trees gave diversity to the landscape. I told the men they were living
in a land flowing with milk and honey. I stayed at the headquarters of
the wing in a delightful old house on a hill surrounded with fine
trees. Each Brigade had its own reserve, so there were many men in the
village, and an old mill pond enabled me to have two or three good
swims. In a Y.M.C.A. tent, courses of lectures in connection with the
Khaki University were being given on various subjects. One evening,
naturally I gave them a talk on our leave trip to Rome. On another, in
a corner of the field, I gave them an informal lecture on English
literature. Having got so far from home, I determined to go a little
further, and so we made a trip to Boulogne, where my son who had been
gassed was still in a C.C.S., and that afternoon on our return we went
to Montreuil to see what G.H.Q. looked like. I was told that Montreuil
was a very picturesque old walled city, but that we should not be
allowed to enter. However, I had been able to do so many forbidden
things in the war that I thought it would be worth trying, so the old
Clino sped over the hard macadamized roads from Boulogne till we came
to the valley on the opposite side of which the town is situated. We
saw many cars coming and going, and many troops by the way, and
finally we sped up the hill which leads to the entrance gate. A sentry
was standing there, who saluted most properly, and we passed into (p. 268)
the sacred city without molestation. It was a delightful old French
town, full of historical interest. The narrow streets and quaint old
buildings carried one back in thought to the days of chivalry and
battles waged by knights in shining armour. We saw some of the
churches, and then went to the officers' club for tea. The waitresses
at the club were English girls who had taken the place of the men
needed at the front. I got them to provide for my friend Lyons in
their sitting-room, and I went in to have tea with the officers. A
great many were there sitting at small tables. It was interesting to
see the badges of so many different regiments. Most of the officers
had a good supply of ribbons, and a few of them had lost an eye or a
limb, or bore other marks of wounds. I think that almost all of them
were staff officers and that some of them were generals. It struck me
that the atmosphere to a stranger was rather chilly. The demeanour of
the people was much less free than that which we had been a