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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:36:42 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:36:42 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11349-0.txt b/11349-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..84505c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/11349-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6880 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11349 *** + +ACTION FRONT + + +BY + +BOYD CABLE + + +1916 + + + +TO + +MR. J. A. SPENDER + +_to whose recognition and appreciation of my work, and to whose instant +and eager hospitality in the "Westminster Gazette" so much of these war +writings is due, this book is very gratefully dedicated by_ + +THE AUTHOR + + + +FOREWORD + + +I make no apology for having followed in this book the same plan as in +my other one, "Between the Lines," of taking extracts from the official +despatches as "texts" and endeavoring to show something of what these +brief messages cover, because so many of my own friends, and so many +more unknown friends amongst the reviewers, expressed themselves so +pleased with the plan that I feel its repetition is justified. + +There were some who complained that my last book was in parts too grim +and too terrible, and no doubt the same complaint may lie against this +one. To that I can only reply that I have found it impossible to write +with any truth of the Front without the writing being grim, and in +writing my other book I felt it would be no bad thing if Home realized +the grimness a little better. + +But now there are so many at Home whose nearest and dearest are in the +trenches, and who require no telling of the horrors of the war, that I +have tried here to show there is a lighter side to war, to let them +know that we have our relaxations, and even find occasion for jests, in +the course of our business. + +I believe, or at least hope, that in showing both sides of the picture +I am doing what the Front would wish me to do. And I don't ask for any +greater satisfaction than that. + +BOYD CABLE. + +_May_, 1916. + + + +CONTENTS + + +IN ENEMY HANDS +A BENEVOLENT NEUTRAL +DRILL +A NIGHT PATROL +AS OTHERS SEE +THE FEAR OF FEAR +ANTI-AIRCRAFT +A FRAGMENT +AN OPEN TOWN +THE SIGNALERS +CONSCRIPT COURAGE +SMASHING THE COUNTER-ATTACK +A GENERAL ACTION +AT LAST + + + +IN ENEMY HANDS + + +The last conscious thought in the mind of Private Jock Macalister as he +reached the German trench was to get down into it; his next conscious +thought to get out of it. Up there on the level there were +uncomfortably many bullets, and even as he leaped on the low parapet +one of these struck the top of his forehead, ran deflecting over the +crown of his head, and away. He dropped limp as a pole-axed bullock, +slid and rolled helplessly down into the trench. + +When he came to his senses he found himself huddled in a corner against +the traverse, his head smarting and a bruised elbow aching abominably. +He lifted his head and groaned, and as the mists cleared from his dazed +eyes he found himself looking into a fat and very dirty face and the +ring of a rifle muzzle about a foot from his head. The German said +something which Macalister could not understand, but which he rightly +interpreted as a command not to move. But he could hear no sound of +Scottish voices or of the uproar of hand-to-hand fighting in the +trench. When he saw the Germans duck down hastily and squeeze close up +against the wall of the trench, while overhead a string of shells +crashed angrily and the shrapnel beat down in gusts across the trench, +he diagnosed correctly that the assault had failed, and that the +British gunners were again searching the German trench with shrapnel. +His German guard said something to the other men, and while one of them +remained at the loophole and fired an occasional shot, the others drew +close to their prisoner. The first thing they did was to search him, to +turn each pocket outside-in, and when they had emptied these, carefully +feel all over his body for any concealed article. Macalister bore it +all with great philosophy, mildly satisfied that he had no money to +lose and no personal property of any value. + +Their search concluded, the Germans held a short consultation, then one +of them slipped round the corner of the traverse, and, returning a +moment later, pointed the direction to Macalister and signed to him to +go. + +The trench was boxed into small compartments by the traverses, and in +the next section Macalister found three Germans waiting for him. One of +them asked him something in German, and on Macalister shaking his head +to show that he did not understand, he was signaled to approach, and a +German ran deftly through his pockets, fingering his waist, and, +searching for a money-belt, made a short exclamation of disgust, and +signed to the prisoner to move on round the next traverse, at the same +time shouting to the Germans there, and passing Macalister on at the +bayonet point. This performance was repeated exactly in all its details +through the next half-dozen traverses, the only exception being that in +one an excitable German, making violent motions with a bayonet as he +appeared round the corner, insisted on his holding his hands over his +head. + +At about the sixth traverse a German spoke to him in fairly good, +although strongly accented, English. He asked Macalister his rank and +regiment, and Macalister, knowing that the name on his shoulder-straps +would expose any attempt at deceit, gave these. Another man asked +something in German, which apparently he requested the English speaker +to translate. + +"He say," interpreted the other, "Why you English war have made?" +Macalister stared at him. "I'm no English," he returned composedly. +"I'm a Scot." + +"That the worse is," said the interpreter angrily. "Why have it your +business of the Scot?" + +Macalister knitted his brows over this. "You mean, I suppose, what +business is it of ours! Well, it's just Scotland's a bit of Britain, so +when Britain's at war, we are at war." + +A demand for an interpretation of this delayed the proceedings a +little, and then the English speaker returned to the attack. + +"For why haf Britain this war made!" he demanded. + +"We didna' make it," returned Macalister. "Germany began it." Excited +comment on the translation. + +"If you'll just listen to me a minute," said Macalister deliberately, +"I can prove I am right. Sir Edward Grey----" Bursts of exclamation +greeted the name, and Macalister grinned slightly. + +"You'll no be likin' him," he said. "An' I can weel understan' it." + +The questioner went off on a different line. "Haf your soldiers know," +he asked, "that the German fleet every day a town of England bombard?" + +Macalister stared at him. "Havers!" he said abruptly. + +The German went on to impart a great deal of astonishing +information--of the German advance on Petrograd, the invasion of Egypt, +the extermination of the Balkan Expedition, the complete blockade of +England, the decimation of the British fleet by submarines. + +After some vain attempts to argue the matter and disprove the +statements, Macalister resigned himself to contemptuous silence, only +rousing when the German spoke of England and English, to correct him to +Britain and British. + +When at last their interest flagged, the Germans ordered him to move +on. Macalister asked where he was going and what was to be done with +him, and received the scant comfort that he was being sent along to an +officer who would send him back as a prisoner, if he did not have him +killed--as German prisoners were killed by the English. + +"British, you mean," Macalister corrected again. "And, besides that, +it's a lie." + +He was told to go on; but as he moved be saw a foot-long piece of +barbed wire lying in the trench bottom. He asked gravely whether he +would be allowed to take it, and, receiving a somewhat puzzled and +grudging assent, picked it up, carefully rolled it in a small coil, and +placed it in a side jacket pocket. He derived immense gratification and +enjoyment at the ensuing searches he had to undergo, and the explosive +German that followed the diving of a hand into the barbed-wire pocket. + +He arrived at last at an officer and at a point where a communication +trench entered the firing trench. The officer in very mangled English +was attempting to extract some information, when he was interrupted by +the arrival from the communication trench of a small party led by an +officer, a person evidently of some importance, since the other officer +sprang to attention, clicked his heels, saluted stiffly, and spoke in a +tone of respectful humility. The new arrival was a young man in a +surprisingly clean and beautifully fitting uniform, and wearing a +helmet instead of the cloth cap commonly worn in the trenches. His face +was not a particularly pleasant one, the eyes close set, hard, and +cruel, the jaw thin and sharp, the mouth thin-lipped and shrewish. He +spoke to Macalister in the most perfect English. + +"Well, swine-hound," he said, "have you any reason to give why I should +not shoot you?" Macalister made no reply. He disliked exceedingly the +look of the new-comer, and had no wish to give an excuse for the +punishment he suspected would result from the officer's displeasure. +But his silence did not save him. + +"Sulky, eh, my swine-hound!" said the officer. "But I think we can +improve those manners." + +He gave an order in German, and a couple of men stepped forward and +placed their bayonets with the points touching Macalister's chest. + +"If you do not answer next time I speak," he said smoothly, "I will +give one word that will pin you to the trench wall and leave you there. +Do you understand!" he snapped suddenly and savagely. "You English +dog." + +"I understand," said Macalister. "But I'm no English. I'm a Scot" + +The crashing of a shell and the whistling of the bullets overhead moved +the officer, as it had the others, to a more sheltered place. He seated +himself upon an ammunition-box, and pointed to the wall of the trench +opposite him. + +"You," he said to Macalister, "will stand there, where you can get the +benefit of any bullets that come over. I suppose you would just as soon +be killed by an English bullet as by a German one." + +Macalister moved to the place indicated. + +"I'm no anxious," he said calmly, "to be killed by either a _British_ +or a German bullet." + +"Say 'sir' when you speak to me," roared the officer. "Say 'sir.'" + +Macalister looked at him and said "Sir"--no more and no less. + +"Have you no discipline in your English army?" he demanded, and +Macalister's lips silently formed the words "British Army." "Are you +not taught to say 'sir' to an officer?" + +"Yes--sir; we say 'sir' to any officer and any gentleman." + +"So," said the officer, an evil smile upon his thin lips. "You hint, I +suppose, that I am not a gentleman? We shall see. But first, as you +appear to be an insubordinate dog, we had better tie your hands up." + +He gave an order, and after some little trouble to find a cord, +Macalister's hands were lashed behind his back with the bandage from a +field-dressing. The officer inspected the tying when it was completed, +spoke angrily to the cringing men, and made them unfasten and re-tie +the lashing as tightly as they could draw it. + +"And now," said the officer, "we shall continue our little +conversation; but first you shall beg my pardon for that hint about a +gentleman. Do you hear me--beg," he snarled, as Macalister made no +reply. + +"If I've said anything you're no likin' and that I'm sorry for masel', +I apologize," he said. + +The officer glared at him with narrowed eyes. "That'll not do," he said +coldly. "When I say 'beg' you'll beg, and you will go on your knees to +beg. Do you hear? Kneel!" + +Macalister stood rigid. At a word, two of the soldiers placed +themselves in position again, with their bayonets at the prisoner's +breast. The officer spoke to the men, and then to Macalister. + +"Now," he said, "you will kneel, or they will thrust you through." + +Macalister stood without a sign of movement; but behind his back his +hands were straining furiously at the lashings upon his wrist. They +stretched and gave ever so little, and he worked on at them with a +desperate hope dawning in his heart. + +"Still obstinate," sneered the officer. "Well, it is rather early to +kill you yet, so we must find some other way." + +At a sentence from him one of the men threw his weight on the +prisoner's shoulders, while the other struck him savagely across the +tendons behind the knees. Whether he would or no, his knees had to +give, and Macalister dropped to them. But he was not beaten yet. He +simply allowed himself to collapse, and fell over on his side. The +officer cursed angrily, commanding him to rise to his knees again; the +men kicked him and pricked him with their bayonet points, hauled him at +last to his knees, and held him there by main force. + +"And now you will beg my pardon," the officer continued. Macalister +said nothing, but continued to stretch at his bonds and twist gently +with his hands and wrists. + +The officer spent the next ten minutes trying to force his prisoner to +beg his pardon. They were long and humiliating and painful minutes for +Macalister, but he endured them doggedly and in silence. The officer's +temper rose minute by minute. The forward wall of the firing trench was +built up with wicker-work facings and the officer drew out a thick +switch. + +"You will speak," he said, "or I shall flay you in strips and then +shoot you." + +Macalister said nothing, and was slashed so heavily across the face +that the stick broke in the striker's hands. The blood rose to his +head, and deep in his heart he prayed, prayed only for ten seconds with +his hands loose; but still he did not speak. + +At the end of ten minutes the officer's patience was exhausted. +Macalister was thrust back against the trench wall, and the officer +drew out a pistol. + +"In five minutes from now," he gritted, "I'm going to shoot you. I give +you the five minutes that you may enjoy some pleasant thoughts in the +interval." + +Macalister made no answer, but worked industriously at the lashings on +his wrists. The bandage stretched and loosened, and at last, at long +last, he succeeded in slipping one turn off his hand. He had no hope +now for anything but death, and the only wish left to him in life was +to get his hands free to wreak vengeance on the dapper little monster +opposite him, to die with his hands free and fighting. + +The minutes slipped one by one, and one by one the loosened turns of +the bandage were uncoiled. The trenches at this point were apparently +very close, for Macalister could hear the crack of the British rifles, +the clack-clack-clack of a machine gun at close range, and the thought +flitted through his mind that over there in his own trenches his own +fellows would hear presently the crack of the officer's pistol with no +understanding of what it meant. But with luck and his loosened hands he +would give them a squeal or two to listen to as well. + +Then the officer spoke. "One minute," he said, "and then I fire." He +lifted his pistol and pointed it straight at Macalister's face. "I am +not bandaging your eyes," went on the officer, "because I want you to +look into this little round, round hole, and wait to see the fire spout +out of it at you. Your minute is almost up ... you can watch my finger +pressing on the trigger." + +The last coil slipped off Macalister's wrist; he was free, but with a +curse he knew it to be too late. A movement of his hands from behind +his back would finish the pressure of that finger, and finish him. +Desperately he sought for a fighting chance. + +"I would like to ask," he muttered hoarsely, licking his dry lips, +"will ye no kill me if I say what ye wanted?" + +Keenly he watched that finger about the trigger, breathed silent relief +as he saw it slacken, and watched the muzzle drop slowly from level of +his eyes. But it was still held pointed at him, and that barely gave +him the chance he longed for. Only let the muzzle leave him for an +instant, and he would ask no more. The officer was a small and slightly +made man, Macalister, tall and broadly built, big almost to hugeness +and strong as a Highland bull. + +"So," said the officer softly, "your Scottish courage flinches then, +from dying?" + +While he spoke, and in the interval before answering him, Macalister's +mind was running feverishly over the quickest and surest plan of +action. If he could get one hand on the officer's wrist, and the other +on his pistol, he could finish the officer and perhaps get off another +round or two before he was done himself. But the pistol hand might +evade his grasp, and there would be brief time to struggle for it with +those bayonets within arm's length. A straight blow from the shoulder +would stun, but it might not kill. Plan after plan flashed through his +mind, and was in turn set aside in search of a better. But he had to +speak. + +"It's no just that I'm afraid," he said very slowly. "But it was just +somethin' I thought I might tell ye." + +The pistol muzzle dropped another inch or two, with Macalister's eye +watching its every quiver. His words brought to the officer's mind +something that in his rage he had quite overlooked. + +"If there is anything you can tell me," he said, "any useful +information you can give of where your regiment's headquarters are in +the trenches, or where there are any batteries placed, I might still +spare your life. But you must be quick," he added "for it sounds as if +another attack is coming." + +It was true that the fire of the British artillery had increased +heavily during the last few minutes. It was booming and bellowing now +in a deep, thunderous roar, the shells were streaming and rushing +overhead, and shrapnel was crashing and hailing and pattering down +along the parapet of the forward trench; the heavy boom of big shells +bursting somewhere behind the forward line and the roaring explosion of +trench mortar bombs about the forward trench set the ground quivering +and shaking. A shell burst close overhead, and involuntarily Macalister +glanced up, only to curse himself next moment for missing a chance that +his captor offered by a similar momentary lifting of his eyes. +Macalister set his eyes on the other, determined that no such chance +should be missed again. + +But now, above the thunder of the artillery and of the bursting shells, +they could hear the sound of rising rifle-fire. The officer must have +glimpsed the hope in Macalister's face, and, with an oath, he brought +the pistol up level again. + +"Do not cheat yourself," he said. "You cannot escape. If a charge comes +I shall shoot you first." + +With a sinking heart Macalister saw that his last slender hope was +gone. He could only pray that for the moment no attack was to be +launched; but then, just when it seemed that the tide of hope was at +its lowest ebb, the fates flung him another chance--a chance that for +the moment looked like no chance; looked, indeed, like a certainty of +sudden death. A soft, whistling hiss sounded in the air above them, a +note different from the shrill whine and buzz of bullets, the harsh +rush and shriek of the shells. The next instant a dark object fell with +a swoosh and thump in the bottom of the trench, rolled a little and lay +still, spitting a jet of fizzing sparks and wreathing smoke. + +When a live bomb falls in a narrow trench it is almost certain that +everyone in that immediate section will at the worst die suddenly, at +the best be badly wounded. Sometimes a bomb may be picked up and thrown +clear before it can burst, but the man who picks it up is throwing away +such chance as he has of being only wounded for the smaller chance of +having time to pitch the bomb clear. The first instinct of every man is +to remove himself from that particular traverse; the teaching of +experience ought to make him throw himself flat on the ground, since by +far the greater part of the force and fragments from the explosion +clear the ground by a foot or two. Of the Germans in this particular +section of trench some followed one plan, some the other. Of the two +men guarding the prisoner the one who was near the corner of the +traverse leapt round it, the other whirled himself round behind +Macalister and crouched sheltering behind his body. Two men near the +corner of the other traverse disappeared round it, two more flung +themselves violently on their faces, and another leapt into the opening +of the communication trench. The officer, without hesitation, dropped +on his face, his head pressed close behind the sandbag on which he had +been sitting. + +The whole of these movements happened, of course, in the twinkling of +an eye. Macalister's thoughts had been so full of his plans for the +destruction of the officer that the advent of the bomb merely switched +these plans in a new direction. His first realized thought was of the +man crouching beside and clinging to him, the quick following instinct +to free himself of this check to his movements. He was still on his +knees, with the man on his left side; without attempting to rise he +twisted round and backwards, and drove his fist full force in the +other's face; the man's head crashed back against the trench wall, and +his limp body collapsed and rolled sideways. His mind still running in +the groove of his set purpose, before his captor's relaxed fingers had +well loosed their grip, Macalister hurled himself across the trench and +fastened his ferocious grip on the body of the officer. He rose to his +feet, lifting the man with a jerking wrench, and swung him round. The +swift idea had come to him that by hurling the officer's body on top of +the bomb, and holding him there, he would at least make sure of his +vengeance, might even escape himself the fragments and full force of +the shock. Even in the midst of the swing he checked, glanced once at +the spitting fuse, and with a stoop and a heave flung the officer out +over the front parapet, leaped on the firing step, and hurled himself +over after him. + +It must be remembered that the burning fuse of a bomb gives no +indication of the length that remains to burn before it explodes the +charge. The fuse looks like a short length of thin black rope, its +outer cover does not burn and the same stream of sparks and smoke pours +from its end in the burning of the first inch and of the last. There +was nothing, then, to show Macalister whether the explosion would come +before his quick muscles could complete their movement, or whether long +seconds would elapse before the bomb burst. It was an even chance +either way, so he took the one that gave him most. Fortune favored him, +and the roar of the explosion followed his flying heels over the +parapet. + +The officer, dazed, shaken, and not yet realizing what had happened, +had gathered neither his wits nor his limbs to rise when Macalister +leaped down almost on top of him. The officer's hand still clung to the +pistol he had held, but Macalister's grasp swooped and clutched and +wrenched the weapon away. + +"Get up, my man," he said grimly. "Get up, or I'll blow a hole in ye as +ye lie." + +He added emphasis with the point of the pistol in the other's ribs, and +the officer staggered to his feet. + +"Now," said Macalister, "you'll quick mairch--that way." He waved the +pistol towards the British trench. + +The officer hesitated. + +"It is no good," he said sullenly. "I should be killed a dozen times +before I got across." + +"That's as may be," said Macalister coolly. + +"But if you don't go you'll get your first killing here, and say +naething o' the rest o' the dizen." + +A shell cracked overhead, and the shrapnel ripped down along the trench +behind them with a storm of bullets thudding into the ground about +their feet. + +"I will make you an offer," said the officer hurriedly. "You can go +your way and leave me to go mine." + +"You'll mak' an offer!" said Macalister contemptuously. "Here"--and he +waved the pistol across the open again. "Get along there." + +"I will give you--" the officer began, when Macalister broke in +abruptly. + +"This is no a debatin' society," he said. "But ye'll no walk ye maun +just drive." + +Without further words he thrust the pistol in his pocket, grabbed and +took one handful of coat at the back of the officer's neck and another +at the skirt, and commenced to thrust him before him across the open +ground. But the officer refused to walk, and would have thrown himself +down if Macalister's grasp had not prevented it. + +"Ye would, would ye?" growled the Scot, and seized his captive by the +shoulders and shook him till his teeth rattled. "Now," he said angrily, +"ye'll come wi' me or--" he broke off to fling a gigantic arm about the +officer's neck--"or I'll pull the heid aff ye." + +So it was that the occupants of the British trench viewed presently the +figure of a huge Highlander appearing through the drifting haze and +smoke at a trot, a head clutched close to his side by a circling arm, a +struggling German half-running, half-dragging behind his captor. + +Arrived at the parapet, "Here," shouted Macalister. "Catch, some o' +ye." He jerked his prisoner forward and thrust him over and into the +trench, and leaped in after him. + +It was purely on impulse that Private Macalister flung his prisoner out +of the German trench, but it was a set and reasoned purpose that made +him drag his struggling captive back over the open to the British +trench. He knew that the British line would not shoot at an obvious +kilted Highlander, and he supposed that the Germans would hesitate to +fire on one dragging an equally obvious German officer behind him. +Either his reasoning or his blind luck held true, and both he and his +captive tumbled over into the British trench unhurt. An officer +appeared, and Macalister explained briefly to him what had happened. + +"You'd better take him back with you," said the officer when he had +finished, and glanced at the German. "He's not likely to make trouble, +I suppose, but there are plenty of spare rifles, and you had better +take one. What's left of your battalion has withdrawn to the support +trench." + +"I am an officer," said the German suddenly to the British subaltern? +"I surrender myself to you, and demand to be treated as an honorable +prisoner of war. I do not wish to be left in this man's hands." + +"Wish this and wish that," said Macalister, "and much good may your +wishing do. Ye've heard what this officer said, so rise and mairch, +unless ye wad raither I took ye further like I brocht ye here." And he +moved as if to scoop the German's head under his arm again. + +"I will not," said the German furiously, and turned again to the +subaltern. "I tell you I surrender----" + +"There's no need for you to surrender," said the subaltern quietly. "I +might remind you that you are already a prisoner; and I am not here to +look after prisoners." + +The German yielded with a very bad grace, and moved ahead of Macalister +and his threatening bayonet, along the line and down the communication +trench to the support trench. Here the Scot found his fellows, and +introduced his prisoner, made his report to an officer, and asked and +received permission to remain on guard over his captive. Then he +returned to the corner of the trench where the remains of his own +company were. He told them how he had fallen into the German trench and +what had happened up to the moment the German officer came into the +proceedings. + +"This is the man," he said, nodding his head towards the officer, "and +I wad just like to tell you carefully and exactly what happened between +him an' me. Ye'll understaun' better if a' show ye as weel as tell ye. +Weel, now, he made twa men tie ma' hands behind ma' back first--if ony +o' ye will lend me a first field dressing I'll show ye how they did +it." + +A field dressing was promptly forthcoming, and Macalister bound the +German's hands behind his back, overcoming a slight attempt at +resistance by a warning word and an accompanying sharp twist on his +arms. + +"It's maybe no just as tight as mine was," said Macalister when he had +finished, and stood the prisoner back against the wall. "But it'll dae. +Then he made twa men stand wi' fixed bayonets against ma' breast, and +when I hinted what was true, that he was no gentleman, he said I was to +kneel and beg his pardon. And now you," he said, nodding to the +prisoner, "will go down on your marrow-bones and beg mine." + +"That is sufficient of this fooling," said the officer, with an attempt +at bravado. "It's your turn, I'll admit; but I will pay you well--" + +Macalister interrupted him-"Ye'll maybe think it's a bit mair than +fooling ere I'm done wi' ye," he said. "But speakin' o' pay... and +thank ye for reminding me. Ower there they riped ma pooches, an' took +a'thing I had." + +He stepped over to the prisoner, went expeditiously through his +pockets, removed the contents, and transferred them to his own. + +"I'm no saying but what I've got mair than I lost," he admitted to the +others, who stood round gravely watching and thoroughly enjoying the +proceedings. "But then they took all I had, an' I'm only taking all he +has." + +He pulled a couple of sandbags off the parapet and seated himself on +them. + +"To go on wi' this begging pardon business," he said, "If a couple o' +ye will just stand ower him wi' your fixed bayonets.... Thank ye. I +wouldna' kneel," he continued, "so one o' them put his weight on my +shoulders----" He looked at one of the guards, who, entering promptly +into the spirit of the play, put his massive weight on the German's +shoulders, and looked to Macalister for further instructions. + +"Then," said Macalister, "the ither guard gave me a swipe across the +back o' the knees." + +The "swipe" followed quickly and neatly, and the German went down with +a jerk. + +"That's it exactly," said Macalister, with a pleasantly reminiscent +smile. The German's temper broke, and he spat forth a torrent of abuse +in mixed English and German. + +Macalister listened a moment. "I said nothing; so I think he shouldna' +be allowed to say anything," he remarked judicially. His comment met +with emphatic approval from his listeners. + +"I think I could gag him," said one of his guards; "or if ye preferred +it I could just throttle his windpipe a wee bit, just enough to stop +his tongue and no to hurt him much." + +With an effort the German regained his control. "There is no need," he +said sullenly; "I shall be silent." + +"Weel," resumed Macalister, "there was a bit o' chaff back and forrit +between us, and next thing he did was to slap me across the face wi' +his hand. Do ye think," he appealed to his audience, "it would brak' +his jaw if I gave him a bit lick across it?" + +He advanced a huge hand for inspection, and listened to the free advice +given to try it, and the earnest assurances that it did not matter much +if the jaw did break. + +"Ye'll feenish him off presently onyway, I suppose?" said one, and +winked at Macalister. + +"Just bide a wee," answered Macalister, "I'm coming to that. I think +maybe I'll no brak his jaw, for fair's fair, and I want to give as near +as I can to what I got." + +He leant forward and dealt a mild but tingling slap on the German's +cheek. + +"I think," he went on, "the next thing I got was a slash wi' a bit +switch he pulled out from the trench wall. We've no sticks like it +here, so I maun just do the best I can instead." + +He leant forward and fastened a huge hand on the prisoner's +coat-collar, jerked him to him, and, despite his frantic struggles and +raging tongue, placed him face down across his knees and administered +punishment. + +"I think that's about enough," he said, and