1 12. Nov. My p r I hope this may reach you before you leave Banbury but if
not I expect then will be a letter awaiting you at 24 & you won't miss much. The p r is such an affectionate hitch creature that the b w came trembl—
ing off his stilts & I am not sure if he did not succeed in barking
his hands in doing so. He quite expected the p r to get up on stilts too,
when put c/o Miss Deane, & thought it would be rather fun to see her
then, instead of that she comes alongside frisking looking very small, &
coaxes him down. Your letter to the professor is A1, but for these days methinks
it is a hitch too humble, tho much to the point & businesslike. The
b w would many years ago perhaps have written like that, but now he
would certainly have stated "was to have been appointed chief assistant
to...., when waylaid by a wild animal, & carried off into the
wild of Ulster. I look forward to the answer & wonder how you can manage
it, & where you will live. St is not an ideal centre to
get away from, & I can see a very scared little p r running up the steps
from Kings +, & a very tired p r going down them. There is not much news. The 107 Bd appears to have got
rather a bad name for slackners in the trenches, not fear but lack
of care in rebuilding & a general tendency to idleness. Consequently the other
have to go back for another fortnight's instruction. I hope to arrange
to go up for another 2 or 3 days but shall not much bother about
the night work this time. No Allenby has not succeeded Conchman (!) but as you will see in 2 the paper has followed Munro. (who has gone to Servia) as Commander of an army. Conchman's success
is Withycombe, which sounds Cornish. There will be further
changes in the 107 Bch & I am afraid not without reason, but as
the new CO. will probably be boys with 5 years service, it isn't
much use as a reek. Connyn is AAQMG now. For some minutes yesterday I was cogitating applying for a battalion
but Russell tells me that no psc office required on the staff would be
allowed to go to Reg' duty, & as a report has gone in that R & I are
satisfactory I cannot go now even if I want to apparently! Really
tis a strange world & I do look forward to the time when one can
regain one's liberty once more. The watch so far has behaved perfectly. I was a little
sniffy at first as the price seemed to cheap for a good antich, but
I am beginning to think the pr may have been rather clever —
not quite the first time either! — It is perfect at night in showing up
very well. Glad your cold is gone. I think I have another as
the result of my yesterday's boast. Would you have behind that Singhton is almost if not
quite a professional on the piano, & a la Corny Grain. I have not
heard him but other say so . His boy of 10 can play anything at sight. I shall be much surprised if K does not take command
in the East. Goodbye to a very dear pr from her b w Wilfrid B. Spender