r, with the words that 'the life would either
make or break me,' I was accepted for active service."

I am told that Sydney Baxter omits one thing here. Unlike so many in
those early days, when he announced to the chief that he had joined,
he asked no question about any possible allowance. He asked no advice,
he suggested no help. He just joined. All he said was, "I felt I had
to go, sir, and my mother says it will be all right. She says she will
be able to manage quite well." Let me pay my tribute to this one young
man's mother. There are so many like her that I pay it to thousands.
Not only did she refuse to put obstacles in the way, but she would
have no bargaining with patriotism. "She would manage quite well." It
meant more boarders in the little home, it meant the breaking up of
the old sweet privacy and quietude of the household, but--she would
manage quite well. God knows the heartache and the sorrow behind the
sacrifice she and the thousands like her have made--surely a sacrifice
very acceptable in His sight.

One Young Man in Camp

CHAPTER III

ONE YOUNG MAN IN CAMP

Within a fortnight this one young man was in camp at Crowborough. The
contrast to his previous life as a city clerk, where mud was unknown
and wet feet a rare occurrence, was marked indeed. The camp was
sodden, the mud ankle-deep, and, what with that and the cold November
weather, times were pretty stiff. He writes home:

"Our camp is about a foot deep in mud and slosh, and every
time you go out your boots are covered and you have to be
careful or you slip over.

"Our huts are like Church Missions. There are sixty-one
fellows in this one, and all along the sides are our
mattresses which we fold up. They are made of straw and are
really very comfortable. The only drawback is that in the
morning you find your toes sticking out at the other end of
the bed. I must tell you how these beds are made. There are
three planks about six feet in length, and these are placed
side by side on two trestles about ten inches high. They
give us three blankets, very thick and warm, and you can
roll them round yourself.

"Right down the centre of the room are long trestled tables
with forms to sit on, and this is where we feast. We sleep,
eat, drink, play games, write letters, and do everything in
this room.

"It's very funny to hear the bugle-call