returned the choking and +spluttering prisoner to his place between the guards. + +"He kept me," he said, "on my knees, so I think he ought ... thank ye," +as the German went down again none too gently. "After that he went on +saying some things it would be waste o' time to repeat. Swine dog was +about the prettiest name he had any use for. But there was another +thing he did; ye'll see some muck on my face and on my jacket. It came +there like this; he took hold o' me by the hair--this way." And +Macalister proceeded to demonstrate as he explained. + +"Then--my hands being tied behind my back you will remember, like +this--it was easy enough for him to pull me over on my face--like +this... and rub my face in the mud.... The bottom o' this trench is in +no such a state a' filth as theirs, but it'll just have to do." He +hoisted the German back to his knees. "Then I think it was after that +the pistol and the killing bit came in." And Macalister put his hand to +his pocket and drew out the officer's pistol which he had thrust there. + +"He gave me five minutes, so I'll give him the same. Has ony o' ye a +watch?" + +A timekeeper stepped forward out of the little knot of spectators that +crowded the trench, and Macalister requested him to notify them when +only one minute of the five was left. + +"My manny here was good enough," said Macalister, "to tell me he +wouldna' bandage my eyes, because he wanted me to look down the muzzle +of his pistol; so now," turning to the prisoner, "you can watch my +finger pulling the trigger." + +As the four minutes ebbed, the German's courage ran out with them. The +jokes and laughter about him had ceased. Macalister's face was set and +savage, and there was a cold, hard look in his eye, a stern ferocity on +his mud and bloodstained face that convinced the German the end of the +five minutes would also surely see his end. + +"One minute to go," said the timekeeper. A sigh of indrawn breaths ran +round the circle, and then tense silence. Outside the trench they were +in the roar of the guns boomed unceasingly, the shells whooped and +screwed overhead, and from oat in front came the crackle and roar of +rifle-fire; and yet, despite the noise, the trench appeared still and +silent. Macalister noted that, as he had noted it over there in the +German trench. + +"Time's up," said the man with the watch. The German, looking straight +at the pistol muzzle and the cold eye behind the sights, gasped and +closed his eyes. The silence held, and after a dragging minute the +German opened his eyes, to find the pistol lowered but still pointing +at him. + +"To make it right and fair," said Macalister, "his hands should be +loose, because I had managed to loose mine. Will one o' ye ... thank +ye. It's no easy," continued Macalister, "to just fit the rest o' the +program in, seeing that it was here a bomb fell in the trench, an' his +men bein' weel occupied gettin' oot o' its way, I threw him ower the +parapet and dragged him across to oor lines. Maybe ye'd like to try and +throw me out the same way." + +The German was perhaps a brave enough man, but the ordeal of those last +five minutes especially had brought his nerve to near its breaking +strain. His lips twitched and quivered, his jaw hung slack, and at +Macalister's invitation he tittered hysterically. There was a stir and +a movement at the back of the spectators that by now thronged the +trench, and an officer pushed his way through. + +"What's this?" he said. "Oh, yes! the prisoner. Well, you fellows might +have more sense than heap yourselves up in a crowd like this. One +solitary Krupp dropping in here, and we'd have a pretty-looking mess. +Open out along the trench there, and keep low down. You can be ready to +move in a few minutes now; we are being relieved here and are going +further back. Now what about this prisoner? Who is looking after him?" + +"I am, sir," said Macalister. "The Captain said I was to take him +back." + +"Right," said the subaltern. "You can take him with you when you go. +They've got some more prisoners up the line, and you can join them." + +It was here that the episode ended so far as Macalister was concerned, +and his relations with the German officer thereafter were of the purely +official nature of a prisoner's guard. There were some other +indignities, but in these Macalister had no hand. They were probably +due to the circulation of the tale Macalister had told and +demonstrated, and were altogether above and beyond anything that +usually happens to a German prisoner. They need not be detailed, but +apparently the most serious of them was the removal of a portion of the +black mud which masked the German's face, so as to leave a +diamond-shaped patch, of staring cleanness over one eye, after the +style of a music-hall star known to fame as the White-eyed Kaffir; +the ripping of a small portion of that garment which permitted of the +extraction of a dangling shirt into a ridiculous wagging tail about a +foot and a half long, and a pressing invitation, accompanied by a hint +from the bayonet point, to give an exposition of the goose-step at the +head of the other prisoners whenever they and their escort were passing +a sufficient number of troops to form a properly appreciative audience. +Probably a Cockney-born Highlander was responsible for these +pleasantries, as he certainly was for the explanation he gave to +curious inquirers. + +"He's mad," he explained. "Mad as a coot; thinks he's the devil, and +insists on wagging his little tail. I have to keep him marching with +his hands up this way, because he might try to grab my rifle. Now, it's +no use you gritting your teeth and mumbling German swear words, +cherrybim. Keep your 'ands well up, and proceed with the goose-step." + +But with all this Macalister had nothing to do. When he had returned as +nearly as he could the exact sufferings he had endured, he was quite +satisfied to let the matter drop. "I suppose," he said reflectively, +when the officer had gone, after giving him orders to see the prisoner +back, "as that finishes this play, we'll just need to treat ma lad here +like an ordinary preesoner. Has ony o' ye got a wee bit biscuit an' +bully beef an' a mouthful o' water t' gie the puir shiverin' crater!" + + + +A BENEVOLENT NEUTRAL + + +" ... _the enemy temporarily gained a footing in a portion of our +trench, but in our counter-attack we retook this and a part of enemy +trench beyond_."--EXTRACT FROM OFFICIAL DESPATCH. + + +A wet night, a greasy road, and a side-slipping motor-bike provided the +means of an introduction between Second Lieutenant Courtenay of the 1st +Footsloggers and Sergeant Willard K. Rawbon of the Mechanical Transport +branch of the A.S.C. The Mechanical Transport as a rule extend a bland +contempt to motor-cycles running on the road, ignoring all their +frantic toots of entreaty for room to pass, and leaving them to scrape +as best they may along the narrow margin between a deep and muddy ditch +and the undeviating wheels of a Juggernaut Mechanical Transport lorry. +But a broken-down motor-cycle meets with a very different reception. It +invariably excites some feeling compounded apparently of compassion and +professional interest to the cycle, and an unlimited hospitality to the +stranded cyclist. + +This being well known to Second Lieutenant Courtenay, he, after +collecting himself, his cycle, and his scattered wits from the ditch +and conscientiously cursing the road, the dark, and the wet, duly +turned to bless the luck that had brought about an accident right at +the doorstep of a section of the Motor Transport. There were about ten +massive lorries drawn up close to the side of the road under the +poplars, and Courtenay made a direct line for one from which a chink of +light showed under the tarpaulin and sounds of revelry issued from a +melodeon and a rasping file. Courtenay pulled aside the flap, poked his +head in and found himself blinking in the bright glare of an acetylene +lamp suspended in the middle of a Mechanical Transport traveling +workshop. The walls--tarpaulin over a wooden frame--were closely packed +with an array of tools, and the floor was still more closely packed +with a work-bench, vice and lathe, spare motor parts, boxes, and half a +dozen men. The men were reading newspapers and magazines; one was +manipulating the melodeon, and another at the vice was busy with the +file. The various occupations ceased abruptly as Courtenay poked his +head in and explained briefly who he was and what his troubles were. + +"Thought you might be able to do something for me," he concluded, and +before he had finished speaking the man at the vice had laid down his +file and was reaching down a mackintosh from its hook. Courtenay +noticed a sergeant's stripes on his sleeve, and a thick and most +unsoldierly crop of hair on his head plastered back from the brow. + +"Why sure," the sergeant said. "If she's anyways fixable, you reckon +her as fixed. Whereabouts is she ditched?" + +Ten minutes later Courtenay was listening disconsolately to the list of +damages discovered by the glare of an electric torch and the sergeant's +searching examination. + +"It'll take 'most a couple of hours to make any sort of a job," said +the sergeant. "That bust up fork alone--but we'll put her to rights for +you. Let's yank 'er over to the shop." + +Courtenay was a good deal put out by this announcement. + +"I suppose there's no help for it," he said resignedly, "but it's +dashed awkward. I'm due back at the billets now really, and another two +or three hours late--whew!" + +"Carryin' a message, I s'pose," said the sergeant, as together they +seized the cycle and pushed it towards the repair lorry. + +"No," said Courtenay, "I was over seeing another officer out this way." +He had an idea from the sergeant's free and easy style of address that +the mackintosh, without any visible badges and with a very visible +spattering of mud, had concealed the fact that he was an officer, and +when he reached the light he casually opened his coat to show his belts +and tunic. But the sergeant made not the slightest difference in his +manner. + +"Guess you'd better pull that wet coat right off," he said casually, +"and set down while I get busy. You boys, pike out, hit it for the +downy, an' get any sleep you all can snatch. That break-down will be +ambling along in about three hours an' shoutin' for quick repairs, so +you'll have to hustle some. That three hours is about all the sleep +comin' to you to-night; so, beat it." + +The damaged cycle was lifted into the lorry and propped up on its stand +and before the men had donned their mackintoshes and "beat it," the +sergeant was busy dismembering the damaged fork. Courtenay pulled off +his wet coat and settled himself comfortably on a box after offering +his assistance and being assured it was not required. The sergeant +conversed affably as he worked. + +At first he addressed Courtenay as "mister," but suddenly--"Say," he +remarked, "what ought I to be calling you? I never can remember just +what those different stars-an'-stripes fixin's mean." + +"My name is Courtenay and I'm second lieutenant," said the other. He +was a good deal surprised, for naturally, a man does not usually reach +the rank of sergeant without learning the meaning of the badges of rank +on an officer's sleeve. + +"My name's Rawbon--Willard K. Rawbon," said the sergeant easily. "So +now we know where we are. Will you have a cigar, Loo-tenant?" he went +on, slipping a case from his pocket and extending it. Courtenay noticed +the solidly expensive get-up and the gold initials on the leather and +was still more puzzled. He reassured himself by another look at the +sergeant's stripes and the regulation soldier's khaki jacket. "No, +thanks," he said politely, and struggling with an inclination to laugh, +"I'll smoke a cigarette," and took one from his own case and lighted +it. He was a good deal interested and probed gently. + +"You're Canadian, I suppose?" he said. "But this isn't Canadian +Transport, is it?" + +"Not," said the sergeant "Neither it nor me. No Canuck in mine, +Loo-tenant. I'm good United States." + +"I see," said Courtenay. "Just joined up to get a finger in the +fighting?" + +"Yes an' no," said the sergeant, going on with his work in a manner +that showed plainly he was a thoroughly competent workman. "It was a +matter of business in the first place, a private business deal that--" + +"I beg your pardon," said Courtenay hastily, reddening to his ear-tips. +"Please don't think I meant to question you. I say, are you sure I +can't help with that? It's too bad my sitting here watching you do all +the work." + +The sergeant straightened himself slowly from the bench and looked at +Courtenay, a quizzical smile dawning on his thin lips. "Why now, +Loo-tenant," he said, "there's no need to get het up none. I know you +Britishers hate to be thought inquisitive--'bad form,' ain't it!--but I +didn't figure it thataway, not any. I'd forgot for a minute the +difference 'tween--" He broke off and looked down at his sleeve, +nodding to the stripes and then to the lieutenant's star. "An' if you +don't mind I'll keep on forgetting it meantime. 'Twon't hurt +discipline, seeing nobody's here anyway. Y' see," he went on, stooping +to his work again, "I'm not used to military manners an' customs. A +year ago if you'd told me I'd be a soldier, _and_ in the British Army, +I'd ha' thought you clean loco." + +Courtenay laughed. "There's a good many in the same British Army can +say the same as you," he said. + +"I was in London when the flare-up came, an' bein' interested in +business I didn't ball up my intellect with politics an' newspaper war +talk. So a cable I had from the firm hit me wallop, an' plumb dazed me. +It said, 'Try secure war contract. One hundred full-powered available +now. Two hundred delivery within month.' Then I began to sit up an' +take notice. Y' see, I'm in with a big firm of auto builders--mebbe you +know 'em--Rawbon an' Spedding, the Rawbon bein' my dad? No? Well, +anyhow, I got the contract, got it so quick it made my head swim. Gee, +that fellow in the War Office was buyin' up autos like I'd buy +pipe-lights. The hundred lorries was shipped over, an' I saw 'em safe +through the specified tests an' handed 'em over. Same with the next two +hundred, an' this"--tapping his toe on the floor--"is one of 'em right +here." + +"I see how the lorry got here," said Courtenay, hugely interested, "but +I don't see how you've managed to be aboard. You and a suit of khaki +and a sergeant's stripes weren't all in the contract, I suppose?" + +"Nope," said the sergeant, "not in the written one, mebbe. But I took a +fancy to seein' how the engines made out under war conditions, an' +figured I might get some useful notes on it for the firm, so I fixed it +to come right along." + +"But how?" asked Courtenay--"if that's not a secret." + +"Why, that guy in the testin' sheds was plump tickled when I told him +my notion. He fixed it all, and me suddenly discoverin' I was mistook +for a Canadian I just said 'M-m-m' when anybody asked me. I had to +enlist though, to put the deal through, an' after that there wasn't +trouble enough to clog the works of a lady's watch. But there was +trouble enough at the other end. My dad fair riz up an' screeched +cablegrams at me when I hinted at goin' to the Front. He made out it +was on the business side he was kickin', with the attitude of the +U-nited States toward the squabble thrown in as extra. Neutrals, he +said we was, benevolent neutrals, an' he wasn't goin' to have a son o' +his steppin' outside the ring-fence o' the U-nited States Constitution, +to say nothing of mebbe losin' good business we'd been do in' with the +Hoggheimers, an' Schmidt Brothers, an' Fritz Schneckluk, an' a heap +more buyers o' his that would rear up an' rip-snort an' refuse to do +another cent's worth of dealing with a firm that was sellin' 'em autos +wi' one hand an' shootin' holes in their brothers and cousins and +Kaisers wi' the other. I soothed the old man down by pointing out I was +to go working these lorries, and the British Army don't shoot Germans +with motor-lorries; and I'd be able to keep him posted in any weak +points, if, and as, and when they developed, so he could keep ahead o' +the crowd in improvements and hooking in more fat contracts; and +lastly, that the Schmidt customer crowd didn't need to know a thing +about me being here unless he was dub enough to tell 'em. So I signed +on to serve King George an' his missus an' kids for ever an' ever, or +duration of war, Amen, with a mental footnote, which last was the only +part I mentioned in mailing my dad, that I was a Benevolent Neutral. +An' here I am." + +"Good egg," laughed Courtenay. "Hope you're liking the job." + +"Waal, I'll amit I'm some disappointed, Loo-tenant," drawled the +sergeant. "Y' see I did expect I'd have a look in at some of the +fightin'. I'm no ragin' blood-drinker an' bone-buster by profession, +up-bringin', or liking. But it does seem sorter poor play that a man +should be plumb center of the biggest war in history an' never see a +single solitary corpse. An' that's me. I been trailin' around with this +convoy for months, and never got near enough to a shell burst to tell +it from a kid's firework. It ain't in the program of this trench +warfare to have motor transport under fire, and the program is bein' +strictly attended to. It's some sight too, they tell me, when a good +mix-up is goin' on up front. I've got a camera here that I bought +special, thinking it would be fun later to show round my album in the +States an' point out this man being skewered on a bayonet an' that one +being disrupted by a bomb an' the next lot charging a trench. But will +you believe me, Loo-tenant, I haven't as much as set eye or foot on the +trenches. I did once take a run up on the captain's 'Douglas,' thinking +I'd just have a walk around an' see the sights and get some snaps. But +I might as well have tried to break into Heaven an' steal the choir's +harps. I was turned back about ten ways I tried, and wound up by being +arrested as a spy an' darn near gettin' shot. I got mad at last and I +told some fellows, stuck all over with red tabs and cap-bands and +armlets, that they could keep their old trenches, and I didn't believe +they were worth looking at anyway." + +Courtenay was laughing again. "I fancy I see the faces of the staff," +he choked. + +"Oh, they ante-d up all right later on," admitted the sergeant, "when +they'd discovered this column and roped in my captain to identify me. +One old leather-face, 'specially--they told me after he was a +General--was as nice as pie, an' had me in an' fed me a fresh meat and +canned asparagus lunch and near chuckled himself into a choking fit +when I told him about dad, an' my being booked up as a Benevolent +Neutral. He was so mighty pleasant that I told him I'd like to have my +dad make him a present of as dandy an auto as rolls in France. I would +have, too, but he simply wouldn't listen to me; told me he'd send it +back freight if I did; and I had to believe him, though, it seemed +unnatural. But they wouldn't let me go look at their blame trenches. I +tried to get this General joker to pass me in, but he wouldn't fall for +it. 'No, no,' he gurgles and splutters. 'A Benevolent Neutral in the +trenches! Never do, never do. We'll have to put some new initials on +the Mechanical Transport,' he says, 'B.N.M.T. Benevolent Neutral! I +must tell Dallas of the Transport that.' And he shooed me off with +that." + +The sergeant had worked busily as he talked, and now, as he commenced +to replace the repaired fork, he was thoughtfully silent a moment. + +"I suppose there's some dandy sna-aps up in those trenches, +Loo-tenant?" he said at last. + +"Oh, well, I dunno," said Courtenay. "Sort of thing you see in the +picture papers, of course." + +"Them!" said the sergeant contemptuously. "I could make better sna-aps +posin' some of the transport crowd in these emergency trenches dug +twenty miles back from the front. I mean real pictures of the real +thing--fellows knee-deep in mud, and a shell lobbing in, and such +like--real dandy snaps. It makes my mouth water to think of 'em. But I +suppose I'll go through this darn war and never see enough to let me +hold up my head when I get back home and they ask me what was the war +really like and to tell 'em about the trenches. I could have made out +if I'd even seen those blame trenches and got some good snaps of 'em." + +Courtenay was moved to a rash compassion and a still more rash promise. + +"Look here, sergeant," he said, "I'm dashed if I don't have a try to +get you a look at the trenches. We go in again in two days and it might +be managed." + + * * * * * + +Three days later Sergeant Rawbon, mounted on the motor-cycle which he +had repaired and which had been sent over to him, found all his +obstacles to the trenches melt and vanish before a couple of passes +with which he was provided--one readily granted by his captain on +hearing the reason for its request, and one signed by Second Lieutenant +Courtenay to pass the bearer, Sergeant Rawbon, on his way to the +headquarters of the 1st Footsloggers with motor-cycle belonging to that +battalion. The last quarter mile of the run to the headquarters +introduced Sergeant Rawbon to the sensation of being under fire, and, +as he afterwards informed Courtenay, he did not find the sensation in +any way pleasant. + +"Loo-tenant," he said gravely, "I've had some of this under fire +performance already, and I tell you I finds it no ways nice. Coming +along that last bit of road I heard something whistling every now an' +then like the top note of a tin whistle, and something else goin' +_whisk_ like a cane switched past your ear, and another lot saying +_smack_ like a whip-lash snapping. I was riding slow and careful, +because that road ain't exactly--well, it would take a lot of +sandpapering to make it really smooth. But when I realized that those +sounds spelt bullets with a capital B, I decided that road wasn't as +bad as I'd thought, and that anything up to thirty knots wasn't outside +its limits." + +"Oh, you were all right," said Courtenay carelessly, "bullets can't +touch you there, except a few long-distance ones that fall in enfilade +over the village. From the front they go over your head, or hit that +parapet along the side of the road." + +"Which is comforting, so far," said the sergeant, "though, personally, +I've just about as much objection to be hit by a bullet that comes over +a village as any other kind." + +They were outside the remains of a house in the cellar of which was +headquarters, Courtenay having timed the sergeant to arrive at an hour +when he, Courtenay, could arrange to be waiting at headquarters. + +"Now we'll shove along down and round the trenches. I spoke to the O.C. +and explained the situation--partly. He didn't raise any trouble so +just follow me, and leave me to do any talking there is to do. You must +keep your eyes open and ask any questions about things after. It would +look a bit odd and raise remarks if the men saw me showing you round +and doing the Cook's Tour guide business. And if you've brought that +camera, keep it out of sight till I give you the word. When we get +along to my own company's bit of trench I'll tell you, and you can take +some snaps--when I'm not looking at you. Just tip the wink to any men +about and they'll be quite pleased to pose or anything you like." + +"Loo-tenant," said Sergeant Rawbon earnestly, "you're doin' this thing +real handsome, and I won't forget it. If ever you hit the U-nited +States----" + +"Oh, that's all right," said Courtenay, "come along now." + +"When we find your bunch," said Rawbon as they moved off, "if you could +make some sort of excuse out loud, and fade from the scene a minute and +leave me there with the men, I'll sure get some of the dandiest snaps +I'd wish. I reckon it'll satisfy the crowd if I promise to send 'em +copies. It will if they're anything like my lot in the Mechanical +Transport." + +They slid down into a deep and narrow and very muddy ditch that ran +twistingly through the wrecked village. Courtenay explained that +usually they could walk this part above ground, sheltered from bullets +by the broken-down houses and walls, but that a good few shells had +been coming over all day, and that in the communication trench they +were safe from all shells but those which burst directly over or in the +part they were in. + +"You want to run across this bit," he said presently. "A high explosive +broke that in this morning, and it can't be repaired properly till +dark. You go first and wait the other side for me. Now--jump lively!" + +Rawbon took one quick jumping stride to the middle of the gap, and +another and very much quicker one beyond it, as a bullet smacked +venomously into the broken side of the trench. Another threw a spurt of +mud at Courtenay's heels as he made the rush. "A sniper watches the gap +and pots at anyone passing," he explained to Rawbon. "It's fairly safe, +because at the range he's firing a bullet takes just a shade longer to +reach here than you take to run across. But it doesn't do to walk." + +"No," said Rawbon, "and going back somehow I don't think I will walk. I +can see without any more explainin' that it's no spot for a pleasant, +easy little saunter." He stopped suddenly as a succession of whooping +rushes passed overhead. "Gee! What's that?" + +"Shells from our own guns," said Courtenay, and took the lead again. In +his turn he stopped and crouched, calling to Rawbon to keek down. They +heard a long screaming whistle rising to a tempestuous roar and +breaking off in a crash which made the ground shake. Next moment a +shower of mud and earth and stones fell rattling and thumping about and +into the trench. + +"Coal-box," said Courtenay hurriedly. "Come on. They're apt to drop +some more about the same spot." + +"I'm with you," said Rawbon. "The same spot is a good one to quit, I +reckon." + +They hurried, slipping and floundering, along the wet trench, and +turned at last into another zig-zag one where a step ran along one +side, and men muffled in wet coats stood behind a loopholed parapet. +Along the trench was a series of tiny shelters scooped out of the bank, +built up with sand-bags, covered ineffectually with wet, shiny, +waterproof ground-sheets. In these, men were crouched over scantily +filled braziers, or huddled, curled up like homeless dogs on a +doorstep. At intervals along the parapet men watched through periscopes +hoisted over the top edge, and every now and then one fired through a +loophole. The trench bottom where they walked was anything from ankle- to +knee-deep in evil-looking watery mud of the consistency of very thin +porridge. The whole scene, the picture of wet misery, the dirt and +squalor and discomfort made Rawbon shiver as much from disgust as from +the raw cold that clung about the oozing clay walls and began to bite +through to his soaking feet and legs. Courtenay stopped near a group of +men, and telling the sergeant to wait there a moment, moved on and left +him. A puff of cold wet wind blew over the parapet, and the sergeant +wrinkled his nose disgustedly. "Some odorous," he commented to a +mud-caked private hunkered down on his heels on the fire-step with his +back against the trench wall. "Does, the Boche run a glue factory or a +fertilizer works around here?" + +"The last about fits it," said the private grimly. "They made an attack +here about a week back, and there's a tidy few fertilizin' out there +now--to say nothin' of some of ours we can't get in." + +Rawbon squirmed uneasily to think he should, however unwittingly, have +jested about their dead, but nobody there seemed in any way shocked or +resentful. The sergeant suddenly remembered his camera, and had thrust +his hand under his coat to his pocket when the warning screech of an +approaching shell and the example of the other men in the traverse sent +him crouching low in the trench bottom. The trench there was almost +knee-deep in thin mud, but everyone apparently took that as a matter of +course. The shell burst well behind them, but it was followed +immediately by about a dozen rounds from a light gun. They came +uncomfortably close, crashing overhead and just in front of the +parapet. A splinter from one lifted a man's cap from his head and sent +it flying. The splinter's whirr and the man's sharp exclamation brought +all eyes in his direction. His look of comical surprise and the +half-dazed fashion of his lifting a hand to fumble cautiously at his +head raised some laughter and a good deal of chaff. + +"Orright," he said angrily. "Orright, go on; laugh, dash yer. Fat lot +t' laugh at, seein' a man's good cap pitched in the mud." + +"No use you feelin' that 'ead o' yours," said his neighbor, grinning. +"You can't even raise a sick 'eadache out o' that squeak. 