At the head of a trench in the vicinity of Ploegsteert a rusted revolver which had been found by a working party was suspended from a short pole.  It caught the eye of all who passed by on their way up the lines.  Nearly every man was seen to touch that useless weapon.  Upon making enquiries it was ascertained that a superstition had grown up round that revolver.  It was supposed to possess a certain charm, and the men who merely touched it on their way into the line would be protected from all danger.  Certainly many incidents occurred which tended to support the belief that the mud covered rusted revolver possessed all the remarkable miraculous powers attributed to it.

In course of conversation with a soldier, I questioned the advisability of his proceeding to the trenches.  ‘Oh,’ he declared, ’it is all right; no matter where I may be, if a shell has my number on it, I will have to take delivery, whether I like it or not.’  While working in the lines a few days later a shell penetrated the parapet and buried its nose in the clay at the edge of the duck-boards.  Allowing sufficient time to elapse to ascertain whether it was ‘alive’ (it proved to be a ‘dud’) he then examined the base of the shell, and was astonished to read thereon his regimental number.

Such coincidences tend to strengthen the superstitious tendencies of the soldier, and the effect upon most minds is to lead them to believe that a man’s death or deliverance is absolutely due to Fate, which is just another way of saying, ’There’s a Divinity which shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may.’

[Illustration:  To the widows of France]

ON THE EVE OF BATTLE

TO THE WIDOWS OF FRANCE

    Eyes that have rained tears, lips that have trembled,
      Twitching convulsively, torn with their grief. 
    Now face us bravely with pride undissembled,
      Glad to have suffered to show their belief.

    Troop upon troop of them, some walking singly,
      Weaker ones plodding in pairs for support;
    Mates to the spirits of men who were kingly,
      Coming from Matins with old men’s escort.

    Ask them, ye watchers, inquire their elation,
      Tell them ye wonder they bear them so brave. 
    Proudly they’ll answer, ’La belle France, our nation,
      Requires us to suffer, our country to save.’

    To save from the maw of the great avaricious,
      The cold scheming brain of a commerce run mad—­
    A commerce all-grasping and sordid and vicious;
      For this are we martyred, for this are we glad.

    Then the soul of the Springtime, the great resurrection,
      Shines bright in their faces, they wave to the car,
    Packed tight with our comrades, a cheery collection,
      As we dash thro’ the streets to the trenches afar.