The Greater Love

near Bouillonville, planning to say two Masses at distant point

nto the dugout and roused me, hoarsely whi

ht was intensely dark; but there, in the valley be

signs and vague hints of a big atta

ion of the 64th Infantry. The Colonel, a trimly built little man, and every inch a fighter, was eating a bar of ch

oan o

ew his troops were ready; he was about to lead them to the heights of grim R

d need assistance; moreover the 55th Infantry would be in that attack, and they, at that time, had no Catholic Chaplain. Many neede

ld hill, every approach to which fairly bristled with machine gun nests, success depended primarily on the elemen

g posts deep into our neighborhood, and, if a chance sta

og, that hung over the valley, but our going i

by General Wahl, commanding the 13th Brigade, and used as his Headquarters. At this point the column was halted; and Colonel Lewis, Major Black, I, and two privates walked forward about five

e and at no place over five feet deep. It is spanned b

which commanded the village of Rembercourt and the entire valley, had been firmly held and desperately defended by the ene

the bridge, as the fog was even then thinning out, and, if the column were discovered, in silhouette, artillery would speedily

tle Colonel, his blue French gas mask at "alert," his "forty-five" and precious bars of chocolate held safely above the water. I was directly behind him.

form of reasoning expressed by a Buddie near by. "I am going to get pneumonia out of this

o the enemy. Gently leading him to one side he left him for the First Aid detail. His poor mind had given out under the terrible strain; shell shock, it was called. No comment was made by the men marching past;

desultory shelling of his hill base as a matter of ordinary precaution. Like the flare of June bugs along the roadside in summer, high explosive shells would burst every few minutes, here, there, and in

ering fog suddenly lifted. It was now eight o'clock. We had not yet been

e; as it offered opportunity of passing down the line, t

ar overseas, had moved the Good Master to give her soldier boy

Above all others were his every ministrati

profane and irreligious word might often have been heard; but face to face with Death, Judgment, Heaven or Hell, the skeptic was silenced. Boy

each one individually was physically impossible. For just this emergency,

in such emergency could not actually confess, he made an act of Perfect Contrition, being sorry for his sins because by them he had offended the

esent and he gave Sacramental Absolution to all, usi

ny man sick amongst you," says St. James in the 24th Chapter of his Epistle (Douay or King James version) "let him call in the priests of the Church, and they shall anoint him with oil in the Name of the Lord." It was in the fulf

s but rehearsal. The leaving home, the oath of military service, the weary grind of march, and weapon drill, the rigid discipline, all these were but evolving phases, m

e faces of those heroic boys: approach wit

h free hand, are molding from the yellow, slimy clay, quaint little images, suggested, possibly, by thought of the little tin soldiers of boyhood days. Some, lying prone, are dreamily observing the blue sky showing he

w with the vision of their soul. The picture we all

of Arc Made Her

the winding road, a cottage, trellised with moss roses and forget-me-nots. Framed in the doorway, a sweet-faced mother, silver threads a

ayed that God would bless and spare her boy. In the window hangs a service flag. Tomo

ile with heart b

er bids loved

grieves, when th

sh that no to

mother! For ma

els the weigh

look brave and for

of tears tha

it knows that w

e to his cou

e good fight and di

r a boast

whose breast as

d o'er his chi

y have flown, and t

er he's alw

earn for the so

mpet of war

sees his proud fl

his beloved,

whose face lik

r him to ch

r joy as she w

returned fr

kneel at the g

of a soldie

such loss, who sha

, when his s

ho'll wait at Dea

and parting

ore with her

ned in the Ki

and see that the money reaches my folks." "I will be glad to, Captain," I replied. Then, as one good turn deserved another, I wrote out and handed him a little note, which, if he, and not I, came through alive, was to be forwarded to my Chicago home. The Captain was a graduate of West Point, an

whisper remarked, "Old men for counsel, but young men for action!" What Captain Hall, blazing with sudden wrath, thereupon said to hi

ew he fought with his steel blue "45" a duel to the death with a German officer who rashly attacked him. For a moment I held my breath, as they deliberately exchanged shot for

efore the fog began to thicke

hile tasted neither food nor drink, we did not mind it. One ignores bodily needs under heavy mental st

the line "Get ready." At that moment I was near the western end of the column near a

old and shoulder free as possible. The pain of mustard gas is not so intense if one's body is cool and dry. Officers as well as men were lightly c

ven a final General A

ts now, boys, and give them hell!" Instantly leaping forward, the men hurled themselves up the hill. H

f lead. The enemy hurled into our faces every manner of destruction; bullets and

paused a moment beside Riorden to absolve him, Walsh of Syracuse, New York, running some thirty feet in advance, waved his arm for me to hurry.

panting, fiercely visaged boys in American khaki and German gray, feinting, parrying, and madly lunging with glittering bayonets-the crash and shrill metallic stroke of steel on steel, and Oh! the grunt and scream of agony when the blade sank to its hilt in a blood-spurting human breast! Each boy, in that moment of deadly shock, was fighting for his own life-it was destroy

. From the military point of view, indeed, it was called a splendid, clean-cut piece of work. Rembercourt and its approaches i

hurch at

s forms lying there amid the wreckage of the hillside. A few minutes ago they knew the thrill of vigorous young m

care; the dead had to wait; and the chill shadows of night had crept to the

re front. Tons upon tons of steel were passing on wings of thunder not three hundred feet ab

at the foot of the hill. Without removing so much as a single garment, still wet from wading

was infinitely more so. It was the first time I had heard a full powered "Drum Head" barrage-where so many batteries and guns are engaged that the sound

ked with dust, perspiration, and powder smoke, made hideous appearance. Never have I seen such wan, frightful expression in human eye. As grim automatons they

the day before at our west end of the line. Most warmly he congratulated

ding out orders to line and battery commanders to

but the hearts of both of