A Woman's War by Warwick Deeping

"Good-bye, Mrs. Murchison; good-bye, old man; wish you could have stayed with us. Shake hands, sonny, now you're off."

A barrow-load of belated luggage went clattering by as the shrill pipe of the guard's whistle sounded the departure. On the opposite platform a couple of porters were banging empty milk-cans on to a truck. Yet from the noise and turmoil of it all, John Tugler's red face shone out with a redeeming exuberance of good-will.