e found that, as far as the privates went, the army was a
great democracy. One man was as good as another. The sons of
well-to-do families rubbed shoulders with colliers and farm labourers.
Tommy was Tommy, whether he was "Duke's Son" or "Cook's Son." And yet,
in another sense, education and social status were recognised. He
found that in spite of themselves, and in spite of the fact that all
distinctions were technically sunk between them, those who came from
labourers' cottages found themselves almost instinctively paying
deference to the men who did not belong to their class.

There were some half a dozen men in Bob's company who had come from
good homes, and while general comradeship existed, these men naturally
drifted together.

One of the great hardships to Bob was the food. The rancid butter, the
coarse bread, the almost uneatable bacon, the tough meat, tried him
sorely. At first he could scarcely swallow it. He got used to it at
length, however, and found that he was none the worse for it. He also
longed for the luxury of a private bath. Oh! just for half an hour in
the porcelain bath in his mother's house! Just to have the exquisite
pleasure of feeling the sting of cold pure water around his body!

But things were not to be. As he laughed to himself, "I am a full
private, and I must take my chance like the rest of them!"
Nevertheless, to a lad reared amidst all the refinements of a good home
the change was so great that had he not felt it a bounden duty to be
where he was, he would have felt like running away. Still he was not
there for fun, neither had he anticipated an easy time. Sometimes, it
is true, he was more than disgusted by what he saw. Many of the men
did not seem to understand the ordinary decencies of life, and acted in
such a fashion as to grate sorely upon his sensitive nature. Their
language was often unprintable, while their ideas of life and conduct
often made him sick.

How could such fellows as these fight for honour and truth? Some of
them seemed to have no sense of honour or decency. He saw presently,
however, that even these, who were not by any means representative of
the whole, had far higher standards than he had at first thought. They
were coarse, and some times brutal, but they were kind to their pals,
and would put themselves to any trouble to do another chap a good turn.

One night it was very cold, although it had been very warm during the
day. They had al