pirit evinced in the most
hazardous moments of life. Right out in front of the trenches one night
a man was badly hit, and his chum, at the risk of his life, rushed out
to his help, saying, 'Get on my back, mate, and I will carry you in,'
only to be met with, 'Not darned likely; I shall be shot in the back,
and you will get the V.C.'

A further illustration of this most remarkable military production
occurs in the following incident. A friend of mine, who has himself been
twice wounded, on the last occasion of injury was in the trenches, when
suddenly a man by his side was hit in the wrist; clapping his hand upon
the wound he exclaimed, 'Got it! I've been waiting for this since last
August.' Then, putting his left hand into his pocket, he pulled out a
mouth-organ and played 'Home, Sweet Home.' Who but an English 'Tommy'
could, or would, do that. No wonder that the French are puzzled by this
strange composition of humanity with which they are fighting as allies.

The enemy, too, wonders, as he comes across a foe so remarkable in his
words and methods. A German officer--a most charming man--lying in the
next bed but one to me, on the hospital ship which brought me home from
France, was asked what he thought of the comparative fighting values of
the allies, and he remarked, 'Well! we can manage the Belgians, and we
understand the French, but we cannot comprehend you English, for by
every known law of war you are beaten again and again, but you never
seem to know it!' This is, of course, not an original utterance, but
derived from one of Napoleon's great Generals; but at all events it
shows the estimate placed upon our fighting capacity by an enemy who at
one time styled us as 'that contemptible little army.' There is
sometimes a weird sense of disproportion revealed, as in the case of a
Highlander who was visited by a brother chaplain at a Base hospital some
two or three months ago, and who remarked to the patient, 'Well, Jock,
what do you think of Jack Johnsons? They put the fear of God into your
heart, don't they?' 'Aye, sir, they do, but let's hope it will soon wear
off.'

My readers will see that we are a strange compound of grave and gay at
the Front, as I have already said. There is, however, a deeper side of
the soldier's life, which after all is even more correctly
characteristic of the man than that which only appears upon the
surface.

THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES

CHAPTER V

THE FIRST BATTLE OF