bivouac, and a soldier who had been
dining late and had lost his way. The young fellow had got it into his
head that he had wandered into the German lines, and Ross had great
difficulty in convincing him that he was quite safe. He was just going
off with mind appeased when he caught sight of my pyramid tent on a
rise in the ground. "What's that?" he cried in terror, evidently
pointing towards my little house. "That's the Rev. Major Canon Scott's
billet" said Ross with great dignity from under his rubber sheets, and
the man went off in fear of his identity becoming known. He afterwards
became an officer and a very gallant one too, and finally lost a leg
in the service of his country. But many is the time I have chaffed him
about the night he thought he had wandered into the German lines.

One day when I had ridden up to Court-o-Pyp I found that a canteen had
just been opened there, and being urged to make a purchase for good
luck I bought a large bottle of tomato catsup, which I put into my
saddle bag. I noticed that the action was under the observation of the
battalion, which had just returned from the trenches and was about to
be dismissed. I mounted my horse and went over to the C.O. and asked
if I might say a word to the men before he dismissed them. He told me
the men were tired, but I promised not to keep them long. He called
out, "Men, Canon Scott wants to say a word to you before you are
dismissed," and they stood to attention. "All I wanted to say to you,
Boys, was this; that was a bottle of tomato catsup which I put in my
saddle bag, and not, as you thought, a bottle of whiskey." A roar of
laughter went up from all ranks.

It was about this time that our Brigadier was recalled to England to
take over the command of a Division. We were all sincerely sorry to
lose him from the 3rd Brigade. He was ever a good and true friend, and
took a deep interest in his men. But the immediate effect of his
departure, as far as I was concerned, was to remove out of my life the
hideous spectre of No. 2 General Hospital, and to give me absolute
liberty in wandering through the trenches. In fact, as I told him
sometime afterwards, I was beginning a little poem, the first line of
which was "I never knew what freedom meant until he went away."

One day, General Seely invited me to go and stay with him at his (p. 098)
Headquarters in Westhof Farm where I had a most delightful time.
Not only was the General a most entertaining hos