horses and men when a "crisis" might have occurred at any moment!
Luckily, however, dignity was preserved. Land at last "hove in sight" as
the grey morning grew paler and clearer. What busy-looking quays! More
clatter of disembarkation. No time to think or look about.

Then, all being ready, we mounted and trekked off to a so-called "rest
camp" near the town, most uneasy and hectic. But food late that evening
restored our hilarity. A few hours' sleep and we moved off once more
into the night, the horses' feet sounding loud and harsh on the unending
French cobbles. By 8 a.m. we were all packed into this train. Now we are
passing by lovely, almost English, wooded hills. Here a well-known town
with its cathedral looks most enticing. I long to explore. Such singing
from the men's carriages! Being farmers mostly, they are interested in
the unhedged fields and the acres of cloches. They go into hysterics of
laughter when the French people assail them with smiles, broken
English-French, and long loaves of bread. They think the long loaves
_very_ humorous! There are Y.M.C.A. canteens at most stations, so we are
well fed. The horses are miserable, of course. They were unhappy on
board ship. A horse can't be sick, you know, even if he wants to. And
now they are wretched in their trucks, Rinaldo and Swallow are, of
course, terrified, while Jezebel, having rapidly thought out the
situation, takes it all very quietly. She has just eaten an enormous
lunch. Poor Rinaldo wouldn't touch his, and Swallow only ate a very
little.

[Sidenote: FRANCE AT LAST]

In this carriage Jorrocks is snoring like thunder. Edward is eating
chocolate. Sir John is trying to plough through one of "these Frenchy
newspapers--damned nonsense, you know! they don't know what it all means