He received the news with the joy of a schoolboy who has been promised an extra holiday. “Won’t it be glorious,” he said, “to breast the sand-bags?” Then he went up to the trenches in the company of his servant, and when his men saw him they set up a cheer. “Sir,” said his servant, “this cheering is not good for you.” “I’m afraid,” said the major, with a twinkle in his eye, “you’re getting shell-shock already.” The great explosion took place, and before the burning earth had time to descend, Major Redmond was “over the top” and the first man in the regiment to face the awful scene. Before long he fell, wounded in the leg and wrist, and he was found lying on the battlefield by stretcher bearers of the Ulster division. It was an Ulster ambulance which carried him, wounded to the death, from that awful field of battle; and it was men from Ulster who tended him in his dying moments. So he did, indeed, give his life, not only in an attempt to drive back the Germans, but also to bring peace to Ireland. “WHEN CAN THEIR GLORY FADE?” We have read a great deal in this little book about the courage shown by men in the heat of the fight. But it did not take the excitement of attack or defence to rouse and sustain the courage of our men. Nor were they less brave and cheerful in weakness and in pain than they were on the field of battle. Read the words of a doctor[9] at the front:-- [9] Quoted from a private letter published in the _Times_, with acknowledgments. “We speak of brave men. Yes, these men are brave! If the people at home could see the conditions under which our fellows fight, and how they die, I swear that every head would uncover to the colours of any regiment bearing the name of a battle, because that name had been won through the blood of real heroes. “For example, some colours will have ‘Marne’ upon them. I know what deeds were done, what lives were given, what wounds were received to have that one name so inscribed. Believe me, the Victoria Cross is won over and over again in a single day. “They are brave. What if you were to see how the wounded act after the excitement of a battle? They suffer their wounds, great and small, without a murmur; they get their wounds dressed and give consent to have their limbs amputated just as if they were going to have their hair cut. “They are gloriously brave. Men who have been in the thick of the fight all day, seen their chums wounded and killed, their own lives not worth a second’s insurance, still cook their food and go off to sleep, and, most wonderful of all, go back to the thick of it next day.