The young lady on horseback below is Mary Barber, TIME Inc.'s string correspondent in Athens. On the morning this photograph was taken a few weeks ago she was returning from a twelve-hour night patrol with a complement of Greek Army cavalrymen in the "bandit-infested" countryside south of the town of Komotine, Thrace. The purpose of her night ride was to observe the workings of the officer observer-advisers of the U.S. Army Group in Greece. Cabled she:

"As our cavalcade of 50 horsemen, armed with six Bren guns, eight Thompsons and rifles, trotted down Komotine's cobbled streets, the inhabitants hung out of their windows to see what was happening. Curfew was in force because the rebels had shelled the town with 65 mm. cannon a few nights before. Out in the countryside the scent of almond blossoms filled the damp air. Overhead the sky was clear and stars shone back from puddles of water and the shallow streams we crossed. Occasionally, glowworms, kicked up by the horses' hooves, lit the path.