t news of the battle.

The next afternoon I was sent for by General Sir Henry Rawlinson,
commanding the corps in our area. He had heard that I had seen the gas
discharged the day before and wanted to know what the gas was, what
the effect had been, how it could be combated and, in fact, all about
it. When I had finished my narrative he placed a large map in front of
me and asked me to sketch out the part of the line where the gas had
been discharged, and how I thought the line should be at the present
moment. I did my best, tyro as I was. It was one of the satisfactory
moments of my life when the General drew the map to one side and
showed me a map of the line as it really was, given him by General
Foch that very morning. The maps were identical, and the General
smiled a smile of appreciation as he thanked me for the assistance
that our laboratory had given in helping to diagnose and combat this
new mode of warfare, and I left his office feeling that we had been of
some real use in the war even if we never did anything else.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE AFTERMATH OF THE GAS.

The day after the gas attack I reported to headquarters, that in my
opinion the gas used was chlorine with possibly an admixture of
bromine, and that a mask with a solution of "Hypo" to cover the nose
and mouth would probably absorb the gas and destroy its effectiveness.
I also suggested that the battle area be searched for masks which the
Germans were sure to have had prepared as a protection for their own
men. (Most of the morning I had spent in bed with an attack of
bronchitis suffering from the effects of the gas.)

Later I learned that German prisoners had given the information that
the gas was contained in cylinders but would not admit that they knew
what kind of gas it was. They also said that the men who operated the
tanks wore protective masks and gloves.

All that day the Indians of the Lahore division from our area were
passing through our town on the way to Ypres.

On Sunday afternoon Captain Ellis and I left for Vlamertinge to find
out just what had happened. The suspense had become terrible and we
felt like quitters because we were not in the salient fighting with
our fellows. At Poperinge we saw a cart on the road beside a house
which had been recently blown down by a shell. As we drove slowly by,
a wounded old woman was carried out and laid beside the bodies of two
other white-haired women who had just been dug out of the rui