Knowing how hard it was and how long it took to get hymn books from the Base, it was with regret that I left any behind.

But then I reflected that it might be really a scattering of the seed by the wayside.

Some poor lone (p.

104) soldier who had been wandering from the paths of rectitude might pick up the hymns by chance and be converted.

Indulging in such self consolation I arrived just in time for the service.
Services were never things you could be quite sure of until they came off.