'Arf an inch +lower now an' you might 'ave 'ad a nice little trip 'ome in an +'orspital ship." + +"You're wrong there, Jack," said another solemnly. "That splinter hit +fair on top of his nut, an' glanced off. You don't think a pifflin' +little Pip-Squeak shell could go through _his_ head?" He stepped up on +the firing-step as he spoke, and on the instant, with a rush and crash, +another "Pip-Squeak" struck the parapet immediately in front of him, +blowing the top edge off it, filling the air with a volcano of mud, +dirt, smoke, and shrieking splinters, and, either from the shock of the +explosion or in an attempt to escape it, throwing the man off his +balance on the ledge of the firing-step to sprawl full length in the +mud. In the swirl of noise and smoke and flying earth Rawbon just +glimpsed the plunging fall of a man's body, and felt a curious sickly +feeling at the pit of his stomach. He was relieved beyond words to see +the figure rise to his knees and stagger to his feet, dripping mud and +filth, and swearing at the pitch of his voice. He paid no attention to +the stutter of laughter round him as he retrieved his mud-encrusted +rifle, and looked about him for his cap. The laughter rose as he groped +in the thin mud for it, still cursing wildly; and then the sergeant +noticed that the man who had lost his cap a minute before had quietly +snatched up the other one from the firing-step, clapped it on his own +head and pretended to help the loser to search. + +"It was blame funny, I suppose," Rawbon told the lieutenant a few +minutes after, as they moved from the spot. "Him chasin' round in the +mud cussin' all blue about his 'blarsted cap'; and t'other fellow wi' +the cap on his head and pretending to hunt for it, and callin' the rest +to come help. I dessay I'll laugh some myself, if I remember it when +I'm safe back about ten mile from here. Just at the moment my funny +bone hasn't got goin' right after me expectin' to see that feller +blowed to ribbons an' remnants. But them others--say, I've seen men +sittin' comfortable in an armchair seat at a roof-garden vaudeville +that couldn't raise as hearty a laugh at the prize antics of the +thousand dollar star comedian, as them fellers riz on that cap +episode." + +"Well, it was rather funny, you know," said Courtenay, grinning a +little himself. + +"Mebbe, mebbe," said Rawbon. "But me--well, if you'll excuse it, I'll +keep that laugh in pickle till I feel more like usin' it." + +"You wanted to come, you know," said Courtenay. "But I won't blame you +if you say you've had enough and head for home. As I told you before, +this 'joy-riding' game is rather silly. It's bad enough us taking risks +we have to, but----" + +"Yes, you spoke that piece, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon, "but I want to +see all there is on show now I'm here. Only don't expect me to shriek +with hilarious mirth every time a shell busts six inches off my nose." + +They had halted for a moment, and now another crackling string of light +shells burst along the trench. + +"There's another bunch o' humor arriving," said Rawbon. "But I don't +feel yet like encoring the turn any;" + +They moved on to a steady accompaniment of shell bursts and Courtenay +looked round uneasily. + +"I don't half like this," he said. "They don't usually shell us so at +this time of day. Hope there's no attack coming." + +"I agree with all you say, Loo-tenant, and then some. Especially about +not liking it." + +"I'm beginning to think you'd be better off these premises," said +Courtenay. "I ought to be with my company if any trouble is coming off. +And it might lead to questions and unpleasantness if you were found +here--especially if you're a casualty, or I am." + +"Nuff sed, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon promptly. "I don't want that sort +o' trouble for various reasons. I'd have an everlastin' job explaining +to my dad what I was doin' in the front seats o' the firing line. It +wouldn't just fit wi' my bein' a Benevolent Neutral, not anyhow." + +"We're only about thirty or forty yards from the Germ trench in this +bit," said Courtenay. "Here, carry my periscope, and when I'm talking +to some of the men just take a look quietly." + +But Rawbon was not able to see much when, a little later, he had a +chance to use the periscope. For one thing the short winter day was +fading and the light was already poor; for another any attempt to keep +the periscope above the parapet for more than a few seconds brought a +series of bullets hissing and zipping over, and periscope glasses in +those days were too precious to risk for mere curiosity's sake. + +"We'll just have a look at the Frying Pan," said Courtenay, "and then +you'll have seen about the lot. We hold a bit of the trench running out +beyond the Pan and the Germs are holding the same trench a little +further along. We've both got the trench plugged up with sandbag +barricades." + +They floundered along the twisting trench till it turned sharply to the +right and ran out into the shallow hollow of the Frying Pan. It was +swimming in greasy mud, and across the far side from where they stood +Rawbon could see a breastwork of sandbags. + +"We call this entrance trench the Handle, and the trench that runs out +from behind that barricade the Leak. There's always more or less +bombing going on in the Leak, and I don't know if it's very wise of you +to go up there. We call this the Frying Pan because--well, 'into the +fire,' you know. Will you chance it?" + +"Why, sure; if you don't mind, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon, "I might as +well see--" He was interrupted by a sudden crash and roar, running +bursts of flaring light, hoarse yells and shouts, and a few rifle shots +from somewhere beyond the barricade across the Leak. The work of the +next minute was too fast and furious for Rawbon to follow or +understand. The uproar beyond the barricade swelled and clamored, and +the earth shook to the roar of bursting bombs. In the Frying Pan there +was a sudden vision of confused figures, dimly seen through the +swirling smoke, swaying and struggling, threshing and splashing in the +liquid mud. He was just conscious of Courtenay shouting something about +"Get back," of his being thrust violently back into the wide trench, of +two or three figures crowding in after him, cursing and staggering and +shooting back into the Frying Pan, of Courtenay's voice shouting again +to "Stand clear," of a knot of men scrambling and heaving at something, +and then of a deafening "Rat-tat-tat-tat," and the streaming flashes of +a machine-gun. It stopped firing after a minute, and Rawbon, flattened +back against a corner of the trench wall, heard an explanation given by +a gasping private to Courtenay and another mud-bedaubed officer who +appeared mysteriously from somewhere. + +"Flung a shower o' bombs an' rushed us, sir," said the private. "They +was over a-top o' us 'fore you could say 'knife.' Only two or three o' +us that wasn't downed and was able to get back out o' the Leak an' +across the Pan to here." + +"We stopped them with the maxim," said Courtenay, "but I suppose +they'll rush again in a minute." + +He and the other officer conferred hastily. Rawbon caught a few words +about "counterattack" and "quicker the better" and "all the men I can +find," and then the other officer moved hurriedly down the trench and +men came jostling and crowding to the end of the Handle, just clear of +the corner where it turned into the Pan. A few sandbags were pulled +down off the parapet and heaped across the end of the trench, the +machine-gun was run close up to them and a couple of men posted, one to +watch with a periscope, and the other to keep Verey pistol lights +flaring into the Frying Pan. + +Two minutes later the other officer returned, spoke hastily to +Courtenay, and then calling to the men to follow, jumped the low +barricade and ran splashing out into the open hollow with the men +streaming after him. A burst of rifle fire and the shattering crash of +bombs met them, and continued fiercely for a few minutes after the last +of the counter-attacking party had swarmed out. But the attack broke +down, never reached the barricade beyond the Pan, was, in fact, cut +down almost as fast as it emerged into the open. A handful of men came +limping and floundering back, and Courtenay, waiting by the machine-gun +in case of another German rush, caught sight of the face of the last +man in. + +"Rawbon!" he said sharply. "Good Lord, man! I'd forgotten--What took +you out there?" + +"Say, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon, panting hard. "There's no crossin' that +mud puddle Fry-Pan. They're holding the barricade 'cross there; got +loopholes an' shootin' through 'em. Can't we climb out an' over the +open an' on top of 'em?" + +"No good," said Courtenay. "They're sweeping it with maxims. Listen!" + +Up to then Rawbon had heeded nothing above the level of the trench and +the hollow but now he could hear the steady roar of rifle and maxim +fire, and the constant whistle of bullets streaming overhead. + +"I must rally another crowd and try'n' rush it," said Courtenay. "Stand +ready with that maxim there. I won't be long." + +"I've got a box of bombs here, sir," said a man behind him. + +Courtenay turned sharply. "Good," he said. "But no--it's too far to +throw them." + +"I think I could just about fetch it, sir," said the man. + +"All right," said Courtenay. "Try it while I get some men together." + +"Here y' are, chum," said the man, "you light 'em an' I'll chuck 'em. +This way for the milky coco-nuts!" + +Rawbon watched curiously. The bomb was round shaped and rather larger +than a cricket ball. A black tube affair an inch or two long projected +from it and emitted, when lit, a jet of hissing, spitting sparks. The +bomb-thrower seized the missile quickly, stepped clear of the +sheltering corner of the trench, threw the bomb, and jumped back under +cover. A couple of bullets slapped into the wall of the trench, and +next moment the bomb burst. + +"Just short," said the thrower, who had peeped out at sound of the +report. "Let's 'ave another go." + +This time a shower of bullets greeted him as he stepped out, but he +hurled his bomb and stepped back in safety. A third he threw, but this +time a bullet caught him and he reeled back with blood staining the +shoulder of his tunic. + +"You'll 'ave to excuse me," he remarked gravely to the man with the +match. "Can't stay now. I 'ave an urgent appointment in +_Blighty_.[Footnote: England. A soldier's corruption of the Hindustani +word "Belati."] But I'll drink your 'ealth when I gets to Lunnon." + +Rawbon had watched the throwing impatiently. "Look here," he said +suddenly. "Just lemme have a whale at this pitching. I'll show 'em some +curves that'll dazzle 'em." + +The wounded man peered at him and then at his cap badge. "Now 'oo the +blank is this?" he demanded. "Blimey, Joe, if 'ere ain't a blooming +Universal Plum-an'-Apple Provider. 'Ere, 'oo stole the strawberry jam?" + +"You let me in on this ball game," said Rawbon. "Light 'em and pass 'em +quick, and see me put the Indian sign on that bunch." + +A minute later Courtenay came back and stared in amazement at the +scene. Two men were lighting and passing up bombs to the sergeant, who, +standing clear out in the opening, grabbed and hurled the balls with an +extraordinary prancing and dancing and arm-swinging series of +contortions, while the crowded trench laughed and applauded. + +"Some pitchin', Loo-tenant," he panted beamingly, stepping back into +shelter. "Hark at 'em. And every darn one right over the plate. Say, +step out here an' watch this next lot." + +"No time now," said Courtenay hurriedly. + +"They're strengthening their defense every minute. Are you all ready +there, lads?" + +"I don't know who this man is, sir," said a sergeant quickly. "But he's +doing great work. Every bomb has gone in behind the parado there. He +might try a few more to shake them before we advance." + +"Behind the parakeet," snorted Rawbon. "I should smile. You watch! I'll +put some through the darn loopholes for you. Didn't know I was pitcher +to the Purple Socks, the year we whipped the League, did you? Gimme +thirty seconds, Loo-tenant, and I'll put thirty o' these balls right +where they live." + +As he spoke he picked up two of the bombs from a fresh box and held +them to the lighter. As he plunged out a shower of bullets spattered +the trench wall about him, but without heeding these he began to throw. +As the roar of the bursting bombs began, the bullets slowed down and +ceased. "Keep the lights blazing," Rawbon paused to shout to the man +with the pistol flares. "You slide out for the home base, Loo-tenant, +and I'll keep 'em too busy to shoot their nasty little guns." He +commenced to hurl the bombs again. Courtenay stepped out and watched a +moment. Bomb after bomb whizzed true and hard across the hollow, just +skimmed the breastwork, struck on the trench wall that showed beyond +and a foot above it, and fell behind the barricade. Billowing +smoke-clouds and gusts of flame leaped and flashed above the parapet. +Courtenay saw the chance and took it. He plunged out into the lake of +mud and plowed through it towards the barricade, the men swarming +behind him, and the sergeant's bombs hurtling with trailing streams of +sparks over their heads. + +"Come on, son," said the sergeant. "You carry that box and gimme the +slow match. I pitch better with a little run." + +Courtenay reached the barricade and led his men over and round +it without a casualty. The space behind the barricade was +deserted--deserted, that is, except by the dead, and by some +unutterable things that would have been better dead. + +The lost portion of trench was recaptured, and more, the defense, +demoralized by that tornado of explosions, was pushed a good fifty +yards further back before the counter-attack was stayed. + +At daybreak next morning Courtenay and the sergeant stood together on +the road leading to the communication trench. Both were crusted to the +shoulders in thick mud; Rawbon's cap was gone, and his hair hung +plastered in a wet mop over his ears and forehead, and Courtenay showed +a red-stained bandage under his cap. + +"Rawbon," he said, "I feel rotten over this business. Here you've done +some real good work--I don't believe we'd ever have got across without +your bombing--and you won't let me say a word about it. I'm dashed if I +like it. Dash it, you ought to get a V.C., or a D.C.M. at least, for +it." + +"Now lookahere, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon soothingly. "There's no need +for you to feel peaked--not any. It was darn good of you to let me in +on these sacred no-admittance-'cept-on-business trenches, and I'm plumb +glad I landed in the mix-up. It would probably raise trouble for you if +your boss knew you'd slipped me in; and it sure would raise everlasting +trouble for me at home if my name was flourishin' in the papers gettin' +an A.B.C. or D.A.M.N. or whatever the fixin' is. And I'd sooner have +this"--slapping the German helmet that dangled at his belt--"than your +whole darn alphabet o' initials. Don't forget what I told you about the +dad an' those Schwartzeheimer friends o' his, the cousins o' which same +friends I've been blowin' off the earth with bomb base-balls. Let it go +at that, and never forget it, friend--I'm a Benevolent Neutral." + +"I won't forget it," said Courtenay, laughing and shaking hands. He +watched the sergeant as he bestrode the motor-cycle, pushed off, and +swung off warily down the wet road into the morning mist. + +"What was it that despatch said a while back!" he mused. "Something +about 'There are few who appreciate or even understand the value of the +varied work of the Army Service Corps.' Well, this lot was a bit more +varied than usual, and I fancy it might astonish even the fellow who +wrote that line." + + + +DRILL + + +"_Yesterday one of the enemy's heavy guns was put out of action by our +artillery._"--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +"Stand fast!" the instructor bellowed, and while the detachment +stiffened to immobility he went on, without stopping to draw breath, +bellowing other and less printable remarks. After he had finished these +he ordered "Detachment rear!" and taking more time and adding even more +point to his remarks, he repeated some of them and added others, +addressing abruptly and virulently the "Number" whose bungling had +aroused his wrath. + +"You've learnt your gun drill," he said, "learned it like a +sulphur-crested cockatoo learns to gabble 'Pretty Polly scratch a +poll'; why in the name of Moses you can't make your hands do what your +tongue says 'as me beat. You, Donovan, that's Number Three, let me hear +you repeat the drill for Action Front." + +Donovan, standing strictly to attention, and with his eyes fixed +straight to his front, drew a deep breath and rattled off: + +"At the order or signal from the battery leader or section commander, +'Halt action front!' One orders 'Halt action front!'--At the order from +One, the detachment dismounts, Three unkeys, and with Two lifts the +trail; when the trail is clear of the hook, Three orders 'Limber drive +on.'" + +The instructor interrupted explosively. + +"You see," he growled, "you know it. Three orders 'Limber drive on.' +You're Three! but did you order limber drive on, or limber drive off, +or drive anywhere at all? Did you expect drivers that would be sitting +up there on their horses, with their backs turned to you, to have eyes +in the backs of their heads to see when you had the trail lifted, or +did you be expectin' them to thought-read that you wanted them to drive +on!" + +Three, goaded at last to a sufficiency of daring, ventured to mutter +something about "was going to order it." + +The instructor caught up the phrase and flayed him again with it. "'Was +going to,'" he repeated, "'was going to order it.' Perhaps some day, +when a bullet comes along and drills a hole in your thick head, you +will want to tell it you 'was going to' get out of the way. You maybe +expect the detachment to halt and stand easy, and light a cigarette, +and have a chat while you wait to make up your mind what you're going +to say, and when you're going to say it! And if ever you get past +recruit drill in the barracks square, my lad, and smell powder burnt in +action, you'll learn that there's no such thing as 'going to' in your +gun drill. If you're slow at it, if you fumble your fingers, and tie +knots in your tongue, and stop to think about your 'going to,' you'll +find maybe that 'going to' has gone before you make up your mind, and +the only thing 'going to' will be you and your detachment; and its +Kingdom Come you'll be 'going to' at that. And now we'll try it again, +and if I find any more 'going to' about it this time it's an hour's +extra drill a day you'll be 'going to' for the next week." + +He kept the detachment grilling and grinding for another hour before he +let them go, and at the end of it he spent another five minutes +pointing out the manifold faults and failings of each individual in the +detachment, reminding them that they belonged to the Royal Regiment of +Artillery that is "The right of the line, the terror of the world, and +the pride of the British Army," and that any man who wasn't a shining +credit to the Royal Regiment was no less than a black disgrace to it. + +When the detachment dismissed, and for the most part gravitated to the +canteen, they passed some remarks upon their instructor almost pungent +enough to have been worthy of his utterance. "Him an' his everlastin' +'Cut the Time!'" + +"I'm just about fed up with him," said Gunner Donovan bitterly, "and +I'd like to know where's all the sense doing this drill against a +stop-watch. You'd think from the way he talks that a man's life was +hanging on the whiskers of a half-second. Blanky rot, I call it." + +"I wouldn't mind so much," said another gunner, "if ever he thought to +say we done it good, but not 'im. The better we does it and the faster, +the better and the faster he wants it done. It's my belief that if he +had a gun detachment picked from the angels above he'd tell 'em their +buttons and their gold crowns was a disgrace to Heaven, that they was +too slow to catch worms or catch a cold, and that they'd 'ave to cut +the time it took 'em to fly into column o' route from the right down +the Golden Stairs, or to bring their 'arps to the 'Alt action front." + +These were the mildest of the remarks that passed between the smarting +Numbers of the gun detachment, but they would have been astonished +beyond words if they could have heard what their instructor Sergeant +"Cut-the-Time" was saying at that moment to a fellow-sergeant in the +sergeants' mess. + +"They're good lads," he said, "and it's me, that in my time has seen +the making and the breaking and the handling and the hammering of gun +detachments enough to man every gun in the Army, that's saying it. I +had them on the 'Halt action front' this morning, and I tell you +they've come on amazing since I took 'em in hand. We cut three solid +seconds this morning off the time we have been taking to get the gun +into action, and a second a round off the firing of ten rounds. They'll +make gunners yet if they keep at it." + +"Three seconds is good enough," said the other mildly. + +"It isn't good enough," returned the instructor, "if they can make it +four, and four's not good enough if they can make it five. It's when +they can't cut the time down by another split fraction of a second that +I'll be calling them good enough. They won't be blessing me for it now, +but come the day maybe they will." + + * * * * * + +The battery was moving slowly down a muddy road that ran along the edge +of a thick wood. It had been marching most of the night, and, since the +night had been wet and dark, the battery was splashed and muddy to the +gun-muzzles and the tops of the drivers' caps. It was early morning, +and very cold. Gunners and drivers were muffled in coats and woolen +scarves, and sat half-asleep on their horses and wagons. A thick and +chilly mist had delayed the coming of light, but now the mist had +lifted suddenly, blown clear by a quickly risen chill wind. When the +mist had been swept away sufficiently for something to be seen of the +surrounding country, the Major, riding at the head of the battery, +passed the word to halt and dismount, and proceeded to "find himself on +the map." Glancing about him, he picked out a church steeple in the +distance, a wayside shrine, and a cross-road near at hand, a curve of +the wood beside the road, and by locating these on the squared map, +which he took from its mud-splashed leather case, he was enabled to +place his finger on the exact spot on the map where his battery stood +at that moment. Satisfied on this, he was just about to give the order +to mount when he heard the sound of breaking brushwood and saw an +infantry officer emerge from the trees close at hand. + +The officer was a young man, and was evidently on an errand of haste. +He slithered down the steep bank at the edge of the wood, leaped the +roadside ditch, asked a question of the nearest man, and, getting an +answer from him, came at the double past the guns and teams towards the +Major. He saluted hastily, said "Mornin', sir," and went on +breathlessly: "My colonel sent me across to catch you. We are in a +ditch along the edge of the far side of this wood, and could just see +enough of you between the trees to make out your battery. From where we +are we can see a German gun, one of their big brutes, with a team of +about twenty horses pulling it, plain and fair out in the open. The +Colonel thinks you could knock 'em to glory before they could reach +cover." + +"Where can I see them from!" said the Major quickly. + +"I'll show you," said the subaltern, "if you'll leave your horse and +come with me through this wood. It's only a narrow belt of trees here." + +The Major turned to one of his subalterns who was with him at the head +of the battery. + +"Send back word to the captain to come up here and wait for me!" he +said rapidly. "Tell him what you have just heard this officer say, and +tell him to give the word, 'Prepare for action.' And now," he said, +turning to the infantryman, "go ahead." + +The two of them jumped the ditch, scrambled up the bank, and +disappeared amongst the trees. + +A message back to the captain who was at the rear of the battery +brought him up at a canter. The subaltern explained briefly what he had +heard, and the captain, after interrupting him to shout an order to +"Prepare for action," heard the finish of the story, pulled out his +map, and pointing out on it a road shown as running through the trees, +sent the subaltern off to reconnoiter it. + +The men were stripping off their coats, rolling them and strapping them +to the saddles and the wagon seats; the Numbers One, the sergeants in +charge of each gun, bustling their gunners, and seeing everything about +the guns made ready: the gunners examining the mechanism and gears of +the gun, opening and closing the hinged flaps of the wagons, and +tearing the thin metal cover off the fuses. + +It was all done smartly and handily, and one after another the +sergeants reported their subsections as ready. Immediately the captain +gave the order to mount, drivers swung themselves to their saddles, and +the gunners to their seats on the wagons, and all sat quietly waiting +for whatever order might come next. + +The lifting of the mist had shown a target to the gunners on both sides +apparently, and the roar and boom of near and distant guns beat and +throbbed quicker and at closer intervals. + +In three minutes the Major came running back through the wood, and the +captain moved to meet him. + +"We've got a fair chance!" said the Major exultingly. "One of their big +guns clear in the open, and moving at a crawl. I want you to take the +battery along the road here, sharp to the right at the cross-road, and +through the wood. The Inf. tell me there is just a passable road +through. Take guns and firing battery wagons only; leave the others +here. When you get through the wood, turn to the right again, and along +its edge until you come to where I'll be waiting for you. I'll take the +range-taker with me. The order will be 'open sights'; it's the only +way--not time to hunt a covered position! Now, is all that clear?" + +"Quite clear," said the captain tersely. + +"Off you go, then," said the Major; "remember, it's quick work. +Trumpeter, come with me, and the range-taker. Sergeant-major, leave the +battery staff under cover with the first line." + +He swung into the saddle, set his horse at the ditch, and with a leap +and scramble was over and up the bank and crashing into the +undergrowth, followed by his trumpeter and a man with the six-foot tube +of a range-finder strapped to the saddle. + +Before he was well off the road the captain shouted the order to walk +march, and as the battery did so the subaltern who had been sent out to +reconnoiter the road came back at a canter. + +"We can just do it," he reported; "it's greasy going, and the road is +narrow and rather twisty, but we can do it all right." + +The captain sent back word to section commanders, and the other two +subalterns spurred forward and joined him. + +"We go through the wood," he explained, "and come into action on the +other side. The order is 'open sights,' so I expect we'll be in an +exposed position. You know what that means. There's a gun to knock out, +and if we can do it and get back quick before they get our range we may +get off light. If we can't----" and he broke off significantly. "Get +back and tell your Numbers One, and be ready for quick moving." + +Immediately they had fallen back the order was given to trot, and the +battery commenced to bump and rumble rapidly over the rough road. As +they neared the cross-roads they were halted a moment, and then the +guns and their attendant ammunition wagons only went on, turned into +the wood, and recommenced to trot. + +They jolted and swayed and slid over the rough, wet road, the gunners +clinging fiercely to the handrails, the drivers picking a way as best +they could over bowlders and between ruts. They emerged on the far side +of the wood, found themselves in an open field, turned sharply to the +right, and kept on at a fast trot. A line of infantry were entrenched +amongst the trees on the edge of the wood, but their shouted remarks +were drowned in the clatter and rattle and jingle of wheels and +harness. Out on their left the ground rose very gently, and far beyond +a low crest could be seen clumps of trees, patches of fields, and a few +scattered farm? houses. At several points on this distant slope the +White smoke-clouds of bursting shells were puffing and breaking, but so +far there was no sign to be seen of any man or of any gun. When they +came to where the Major was waiting he rode out from the trees, blew +sharply on a whistle, and made a rapid signal with hand and arm. The +guns and wagons had been moving along the edge of the wood in single +file, but now at the shouted order each team swung abruptly to its left +and commenced to move in a long line out from the wood towards the low +crest, the whole movement being performed neatly and cleanly and still +at a trot. The Major rode to his place in the center of the line, and +the battery, keeping its place close on his heels, steadily increased +its pace almost to a canter. The Major's whistle screamed again, and at +another signal and the shouted orders the battery dropped to a walk. +Every man could see now over the crest and into the shallow valley that +fell away from it and rose again in gentle folds and slopes. At first +they could see nothing of the gun against which they had expected to be +brought into action, but presently some one discovered a string of tiny +black dots that told of the long team and heavy gun it drew. Another +sharp whistle and the Major's signal brought the battery up with a +jerk. + +"Halt! action front!" The shouted order rang hoarsely along the line. +For a moment there was wild commotion; a seething chaos, a swirl of +bobbing heads and plunging horses. But in the apparent chaos there was +nothing but the most smooth and ordered movement, the quick but most +exact following of a routine drill so well ground in that its motions +were almost mechanical. The gunners were off their seats before the +wheels had stopped turning, the key snatched clear, and the trail of +the gun lifted, the wheels seized, and the gun whirled round in a +half-circle and dropped pointing to the enemy. The ammunition wagon +pulled up into place beside the gun, the traces flung clear, and the +teams hauled round and trotted off. As Gunner Donovan's trail was +lifted clear his yell of "Limber, drive on," started the team forward +with a jerk, and a moment later, as he and the Number Two slipped into +their seats on the gun the Number Two grinned at him. "Sharp's the +word," he said: "d'you mind the time----" He was interrupted roughly by +the sergeant, who had just had the target pointed out to him, jerking +up the trail to throw the gun roughly into line. + +"Shut yer head, and get on to it, Donovan. You see that target there, +don't you?" + +"See it a fair treat!" said Donovan joyfully; "I'll bet I plunk a bull +in the first three shots." + +Back in the wood the infantry colonel, from a vantage-point half-way up +a tall tree, watched the ensuing duel with the keenest excitement. + +The battery's first two ranging shots dropped in a neat bracket, one +over and one short; in the next two the bracket closed, the shorter +shot being almost on top of the target. This evidently gave the range +closely enough, and the whole battery burst into a roar of fire, the +blazing flashes running up and down the line of guns like the reports +of a gigantic Chinese cracker. Over the long team of the German gun a +thick cloud of white smoke hung heavily, burst following upon burst and +hail after hail of shrapnel sweeping the men and horses below. Then +through the crashing reports of the guns and the whimpering rush of +their shells' passage, there came a long whistling scream that rose and +rose and broke off abruptly in a deep rolling cr-r-r-rump. A spout of +brown earth and thick black smoke showed where the enemy shell had +burst far out in front of the battery. + +The infantry colonel watched anxiously. He knew that out there +somewhere another heavy German gun had come into action; he knew that +it was a good deal slower in its rate of fire, but that once it had +secured its line and range it could practically obliterate the light +field guns of the battery. The battery was fighting against time and +the German gunners to complete their task before they could be +silenced. The first team was crippled and destroyed, and another team, +rushed out from the cover of the trees, was fallen upon by the shrapnel +tornado, and likewise swept out of existence. + +Then another shell from the German gun roared over, to burst this time +well in the rear of the battery. + +The colonel knew what this meant. The German gun had got its bracket. +The battery had ceased to fire shrapnel, and was pouring high-explosive +about the derelict gun. The white bursts of shrapnel had given place to +a series of spouting volcanoes that leaped from the ground about the +gun itself. Another German shell fell in front of the battery and a +good 200 yards nearer to it. A movement below attracted the colonel's +attention, and he saw the huddled teams straighten out and canter hard +towards the guns. He turned his glasses on the German gun again, and +could not restrain a cry of delight as he saw it collapsed and lying on +its side, while high-explosive shells still pelted about it. + +The teams came up at a gallop, swept round the guns, and halted. +Instantly they were hooked in, the buried spades of the guns wrenched +free, the wheels manned, the trails dropped clashing on the limber +hooks. And as they dropped, another heavy shell soared over burst +behind the battery, so close this time that the pieces shrieked and +spun about the guns, wounding three horses and a couple of men. The +Major, mounted and waiting, cast quick glances from gun to gun. The +instant he saw they were ready he signaled an order, the drivers' spurs +clapped home, and the whips rose and fell whistling and snapping. The +battery jerked forward at a walk that broke immediately into a trot, +and from that to a hard canter. + +Even above the clatter and roll of the wheels and the hammering +hoof-beats the whistle and rush of another heavy shell could be heard. +Gunner Donovan, twisted sideways and clinging close to the jolting +seat, heard the sound growing louder and louder, until it sounded so +close that it seemed the shell was going to drop on top of them. But it +fell behind them, and exactly on the position where the battery had +stood. Donovan's eye caught the blinding flash of the burst, the +springing of a thick cloud of black smoke. A second later something +shrieked hurtling down and past his gun team, and struck with a vicious +thump into the ground. + +"That was near enough," shouted Mick, on the seat beside him. Donovan +craned over as they passed, and saw, half-buried in the soft ground, +the battered brass of one of their own shell cartridges. The heavy +shell had landed fairly on top of the spot where their gun had stood, +where the empty cartridge cases had been flung in a heap from the +breech. If they had been ten or twenty seconds later in getting clear, +if they had taken a few seconds longer over the coming into action or +limbering up, a few seconds more to the firing of their rounds, the +whole gun and detachment ... + +Gunner Donovan leaned across to Mick and shouted loudly. + +But his remark was so apparently irrelevant that Mick failed to +understand. A sudden skidding swerve as the team wheeled nearly jerked +him off his seat, the crackling bursts of half a dozen light shells +over the plain behind him distracted his attention for a moment +further. Then he leaned in towards Donovan, "What was that?" he yelled. +"What didjer say?" + +Donovan repeated his remark. "Gawd--bless--old 'Cut-the-Time.'" + +The battery plunged in amongst the trees, and into safety. + + + +A NIGHT PATROL + + +"_During the night, only patrol and reconnoitering engagements of small +consequence are reported."