stay and moreover it was a black one.

Something had to be done to solve the problem for it was imperative for
every car to be ready for the road first thing in the morning.

Camp fires were suggested, but were impracticable, and then it was that
"Night Guards" were instituted.

Four girls sat up all night, and once every hour turned out to crank up
the cars, run them with bonnet covers on till they were thoroughly warm,
and then tuck them up again till the next time. We had from four to five
cars each, and it will give some idea of the extreme cold to say that
when we came to crank them again, in roughly three-quarters of an hour's
time, they were _almost_ cold. The noise must have been heard for some
distance when the whole Convoy was roaring and racing at once like a
small inferno. But in spite of this, I know that when it was not our
turn to sit up we others never woke.

As soon as the cars were tucked up and silent again we raced back to the
cook-house, where we threw ourselves into deck chairs, played the
gramophone, made coffee to keep us awake, or read frightening books--I
remember I read "Bella Donna" on one of these occasions and wouldn't
have gone across the camp alone if you'd paid me. A grand midnight
supper also took up a certain amount of time.

That three-quarters of an hour positively flew, and seemed more like ten
minutes, but punctually at the second we had to turn out again,
willy-nilly--into that biting cold with the moon shining frostily over
everything apparently turning it into steel.

The trouble was that as the frost continued water became scarce--baths
had stopped long ago--and it began to be a question of getting even a
basinful to wash in. Face creams were extensively applied as the only
means of saving what little complexions we had left! The streets of the
town were in a terrible condition owing principally to the hygienic
customs of the inhabitants who _would_ throw everything out of their
front doors or windows. The consequence was that, without exaggeration,
the ice in some places was two feet thick, and every day fresh layers
were formed as the French housewives threw out more water. No one
remained standing in a perpendicular position for long, and the
difficulty was, once down, how to get up again.

Finally water became so scarce we had to bring huge cans in a lorry from
the M.T., one of the few places not frozen out, and there was usually
ice on them when they arrived in camp