of the concert
party. It was exceedingly pretty and very clever, and evoked thunders
of applause. The Colonel was called upon for a speech, and, although
his words were few, the rousing cheers he got from his men told him
what they thought of their commanding officer, who soon afterwards was
to be awarded the Victoria Cross. As one sat there in the midst of the
men and thought of what they had gone through, and how the flames in
the fiery furnace of war had left their cheery souls unscathed, one's
heart was filled with an admiration for them which will never die.

On looking over my diary during those delightful days while we were
waiting to make the great attack, I see records of many journeys to
our various battalions and artillery brigades. Wanquetin, Wailly,
Dainville, Bernaville, Hautes Avesnes--what memories these names (p. 299)
recall! I would rattle over the dusty roads in my side-car and pull up
at Battalion Headquarters and get an invitation to dinner. On such
occasions I used to visit the cooks first and ask them if they had
enough food on hand for me in case the officers invited me to dine
with them, and in case they didn't, if they (the cooks) would feed me
later on in the kitchen. When the invitation had been given, I used to
go back to the cooks and say, "It's all right, boys, you won't be
bothered with my society, the officers have asked me to dinner." In
the evening, before I rode off, I used to go round to the men's
billets, or to the Y.M.C.A. tent, if there was one, and have a talk
with the men on the war outlook or any other topic that was perplexing
them at the time. Often I was followed to my car by some man who had
deeper matters to discuss, or perhaps some worry about things at home,
and who wanted to unburden himself to a chaplain. On the way back,
when darkness had fallen and my feeble headlight warned us against
speeding, I would meet or overtake men and have a talk, or tell them
to mount up on the box at the back of the car and I would give them a
ride. The rows of tall trees along the road would stand out black
against the starlit sky, and in the evening air the sweet smells of
nature would fill us with delight. We felt too, that nearer and nearer
the hour of the great victory was approaching. Who amongst us would be
spared to see it? How would it be brought about? What great and fierce
battle would lay the Germans low? The supreme idea in the mind was
consecration to a sublime sacrifice,