_A Young American in the Foreign Legion_
_Told by Bif Bear, a Young Egyptian in the Foreign Legion_
The artists of Europe--the painters, poets, singers--the æsthetes
of France and Italy, of Britain and Russian, and of Germany, the
Hungarian musicians--all answered the "call of war" and threw
their souls into the "rendezvous with death." Thousands of them
died on the battlefields. Among them is the young English poet,
Rupert Brooke, and the American poet, Allan Seeger, who "loved
France and gave his life to her." This young American enlisted
early in the war in the Foreign Legion. He was fighting in the
battles in Champagne in July, 1916, when he fell. A young Egyptian,
who was with the poet in the trenches, tells of his end. After
the battle, he wrote this letter to Mrs. Caroline L. Weeks, of
Boston, who has acted in the rôle of "marraine" (godmother) to many
American volunteers. The following is a translation from the French
forwarded from Paris.