Stretcher Bearers at the Double - ElectricCanadian.com

THE BEGINNING 15
Guards were mounted at the coach doors to see that nobody fell
off the train. Some of the men settled themselves down to get
Most of
whatever sleep they could. Others sang or played cards.
us, however, missed the straw-filled palliasses or were too excited
to sleep, and it was a rather weary-eyed lot which looked out at
Montreal, where we arrived at 8.25 next morning. We changed
engines and were away again at 10.30. Many of the men suc
ceeded in visiting nearby filling stations during the interval.
Laughter and song prevailed as we continued east.
We waved
cheerfully to the farmers in the fields and to the waiting passen
gers at the stations past which we thundered. After Montreal
came the Quebec bridge, Campbellton, Newcastle - -then Moncton,
where we were given a hearty welcome by what appeared to
be the whole town, when we stopped for twenty minutes and
were marched around a few blocks to limber up. At Truro, too,
we detrained and did our routine of physical jerks for the edifica
tion of the townsfolk.
Practising for
Paris
<^
On our way through Quebec, when we were delayed at some
small station, a few of the boys made their first attempts at
learning to parlez-vous with the attractive Canadicnnes who
were on hand to see les solddts pass through, and to offer us pro
tective amulets in the form of strings of beads, crucifixes and
other sacred tokens. Even at this early stage of affairs, Frank
O Leary, Fred Noyes and Joe Irwin proved their acquaintance
with the French language by being able to make their wishes
known to the friendly mcsdcmoiscllcs - - a trait which, later on,
they assiduously developed in Mont Noir, Fosse Ten, and other
places.
On arriving in Halifax (Saturday at 7.45 p.m.) we were per
mitted to leave our coaches and go up town to buy whatever
we needed and send word back home that, so far, all was well.
The only place we were ordered not to go was to Water Street.
So, like good soldiers and inquisitive children - - we went to the
forbidden street to see for ourselves why it was proscribed to the
It didn t take long for even the most unsophisticated of
troops !
us to draw the correct conclusions and strike out for more inno
cent diversions.