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Show N0 HERO-THISer,"& officers now and I think it is up to r them to take on the dirtier Jobs. There is nothing for you to feel sensitive about I'm in your debt, ' Btephen." "Oh, rot." "Oh, yes, I am. Tou palled us ! out of an ugly mess up there. The whole unit knows It and no one is going to grudge you the privilege of being something of a veteran." I look at him with affection. "You can always use me when you want to. I mean it Is rather a personal m alle r be t ween us. "Thanks, Stephen." To tell you the truth, I funked coming back. But I am feeling different about it now." Christmos Time Christmas! We are out of the line, and in a hamlet in the Hare-brouck Hare-brouck area. Bond has foraged finely for Christmas. The men have ber, turkey and plum pudding. Salntley, our highbrow among the sergeants, has organised a concert party and I discover that my man Finch is a consummate clown. We have a roaring dinner In the mess and then transfer ourselves to the barn and sit among the men. Gibbs is called on for a song and brings down the ahinglea with "Annie Laurie." There Is an officers' race and I win it by a yard from the camel CHAPTER 23 - Tha fifth day. Half my leave gone. I have made friends with my small daughter. That Is to say sh does not burst Into tears when 1 ! twiddle by fingers at her and maki friendly noises. She stares at mt 1 and deigns to smile. We become conversational She says somethings some-things that sound like goo-goo, and - I goo-goo back like a cuckoo clock. bouncing her up and down. She approves " of the business and chuckles and bubbles down her bib. ' I tell her solemnly that Miss Joan ' Brent should have grown beyond i such a habit 8ix days gone. Seven days gone. A Chang In Wif. I notice a change In my wife. We began my leave by being Irresponsibly Irresponsi-bly happy. There were wonderful days before us. Then our happiness happi-ness became a bright cheerfulness, an avoidance of anything like alienee. al-ienee. But w have moments of silence now, and suddenly wa seem to feel guilty, and look at each other oi avoid looking at each other and begin be-gin to chatter. Oh, God! I don't want to go back. I find at range aolao la -tha pre-ence pre-ence of my small daughter. I like to play with her and watch her crawling about the floor. She is so supremely Innocent We are on excellent ex-cellent terms now and I can make funny faces at her and she chuckles, May there be no war in her world. Mary Insists that a certain noise Joan Phyllis had produced la undoubtedly un-doubtedly "daddy." I am a little skeptical, but let us cherish the Illusion. The last morning. I have to catcb a very early train in order to make contact at Victoria. I rise in the winter darkness and look out of the window. The world is very black and stllL I go to the bathroom and shave, and while I am there I hear Mary go downstairs. Sh is getting our breakfast ready herself. Oh, this brittle brightness, the poor little platitudes we utter! I feel I cannot bear much mora of It I want to ba out of thla dear house and alone with my silly self in the darkness. Wa go up to tha nursery. I pick Joan Phyllis out of her cot and kiss her and make cheerful noises. She chucklea at me. I push her into Mary's arms and kiss my wife. "Goodbve. dear. Don't nmi rinwn backed Potter, much to Finch's satisfaction. sat-isfaction. Apparently he had 5 francs on me which, I suppose, was purblind prejudice. In the tug of war C section beats both A and B. The transport put up a ridiculous point to point on draught horses and the race Is won by a corporal dressed In clothes borrowed from an old grandma who lives at the farm. He buckets around the course shouting, "Chase me. I'm not too old at TO for un poo d'amoor." Parcels, letters, saunterings Into Hasebrouck to have tea at a cafe where a pretty girl takes round the cakes. She is known as Mademoiselle Mademoi-selle Peut-etr for. If asked the amorous and playful question, she winks, cocks her chin and replica, "Peut-etre." Carless is always wanting Hasebrouck leave. I don't think I have ever laughed so much for a week. Life seems good and secure to me for the moment mo-ment and I love this sleeping winter landscape. Moreover, rumor haa It that our division is not to return to the infernal aallent and that new horiaons and hasards lie before us. I am glad. I do not know why, but with tha coming