Forty of
the francs went for champagne and eats; I felt that this might be the
last time I would have the opportunity to enjoy the company of many of
them.
I departed next morning in the mess cart, and just before leaving I had
another send-off;--the entire wagon lines paraded and gave me a parting
cheer. Again the tears!
I arrived at Bethune, boarded a French civilian train and traveled for
five hours, reaching a junction point where, in company with a number of
wounded men who were able to walk, I boarded a box car.
The train was traveling at a funereal pace and the weather turned
sharply cold; neither the wounded nor the well men, with one exception,
had any blankets; the exception had seven blankets that he monopolized,
refusing to share an inch of them with anyone. Such unparalleled
hoggishness and meanness never went unpunished at the front, and I
resolved that he would be no exception to the rule. In order to take the
chill off ourselves, we jumped off the train every chance we got,
gathering up some coal, until we had accumulated enough to make a
fair-sized fire, which we kindled on the floor of the car; it was
necessary to shove the burning coals here and there over the surface to
avoid burning a hole through it.
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