The Winslow mail., 1914-10-03


get out of the main column and lie I'D
in a kind of little harbor very much
neglected and weed grown before a de-
serted house. We broke into this and
found some herrings in Il barrel, a
heap of cheeses and stone bottles of
gin in the cellar and with this cheer
ed my starving men. We made fires
and toasted the cheese and grilled our
behring's. None of us had slept for
nearly forty hours, and | determined
to stay in this refuge until dawn, and
then, if the traffic was still choked.
leave the barge and march the rest of
the way into Alkmaar.
This place we had got into was per
haps hundred yards from the canal,
and underneath a little brick bridge
we could see the fotilla still and hear
the voices of the soldiers Presently
five or six other barges came through
and lay up in the mere near by us.
and with two of these full of men of
the Antrim regiment | shared my find
Of provisions. In return we got to-
baccO. A large eXpanse of water
spread to the westward of us. and be-
yond were a cluster of roofs and one
or two church towers The barge was
rather cramped for so many men, and
| let several squads, thirty or forty
perhaps altogether. bivouac on the
bank. | did not let them go into the
house on account of the furniture. and
| left a note Of Indebtedness for the
food we had taken We were par
ticularly glad of our tobacco and fires.
because of the numerous mosquitoes
that rose about us.
"The gate of the house from which
we had proyisioned ourselves was
adorned with the legend 'Vreugde BIZ
yrede' CJOy with peace9. and if bore
every mark of the busy retirement of
a comfort loving proprietor. went
along his garden. which was gay and
delightful with big bushes of rose and
sweetbrier, to quaint little summer.
house, and there I sat and watched
the men in groups cooking and squat
ting along the bank. The sun was
setting in nearly cloudless sky.
'For the last two weeks | had been
wholly occupied man, intent only upon
Obeying the orders that came down t.
me. All through this time | had beer
working to the very limit of my menta.
and physical faculties and my only
moments of rest had been devoted tt
Snatches of sleep. Now came this rare
unexpected interlude and | could lool
ietachedly upon what | was doing anC,
feel something of its infinite wonder
fulneSS. | was irradiated with affec
ton for the men of my company ant
with admiration at their cheerful ac
quiescence in the subordination am
needs of our position. | watched theiI
proceedings and heard their pleasant
voices How willing those men were
How ready to accept leadership and
forget themselves in collective ends.
thought how manfully they had gone
through all the strain and toll of the
last two weeks, how they had toughen
ed and shaken down to cOmradeshi
together and how much sweetness
here is after all in our foolish human
blood For they were just one casua
sample of the species-their patience
md readiness lay, as the energy of the
tom had lain, still waiting to be prop,
'rly utilized. Again it came to ms
With overpOWering force that the su
Ireme need of our race is leading, that
he supreme task is to discover lead
ng, to forget oneself in realizing the
=
more saw life plain"
Very characteristic is that of the
rather too corpulent" young officer
who was afterward to set it all down
u the Wander Jahre." Very charac
eristic, too, it is of the change i'll mems
hearts that was even then preparing
new phase of human history.
He goes on to write of the escape
from individuality in science and ser
vice and of his discovery Of this ''sal
Sation." All that was then no doubt
very moving and original; now it seems
,nly the most obvious commonplace OF
1uman life.
The glow of the sunset faded. the
Wight deepened into night The fires
burnt the brighter and some lriShmeD
away across the mere started singing
But Barnet's men were too weary fol
shat sort of thing. and soon the bank
md the barge were heaped with sleep
ng forms.
II alone seemed unable to sleep.
suppose was oyerWeary. and after
/ little feverish slumber by the tillel
Of the barge | sat up, awake and un
easy.
THAT night Holland seemed all sky
There was just little black lower rim
to things, "a steeple perhaps or line
| If pOplars and then the great hemis.
phere swept over us. And at first the
sky was empty Yet my uneasiness
referred itself in some vague way to
the sky.
"And now | was melancholy !
| found something strangely sorrowful
and submissive in the seepers all
4 bOut me- those men who had marched