_--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +"Straff the Germans and all their works, particularly their mine +works!" said Lieutenant Ainsley disgustedly. + +"Seeing that's exactly what you're told off to do," said the other +occupant of the dug-out, "why grouse about it?" + +Lieutenant Ainsley laughed. "That's true enough," he admitted; +"although I fancy going out on patrol in this weather and on this part +of the line would be enough to make Mark Tapley himself grouse. +However, it's all in the course of a lifetime, I suppose." + +He completed the fastening of his mackintosh, felt that the revolver on +his belt moved freely from its holster, and that the wire nippers were +in place, pulled his soft cap well down on his head, grunted a +"Good-night," and dropped on his hands and knees to crawl out of the +dug-out. + +He made his way along the forward firing trench to where his little +patrol party awaited his coming, and having seen that they were +properly equipped and fully laden with bombs, and securing a number of +these for his own use, he issued careful instructions to the men to +crawl over the parapet one at a time, being cautious to do so only in +the intervals of darkness between the flaring lights. + +He was a little ahead of the appointed time; and because the trench +generally had been warned not to fire at anyone moving out in front at +a certain hour, it was necessary to wait until then exactly. He told +the men to wait, and spent the interval in smoking a cigarette. As he +lit it the thought came to him that perhaps it was the last cigarette +he would ever smoke. He tried to dismiss the thought, but it persisted +uncomfortably. He argued with himself and told himself that he mustn't +get jumpy, that the surest way to get shot was to be nervous about +being shot, that the job was bad enough but was only made worse by +worrying about it. As a relief and distraction to his own thoughts, he +listened to catch the low remarks that were passing between the men of +his party. + +"When I get home after this job's done," one of them was saying, "I'm +going to look for a billet as stoker in the gas works, or sign on in +one o' them factories that roll red-hot steel plates and you 'ave to +wear an asbestos sack to keep yourself from firing. After this I want +something as hot and as dry as I can find it." + +"I think," said another, "my job's going to be barman in a nice snug +little public with a fire in the bar parlor and red blinds on the +window." + +"Why don't you pick a job that'll be easy to get?" said the third, with +deep sarcasm--"say Prime Minister, or King of England. You've about as +much chance of getting them as the other." + +Lieutenant Ainsley grinned to himself in the darkness. At least, he +thought, these men have no doubts about their coming back in safety +from this patrol; but then of course it was easier for them because +they did not know the full detail of the risk they ran. But it was no +use thinking of that again, he told himself. + +He took his place in readiness, waited until one flare had burned out +and there was no immediate sign of another being thrown up, slipped +over the parapet and dropped flat in the mud on the other side. One by +one the men crawled over and dropped beside him, and then slowly and +cautiously, with the officer leading, they began to wend their way out +under their own entanglements. + +There may be some who will wonder that an officer should feel such +qualms as Ainsley had over the simple job of a night patrol over the +open ground in front of the German trench; but, then, there are patrols +and patrols, or as the inattentive recruit at the gunnery class said +when he was asked to describe the varieties of shells he had been told +of: "There are some sorts of one kind, and some of another." + +There are plenty of parts on the Western Front where affairs at +intervals settled down into such a peaceful state that there was +nothing more than a fair sporting risk attaching to the performance of +a patrol which leaves the shelter of our own lines at night to crawl +out amongst the barbed wire entanglements in the darkness. There have +been times when you might listen at night by the hour together and +hardly hear a rifle-shot, and when the burst of artillery fire was a +thing to be commented on. But at other times, and in some parts of the +line especially, business was run on very different lines. Then every +man in the forward firing-trench had a certain number of rounds to fire +each night, even although he had no definite target to fire at. +Magnesium flares and pistol lights were kept going almost without +ceasing, while the artillery made a regular practice of loosing off a +stated number of rounds per night. The Germans worked on fairly similar +lines, and as a result it can easily be imagined that any patrol or +reconnoitering work between the lines was apt to be exceedingly +unhealthy. Actually there were parts on the line where no feet had +pressed the ground of No Man's Land for weeks on end, unless in open +attack or counter-attack, and of these feet there were a good many that +never returned to the trench, and a good many others that did return +only to walk straight to the nearest aid-post and hospital. + +The neutral ground at this period of Ainsley's patrol was a sea of mud, +broken by heaped earth and yawning shell-craters; strung about with +barbed wire entanglements, littered with equipments and with packs +which had been cut from or slipped from the shoulders of the wounded; +dotted more or less thickly with the bodies of British or German who +had fallen there and could not be reached alive by any stretcher-bearer +parties. Unpleasant as was the coming in contact with these bodies, +Ainsley knew that their being there was of considerable service to him. +He and his men crawled in a scattered line, and whenever the upward +trail of sparks showed that a flare was about to burst into light, the +whole party dropped and lay still until the light had burned itself +out. Any Germans looking out could only see their huddled forms lying +as still as the thickly scattered dead; could not know but what the +party was of their number. + +It was necessary to move with the most extreme caution, because the +slightest motion might eaten the attention of a look-out, and would +certainly draw the fire of a score of rifles and probably of a +machine-gun. The first part of the journey was the worst, because they +had to cover a perfectly open piece of ground on their way to the +slight depression which Ainsley knew ran curling across the neutral +ground. Wide and shallow at the end nearest the British trench, this +depression narrowed and deepened as it ran slantingly towards the +German; halfway across, it turned abruptly and continued towards the +German side on another slant, and at a point about halfway between the +elbow and the German trench, came very close to an exploded +mine-crater, which was the objective of this night's patrol. + +It was supposed, or at least suspected, that the mine-crater was being +made the starting-point of a tunnel to run under the British trench, +and Ainsley had been told off to find out if possible whether this +suspicion was correct, and if so to do what damage he could to the mine +entrance and the miners by bombing. + +When his party reached the shallow depression, they moved cautiously +along it, and to Ainsley's relief reached the elbow in safety. Here +they were a good deal more protected from the German fire than they +could be at any point, because from here the depression was fully a +couple of feet deep and had its highest bank next the German trench. +Ainsley led his men at a fairly rapid crawl along the ditch, until he +had passed the point nearest to the mine-crater. Here he halted his +men, and with infinite caution crawled out to reconnoiter. The men, who +had been carefully instructed in the part they were to play, waited +huddling in silence under the bank for his return, or for the fusillade +of fire that would tell he was discovered. Immediately in front of the +crater was a patch of open ground without a single body lying in it; +and Ainsley knew that if he were seen lying there where no body had +been a minute before, the German who saw him would unhesitatingly place +a bullet in him. A bank of earth several feet high had been thrown up +by the mine explosion in a ring round the crater, and although this +covered him from the observation of the trench immediately behind the +mine, he knew that he could be seen from very little distance out on +the flank, and decided to abandon his crawling progress for once and +risk a quick dash across the open. For long he waited what seemed a +favorable moment, watched carefully in an endeavor to locate the nearer +positions in the German trench from which lights were being thrown up, +and to time the periods between them. + +At last three lights were thrown and burned almost simultaneously +within the area over which he calculated the illumination would expose +him. The instant the last flicker of the third light died out, he +leaped to his feet, and made a rush. The lights had shown him a scanty +few rows of barbed wire between him and the crater; he had reckoned +roughly the number of steps to it and counted as he ran, then more +cautiously pushed on, feeling for the wire, found it, threw himself +down, and began to wriggle desperately underneath. When he thought he +was through the last, he rose; but he had miscalculated, and the first +step brought his thighs in scratching contact with another wire. His +heart was in his mouth, for some seconds had passed since the last +light had died and he knew that another one must flare up at any +instant. Sweeping his arm downward and forward, he could feel no wire +higher than the one-which had pricked his legs. There was no time now +to fiddle about avoiding tears and scratches. He swung over the wire, +first one leg, then another, felt his mackintosh catch, dragged it free +with a screech of ripping cloth that brought his heart to his mouth, +turned and rushed again for the crater. As he ran, first one light, +then another, soared upwards and broke out into balls of vivid white +light that showed the crater within a dozen steps. It was no time for +caution, and everything depended on the blind luck of whether a German +lookout had his eyes on that spot at that moment. Without hesitation, +he continued his rush to the foot of the mound on the crater's edge, +hurled himself down on it and lay panting and straining his ears for +the sounds of shots and whistling bullets that would tell him he was +discovered. But the lights flared and burned out, leaped afresh and +died out again, and there was no sign that he had been seen. For the +moment he felt reasonably secure. The earth on the crater's rim was +broken and irregular, the surface an eye-deceiving patchwork of broken +light and black heavy shadow under the glare of the flying lights. The +mackintosh he wore was caked and plastered with mud, and blended well +with the background on which he lay. He took care to keep his arms in, +to sink his head well into his rounded shoulders, to curl his feet and +legs up under the skirt of his mackintosh, knowing well from his own +experience that where the outline of a body is vague and easily escapes +notice, a head or an arm, or especially and particularly a booted foot +and leg, will stand out glaringly distinct. As he lay, he placed his +ear to the muddy ground, but could hear no sound of mining operations +beneath him. Foot by foot he hitched himself upward to the rim of the +crater's edge, and again lay and listened for thrilling long-drawn +minute after minute. + +Suddenly his heart jumped and his flesh went cold. Unmistakingly he +heard the scuffle and swish of footsteps on the wet ground, the murmur +of voices apparently within a yard or two of his head. There were men +in the mine-crater, and, from the sound of their movements, they were +creeping out on a patrol similar to his own, perhaps, and, as near as +he could judge, on a line that would bring them directly on top of him. +The scuffing passed slowly in front of him and for a few yards along +the inside of the crater. The sound of the murmuring voices passed +suddenly from confused dullness to a sharp clearer-edged speech, +telling Ainsley, as plainly as if he could see, that the speaker had +risen from behind the sound-deadening ridge of earth and was looking +clear over its top, Ainsley lay as still as one of the clods of earth +about him, lay scarcely daring to breathe, and with his skin pringling. +There was a pause that may have been seconds, but that felt like hours. +He did not dare move his head to look; he could only wait in an agony +of apprehension with his flesh shrinking from the blow of a bullet that +he knew would be the first announcement of his discovery. But the +stillness was unbroken, and presently, to his infinite relief, he heard +again the guttural voices and the sliding footsteps pass back across +his front, and gradually diminish. But he would not let his impatience +risk the success of his enterprise; he lay without moving a muscle for +many long and nervous minutes. At last he began to hitch himself +slowly, an inch at a time, along the edge of the crater away from the +point to which the German lookout had moved. He halted and lay still +again when his ear caught a fresh murmur of guttural voices, the +trampling of many footsteps, and once or twice the low but clear clink +of an iron tool in the crater beneath him. + +It seemed fairly certain that the Germans were occupying the crater, +were either making it the starting-point of a mine tunnel, or were +fortifying it as a defensive point. But it was not enough to surmise +these things; he must make sure, and, if possible, bomb the working +party or the entrance to the mine tunnel. He continued to work his way +along the rim of the crater's edge. Arrived at a position where he +expected to be able to see the likeliest point of the crater for a mine +working to commence, he took the final and greatest chance. Moving only +in the intervals of darkness between the lights, he dragged the +mackintosh up on his shoulders until the edge of its deep collar came +above the top of his head, opened the throat and spread it wide to +disguise any outline of his head and neck, found a suitable hollow on +the edge of the ridge, and boldly thrust his head over to look +downwards into the hole. + +When the next light flared, he found that he could see the opposite +wall and perhaps a third of the bottom of the hole, with the head and +shoulders of two or three men moving about it. When the light died, he +hitched forward and again lay still. This time the light showed him +what he had come to seek: the black opening of a tunnel mouth in the +wall of the crater nearest the British line, a dozen men busily engaged +dragging sacks-full of earth from the opening, and emptying them +outside the shaft. He waited while several lights burned, marking as +carefully as possible the outline of the ridge immediately above the +mine shaft, endeavoring to pick a mark that would locate its position +from above it. It had begun to rain in a thin drizzling mist, and +although this obscured the outline of the crater to some extent, its +edge stood out well against the glow of such lights as were thrown up +from the British side. + +It was now well after midnight, and the firing on both sides had +slackened considerably, although there was still an irregular rattle of +rifle fire, the distant boom of a gun and the scream of its shell +passing overhead. A good deal emboldened by his freedom from discovery +and by the misty rain, Ainsley slid backwards, moved round the crater, +crept back to the barbed wire and under it, ran across the opening on +the other side and dropped into the hole where he had left his men. He +found them waiting patiently, stretched full length in the wet +discomfort of the soaking ground, but enduring it philosophically and +concerned, apparently, only for his welfare. + +His sergeant puffed a huge sigh of relief at his return. "I was just +about beginning to think you had 'gone west,' sir," he said, "and +wondering whether I oughtn't to come and 'ave a look for you." + +Ainsley explained what had happened and what he had seen. "I'm going +back, and I want you all to come with me," he said. "I'm going to shove +every bomb we've got down that mine shaft. If we meet with any luck, we +should wreck it up pretty well." + +"I suppose, sir," said the sergeant, "if we can plant a bomb or two in +the right spot, it will bottle up any Germans working inside?" + +"Sure to!" said Ainsley. "It will cave in the entrance completely; and +then as soon as we get back, we'll give the gunners the tip, and leave +them to keep on lobbing some shells in and breaking up any attempt to +reopen the shaft and dig out the mining party." + +"Billy!" said one of the men, in an audible aside, "don't you wish you +was a merry little German down that blinkin' tunnel, to-night!" + +"Imphim," answered Billy, "I don't think!" + +Ainsley explained his plan of campaign, saw that everything was in +readiness, and led his party out. The misty rain was still falling, +and, counting on this to hide them sufficiently from observation if +they lay still while any lights were burning, they crawled rapidly +across the open, wriggled underneath the wires, cut one or two of +them--especially any which were low enough to interfere with free +movement under them--and crawled along to the crater. + +Ainsley left the party sprawling flat at the foot of the rim, while he +crept up to locate the position over the mine shaft. Each man had +brought about a dozen small bombs and one large one packed with high +explosive. Before leaving the ditch, on Ainsley's directions, each man +tied his own lot in one bundle, bringing the ends of the fuses together +and tying them securely with their ends as nearly as possible level, so +that they could be lit at the same time. Each man had with him one of +those tinder pipe-lighters which are ignited by the sparks of a little +twirled wheel. When Ainsley had placed the men on the edge of the +crater, he gave the word, and each man lit his tinder, holding it so as +to be sheltered from sight from the German trench, behind the flap of +his mackintosh. Then each took a separate piece of fuse about a foot +long, and, at a whispered word from Ainsley, pressed the end into the +glowing tinder. Almost at the same instant the four fuses began to +burn, throwing out a fizzing jet of sparks. Each man knew that, shelter +them as they would from observation, the sparks were almost certain to +betray them; but although some rifles began at once to crack +spasmodically and the bullets to whistle overhead, each man went on +with the allotted program steadily, without haste and without fluster, +devoting all their attention to the proper igniting of the bomb-fuses, +and leaving what might follow to take care of itself. As his length of +fuse caught, each man said "Ready" in a low tone; Ainsley immediately +said "Light!" and each instantly directed the jet of sparks as from a +tiny hose into the tied bundle of the bomb-fuses' ends. The instant +each man saw his own bundle well ignited, he reported "Lit!" and thrust +the fuse ends well into the soft mud. Being so waterproofed as to burn +if necessary completely under water, this made no difference to the +fuses, except that it smothered the sparks and showed only a curling +smoke-wreath. But the first sparks had evidently been seen, for the +bomb party heard shoutings and a rapidly increasing fire from the +German lines. A light flamed upward near the mine-crater. Ainsley said, +"Now!--, and take good aim." The men scrambled to their knees and, +leaning well over until they could see the black entrance of the mine +shaft, tossed their bundles of bombs as nearly as they could into and +around it. In the pit below, Ainsley had a momentary glimpse of half a +dozen faces, gleaming white in the strong light, upturned, and staring +at him; from somewhere down there a pistol snapped twice, and the +bullets hissed past over their heads. The party ducked back below the +ridge of earth, and as a rattle of rifle fire commenced to break out +along the whole length of the German line, they lit from their tinder +the fuses of a couple of bombs specially reserved for the purpose, and +tossed them as nearly as they could into the German trench, a score of +paces away. Their fuses being cut much shorter than the others, the +bombs exploded almost instantly, and Ainsley and his party leapt down +to the level ground and raced across to the wire. + +By now the whole line had caught the alarm; the rifle fire had swelled +to a crackling roar, the bullets were whistling and storming across the +open. In desperate haste they threw themselves down and wriggled under +the wire, and as they did so they felt the earth beneath them jar and +quiver, heard a double and triple roar from behind them, saw the wet +ground in front of them and the wires overhead glow for an instant with +rosy light as the fire of the explosion flamed upwards from the crater. + +At the crashing blast of the discharge, the rifle fire was hushed for a +moment; Ainsley saw the chance and shouted to his men, and, as they +scrambled clear of the wire, they jumped to their feet, rushed back +over the flat, and dropped panting in the shelter of the ditch. The +rifle fire opened again more heavily than ever, and the bullets were +hailing and splashing and thudding into the wet earth around them, but +the bank protected them well, and they took the fullest advantage of +its cover. Because the depression they were in shallowed and afforded +less cover as it ran towards the British lines, it was safer for the +party to stay where they were until the fire slackened enough to give +them a fair sporting chance of crawling back in safety. + +They lay there for fully two hours before Ainsley considered it safe +enough to move. They were, of course, long since wet through, and by +now were chilled and numbed to the bone. Two of the men had been +wounded, but only very slightly in clean flesh wounds: one through the +arm and one in the flesh over the upper ribs. Ainsley himself bandaged +both men as well as he could in the darkness and the cramped position +necessary to keep below the level of the flying ballets, and both men, +when he had finished, assured him that they were quite comfortable and +entirely free from pain. Ainsley doubted this, and because of it was +the more impatient to get back to their own lines; but he restrained +his impatience, lest it should result in any of his party suffering +another and more serious wound. At last the rifle fire had died down to +about the normal night rate, had indeed dropped at the finish so +rapidly in the space of two or three minutes that Ainsley concluded +fresh orders for the slower rate must have been passed along the German +lines. He gave the word, and they began to creep slowly back, moving +again only when no lights were burning. + +There were some gaspings and groanings as the men commenced to move +their stiffened limbs. + +"I never knew," gasped one, "as I'd so many joints in my backbone, and +that each one of them could hold so many aches." + +"Same like!" said another. "If you'll listen, you can hear my knees and +hips creaking like the rusty hinges of an old barn-door." + +Although the men spoke in low tones, Ainsley whispered a stern command +for silence. + +"We're not so far away," he said, "but that a voice might carry; and +you can bet they're jumpy enough for the rest of the night to shoot at +the shadow of a whisper. Now come along, and keep low, and drop the +instant a light flares." + +They crawled back a score or so of yards that brought them to the +elbow-turn of the depression. The bank of the turn was practically the +last cover they could count upon, because here the ditch shallowed and +widened and was, in addition, more or less open to enfilading fire from +the German side. + +Ainsley halted the men and whispered to them that as soon as they +cleared the ditch they were to crawl out into open order, starting as +soon as darkness fell after the next light. Next moment they commenced +to move, and as they did so Ainsley fancied he heard a stealthy +rustling in the grass immediately in front of him. It occurred to him +that their long delay might have led to the sending out of a search +party, and he was on the point of whispering an order back to the men +to halt, while he investigated, when a couple of pistol lights flared +upwards, lighting the ground immediately about them. To his +surprise--surprise was his only feeling for the moment--he found +himself staring into a bearded face not six feet from his own, and +above the face was the little round flat cap that marked the man a +German. + +Both he and the German saw each other at the same instant; but because +the same imminent peril was over each, each instinctively dropped flat +to the wet ground. Ainsley had just time to glimpse the movement of +other three or four gray-coated figures as they also fell flat. Next +instant, he heard his sergeant's voice, hurried and sharp with warning, +but still low toned. + +"Look out, sir! There's a big Boche just in front of you." + +Ainsley "sh-sh-shed" him to silence, and at the same time was a little +amused and a great deal relieved to hear the German in front of him +similarly hush down the few low exclamations of his party. The flare +was still burning, and Ainsley, twisting his head, was able to look +across the muddy grass at the German eyes staring anxiously into his +own. + +"Do not move!" said Ainsley, wondering to himself if the man understood +English, and fumbling in vain in his mind for the German phrase that +would express his meaning. + +"Kamarade--eh?" grunted the German, with a note of interrogation that +left no doubt as to his meaning. + +"Nein, nein!" answered Ainsley. "You kamarade--sie kamarade." + +The other, in somewhat voluble gutturals, insisted that Ainsley must +"kamarade," otherwise surrender. He spoke too fast for Ainsley's very +limited knowledge of German to follow, but at least, to Ainsley's +relief, there was for the moment no motion towards hostilities on +either side. The Germans recognized, no doubt as he did, that the first +sign of a shot, the first wink of a rifle flash out there in the open, +would bring upon them a blaze of light and a storm of rifle and maxim +bullets. Even although his party had slightly the advantage of position +in the scanty cover of the ditch, he was not at all inclined to bring +about another burst of firing, particularly as he was not sure that +some excitable individuals in his own trench would not forget about his +party being in the open and hail indiscriminate bullets in the +direction of a rifle flash, or even the sound of indiscreetly loud +talking. + +Painfully, in very broken German, and a word or two at a time, he tried +to make his enemy understand that it was his, the German party, that +must surrender, pointing out as an argument that they were nearer to +the British than to the German lines. The German, however, discounted +this argument by stating that he had one more man in his party than +Ainsley had, and must therefore claim the privilege of being captor. + +The voice of his own sergeant close behind him spoke in a hoarse +undertone: "Shall I blow a blinkin' 'ole in 'im, sir? I could do 'im in +acrost your shoulder, as easy as kiss my 'and." + +"No, no!" said Ainsley hurriedly; "a shot here would raise the +mischief." + +At the same time he heard some of the other Germans speak to the man in +front of him and discovered that they were addressing him as +"Sergeant." + +"Sie ein sergeant?" he questioned, and on the German admitting that he +was a sergeant, Ainsley, with more fumbling after German words and +phrases, explained that he was an officer, and that therefore his, an +officer's patrol, took precedence over that of a mere sergeant. He had +a good deal of difficulty in making this clear to the German--either +because the sergeant was particularly thick-witted or possibly because +Ainsley's German was particularly bad. Ainsley inclined to put it down +to the German's stupidity, and he began to grow exceedingly wroth over +the business. Naturally it never occurred to him that he should +surrender to the German, but it annoyed him exceedingly that the German +should have any similar feelings about surrendering to him. Once more +he bent his persuasive powers and indifferent German to the task of +over-persuading the sergeant, and in return had to wait and slowly +unravel some meaning from the odd words he could catch here and there +in the sergeant's endeavor to over-persuade him. + +He began to think at last that there was no way out of it but that +suggested by his own sergeant--namely, to "blow a blinkin' 'ole in +'im," and his sergeant spoke again with the rattle of his chattering +teeth playing a castanet accompaniment to his words. + +"If you don't mind, sir, we'd all like to fight it out and make a run +for it. We're all about froze stiff." + +"I'm just about fed up with this fool, too," said Ainsley disgustedly. +"Look here, all of you! Watch me when the next light goes up. If you +see me grab my pistol, pick your man and shoot." + +The voice of the German sergeant broke in:-- + +"Nein, nein!" and then in English: "You no shoot! You shoot, and uns +shoot alzo!" + +Ainsley listened to the stammering English in an amazement that gave +way to overwhelming anger. "Here," he said angrily, "can you speak +English?" + +"Ein leetle, just ein leetle," replied the German. + +But at that and at the memory of the long minutes spent there lying in +the mud with chilled and frozen limbs trying to talk in German, at the +time wasted, at his own stumbling German and the probable amusement his +grammatical mistakes had given the others--the last, the Englishman's +dislike to being laughed at, being perhaps the strongest +factor--Ainsley's anger overcame him. + +"You miserable blighter!" he said wrathfully. "You have the blazing +cheek to keep me lying here in this filthy muck, mumbling and bungling +over your beastly German, and then calmly tell me that you understand +English all the time. + +"Why couldn't you _say_ you spoke English? What! D'you think I've +nothing better to do than lie out here in a puddle of mud listening to +you jabbering your beastly lingo? Silly ass! You saw that I didn't know +German properly, to begin with--why couldn't you say you spoke +English?" + +But in his anger he had raised his voice a good deal above the safety +limit, and the quick crackle of rifle fire and the soaring lights told +that his voice had been heard, that the party or parties were +discovered or suspected. + +The rest followed so quickly, the action was so rapid and +unpremeditated, that Ainsley never quite remembered its sequence. He +has a confused memory of seeing the wet ground illumined by many +lights, of drumming rifle fire and hissing bullets, and then, +immediately after, the rush and crash of a couple of German "Fizz-Bang" +shells. Probably it was the wet _plop_ of some of the backward-flung +bullets about him, possibly it was the movement of the German sergeant +that wiped out the instinctive desire to flatten himself close to +ground that drove him to instant action. The sergeant half lurched to +his knees, thrusting forward the muzzle of his rifle. Ainsley clutched +at the revolver in his holster, but before he could free it another +shell crashed, the German jerked forward as if struck by a +battering-ram between the shoulders, lay with white fingers clawing and +clutching at the muddy grass. A momentary darkness fell, and Ainsley +just had a glimpse of a knot of struggling figures, of the knot's +falling apart with a clash of steel, of a rifle spouting a long tongue +of flame ... and then a group of lights blazed again and disclosed the +figures of his own three men crouching and glancing about them. + +Of all these happenings Ainsley retains only a very jumbled +recollection, but he remembers very distinctly his savage satisfaction +at seeing "that fool sergeant" downed and the unappeased anger he still +felt with him. He carried that anger back to his own trench; it still +burned hot in him as they floundered and wallowed for interminable +seconds over the greasy mud with the bullets slapping and smacking +about them, as they wrenched and struggled over their own wire--where +Ainsley, as it happened, had to wait to help his sergeant, who for all +the advantage of their initiative in the attack and in the Germans +being barely risen to meet it, had been caught by a bayonet-thrust in +the thigh--the scramble across the parapet and hurried roll over into +the waterlogged trench. + +He arrived there wet to the skin and chilled to the bone, with his +shoulder stinging abominably from the ragged tear of a ricochet bullet +that had caught him in the last second on the parapet, and, above all, +still filled with a consuming anger against the German sergeant. Five +minutes later, in the Battalion H.Q. dugout, in making his report to +the O.C. while the Medical dressed his arm, he only gave the barest and +briefest account of his successful patrol and bombing work, but +descanted at full length and with lurid wrath on the incident of the +German patrol. + +"When I think of that ignorant beast of a sergeant keeping me out +there," he concluded disgustedly, "mumbling and spluttering over his +confounded 'yaw, yaw' and 'nein, nein,' trying to scrape up odd German +words--which I probably got all wrong--to make him understand, and him +all the time quite well able to speak good enough English--that's what +beats me--why couldn't he _say_ he spoke English?" + +"Well, anyhow," said the O.C. consolingly, "from what you tell me, he's +dead now." + +"I hope so," said Ainsley viciously, "and serve him jolly well right. +But just think of the trouble it might have saved if he'd only said at +first that he spoke English!" He sputtered wrathfully again: "Silly +ass! Why couldn't he just _say_ so?" + + + +AS OTHERS SEE + + +_"It may now be divulged that, some time ago, the British lines were +extended for a considerable distance to the South."