out of life and men strove to grasp at
something upon which to reconstruct a new system of thought and life
and work, had enveloped us like a chill evening mist.

Those were ghastly days. While France, Russia and England were
feverishly mobilizing, the brave little force of Belgians was being
steadily rolled up by the perfectly equipped German war machine and
the road to France hourly becoming easier. England had commissioned K.
of K. to gather together a civilian army of three million men, and
Canada had called for one division to be mobilized at Valcartier Camp,
a place somewhere in the Laurentian Hills near the city of Quebec.
Little did any of us dream how prophetic was to be that apparently
chance remark of our hostess. But the first greeting from the maid
when we reached home that evening was, "There is a long distance call
for you, sir." The Minister of Militia had asked me to report in
Ottawa immediately. Next morning I waved my friends, "Au revoir." That
return was far from being as speedy as we expected, for my wish very
shortly came true.

The greeting of the Minister of Militia, Sir Sam Hughes, as he turned
from the desk where he sat in shirt-sleeves, with typewriters on all
sides of him, was a cordial handshake and a slap on the back. Would I
go down to the new camp at Valcartier and look after the purification
of the water supply? I was delighted to get the chance.

A short wait at the office gave me a splendid opportunity of seeing a
military headquarters office in operation. Officers of all ranks, from
Generals to Majors, hurried in one after another to obtain permission
to do this or that; prominent men anxious to do anything they might to
assist in the great crisis, crowded the office. Telephone
conversations, telegrams, cables, interviews, dictation of letters,
reading of letters aloud--to watch or listen to the incessant
commingling of all these, with the Minister of Militia as the centre
of energy, was a unique experience for me. Sir Sam cracked jokes,
dictated letters, swore at the telephone operator, and carried on
conversation with a number of persons--all at the same time. It was a
marvellous demonstration of what a man could do in an emergency, if he
happened to be the right man--the man who not only knew what needed to
be done but had sufficient force of character and driving power to
convert his decisions into practical achievements.

The following night on our return from an inspection o