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[Page 5]
substitutes. Elderly, splay-footed, all wrists and knuckles, and round-shouldered, he didn't look the part of a bearer of burdens, and I told him so. However, he assured us with amused pride that these fardels were a mere bagatelle for a man of his calibre, and producing a greasy length of window cord he cunningly slung the two bulky bundles over his shoulder and shambled to the station. We - the two sergeants, Scott and myself, went with him and, that done, were then directed to the camp. The sergeants (who were Tommies) were decent, chatty fellows and they strongly advised us first to get something to eat. The first place we tried we were told by the waitress was only for officers, so, out we went. The next looked all right, but when we saw some officers eating there Scott suggested that he should ask if our presence was objectionable to them. He spoke to a lieutenant, who told him that, for his part, he was agreeable but he would ask a colonel, who was dining, if he minded. The colonel did, most decidedly, so we went on the search again, and at last found a place and did pretty well. We then set out for the camp, and after passing some wrecked streets, the successful result of a Hun raid of the night before, reached the cheerless place; a sort of a "khan" on our pilgrimage. Awaiting our advent there, was an excited Sar. Major who told us that the adjutant wanted to see us at once for an explanation as to why we hadn't come "with the draft". We went to his office and were greeted with a fine, free gush of denunciatory oaths. As the cad had an Oxford accent, was a captain and looked a gentleman, his profanity and deliberately offensive manners were an obvious misfit. I let him cool down (or rather cease, for his heat was assumed) and then quietly explained the situation. He let us go and we sought our tent, where we found that the one subject of the camp was the mean ration and the bounderism of this jack-in-office. Next day, the 8th, we found that we had to entrain at the Tintelleries station, so S. & I left the camp earlier than the others, to retrieve our luggage from the Boulogne station. We got a cab from the latter place and arrived at Tintelleries in plenty of time. There we made friends with 3 charming young French women, ladies who were doing