"Another difference between us is that they keep their buttons as bright as possible and themselves as spick and span as can be. The infantry officer gets his buttons as dull as possible, and if they are green so much the better, as it shows he has been through gas. He likes his clothes and especially his puttees to be rather torn, and his hat to be any old sloppy shape. If he gets a new hat he is almost ashamed to wear it--he is terrified of being mistaken for 'Kitcheners'! "Lord Kitchener and Mr. Asquith came here last evening. Here, to this convent. I don't know what for; but there was of course a good deal of stir here. "Way and I went into the town last night. We hired a _fiacre_ for the return journey. It came on to rain, so it was just as well we had a hood. We both thoroughly enjoyed the journey. The _fiacre_ was what would be dignified by the name of 'Victoria' in England. But in France, where it seems to be etiquette not to take any trouble over carriagework, _fiacre_ is the only word you could apply, and it just fits it. It expresses not only its shabbiness but also hints at its broken-backed appearance. "We went into some stables and inquired about a _fiacre_, and a fat boy in a blue apron with a white handkerchief tied over one eye said we could have one. So I said, 'Où est le cocher?' and he pointed to his breast and said, 'C'est moi!' "The fare, he said, would be six francs and the _pourboire_. Thoughtful of him not to forget that. We agreed, and he eventually produced the usual French horse. "The _fiacre_ was very comfortable and we were awfully tickled with the idea of us two in that absurd conveyance, especially when we passed staff officers, which was frequently. Altogether we were quite sorry when our drive was over." NOTE BY O. J. L. On 16 July 1915, Raymond came home on leave, and he had a great reception. On 20 July he went back. "_Sunday, 25 July 1915, 7.30 p.m._ "I have got quite a nice dug-out, with a chair and table in it. The table was away from the door and got no light, so I have spent about two hours to-day turning things round. I went to bed about three this morning (just after 'stand-to') and slept till nearly twelve. Then I had breakfast (bacon and eggs). As my former platoon Sergeant remarked: 'It is a great thing to have a few comforts, it makes you forget there is a war,' "So it does until a whizz-bang comes over. "I have just seen an aeroplane brought down (German luckily). I missed the first part, where one of ours went up to it and a flame shot across between them (machine gun, I expect). I ran out just in time to see the machine descending on fire. It came down quite steadily inside our lines (about a mile or more away), but the flames were quite clearly visible," "_Thursday, 29 July 1915, 7.35 p.m._