The First Canadians in France / The Chronicle of a Military Hospital in the War Zone

t, and became a sort of home for pets of all shapes and sizes, from Jean, a little French boy

as we discovered later, of a migratory disposition, forsook his native haunts and "took t

lete military uniform, from cap to boots. He couldn't speak a word of English-but he was a boy, and as we too had been boys not so very long ago we understood one another fr

on a warlike world at a tender age. They had both adopted us, an

of lank grey wool with legs so long that it must have made him dizzy every time he viewed the earth belo

e goat loved Jogman. Thus was established an "

watched Jean feeding the goat. "A hand like dat ain't frie

replied defensively, "but ye can't keep t

bottle up to Billy's greedy mouth. He understood only a little of

e," he cried. "Bi

Billy who with a sudden tug had

boys that swear go?" a

to de war," Jean contend

send ye back to yer aunt

ng him by the hand cried tearfully: "No!-No!-No!

r wouldn't explain it; but he was in great dread of being

y, "be a good boy, an' don't swear

he goat, but they imbibed from different bottles and with different results. He had been on his good behaviour

ging pocket the Tommy's heart throbbed nervously, until he got a chance to "blow it in." But before this fortuitous eve

ye goin'?"

th' sights," Jogman

ailin' an' don't hit de can too hard. I can't bear se

orm of military punishment Tim alluded.

rried Jogman. His life was full when his stomach was full, and the fumes of "cognac" or "whiskey blanc" beckoned him like a siren's smile. Loaded

lows and hills of sand. Time and the wind had beaten them so firmly that one might tread upon their crusted surface and scarcely leave a footprint. Craters as large as the Roman Coliseum, surrounded by tufted grass, spread before his gaze

a habitation, stranger still, by accident attracted his attention. He had lain down for a moment's rest beside some bushes, and on turning his head was surprised to see a small window on a level with his e

dresser stood against the wall. An electric light hung from the ceiling, but no wires were visible without. The clothes still lying upon the bed, the overturned chair

self in the streets of that lively little town which has been aptly called the "Monte Carlo" of northern France. Its big gambling "Ca

ian lassie who waved her hand from a shop window as he passed, he entered the Café Central and seati

veut?"

Scotch an' soda,

ur desires?" she quer

said Jogman picturing the

m'si

r. Several more followed their predecessors, and being now comfor

audlin idea was fermenting in his brain none but himself might say. The fat bu

monsieur

r to steady the shop which, ignoring the law of

g addressed in an unintelligible language. "Why t

gue! Jogman's sense of injustice was preternaturally keen just then. The butcher was a

oulez, monsieur?" he

ational customer, making a step fo

his weapon more firmly still, and

ng a large knife from the slab he rushed at the frightened man

ifying in the extreme to the peaceful denizens of the town. They ran shrieking for help, bolting into their shops o

annoyance the disturbance interrupted Sergeant Honk in a monosyllabic conversation, which he was holding with a pretty French girl. He humped himself around the corn

d to her balcony and refused to descend. Honk

won't come back, an' 'e wouldn't 'urt

ate, and turned a deaf

s about as intelligible to Honk as Chinese script,

e th' 'ole bleedin' town h'about our h'ears. Th' gals won't look at a decen

se which it cost our lads several months of good conduct to eradicate. It was simple and to the point: "Canadians no good!" For weeks afterward it was shouted at them every time they entered

to the Guard Room, Barker

el said I wuz th' first t' disgrace th' unit. By cripe

le woman who had to be bartered with, it was the iceman who sought, with true French business acumen, to

all these ridiculous and unsatisfactory arguments maintaine

r the same period, monsieur was assured, on word of honour, that the party of the first part was undercharged, and wo

s awaiting his skilled hand. The wounded man, whose thigh had been shattered with a rifle bullet, was lying upon the tab

ou this mornin

ered, with a ready smile, "but ma leg is a bit tr

eclared reassuringly. "I expect

a wife and twa wee bairnies at hame, an' I were thinkin' as

best to save it," t

as badly splintered for a distance of three inches, and one large piece was torn away. We hoped to be able to put a steel plate upon the bone, and, by screwing it down, draw the

sins, its rubber covered floor, the most modern of surgical appliances, and, most impo

ly fractured. For a space of several inches there was nothing but tiny fragments, and

ne will never regenerate. This leg should c

Might it be used as a splint? We fitted it in between the upper and lower fragment-it was just long enough to be wedged between. We drilled a

careless! Every case is a special one; every "Tommy" the private patient of the Empire. The su

lean wound-no infection-we had hopes. Six weeks later the bone had

d. This miniature military "Police-Court" sits every morning, with the commanding officer as judge. If the court is small, it is by no

cap. The sergeant-major, in equally dread attire, ordered the guard and prisoner (the latter being minus both belt and cap-these app

orried expression; his smile had disa

e Jogma

th conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, in that he, on the

Jogman, you have heard the charge against yo

," Jogman mutter

le lifting of the brush of red hair which did service in lieu of eyebrows. T

t of the Military Police,

ct and convincing. The accused, when ask

st witness?" th

nt Honk

you know of this case?

was talkin' to a lady h'on the main street of Paree-plaige, when h'I 'e

drily. "I daresay what y

n was a-screamin' an' runnin' into their 'ouses. H'I run to the corner as fast as me legs could carry me-" Jogman looked instinctively at Ho

ke h-- (h'excuse me, sir); well, 'e were goin' som

toxicated?" the c

and afore h'I gets to 'im, th' Sergeant o' Police 'ad 'im

s to put to the witnes

nt Honk state, sir, how many beers he ha

er hue of red, and shuffled uncomf

sternly. "There is plenty of other evidence to show

all equally damning. At last the colonel asked t

d my head has been queer ever since. When I take a drink I don'

your head is queerer than before. For the crime of which you are guilty

oked up e

e that you will not touch another dro

he colonel's face; he had never seen him look so severe before. It was a big sacrifice

days First Fie

d "office" was over for the day. Remorseful recollectio

whole war fer me," he gru