that "unhealthy" district, feeling that we must go on. "This is
the life," said the Major with a grin. Perhaps it was foolish but the
excitement was worth the danger.

In the fields by the roadside were picketed cavalry horses, saddled
and bridled, and ready to be mounted at a moment's notice. No
contingency appeared to have been overlooked; everything had been put
into readiness for anything that might happen.

At Vlamertinge everybody was standing by ready for the word to move.
Heavy shelling had been going on all day and the shells were still
coming pretty thickly. The street was littered with broken bricks,
fresh plaster and other debris; on all sides were crumbled walls and
ruined houses. The office of the A.D.M.S., Colonel Foster, had a shell
hole right through it and his desk was covered with plaster. The
office staff occupied the cellar and they informed us that the
officers were housed in a white chateau on the opposite side of the
street. There were several officers there; most of them evidently
thought that we were fools to come voluntarily into a place that they
would have given a good deal to be out of.

The front line was being held, and things were going fairly well in
the salient. But sitting around in a building that was liable to be
blown up any moment was not pleasant work for either officers or men,
and some of the men who had been subjected to the strain for several
days showed unmistakable evidences of it. The Canadians had lost
heavily but as yet no accurate figures were obtainable on account of
the complicated nature of the fighting and the fact that the wounded
were going through several ambulances.

We did not stay any longer than was necessary to obtain the news and
our return trip to Poperinge was a record one. We saw freshly-killed
horses on the roadside, and in the Grande Place in "Pop" the fresh
shell holes showed that the process of hammering was still going on
with undiminishing vigour. Dinner was half over when we reached our
mess that evening. As we entered the room a tin bowl fell to the floor
with a crash. Every person in the room started as though it were a
bomb, and we, fresh from our day's experiences, ducked our heads for
safety. Tired out, we said nothing about our trip and went to bed
early.

The next few days were full of interest. The news from the Canadian
Division was both good and bad, they had had 6,000
casualties,--practically half of the infantry,--but all the re