reliable, and as soldierly in the future, as they had been in the past,
until final victory had been fully accomplished!....

How they cheered him as he made his way to his car!

At first the Tommies had not realised what was happening. There had been
disturbing cries of "What's all this abart?" "Oo's the 'ole bloke?" But
they had soon ceased, and in a few seconds the men were crowding round
with eager faces, hanging on the words of their leader. He commiserated
with them upon their losses; he understood what they had been through.
In a word, he appreciated them, and in the Army appreciation is a "rare
and refreshing fruit." Although they would have died rather than own it,
there was a feeling of tears behind the eyes of a good many of those
tough old warriors. The personality of the Field-Marshal, and his
heartening words, had brightened many a grim face, and lightened many a
heavy load.




CHAPTER X

A PAUSE, AND MORE MARCHING


A village called Amigny was reached at about six o'clock in the evening,
and here the Battalion, in its usual evening state of prostration, was
billeted.

The Company settled down in the chief "estaminet" of the place. The