_--EXTRACT FROM +OFFICIAL DISPATCH. + + +The first notice that the men of the Tower Bridge Foot had that they +were to move outside the territory they had learned so well in many +weary marches and wanderings in networks and mazes of trenches, was +when they crossed a road which had for long marked the boundary line +between the grounds occupied by the British and French forces. + +"Do you suppose the O.C. is drunk, or that the guide has lost his way?" +said Private Robinson. "Somebody ought to tell him we're off our beat +and that trespassers will be prosecuted. Not but what he don't know +that, seeing he prosecuted me cruel six months ago for roving off into +the French lines--said if I did it again I might be took for a spy and +shot. Anyhow, I'd be took for being where I was out o' bounds and get a +dose of Field Punishment. Wonder where we're bound for?" + +"Don't see as it matters much," said his next file. "I suppose one wet +field's as good as another to sleep in, so why worry?" + +A little farther on, the battalion met a French Infantry Regiment on +the march. The French regiment's road discipline was rather more lax +than the British, and many tolerantly amused criticisms were passed on +the loose formation, the lack of keeping step, and the straggling lines +of the French. The criticisms, curiously enough, came in a great many +cases from the very men in the Towers' ranks who had often "groused" +most at the silliness of themselves being kept up to the mark in these +matters. The marching Frenchmen were singing--but singing in a fashion +quite novel to the British. Throughout their column there were anything +up to a dozen songs in progress, some as choruses and some as solos, +and the effect was certainly rather weird. The Tower Bridge officers, +knowing their own men's fondness for swinging march songs, expected, +and, to tell truth, half hoped that they would give a display of their +harmonious powers. They did, but hardly in the expected fashion. One +man demanded in a growling bass that the "Home Fires be kept Burning," +while another bade farewell to Leicester Square in a high falsetto. The +giggling Towers caught the idea instantly, and a confused medley of +hymns, music-hall ditties, and patriotic songs in every key, from the +deepest bellowing bass to the shrillest wailing treble, arose from the +Towers' ranks, mixed with whistles and cat-calls and Corporal +Flannigan's famous imitation of "Life on a Farm." The joke lasted the +Towers for the rest of that march, and as sure as any Frenchman met or +overtook them on the road he was treated to a vocal entertainment that +must have left him forever convinced of the rumored potency of British +rum. + +By now word had passed round the Towers that they were to take over a +portion of the trenches hitherto occupied by the French. Many were the +doubts, and many were the arguments, as to whether this would or would +not be to the personal advantage and comfort of themselves; but at +least it made a change of scene and surroundings from those they had +learned for months past, and since such a change is as the breath of +life to the British soldier, they were on the whole highly pleased with +it. + +The morning was well advanced when they were met by guides and +interpreters from the French regiment which they were relieving, and +commenced to move into the new trenches. Although at first there were +some who were inclined to criticize, and reluctant to believe that a +Frenchman, or any other foreigner, could do or make anything better +than an Englishman, the Towers had to admit, even before they reached +the forward firing trench, that the work of making communication +trenches had been done in a manner beyond British praise. The trenches +were narrow and very deep, neatly paved throughout their length with +brick, spaced at regular intervals with sunk traps for draining off +rain-water, and with bays and niches cut deep in the side to permit the +passing of any one meeting a line of pack-burdened men in the +shoulder-wide alley-way. + +When they reached the forward firing trench, their admiration became +unbounded; they were as full of eager curiosity as children on a school +picnic. They fraternized instantly and warmly with the outgoing +Frenchmen, and the Frenchmen for their part were equally eager to +express friendship, to show the English the dugouts, the handy little +contrivances for comfort and safety, to bequeath to their successors +all sorts of stoves and pots and cooking utensils, and generally to +give an impression, which was put into words by Private Robinson: +"Strike me if this ain't the most cordiawl bloomin' ongtongt I've ever +met!" + +The Towers had never realized, or regretted, their lack of the French +as deeply as they came to do now. Hitherto dealings in the language had +been entirely with the women in the villages and billets of the reserve +lines, where there was plenty of time to find means of expressing the +two things that for the most part were all they had to express--their +wants and their thanks. And because by now they had no slightest +difficulty in making these billet inhabitants understand what they +required--a fire for cooking, stretching space on a floor, the location +of the nearest estaminets, whether eggs, butter, and bread were +obtainable, and how much was the price--they had fondly imagined in +their hearts, and boasted loudly in their home letters, that they were +quite satisfactorily conversant with the French language. Now they were +to discover that their knowledge was not quite so extensive as they had +imagined, although it never occurred to them that the French women in +the billets were learning English a great deal more rapidly and +efficiently than they were learning French, that it was not altogether +their mastery of the language which instantly produced soap and water, +for instance, when they made motions of washing their hands and said +slowly and loudly: "Soap--you compree, soap and l'eau; you +savvy--l'eau, wa-ter." But now, when it came to the technicalities of +their professional business, they found their command of the language +completely inadequate. There were many of them who could ask, "What is +the time?" but that helped them little to discover at what time the +Germans made a practice of shelling the trenches; they could have asked +with ease, "Have you any eggs?" but they could not twist this into a +sentence to ask whether there were any egg-selling farms in the +vicinity; could have asked "how much" was the bread, but not how many +yards it was to the German trench. + +A few Frenchmen, who spoke more or less English, found themselves in +enormous French and English demand, while Private 'Enery Irving, who +had hitherto borne some reputation as a French speaker--a reputation, +it may be mentioned, largely due to his artful knack of helping out +spoken words by imitation and explanatory acting--found his bubble +reputation suddenly and disastrously pricked. He made some attempt to +clutch at its remains by listening to the remarks addressed to him by a +Frenchman, with a most potently intelligent and understanding +expression, by ejaculating "Nong, nong!" and a profoundly understanding +"Ah, wee!" at intervals in the one-sided conversation. He tried this +method when called upon by a puzzled private to interpret the +torrential speech of a Frenchman, who wished to know whether the Towers +had any jam to spare, or whether they would exchange a rum ration for +some French wine. 'Enery interjected a few "Ah, wee's!" and then at the +finish explained to the private. + +"He speaks a bit fast," he said, "but he's trying to tell me something +about him coming from a place called Conserve, and that we can have his +'room' here--meaning, I suppose, his dug-out." He turned to the +Frenchman, spread out his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and +gesticulated after the most approved fashion of the stage Frenchman, +bowed deeply, and said, _"Merci, Monsieur,"_ many times. The Frenchman +naturally looked a good deal puzzled, but bowed politely in reply and +repeated his question at length. This producing no effect except +further stage shrugs, he seized upon one of the interpreters who was +passing and explained rapidly. "He asks," said the interpreter, turning +to 'Enery and the other men, "whether you have any _conserve et +rhum_--jam and rum--you wish to exchange for his wine." After that +'Enery Irving collapsed in the public estimation as a French speaker. + +When the Towers were properly installed, and the French regiment +commenced to move out, a Tower Bridge officer came along and told his +men that they were to be careful to keep out of sight, as the orders +were to deceive the Germans opposite and to keep them ignorant as long +as possible of the British-French exchange. Private Robinson promptly +improved upon this idea. He found a discarded French képi, put it on +his head, and looked over the parapet. He only stayed up for a second +or two and ducked again, just as a bullet whizzed over the parapet. He +repeated the performance at intervals from different parts of the +trench, but finding that his challenge drew quicker and quicker replies +was obliged at last to lift the cap no more than into sight on the +point of a bayonet. He was rather pleased with the applause of his +fellows and the half-dozen prompt bullets which each appearance of the +cap at last drew, until one bullet, piercing the cap and striking the +point of the bayonet, jarred his fingers unpleasantly and deflected the +bullet dangerously and noisily close to his ear. Some of the Frenchmen +who were filing out had paused to watch this performance, laughing and +bravo-ing at its finish. Robinson bowed with a magnificent flourish, +then replaced the képi on the point of the bayonet, raised the képi, +and made the bayonet bow to the audience. A French officer came +bustling along the trench urging his men to move on. He stood there to +keep the file passing along without check, and Robinson turned +presently to some of the others and asked if they knew what was the +meaning of this "Mays ongfong" that the officer kept repeating to his +men. "Ongfong," said 'Enery Irving briskly, seizing the opportunity to +reëstablish himself as a French speaker, "means 'children'; spelled +e-n-f-a-n-t-s, pronounced _ongfong_." + +"Children!" said Robinson. "Infants, eh? 'ealthy lookin' lot o' +infants. There's one now--that six-foot chap with the Father Christmas +whiskers; 'ow's that for a' infant?" + +As the Frenchmen filed out some of them smiled and nodded and called +cheery good-bys to our men, and 'Enery Irving turned to a man beside +him. "This," he said, "is about where some appropriate music should +come in the book. Exit to triumphant strains of martial music Buck up, +Snapper! Can't you mouth-organ 'em the Mar-shall-aise?" + +Snapper promptly produced his instrument and mouth-organed the opening +bars, and the Towers joined in and sang the tune with vociferous +"la-la-las." When they had finished, two or three of the Frenchmen, +after a quick word together struck up "God Save the King." Instantly +the others commenced to pick it up, but before they had sung three +words 'Enery Irving, in tones of horror, demanded "The Mar-shall-aise +again; quick, you idiot!" from Snapper, and himself swung off into a +falsetto rendering of "Three Blind Mice." In a moment the Towers had in +full swing their medley caricature of the French march singing, under +which "God Save the King" was very completely drowned. + +"What the devil d'you mean? Are you all mad?" demanded a wrathful +subaltern, plunging round the traverse to where Snapper mouth-organed +the "Marseillaise," 'Enery Irving lustily intoned his anthem of the +Blind Mice, and Corporal Flannigan passed from the deep lowing of a cow +to the clarion calls of the farmyard rooster. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said 'Enery Irving with lofty dignity, "but if I +'adn't started this row the 'ole trenchful o' Frenchies would 'ave been +'owling our 'Gawd Save.' I saw that 'ud be a clean give-away, an' the +order bein' to act so as to deceive----" + +"Quite right," said the officer, "and a smart idea of yours to block +it. But who was the crazy ass who started it by singing the +'Marseillaise'?" On this point, however, 'Enery was discreetly silent. + +Before the French had cleared the trench the Germans opened a leisurely +bombardment with a trench mortar. This delayed the proceeding somewhat, +because it was reckoned wiser to halt the men and clear them from the +crowded trench into the dug-outs. "With the double company of French +and British, there was rather a tight squeeze in the shelters, +wonderfully commodious as they were. + +"Now this," said Corporal Flannigan, "is what I call something like a +dug-out." He looked appreciatively round the square, smooth-walled +chamber and up the steps to the small opening which gave admittance to +it. "Good dodge, too, this sinking it deep underground. Even if a bomb +dropped in the trench just outside, and pieces blew in the door, they'd +only go over our heads. Something like, this is." + +"I wonder," said another reflectively, "why we don't have dug-outs like +this in our line?" He spoke in a slightly aggrieved tone, as if dugouts +were things that were issued from the Quarter-Master's store, and +therefore a legitimate cause for free complaint. He and his fellows +would certainly have felt a good deal more aggrieved, however, if they +had been set the labor of making such dug-outs. + +Up above, such of the French and British as had been left in the trench +were having quite a busy time with the bombs. The Frenchmen had rather +a unique way of dodging these, which the Towers were quick to adopt. +The whole length of the trench was divided up into compartments by +strong traverses running back at right angles from the forward parapet, +and in each of these compartments there were anything from four or five +to a dozen men, all crowded to the backward end of the traverse, +waiting and watching there to see the bomb come twirling slowly and +clumsily over. As it reached the highest point of its curve and began +to fall down towards the trench, it was as a rule fairly easy to say +whether it would fall to right or left of the traverse. If it fell in +the trench to the right, the men hurriedly plunged round the corner of +the traverse to the left, and waited there till the bomb exploded. The +crushing together at the angle of the traverse, the confused cries of +warning or advice, or speculation as to which side a bomb would fall, +the scuffling, tumbling rush to one side or the other, the cries of +derision which greeted the ineffective explosion--all made up a sort of +game. The Towers had had a good many unhappy experiences with bombs, +and at first played the unknown game carefully and anxiously, and with +some doubts as to its results. But they soon picked it up, and +presently made quite merry at it, laughing and shouting noisily, +tumbling and picking themselves up and laughing again like children. + +They lost three men, who were wounded through their slowness in +escaping from the compartment where the bomb exploded, and this rather +put the Towers on their mettle. As Private Robinson remarked, it wasn't +the cheese that a Frenchman should beat an Englishman at any blooming +game. + +"If we could only get a little bit of a stake on it," he said +wistfully, "we could take 'em on, the winners being them that loses +least men." + +It being impossible, however, to convey to the Frenchmen that interest +would be added by the addition of a little bet, the Towers had to +content themselves with playing platoon against platoon amongst +themselves, the losing platoon pay, what they could conveniently +afford, the day's rations of the men who were casualtied. The +subsequent task of dividing one and a quarter pots of jam, five +portions of cheese, bacon and a meat-and-potato stew was only settled +eventually by resource to a set of dice. + +As the bombing continued methodically, the French artillery, who were +still covering this portion of the trench, set to work to silence the +mortar, and the Towers thoroughly enjoyed the ensuing performance, and +the generous, not to say extravagant, fashion in which the French +battery, after the usual custom of French batteries, lavished its +shells upon the task. For five minutes the battery spoke in +four-tongued emphatic tones, and the shells screamed over the forward +trench, crackled and crashed above the German line, dotted the German +parapet along its length, played up and down it in long bursts of fire, +and deluged the suspected hiding-place of the mortar with a torrent of +high explosive. When it stopped, the bombing also had stopped for that +day. + +The French infantry did not wait for the ceasing of the artillery fire. +They gathered themselves and their belongings and recommenced to move +as soon as the guns began to speak. + +"Feenish!" as one of them said, placing a finger on the ground, lifting +it in a long curve, twirling it over and over and downward again in +imitation of a falling bomb. "Ze soixante-quinze speak, +bang-bang-bang!" and his fist jerked out four blows in a row. +"Feenish!" he concluded, holding a hand out towards the German lines +and making a motion of rubbing something off the slate. Plainly they +were very proud of their artillery, and the Towers caught that word +"soixante-quinze" in every tone of pleasure, pride, and satisfaction. +But as Private Robinson said, "I don't wonder at it. Cans is a good +name, but can-an'-does would be a better." + +When the last of the Frenchmen had gone, the Towers completed their +settling in and making themselves comfortable in the vacated quarters. +The greatest care was taken to avoid any man showing a British cap or +uniform. "Snapper" Brown, urged by the public-spirited 'Enery Irving, +exhausted himself in playing the "Marseillaise" at the fullest pitch of +his lungs and mouth-organ. His artistic soul revolted at last at the +repetition, but since the only other French tune that was suggested was +the Blue Danube Waltz, and there appeared to be divergent opinions as +to its nationality, "Snapper" at last struck, and refused to play the +"Marseillaise" a single time more. 'Enery Irving enthusiastically took +up this matter of "acting so as to deceive the Germans." + +"Act!" he said. "If I'd a make-up box and a false mustache 'ere, I'd +act so as to cheat the French President 'imself, much less a parcel of +beer-swilling Germs." + +The German trenches were too far away to allow of any conversation, but +'Enery secured a board, wrote on it in large letters "Veev la France," +and displayed it over the parapet. After the Germans had signified +their notice of the sentiment by firing a dozen shots at it, 'Enery +replaced it by a fresh one, "A baa la Bosh." This notice was left +standing, but to 'Enery's annoyance the Germans displayed in return a +board which said in plain English, "Good morning." "Ain't that a knock +out," said 'Enery disgustedly. "Much use me acting to deceive the +Germans if some silly blighter in another bit o' the line goes and +gives the game away." + +Throughout the rest of the day he endeavored to confuse the German's +evident information by the display of the French cap and of French +sentences on the board like "Bong jewr," "Bong nwee," and "Mercridi," +which he told the others was the French for a day of the week, the +spelling being correct as he knew because he had seen it written down, +and the day indicated, he believed, being Wednesday--or Thursday. "And +that's near enough," he said, "because to-day is Wednesday, and if +Mercridi means Wednesday, they'll think I'm signaling 'to-day'; and if +it means Thursday, they'll think I'm talking about to-morrow." All +doubts of the German's knowledge appeared to be removed, however, by +their next notice, which stated plainly, "You are Englander." To that +'Enery, his French having failed him, could only retort by a drawing of +outstretched fingers and a thumb placed against a prominent nose on an +obviously French face, with pointed mustache and imperial, and a French +cap. But clearly even this failed, and the German's next message read, +"WELL DONE, WALES!" The Towers were annoyed, intensely annoyed, because +shortly before that time the strikes of the Welsh miners had been +prominent in the English papers, and as the Towers guessed from this +notice at least equally prominent in the German journals. + +"And I only 'opes," said Robinson, "they sticks that notice up in front +of some of the Taffy regiments." + +"I don't see that a bit," said 'Enery Irving. "The Taffys out 'ere 'ave +done their bit along with the best, and they're just as mad as us, and +maybe madder, at these ha'penny-grabbing loafers on strike." + +"True enough," said Robinson, "but maybe they'll write 'ome and tell +their pals 'ow pleased the Bosche is with them, and 'ave a kind word in +passing to say when any of them goes 'ome casualtied or on leave, 'Well +done, Wales!' Well, I 'ope Wales likes that smack in the eye," and he +spat contemptuously. Presently he had the pleasure of expressing his +mind more freely to a French signaler of artillery who was on duty at +an observing post in this forward fire trench. The Frenchman had a +sufficient smattering of English to ask awkward questions as to why men +were allowed to strike in England in war time, but unfortunately not +enough to follow Robinson's lengthy and agonized explanations that +these men were not English but--a very different thing--Welsh, and, +more than that, unpatriotic swine, who ought to be shot. He was reduced +at last to turning the unpleasant subject aside by asking what the +Frenchman was doing there now the British had taken over. And presently +the matter was shelved by a French observing officer, who was on duty +there, calling his signalers to attention. The German guns had opened a +slow and casual fire about half an hour before on the forward British +trench, and now they quickened their fire and commenced methodically to +bombard the trench. At his captain's order a signaler called up a +battery by telephone. The telephone instrument was in a tall narrow box +with a handle at the side, and the signaler ground the handle +vigorously for a minute and shouted a long string of hello's into the +instrument, rapidly twirled the handle again and shouted, twirled and +shouted. + +The Towers watched him in some amusement. "'Ere, chum," said Robinson, +"you 'aven't put your tuppence in the slot," and 'Enery Irving in a +falsetto imitation of a telephone girl's metallic voice drawled: "Put +two pennies in, please, and turn the handle after each--one--two--thank +you! You're through." The signaler revolved the handle again. "You're +mistook, 'Enery," said Robinson, "'e ain't through. Chum, you ought to +get your tuppence back." + +"Ask to be put through to the inquiry office," said another. "Make a +complaint and tell 'em to come and take the blanky thing away if it +can't be kept in order. That's what I used to 'ear my governor say +every other day." + +From his lookout corner the captain called down in rapid French to his +signaler. + +"D 'ye 'ear that," said Robinson. "Garsong he called him. He's a +bloomin' waiter! Well, well, and me thought he was a signaler." + +The captain at last was forced to descend from his place, and with the +signaler endeavored to rectify the faulty instrument. They got through +at last, and the captain spoke to his battery. + +"'Ear that," said Robinson. "'Mes on-fong,' he says. He's got a lot o' +bloomin' infants too." + +"Queer crowd!" said Flannigan. "What with infants for soldiers and a +waiter for a signaler, and a butcher or a baker or candlestick-maker +for a President, as I'm told they have, they're a rum crush +altogether." + +The captain ascended to his place again. A German shell, soaring over, +burst with a loud _crump_ behind the trench. The French signaler +laughed and waved derisively towards the shell. He leaned his head and +body far to one side, straightened slowly, bent his head on a curve to +the other side, and brought it up with a jerk, imitating, as he did so, +the sound of the falling and bursting shell, +"_sss-eee-aaa-ahah-aow-Wump_." Another shell fell, and "_aow-Wump_," he +cried again, shuffling his feet and laughing gayly. The Towers laughed +with him, and when the next shell fell there was a general chorus of +imitation. + +The captain called again, the signaler ground the handle and spoke into +the telephone. "Fire!" he said, nodding delightedly to the Towers; +"boom-boom-boom-boom." Immediately after they heard the loud, harsh, +crackling reports of the battery to their rear, and the shells rushed +whistling overhead. + +The signaler mimicked the whistling sound, and clicked his heels +together. "Ha!" he said, "soixante-quinze--good, eh?" The captain +called to him, and again he revolved the handle and called to the +battery. + +"Garsong," said Robinson, "a plate of swa-song-canned beans, si voo +play--and serve 'em hot" + +A German shell dropped again, and again the chorused howls and laughter +of the Towers marked its fall. The captain called for high explosive, +and the signaler shouted on the order. + +"Exploseef," repeated 'Enery Irving, again airing his French. "That's +high explosive." + +"Garsong, twopennorth of exploseef soup," chanted Robinson. + +Then the order was sent down for rapid fire, and a moment later the +battery burst out in running quadruple reports, and the shells streamed +whistling overhead. The Towers peered through periscopes and over the +parapet to watch the tossing plumes of smoke and dust that leaped and +twisted in the German lines. "Good old cans!" said Robinson +appreciatively. + +When the fire stopped, the captain came to the telephone and spoke to +the battery in praise of their shooting. The Towers listened carefully +to catch a word here and there. "There he goes again," said Robinson, +"with 'is bloomin' infants," and later he asked the signaler the +meaning of "_mes braves_" that was so often in the captain's mouth. + +"'Ear that," he said to the other Towers when the signaler explained it +meant "my braves." "Bloomin' braves he's calling his battery now. +Infants was bad enough, but 'braves' is about the limit. I'm open to +admit they're brave enough; that bombing didn't seem to worry them, and +shell-fire pleases them like a call for dinner; and you remember that +time we was in action one side of the La Bassée road and they was in it +on the other? Strewth! When I remember the wiping they got crossing the +open, and the way they stuck it and plugged through that mud, and tore +the barbed wire up by the roots, and sailed over into the German +trench, I'm not going to contradict anybody that calls 'em brave. But +it sounds rum to 'ear 'em call each other it." + +Robinson was busy surveying in a periscope the ground between the +trenches. "I dunno if I'm seein' things," he remarked suddenly, "but I +could 've swore a man's 'and waved out o' the grass over there." With +the utmost caution half a dozen men peered out through loopholes and +with periscopes in the direction indicated, and presently a chorus of +exclamations told that the hand had again been seen. Robinson was just +about to wave in reply when 'Enery grabbed his arm. + +"You're a nice one to 'act so as to deceive,' you are," he said warmly. +"I s'pose a khaki sleeve is likely to make the 'Uns believe we're +French. Now, you watch me." + +He pulled back his tunic sleeve, held his shirtsleeved arm up the +moment the next wave came, and motioned a reply. + +"He's in a hole o' some sort," said 'Enery. "Now I wonder who it is. A +Frenchie by his tunic sleeve." + +"Yes; there's 'is cap," said Robinson suddenly. "Just up--and gone." + +"Make the same motion wi' this cap on a bayonet," said 'Enery; "then +knock off, case the Boshies spot 'im." + +The matter was reported, and presently a couple of officers came along, +made a careful examination, and waved the cap. A cautious reply, and a +couple of bullets whistling past their cap came at the same moment. + +Later, 'Enery sought the sergeant. "Mind you this, sergeant," he said, +"if there's any volunteerin' for the job o' fetchin' that chap in, he +belongs to me. I found 'im." The sergeant grinned. + +"Robinson was here two minutes ago wi' the same tale," he said. "Seems +you're all in a great hurry to get shot." + +"Like his bloomin' cheek!" said the indignant 'Enery. "I know why he +wants to go out; he's after those German helmets the interpreter told +us was lyin' out there." + +The difficulty was solved presently by the announcement that an officer +was going out and would take two volunteers--B Company to have first +offer. 