CALM BEFORE A STORM
Section "Y," to which I had been attached, was about this time
transferred to a point much farther east and south. They were a jolly
bunch of good fellows and always had a sociable time together. As a rule
the best of feeling existed between all of the members but I remember
one occasion on which the tranquillity of the party came perilously near
being upset, temporarily at least. One of the boys was of a rather
argumentative turn of mind and would often deny the statements of the
other boys apparently just for the sake of controversy. I think he
believed that matching wits and defending one's position were wholesome
mental exercises. I will not mention his name as there is no animosity
whatever between us, but I will say that he went later into the
diplomatic service of our country. He had been a kind of soldier of
fortune and without a doubt had knocked about the world a lot and seen a
number of things. In his time he had been to nearly all the countries
of the globe and had been in some colleges and universities.
On this particular evening we were sitting around the tables at our
quarters, each fellow telling of some exploit of his previous life, and
he had related some strange experiences of his travels. It happened that
the night before, when I had made the statement that I once crossed the
Atlantic on the _Lucania_ in six days he had flatly contradicted me,
saying that the _Lucania_ was a much slower boat. It irritated me to
have him contradict me in front of all the boys concerning a thing which
I knew I had done. But I let it pass. This night, however, it was
different. Heaven only knows how we drifted upon the subject but I
happened to make the remark that students at Princeton were compelled to
sign a pledge that they would not belong to any secret fraternity while
they were members of the school. My friend promptly greeted this remark
with the astounding statement, "They do not!" I said, "Well, I went to
school there and I was required to sign the paper, and so I ought to
know." He still persisted in his denial, placing me in a rather
embarrassing position before the other fellows. I got crusty. I said,
"Look here, son, you denied a statement that I made last night about a
fact of my own life, and now you have done it again. You had better tend
to your own business hereafter, and stop trying to make me out a liar,
or there is going to be trouble." He said, "What will you do about it?"
I replied pugnaciously, "I'll flatten your face, that's what I'll do
about it." Of course, he said something about "starting in" whenever I
got ready, and so forth, and the argument died down a bit. A moment
later when I stepped outside, some of the boys asked me if I knew who I
had been talking to. I said, "No, but I'll do what I said I would,
anyway. Who is he?" They said, "That fellow is an ex-prize fighter and
at one time was in the ring with the greatest pugilist in England." "Is
that right?" I said in astonishment, "Well, I don't think I'll slap his
face at all, and he can deny any statement I make with perfect
impunity." We all had a laugh and in his presence thereafter I was very
meek and lamblike. I pulled my horns way in.
After all he was a good fellow and from this moment we got along on the
best of terms. We had a good many days of calm about that time and not
very much to do but wait for the storm and action of war. Sometimes, to
be sure, we would be called out on long trips to the front to bring in
some wounded officer or some dignitary but our ordinary duties were to
carry from the station to the several hospitals the wounded who came in
on frequent trains. The French officials, however, seemed to appreciate
our work even though it was quite humble. French courtesy and gratitude
are such wonderful things that the officers gracefully accepted the work
and praised it anyway, though I have often thought that generosity must
have blinded them to the many deficiencies and shortcomings. I sometimes
wonder if they do not smile inwardly and, when they are alone, laugh
outwardly at the service which we thought quite creditably done.
Americans have a way of thinking that their work is superior even though
it may not be looked upon as such by others. At any rate ours was done
in the best spirit of good will and it was certainly accepted in a
similar spirit.
For a while things were comparatively quiet. Then, however, all of a
sudden attacks were begun, and the boys had all they could do making
trips back and forth carrying the wounded from the front to the
hospitals.