harm, since he said no sad
word. Yet it did him good to write these letters and feel a reasonable
assurance that they would sometime reach their destination.

There was a meeting held that night in the hut. He had never happened to
attend one before, although he had heard the boys say they enjoyed them.
One of his comrades asked him to stay, and a quick glance told him the
fellow needed him, had chosen him for moral support.

So Cameron sat in a shadowy corner of the crowded room, and listened to
the singing, wild and strong, and with no hint of coming battle in its
full rolling lilt. He noted with satisfaction how the "Long, Long Trail,"
and "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag" gradually gave place to
"Tell Mother I'll Be There," and "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder,"
growing strong and full and solemn in the grand old melody of "Abide With
Me." There were fellows there who but a few hours before had been
shooting crap, whose lips had been loud with cheerful curses. Now they
sat and sang with all their hearts, the heartiest of the lot. It was a
curious psychological study to watch them. Some of them were just as keen
now on the religious side of their natures as they had been with their
sport or their curses. Theirs were primitive natures, easily wrought upon
by the atmosphere of the moment, easily impressed by the solemnity of the
hour, nearer, perhaps, to stopping to think about God and eternity than
ever before in their lives. But there were also others here, thoughtful
fellows who were strong and brave, who had done their duty and borne
their hardships with the best, yet whose faces now were solemn with
earnestness, to whom this meeting meant a last sacrament before they
passed to meet their test. Cameron felt his heart in perfect sympathy
with the gathering, and when the singing stopped for a few minutes and
the clear voice of a young girl began to pray, he bowed his head with a
smart of tears in his eyes. She was a girl who had just arrived that day,
and she reminded him of Ruth. She had pansy-blue eyes and long gold
ripples in her abundant hair. It soothed him like a gentle hand on his
heart to hear her speak those words of prayer to God, praying for them
all as if they were her own brothers, praying as if she understood just
how they felt this night before they went on their way. She was so young
and gently cared for, this girl with her plain soldier's uniform, and her
fearlessness, praying as composed