rney that
night. "You stay with me in my hut, Padre," he said, "and in the
morning I will give you a horse to take you to your men." He told me
that he had been living by himself and was only too delighted to have
a companion to talk to. He treated me as bounteously as circumstances
would permit, and after a good dinner, he gave me a blanket and straw
bed on the floor of his hut. It was very pleasant to come out of the
darkness and loneliness of the road and find such a kind host, and
such good hospitality. We discussed many things that night, and the
next day I was shown over the camp. Later on, the Lieutenant sent me
on horseback to Ouderdom. There I found the Ambulance encamped in a
pleasant field beside a large pond, which afforded us the luxury of a
bath. I shall never forget those two restful days I spent at Ouderdom.
I blamed the blankets, however, for causing an irritation of the (p. 075)
skin, which lasted till I was able to have another wash and change.

Pleasant as my life was with the Ambulance, I felt I ought to go back
and join my Brigade. I got a ride to the transport at Brielen, and
there, under a waggon cover, had a very happy home. Near us an
Imperial battery fired almost incessantly all night long. While lying
awake one night thinking of the men that had gone, and wondering what
those ardent spirits were now doing, the lines came to me which were
afterwards published in "The Times":

"REQUIESCANT"

In lonely watches night by night,
Great visions burst upon my sight,
For down the stretches of the sky
The hosts of dead go marching by.

Strange ghostly banners o'er them float,
Strange bugles sound an awful note,
And all their faces and their eyes
Are lit with starlight from the skies.

The anguish and the pain have passed,
And peace hath come to them at last.
But in the stern looks linger still
The iron purpose and the will.

Dear Christ, who reign'st above the flood
Of human tears and human blood,
A weary road these men have trod,
O house them in the home of God.

The Quartermaster of the 3rd Brigade furnished me with a change of
underwear, for which I was most grateful. I felt quite proud of having
some extra clothes again. The battalions were moved at last out of the
area and we were ordered off to rest. Our first stop was near
Vlamertinghe. We reached it in the afternoon, and, chilly though it
was, I determined to have a bath. Murdoch MacDonald got a