sacrifice. It should be something more than that.