Jerry is up the line somewhere and he says the rations are rather worse than Aunt Martha 's ditto used to be . But here they 're not bad -- only monotonous . Tell Susan I 'd give a year 's pay for a good batch of her monkey-faces ; but do n't let that inspire her to send any for they would n't keep . `` We have been under fire since the last week in February . One boy -- he was a Nova Scotian -- was killed right beside me yesterday . A shell burst near us and when the mess cleared away he was lying dead -- not mangled at all -- he just looked a little startled . It was the first time I 'd been close to anything like that and it was a nasty sensation , but one soon gets used to horrors here . We 're in an absolutely different world . The only things that are the same are the stars -- and they are never in their right places , somehow . `` Tell mother not to worry -- I 'm all right -- fit as a fiddle -- and glad I came . There 's something across from us here that has got to be wiped out of the world , that 's all -- an emanation of evil that would otherwise poison life for ever . It 's got to be done , dad , however long it takes , and whatever it costs , and you tell the Glen people this for me . They do n't realize yet what it is has broken loose -- I did n't when I first joined up . I thought it was fun . Well , it is n't ! But I 'm in the right place all right -- make no mistake about that . When I saw what had been done here to homes and gardens and people -- well , dad , I seemed to see a gang of Huns marching through Rainbow Valley and the Glen , and the garden at Ingleside . There were gardens over here -- beautiful gardens with the beauty of centuries -- and what are they now ? Mangled , desecrated things ! We are fighting to make those dear old places where we had played as children , safe for other boys and girls -- fighting for the preservation and safety of all sweet , wholesome things .
`` Whenever any XXXXX you go to the station be sure to give Dog Monday a double pat for me .
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