April 4 [1918]
Dear Family
I have just been reading a wonderful bunch
of mail from home. I have been out of touch with
the post for ten days on account of so much moving
around so I was delighted to get it & feel so
guilty
that I am immediately writing back although it
is 10:30 P.M.
As you have probably guessed I have been quite
active lately. What interests me considerably is to find
out what a lot you can do without becoming exhausted.
I drove the Ford all one night, got breakfast, drove
another 50 kilometres, got a snatch of lunch,
organized
with Agnes a canteen for a train load of refugees,
& fed
them all their supper, got back too late for any supper
of my own, got no sleep because of a bit of noise
outside, got up at 5 A.M., lighted the kitchen stove &
cooked up some coffee & eggs. That day we
started
another canteen & fed soldiers & refugees all day long. Eliot
Wadsworth blew in, asked what we needed &
promptly
promised to send a field kitchen; he is a man of
action because the kitchen arrived the next day
& simplified many troubles. That night we slept in
at 6 A.M. -- a pretty good sleep on the whole. The next
days were spent in canteening, chauffeuring because I
now seem to be the only one for the Ford, caring
for refugees or blessés. We had some terrible cases
arrive one day when we were not within reach
of the hospital, & I felt very proud because the
only dressings to be had were those which I had
been carrying around with me in the Ford --
preparedness is a great thing. I always do things
now whenever I get the chance because you
never know what will turn up the next
moment. Our standards of cleanliness have
descended very low & I am much more used
to sleeping in full dress than in déshabile. I doubt
if I Ever take a bath again, it seems so much
Easier not. I have practised sleeping on the floor
with & without a mattress but I much prefer a
bed & now that it is all over I look back with
horror at some of the nights that we spent.
I will write the next available moment.