On the Fringe of the Great Fight

THINGS W

of the game. It takes a considerable portion of an officer's time correcting mi

the war office to leave for France. We had everything ready to pack aboard the motor truck in one hour. Then,

going over the next week or the week after-or next month-he could not really say when. He had a letter

ral, the object of our quest, had just left for Shorncliff and would be back, perhaps, in two or three days. We hunted for the A.A. & Q.M.G. of the 2nd Canadian Division. After searc

ives that the proprietors had lost their heads. They didn't care whether they served you or not. One of them even paid a "boots" to stand at the door and insult possible guests,

" "What about that little chop house ('The Silver Grill') which he had frequently lauded with fulsome praise?"

en service at least two hundred years. Climbing to the attic, we entered a little dining room, perhaps twenty feet long, with room for about sixteen diners. The t

nly "overseas". The landlady watched him like a sister, got him to put his hat and coat on properly and steered him past the smoking-room and bar to the front door, and she was careful to explain to us two, knowing we were Canadians, "I have never seen Captain X like that before. You know we have become very fond of the Canadians. P

lady had again begun to talk about the Canadians, when the civilian suddenly interrupted sneeringly "The Canadians

with anger. "What do you mean

know" h

hat is strange talk; you wi

to explain any

ain E-- glaring at the man ferociously; "I say you are a d-- li

the slightest show of resentment at the opprobri

ching to take hold of him. "You mean, skulking coward, to talk like that of men who h

accommodating as to step outside, any one of us will be delight

ood mind to rub your face in that gravy, by G- I will rub it in that gravy!" exploded the Captain, and in the instant he seized the dinner-plate in one hand and the

, looking up when Captain E-- had desisted, and wiping the

f his previous words and tone so obviously showed him to be a coward that all we could do was laugh and turn aw

f her colonial guests in her house and in her presence. During the gravy-rubbing performance she had run downstairs to tell her husband in case there should be a "scene," and he had retailed the story to the

That man will never enter this place again." Following us downstairs she begged us to step into the smoking-room "just a minute, to see that all our customers are not like that

-room. As we entered, every man stood up and bowed, and several made room for us. They had heard the story, and, by

o good for us, and to the accompaniment of numerous cups of coffee, brought by Norah, we talked away till ten o'clock. Both the

off, and we went to bed that night with the pr

, for loafing anywhere is usually the hardest work in the world; but loafing on the edge of Salisbury Plain with little to see was work even harder than the hardest. Napoleon is said to have remarked that "war is made up of short periods of intense activity followed by much longer periods of enforced idleness" or something to that effect. Of

four-cylinder thirty. Accordingly we struck out for the sea, followed the track of the little river Avon, which flows pas

of a sudden a strange, familiar tang in the air thrilled us. Every man sat instantly erect and gulped down, in wonderment at his own action, a succession of great, deep satisfying breaths: And then the explanation broke from two of us

it since our landing in October, though we had seen plenty of water-rain water-since. We raced our car along the beach, got out and snapshotted one another, admired th

t of the window we could see the chauffeur under-cross-fir

th, but we couldn't wait to talk to him. Nor had we time to ask him whether truffle growing was an indu

re hardly out when he was already upon us. "Excuse me, sir, but

ed, "what is the sens

the car, sir,"

ointing to the bonnet upon which was a label reading: Canadi

ars on 'is Majesty's service 'ave Hide

ntification all printed out so that you could read i

orders" s

er here to fight for you and all you do for us is make it as

an. Fortunately Mac had not heard the parting remark of the policeman. Had he done so it is doubtful if we would have left Bournemouth that night, for heaven only knows what would have happened to that

e best I have seen in England, and are rivalled only by those of Glasgow. Then we drew up at the best hotel in town-"The Royal Bat

be seen on every side. The walls were all broken up: One wall was covered with hangings; two parts of the remainder had an upper border of hand-painted men in battle array; a

directions, and with no apparent design. The furniture was rattan and plush, upholstered and plain, and was crowded together with a f

critical. Then somebody thought of having a "Scoot"; tremulously he pressed the button for the waiter. The waiter came and they had two "Scoots" each. Then somebody made a f

ecided to wait till the room was nearly full before going in so that we could get an idea of the fashionable watering place people of England. Somebody thought tha

" he reported i

!" we

mechanically. "We may poss

at we can't get anything to eat?" Captain R-- nodded. "Let's leave th

hauffeur had gone, so we left our address for him, ordered a taxi, and drove to the Burlington Hotel two miles away. Before dismissing the taxi we took the precaution of seeing that we could get dinner, and finding that the hotel a

was so great that we suddenly grew exceedingly gay and enjoyed ourselves hugely. A little concert a

cent churchyards; and as we two tumbled into our cots at midnight we voted that we

ith our restlessness. The buds were swelling on the great trees near by, and the leaves had actually broken from their bonds on some of the hedges. The air was full of bird songs; the lark in particular seemed to be mad with the joy of springtime. At Bulford

here were we doing nothing, when we might have been making ourselves useful at the front. The war office was advertising for "one hundred sanitary officers who would be of vital service t

ive minutes to eleven. We stopped twenty minutes at Andover to send a cablegram, and were held up at a level crossing for five minutes. At one thirty we passed the official centre of London, Hyde Park corner, and were having our dinner in the Marguereta Restaurant in Oxford Street at a quarter to two. We therefore had covered the distance of ninety-eight miles in two hours and fi

or porter came in and whispered to Captain Rankin that a policeman had our chauffeur in charge and wanted to see one of us. The doughty Captain went out, and came back in a minute to say that the cop wanted him to go to the police station and explain why

d him a second time on the shoulder, with "Beg pardon, sir, but

said the Captain, "to dist

es, supposing Rad has cheeked them and they lock him up, we won't be able to get back till tomorrow. None of us can run

irs. Through a vacant space I could see a great crowd and two policemen's helmets standing up above the middle of the throng. They consid

e matter?"

number on it,"

eek before at Bournemouth that I smiled i

ernment car have

sir, those are

sional Headquarters," in case you can't read! The car belongs to the Canadian Government. We are waiting to go to

man, who had caused the trouble. I spelled it out to him

ainst the policemen. A boy looked under a policeman's arm and grinned; I winked at him covertly, and he went into a paroxysm of laughter. The

p get hold of you

d he did so. I knew where the police station was in a street off Oxford Street, but when we got to the street I passed it.

you turn the

charge against me," I said, "for

d I said "I guess we will turn here" and turned aro

u stopping f

are in there at their dinner," I said, "you

hat cub six foot two policeman as he was being whirled along Oxford Street against his