The M.O. thoroughly enjoyed that drive; all along the road officers
and men saluted the car deferentially and the M.O. acknowledged these
salutes most graciously. Somehow or other the world seemed to be
peculiarly affable to the M.O. and by the time Hazebrouk was reached
he simply beamed on everybody.
As they drove up to the hospital there happened to be a General and a
Colonel chatting to the officer commanding the hospital at the front
door. Much to the M.O.'s surprise the General saluted first but as he
made haste to acknowledge the salute, he observed that the General was
smiling at the lieutenant beside him. Then, only, did it dawn upon the
M.O. that the lieutenant was the Prince of Wales and his confusion was
so great that he could never afterwards recall just what he did for
the next three or four hours. He was heard to say that night that the
Prince of Wales was "an awful decent chap and a thorough gentleman"
and also that the Burgundy wine in Hazebrouk was of very inferior
quality.
The work of the laboratory was very heavy from routine work of various
sorts and an attempt to stamp out diphtheria from a Scotch division.
Much the same sort of experiences as have been related elsewhere were
encountered and we had entered upon the fed-up stage of life at the
front. It needed something of extraordinary interest to rouse one's
interest to any unusual degree.
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