France 9/6/17.

Dear Ones All,

I have several good, letters from you all to acknowledge- three from Father, the last of which arrived to-day, dated May 17th, one from Fred, one from Cousin Belle and a particularly dear one from Mother to Molly which she in turn forwarded to me. They all seemed so good and so homelike and I devoured them all greedily and have read them over and over again. I realize just as you do, and perhaps even better that I have been kept safe through all the dangers that I have met. It has been due neither to skill nor luck that I have not been killed on any one of scores of occasions but to that Power that oversees and over-rules all things. My experiences have taught me many things, the chief one being, I think, how absolutely dependent on our Creator a man is in a time of supreme danger.

I am going out on a two and a half hour job just as soon as I finish this note. It will be my last I hope before going on leave, as I expect to do to-morrow. It will be a great relief to get away from the booming of engines, the whistling of wires, the crashing of shells and the rattle of machine guns, for a whole fortnight. It is the noises that I want to get away from now for they sure do get on your nerves after a while.

I am sorry to say that Molly has sprained her ankle but she hopes that it will be quite well again by the time I get back. She is having two weeks' holiday too and may be we won’t have some time. She has been working awfully hard and I know she needs a rest and a holiday.

Must close now and get on my way. Heaps of love to you all.
Always devotedly,
Eric.