t, the old man or old lady would
invariably be seated on the top of the load, sometimes holding the
baby.

In the centre of the road we groped our way along with infinite care.
A shadow would sometimes bear down on the car, and suddenly swerve to
one side as a horseman trotted by. A motor lorry would approach within
a few feet of us before the driver would see, and stop before we
crashed into each other. On the left were troops standing by all along
the roadside, and we felt very proud as we realized that they were
Canadians, and that they were the only troops at hand to plug the gap
made by the German poison gases.

At one time the road became jammed, and we had visions of staying all
night in the midst of a road block. Gradually, with the aid of mounted
gendarmes and our military police, the mass, composed of cows, wagons,
horses, dogcarts, refugee men, women and children, with hand wagons
and baby carriages; motor lorries, horse transport, lumber wagons,
motor cycles, touring cars, and mounted horsemen, was dissolved, and
slowly began again to flow in both directions. Looking backward we
could see the red glow of fires burning in different parts of Ypres
and the bright flashes of shells as they burst over that much
German-hated city. All around the salient star shells flared into the
sky and remained suspended for a few minutes as they threw a white
glare over the surrounding country, silhouetting the trees against the
sky like ghosts before they died away and fell to earth.

At last we reached Vlamertinge and turned into the yard occupied by
No. 3 Field Ambulance. Our car was known, and several officers came
forward to see if we had any authentic news. Our patient, whom they
recognized as belonging at one time to themselves, was carried into
shelter, and we also entered the building. Lying on the floors were
scores of soldiers with faces blue or ghastly green in colour choking,
vomiting and gasping for air, in their struggles with death, while a
faint odour of chlorine hung about the place.

These were some of our own Canadians who had been gassed, and I felt,
as I stood and watched them, that the nation who had planned in cold
blood, the use of such a foul method of warfare, should not be allowed
to exist as a nation but should be taken and choked until it, too,
cried for mercy.

We could not help smiling as we shook hands with Captain Boyd, who had
been shot in the calf of the leg and was now getting the wou