The Greater Love

hteenth! We were among our contemporary ancestors, far on the road to yester century. Not a building under at least one hundred years of age-not a street but trodden

he various billets allotted to them, along lines of least resistance. By nightfall Buddie owned the town! Meriting it by sheer force o

ault, present head of the family, welcomed me most cordially. He felt it indeed an honor to have as his guest Monsieur le Chaplain, Americaine Soldat! In th

his life; and whether it was I, or the American bon bons I lavished on him, or the overseas chapeau I let him strut about in now a

hurch welcomed me cordially. Daily I

-le-Bas; and I, with all other Divisional Units, with Headquarters at Ancey-le-Franc. Three priests among 32,000 men, 48 per cent of whom were Catholic. The other Chaplains were distributed: Chaplain Cohee, Christian, with the 34th Infantry. (Mr. Cohee w

an, setting forth the purpose and advantages of the Mission, was posted throughout the District. The villagers likewise attended and the church was always filled. At this time, casting all fear aside, I boldly plunged into my

and through the cobbled streets would come the people-old men and women, white with the snows of many winters; middle-aged women invariably clothed in the black of widowhood-France had then been bleeding and dying three years-fair-cheeked, dark-eyed modest maidens-type of Evangeline of Grand-Pre-handsome little boys and

o the Gregorian Chant of Celebrant and Congregation. Handsome little boys-all garcons are handsome-in acolytical splendor of purple and cardinal, with the daintiest of "calottes," come singing their way into your heart in a way to delight our own Father Finn of the Paulist choristers. The village cure-Monsignor of the Diocese o

e most handsome young ladies of the congregation-our American Tag Days were perhaps suggested by it. Marching before the Mademoiselles and striking sharply on the pavement with his staff, solemnly comes the aged Master of

at Headquarters, my "towney" Captain Brown of Grand Haven, Michigan, helping me, and studied all Orders and Bulletins bearing on the subject, "how to identify, register and bury the dead." The responsibility was indeed weighty and the work vast-to organize, equip and drill burial details; to bury our own dead, all enemy dead and horses; to assemble personal effects and identification tags found on the persons of the deceased; to bathe, clothe and prepare bodi

and to this point it became necessary to send such of the seriously ill as could be safely transported. Many, however, were too weak to undertake such a journey; and, as no suitable buildings were available, the situation became truly distressing. There was not a single Army corps nurse or welfare worker of any sort within miles of us, and the critical nature of it all can be more readily imagined than described. Our

their former school, into a hospital. With its four spacious classrooms and pretty garden in the rear, it easily lent itself to the purpose. Under the able direction of Doctor Thiery, who was at that time mayor of the village, and whose soldier son ha

d's first Good Samaritan. Though not able to utter a single English word, their kindness spoke eloquently for them in those numerous little ways a gentle woman has of assuaging pain and soothing even "the dull cold ear of Death." The Mother Superior, by simply removing two or three pieces of furniture, converted her office into the hospital morgue;

urroundings of that wayside hospital, took

ades following their flight of soul. That ward was a braver field! For there they died bereft

fins. These he made of plain pine boards, staining them to a dull brown, and furnishing with each a cross an

aside for us ground for another cemetery just outside the village. We enclosed this with a white picket fence and felt confident

eternal cam

nt tents a

uards with

uac of t

mer Talbot of Kansas City, Kansas, one of the bravest and most beloved of

Roadside was Sa

san from the shop, all dressed as for Sunday. The cure, the mayor, the councilmen, the town major, all would be present. On foot, bearing flowers, they would follow the military cortège to the cemetery. There, following the Benedictus, the mayor would give an imp

ey and their beautiful daughter Annette, a girl of sixteen years. In rain and sh

(they lived just inside the village in a quaint old manor house I had often admired), we would consider it an honor indeed to entertain

kilometers away. I sent word to him, directing him to report at my billet the following evening accompanied by the ten handsomest doughboys, besides himself, in his platoon. At the appointed

