l," replied the Queen. She did it with a firm pressure that
showed genuine feeling. She then asked me if I were out for a walk.
"No," I replied, "I'm going to meet another queen. Two queens in one
afternoon is not bad going for an old Canuck, is it?" "It certainly is
not," she replied. "And I do hope," she added with a merry laugh, "that
the other queen will not forget to shake hands when she meets you."

As I went away I heard her remark that that is "a very cheerful boy;
his blindness does not seem to trouble him much." She was right. It did
not by this time. I had so far progressed with my work that the future
was assured; work and happiness I could still find in this old world.

While at St. Dunstan's I had still another meeting with Royalty. One day
I was walking up the Lounge, along the strip sacred to the sightless,
when bump I went against someone who was stooping over while questioning
another student. I had collided with a woman, who immediately turned and
apologized most profusely for being in my way. She was most sorry that
she "did not see me coming." I was in an irritated mood; the sightless
always are under such circumstances. A collision of this sort always
reminds them of their handicap, a thing they delight to ignore.
Impatiently, I replied: "That's all right, ma'am. But if you people with
eyes, when you visit us, would only remember that there are some men
here that cannot see just as well as they once did, it would make it
easier for us." Again she apologized, and took my hand, giving it such
a hearty, sympathetic pressure that I felt somewhat ashamed of myself
for my hasty words. As I renewed my walk up the Lounge, one of the
V.A.D.'s overtook me, and asked what had happened. I told her, and she
almost took my breath away by telling me that I had been "saucing" Her
Most Gracious Majesty, Queen Alexandra. I quite expected to be "on the
carpet" before the chief for my words, for Sir Arthur was standing by,
and must have heard them. But Sir Arthur had a way of avoiding causing
his boys the slightest pain, and he no doubt knew that when I realized
to whom I had spoken so hastily, my chagrin would be sufficient
punishment. I hope the good Queen has forgiven my lack of courtesy, and
forgotten the incident--a thing I am not likely to do.

CHAPTER VIII

IN PLAYTIME

It was not all work at St. Dunstan's. Sports were encouraged and
fostered in every way; but rowing and tug-of-war were by far the m