Page:Christian Science War Time Activities.djvu/325

 One day the window at the headquarters in Boston assumed an entirely new aspect. From a distance it looked like flag day, but closer inspection revealed the most wonderful collection of picture books, made by children for their little friends on the other side. Only childhood's genuine humor, its love of color, of the mysterious, could have made such a splendid choice of pictures; and only unstudied art could have arranged them so artistically. It was not strange that a passer-by stepped in to see if any could be bought.

Several of the committees exercised their ingenuity in making slumber robes. The soft gray and white ones, brightened by a bit of pink or blue, plainly were for the little tots. Then came larger ones, made of tailors' samples and warmly lined, for the comfort of the men in the hospitals. Sometimes they contained surprise pockets, with a cheering word tucked in for the man who was clever enough to find it. One veritable novelty was a slumber robe made of pennants—an inexhaustible source of amusement to the boys in one of the convalescent hospitals. What trip could one not take traveling under so many flags! So great was the demand for this robe in the hospital that it was generally engaged in advance for the following day, and to keep it only half of one's allotted time and then pass it on to another, was plainly one of the sacrifices of the war.

Two demands only were made of every unit: that the staple garments conform to the rules sent out from headquarters, rules which had been obtained from those cognizant of the methods and customs in the various countries to which the clothes were to be sent; and that all work press toward perfection. At times there came the temptation to show our sisters