walked upstairs under the inspection
of those of the upper flat, that I stumbled on the narrow steps. In
order to reassure my would-be friends, I called out, "Don't be
alarmed, I am a chaplain and a teetotaller". They burst out laughing
and on my arrival at the top greeted me very heartily. I was taken
into a long bedroom where there were five beds in a row, one of which
was assigned to me. Not only was I given a bed, but one of their
servants went and brought me a hot-cross bun and a glass of milk. In
return for such wholehearted and magnificent hospitality, I sat on the
edge of the bed and recited poems to my hosts, who at that hour of the
morning were not averse to anything which might be conducive to sleep.
On the next day I was made an honorary member of their mess. I should
like to bear testimony here to the extraordinary cordiality and (p. 052)
kind hospitality which was always shown to us by British officers.

Later on in the day, I found the 13th Battalion just a few miles
outside Cassel at a place called Terdeghem. It was a quaint little
village with an interesting church. I got a billet in a farmhouse. It
was a curious building of brick and stood on the road where a little
gate opened into a delightful garden, full of old-fashioned flowers.
My room was reached by a flight of steps from the kitchen and was very
comfortable. I disliked, however, the heavy fluffy bed. Murdoch
MacDonald used to sleep in the kitchen.

There were some charming walks around Terdeghem. One which I liked to
take led to a very old and picturesque chateau, surrounded by a moat.
I was immensely impressed with the rows of high trees on which the
rooks built their noisy cities. Sometimes a double line of these trees,
like an avenue, would stretch across a field. Often, as I have walked
home in the dark after parish visiting, I have stood between the long
rows of trees and listened to the wind sighing through their bare
branches and looked up at the stars that "were tangled in them". Then
the dread mystery of war and fate and destruction would come over me.
It was a relief to think how comfortable and unconcerned the rooks
were in their nests with their children about them in bed. They had
wings too wherewith to fly away and be at rest.

Cassel was used at that time by the French Army, so we were excluded
from it unless we had a special permit. It was a delightful old town,
and from its commanding position on a rock has been used as a