o make the
mouth of an old soldier water. On this occasion I became possessed of
the crown and anchor board and the dice in the usual way. But, as the
men said they wanted to have some amusement, I went to an officer's
billet and got a pack of cards for them, and they settled down to a
game of poker.

Some pious souls proposed that I should have a service that evening in
the field where the sports were to be held. I thought that it would be
a good idea, but was not sure how large a congregation I should have.
I got together a little body-guard in the village and we went off
collecting stragglers by the way. When we came to the corner of the
field where I proposed to hold my service, we found to my dismay that
it was full of masses of men crowding around what I knew were crown
and anchor boards on the ground. I did not mind doing police work in
my own Division, where I was known by the men, but I did not feel
called upon to act as A.P.M. for the Corps, so I had to start another
line of campaign. I marched on at the head of my congregation straight
into the midst of the gamblers. The men on the outskirts saw me coming
and I could see them warning the players. Those sitting on the ground
stood up and wondered what was going to happen. Looking very serious,
I went right through the crowd, without saying anything, to a distance
on the other side, and then the curiosity of the men was aroused and
they all followed. When I stood still I found myself surrounded by
hundreds of men who were waiting to see what I was going to do. (p. 266)
Without a smile, I pulled out the crown and anchor board from my pocket
and, to the astonishment of all, laid it on the ground and called out,
in the gamblers' language, "Who is for the old sergeant-major?" Never
before have I seen such an expression of surprise on people's faces.
Among the crowd were some Imperial soldiers and they could not make
out what sort of padre I was. For a moment, in spite of the grinning
countenances of the 1st Division men, there was a pause of silent
horror. Then they all burst into a roar of laughter, and I told them I
had come out there that evening, as it was Sunday, to hold a service
and did not know what text to take for a sermon. Now they had given me
one. I held up the crown and anchor board and said I was going to
preach about that, and I delivered a discourse on honesty. When it was
over, they asked me to give my lecture on our leave trip to Rome. I
thou