"BACK FROM HELL" [Illustration: SAMUEL CRANSTON BENSON Who went to the war, a pacifist, but returned a fighting American.] "Back From Hell" BY SAMUEL CRANSTON BENSON _Illustrated_ [Illustration: Logo] CHICAGO A. C. MCCLURG & CO. 1918 Copyright A. C. McClurg & Co. 1918 Published September, 1918 _Copyrighted in Great Britain_ W. F. HALL PRINTING COMPANY, CHICAGO Dedicated to My Wife CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I A Former Pacifist 1 II Red Tape in Traveling 9 III How I Got into the Service 15 IV A Unit in Its Infancy 20 V The Northwest Front--Mud! 25 VI A Weird Night 30 VII The Red Cross 36 VIII When France Was First "Gassed" 42 IX When Jacques "Went West" 47 X "Trench Nightmare" 51 XI Calm Before a Storm 56 XII If an Ambulance Could Speak 60 XIII A Ticklish Attack 64 XIV The Death of a Comrade 67 XV On an Old Battle Ground 74 XVI The Verdun Attack--Life and Death 79 XVII Barrage, or Curtain Fire 93 XVIII The Ragpicker 106 XIX Camouflage 112 XX The Heroism of the Wounded 116 XXI The Treacherous "German Souvenir" 123 XXII The Nigger's Nose 128 XXIII Getting By the Consuls 132 XXIV A Close Shave 145 XXV Meeting Brand Whitlock 148 XXVI My Maps of Belgium 151 XXVII The "Cat and Mouse" Game 156 XXVIII Shadowed at Liége 159 XXIX Results of "Frightfulness" 163 XXX My Mental Processes 168 XXXI A Night in Louvain 174 XXXII Ruin and Death 178 XXXIII In the Palace of the King 187 XXXIV The Kaiser's Envy 190 XXXV Caught by the Huns and Tried as a Spy 196 XXXVI Threatened with Crucifixion 204 XXXVII My Escape and Return to Good Old France 210 XXXVIII No Man's Land 215 XXXIX Jean and "Frenchie" 223 XL The Psychology of France 228 XLI The Contagious Spirit of Sacrifice 233 XLII The Heritage of Hate 238 XLIII "Back From Hell" 243 ILLUSTRATIONS