Infantry were pouring through, the stern remnants of fine battalions.  Ever since the night after Le Cateau infantry in column of route have fascinated us, for a regiment on the march bares its character to the world.

First there were our brigades marching up to Mons, stalwart and cheering.  After Le Cateau there were practically no battalions, just a crowd of men and transport pouring along the road to Paris.  I watched the column pass for an hour, and in it there was no organised unit larger than a platoon, and only one platoon.  How it happened I do not know, but, when we turned on the Germans, battalions, brigades, divisions, corps had been remade.  The battalions were pitifully small.  Many a time we who were watching said to one another:  Surely that’s not the end of the K.O.Y.L.I., or the Bedfords, or whatever regiment it might be!

A battalion going into action has some men singing, some smiling vaguely to themselves, some looking raptly straight ahead, and some talking quickly as if they must never stop.

A battalion that has come many miles is nearly silent.  The strong men stride tirelessly without a word.  Little weak men, marching on their nerves, hobble restlessly along.  The men with bad feet limp and curse, wilting under the burden of their kit, and behind all come those who have fallen out by the way—­men dragging themselves along behind a waggon, white-faced men with uneasy smiles on top of the waggons.  A little farther back those who are trying to catch up:  these are tragic figures, breaking into breathless little runs, but with a fine wavering attempt at striding out, as though they might be connecting files, when they march through a town or past an officer of high rank.

A battalion that has just come out of action I cannot describe to you in these letters, but let me tell you now about Princess Pat’s.  I ran into them just as they were coming into Bailleul for the first time and were hearing the sound of the guns.  They were the finest lot of men I have ever seen on the march.  Gusts of great laughter were running through them.  In the eyes of one or two were tears.  And I told those civilians I passed that the Canadians, the fiercest of all soldiers, were come.  Bailleul looked on them with more fright than admiration.  The women whispered fearfully to each other—­Les Canadiens, les Canadiens!...

We despatch riders were given a large room in the house where the Divisional Staff was billeted.  It had tables, chairs, a fireplace and gas that actually lit; so we were more comfortable than ever we had been before—­that is, all except N’Soon, who had by this time discovered that continual riding on bad roads is apt to produce a fundamental soreness.  N’Soon hung on nobly, but was at last sent away with blood-poisoning.  Never getting home, he spent many weary months in peculiar convalescent camps, and did not join up again until the end of January.  Moral—­before going sick or getting wounded become an officer and a gentleman.