of the new year a breath of hope seems to play amid Stay here." I leave her with the child, go down, put on my coat and cap and sling my haversack over my shoulder. shoul-der. Tha street door is still locked and bolted. I open it carefully and stand listening. There Is not a sound. I close the door gently upon the silent ouse and walk quickly down tha dark and empty atreet Oh, damn everything! I have a feeling that I shall not see my wife and child again. The Menln road. I see tha familiar fa-miliar faces and know myself among friends. They are glad to sea me, and God knows I am glad to aee them. Gibbs picks me up and holds me over tha Canadian stove. "The infant has gained 10 pounds In a week, sir!" "That comas of a diet of medals. Did you sea "Georgia,' dadda?" I pinch Gibbs' nose and ha puts ma down on the masa table opposite oppo-site Fairfax. "Will you carve, or shall I sir?" Fairfax tickles me. "Get up. the frosted hedgra. 1918. Will thia year see the end? We can aee no end, but aomehow there ia born in me an edge of hope, like the crescent cres-cent of the new moon hanging above the poplars. Moving to The South Tha division Is moving south and Into tha mysterious sea of rumor. We hear that wa are taking over more of the line from the French in spite of the fact that our fighting strength has been reduced. We travel by train. The Somme country coun-try once more. Wa detrain at a little lit-tle wayside station in Santerre and march In frosty clear weather to the village of Beaucourt I find myself billeted in what Is known as tha little chateau. My window looks across a lane at the high gray wall and the trees of the great chateau. Headquarters are housed In the great chateau. It Is very French and weather worn and charming, with a low long facade of many windows and a gray roof. our headquarters and mess are in a farm and Fairfax gets his billet there. A funny crumpled old couple are in charge of the little chateau, kindly kind-ly people. I suppose in peacetimes this place ia a kind of dower house. I go and sit by tha stove with the old people in the evening and practice prac-tice my French. I provide tha old man with tobacco and share the contents of a parcel with madame. Potter and I have orders to close our temporary hospital and to rejoin re-join the unit I am sorry to leave my two old neoola and mv mm. sieevie, get up. This isnt a fitting position for my second In command." com-mand." Wa have two new officers. Captain Cap-tain Potter and Lieutenant Too-good, Too-good, and they are . Introduced to me. Fairfax takes me along after tea te his dugout I ait on a box and ha on his bed, and he talks to me like a father. "Aa second In command, Stephen, I want you to act as adjutant and help me at headquarters. You remember re-member my aaying that I waa going go-ing to consider you when the chance came. I have four young unmarried fortabl. bed and the little garden under my window In which blue hepatlca are coming Into flower. The division la in the line near St Quentin. Fairfax sends three ambulances for us and our equipment equip-ment and we go forward along a straight flat road lined with poplars Presently the live trees cease and we come to the old desolation. I see the name of a village painted on a board, but beyond a few heaps of bricks there la no village to be aeen. We cross the Somme. We pass through Peronne. It ia like a carcass that has been left to rot We arrive at another village that is a heap of rubbish In a valley amid these gray chalk hills. I will call It Blaincourt We turn up what was a atreet and the ambulances atop outside a series of broken walla. It is the usual local brewery in a state of ruin, but in this case the boche haa taken the trouble to blow in the cellars. The ground floor rooms and offices have been cleared of broken bricks and roofed with corrugated cor-rugated Iron. This is my new home. Fairfax appears in the doorway. He has been out riding and still carries his crop. He shows ms over our station. Apparently we are to function as an additional gaa treatment treat-ment center especially with regard to the treatment of mustard gas cases should the Germans attack on our front There Is one piece of good news. It ia not our turn to act aa the forward ambulance, and tha 201 F. A. are to ataf f the collecting collect-ing stations. I cannot help feeling relieved. (Continued Saturday.) ' (Copyright 1M7, for The Telegram.) |