Published April 1918
FOREWORD
The authors of these letters are two young American girls, one from New York and the other from Boston.
They first met in Paris, each having volunteered her services to the Rev. and Mrs. Ernest W. Shurtleff, to aid in relief work among the refugees, or, as Dr. Shurtleff expressed it, “To help in our effort to get under part of the burden of humanity.”
The letters were written (as is evident) for the family eye only, and consent to their publication has been given by cable with much hesitation.
To me they are revealing of the spirit of feminine young America—a brave and self-sacrificing spirit which shines out through irrepressible youthful humor and vivacity, and is a worthy complement to the unquestioning and unquestioned valor shown by the brothers of such girls to-day.
Clara Louise Burnham.