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[Page 33]
Press of Australia "also ran" and I had a few minutes yam with him. He is an old Savage
and I kicked my inopportune self when I thought of my foolish neglect in not having, during the time I was in London, called on him. The Prime Minister was very cordial and everyone seemed pleased to see the wonderful little man - such a pocket edition of brains and energy. To-day I started a new thing, which should turn out well. I must confess I feel unpractised and would like to get down to a lot of graphic scales and five finger exercises, d'un facon de parler. Another thing is the amount of fatigue one can acquire on coming anew at the painting business.
I feel it particularly in the shoulders and feet - they fairly ache. Leist was telling me a yarn of the English sergeant-major who asked a soldier who complained of being ill where the pain was. "In the abdomen, sergeant-major", "Look 'ere young feller, me lad; it's only officers as 'as abdomens: soldiers 'as guts." Well. I'm a soldier and that's where the pain is. I'm glad you are beginning to get my letter, for I'm told the post is very irregular these times and letters in any case take a long time to get to their destination, I owe a lot of them to various people but don't feel inclined to write to them. I just save enough energy to get your's off and that's all I can manage. I'll have to go now to find Leist."
St Gratien
3/7/18
I have very little to say to-day. Last night I went out looking for Leist, but couldn't find him, so I went back to my billet intending to go to bed. There I got yarning with one of the boys and as a big strafe started and interrupted our conversation we stopped talking and went out to have a look at it. The whole of the ridge that constituted the visible front was leaping with flashes and the bellowing never ceased for a second. We watched it for a time and then turned in. This morning I tried to paint it but it's one of those things to be described rather than pictured. At the mess at lunch time to-day I learned that I had been wanted at H.Q. but the message had never reached me; however I went along and found that something in the way of settled policy