d.

"How I got back to the barn that night I do not know. I
certainly was not my natural self, and it was more a stagger
than a march. It was impossible to realise that I should see
George no more. And on the following day I had to face the
still harder task of writing to his parents and to the girl
he had left behind."

To this, written by Sydney Baxter, I add nothing. Not to me has it
come to dig a shallow, shell-swept grave for my chum. What words,
then, have I?

One Young Man Receives a Letter

CHAPTER VI

ONE YOUNG MAN RECEIVES A LETTER

George's stepfather wrote to Sydney Baxter as soon as he received the
heartbroken letter telling of his chum's death. To this letter from
the father I devote a chapter. It must stand alone. In all the
glorious annals of the war it is, to me at least, unique. Nothing that
I can write can add to its pathos or increase its heroism or enhance
its beauty. I leave it to speak for itself--this letter which will
live, I believe, as the most beautiful expression of a stepfather's
love and devotion in our language.

"MY DEAR LADDIE,

"Our hearts are breaking for you, and our thoughts and
prayers are much taken up on your behalf. All along we have
united you and George in our petitions, and all that was
sent addressed to George was meant for Syd and George. We
never thought of you separately at all, but just as sure as
you shared all in common, so our thoughts were for you
both.

"George's call home was undreamt of by me. It was dreaded by
his mother, but I hardly think the possibility of such a
thing had entered into the minds of his sisters or brothers.
I cannot explain it, but I never expected him to give his
life out there. I knew many were praying for you both, and
must have rested my mind completely on the expectation of
our prayers being answered in the way we wanted. It was not
to be. And at the first look one feels rebellious in that
God permitted his death to take place. But who am I, and of
what account am I, in the scheme of things? Can I understand
the infinite thought of God? Can I see the end, as He can? I
can only bow my head, with a heart full of sadness, and
accept the ruling of my God; and hope for a reunion with our
dear lad when my call shall come. It was something for me, a
stepfather, to have had th