Other engagements!" "Say, Father, you are not kidding us, are you?" etc., etc! By way of information permit me to here observe that these boys had been sleeping in fields then for two weeks. They had not seen the inside of an honest-to-goodness home, nor sat at a dining-tabl

ng forth with a gusto that raised the roof, even of the ancient and sturdy house of Barn

n's Shannon flowing

ere it passes

nnie Clyde where it

with its rom

lue the Danube or

streams enshr

ississippi, that

one in all th

OR

the song,

ing this

may roam, we'll s

old Mississ

rish Nora, or swee

ngland's Geral

aids of Belgium or M

grace and beau

t listen, and leav

h pride to dea

s fair to see, sweet

ud o'ershadow

OR

his song, m

ing this

may roam, we'll s

s fair back ho

cramble for a last facial and tonsorial inspection; for each fellow boldly made his

reet in column of t

peace and all

Knight like the

last evening party; that on the morrow they were to leave for the front line trenches; that many weary days, weeks and months of stern,

prudently "soft pedaled" their singing, so as not to over-alarm our kind host. Responsive to our sounding the huge brass, lion-headed knocker

to grace the occasion. There is a language, however, that is not of the tongue, but of the heart. It is expressed in the flash of a love-lit eye; it is felt in the pressure of a

air as the roses in her garden, her eyes modestly aglow with star light, her raven hair in a single braid of ample length, neatly adorned with a red ribbon and bewitchingly tossed over her shoulder. Never was a young lady better guarded at

used to such boisterous treatment. Bravely it struggled on "The Long, Long Trail A-winding." It galloped "

spread. How good it seemed to sit at a regular table, with tablecloth, napkins and silverware! How delicious too the sweetbreads, the s

d Our Mess at

bon jour to darling Annette. To each she represented womanhood-beautiful, modest, lovable. Each saw visualized in her, as it were, his own mother, sister, sweetheart, back home. Would he ever see his own loved ones again? G

hop Brent, Episcopal Bishop of Eastern New York Diocese, who had journeyed over from Chaumont to visit us. A thorough gentleman a

orders making me Senior Chaplain of the Seventh Division and brevet of Captaincy. For this hon

respect. Genuinely sad the villagers were to see us fall in, that rainy afternoon, under marching orders.

d ends the zealous merchants back home in the States had thoughtfully recommended, but which stern Army regulations decried for front line use. Trunks were left behind; and all we needed we carried in our ever-faithful

g the road to Neuite-sur-Yonne; and far on our way the old church bells called sadly after us in their beni

ts we leave behi

ere kindled by the various companies. Gathered in their cheering circles of warmth and glow, the boys beguiled the hours preceding Taps, with jest and song. They sang of love and war and God; and through all their melody, as a gold

leeping s

s bring gi

pure as

y angels

home acr

enes love

ft them

rned and m

mother a

as in day

im to com

losing o

aiden, boyh

oad beyond

rees made w

lace for b

told her

true as s

swered wit

ul as P

*

soldier bo

t memory

ills with hop

ay with ye

morrow's d

make real

d said, "I am leaving you, Chaplain. Good-bye and the best of luck." He was on his way to another sector;

a number of the boys. Among these I recall Machine Gunner Brady of the 34th

ious Northeast. How good it seemed to be once more on the move! The utmost caution was now to be

now where w

re on o

eel rails seemed t

g and Time

ts though sto

muffled drum

rches to t

escort men of the air, flying high and wide covering our movements. We were now on the division of road operated

y moved, feeling their way; and at midnight came to a final stop at the near approaches to No Man's Land. Quickly we detrained and took cover in a near-by forest; the empty cars trail

utumn. How hard to realize that death lurked in the quietude of its borders; that Man had chosen this boso

the march; and a new dawn found us in the shelter

and ominous sound. From an infinite distance the morning breeze from the north carried with it a deadened thumping sound, now regular as the muffled r

overspread his countenance and a note crept into his voice I had not noticed there before. It was not one of

when I became a man I put away the thing

trenches, but men

forded Shelter