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23

back now & then.  God, one gets the realization once in a while.

I must skip for a moment.

I am sitting in the [[underlined]] bar [[/underlined]] of the Hotel de Havre at St. Omer.  (The headquarters of the English)  Its men have gone to talk to all kinds of big boys.  It has been the most extraordinary scene I have ever witnessed. [[strikethrough]] English [[/strikethrough]] ^[[Scotch]] soldiers come in and out, order a drink, or write a letter.  Two just came in who consulted a long time as to words in French. They each had a pair of rubber boots with them. They struggled to explain to the lady [[strikethrough]] here [[/strikethrough]] something?  I asked them in English what they wanted. It seems they wanted to leave their boots & call for them early in the morning.  I explained.  They were very grateful & we had a little conversation.  They were to go back early tomorrow to the trenches.  "Its two days in the trenches & 2 days out", one of them said.  "The boots look fine for that", I said because I was thinking of everything else.  We had a little more talk & one of them said:  "I am glad I met you. My French isn't much". "Good luck".  And he went off.  The family who run this place are sitting opposite to me.  The woman