'Enery and Robinson secured the post, and 'Enery immediately +sought the officer. Reminding him of the order to "act so as to +deceive," he unfolded a plan which was favorably considered. + +"Those Boshies thought they was bloomin' clever to twig we was +English," he told the others of B Company; "but you wait till the +lime-light's on me. I'll puzzle 'em." + +The two French artillery signalers were sleeping in the forward trench, +and after some explanation readily lent their long-skirted coats. The +officer and Robinson donned one each, and 'Enery carefully arrayed +himself in a torn and discarded pair of old French baggy red breeches +and the damaged French cap, and discarded his own jacket. His gray +shirt might have been of any nationality, so that on the whole he made +quite a passable Frenchman. While they waited for darkness he paraded +the trench, shrugging his shoulders, and gesticulating. "Bon joor, mays +ong-fong," he remarked with a careless hand-wave. "Hey, gar-song! +Donney-moi du pang eh du beurre, si voo play--and donnay-moi swoy-song +cans--rapeed--exploseef! Merci, mes braves, mes bloomin' 'eroes ... mes +noble warriors, merci. Snapper, strike up the 'Conkerin' 'Ero,' if you +please." + +Before the time came to go he added to his make-up by marking on his +face with a burnt stick huge black mustachios and an imperial, and +although the officer stared a little when he came along he ended by +laughing, and leaving 'Enery his "make-up" disguise. + +An hour after dark the three slipped quietly over the parapet and out +through the barbed wire, dragging a stretcher after them. It was a +fairly quiet night, with only an occasional rifle cracking and no +artillery fire. A bright moon floated behind scudding clouds, and +perhaps helped the adventure by the alternate minutes of light and dark +and the difficulty of focusing eyes to the differences of moonlight and +dark and the blaze of an occasional flare when the moon was obscured. +Behind the parapet the Towers waited with rifles ready, and stared out +through the loopholes; and behind them the French artillery officer, +and his signalers standing by their telephone, also waited with the +loaded guns and ready gunners at the other end of the wire. The +watchers saw the dark blot of men and stretcher slip under the wires, +and slowly, very slowly, creep on through the long grass. Half-way +across, the watchers lost them amidst the other black blots and +shadows, and it was a full half-hour after when a private exclaimed +suddenly: "I see them," he said. "There, close where we saw the hand." + +The moon vanished a moment, then sailed clear, throwing a strong +silvery light across the open ground, and showing plainly the German +wire entanglements and the black-and-white patchwork of their +barricade. There were no visible signs of the rescue party, for the +good reason that they had slipped into and lay prone in the wide shell +crater that held the wounded Frenchman. Far spent the man was when they +found him, for he had lain there three nights and two days with a +bullet-smashed thigh and the scrape across his skull that had led the +rest of his night patrol to count him dead and so abandon him. + +Now the moon slid again behind the racing clouds, and patches of light +and shadow in turn chased across the open ground. + +"Here they come," said the captain of B Company a few minutes later. +"At least I think it's them, altho' I can only see two men and no +stretcher." + +"Do you see them?" said an eager voice in French at his ear, and when +he turned and found the gunner captain and explained to him, the +captain made a gesture of despair. "Perhaps it is that they cannot move +him," he said. "Or would they, do you think, return for more help? I +should go myself but that I may be needed to talk with the battery. +Perhaps one of my signalers----" + +But the Englishman assured him it was better to wait; they could not be +returning for help; that the three could do all a dozen could. + +Again they waited and watched in eager suspense, glimpsing the crawling +figures now and then, losing them again, in doubts and certainty in +swift turns as to the whereabouts and identity of the crawling figures. + +"There is one of them," said the captain quickly; "there, by himself, +in those cursed red breeches. They show up in the flarelight like a +blood-spot on a clean collar. Dashed idiot! And I was a fool, too, to +let him go like that." + +But it was plain now that 'Enery Irving was dragging his red breeches +well clear of the others, although it was not plain, what the others +had done with the stretcher. There were two of them at the length of a +stretcher apart, and yet no visible stretcher lay between them. It was +the sergeant who solved the mystery. + +"I'm blowed!" he said, in admiring wonder; "they've covered the +stretcher over with cut grass. They've got their man too--see his head +this end." + +Now that they knew it, all could see the outline of the man's body +covered over with grass, the thick tufts waving upright from his hands +and nodding between his legs. + +They were three-quarters of the way across now, but still with a +dangerous slope to cross. It was ever so slight, but, tilted as it was +towards the enemy's line, it was enough to show much more plainly +anything that moved or lay upon its face. They crawled on with a +slowness that was an agony to watch, crawled an inch at a time, lying +dead and still when a light flared, hitching themselves and the +dragging stretcher onwards as the dullness of hazed moonlight fell. + +The French captain was consumed with impatience, muttering exhortations +to caution, whispering excited urgings to move, as if his lips were at +the creepers' ears, his fingers twitching and jerking, his body +hitching and holding still, exactly as if he too crawled out there and +dragged at the stretcher. + +And then when it seemed that the worst was over, when there was no more +than a score of feet to cover to the barbed wire, when they were +actually crawling over the brow of the gentle rise, discovery came. +There were quick shots from one spot of the German parapet, confused +shouting, the upward soaring of half a dozen blazing flares. + +And then before the two dragging the stretcher could move in a last +desperate rush for safety, before they could rise from their prone +position, they heard the rattle of fire increase swiftly to a trembling +staccato roar. But, miraculously, no bullets came near them, no +whistling was about their ears, no ping and smack of impacting lead +hailed about them--except, yes, just the fire of one rifle or two that +sent aimed bullet after bullet hissing over them. They could not +understand it, but without waiting to understand they half rose, thrust +and hauled at the stretcher, dragged it under the wires, heaved it over +to where eager hands tore down the sandbags to gap a passage for them. +A handful of bullets whipped and rapped about them as they tumbled +over, and the stretcher was hoisted in, but nothing worth mention, +nothing certainly of that volume of fire that drammed and rolled out +over there. They did not understand; but the others in the trench +understood, and laughed a little and swore a deal, then shut their +teeth and set themselves to pump bullets in a covering fire upon the +German parapet. + +The stretcher party drew little or no fire, simply and solely because +just one second after those first shots and loud shouts had declared +the game up, a figure sprang from the grass fifty yards along the +trench and twice as far out in the open, sprang up and ran out, and +stood in the glare of light, the baggy scarlet breeches and gray shirt +making a flaring mark that no eye, called suddenly to see, could miss, +that no rifle brought sliding through the loophole and searching for a +target could fail to mark. The bullets began to patter about 'Enery +Irving's feet, to whine and whimper and buzz about his ears. And +'Enery--this was where the trench, despite themselves, laughed--'Enery +placed his hand on his heart, swept off his cap in a magnificent arm's +length gesture, and bowed low; then swiftly he rose upright, struck an +attitude that would have graced the hero of the highest class Adelphi +drama, and in a shrill voice that rang clear above the hammering tumult +of the rifles, screamed "Veev la France! A baa la Bosh!" The rifles by +this time were pelting a storm of lead at him, and now that the haste +and flurry of the urgent call had passed and the shooters had steadied +to their task, the storm was perilously close. 'Enery stayed a moment +even then to spread his hands and raise his shoulders ear-high in a +magnificent stage shrug; but a bullet snatched the cap from his head, +and 'Enery ducked hastily, turned, and ran his hardest, with the +bullets snapping at his heels. + +Back in the trench a frantic French captain was raving at the +telephone, whirling the handle round, screaming for "Fire, fire, fire!" + +Private Flannigan looked over his shoulder at him, "Mong capitaine," he +said, "you ought, you reely ought, to ring up your telephone; turn the +handle round an' say something." + +"Drop two pennies in," mocked another as the captain birr-r-red the +handle and yelled again. + +Whether he got through, or whether the burst of rifle fire reached the +listening ears at the guns, nobody knew; but just as 'Enery did his +ear-embracing shoulder-shrug the first shells screamed over, burst and +leaped down along the German parapet. After that there was no complaint +about the guns. They scourged the parapet from end to end, up and down, +and up again; they shook it with the blast of high explosive, ripped +and flayed it with, driving blasts of shrapnel, smothered it with a +tempest of fire and lead, blotted it out behind a veil of writhing +smoke. + +At the sound of the first shot the gunner captain had leaped back to +the trench. "Is he in? Is he arrived?" he shouted in the ear of the B +Company captain who leaned anxiously over the parapet. The captain drew +back and down. "He's in--bless him--I mean dash his impudent hide!" + +The Frenchman turned and called to his signaler, and the next moment +the guns ceased. But the captain waited, watching with narrowed eyes +the German parapet. The storm of his shells had obliterated the rifle +fire, but after a few minutes it opened up again in straggling shots. + +The captain snapped back a few orders, and prompt to his word the +shells leaped and struck down again on the parapet. A dozen rounds and +they ceased, and again the captain waited and watched. The rifles were +silent now, and presently the captain relaxed his scowling glare and +his tightened lips. "Vermin!" he said. He used just the tone a man +gives to a ferocious dog he has beaten and cowed to a sullen +submission. + +But he caught sight of 'Enery making his way along the trench past his +laughing and chaffing mates, and leaped down and ran to him. "Bravo!" +he beamed, and threw his arms round the astonished soldier, and before +he could dodge, as the disgusted 'Enery said afterwards, "planted two +quick-fire kisses, smack, smack," on his two cheeks. + +"_Mon brave_!" he said, stepping back and regarding 'Enery with shining +eyes, "_Mon brave, mon beau Anglais, mon_----" + +But 'Enery's own captain arrived here and interrupted the flow of +admiration, cursing the grinning and sheepish private for a this, that, +and the other crazy, play-acting idiot, and winding up abruptly by +shaking hands with him and saying gruffly, "Good work, though. B +Company's proud of you, and so'm I." + +"An' I admit I felt easier after that rough-tonguin'," 'Enery told B +Company that night over a mess-tin of tea. "It was sort of +natural-like, an' what a man looks for, and it broke up about as +unpleasant a sit-u-ation as I've seen staged. I could see you all +grinnin', and I don't wonder at it. That slobberin' an' kissin' +business, an' the Mong Brav Conkerin' 'Ero may be all right for a lot +o' bloomin' Frenchies that don't know better--" + +He took a long swig of tea. + +"Though, mind you," he resumed, "I haven't a bad word to fit to a +Frenchman. They're real good fighting stuff, an' they ain't arf the +light-'earted an' light-'eaded grinnin' giddy goats I used to take 'em +for." + +"There wasn't much o' the light 'eart look about the Mong Cappytaine +to-night," said Robinson. "'Is eyes was snappin' like two ends o' a +live wire, and 'e 'andled them guns as business-like as a butcher +cutting chops." + +"That's it," said 'Enery, "business-like is the word for 'em. I noticed +them 'airy-faces shootin' to-day. They did it like they was sent there +to kill somebody, and they meant doin' their job thorough an' +competent. Afore I come this trip on the Continong I used to think a +Frenchman was good for nothing but fiddlin' an' dancin' an' makin' +love. But since I've seen 'em settin' to Bosh partners an' dancin' +across the neutral ground an' love-makin' wi' Rosalie,[Footnote: +_Rosalie_--the French nickname for the bayonet.] I've learned better. +'Ere's luck to 'im," and he drained the mess-tin. + +And the French, if one might judge from the story _mon capitaine_ had +to tell his major, had also revised some ancient opinions of their +Allies. + +"Cold!" he said scornfully; "never again tell me these English are +cold. Children--perhaps. Foolish--but yes, a little. They try to kill a +man between jests; they laugh if a bullet wounds a comrade so that he +grimaces with pain--it is true; I saw it." It _was_ true, and had +reference to a sight scrape of a bullet across the tip of the nose of a +Towers private, and the ribald jests and laughter thereat. "They make +jokes, and say a man 'stopped one,' meaning a shell had been stopped in +its flight by exploding on him--this the interpreter has explained to +me. But cold--no, no, no! If you had seen this man--ah, sublime, +magnificent! With the whistling balls all round him he stands, so +brave, so noble, so fine, stands--so! '_Vive la France_!' he cried +aloud, with a tongue of trumpets; '_Vive la France! A bas les +Boches_!'" + +The captain, as he declaimed "with a tongue of trumpets," leaped to his +feet and struck an attitude that was really quite a good imitation of +'Enery's own mock-tragedian one. But the officers listening breathed +awe and admiration; they did not, as the Towers did, laugh, because +here, unlike the Towers, they saw nothing to laugh at. + +The captain dropped to his chair amid a murmur of applause. "Sublime!" +he said. "That posture, that cry! Indeed, it was worthy of a Frenchman. +But certainly we must recommend him for a Cross of France, eh, my +major?" + +'Enery Irving got the Cross of the Legion of Honor. But I doubt if it +ever gave him such pure and legitimate joy as did a notice stuck up in +the German trench next day. Certainly it insulted the English by +stating that their workers stayed at home and went on strike while +Frenchmen fought and died. _But_ it was headed "Frenchman!" _and it was +written in French._ + + + +THE FEAR OF FEAR + + +_"At ---- we recaptured the portion of front line trench lost by us +some days ago."_--EXTRACT FROM DISPATCH. + +"In a charge," said the Sergeant, "the 'Hotwater Guards' don't think +about going back till there's none of them left to go back; and you can +always remember this: if you go forward you _may_ die, if you go back +you _will_ die." + +The memory of that phrase came back to Private Everton, tramping down +the dark road to the firing-line. Just because he had no knowledge of +how he himself would behave in this his baptism of fire, just because +he was in deadly fear that he would feel fear, or, still worse, show +it, he strove to fix that phrase firmly in front of his mind. "If I can +remember that," he thought, "it will stop me going back, anyway," and +he repeated: "If you go back you _will_ die, if you go back you _will_ +die," over and over. + +It is true that, for all his repetition, when a field battery, hidden +close by the side of the road on which they marched, roared in a sudden +and ear-splitting salvo of six guns, for the instant he thought he was +under fire and that a huge shell had burst somewhere desperately close +to them. He had jumped, his comrades assured him afterwards, a clear +foot and a half off the ground, and he himself remembered that his +first involuntary glance and thought flashed to the deep ditch that ran +alongside the road. + +When he came to the trenches, at last, and filed down the narrow +communication-trench and into his Company's appointed position in the +deep ditch with a narrow platform along its front that was the forward +fire-trench, he remembered with unpleasant clearness that instinctive +start and thought of taking cover. By that time he had actually been +under fire, had heard the shells rush over him and the shattering noise +of their burst; had heard the bullets piping and humming and hissing +over the communication- and firing-trenches. He took a little comfort +from the fact that he had not felt any great fear then, but he had to +temper that by the admission that there was little to be afraid of +there in the shelter of the deep trench. It was what he would do and +feel when he climbed out of cover on to the exposed and bullet-swept +flat before the trench that he was in doubt about; for the Hotwaters +had been told that at nine o'clock there was to be a brief but intense +bombardment on a section of trench in front of them which had been +captured from us the day before, and which, after several +counter-attacks had failed, was to be taken that morning by this +battalion of Hotwaters. + +At half-past eight, nobody entering their trench would have dreamed +that the Hotwaters were going into a serious action in half an hour. +The men were lounging about, squatting on the firing-step, chaffing and +talking--laughing even--quite easily and naturally; some were smoking, +and others had produced biscuits and bully beef from their haversacks +and were calmly eating their breakfast. + +Everton felt a glow of pride as he looked at them. These men were his +friends, his fellows, his comrades: they were of the Hotwater +Guards--his regiment, and his battalion. He had heard often enough that +the Guards Brigades were the finest brigades in the Army, that this +particular brigade was the best of all the Guards, that his battalion +was the best of the Brigade. Hitherto he had rather deprecated these +remarks as savoring of pride and self-conceit, but now he began to +believe that they must be true; and so believing, if he had but known +it, he had taken another long step on the way to becoming the perfect +soldier, who firmly believes his regiment the finest in the world and +is ready to die in proof of the belief. + +"Dusty Miller," the next file on his left, who was eating bread and +cheese, spoke to him. + +"Why don't you eat some grab, Toffee?" he mumbled cheerfully, with his +mouth full. "In a game like this you never know when you'll get the +next chance of a bite." + +"Don't feel particularly hungry," answered Toffee with an attempt to +appear as off-handed and casual and at ease as his questioner. "So I +think I'd better save my ration until I'm hungry." + +Dusty Miller sliced off a wedge of bread with the knife edge against +his thumb, popped it in his mouth, and followed it with a corner of +cheese. + +"A-ah!" he said profoundly, and still munching; "there's no sense in +saving rations when you're going into action. I'd a chum once that +always did that; said he got more satisfaction out of a meal when the +job was over and he was real hungry, and had a chance to eat in +comfort--more or less comfort. And one day we was for it he saved a tin +o' sardines and a big chunk of cake and a bottle of pickled onions that +had just come to him from home the day before; said he was looking +forward to a good feed that night after the show was over. And--and he +was killed that day!" + +Dusty Miller halted there with the inborn artistry that left his climax +to speak for itself. + +"Hard luck!" said Toffee sympathetically. "So his feed was wasted!" + +"Not to say wasted exactly," said Dusty, resuming bread and cheese. +"Because I remembers to this day how good them onions was. Still it was +wasted, far as he was concerned--and he was particular fond o' pickled +onions." + +But even the prospect of wasting his rations did nothing to induce +Toffee to eat a meal. The man on Toffee's right was crouched back on +the firing-step apparently asleep or near it. Dusty Miller had turned +and opened a low-toned conversation with the next man, the frequent +repetition of "I says" and "she says" affording some clew to the thread +of his story and inclining Toffee to believe it not meant for him to +hear. He felt he must speak to some one, and it was with relief that he +saw Halliday, the man on his other side, rouse himself and look up. +Something about Toffee's face caught his attention. + +"How are you feeling?" he asked, leaning forward and speaking quietly. +"This is your first charge, isn't it!" + +"Yes," said Toffee, "I'm all right. I--I think I'm all right." + +The other moved slightly on the firing-step, leaving a little room, and +Toffee took this as an invitation to sit down. Halliday continued to +speak in low tones that were not likely to pass beyond his listener's +ear. + +"Don't you get scared," he said. "You've nothing much to be scared +about." + +He threw a little emphasis, and Toffee fancied a little envy, into the +"you." + +"I'm not scared exactly," said Toffee. "I'm sort of wondering what it +will be like." + +"I know," said Halliday, "I know; and who should, if I didn't? But I +can tell you this--you don't need to be afraid of shells, you don't +need to be afraid of bullets, and least of all is there any need to be +afraid of the cold iron when the Hotwaters get into the trench. You +don't need to be afraid of being wounded, because that only means home +and a hospital and a warm dry bed; you don't need to be afraid of +dying, because you've got to die some day, anyhow. There's only one +thing in this game to be afraid of, and there isn't many finds that in +their first engagement. It's the ones like me that get it." + +Toffee glanced at him curiously and in some amazement. Now that he +looked closely, he could see that, despite his easy loungeful attitude +and steady voice, and apparently indifferent look, there was something +odd and unexplainable about Halliday: some faintest twitching of his +lips, a shade of pallor on his cheek, a hunted look deep at the back of +his eyes. Everton tried to speak lightly. + +"And what is it, then, that the likes o' you get?" + +Halliday's voice sank to little more than a whisper. "It's the fear o' +fear," he said steadily. "Maybe, you think you know what that is, that +you feel it yourself. You know what I mean, I suppose?" + +Toffee nodded. "I think so," he said. "What I fear myself is that I'll +be afraid and show that I'm afraid, that I'll do something rotten when +we get out up there." + +He jerked his head up and back towards the open where the rifles +sputtered and the bullets whistled querulously. + +"There's plenty fear that," admitted Halliday, "before their first +action; but mostly it passes the second they leave cover and can't +protect themselves and have to trust to whatever there is outside, +themselves to bring them through. You don't know the beginning of how +bad the fear o' fear can be till you have seen dozens of your mates +killed, till you've had death no more than touch you scores of times, +like I have." + +"But you don't mean to tell me," said Toffee incredulously, "that you +are afraid of yourself, that you can't trust yourself now? Why, I've +heard said often that you're one of the coolest under fire, and that +you don't know what fear is!" + +"It's a good reputation to have if you can keep it," said Halliday. +"But it makes it worse if you can't." + +"I wish," said Toffee enviously, "I was as sure of keeping it as you +are to-day." + +Halliday pulled his hand from his pocket and held it beside him where +only Toffee could see it. It was quivering like a flag-halliard in a +stiff breeze. He thrust it back in his pocket. + +"Doesn't look too sure, does it?" he said grimly. "And my heart is +shaking a sight worse than my hand." + +He was interrupted by the arrival of a group of German shells on and +about the section of trench they were in. One burst on the rear lip of +the trench, spattering earth and bullets about them and leaving a +choking reek swirling and eddying along the trench. There was silence +for an instant, and then an officer's voice called from the near +traverse. "Is anybody hit there!" A sergeant shouted back "No, sir," +and was immediately remonstrated with by an indignant private busily +engaged in scraping the remains of a mud clod from his eye. + +"You might wait a minute, Sergeant," he said, "afore you reports no +casualties, just to give us time to look round and count if all our +limbs is left on. And I've serious doubts at this minute whether my eye +is in its right place or bulging out the back o' my head; anyway, it +feels as if an eight-inch Krupp had bumped fair into it." + +When the explosion came, Toffee Everton had instinctively ducked and +crouched, but he noticed that Halliday never moved or gave a sign of +the nearness of any danger. Toffee remarked this to him. + +"And I don't see," he confessed, "where that fits in with this +hand- and heart-shaking o' yours." + +Halliday looked at him curiously. + +"If that was the worst," he said, "I could stand it. It isn't. It isn't +the beginning of the least of the worst. If it had fell in the trench, +now, and mucked up half a dozen men, there'd have been something to +squeal about. That's the sort o' thing that breaks a man up--your own +mates that was talking to you a minute afore, ripped to bits and torn +to ribbons. I've seen nothing left of a whole live man but a pair o' +burnt boots. I've seen--" He stopped abruptly and shivered a little. +"I'm not going to talk about it," he said. "I think about it and see it +too often in my dreams as it is. And, besides," he went on, "I didn't +duck that time, because I've learnt enough to know it's too late to +duck when the shell bursts a dozen yards from you. I'm not so much +afraid of dying, either. I've got to die, I've little doubt, before +this war is out; I don't think there's a dozen men in this battalion +that came out with it in the beginning and haven't been home sick or +wounded since. I've seen one-half the battalion wiped out in one +engagement and built up with drafts, and the other half wiped out in +the next scrap. We've lost fifty and sixty and seventy per cent. of our +strength at different times, and I've come through it all without a +scratch. Do you suppose I don't know it's against reason for me to last +out much longer? But I'm not afraid o' that. I'm not afraid of the +worst death I've seen a man die--and that's something pretty bad, +believe me. What I'm afraid of is myself, of my nerve cracking, of my +doing something that will disgrace the Regiment." + +The man's nerves were working now; there was a quiver of excitement in +his voice, a grayer shade on his cheek, a narrowing and a restless +movement of his eyes, a stronger twitching of his lips. More shells +crashed sharply; a little along the line a gust of rifle-bullets swept +over and into the parapet; a Maxim rap-rap-rapped and its bullets spat +hailing along the parapet above their heads. + +Halliday caught his breath and shivered again. + +"That," he said--"that is one of the devils we've got to face +presently." His eyes glanced furtively about him. "God!" he muttered, +"if I could only get out of this! 'Tisn't fair, I tell ye, it isn't +fair to ask a man that's been through what I have to take it on again, +knowing that if I do come through, 'twill be the same thing to go +through over and over until they get me; or until my own sergeant +shoots me for refusing to face it." + +Everton had listened in amazed silence--an understanding utterly beyond +him. He knew the name that Halliday bore in the regiment, knew that he +was seeing and hearing more than Halliday perhaps had ever shown or +told to anyone. Shamefacedly and self-consciously, he tried to say +something to console and hearten the other man, but Halliday +interrupted him roughly. + +"That's it!" he said bitterly. "Go on! Pat me on the back and tell me +to be a good boy and not to be frightened. I'm coming to it at last: +old Bob Halliday that's been through it from the beginning, one o' the +Old Contemptibles, come down to be mothered and hushaby-baby'd by a +blanky recruit, with the first polish hardly off his new buttons." + +He broke off and into bitter cursing, reviling the Germans, the war, +himself and Everton, his sergeant and platoon commander, the O.C., and +at last the regiment itself. But at that the torrent of his oaths broke +off, and he sat silent and shaking for a minute. He glanced sideways at +last at the embarrassed Everton. + +"Don't take no notice o' me, chum," he said. "I wasn't speaking too +loud, was I? The others haven't noticed, do you think? I don't want to +look round for a minute." + +Everton assured him that he had not spoken too loud, that nobody +appeared to have noticed anything, and that none were looking their +way. He added a feeble question as to whether Halliday, if he felt so +bad, could not report himself as sick or something and escape having to +leave the trench. + +Halliday's lips twisted in a bitter grin. + +"That would be a pretty tale," he said. "No, boy, I'll try and pull +through once more, and if my heart fails me--look here, I've often +thought o' this, and some day, maybe, it will come to it." + +He lifted his rifle and put the butt down in the trench bottom, slipped +his bayonet out, and holding the rifle near the muzzle with one hand, +with the other placed the point of the bayonet to the trigger of the +rifle. He removed it instantly and returned it to its place. + +"There's always that," he said. "It can be done in a second, and no +matter how a man's hand shakes, he can steady the point of the bayonet +against the trigger-guard, push it down till the point pushes the +trigger home." + +"Do you mean," stammered Everton in amazement--"do you mean--shoot +yourself?" + +"Ssh! not so loud," cautioned Halliday. "Yes, it's better than being +shot by my own officer, isn't it?" + +Everton's mind was floundering hopelessly round this strange problem. +He could understand a man being afraid; he was not sure that he wasn't +afraid himself; but that a man afraid that he could not face death +could yet contemplate certain death by his own hand, was completely +beyond him. + +Halliday drew his breath in a deep sigh. + +"We'll say no more about it," he said. "I feel better now; it's +something to know I always have that to fall back on at the worst. I'll +be all right now--until it comes the minute to climb over the parapet." + +It was nearly nine o'clock, and word was passed down the line for every +man to get down as low as he could in the bottom of the trench. The +trench they were about to attack was only forty or fifty yards away, +and since the Heavies as well as the Field guns were to bombard, there +was quite a large possibility of splinters and fragments being thrown +by the lyddite back as far as the British trench. At nine, sharp to the +tick of the clock, the _rush, rush, rush_ of a field battery's shells +passed overhead. Because the target was so close, the passing shells +seemed desperately near to the British parapet, as indeed they actually +were. The rush of shells and the crash of their explosion sounded in +the forward trench before the boom of the guns which fired them +traveled to the British trench. Before the first round of this opening +battery had finished, another and another joined in, and then, in a +deluge of noise, the intense bombardment commenced. + +Crouching low in the bottom of the trench, half deafened by the uproar, +the men waited for the word to move. The concentrated fire on this +portion of front indicated clearly to the Germans that an attack was +coming, and where it was to be expected. The obviously correct +procedure for the gunners was of course to have bombarded many sections +of front so that no certain clew would be given as to the point of the +coming attack. But this was in the days when shells were very, very +precious things, and gunners had to grit their teeth helplessly, doling +out round by round, while the German gun- and rifle-fire did its worst. +The Germans, then, could see now where the attack was concentrated, and +promptly proceeded to break it up before it was launched. Shells began +to sweep the trench where the Hotwater Guards lay, to batter at their +parapet, and to prepare a curtain of fire along their front. + +Everton lay and listened to the appalling clamor; but when the word was +passed round to get ready, he rose to his feet and climbed to the +firing-step without any overpowering sense of fear. A sentence from the +man on his left had done a good deal to hearten him. + +"Gostrewth! 