[333] The best lady “on any horse” to hounds in the Essex Hunt.
[334] “What a magnificent production is the British Infantry soldier. I thought as he went by, tattered and torn, black and greasy, bearded and filthy, on the squares of Johannesburg and Pretoria, how much the British nation owes to him and the officers who made him. I shall never forget the scene at these two places for the remainder of my lifetime; it was worth all the hardships of this war to have been privileged to be present.”
[335] On the following 2nd May I received an order that all officers attending the Royal Academy dinner were to appear in full dress uniform, so I duly passed it on to a General who I knew had received an invitation. Late in the afternoon I received a telegram cancelling the orders which had been issued to me, not only by the Adjutant-General but by the private secretary of the Commander-in-Chief. I was unable to communicate with my General, who was the only person in uniform, but was much less annoyed than most of us would have been, while I was amused at the excitement of a court official who highly disapproved of officers appearing as such at this function.
The dinner was to me very pleasant, as I sat between the Dean of Westminster and Mr. Ouless, the Royal Academician, who were both delightful companions. Mr. Ouless capped my story of the corporal recognising me as an officer by my bad language when I was lying wounded under the Redan in 1855, by telling us one of an artist, celebrated as etcher and author, who was walking one winter’s day on Hampstead Heath, and passing near one of the ponds, which was frozen over, he saw a crowd collected round it watching a small dog, which having ventured on the ice, had fallen through into the water. The ice was just so strong it could not get out, and yet would not support its weight. The excited owner was shouting, “Half a crown for anyone who will save my dog.” The artist plunged in, and having rescued the animal put it down on the edge of the pond and started running at top speed towards his house at Highgate. He heard a panting man behind him, but fearing rheumatism ran on to change his clothes, till the man caught him up, shouting, “Hi, hi,” and as he reached him called out, “Here’s your money.” Mr. Ouless’ friend being very cold and cross said, “Damn you! Damn your dog; damn your half-crown.” The man touched his cap and said, “Beg your pardon, sir. I didn’t know you was a gentleman.”
[336] Copy of letter to the Military Secretary:—
“1st February 1901.
“My Dear Grove,—I have thought over your query, ‘If Lord Roberts invited you, would you go out to South Africa and serve under Lord Kitchener?’ I do not think the fact that Kitchener joined me in 1883 as a Lieutenant, when I was raising the Egyptian Army, should influence my decision. If it is thought I can serve our Country by going out, I will willingly go, and serve under Kitchener on the following assumptions: (a) If I am not killed, I come back here if I so desire, and that my South Africa time is not deducted. This was done in Lord Wolseley’s case, (b) That if Lord Kitchener becomes a casualty, no one junior to me shall come out to supersede me.”
[337] Copy of letter to Lord Kitchener:—
“1st October 1901.
“My dear Kitchener,—As I am now out of office, I can unburden my mind on the subject on which I have long desired to write to you, but I did not feel justified in doing so when I was Adjutant-General. I saw a very generous telegram from you relative to the proposition that I should go to South Africa to serve under your orders. I do not suppose you would ever have thought I was doing anything to try and inconvenience you in any way, but I should like you to know from me that the suggestion that I should go out did not emanate from me in any way, as will be seen by the answer which I gave to Sir Coleridge Grove when the proposition was made. Please regard this as confidential between you and—Yours very sincerely,
“(Signed) Evelyn Wood.”
[338] Three times mentioned in Despatches.
[339] “It has been most carefully threshed out by the A.G. The proposed Reports seem to me to be all that can be desired, and I recommend their immediate adoption.”