[To ens EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—It happened that I lent " A Student in Arms' " book to three men in the small Red Cross hospital in which I nurse. Two of the men were sergeants, one a " Contemptible," the other in the New Army. They were very interested in the book. The chapter entitled " The Beloved Captain " they specially mentioned with- out knowledge of each other's remark'. Each of the N.C.O.'s said that an officer in his respective battalion was " just like the Captain." I had made no remark about the book myself. This was their spontaneous testimony, and I thought it the highest tribute to the British officer that the Captain should be a well- known type. Although a stranger and a nobody, I feel very sad at the news of " A Student in Arms' " death, as though I had lost a personal friend. It is good to read his " Don't Worry," and one feels that the whole message of his writings was a silent one for those who 'understood it at all: he provided a new bottle for the new wine.—I am, Sir, In.,
A RED CROSS NUM*.
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