married men at the bases lay in the temptations
surrounding the men there on every side. These also have to be reckoned
with as part of the inevitable cost of war. It says much for the grit
and character of the average Briton that so many come through unscathed.

II

_The Man from Skye_

As I was going round the tents one day I had a long talk with a man in a
draft just leaving for the front to join a Highland regiment. He had
not been long out of hospital, and, like his companions, had scarcely
pulled himself together after the sadness of a second farewell.
Following a good plan of always handing on any rumour, however
improbable, which is of a thoroughly cheerful nature I said, referring
to a report that was current in the messes that morning, 'They say Lord
Kitchener says it will be all over by September.' He looked at me very
seriously and said sternly, 'It iss not for Lord Kitchener to say when
the war will be over. It iss only for God to say that.' Presently he
said, 'And what iss more, I will nefer see Skye again.' I had tried
every way in vain to lift his foreboding from him, and now I said
sternly like himself, 'It is not for you to say whether you will ever
see Skye again; only God can know that.' He moved a little, restlessly,
and answered slowly, 'Yess, that iss so, but--yess, it iss so.'
Sometimes when we were asking one another that old familiar unanswerable
question I would tell the story of the man from Skye and his answer to
the problem. We were very glad to hear a few weeks later that he had
been discharged as permanently unfit, and was by then in his loved misty
isle.

The Principal Chaplain visited the camp during my chaplaincy there. The
Rev. Dr. Simms, who ranks as a major-general, has charge of all
chaplains other than those of the Church of England. His tall,
distinguished, unassuming figure will always stand, in the minds of
those who were under his administration, for infinite kindness, wisdom,
and scrupulous fairness between all parties. Dr. Wallace Williamson of
St. Giles', Edinburgh, who was visiting the troops in France,
accompanied him. Their service on Sunday was very moving. Hearts were
near the surface in those brief days between the farewell and the
battlefield. The three Scotsmen whom I knew best of those who were at
this service are all dead: one fell at Loos, one in Mesopotamia, and one
on the Somme. The oldest of them, who was an officer in a Guards
battalion, could not spe