Oct. 2nd 1917
My Dear Folks
Just a few lines this evening to let you know that I am in the very best of health. At present I am in a part of France that is quite new to me. I am not with my unit at present for seasons that I cannot tell - now. (Had trench fever- and was at [?]) It is a great treat for us to be here and we are enjoying it greatly. It is all farming lands here about and the country looks lovely. We hardly know that there is a war on, at all. The people here are very friendly and we are getting plenty of opportunity to "farlez". They seem to enjoy our efforts as much as we do ourselves, but we can get along quite nicely.
We were "issued" with good billets in barns on clean, new wheat straw but were given the privilege of sleeping in private billets. Two others sergeants and myself selected a house where one of them had quartered before and we are very comfortable. The temptation of sleeping in a real bed once more was to great, so here we are. The bed would remind you of the sort that Aunt Adeline has. Thick mattress- feathers I think- very fine, after the style we have been accustomed to, during the last few months.
The woman who lives here is very kind- very fine. If course she recognized the sergeant as soon as he entered and gave him the greeting she would her son. A kiss on each cheek and on the forehead. Today, her son arrived home on leave and it is a happy household these days.
In the village we can buy "extras" in the shape of eggs, potatoes, bread and butter and cafè -au-lait, French bread is very dark but wholesome.The butter is o.k. - with salt. They put very little in it. I walked out into the country this evening and as far as the eye could see, old men, women and children were working in the fields - I say fields, but it is really all one field no fences, mar the landscape. The people everywhere wished us "Bon jour messieurs"! and we enjoyed it all immensely.
One man left his ploughing for a few minutes to chat with his neighbor and my chum told me to try my hand at the game. I said I would try, but the horse didn't understand our French. He would look around stare at us or switch his tail in disgust. At last I jerked on the single rope rein and with a "Yeogh"! we were off.
That was fine but I didn't know how I was going to turn about. At the end of the furrow, however the horse came around on his own and I was o.k. But I didn't know how to stop the brute and I think we would have been going yet had not the owner come back smiling and taken over. He said the ploughing was "tres bon" and we went on our way smiling. -We smile again as we remember how the horse looked at us.
