e wounds and death. At such times, the sordid life
has been transfigured before me. The hill was no longer Hill 63, but
it was the hill of Calvary. The burden laid upon the men was no longer
the heavy soldier's pack, but it was the cross of Christ, and, as the
weary tramp of the men splashed in the mud, I said to myself "Each one
has fulfilled the law of life, and has taken up his cross and is
following Christ."

I told the men this one day on church parade; and a corporal sometime
afterwards said that, when next their battalion was moving up into the
line, a young fellow beside him was swearing very hard over the amount
of stuff he had to carry. My friend went over to him and said, "Don't
you know that Canon Scott told us that this really isn't a pack, but
it's the Cross of Christ?" The lad stopped swearing at once, and took
up his burden without a word.

CHAPTER IX. (p. 118)

OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE.

The 25th of December 1915, was to be our first Christmas in France,
and as the day approached there was much speculation among our men as
to which Battalions would be in the line. At last orders came out that
the 13th and 16th Battalions would relieve the 14th and 15th on
Christmas Eve. I determined, therefore, to spend my Christmas with the
former two. Our trenches at that time were in front of Ploegsteert.
The 16th was on the right and the 13th on the left. Taking my bag with
communion vessels and as many hymn books as I could carry, and with a
haversack over my shoulder containing requisities for the night, I was
motored over on Christmas Eve to the 3rd Brigade Headquarters at Petit
Moncque Farm. The day was rainy and so was not calculated to improve
the spirits and temper of the men who were going to spend their first
Christmas in the line. At dusk I walked up the road to Hill 63, and
then down on the other side to Le Plus Douve Farm. It was not a cheerful
Christmas Eve. The roads were flooded with water, and the transports
that were waiting for the relief were continually getting tangled up
with one another in the darkness. To make matters worse, I was met by
a Sergeant who told me he had some men to be buried, and a burial
party was waiting on the side of the road. We went into the field
which was used as a cemetery and there we laid the bodies to rest.

The Germans had dammed the river Douve, and it had flooded some of the
fields and old Bat