The Henson Journals

[196]

Friday, October 12th, 1917.

1166th day

I received a very well written and well expressed letter from Katharine Pember, in reply to a message of condolence which I had sent to her: also a letter from Ernest, & another from Hugh Lyon, who is again in France. After attending Evensong I worked at the Trafalgar day Sermon. There came to lunch Mr Mackenzie & Miss Poole, and Lieut: & Mrs Fanning. After lunch I ran the latter round the Cathedral. He is a pleasant but no–wise impressive youth, hardly what I expected the husband to Helen Beeching wd be like. At present he commands one of the smaller submarines with a complement of 17 men and 2 officers. I attended Evensong, and then walked with Cruickshank. Logic was reported to be missing at bed–time, & the household retired to bed without him.

The sudden vanishing of an Aberdeen terrier creates a void in the household, vastly greater than its actual importance would seem to warrant. He was ubiquitous, always good–tempered, filling awkward intervals in conversations, & unconsciously succeeding in getting through tight places with a tactful skill which a diplomatist might envy. I shall miss his friendly greeting in the morning when I get up, and his cheerful comradeship on my walk in the afternoon when I take my exercise. He has certainly been a unifying factor in our little society, binding mistress & maids together by the unseen bonds of common interest, & going some way to make the kitchen–maid feel an interest in the Dean! He is pictured as running by my side in the "Vanity Fair" cartoon, and did far more than the artist's skill to make his drawing recognisable. For "Logic" was in his way also a public character, and perhaps far more intelligible & popular than the cryptic biped with whom men linked him. His pugnacity was less conspicuous than his friendliness; & in his case the saying was verified, that "his bark was worse than his bite". We have had him with us for more than six years.

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