etings are, of course, impossible; sometimes even
the singing of a hymn would be sufficient to attract the attention of
Fritz, but the man who is resourceful and courageous, and who can see an
opportunity for Christian service in meeting the common everyday needs
of men, will find endless opportunities of putting in a word for the
Master--and the sordid dug-out under shell-fire, can easily be
transformed into a temple to His praise, an inquiry-room where
resolutions are made that change the lives of men, and help the soldier
to realise that he is called to be a crusader.

[Illustration: CANADIAN Y.M.C.A. DUG-OUT IN A MINE CRATER ON VIMY RIDGE,
1917]

[Illustration: A CANADIAN Y.M.C.A. DUG-OUT NEAR VIMY RIDGE]

In the Red Triangle dug-outs of the Ypres salient, from three to four
thousand bloaters were supplied to the troops week by week; 1500 kilos
of apples, and more than 100,000 eggs! It was a miracle how these latter
were collected in the villages behind the line. Corps provided a lorry
and two drivers for five months to bring them into Ypres, and also
assisted us with thirty orderlies. It was that timely help that made our
work possible. It would be difficult to overestimate the boon to the
troops of this variety to their diet. Iron rations will keep body and
soul together, but it is the little extra that helps so much in keeping
up the health and spirits of the men. They would follow the egg lorry
for a mile and gladly pay the threepence each that the eggs cost. In
February 1918, the turnover from the Red Triangle centres round Ypres
amounted to 245,000 francs, whilst in March it had risen to 260,000. For
many weeks in this salient we gave away from five to six thousand
gallons of hot drinks each week. All honour to the band of Y.M.C.A.
leaders who kept the Red Triangle flag flying under these difficult
conditions. For six weeks one of our leaders was unable to leave his
cellar home, owing to the incessant shelling and bombing of the
immediate vicinity. These were men who 'counted not their own lives dear
unto them,' but were ready to take any risk and to put up with any
personal inconvenience that they might serve the country they
loved--yes, and they too endured 'as seeing Him Who is invisible.'

The King, who is the patron of the Y.M.C.A., and very keenly interested
in the work, visited our tiny centre at Messines. The dug-out at
Wytschaete was knocked out, and the Red Triangle cellar at Meroc, just
behind L