Cawn't you give me somethink to buck me up, Doc
please?"
The Doc did give him something, and between that and a little
judicious "jollying" Kipple was a different man in a few days.
Of course there was trouble. The contingent was going through a rough
experience, and to most of us Salisbury Plain was becoming a
nightmare. A fairly large number of the men were given leave, and an
equally large number took French leave. The latter migrated in large
numbers to the little villages around the outskirts of the plain where
they settled down to a few days' comfort before they were rounded up
by the military police.
Some went to London, and, worshipping at the shrines of Venus and
Bacchus, forgot about the war, and tarried in the fascinating
metropolis. Others sought a few hours' respite and forgetfulness in
the town of Salisbury, where they hobnobbed with their British
confreres and treated them to various drinks. At times the British
Tommy, stung at the flaunting of pound notes where he had only
shillings, smote his colonial brother, and bloody battles resulted in
consequence thereof.
[Illustration: MECHANICAL TRANSPORTS IN SALISBURY FLOODS.]
It was a curious fact that it was the Englishman who had gone out to
Canada a few years before and now returned as a Canadian, who was the
chief offender in this respect. He had gained a new airiness and sense
of freedom which he was proud of, and it brought him into trouble.
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