The girls and women hung on the arms of the British and said that their only hope was in them. The children played with them and the old people were cheered up by their songs and laughter as they marched through the villages. Mr. Thomas Atkins was as brave in resisting the temptations of this popularity as he was when he came, as he soon did, to his first battles. The brave are always tender-hearted, and our soldiers were as humane and considerate to those whom they conquered as they were strong and courageous in conquering. After the battle the men with whom they had been fighting were no longer enemies. They were, if wounded, poor fellows to be pitied and helped. And our men were generous in their appreciation. One man wrote: "In spite of all we say about the Teuton he is taking his punishment well, and we've got a big job on our hands. Getting to Berlin isn't going to be a cheap excursion." CHAPTER II Courage What is courage or fortitude? There are many kinds of it, but Locke's definition covers most cases. "It is the quiet possession of a man's self, and an undisturbed doing of his duty, whatever evil beset him, or danger lie in his way." There are those who have courage to fight, but not to wait. Where duty says, "Go forward," to halt or to go in any other direction is cowardice; where duty says, "Stand still," to go forward is cowardice. Our soldiers have shown themselves capable of both kinds of courage. At the battle of Mons they were brave enough to retreat when ordered, though they were driving the Germans before them at the point of the bayonet. They said that they could not understand why the order to retreat was given, but they trusted their leaders. "Tommy Atkins, you're a fighter. An' your work is clean and sweet-- When you've got a job before you, Why you goes an' does it neat; Tommy Atkins, you're a hero, With your 'masterly retreat!' "Tommy Atkins, you're a Saxon, An' you're bloomin' hard to beat, And you've borne the brunt o' fightin' And you've kept upon your feet-- An' you've learned the precious lesson Of a 'masterly retreat!' "Tommy Atkins, you're a soldier, An' your work is clean and sweet, An' you've won a dozen battles By a nicely-timed defeat-- Tommy Atkins, you're a hero, With your 'masterly retreat'!" "Ah," said a French officer, "we lose so heavily, we French. We haven't the patience of the English. They are fine and can wait: we must rush." But indeed the very constancy of the courage of our soldiers may sometimes hide it. We take it for granted. We become so accustomed to read of the coolness of Mr. Thomas Atkins amidst a hail of bullets, that we begin to fancy that with a good umbrella we would be equally indifferent to the shower. Is courage then natural, and are all men brave? Quite the contrary. What is natural is an instinctive desire to save life and limb, and those who overcome this from a sense of duty ought to get credit for doing so.