Then a bugler played taps. Every soldier stood facing the stern with hat
off and held across the breast. As the coffin slipped down the chute and
splashed into the sea a firing squad fired a single rattling volley. The
ship came about and, with a shudder of starting engines, continued her
voyage, the destroyer doing likewise.
During the passage the Adjutant conducted six such funerals, two more
being conducted by a Catholic priest. Four more bodies of men who died as
they neared port were landed and buried ashore.
In the hospital the Envoy was undoubtedly the means of saving several
lives by her endless toil and by the encouragement of her cheerful face in
that depressing place. The sick men called her "Mother" and no mother
could have been more tender than she.
"You look so much like mother," said one boy just before he died. "Won't
you please kiss me?"
Another lad, with a great, convulsive effort, drew her hand to his lips
and kissed her just as he passed away.
All of the American officers and two French officers attended the funerals
in full dress uniform and ten sailors of the French navy were also
present.
The night before the ship docked at Bordeaux a letter signed by the
Captain of the ship and the American officers was handed to the Envoy
lady.
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