'ark at our guns!" he said. "They ain't 'arf pitchin' it +in. W'y, this ain't goin' to be no charge; it's going to be a sort of +merry picnic, a game of ''Ere we go gatherin' nuts in May.' There won't +be any Germans left in them trenches, and we'll 'ave nothin' to do but +collect the 'elmets and sooveneers and make ourselves at 'ome." + +"Did you hear that!" Everton asked Halliday. "Is it anyways true, do +you think?" + +"A good bit," said Halliday. "I've never seen a bit of German front +smothered up by our guns the way this seems to be now, though I've +often enough seen it the other way. The trench in front should be +smashed past any shape for stopping our charge if the gunners are +making any straight shooting at all." + +It was evident that the whole trench shared his opinion, and +expressions of amazed delight ran up and down the length of the +Hotwaters. When the order came to leave the trench, the men were up and +out of it with a bound. + +Everton was too busy with his own scramble put to pay much heed to +Halliday; but as they worked out through their own barbed wire, he was +relieved to find him at his side. He caught Everton's look, and +although his teeth were gripped tight, he nodded cheerfully. Presently, +when they were forming into line again beyond the wire, Halliday spoke. + +"Not too bad," he said. "The guns has done it for us this time. Come +on, now, and keep your wits when you get across." + +In the ensuing rush across the open, Everton was conscious of no +sensation of fear. The guns had lifted their fire farther back as the +Hotwaters emerged from their trench, and the rush and rumble of their +shells was still passing overhead as the line advanced. The German +artillery hardly dared drop their range to sweep the advance, because +of its proximity to their own trench. A fairly heavy rifle-fire was +coming from the flanks, but to a certain extent that was kept down by +some of our batteries spreading their fire over those portions of the +German trench which were not being attacked, and by a heavy rifle- and +machine-gun fire which was pelted across from the opposite parts of the +British line. + +From the immediate front, which was the Hotwaters' objective, there was +practically no attempt at resistance until the advance was half-way +across the short distance between the trenches, and even then it was no +more than a spasmodic attempt and the feeble resistance of a few rifles +and a machine-gun. The Hotwaters reached the trench with comparatively +slight loss, pushed into it, and over it, and pressed on to the next +line, the object being to threaten the continuance of the attack, to +take the next trench if the resistance was not too severe, and so to +give time for the reorganization of the first captured trench to resist +the German counter-attack. + +Everton was one of the first to reach the forward trench. It had been +roughly handled by the artillery fire, and the men in it made little +show of resistance. The Hotwaters swarmed into the broken ditch, +shooting and stabbing the few who fought back, disarming the prisoners +who had surrendered with hands over their heads and quavering cries of +"Kamerad." Everton rushed one man who appeared to be in two minds +whether to surrender or not, fingering and half lifting his rifle and +lowering it again, looking round over his shoulder, once more raising +his rifle muzzle. Everton killed him with the bayonet. Afterwards he +climbed out and ran on, after the line had pushed forward to the next +trench. There was an awe, and a thrill of satisfaction in his heart as +he looked at his stained bayonet, but, as he suddenly recognized with a +tremendous joy, not the faintest sensation of being afraid. He looked +round grinning to the man next him, and was on the point of shouting +some jest to him, when he saw the man stumble and pitch heavily on his +face. It flashed into Everton's mind that he had tripped over a hidden +wire, and he was about to shout some chaffing remark, when he saw the +back of the man's head as he lay face down. But even that unpleasant +sight brought no fear to him. + +There was a stout barricade of wire in front of the next trench, and an +order was shouted along to halt and lie down in front of it. The line +dropped, and while some lay prone and fired as fast as they could at +any loophole or bobbing head they could see, others lit bombs and +tossed them into the trench. This trench also had been badly mauled by +the shells, and the fire from it was feeble. Everton lay firing for a +few minutes, casting side glances on an officer close in front of him, +and on two or three men along the line who were coolly cutting through +the barbed wire with heavy nippers. Everton saw the officer spin round +and drop to his knees, his left hand nursing his hanging right arm. +Everton jumped up and went over to him. + +"Let me go on with it, sir," he said eagerly, and without waiting for +any consent stooped and picked up the fallen wire-cutters and set to +work. He and the others, standing erect and working on the wire, +naturally drew a heavy proportion of the aimed fire; but Everton was +only conscious of an uplifting exhilaration, a delight that he should +have had the chance at such a prominent position. Many bullets came +very close to him, but none touched him, and he went on cutting wire +after wire, quickly and methodically, grasping the strand well in the +jaws of the nippers, gripping till the wire parted and the severed ends +sprang loose, calmly fitting the nippers to the next strand. + +Even when he had cut a clear path through, he went on working, widening +the breach, cutting more wires, dragging the trailing ends clear. Then +he ran back to the line and to the officer who had lain watching him. + +"Your wire-nippers, sir," he said. "Shall I put them in your case for +you?" + +"Stick them in your pocket, Everton," said the youngster; "you've done +good work with them. Now lie down here." + +All this was a matter of no more than three or four minutes' work. When +the other gaps were completed--the men in them being less fortunate +than Everton and having several wounded during the task--the line rose, +rushed streaming through the gaps and down into the trench. If +anything, the damage done by the shells was greater there than in the +first line, mainly perhaps because the heavier guns had not hesitated +to fire on the second line where the closeness of the first line to the +British would have made risky shooting. There were a good many dead and +wounded Germans in this second trench, and of the remainder many were +hidden away in their dug-outs, their nerves shaken beyond the +sticking-point of courage by the artillery fire first, and later by the +close-quarter bombing and the rush of the cold steel. + +The Hotwaters held that trench for some fifteen minutes. Then a weak +counter-attack attempted to emerge from another line of trenches a good +two hundred yards back, but was instantly fallen upon by our artillery +and scourged by the accurate fire of the Hotwaters. The attack broke +before it was well under way, and scrambled back under cover. + +Shortly afterwards the first captured trench having been put into some +shape for defense, the advance line of the Hotwaters retired. A small +covering party stayed and kept up a rapid fire till most of the others +had gone, and then climbed through the trench and doubled back after +them. + +The officer, whose wire-cutters Everton had used, had been hit rather +badly in the arm. He had made light of the wound, and remained in the +trench with the covering party; but when he came to retire, he found +that the pain and loss of blood had left him shaky and dizzy. Everton +helped him to climb from the trench; but as they ran back he saw from +the corner of his eye that the officer had slowed to a walk. He turned +back and, ignoring the officer's advice to push on, urged him to lean +on him. It ended up by Everton and the officer being the last men in, +Everton half supporting, half carrying the other. Once more he felt a +childish pleasure at this opportunity to distinguish himself. He was +half intoxicated with the heady wine of excitement and success, he +asked only for other and greater and riskier opportunities. "Risk," he +thought contemptuously, "is only a pleasant excitement, danger the +spice to the risk." He asked his sergeant to be allowed to go out and +help the stretcher-bearers who were clearing the wounded from the +ground over which the first advance had been made. + +"No," said the Sergeant shortly. "The stretcher-bearers have their job, +and they've got to do it. Your job is here, and you can stop and do +that. You've done enough for one day." Then, conscious perhaps that he +had spoken with unnecessary sharpness, he added a word. "You've made a +good beginning, lad, and done good work for your first show; don't +spoil it with rank gallery play." + +But now that the German gunners knew the British line had advanced and +held the captured trench, they pelted it, the open ground behind it, +and the trench that had been the British front line, with a storm of +shell-fire. The rifle-fire was hotter, too, and the rallied defense was +pouring in whistling stream of bullets. But the captured trench, which +it will be remembered was a recaptured British one, ran back and joined +up with the British lines. It was possible therefore to bring up plenty +of ammunition, sandbags, and reinforcements, and by now the defense had +been sufficiently made good to have every prospect of resisting any +counter-attack and of withstanding the bombardment to which it was +being subjected. But the heavy fire drove the stretcher-bearers off the +open ground, while there still remained some dead and wounded to be +brought in. + +Everton had missed Halliday, and his anxious inquiries failed to find +him or any word of him, until at last one man said he believed Halliday +had been dropped in the rush on the first trench. Everton stood up and +peered back over the ground behind them. Thirty yards away he saw a man +lying prone and busily at work with his trenching-tool, endeavoring to +build up a scanty cover. Everton shouted at the pitch of his voice, +"Halliday!" The digging figure paused, lifted the trenching-tool and +waved it, and then fell to work again. Everton pressed along the +crowded trench to the sergeant. + +"Sergeant," he said breathlessly, "Halliday's lying out there wounded, +he's a good pal o' mine and I'd like to fetch him in." + +The Sergeant was rather doubtful. He made Everton point out the digging +figure, and was calculating the distance from the nearest point of the +trench, and the bullets that drummed between. + +"It's almost a cert you get hit," he said, "even if you crawl out. He's +got a bit of cover and he's making more, fast. I think--" + +A voice behind interrupted, and Everton and the Sergeant turned to find +the Captain looking up at them. + +"What's this?" he repeated, and the Sergeant explained the position. + +"Go ahead!" said the Captain. "Get him in if you can, and good luck to +you." + +Everton wanted no more. Two minutes later he was out of the trench and +racing back across the open. + +"Come on, Halliday," he said. "I'll give you a hoist in. Where are you +hit?" + +"Leg and arm," said Halliday briefly; and then, rather ungraciously, +"You're a fool to be out here; but I suppose now you're here, you might +as well give me a hand in." + +But he spoke differently after Everton had given him a hand, had lifted +him and carried him, and so brought him back to the trench and lowered +him into waiting hands. His wounds were bandaged and, before he was +carried off, he spoke to Everton. + +"Good-by, Toffee," he said and held out his left hand, "I owe you a +heap. And look here---" He hesitated a moment and then spoke in tones +so low that Everton had to bend over the stretcher to hear him. "My +leg's smashed bad, and I'm done for the Front and the old Hotwaters. I +wouldn't like it to get about--I don't want the others to think--to +know about me feeling--well, like I told you back there before the +charge." + +Toffee grabbed the uninjured-hand hard. "You old frost!" he said gayly, +"there's no need to keep it up any longer now; but I don't mind telling +you, old man, you fairly hoaxed me that time, and actually I believed +what you were saying. 'Course, I know better now; but I'll punch the +head off any man that ever whispers a word against you." + +Halliday looked at him queerly. "Good-by, Toffee," he said again, "and +thank ye." + + + +ANTI-AIRCRAFT + + +"_Enemy airmen appearing over our lines have been turned hack or driven +off by shell fire."_--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +Gardening is a hobby which does not exist under very favorable +conditions at the front, its greatest drawback being that when the +gardener's unit is moved from one place to another his garden cannot +accompany him. Its devotees appear to derive a certain amount of +satisfaction from the mere making of a garden, the laying-out and +digging and planting; but it can be imagined that the most enthusiastic +gardener would in time become discouraged by a long series of +beginnings without any endings to his labors, to a frequent sowing and +an entire absence of reaping. + +There are, however, some units which, from the nature of their +business, are stationary in one place for months on end, and here the +gardener as a rule has an opportunity for the indulgence of his +pursuit. In clearing-hospitals, ammunition-parks, and Army Service +Corps supply points, there are, I believe, many such fixed abodes; but +the manners and customs of the inhabitants of such happy resting-places +are practically unknown to the men who live month in month out in a +narrow territory, bounded on the east by the forward firing line and on +the west by the line of the battery positions, or at farthest the +villages of the reserve billets. In any case these places are rather +outside the scope of tales dealing with what may be called the "Under +Fire Front," and it was this front which I had in mind when I said that +gardening did not receive much encouragement at the front. But during +the first spring of the War I know of at least one enthusiast who did +his utmost, metaphorically speaking, to beat his sword into a +plowshare, and to turn aside at every opportunity from the duty of +killing Germans to the pleasures of growing potatoes. He was a gunner +in the detachment of the Blue Marines, which ran a couple of armored +motor-cars carrying anti-aircraft guns. + +It is one of the advantages of this branch of the air-war that when a +suitable position is fixed on for defense of any other position, the +detachment may stay there for some considerable time. There are other +advantages which will unfold themselves to those initiated in the ways +of the trench zone, although those outside of it may miss them; but +everyone will see that prolonged stays in the one position give the +gardener his opportunity. In this particular unit of the Blue Marines +was a gunner who intensely loved the potting and planting, the turning +over of yielding earth, the bedding-out and transplanting, the watering +and weeding and tending of a garden, possibly because the greater part +of his life had been lived at sea in touch with nothing more yielding +than a steel plate or a hard plank. + +The gunner was known throughout the unit by no other name than Mary, +fittingly taken from the nursery rhyme which inquires, "Mary, Mary, +quite contrary, how does your garden grow?" The similarity between Mary +of the Blue Marines and Mary of the nursery rhyme ends, however, with +the first line, since Blue Marine Mary made no attempt to rear "silver +bells and cockle shells" (whatever they may be) all in a row. His whole +energies were devoted to the raising of much more practical things, +like lettuces, radishes, carrots, spring onions, and any other +vegetable which has the commendable reputation of arriving reasonably +early at maturity. + +Twice that spring Mary's labors had been wasted because the section had +moved before the time was ripe from a gardener's point of view, and +although Mary strove to transplant his garden by uprooting the +vegetables, packing them away in a box in the motor, and planting them +out in the new position, the vegetables failed to survive the breaking +of their home ties, and languished and died in spite of Mary's tender +care. After the first failure he tried to lay out a portable garden, +enlisting the aid of "Chips" the carpenter in the manufacture of a +number of boxes, in which he placed earth and his new seedlings. This +attempt, however, failed even more disastrously than the first, the +O.C. having made a most unpleasant fuss on the discovery of two large +boxes of mustard and cress "cluttering up," as he called it, the +gun-mountings on one of the armored cars, and, when the section moved +suddenly in the dead of night, refusing point-blank to allow any +available space to be loaded up with Mary's budding garden. Mary's +plaintive inquiry as to what he was to do with the boxes was met by the +brutal order to "chuck the lot overboard," and the counter-inquiry as +to whether he thought this show was a perambulating botanical gardens. + +So Mary lost his second garden complete, even unto the box of spring +onions which were the apple of his gardening eye. But he brisked up +when the new position was established and he learned through the +officer's servant that the selected spot was considered an excellent +one, and offered every prospect of being held by the section for a +considerable time. He selected a favorable spot and proceeded once more +to lay out a garden and to plant out a new lot of vegetables. + +The section's new position was only some fifteen hundred yards from the +forward trench; but, being at the bottom of a gently sloping ridge +which ran between the position and the German lines, it was covered +from all except air observation. The two armored cars, containing guns, +were hidden away amongst the shattered ruins of a little hamlet; their +armor-plated bodies, already rendered as inconspicuous as possible by +erratic daubs of bright colors laid on after the most approved Futurist +style, were further hidden by untidy wisps of straw, a few casual +beams, and any other of the broken rubbish which had once been a +village. The men had their quarters in the cellars of one of the broken +houses, and the two officers inhabited the corner of a house with a +more or less remaining roof. + +Mary's garden was in a sunny corner of what had been in happier days +the back garden of one of the cottages. The selection, as it turned +out, was not altogether a happy one, because the garden, when abandoned +by its former owner, had run to seed most liberally, and the whole of +its area appeared to be impregnated with a variety of those seeds which +give the most trouble to the new possessor of an old garden. Anyone +with the real gardening instinct appears to have no difficulty in +distinguishing between weeds and otherwise, even on their first +appearance in shape of a microscopic green shoot; but flowers are not +weeds, and Mary had a good deal of trouble to distinguish between the +self-planted growths of nasturtiums, foxgloves, marigolds, +forget-me-nots, and other flowers, and the more prosaic but useful +carrots and spring onions which Mary had introduced. Probably a good +many onions suffered the penalty of bad company, and were sacrificed in +the belief that they were flowers; but on the whole the new garden did +well, and began to show the trim rows of green shoots which afford such +joy to the gardening soul. The shoots grew rapidly, and as time passed +uneventfully and the section remained unmoved, the garden flourished +and the vegetables drew near to the day when they would be fit for +consumption. + +Mary gloated over that garden; he went to a world of trouble with it, +he bent over it and weeded it for hours on end; he watered it +religiously every night, he even erected miniature forcing frames over +some of the vegetable rows, ransacking the remains of the broken-down +hamlet for squares of glass or for any pieces large enough for his +purpose. He built these cunningly with frameworks of wood and untwisted +strands of barbed wire, and there is no doubt they helped the growth of +his garden immensely. + +Although they have not been torched upon, it must not be supposed that +Mary had no other duties. Despite our frequently announced "Supremacy +of the Air," the anti-aircraft guns were in action rather frequently. +The German aeroplanes in this part of the line appeared to ignore the +repeated assurances in our Press that the German 'plane invariably +makes off on the appearance of a British one; and although it is true +that in almost every case the German was "turned back," he very +frequently postponed the turning until he had sailed up and down the +line a few times and seen, it may be supposed, all that there was to +see. + +At such times--and they happened as a rule at least once a day and +occasionally two, three, or four times a day--Mary had to run from his +gardening and help man the guns. + +In the course of a month the section shot away many thousands of +shells, and, it is to be hoped, severely frightened many German pilots, +although at that time they could only claim to have brought down one +'plane, and that in a descent so far behind the German lines that its +fate was uncertain. + +It must be admitted that the gunners on the whole made excellent +shooting, and if they did not destroy their target, or even make him +turn back, they fulfilled the almost equally useful object of making +him keep so high that he could do little useful observing. But the +short periods of time spent by the section in shooting were no more +than enough to add a pleasant flavor of sport to life, and on the +whole, since the weather was good and the German gunnery was not--or at +least not good enough to be troublesome to the section--life during +that month moved very pleasantly. + +But at last there came a day when it looked as if some of the +inconveniences of war were due to arrive. The German aeroplane appeared +as usual one morning just after the section had completed breakfast. +The methodical regularity of hours kept by the German pilots added +considerably to the comfort and convenience of the section by allowing +them to time their hours of sleep, their meals, or an afternoon run by +the O.C. on the motor into the near-by town, so as to fit in nicely +with the duty of anti-aircraft guns. + +On this morning at the usual hour the aeroplane appeared, and the +gunners, who were waiting in handy proximity to the cars, jumped to +their stations. The muzzles of the two-pounder pom-poms moved slowly +after their target, and when the range-indicator told that it was +within reach of their shells the first gun opened with a trial beltful. +"Bang--bang--bang--bang!" it shouted, a string of shells singing +and sighing on their way into silence. In a few seconds, +"Puff--puff--puff--puff!" four pretty little white balls broke out and +floated solid against the sky. They appeared well below their target, +and both the muzzles tilted a little and barked off another flight of +shells. This time they appeared to burst in beautiful proximity to the +racing aeroplane, and immediately the two-pounders opened a steady and +accurate bombardment. The shells were evidently dangerously close to +the 'plane, for it tilted sharply and commenced to climb steadily; but +it still held on its way over the British lines, and the course it was +taking it was evident would bring it almost directly over the Blue +Marines and their guns. The pom-poms continued their steady yap-yap, +jerking and springing between each, round, like eager terriers jumping +the length of their chain, recoiling and jumping, and yelping at every +jump. But although the shells were dead in line the range was too +great, and the guns slowed down their rate of fire, merely rapping off +an occasional few rounds to keep the observer at a respectful distance, +without an unnecessary waste of ammunition. + +Arrived above them, the aeroplane banked steeply and swung round in a +complete circle. + +"Dash his impudence," growled the captain. "Slap at him again, just for +luck." The only effect the resulting slap at him had, however, was to +show the 'plane pilot that he was well out of range and to bring him +spiraling steeply down a good thousand feet. This brought him within +reach of the shells again, and both guns opened rapidly, dotting the +sky thickly with beautiful white puffs of smoke, through which the +enemy sailed swiftly. Then suddenly another shape and color of smoke +appeared beneath him, and a red light burst from it flaring and +floating slowly downwards. Another followed, and then another, and the +'plane straightened out its course, swerved, and flashed swiftly off +down-wind, pursued to the limit of their range by the raving pom-poms. +"Which it seems to me," said the Blue Marine sergeant reflectively, +"that our Tauby had us spotted and was signaling his guns to call and +leave a card on us." + +That afternoon showed some proof of the correctness of the sergeant's +supposition; a heavy shell soared over and dropped with a crash in an +open field some two hundred yards beyond the outermost house of the +hamlet. In five minutes another followed, and in the same field blew +out a hole about twenty yards from the first. A third made another hole +another twenty yards off, and a fourth again at the same interval. + +When the performance ceased, the captain and his lieutenant held a +conference over the matter. "It looks as if we'd have to shift," said +the captain. "That fellow has got us marked down right enough." + +"If he doesn't come any nearer," said the lieutenant, "we're all right. +We won't need to take cover when the shelling starts, and even if the +guns are shooting when the German is shelling, the armor-plate will +easily stand off splinters from that distance." + +"Yes," said the captain. "But do you suppose our friend the Flighty Hun +won't have a peep at us to-morrow morning to see where those shells +landed? If he does, or if he takes a photograph, those holes will show +up like a chalk-mark on a blackboard; then he has only to tell his gun +to step this way a couple of hundred yards and we get it in the neck. +I'm inclined to think we'd better up anchor and away." + +"We're pretty comfortable here, you know," urged the lieutenant, "and +it's a pity to get out. It might be that those shots were blind chance. +I vote for waiting another day, anyhow, and seeing what happens. At the +worst we can pack up and stand by with steam up; then if the shells +pitch too near we can slip the cable and run for it" + +"Right-oh!" said the captain. + +Next morning the enemy aeroplane appeared again at its appointed hour +and sailed overhead, leaving behind it a long wake of smoke-puffs; and +at the same hour in the afternoon as the previous shelling the German +gun opened fire, dropping its first shell neatly fifty yards further +from the shell-holes of the day before. The aeroplane, of course, had +reported, or its photograph had shown, the previous day's shells to +have dropped apparently fifty yards to the left of the hamlet. The gun +accordingly corrected its aim and opened fire on a spot fifty yards +more to the right. For hours it bombarded that suffering field +energetically, and at the end of that time, when they were satisfied +the shelling was over, the Blue Marines climbed from their cellar. Next +morning the aeroplane appeared again, and the Blue Marines allowed it +this time to approach unattacked. Convinced probably by this and the +appearance of the numerous shell-pits scattered round the gun position, +the aeroplane swooped lower to verify its observations. Unfortunately +another anti-aircraft gun a mile further along the line thought this +too good an opportunity to miss, and opened rapid fire. The 'plane +leaped upward and away, and the Blue Marines sped on its way with a +stream of following shells. + +"If the Huns' minds work on the fixed and appointed path, one would +expect the same old field will get a strafing this afternoon," said the +captain afterwards. "The airman will have seen the village knocked +about, and if he knew that those last shells came from here he'll just +conclude that yesterday's shooting missed us, and the gunners will have +another whale at us this afternoon." + +He was right; the gun had "another whale" at them, and again dug many +holes in the old field. + +But next morning the Germans played a new and disconcerting game. The +aeroplane hovered high above and dropped a light, and a minute later +the Blue Marines heard a shrill whistle, that grew and changed to a +whoop, and ended with the same old crash in the same old field. + +"Now," said the captain. "Stand by for trouble. That brute is spotting +for his gun." + +The aeroplane dropped a light, turned, and circled round to the left. +Five minutes later another shell screamed over, and this time fell +crashing into the hamlet. The hit was palpable and unmistakable; a huge +dense cloud of smoke and mortar-, lime-, and red brick-dust leapt and +billowed and hung heavily over the village. + +"This," said the captain rapidly, "is where we do the rabbit act. Get +to cover, all of you, and lie low." + +They did the rabbit act, scuttling amongst the broken houses to the +shelter of their cellar and diving hastily into it. Another shell +arrived, shrieking wrathfully, smashed into another broken house, and +scattered its