CHAPTER I COMPANY COMING High and clear the sweet, western wind brought over the rolling hills the sound of singing. At least it was singing of a sort, for there was a certain swing and rhythm accompanying the words. As the melody floated toward them, three young cowboys, seated at ease in their saddles, looked up and in the direction of the singer. Thus the song.   "Oh, bury me out on th'... more...

TO THE GERMAN MILITARY PICTURE DEPARTMENT.[The enemy, in his turn, is exhibiting a film of the fighting on the Somme. At the close a statement is thrown upon the screen to the effect that the Germans have "reached the appointed goal."]On footer fields two goals are situated, One, as a rule, at either end: This for attack (in front) is indicated, And this (to rearward) you defend; In your remark... more...

THE FOX AND THE COCK. A Fox, one day, saw a Cock on the roof of a barn. “Come to me, my dear Master Cock,” said he; “I have always heard you are such a clever fellow; and I want to ask you a riddle.” Glad to hear himself praised, the foolish Cock came down, and the Fox caught him, and ate him in a moment. The praise of the wicked is always dangerous. A Dwarf one day met a Giant. “Let me come... more...

Breaking Us In. On a morning early in August, 1915, the Brigade disembarked at Havre without mishap to man, horse, or material, and proceeded to a Rest Camp on the outskirts of the town. We were in France at last! The same evening the Batteries started to entrain, and every two hours a complete unit was despatched up the line—to an unknown destination. The men received refreshments at various Haltes,... more...

CHAPTER I The houses were dark in the August night and the perspective of Beacon Street, with its double chain of lamps, was a foreshortened desert.  The club on the hill alone, from its semi-cylindrical front, projected a glow upon the dusky vagueness of the Common, and as I passed it I heard in the hot stillness the click of a pair of billiard-balls.  As “every one” was out of town perhaps the... more...

TEDDY AND THE CALF. "Oh yes, I'll repeat it if you like; but I'd rather you didn't tell Teddy that you heard it, for he is already much too proud. This is the way it goes:   Young Ted was a rider bold,  Who never did things by half,  And so he hitched to his cart one day  A strong and frolicsome calf.   Away he went, and on behind  Came a troop of merry boys,  Who... more...

A TALL SHIP I CRAB-POTS 1 In moments of crisis the disciplined human mind works as a thing detached, refusing to be hurried or flustered by outward circumstance. Time and its artificial divisions it does not acknowledge. It is concerned with preposterous details and with the ludicrous, and it is acutely solicitous of other people's welfare, whilst working at a speed mere electricity could never... more...

PREFACE Many books have been written during the past few years on the rural church. Some of these have given excellent concrete illustrations of methods that are proving successful in solving local problems. Others have discussed the general rural church situation. The rural life movement, however, has been so rapid that it is believed that a brief restatement of the place of the church in the rural... more...

A SOUTHERN PLANTER. By SUSAN DABNEY SMEDES. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. "The book is eminently worthy of the great attention it has received. It puts the case of the Southern planters in a very rational and most interesting light. It may be described as the very antipodes to 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.' The picture of the rich, affluent patriarchal life, with woodlands, pastures and countless flocks,... more...

Lady Clare It was the time when lilies blow,And clouds are highest up in air.Lord Ronald brought a lily-white doeTo give his cousin, Lady Clare. I trow they did not part in scorn:Lovers long betrothed were they;They two will wed the morrow morn;God's blessing on the day! "He does not love me for my birthNor for my lands so broad and fair;He loves me for my own true worth,And that is well,"... more...