ver,
and then it will be easy to help you about these things. Well, I must
stop to go to church, and there is a good deal also for me to see to
afterwards....

_January 4th, 1915._

No letter from you last night. So far, no further news of my leave
either, but I believe it is due on January 6th all right. Slight
rheumatism, that is only to be expected. It has been raining hard, and
we are off to the trenches to-night, and I should think they will be
worth seeing. It is said that the ground our trenches now occupy will
soon be turned into a lake, and we shall have to go boating there. I
warned the General the other day in fun that he would require boats
ere long to bring up our rations, and it is really coming true! Such a
cold, bleak day as it is! I am going over to the Cashier to try to get
some money to bring me home; this is the only way one has of obtaining
funds in this part of the world. Sad thing about that man-of-war being
sunk. What beasts the Germans are with their mines, to be sure! Up to
now the lambskin coat has not yet appeared, but I received a note
saying that it was sent off on December 30th, so it ought to turn up
some time or other, and then one can see. I suppose, if I get through
this war, it would always come in as a lining for a motoring coat.
Well, I must close this epistle and dash off, as I have to see to many
other things before luncheon. We march to the trenches this afternoon.

G.B.L.

I shall telegraph from Folkestone, if I can; probably I shall come by
the 8.30 p.m. train on the 6th, but I am only guessing. It may be
January 7th.

[_Note._--An interval occurs from the date of this letter, when
Colonel Laurie obtained ten days' leave and returned to England.]

IN TRENCHES AGAIN.
_January 13th, 1915._

MY DEAR F----

After leaving C.-on-T. I met Mrs. Foley in London, and gave her a note
to post to you. As you know, I spent the night at 24, Harrington
Gardens. I was up at 6 a.m., and Aunt M---- (Mrs. Cowell) had a lovely
breakfast for me. I was away by 7.30, catching my train all right at
Victoria. It was run in two parts. We had a rough crossing to
Boulogne, but I was not ill. We reached railhead at 8 p.m., and I then
mounted my horse and rode along the quiet country road in the dark.
The others