but we only had to keep our masks on for an hour or so each time.

                While these events were happening with the firing battery, the drivers were having a very busy time. On the night of July 7 the echelon had moved up from Citry to Montreuil where the regulars had their echelon,—a trip replete with halts and long delays. It seemed as if the whole army had chosen that one road, so great was the traffic jam all night. Then, to add to the troubles, the lumbering American caisson,—or "Chinese caisson" as it was commonly called,—went half over a bank near the new echelon, and so the rest of the time before daybreak had to be spent in pulling it on to the road again.

                At Montreuil the real work for the drivers began. Each night the caissons would have to make trips to the Battery position with ammunition. The ammunition dump was five miles to the rear of the echelon, and only one battery could load shells at one time. Consequently, it would often be several hours before our turn arrived. Now a night trip to this "Pas Fini" Sector, as it was called, was far from pleasant. The roads were always crowded with traffic, and they were usually subject to constant harassing fire from the Boche. Moreover, the favorite place for 150's was a very steep hill leading up from Montreuil, where no speed could possibly be shown, and it was the only road that could be taken to get to the Battery. No one who has never been on a horse under shell fire can realize how absolutely helpless one feels. There you are, six feet from the ground, with no chance of flattening out when a shell lands near.

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