In the
common room were a number of officers playing cards at little tables.
The air was blue with smoke and numerous bottles of wine stood on the
tables.
A young French woman sat over in a corner chatting confidentially in
French to a Canadian officer who thought he was replying in the same
language. Neither understood a word that the other said, though both
were obviously delighted at their success in making themselves
understood, so what was the difference?
The scene, which grew more and more interesting as the evening
advanced, was brought to a sudden conclusion by the entrance of a
Lieutenant, who announced that nine o'clock had struck; in a moment
the room was emptied, lights were out and we were all wending our ways
homeward.
The first impressions of a soldier at the front are invariably the
most vivid. A week after we had settled down to routine work we had
occasion to visit one of the advanced dressing stations in our area.
Leaving our little town by motor we crossed the canal by the
lift-bridge after waiting to allow three Dutch barges to pass through.
These lift bridges are hinged about one third of the way from one end
and are raised by means of stout cables hitched to the other end and
passing back to towers. They are so balanced that little effort is
required to raise or lower them.
Turning to the left we struck into a pave road which led for some
distance along the canal bank.
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