I am glad I went. My part, though humble, in this great struggle for human freedom, has done worlds for me, and I shall always rejoice that I had that profound experience. Physically, I overdid things, yet I wanted to do more. Everybody does. I often took foolish chances as I now see, but I am not sorry for it. I got little sleep and insufficient food, but I was happy in my work. Not infrequently as I worked I had realized the danger, but I didn't seem to care. Forgetting my own best interests, I guess I often did more than I should have done. But these things cannot last forever. The body wearies, the brain tires, the nerves fatigue, there comes about a physical condition when the members of the body simply refuse to obey orders. Such a condition I suppose had come upon me. For some time I had felt it coming, but I still did not let up, though I was working like a man in a dream. At last, however, my nerves completely gave way. I saw that I must give up the work entirely and with great regret was forced to do so. I was given my release and a military ticket, but I was loath to leave the country which had opened my eyes to the deeper values of life. The people that I had met and the atmosphere in which I had labored had brought a new meaning to the words "Life" and "Liberty," and I felt I was better fitted for my duty toward humanity. I had gained a something over there which I never got before in all the years of my academic education and a strange emotion tugged at my heart at the thought of leaving France. I vowed that if possibility presented itself I would return again to help the poilus. CHAPTER XLI THE CONTAGIOUS SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE Out there on the Western front a marvelous spirit seems to have possession of the people. I doubt if the world ever saw such a close and intimate communion of millions upon millions of men banded together for one mighty purpose, namely, the preservation of Liberty on the earth. Men endure suffering and women undergo hardships such as they never dreamed to be possible. In every age Liberty has had its champions and morality its martyrs, but there never was a time when such hosts of crusaders from every corner of the world with one accord marched forth to sacrifice for a common cause. Men seem to vie with one another as to who can do the most. Hardship is accepted with a jest. Women with sleepless eyes watch over sufferers on beds of pain, never thinking of self but rather losing themselves in the great purpose for which it is all endured. They seem to have a vision which is almost superhuman. Most of us can see only today and its security and happiness; but these messengers are looking to the welfare of their children's children to the third and fourth generation. To them the general good of Humanity looms up and eclipses all considerations of personal comfort or convenience. And so they keep on toiling and enduring through the months.