nhabitants, a kindly woman who is
loved by the soldiers of my company, to whom she is very good, came
to the station as we were leaving, and presented a pair of mittens to
each of fifty men.

The train started on its journey, puffed a feeble cloud of smoke
into the air, and suddenly came to a dead stop. Heads appeared at
the windows, and voices inquired if the engine-driver had taken the
wrong turning on the road to Berlin. The train shunted back into the
station, and we all went back to our billets again, but not before
our officers informed us that we had done the work of entraining very
smartly, and when the real call did come we would lose no time on the
journey to an unknown destination.

Later we had two further lessons in entraining, and we came to fear
that when the summons did come dry eyes would watch us depart and
sarcastic jibes make heavy our leave-taking. Indeed, some of the
inhabitants of our town hinted that we should never leave the place
until the local undertakers make a profit on our exit. So much for
their gentle sarcasm! But well they knew that one day in the near
future it would suddenly occur to our commanders to take us with them
in the train to Berlin.

CHAPTER IX

READY TO GO--THE BATTALION MOVES

Rumour had been busy for days; the whole division was about to move,
so every one stated, except our officers, and official information was
not forthcoming.

"You are going between midnight and five o'clock to-morrow morning,"
announced my landlord positively. He is a coal-merchant by trade.

"How do you know?" I inquired.

"Because I can't get any coal to-morrow--line's bunged up for the
troops."

"No, he'll be going on Tuesday," said his wife, whose kindliness and
splendid cooking I should miss greatly.

"Is that so?" I asked, feigning an interest which I did not feel. A
sore toe eclipsed all other matters for the time being.

"The ration men have served out enough for two days, and it doesn't
stand to reason that they're going to waste anything," the little lady
continued with sarcastic emphasis on the last two words.

Parades went on as usual; the usual rations were doled out to billets
and the usual grumbling went on in the ranks. We were weary of false
alarms, waiting orders, and eternal parades. Some of us had been
training for fully six months, others had joined the Army when war
broke out, and we were still secure in England. "Why have we joined?"
the men asked. "Is