., or the Bedfords, or whatever regiment it
might be!

A battalion going into action has some men singing, some smiling vaguely
to themselves, some looking raptly straight ahead, and some talking
quickly as if they must never stop.

A battalion that has come many miles is nearly silent. The strong men
stride tirelessly without a word. Little weak men, marching on their
nerves, hobble restlessly along. The men with bad feet limp and curse,
wilting under the burden of their kit, and behind all come those who
have fallen out by the way--men dragging themselves along behind a
waggon, white-faced men with uneasy smiles on top of the waggons. A
little farther back those who are trying to catch up: these are tragic
figures, breaking into breathless little runs, but with a fine wavering
attempt at striding out, as though they might be connecting files, when
they march through a town or past an officer of high rank.

A battalion that has just come out of action I cannot describe to you in
these letters, but let me tell you now about Princess Pat's. I ran into
them just as they were coming into Bailleul for the first time and were
hearing the sound of the guns. They were the finest lot of men I have
ever seen on the march. Gusts of great laughter were running through
them. In the eyes of one or two were tears. And I told those civilians I
passed that the Canadians, the fiercest of all soldiers, were come.
Bailleul looked on them with more fright than admiration. The women
whispered fearfully to each other--Les Canadiens, les Canadiens!...

We despatch riders were given a large room in the house where the
Divisional Staff was billeted. It had tables, chairs, a fireplace and
gas that actually lit; so we were more comfortable than ever we had been
before--that is, all except N'Soon, who had by this time discovered that
continual riding on bad roads is apt to produce a fundamental soreness.
N'Soon hung on nobly, but was at last sent away with blood-poisoning.
Never getting home, he spent many weary months in peculiar convalescent
camps, and did not join up again until the end of January.
Moral--before going sick or getting wounded become an officer and a
gentleman.

The day after we arrived I was once more back in Belgium with a message
to the C.R.A.[24] at Neuve Eglise. I had last been in Belgium on August
23, the day we left Dour.

The general might have been posing for a war artist. He was seated at a
table in the middle of