rifying
aspect. After having escaped death on the battle-field, it would be
horrible to have to meet it in the tumbling ruins of a crushed building.
But we faced the situation stoically. London and its suburbs had over
7,000,000 people, and, by the theory of chances, we concluded that we
were not likely to be hit.

This was the first Hun aeroplane success over London, the only one in
which he accomplished anything of value from a military point of view,
one bomb knocking a corner off the General Post Office, St. Martin's in
the Field, and almost disrupting the whole of the telegraph system that
was carrying messages to and from military headquarters. There was, of
course, the usual slaughter of defenceless women and children, deeds
that the Hun hoped would terrorize England, lower the _moral_ of her
people, and keep a large army within the island for home defence. How
little he knew the British race! The deplorable thing in connection with
the raid was that while it was in progress there was not a single
machine in the air combatting the attackers, and not an anti-aircraft
gun in action. The War Office needed to be roused from its slumbers. It
was; and when the next raiders came over they had a warm reception.

My next experience was in the open. One day I was walking through
London's streets when the approach of a raiding force was announced.
Shelters were by this time provided for the citizens, and to one of
these underground bomb-proof spots, a tube, I made my way. At this time,
London was largely a city of women and foreigners--at least so it seemed
to me. I had evidently hit upon a shelter of a most cosmopolitan
character. The place was packed with a frightened mob, trembling and
groaning with terror, and expressing their fears in many tongues utterly
unknown to me. The air was stifling with that distinctive odour that
seems to emanate from the great unwashed; in this case garlic seemed to
be the prevailing perfume. It was a mixed crowd, however, and women in
silks rubbed shoulders with women in tattered gowns, all moved by the
one thought--self-preservation. Most of them, I judged by their cries
and gasps, were almost insane with terror. But there were heroines
among them. Two women near me were holding an animated conversation.

"Say," said one, "ain't it time that this war wuz over? Why don't they
stop? I haven't been in bed to stay for over six nights, and I'm getting
tired of it all."

The answer told the