Kindness, unselfishness and sympathy are all engendered by trench life.  There is no school on earth to equal the school of generous thoughtfulness which is found on the battle-fields of Europe to-day.  There we men are finding ourselves in that we are finding true sympathy with our brother man.  We have everything in common.  We have the hardship of the trench, and the nearness of death.  The man of title, the Bachelor of Arts, the bootblack, the lumberjack and the millionaire’s son meet on common ground.  We wear the same uniform, we think the same thoughts, we do not remember what we were, we only know what we are—­soldiers fighting in the same great cause.

CHAPTER IX

ALL FUSSED UP AND NO PLACE TO GO

Some days in the trenches are dreariness itself.  Sometimes we get discouraged to the point of exhaustion, but these days are rare and when they do occur there is always an alleviation.  In every trench, in every section, there is some one who is a joker; who is a true humorist, and who can carry the spirits of the troops with him to the place where grim reality vanishes and troubles are forgotten.

The nights pass quickly enough because at night we have plenty to do.  But even while carrying out duties at night many humorous things happen.  Take, for instance, the passing of messages up and down the line.

To the civilian message-sending might appear much the same day or night, but not so.  In the day we can speak without fear of being overheard, but at night no one knows but that Hans or Fritz may be a few feet on the other side of the parapet with ears cocked for all sounds.  So communications have to be made with care.  Sometimes the change of a syllable might alter the meaning of a sentence and cause disaster.

A message at night is whispered in lowest tones from man to man.  This is a branch of the service for the young recruit to practise.  It means much, and a thoughtless error is unpardonable.  The first man receives the communication from the officer.  Through the silence will come a soft “Hs-s-s.”  The next in line will creep up and get the words.  He in turn calls to the next man and whispers on the order.

It was one night early in the fighting that Major Kirkpatrick sent the message down the line four hundred yards along:  “Major Kirkpatrick says to tell Captain Parkes to send up reinforcements to the right in a hurry.”  That was the message as I got it.  That was the message as I transmitted it to the next man.  To Captain Parkes the message ran in a hurried whisper:  “Major Kirkpatrick says to tell Captain Parkes to send up ’three and fourpence’ to the right in a hurry.”

When Major Kirkpatrick received three shillings and fourpence he was almost in a state of collapse.  Luckily, the situation was not serious, or possibly we might have lost heavily.  This shows how imperative it is to have absolute accuracy.