Summer's hottest and most sultry days were passed at Niantic with the minimum of discomfort because of the location of the camp almost on the shores of Long Island Sound, where breezes from the water tempered the efforts of the sun down to a point where comfort was possible and the proximity of bathing facilities allowed the men relief after drills.
Evidences of preparation for a prolonged stay and perhaps a lack of knowledge concerning the conditions in store for them created a certain restlessness among the men, whose hearts were all centered on the hope of getting to France.
Endeavors of the ladies of Niantic to promote community spirit and provide the men with the proper kinds of entertainment were ably seconded by Troop members, who were always well represented at social events and took a leading part in contributing excellent talent for all sorts of entertainments. From Scheffler's singing and Culver's type of vaudeville to Parmalee and Hine as boxers, there was an almost endless amount of artistic ability.
In preparation for the journey the men were to take, talks were delivered on hygiene and kindred topics by members of the medical department; and a Red Cross worker who had seen service with the French armies related some of his experiences to crowds which grasped each word with the avidity of a youngster listening to his first tales of achievement. The "Front" was a great mystery and one who had actually seen parts of that ever-changing line of opposing armies was looked up to as an individual upon whom the gods of fortune had smiled.
Another effect of this feeling of impending movements which was growing among the men was an increased desire to take advantage of the proximity to their homes, and many were the exits and entries through the fence while the unsuspecting guard "walking his post in a military manner" was going, according to schedule, in the opposite direction.
Falling as a mixed blessing came the announcement on August 15 that the horses were to be taken from the Troop and the personnel used in the formation of a machine gun company. To the new men in the ranks it was a relief, but to those who were with the outfit when it enjoyed that happy little picnic on the Mexican Border during the summer of 1916 it meant the loss of their most valued friends. They wasted no time in mourning, however, but gathered up all the available information on machine-gun work and set their minds to become proficient in that branch of the service with the cheerful prospect of becoming members in what the British army called the "suicide club."
CHAPTER III
PREPARATION
The last two weeks of August produced revolutionary changes in the old Troop, recruits were eagerly sought to fill out the ranks of the organization from its cavalry strength of one hundred and five men to the machine-gun requirements of one hundred and eighty, requisitions were entered for the new equipment and clothing prescribed for troops going overseas, and doughboy training, both in close order drill and road hikes, took the place of mounted drill. Batteries E and F of the Field Artillery left camp for a concentration point in Massachusetts, and the First Separate Company entrained for Springfield, where they were scheduled to guard the arsenal, leaving the 101st Machine Gun Battalion, of which Troop A had become Company A, with the Field Hospital the only occupants of the camp.