The Washington herald., 1914-11-29
LONDON, November 10.


quisite! 1t was so lovely
even in London the last few
weeks that we scuttled away
to the country for a while, and for
short interval basked in such peace and
quiet, such soft slanting sunshine and
mellowness Of autumn as made that
great battle on the Aisne, which has al I
most ceased to be a battle and becoH-a
war in itself, seem an impossibility, an
outrage.
It's always difficult to be concerned
about the fate of nations in a garden
when the sun is shining, isn't It? The
flaming scarlet of the creeper is royalty
gorgeous, the gold that fecks the trees
SO beautiful. the frost that might bite
the dahlias such an absorbing fear and
that last litter in the stables so absorb
ingly and awfuIly attractive.
And for those of us who carry in
wardly, If not outwardly, the wounds OF
war, a garden, too, is almost the only
place where one can bear to be alive in.
Nature is the only anodyne for the sor-
row that's everywhere these days, and
grief is unbearable in cities.
But to sit idle-and also happy-long
is not among present possibilities, is 1t?
So every afternoon we forsook the gar
den that I love and drove where the
thousands of recruits were being turned
from a rabble into a regiment, or else
visited the hospitals with such flowers
and honey and eggs and butter and
things as we could snatch from the
household stores.
l still find one of the most touching
sides Of this war. you know, the splendid
way our men have answered to the call
to arms and the sight of those thousands
Of men, most as yet not even in uni
form, but all trying SO very, very hard
to be soldiers, used to make me swallow
something in my throat that wasn't. OF
course, q tear, every single time we saw
them.
For vc-l know, dearest beloved, they
don't come by any means from the low
est classes, those recruits. Indeed
large proportion are gentlemen, and
roughing it is very difficult for them. per-
VIVA
put upon the quality Of their patriotism.
On chilly nights one gathers that they
sometimes feel uncommonly sorry for
themselves, poor dears. And some who
have never slept before in anything but
fine linen are finding the frequent liveli-
ness Of the army blanket not the least
of life's new crosses.
At the hospital we found an almost in
vincible cheerfulness the outstanding
feaure It's quite wonderful, an officer
told us, how soldiers in all the armies
60 into battle, smoking pipes and cigar
cites, whistling or singing, with an
amazing sangfroid and an unfailing
sense Of humor. So many Of our wound
ed British soldiers are shot in the feet
and legs that am afraid that their de-
sire to get back to the front will be a
long time coming.
All Of US, you know, are searching
through our attics and cupboards and all
the dusty storing places to get out the
games that used to amuse US when we
were little tots and even when we were
very much older. Think of all those
wounded soldiers, those poor dears, ly-
ing in a hospital day after day and in
nearly all cases far away from their fam
nies. They simply must have something
to take their minds| of themselves, so. we
are raking the kingdom for games and
books and everything else we think the
Tommies can amuse themselves with.
We try to make the German wounded
talk, but they won't say a word. and only
look glum. The Prussian Tommys sell
dom q handsome lad, from our stand
point. He's always a shaven-headed,
short-sighted, red-cheeked person.
Royalty, too, spent a long weekend
visiting, and "ofice hours 10 to 6" was