e!
Spurning cigarettes and bovril we rushed to the bar. We all noticed the
cleanness of the barmaid, her beauty, the neatness of her dress, her
cultivated talk. We almost squabbled about what drinks we should have
first. Finally, we divided into parties--the Beers and the
Whisky-and-Sodas. Then there were English papers to buy, and, of course,
we must have a luncheon-basket....
The smell of the musty S.-E. & C.R. compartment was the scent of eastern
roses. We sniffed with joy in the tunnels. We read all the notices with
care. Nearing London we became silent. Quite disregarding the order to
lower the blinds, we gazed from the bridge at a darkened London and the
searchlight beams. Feverishly we packed our kit and stood up in the
carriage. We jerked into the flare of Victoria. Dazzled and confused, we
looked at the dense crowd of beaming, anxious people. There was a tug at
my elbow, and a triumphant voice shouted--
"I've found him! Here he is! There's your Mother." ...
* * * * *
This strange familiar country seemed to us clean, careless, and full of
men. The streets were clean; the men and women were clean. Out in
Flanders a little grime came as a matter of course. One's uniform was
dirty. Well, it had seen service. There was no need to be particular
about the set of the tunic and the exact way accoutrements should be
put on. But here the few men in khaki sprinkled about the streets had
their buttons cleaned and not a thing was out of place. We wondered
which of them belonged to the New Armies. The women, too, were clean and
beautiful. This sounds perhaps to you a foolish thing to say, but it is
true. The Flemish woman is not so clean as she is painted, and as for
women dressed with any attempt at fashionable display--we had seen none
since August. Nadine at Dour had been neat; Helene at Carlepont had been
companionable; the pretty midinette at Maast had been friendly and not
over-dirty. For a day or two after I returned to my own country I could
not imagine how anybody ever could leave it.
And all the people were free from care. However cheerful those brave but
irritating folk who live behind the line may be, they have always
shadows in their eyes. We had never been to a village through which the
Germans had not passed. Portly and hilarious the Teuton may have shown
himself--kindly and well-behaved he undoubtedly was in many
places--there came with him a terror which stayed after
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