"Your friend had better call to-morrow then, for I leave to-morrow
evening for the Somme front; will you tell him?"

I replied that I would, and left the telephone well satisfied, but
cursing the fates that made it advisable to keep clear of No. 10,
Kafelle Strasse for thirty-six hours. Needless to say next day I rang
up again in order to tell the Colonel that Lieutenant Schenk had
apparently been detained, as he was not yet back in Bruges, and how I
felt sure that he would be sorry at missing the Colonel, etc., etc.,
but all this camouflage was unnecessary, as she herself came to the
'phone. I could have kissed the instrument when I told her of my
stratagem and heard her silvery laughter in my ear.

"It is arranged that to-morrow, starting at 10.30, we motor for the day
to the Forest of Meten, taking our lunch and tea with us--pray Heaven
the weather holds."

To-night in the Mess it is generally considered that U.B.40 has been
lost; she is ten days overdue and was operating off Havre, she has made
no signal for a fortnight. Such is the price of victory and the cost of
war--death, perhaps, in some terrible form, but bah! away with such
thoughts, to-morrow there is love and life and Zoe!

* * * * *

Once more it is night, still the guns rumble on the same old dismal
tones, and as it is raining now it must be getting bad up at the front.
Except for the rain it might have been last night, but much has
happened to me in the meanwhile.