Each side shelling all day unceasingly, with the usual quota of bombs. We were relieved at 7.30 p.m., and came back in safety to ----, after six more days of LIFE? Very weary, and thankful for quiet and my valise. _Sunday, Jan. 16th._ Marched to a small village--seven miles, and found we had comfortable billets, and a mattress for the writer. Moving again to ----, nine miles from here, to-morrow. HURRAH! We are (or should be) “out” for sixteen days. _Jan. 17th._ Marched to ---- on the famous cobble-stones of France the whole way. Poor feet! On arriving was delighted to find I had a cosy room with feather bed and a good mess 200 yards down the road. Spent the evening trying to get level with correspondence. Hope we shall stay here all the time. Shall spend most of my spare moments writing--one of my chief pleasures when out, especially now I’ve got a respectable pen! _Jan. 18th._ Slack day. Enjoyed the luxury of a “mess” and a fire. Spent a lot of time writing. _Jan. 19th._ My second birthday in the Army.... To-day’s events, musketry and rifle drill, and shooting on a temporary range in afternoon. Lovely day--like spring. _Jan. 20th to 28th._ Detailed for course of bombing instruction; and between these dates I learn much concerning these nefarious love-tokens. _Jan. 28th to Feb. 14th._ Our period of “Rest.” (Time spent out of the trenches is so miscalled in the Army!) It was extended for reasons known only to those in lofty positions, and we spent the time in performing all the evolutions of an infantry battalion in training, drill, manœuvres, etc. Of course, all this is very necessary after the sometimes enforced inactivity of the trenches, and helps to pull out the kinks; but it gets rather monotonous, and when we heard that we were off to the line again every one was glad. _Feb. 15th._ Said good-bye to our friends of the village and headed once more for the Land of Thrills. It took us three days, doing it in easy stages. _Feb. 18th._ Found ourselves in cellars in a much-ruined village just behind the line, viz. ----. There were exciting events last night, before our arrival, a few enemy mines having gone “up,” and as soon as we arrived we had to begin fatiguing, connecting up the craters with the front line. (At this point the diary abruptly finishes; but the writer was kept busy from day to day in the routine manner, doing his turn in each line, with the usual “hate” progressing, but nothing of great importance happening. Long exposure to the severe weather sent him into hospital, thence home, invalided. The very day after he reported “nothing of great importance happening” many of his comrades fell in a gallant and desperate assault on the Hohenzollern Redoubt.) CHAPTER XVIII SAVING THE SOLDIER: DR. GRENFELL’S EXPERIENCE