THE GIRL HE LEAVES BEHIND HIM.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 47, 18 June 1915, Page 8

THE GIRL HE LEAVES BEHIND HIM.

THE UNSTORIED HEROINES OF THE WAR.

When the soldier, on his way to the war, sees the cliffs of England, a glimmer of white on the horizon, his mind must often be a connict of emotions. In front he hears the voice of duty calling him to fight his country's battles and, with its call, thrilling the patriotism that is in him; but however stout his courage, who shall blame him if hi thoughts fly back in yearning to those he loves and has left behind and m;.j never see again? But between these rival claims, the unseen forces which draw him forward and seek to lure him back, there is no > choice; nor would he desire it. The supreme test of love is to shield and, il necessary, to lay down one'? Jife for those we love; and thus, if-our soldier be of the right metal, the very weakness that would call him back lecomes an added strength to urge him forward, to steel his Hart to do and dare all tfiac man can dar: and do. The man win is married will fight a., tne better 'or the knowledge that he .s fighting for vile and child, as well as for his co.mtry; the man whose homo is still to make will will be the braver for knowing that one girl is proudly waiting and piaying for the lover who has answered honour's call. We shall p-i'bably never know what part these brave girls who thus watcn and wait have pi tyed in the great war that Is wresting Ireedom for the world from the wreckage of nations. Her work may be done in silence and obscurity. but it is noble work, which, with rare exceptions, she has nobly done. WOMAN—THE BEST RECRUITING OFFICER.

There are at the front to-day thousands of men who have known no recruiting officer save the girls who love them and have sent them to the war with proud smiles struggling against their tears. A little wavering on their part and the lover would have stayed by their side. But there has been no hesitation . "If you love me, you must go. I want to feel proud of you." Tshese and similar brave, self-sacrificing words have sent many a man to shoulder a rifle who would otherwise have stayed weakly at home. Before the writer is a letter from the front in which one such recruit of love writes: —"I cannot tell you how glad and thankful I am that you bade me join the army. No one ever less wanted to be a fighter; and but for your brave words of encouragement I know I should have been with you now. I was the veriest coward when I kissed you 'good-bye'; but when, a hundred times a"day, I recall your sweet smile and hear the words, 'God bless you, Jack ! \ou have made me the proudest girl in Engiand!' I bless you and love you a thous-and-fold." In an extract from a letter publisher recently in the newspaper, a corporal writes" You would be surprised it you knew how many men in my regiment were induced to enlist by t-iie girls. It has certainly been the case with at least a score of men I know. One of them has told me that his wed-ding-day was fixed and his home furnished when the war broke out; and, it he had had his own way lie would have been a married man now, Jiving happily in his little nest. But his fiancee would not hear of it. 'No,' she said emphatically. 'lt is your duty to fight for your country; our wedding must wait; and when you come back I shall be the happiest and proudest bride in the voild. And, of course, he had to go.

BRITAIN FIRST

"In another case, that of my gieat chum out here, he proposed to a young lady in the early days of the war, and cot a decided 'no' for his answer, \\hen he asked the reason, she answered, 1 cannot marry a man who will not do his duty to his country. 'But, I said, it 1 enlist and do my best. will you marry me then?' 'Certainly! I shall be very pleased and proud to.' And that was how Lord Kitchener got anoLhei and a very fine recruit." But, although the girls of Great Britain have thus proved themselves at least as brave and patriotic as her sons, there is another side to the shield. There have been asces, happily rare almost as "black swans," in which our army has lost eager recruits through the weakness and selfishness of the girls they loved. It is so easy to he bravo for other people; but when it is a question of telling the dearest boy in the world to go to the war, perhaps never to see him again—well, can you blame a girl for being a little .selfish? In such specious ways, no doubt, they seek to salve their consciences. Iu one such case known to the writer, a young fellow was burning to go to the war. Ho has three generations ol lighting blood in Ins veins, and woiuct no doubt have given an excellent account of himself. But, when he announced his intention to his fiancee, she bur.st into tears and was inconsolable. Ho could not love her, she deelaied with sobs, if he was so eager to leave her. It was heartless, too cruel for words. She was sure he would be killed, and what would become of her t

A GOOD MAN" LOST

Jn vain liu talked to her of honoui and duty, and declared that he would come back sate and sound. She ietu>vd to listen, lie was cruel even to think of it; he could not love her, or lie would not make her so luiserable. What could the poor man do in the face of such tempest of tears and reproaches? He did the host he could. _ After much pleading, he got her tear! ul consent to his enlisting for home defence only; and thus a lirav* 1 man was put to in his own oyos :i t len.st, <lll d our gallant lighters lost a good man. It is, perhaps, inevitable tiiat there .should hj" such cases of feminine weakness: but happily they are as few as they are unfortunate, and tney are powerless to dim the glory of the 13ntish maids who have tr] *ll v sent t lionsand* of their dearest'to fight for them :md for the land tli«*y so won. And what stimulus has llie •am.' power to make a hero of a nnn. as th<> knowledge that he is fighting not only for his country and all that it in-ans to him, but that he is doing so at the bidding or i lie one he loves more than all otheis--the cirl in whose proud arms he will find liis <rreat. reward when lh<» wartrumpets are silent again in a world or

oeace? Who shall sav what comfort and strength such thoughts are to our men in the firmer-line wh"ii the shafts of • !' :>th are flving around them . J One lean who won the Hi-lingui-died Conduct Medal l.v conspicuous gallantry ill storming a Herman trench, wrote thus to his fiancee--" What 1 did. T did for you. When we were preparing to charge, the words flaslcd into my num 'now in your chance to make May proud of yoxi.' Thev seemed to be spoken to me; and it was with these words in my ear# that T rushed at the enemy determined to 'do or die.' It was you, j iear«rt, who made a n} nn of ne that day, a**l the medal which T am told I

am sure to get should be yours, not mine."

INSPIRING KEEPSAKES

Such stories might be told by tho score of men who have performed prodigies of valour for the sake of one who was far away; and so it has always brcn when men have gone to battle, carrying for a talisman and inspiration, a portrait of the beloved, a lock of her hair, her last letter, ov soms dear present of hers. During the last Boer war, among the wounded brought from Potgieter s Drift, was a man of scanty clothing who held something in his closed hand. Ho had kept this treasure in his hand for some eight hours. He showed it to the "sister.'' It was a ring; and in explan ation he said, "My girl gave me this ring, and when I was hit 1 made tip my mind that the Boers should never get it; so I kept it in my hand ready to swallow it if I was taken ibefore our stretchers could reach me." After one of the most desperate lights at Ypres there was found among the dead a British private, in whose right hand was clasped the photograph of a .sweet-faced young girl. When the portrait was reverently taken from his hand, on its back were seen the following words, feebly pencilled, "God bless you, my darling! I have fought for you. and for you I die. How 1 should have loved " Here.the percil had no doubt dropped f rom the ay iig so.dier's fingers. Ho could write no more. An equally touching story is told of a French soldier who fought gallantly until a rifle-bullet robbed him of his sight. When at last he returned to his home, a blind and helpless man, among the first to call on him with words of sympathy was a young ladv who, before the war, had refused to listen to his vows of love. At the sight of his darkened eyes and his pathetic resignation, she burst into tears, and said to him. " When you a«ked me to marry you, I refused, to my shame. Won't you nsk me again? Now that the world is dark for you, let me be your eyes; let me guide you and comfort you and care for you." And taking his sightless face in her hands, she covered it with kisses.