When I left, she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me smack on the cheek—just as a short, stocky, bald-headed and walrus-mustached man appeared in the doorway and glared daggers at us. I knew at once that this was Pierre, but something told me to keep going—and I went, before Lisa could introduce us. I imagined he would raise Cain before Lisa had a chance to explain to him that I was really a girl. I hoped I wouldn’t have to prove my sex to him in order to avoid his jealous scowl! —5— I stopped in to see Lisa again, the day following, and her husband was there. She welcomed me with a smile but, if looks could kill, I’d be a dead rabbit right now from the effects of old Pierre’s glances. He was madder than the devil himself. I asked Lisa why she didn’t tell him the truth and save herself any trouble. She just laughed at me. “It is too funny, chère,” she explained. “He thinks you are a man—and he is so jealous—ou la la!” “But why not tell him I am a girl?” I insisted. “Because,” she said, “Pierre, he gets too much of the cognac and talks off his head. He speaks everything he knows when he gets beaucoup zigzag. Non, chère, I will not tell him. And he is so funny, anyway. It will do him good.” Well, I wished she had told him. He threw a dirty wet rag at Esky and wouldn’t let him come in at all. He was liable to throw something worse than that at me. —6— Another day at Le Mans and I thanked heaven it would be the last. I suppose we had the Germans to thank, because they started their “big push” about three weeks before and threatened the whole Allied system of defenses by breaking through the British in Flanders. General Backett heard reports that didn’t sound very good: apparently the Fritzies were putting everything they’d got into this offensive, because they figured that it was now or never. If they couldn’t win now, before the United States poured in another million men, they might as well run up the white flag. However, everyone on this side seemed to be optimistic over the eventual preponderance of man power and the early end of the war. How all this affected us, I didn’t know, except that American troops were seeing action and the need for replacements was increasing, with the result that our division was designated as a replacement division and was soon to join the First Army Corps, the headquarters of which were at Neufchâteau. But the General wasn’t going with them. He wanted to in the worst way, but had to give way before younger and more physically robust officers. He was rather upset about it, I guess, but he was too old a soldier to kick. He said, “There’s too much to be done, for any one man to complain about the disposition of his ability.”