"He ended, and his grave face took on a wry smile.
"'I'm no' a gude hand at this job,' he said, 'but we maun finish it off. Let us pray.'
"He stood, with the book in his hand, and the others knelt and bowed their heads. His memory went back to the days of family worship in his father's cottage, and he tried to remember the phrases he had heard. A little haltingly, but very simply, he committed their way to God and asked for strength to meet their coming fate like men.
"While he prayed a heavy hand thrust open the door and they heard an exultant exclamation and then a gasp of surprise. Not a man moved, and the corporal went calmly on. After a pause he began, with great reverence, to repeat the Lord's Prayer.
"That a German officer or private was standing there they realised: they did not see, but they felt, what was taking place. They heard the click of his heels, and they knew that he also was standing at attention. For a moment the suspense lasted, and then came the soft closing of the door and his footsteps dying away.
"The tumult in the house gradually ceased, and soon afterwards the storm of war retreated like the ebb of the tide, and quiet fell upon the village and remained upon it. At dusk the four men ventured forth, and by making a wide detour worked round the flank of the enemy and reached the British outposts in safety."
One other story will suffice. Sergeant William Taylor of the 1st Royal Berkshire Regiment died of wounds in the Herbert Hospital, Woolwich, on Thursday, December 10. A beautiful character, a devoted Christian soldier, he was promoted on the field from the rank of lance-corporal to sergeant for conspicuous bravery. On one occasion he stood over a fallen comrade with bullets whizzing all around, until eventually the comrade was carried to a place of safety. On another occasion Sergeant Taylor volunteered with others to attack a position held by a strong force of the enemy. The Berkshires lost heavily until reinforced, and then the position was carried. He was the ideal soldier—the "righteous man" who is "brave as a lion."
The late Rev. T.J. Thorpe, who cared for him while he was in hospital at Woolwich, says: "The Lord Jesus was very precious to him amidst the agony of his last days, and he died more than conqueror." This grand Christian hero was only twenty-four years old.
Before I close this chapter, let me give extracts from two letters sent home by two Baptist chaplains and published in the Baptist Times and Freeman.
The Rev. T.N. Tattersall writes: