The Red Cross reports through headquarters were accurate--invariably, and, at first sight, generally unemotional. Here is one of them that is quite typical: "Private Edward Jones--20th Regiment, Company H--has been wounded in both legs. Wounds painful, but amputation not necessary. In excellent spirits--sends love to family." Short, to be sure. But to a newsless family three thousand--perhaps six thousand--miles away, with its necessary detail, tremendously satisfying. * * * * * Return with me if you will for a final visit to Vichy. No group of Red Cross workers anywhere held a more sacred responsibility than the women who were stationed there. Day in and day out they passed through the white lanes of wards in the military hospitals and each day looked--and looked deeply--into the hearts of the American boys that lined them. Heart and soul these women of the steel-gray uniforms were at the service of our wounded soldier men--at their very beck and call, if you please. And when of a morning a bed here or a bed there was empty, the searchers understood, and prepared to write a letter--a scant matter of sympathetic record at the best--that somewhere back in America would at least relieve the tension of waiting. Some of the messages that these searchers sent were--as you already know--full of gladness; thank God for them! Others warned gently--the boy was coming home with his face forever scarred or his limbs or his eyes gone. Still others told--and told again and again--of the brave and the battling soul that finally had slipped away into the eternal mystery of the Valley. Each of these last held between its tiny pages a single flower--plucked at the last moment from the funeral wreath. Let me quote from one of these letters of a Red Cross searcher. "I am constantly on duty here," she says, "and visit your brother Harry almost daily. He has been unfortunate enough to have been wounded in the right leg, which the doctors found necessary to amputate just below the knee. I know this will be a great shock to you, but let me hasten to add that Harry is in the best of condition otherwise. The wound is healing marvelously clean and quickly. He is in the healthiest and happiest frame of mind and exceptionally cheerful. Harry wants me to tell you that the last dressing of the wound was yesterday. He expects to be up and trying his crutches within ten days. He received your September money order of ten dollars for which he thanks you very much. I have just cashed it for him.... I am sorry to be the bearer of this sad news, but am happy that I can assure you of his early recovery and his splendid courage."