hings came, every man would be at his post and would
do his bit.

Just before Christmas the 3rd Brigade were moved into huts at Lark
Hill. They were certainly an improvement upon the tents, but they (p. 032)
were draughty and leaky. From my window I could see, on the few
occasions when the weather permitted it, the weird and ancient circles
of Stonehenge.

The calm repose of those huge stones, which had watched unmoved the
passing of human epochs, brought peace to the mind. They called to
memory the lines;--

"Our little systems have their day,
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of Thee,
And Thou, O Lord, art more than they."

In order to give Christmas its religious significance, I asked
permission of the Rector of Amesbury to use his church for a midnight
Eucharist on Christmas Eve. He gladly gave his consent and notice of
the service was sent round to the units of the Brigade. In the thick
fog the men gathered and marched down the road to the village, where
the church windows threw a soft light into the mist that hung over the
ancient burial ground. The church inside was bright and beautiful. The
old arches and pillars and the little side chapels told of days gone
by, when the worship of the holy nuns, who had their convent there,
rose up to God day by day. The altar was vested in white and the
candles shone out bright and fair. The organist had kindly consented
to play the Christmas hymns, in which the men joined heartily. It was
a service never to be forgotten, and as I told the men, in the short
address I gave them, never before perhaps, in the history of that
venerable fane, had it witnessed a more striking assembly. From a
distance of nearly seven thousand miles some of them had come, and
this was to be our last Christmas before we entered the life and death
struggle of the nations. Row after row of men knelt to receive the
Bread of Life, and it was a rare privilege to administer it to them.
The fog was heavier on our return and some of us had great difficulty
in finding our lines.

It seemed sometimes as if we had been forgotten by the War Office, but
this was not the case. We had visits from the King, Lord Roberts and
other high officials. All these were impressed with the physique and
high spirits of our men.

The conditions under which we lived were certainly atrocious, and an
outbreak of meningitis cast a gloom over the camp. It was met bravely
and skilful