Produced by Juliet Sutherland Robert Prince and PG Distributed ProofreadersThe Comrade in White_BY THE REV_W H LEATHEM M AINTRODUCTION BY HUGH BLACK  I shall not fear the battle  If Thou art by my side1916INTRODUCTIONThe Great War has put a strain on the resources of human nature aswell as on material resources Men who have come through the hell ofthe trenches have discovered some of the secrets of life and deathMany of them have known a reinforcement of spiritual power It isquite natural that this fact should often be described in emotionalform as direct interposition of angels and other supernaturalagencies Among these the most beautiful and tender stories arethose of The Comrade in White In essence they are all testimonyto the perennial fount of strength and comfort of religionthehuman need which in all generations has looked up and found God apresent help in times of troubleThe origin of the many stories brought back to England from thebattle fronts by her soldiers is that to the average Briton this areligious crusade and men have gone with an exaltation of soulwilling to make the ultimate sacrifice willing to die that theworld might live Men and women are face to face with eternalrealities and are driven by the needs of their hearts to theeternal refuge Unless we see this we miss the most potent fact inthe whole situationThe tender stories in this little volume are a reflex of the greatreligious stirring of the nation They describe in a gracious andpathetic way the various abysmal needs of this tragic time and theyindicate how many human souls are finding comfort and healing andstrength They are finding peace as of old through the assurancethat earth has no sorrows that heaven cannot healHUGH BLACKNEW YORKTHE WHITE COMRADEI  When soldiers of the Cross waged Holy War  With courage high and hearts that did not quail  Before the foe in olden times they saw  The blessed vision of the Holy Grail  Tho Christ was gone His pledge was with them yet  For borne on wings of angels from the skies  They saw the chalice that once held the wine  As emblem of the Saviours sacrifice  For men and knew that still the Master met  With His own friends in fellowship divineII  Christ has His soldiers now  Though years have rolled  Away the warriors of the Cross are strong  To fight His battles as the saints of old  Against oppression tyranny and wrong  And still amid the conflict they can trace  The Saviours influence Not the Holy Grail  Which once as His remembrance was adored  But Christ Himself is with them For a veil  Is lifted from their eyes and face to face  They meet the presence of the risen LordIII  O blessed vision After all the years  Thourt with us yet Today as heretofore  Men see Thee still and they cast off their fears  And take fresh courage to press on once more  The soldiers bearing from the desperate fight  A wounded brother see Thee in the way  And know Thee for the Saviour Healer Friend  For once again Thy loved ones hear Thee say  O Christ White Comrade in their stand for right  Lo I am with you alway to the end_Fidei Defensor_CONTENTSI        IN THE TRENCHESII       THE MESSENGERIII      MAIMED OR PERFECTEDIV       THE PRAYER CIRCLE_I__IN THE TRENCHES_  And immediately He talked with them and  saith unto them Be of good cheer it is I be  not afraid  THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MAKK chap vi 50  And His raiment was white as snow  THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW chap xvii 2The Battle of Mons which saved the British Army from annihilationwas for the most of those who fought with the angels a sepulchreThey saved the British Army but they saved it at fearful cost Nogreat host withdrew from that field of destruction the great hoststrewed the ground with their bodies Only a remnant of those whostood in the actual furnace of Mons escaped with their lives  Letthose who mourn take encouragement from these stories of visions onthe battlefield quietly and with a childs confidence cultivatewithin themselves a waiting receptive and desiring spirit Let themempty themselves of prejudice and self Let them detachthemselves more and more from the obsessions of worldly lifeSerenity is the path by which the thoughts of God travel to us andFaith is the invitation which brings them to the table of our soulsON THE SIDE OF THE ANGELSIIN THE TRENCHESStrange tales reached us in the trenches Rumours raced up and downthat threehundredmile line from Switzerland to the sea We knewneither the source of them nor the truth of them They came quicklyand they went quickly Yet somehow I remember the very hour whenGeorge Casey turned to me with a queer look in his blue eyes andasked if I had seen the Friend of the WoundedAnd then he told me all he knew After many a hot engagement a manin white had been seen bending over the wounded Snipers sniped athim Shells fell all around Nothing had power to touch him He waseither heroic beyond all heroes or he was something greater stillThis mysterious one whom the French called _The Comrade in White_seemed to be everywhere at once At Nancy in the Argonne atSoissons and Ypres everywhere men were talking of him with hushedvoicesBut some laughed and said the trenches were telling on mens nervesI who was often reckless enough in my talk exclaimed that for meseeing was believing and that I didnt expect any help but anenemys knife if I was found lying out there woundedIt was the next day that things got lively on this bit of the frontOur big guns roared from