Send re-enforcements.' When the message
reached the other end of the trench," he said, "it was: 'Enemy
advancing with ham shank. Send three and fourpence!'"
It was a gay little meal, the only breaks in the conversation when the
great guns drowned out our voices. I wonder how many of those round
that table are living to-day. Not all, it is almost certain. The
German Army almost broke through the English line at that very point
in the late spring. The brave Canadians have lost almost all their
officers in the field and a sickening percentage of their men. That
little valley must have run deep with blood since I saw it that day in
the sunlight.
Luncheon was over. I wrote my name in the visitors' book, to the tune
of such a bombardment as almost forbade speech, and accompanied by
General H---- we made our way down the steep hillside to the car.
"Some time to-night I shall be in England," I said as I settled myself
for the return trip.
The smile died on the general's face. It was as if, in speaking of
home, I had touched the hidden chord of gravity and responsibility
that underlay the cheerfulness of that cheery visit.
"England!" he said. That was all.
I looked back as the car started on. A battery was moving up along the
road behind the hill. The sentry stood by his low painted tent.
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