s of a Scots Division. At one point we saw in No Man's Land a
lonely tent, which I was told had been occupied by a British chaplain
before we had been driven back. I paid a most enjoyable visit to (p. 251)
the engineers in Arras and stayed at Battalion Headquarters. They were
in a large and comfortable house in the Place St. Croix. In the dining
room we had a grate fire, a rug on the floor, and several easy chairs.
A most sumptuous dinner was served, and one could scarcely believe
that we were in a war.

The men of the battalion were billeted in the deep cellars under a row
of houses at the end of the Grande Place. Some of these houses dated
back to the time of the Spanish occupation, so the cellars must have
been very ancient. They were vaulted in stone and were connected
together by passages, so they were not only quite safe from shells but
were exceedingly interesting and picturesque. We had several services
for the men and one for a field ambulance which made its home in the
Deaf and Dumb Asylum. In a large room in the Asylum there was a good
piano, so it enabled us to use the place at one time as a church and
at another as a ballroom. There was a strange charm about dear old
Arras which is quite indescribable. In spite of the ruined buildings
and the damaged grass-grown streets, there was the haunting beauty of
a quiet medievalism about the city. The narrow streets, the pleasant
gardens hidden behind the houses, spoke of an age that had passed.
Arras has been the centre of interest in many wars, and Julius Caesar
made his headquarters there in B.C. 65. The river Scarpe has carried
to the sea many memories of hostile hosts that have fought along its
banks. To walk back from the dressing station in the small hours of
the morning, when the moon was shining on the silent and half-ruined
streets and squares, was a weird experience. Surely, if ghosts ever
haunt the scenes of their earthly life, I must have had many unseen
companions with me on such occasions. There were still two or three
shops in the place where souvenirs and other small articles were sold
to the men, and there were hoards of champagne and other wines in some
of the cellars, but only a few of the inhabitants remained and they
lived hidden lives in the underground retreats.

Our Division, however, was soon moved from Etrun to Chateau d'Acq,
where I arrived at four one morning after a visit to the trenches. I
found my billet in an Armstrong hut. The pe