[Page] excepting during an occasional flash of lightning which for an instant gave us a view ahead. We aimed to keep in the middle of the road. I walked up against a large dark object and almost fell over it. This proved to be a dead horse. Finally we groped our way toward a ray of light emanating from the door of a house. Here we found some of the officers of our reigment and soon procured a detail of men to go back and bring up the rations. We made our way back to the carts and turned over _{to the carrying detail} the "chow" which had been hot when we started out in the evening but cold now. It was midnight now and we started back to the kitchen at Montblainville with the mess carts. On the way I stopped at Col. Edward Martin's headquarters in the dugout behind Appremont to report the events of the evening and^the delivery of the rations feeling as though I had done a hard job successfully getting the food through. Col. Martin thought that was fine and immediately ordered me to get another hot meal ready and get it up to them before daybreak. I explained to him that practically all the food we had on hand was used up until the next day's issue came up. He then told me to get something ready if it was only hot coffee and take it to them. He promised to have a detail[Page]of men from his headquarters ready for me at five o'clock to carry it to the lines. I had received a tough assignment. When I got back to the kitchen all the cooks, of course, had long sought their dugouts for the night's sleep. It was now about three o'clock and I had to search in the dark for the dugouts to locate a cook to make the coffee. Finally I located one and after much trouble got him awake and on the job. It was about 5 o'clock when the coffee was ready and we loaded it on a cart together with what little bread I could find and started forward with one driver. We came to Col. Martin's Hqs. and asked the guard for our ^carrying detail which the Colonel had promised to have ready for me. None was to be found and Colonel was asleep and when the guard asked him about it he had forgotten all about it. He sent the guard to gather up some men. I waited for half an hour and ^the guard came back saying that he couldn't find any men excepting sick and wounded. Dawn was approaching and I knew I could wait no longer. So I started with no one but my driver hoping to pick up some men on the way. We drove through Appremont and on to the quarry. It was broad daylight[Page]by now {and road} before us was in full view of the enemy. I found several men of our regiment here and put them to work helping to carry from here. They took a large can each and I took a smaller one and the bread, and on we went two kilometers to Chatel Chehery. There was little shelling now and we passed the crater where we were punished the night before without interruption and delivered our meager breakfast to our outfit. Little as it was it was welcome for they had hard and dangerous work that morning driving the Germans from the surrounding hills. Their work here forced the Germans to evacuate the Argonne Forest. On the way back to the kitchen I saw elements of the 82nd Division on their way up. This was a sign that we were to be relieved. This was Oct. 9th. We had been continuously engaged in battle for two weeks and very little of the infantry was left. When I came back to the Supply Co., my first thought was to get some rest which I had neglected altogether for two days and nights. I ate something and crawled into my rain soaked bed in the shell hole and slept until the next morning.