“Put some over from there and got orders to move up in the afternoon. The column had just got formed and was waitin’ on the order to pull when a drove of Boche birds headed straight toward us. We knew they were Boches long before they got close enough to fire. “‘Look at ’em comin’,’ shouted one guy, and the whole crew popped their eyes out. “I felt in my bones that we were in for a good lickin’ of some kind, but I had my horse to watch out for, so I was tied up, as it were. Lots of the other guys were in the same fix as me, and when the officer yelled, ‘Take cover!’ we didn’t know what in hell to do. “‘Tie your mounts to a wheel and beat it,’ says my platoon commander. “Didn’t ask for any further orders. Tied Jim so hard he couldn’t have answered mess-call. Beat it to the edge of the woods and dove under a ration-wagon. The Boches was in range by then and they started a machine-gun barrage. Worst thing I ever was in. They had us by the halter-shanks, and maybe they didn’t twist and squeeze! We didn’t have nothin’ to get back at them birds with. Blooey! The bombs started to fall and bust. “An M. P. got crowned on the bean. He had been walking post on the pontoon bridge. Tumbled right in the river and floated away. Then a bomb lands right in the middle of a caisson team. Horses’ legs and wheels was flyin’ in all directions. I couldn’t find my tin hat and sure was glad that there was two fellows layin’ on top of me as the machine-gun bullets was zippin’ all ’round us. Everybody was sayin’, ‘Where in hell is the American birds? Why don’t they show?’ After the Boches had a big chance to _finee_ us and the bridge, and missed out, a flock of Americans and Frenchmen showed up and the Dutchmen beat it _toot sweet_. That was one of the Hairbreath Harry things that we had happen that day. Believe me, there wasn’t much time lost in gettin’ that column movin’ after that. When they counted up the casualties it was found that there was ’bout twelve guys killed, nine wounded, and we lost at least eighteen _chevaux_. There you are, O. D. “Moved toward Beuvardis that afternoon. That took us northwest from the Marne and farther in toward Swasson (Soissons), our old hunting-grounds. There was some tough fightin’ in there, believe me. The Boches began to put up a mean defense; their artillery was in position and the roads sure caught hell for a while. I can’t remember all the woods and hills we had to take and hold, but there was _beaucoup_ and it took _beaucoup_ men killed to make them objectives.