PAGE I. THE PIRATE OF THE DEEP 1 II. WAR CAPITALS OF THE ALLIES 12 III. DOWN IN FLAMES 23 IV. PERSHING 33 V. SEICHEPREY 43 VI. A DUGOUT DIARY 49 VII. "HE'S A HUN, BUT WE'RE AMERICANS" 65 VIII. "GAS! GAS! GAS!" 89 IX. "THEY SHALL NOT PASS" 103 X. THE GREATEST MOTHER IN THE WORLD 120 XI. THE FIRST CROIX DE GUERRE 133 XII. THE HYMN OF HATE 143 XIII. A MAID OF BRITTANY 151 XIV. THE FIGHTING PARSON 155 XV. THREE NEW GRAVES 166 XVI. A TALE OF TWO CHRISTIANS IN FRANCE 169 XVII. LLOYD GEORGE 174 XVIII. WORTHY OF A GREAT PAST 183 XIX. RUM RATION RUINOUS 189 XX. PHYSICALLY COMPETENT AND MORALLY FIT 199 XXI. VIVE LA FRANCE! 212 ILLUSTRATIONS "I Swear to Avenge Your Father!" _frontispiece_ The German Crew and Submarine which Surrendered to the U. S. S. "Fanning" _facing page_ 8 An American Airman Returning to his Post after a Day's Work in the Skies 30 Y. M. C. A. Serving Soup and Hot Coffee to Wounded Men 62 A Gas Attack 100 American Infantry Resting, Approaching the Front in France 140 The First American Troops to Reach Europe Marching through London Amid the Cheers of Thousands of Our British Allies 158 Dr. Poling with Newton Wylie, of the Toronto "Globe" 190 HUTS IN HELL CHAPTER I _THE PIRATE OF THE DEEP_ The great liner had reached the danger zone. She drove ahead through the night with ports closed and not a signal showing. Under the stars, both fore and aft, marines watched in silence by the guns. Each man wore or had by him a life-preserver, and there was silence on the deck. Quietly I stood by the rail, and watched the waves break into spray against the mighty vessel's bow. The phosphorescent glow bathed the sea in wondrous light all about; only the stars and the weird illumination of the waves battled with the darkness; there was no moon. It was hard to realize that out there somewhere silent watchers waited to do us hurt, hard to grasp the stern significance of those men in uniform who crowded the staterooms, officers of the new army of democracy bound for the bleeding fields of France. It was hard to comprehend these facts of blood and iron.