From Aldershot to Pretoria | Page 5

Road, and
another Home put up at the North Camp, on a site secured by Sir Hope
Grant. Then came the Church of England, with its splendid premises in
Aldershot and its church rooms in the North and South Camps.
Meanwhile the camp itself has been reconstructed, so that at last the
empire can look without shame upon it; and the brave spirits who first
caught the awakening, or saw that it should not die,--many of whom
have joined the majority, but some of whom are still enriching their
country by their lives,--can rejoice in the work they have been
permitted to accomplish.
And the result? 'Ah, sir,' exclaimed a sergeant, as he entered one of the
Aldershot Homes, 'you are at last giving us a chance. Hitherto you have
provided for us as though we were all bad, and all wanted and meant to
be; and bad we became. But now, sir, you are giving us a chance, and
you will see what will be the result.'
And truly we do; for the life of the nation is enriched, not enfeebled, by
the men who return to it from the Army and the Royal Navy. And all
ranks of society are becoming convinced that religion is the prime
factor in the service efficiency and in the national well-being. Thus
God is, after all, seen to be the greatest need, and the one true
enrichment of human life and character--the vital force by which alone
the commonwealth can live.
The wonderful records which will be found in the succeeding chapters
of this book, telling as they do of Christian life and service in the South
African War, will still further show the fruits of this great awakening.

Chapter II
ALDERSHOT
A raw, cold morning in the late autumn! A weird-looking train, slowly
drawing into the station out of the mist, with carriages altogether
different in appearance from those we were accustomed to see! A
battalion of brawny Scotchmen, travel-stained and sleepy. And then a
somewhat lazy descent to the platform.
'Twenty-four hours in this train, sir, and never a bite or a sup. What do
you think of that?'
But as the speaker could not quite keep the perpendicular, and found it
absolutely impossible to stand to attention, it was evident that he had
had more than one 'sup,' whether he had had a 'bite' or not. All along
the line, sad to say, 'treating' had been plentiful, and this was the result.
=Mobilising at Aldershot.=
Multiply this scene a hundred times. Imagine the apparent confusion on
every hand. Listen to the tramp, tramp of the men as they march from
station to camp and from camp to station, and you will have some idea
of the hurry and bustle in this camp on veldt during the period when the
word 'mobilisation' was on everybody's lips.
Barrack rooms everywhere overcrowded, men sleeping by the side of
the bed-cots as well as upon them; every available space utilised; even
the H Block Soldiers' Home turned outside into a tent, that the rooms it
occupied might be used as temporary barrack rooms again.
Discipline was necessarily somewhat relaxed! Drunkenness all too rife!
The air was full of fare-wells, and the parting word in too many cases
could only be spoken over the intoxicating cup. It was a
rough-and-tumble time. Aldershot was full of men who in recent years
had been unaccustomed to the discipline and exactitude of Her
Majesty's Army, and the wonder is that things were not worse than they
were.

Let us look into one of the barrack rooms. The men are just getting
dinner, and are hardly prepared to receive company, and especially the
company of ladies. They are sitting about anyhow, their tunics for the
most part thrown aside, or at any rate flying open; but when they see
ladies at the door, most of them rise at once.
'Yes, it is hard work, miss, parting with them,' says one K.O.S.B.
reservist. 'I've left the missus at home and three babies, one of them
only a week old. I thought she'd have cried her eyes out when I came
away. I can't bear to think of it now.' And the big fellow brushed the
tears away. 'It's not that I mind being called up, or going to the war. I
don't mind that; but, you know, miss, it's different with us than with
them young lads, and I can't help thinking of her.'
'Rough? yes, it is a bit rough,' says another as we pass along. 'I wish
you could see the little cottage where I live when I'm at home, all kept
as bright as a new pin. It's well she can't see me now, I'm thinking.
She'd hardly know her husband. But there, it's rougher where we're
going,