And the men--what of the men among whom these chaplains and "Y.M.C.A. people" and others work? "The men," said General Buller in South Africa, "are splendid." That is still the verdict--the universal verdict--they are _splendid_. Everybody loves Thomas Atkins who knows him; cheerful and kindly, ready to do anyone a good turn, heroic in action, patient in suffering, tender and chivalrous to women, he has set us all an example in this war. And he has done with the greatest ease what some people in this country find it so difficult to accomplish; he has shown us, as I have already indicated, how to fight his enemy and to love him too. The Rev. Harold J. Chapman, M.A., vouches for the truth of this story told him in artless fashion by the hero of it. A German sniper was in a tree some distance from a small company of our men. He wounded one of our lads, and the pal of the wounded lad, lying not far from him, said, "I'll have to bring that fellow down, or he'll be hitting _me_ next." So he took aim and fired, and the German sniper dropped from the tree wounded. The ambulance that carried to the rear the wounded British soldier took also the German sniper. After some days, to their astonishment they found themselves opposite each other in the same compartment of the same train. "Well, what did you do?" said Mr. Chapman. "Did you hit him?" "Oh no! why should I hit him? I couldn't speak his 'lingo,' and he couldn't speak mine, so I smiled at him and he smiled back at me. Then I offered him a cigarette, and he offered me one of his, and we were the best of pals all the journey." That is it, the man who had shot the British soldier, and the man who had been shot by his pal, the best of friends! After all, why should not nations emulate the example of their soldiers? Aye! They have seen suffering--these men--and they have risen superior to it, and speedily they forget the suffering, but they never forget a kindness shown. As Private Simmons of the 1st Cameronians says: "I have seen hell, for I have seen war, and I have seen heaven, for I have been in hospital." They are worth all that is being done for them--these splendid fellows--and still they go on singing, the words that Mr. Robert Harkness has recently written for them: Sometimes the clouds hang heavy and low, Nor can we see each step as we go; No silver lining the cloud doth bestow. Are we down-hearted? No! Bravely we march in the battle of life. Fierce is the conflict, the turmoil, and strife; Fraught with such peril, danger so rife, Are we down-hearted? No! No! No! CHAPTER IV THE MARNE, THE AISNE, YPRES Christian Work during the Fighting--A Monotony of Horrors--A Brave "Bad Lad"--Strange Places for Worship--No Apples on his Conscience--Transferred to Flanders--Strangest Spectacle of the War--Lord Roberts in France--At Dead of Night--A Shell Stops a Sermon--The University Student.