while they laid away the sergeant who was killed. Kind hands have made
two pathetic little wreaths of roses; the grave under an apple-tree,
and the moon rising over the horizon; a siege-lamp held for the book.
Of the last 41 days the guns have been in action 33. Captain Lockhart,
late with Fort Garry Horse, arrived to relieve me. I handed over,
came up to the horse lines, and slept in a covered wagon in a courtyard.
We were all sorry to part -- the four of us have been very intimate
and had agreed perfectly -- and friendships under these circumstances
are apt to be the real thing. I am sorry to leave them in such a hot corner,
but cannot choose and must obey orders. It is a great relief from strain,
I must admit, to be out, but I could wish that they all were.
==


This phase of the war lasted two months precisely, and to John McCrae
it must have seemed a lifetime since he went into this memorable action.
The events preceding the second battle of Ypres received scant mention
in his letters; but one remains, which brings into relief
one of the many moves of that tumultuous time.


==
April 1st, 1915.

We moved out in the late afternoon, getting on the road a little after dark.
Such a move is not unattended by danger, for to bring horses and limbers
down the roads in the shell zone in daylight renders them liable
to observation, aerial or otherwise. More than that, the roads are now
beginning to be dusty, and at all times there is the noise which carries far.
The roads are nearly all registered in their battery books,