ruins in a whirlwind of flying fragments. + +Now Mary, of course, was in the cellar with the rest, and Mary's garden +was in full view from the cellar entrance, and twenty or twenty-five +yards from it. The rest of the party were surprised to see Mary, as the +loud clatter of falling stones subsided, leap for the cellar steps, run +up them, and disappear out into the open. He was back in a couple of +minutes. "I just wondered," he said breathlessly, "if those blighters +had done any damage to my vegetables." When another shell came he +popped up again for another look, and this time he dodged back and said +many unprintable things until the next shell landed. He looked a little +relieved when he came back this time. "This one was farther away," he +said, "but that one afore dropped somebody's hearth-stone inside a +dozen paces from my onion bed." For the next half-hour the big shells +pounded the village, tearing the ruins apart, battering down the walls, +blasting huge holes in the road and between the houses, re-destroying +all that had already been destroyed, and completing the destruction of +some of the few parts that had hitherto escaped. + +Between rounds Mary ran up and looked out. Once he rushed across to his +garden and came back cursing impotently, to report a shell fallen close +to the garden, his carefully erected forcing frames shattered to +splinters by the shock, and a hail of small stones and the ruins of an +iron stove dropped obliteratingly across his carrots. + +"If only they'd left this crazy shooting for another week," said Mary, +"a whole lot of those things would have been ready for pulling up. The +onions is pretty near big enough to eat now, and I've half a mind to +pull some o' them before that cock-eyed Hun lands a shell in me garden +and blows it to glory." + +Later he ran out, pulled an onion, a carrot, and a lettuce, brought +them back to the cellar, proudly passed them round, and anxiously +demanded an opinion as to whether they were ready for pulling, and +counsel as to whether he ought to strip his garden. + +"Now look here!" said the sergeant at last; "you let your bloomin' +garden alone; I'm not going to have you running out there plucking +carrot and onion nosegays under fire. If a shell blows your garden +half-way through to Australia, I can't help it, and neither can you. +I'll be quite happy to split a dish of spuds with you if so be your +garden offers them up; but I'm not going to have you casualtied +rescuing your perishing radishes under fire. Nothing'll be said to me +if your garden is strafed off the earth; but there's a whole lot going +to be said if you are strafed along with it, and I have to report that +you had disobeyed orders and not kept under cover, and that I had +looked on while you broke ship and was blown to blazes with a boo-kay +of onions in your hand. So just you anchor down there till the owner +pipes to carry on." + +Mary had no choice but to obey, and when at last the shelling was over +he rushed to the garden and examined it with anxious care. He was in a +more cheerful mood when he rejoined the others. "It ain't so bad," he +said. "Total casualties, half the carrots killed, the radish-bed +severely wounded (half a chimney-pot did that), and some o' the onions +slightly wounded by bits of gravel. But what do you reckon the owner's +going to do now? Has he given any orders yet?" + +No orders had been given, but the betting amongst the Blue Marines was +about ninety-seven to one in favor of their moving. Sure enough, orders +were given to pack up and prepare to move as soon as it was dark, and +the captain went off with a working party to reconnoiter a new position +and prepare places for the cars. Mary was sent off in "the shore boat" +(otherwise the light runabout which carried them on duty or pleasure to +and from the ten-mile-distant town) with orders to draw the day's +rations, collect the day's mail, buy the day's papers, and return to +the village, being back not later than five o'clock. + +It was made known that the position to which the captain contemplated +moving was one in a clump of trees within half a mile of the position +they were leaving. Mary was hugely satisfied. "That ain't half bad," he +said when he heard. "I can walk over and water the garden at night, and +pop across any time between the Tauby's usual promenade hours and do a +bit o' weeding, and just keep an eye on things generally. And inside a +week we're going to have carrots for dinner every day, _and_ spring +onions. Hey, my lads! what about bread and cheese and spring onions, +wot?" + +He climbed aboard the run-about, drove out of the yard, and rattled off +down the road. He executed his commissions, and was sailing happily +back to the village, when about a mile short of it a sitting figure +rose from the roadside, stepped forward, and waved an arresting hand. +To his surprise, Mary saw that it was one of the Blue Marines. + +"What's up?" he said, as the Marine came round to the side and +proceeded to step on board. + +"Orders," said the Marine briefly. "I was looking out for you. Change +course and direction and steer for the new anchorage." + +"The idea being wot!" asked Mary. + +"We've been in action again," said the Marine gloomily. "Only two +shells this time, but they did more damage than all the rest put +together this morning." + +"More damage?" gasped Mary. "Wot--wot have they damaged?" + +The Marine ticked off the damages on his fingers one by one. + +"Car hit, badly damaged, and down by the stern; gun out of +action--mounting smashed; the sergeant hit, piece of his starboard leg +carried away; and five men slightly wounded." + +He dropped his hands, which Mary took as a sign that the tally was +finished. "Is that all?" he said, and breathed a sigh of relief. +"Strewth! I thought you was going to tell me that my garden had been +gott-straffed." + + + +A FRAGMENT + + +This is not a story, it is rather a fragment, beginning where usually a +battle story ends, with a man being "casualtied," showing the principal +character only in a passive part--a very passive part--and ending, I am +afraid, with a lot of unsatisfactory loose ends ungathered up. I only +tell it because I fancy that at the back of it you may find some hint +of the spirit that has helped the British Army in many a tight corner. + +Private Wally Ruthven was knocked out by the bursting of a couple of +bombs in his battalion's charge on the front line German trenches. Any +account of the charge need not be given here, except that it failed, +and the battalion making it, or what was left of them, beaten back. +Private Wally knew nothing of this, knew nothing of the renewed British +bombardment, the renewed British attack half a dozen hours later, and +again its renewed failure. All this time he was lying where the force +of the bomb's explosion had thrown him, in a hole blasted out of the +ground by a bursting shell. During all that time he was unconscious of +anything except pain, although certainly he had enough of that to keep +his mind very fully occupied. He was brought back to an agonizing +consciousness by the hurried grip of strong hands and a wrenching lift +that poured liquid flames of pain through every nerve in his mangled +body. To say that he was badly wounded hardly describes the case; an +R.A.M.C. orderly afterwards described his appearance with painful +picturesqueness as "raw meat on a butcher's block," and indeed it is +doubtful if the stretcher-bearers who lifted him from the shell-hole +would not rather have left him lying there and given their brief time +and badly needed services to a casualty more promising of recovery, if +they had seen at first Private Ruthven's serious condition. As it was, +one stretcher-bearer thought and said the man was dead, and was for +tipping him off the stretcher again. Ruthven heard that and opened his +eyes to look at the speaker, although at the moment it would not have +troubled him much if he had been tipped off again. But the other +stretcher-bearer said there was still life in him; and partly because +the ground about them was pattering with bullets, and the air about +them clamant and reverberating with the rush and roar of passing and +exploding shells and bombs, and that particular spot, therefore, no +place or time for argument; partly because stretcher-bearers have a +stubborn conviction and fundamental belief--which, by the way, has +saved many a life even against their own momentary judgment--that while +there is life there is hope, that a man "isn't dead till he's buried," +and finally that a stretcher must always be brought in with a load, a +live one if possible, and the nearest thing to alive if not, they +brought him in. + +The stretcher-bearers carried their burden into the front trench and +there attempted to set about the first bandaging of their casualty. The +job, however, was quite beyond them, but one of them succeeded in +finding a doctor, who in all the uproar of a desperate battle was +playing Mahomet to the mountain of such cases as could not come to him +in the field dressing station. The orderly requested the doctor to come +to the casualty, who was so badly wounded that "he near came to bits +when we lifted him." The doctor, who had several urgent cases within +arm's length of him as he worked at the moment, said that he would come +as soon as he could, and told the orderly in the meantime to go and +bandage any minor wounds his casualty might have. The bearer replied +that there were no minor wounds, that the man was "just nothing but one +big wound all over"; and as for bandaging, that he "might as well try +to do first aid on a pound of meat that had run through a mincing +machine." The doctor at last, hobbling painfully and leaning on the +stretcher-bearer--for he himself had been twice wounded, once in the +foot by a piece of shrapnel, and once through the tip of the shoulder +by a rifle bullet--came to Private Ruthven. He spent a good deal of +time and innumerable yards of bandages on him, so that when the +stretcher-bearers brought him into the dressing station there was +little but bandages to be seen of him. The stretcher-bearer delivered a +message from the doctor that there was very little hope, so that +Ruthven for the time being was merely given an injection of morphia and +put aside. + +The approaches to the dressing station and the station itself were +under so severe a fire for some hours afterwards that it was impossible +for any ambulance to be brought near it. Such casualties as could walk +back walked, others were carried slowly and painfully to a point which +the ambulances had a fair sporting chance of reaching intact. One way +and another a good many hours passed before Ruthven's turn came to be +removed. The doctor who had bandaged him in the firing-line had by then +returned to the dressing station, mainly because his foot had become +too painful to allow him to use it at all. Merely as an aside, and +although it has nothing to do with Private Ruthven's case, it may be +worth mentioning that the same doctor, having cleaned, sterilized, and +bandaged his wounds, remained in the dressing station for another +twelve hours, doing such work as could be accomplished sitting in a +chair and with one sound and one unsound arm. He saw Private Ruthven +for a moment as he was being started on his journey to the ambulance; +he remembered the case, as indeed everyone who handled or saw that case +remembered it for many days, and, moved by professional interest and +some amazement that the man was still alive, he hobbled from his chair +to look at him. He found Private Ruthven returning his look; for the +passing of time and the excess of pain had by now overcome the effects +of the morphia injection. There was a hauntingly appealing look in the +eyes that looked up at him, and the doctor tried to answer the question +he imagined those eyes would have conveyed. + +"I don't know, my boy," he said, "whether you'll pull through, but +we'll do the best we can for you. And now we have you here we'll have +you back in hospital in no time, and there you'll get every chance +there is." + +He imagined the question remained in those eyes still unsatisfied, and +that Ruthven gave just the suggestion of a slow head-shake. + +"Don't give up, my boy," he said briskly. "We might save you yet. Now +I'm going to take away the pain for you," and he called an orderly to +bring a hypodermic injection. While he was finding a place among the +bandages to make the injection, the orderly who was waiting spoke: "I +believe, sir, he's trying to ask something or say something." + +It has to be told here that Private Ruthven could say nothing in the +terms of ordinary speech, and would never be able to do so again. +Without going into details it will be enough to say that the whole +lower part of--well, his face--was tightly bound about with bandages, +leaving little more than his nostrils, part of his cheeks, and his eyes +clear. He was frowning now and again, just shaking his head to denote a +negative, and his left hand, bound to the bigness of a football in +bandages, moved slowly in an endeavor to push aside the doctor's hands. + +"It's all right, my lad," the doctor said soothingly. "I'm not going to +hurt you." + +The frown cleared for an instant and the eloquent eyes appeared to +smile, as indeed the lad might well have smiled at the thought that +anyone could "hurt" such a bundle of pain. But although it appeared +quite evident that Ruthven did not want morphia, the doctor in his +wisdom decreed otherwise, and the jolting journey down the rough +shell-torn road, and the longer but smoother journey in the +sweetly-sprung motor ambulance, were accomplished in sleep. + +When he wakened again to consciousness he lay for some time looking +about him, moving only his eyes and very slowly his head. He took in +the canvas walls and roof of the big hospital marquee, the +scarlet-blanketed beds, the flitting figures of a couple of +silent-footed Sisters, the screens about two of the beds; the little +clump of figures, doctor, orderlies, and Sister, stooped over another +bed. Presently he caught the eye of a Sister as she passed swiftly the +foot of his bed, and she, seeing the appealing look, the barely +perceptible upward twitch of his head that was all he could do to +beckon, stopped and turned, and moved quickly to his side. She smoothed +the pillow about his head and the sheets across his shoulders, and +spoke softly. + +"I wonder if there is anything you want?" she said. "You can't tell me, +can you? just close your eyes a minute if there is anything I can do. +Shut them for yes--keep them open for no." + +The eyes closed instantly, opened, and stared upward at her. + +"Is it the pain?" she said. "Is it very dreadful?" + +The eyes held steady and unflickering upon hers. She knew well that +there they did not speak truth, and that the pain must indeed be very +dreadful. + +"We can stop the pain, you know," she said "Is that what you want?" + +The steady unwinking eyes answered "No" again, and to add emphasis to +it the bandaged head shook slowly from side to side on the pillow. + +The Sister was puzzled; she could find out what he wanted, of course, +she was confident of that; but it might take some time and many +questions, and time just then was something that she or no one else in +the big clearing hospital could find enough of for the work in their +hands. Even then urgent work was calling her; so she left him, +promising to come again as soon as she could. + +She spoke to the doctor, and presently he came back with her to the +bedside. "It's marvelous," he said in a low tone to the Sister, "that +he has held on to life so long." + +Private Ruthven's wounds had been dressed there on arrival, before he +woke out of the morphia sleep, and the doctor had seen and knew. + +"There is nothing we can do for him," he said, "except morphia again, +to ease him out of his pain." + +But again the boy, his brow wrinkling with the effort, attempted with +his bandaged hand to stay the needle in the doctor's fingers. + +"I'm sure," said the Sister, "he doesn't want the morphia; he told me +so, didn't you?" appealing to the boy. + +The eyes shut and gripped tight in an emphatic answer, and the Sister +explained their code. + +"Listen!" she said gently. "The doctor will only give you enough to +make you sleep for two or three hours, and then I shall have time to +come and talk to you. Will that do!" + +The unmoving eyes answered "No" again, and the doctor stood up. + +"If he can bear it, Sister," he said, "we may as well leave him. I +can't understand it, though. I know how those wounds must hurt." + +They left him then, and he lay for another couple of hours, his eyes +set on the canvas roof above his head, dropped for an instant to any +passing figure, lifting again to their fixed position. The eyes and the +mute appeal in them haunted the Sister, and half a dozen times, as she +moved about the beds, she flitted over to him, just to drop a word that +she had not forgotten and she was coming presently. + +"You want me to talk to you, don't you?" she said. "There is something +you want me to find out?" + +"Yes--yes--yes," said the quickly flickering eyelids. + +The Sister read the label that was tied to him when he was brought in. +She asked questions round the ward of those who were able to answer +them, and sent an orderly to make inquiries in the other tents. He came +back presently and reported the finding of another man who belonged to +Ruthven's regiment and who knew him. So presently, when she was +relieved from duty--the first relief for thirty-six solid hours of +physical stress and heart-tearing strain--she went straight to the +other tent and questioned the man who knew Private Ruthven. He had a +hopelessly shattered arm, but appeared mightily content and amazingly +cheerful. He knew Wally, he said, was in the same platoon with him; +didn't know much about him except that he was a very decent sort; no, +knew nothing about his people or his home, although he remembered--yes, +there was a girl. Wally had shown him her photograph once, "and a real +ripper she is too." Didn't know if Wally was engaged to her, or +anything more about her, and certainly not her name. + +The Sister went back to Wally. His wrinkled brow cleared at the sight +of her, but she could see that the eyes were sunk more deeply in his +head, that they were dulled, no doubt with his suffering. + +"I'm going to ask you a lot of questions," she said, "and you'll just +close your eyes again if I speak of what you want to tell me. You do +want to tell me something, don't you?" + +To her surprise, the "Yes" was not signaled back to her. She was +puzzled a moment. "You want to ask me something?" she said. + +"Yes," the eyelids flicked back. + +"Is it about a girl?" she asked. ("No.") + +"Is it about money of any sort?" ("No.") + +"Is it about your mother, or your people, or your home? Is it about +yourself?" + +She had paused after each question and went on to the next, but seeing +no sign of answering "Yes" she was baffled for a moment. But she felt +that she could not go to her own bed to which she had been dismissed, +could not go to the sleep she so badly needed, until she had found and +answered the question in those pitiful eyes. She tried again. + +"Is it about your regiment?" she asked, and the eyes snapped "Yes," and +"Yes," and "Yes" again. She puzzled over that, and then went back to +the doctor in charge of the other ward and brought back with her the +man who "knew Wally." Mentally she clapped her hands at the light that +leaped to the boy's eyes. She had told the man that it was something +about the regiment he wanted to know; told him, too, his method of +answering "Yes" and "No," and to put his questions in such, a form that +they could be so answered. + +The friend advanced to the bedside with clumsy caution. + +"Hello, Wally!" he said cheerfully. "They've pretty well chewed you up +and spit you out again, 'aven't they? But you're all right, old son, +you're going to pull through, 'cause the O.C. o' the Linseed +Lancers[Footnote: Medical Service.] here told me so. But Sister here +tells me you want to ask something about someone in the old crush." He +hesitated a moment. "I can't think who it would be," he confessed. "It +can't be his own chum, 'cause he 'stopped one,' and Wally saw it and +knew he was dead hours before. But look 'ere," he said determinedly, +"I'll go through the whole bloomin' regiment, from the O.C. down to the +cook, by name and one at a time, and you'll tip me a wink and stop me +at the right one. I'll start off with our own platoon first; that ought +to do it," he said to the Sister. + +"Perhaps," she said quickly, "he wants to ask about one of his +officers. Is that it?" And she turned to him. + +The eyes looked at her long and steadily, and then closed flutteringly +and hesitatingly. + +"We're coming near it," she said, "although he didn't seem sure about +that 'Yes.'" + +"Look 'ere," said the other, with a sudden inspiration, "there's no +good o' this 'Yes' and 'No' guessin' game; Wally and me was both in the +flag-wagging class, and we knows enough to--there you are." He broke +off in triumph and nodded to Wally's flickering eyelids, that danced +rapidly in the long and short of the Morse code. + +"Y-e-s. Ac-ac-ac."[Footnote: Ac-ac-ac: three A's, denoting a full stop. +In "Signalese" similar-sounding letters are given names to avoid +confusion. A is Ac; T, Toe; D, Don; P, Pip; M, Emma, etc.] + +"Yes," he said. "If you'll get a bit of paper, Sister, you can write +down the message while I spells it off. That's what you want, ain't it, +chum?" + +The Sister took paper and pencil and wrote the letters one by one as +the code ticked them off and the reader called them to her. + +"Ready. Begins!" Go on, Miss, write it down," as she hesitated. +"Don-I-Don--Did; W-E--we; Toc-ac-K-E--take; Toc-H-E--the; +Toc-R-E-N-C-H--trench; ac-ac-ac. Did we take the trench?" + +The signaler being a very unimaginative man, possibly it might never +have occurred to him to lie, to have told anything but the blunt truth +that they did not take the trench; that the regiment had been cut to +pieces in the attempt to take it; that the further attempt of another +regiment on the same trench had been beaten back with horrible loss; +that the lines on both sides, when he was sent to the rear late at +night, were held exactly as they had been held before the attack; that +the whole result of the action was _nil_--except for the casualty list. +But he caught just in time the softly sighing whispered "Yes" from the +unmoving lips of the Sister, and he lied promptly and swiftly, +efficiently and at full length. + +"Yes," he said. "We took it. I thought you knew that, and that you was +wounded the other side of it; we took it all right. Got a hammering of +course, but what was left of us cleared it with the bayonet. You should +'ave 'eard 'em squeal when the bayonet took 'em. There was one big +brute----" + +He was proceeding with a cheerful imagination, colored by past +experiences, when the Sister stopped him. Wally's eyes were closed. + +"I think," she said quietly, "that's all that Wally wants to know. +Isn't it, Wally?" + +The lids lifted slowly and the Sister could have cried at the glory and +satisfaction that shone in them. They closed once softly, lifted +slowly, and closed again tiredly and gently. That is all. Wally died an +hour afterwards. + + + +AN OPEN TOWN + + +_"Yesterday hostile artillery shelled the town of_ ---- _some miles +behind our lines, without military result. Several civilians were +killed_."--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +Two officers were cashing checks in the Bank of France and chatting +with the cashier, who was telling them about a bombardment of the town +the day before. The bank had removed itself and its business to the +underground vaults, and the large room on the ground floor, with its +polished mahogany counters, brass grills and desks, loomed dim and +indistinct in the light which filtered past the sandbags piled outside. +The walls bore notices with a black hand pointing downwards to the +cellar steps, and the big room echoed eerily to the footsteps of +customers, who tramped across the tiled floor and disappeared +downstairs to the vaults. + +"One shell," the cashier was saying, "fell close outside there," waving +a hand up the cellar steps. "_Bang! crash!_ we feel the building +shake--so." His hands left their task of counting notes, seized an +imaginary person by the lapels of an imaginary coat and shook him +violently. + +"The noise, the great c-r-rash, the shoutings, the little squeals, and +then the peoples running, the glasses breaking--tinkle--tinkle--you +have seen the smoke, thick black smoke, and smelling--pah!" + +He wrinkled his nose with disgust. "At first--for one second--I think +the bank is hit; but no, it is the street outside. Little stones--yes, +and splinters, through the windows; they come and hit all round, +inside--rap, rap, rap!" His darting hand played the splinters' part, +indicating with little pointing stabs the ceiling and the walls. +"Mademoiselle there, you see? yes! one little piece of shell," and he +held finger and thumb to illustrate an inch-long fragment. + +The two officers looked at Mademoiselle, an exceedingly pretty young +girl, sitting composedly at a typewriter. There was a strip of plaster +marring the smooth cheek, and at the cashier's words she looked round +at the young officers, flashed them a cheerful smile, and returned to +her hammering on the key-board. + +"My word, Mademoiselle," said one of the officers. "Near thing, eh? I +wonder you are not scared to carry on." + +The girl turned a slightly puzzled glance on them. + +"Monsieur means," explained the cashier friendlily to her, "is it that +you have no fear--_peur_, to continue the affairs?" + +Mademoiselle smiled brightly and shook her head. "But no," she said +cheerfully, "it is nossings," and went back to her work. + +"Jolly plucky girl, I think," said the officer. "Nearly as plucky as +she is pretty. I say, old man, my French isn't up to handling a +compliment like that; see if you can--" + +He did not finish the sentence, for at that moment there was a faint +far-off _bang_, and they sensed rather than felt a faint quiver in the +solid earth beneath their feet. The cashier held up one hand and stood +with head turned sideways in an attitude of listening. + +"You hear?" he said, arching his eyebrows. + +"What was it?" said the officer. "Sounded like a door banging +upstairs." + +"No, no," said the cashier. "They have commenced again. It is the same +hour as last time, and the time before." + +Mademoiselle had stopped typing, and the ledger clerk at the desk +behind her had also ceased work and sat listening; but after a moment +Mademoiselle threw a little smile towards them--a half-pleased, +half-deprecating little smile, as of one who shows a visitor something +interesting, something one is glad to show, and then resumed her +clicking on the typewriter. The ledger clerk, too, went back to work, +and the cashier said off-handedly: "It is not near--the station +perhaps--yes!" as if the station were a few hundred miles off, instead +of a few hundred yards. He finished rapidly counting his bundle of +notes and handed them to the officer. + +When the two emerged from the bank they found the street a good deal +quieter than when they had entered it. They walked along towards the +main square, noticing that some of the shopkeepers were calmly putting +up their shutters, while others quietly continued serving the few +customers who were hurriedly completing their purchases. As the two +walked along the narrow street they heard the thin savage whistle of an +approaching shell and a moment later a tremendous _bang_! They and +everybody else near them stopped and looked round, up and down the +street, and up over the roofs of the houses. They could see nothing, +and had turned to walk on when something crashed sharply on a roof +above them, bounced off, and fell with a rap on the cobble-stones in +the street. A child, an eager-faced youngster, ran from an arched +gateway and pounced on the little object, rose, and held up a piece of +stone, with intense annoyance and disgust plainly written on his face, +threw it from him with an exclamation of disappointment. + +The two walked on chuckling. "Little bounder!" said one. "Thought he'd +got a souvenir; rather a sell for him--what?" + +In the main square, they found a number of market women packing up +their little stalls and moving off, others debating volubly and looking +up at the sky, pointing in the direction of the last sound, and clearly +arguing with each other as to whether they should stay or move. A +couple of Army Transport wagons clattered across the square. One +driver, with the reins bunched up in his hand and the whip under his +arm, was busily engaged striking matches and trying to light a +cigarette; the other, allowing his horses to follow the first wagon, +and with his mouth open, gazed up into the sky as if he expected to see +the next shell coming. A few civilians scattered about the square were +walking briskly; a woman, clutching the arm of a little boy, ran, +dragging him, with his little legs going at a rapid trot. More +civilians, a few men in khaki, and some in French uniform, were +standing in archways or in shop-doors. + +There was another long whistle, louder and harsher this time, and +followed by a splintering crash and rattle. The groups in the doorways +flicked out of sight; the people in the open half halted and turned to +hurry on, or in some cases, without looking round, ran hurriedly to +cover. Stones and little fragments of débris clacked down one by one, +and then in a little pattering shower on the stones of the square. The +last of the market women, hesitating no longer, hurriedly bundled up +their belongings and hastened off. The two officers turned into a café +with a wide front window, seated themselves near this at a little +marble table, and ordered beer. There were about a score of officers in +the room, talking or reading the English papers. All of them had very +clean and very close-shaven faces, and very dirty and weather-stained, +mud-marked clothes. For the most part they seemed a great deal more +interested in each other, in their conversations, and in their papers, +than in any notice of the bombardment. The two who were seated near the +window had a good view from it, and extracted plenty of interest from +watching the people outside. + +Another shell whistled and roared down, burst with a deep angry bellow, +a clattering and rending and splintering sound of breaking stone and +wood. This time bigger fragments of stone, a shower of broken tiles and +slates rattled down into the square; a thick cloud of dirty black +smoke, gray and red tinged with mortar and brick-dust, appeared up +above the roofs on the other side of the square, spread slowly and +thickly, and hung long, dissolving very gradually and thinning off in +trailing wisps. + +In the café there was silence for a moment, and many remarks about +"coming rather close" and "getting a bit unhealthy," and a jesting +inquiry of the proprietor as to the shelter available in the cellar +with the beer barrels. A few rose and moved over to the window; one or +two opened the door, to stand there and look round. + +"Look at that old girl in the doorway across there," said one. "You +would think she was frightened she was going to get her best bonnet +wet." + +The woman's motions had, in fact, a curious resemblance to those of one +who hesitated about venturing out in a heavy rainstorm. She stood in +the doorway and looked round, drew back and spoke to someone inside, +picked up a heavy basket, set it down, stepped into the door, glanced +carefully and calculatingly up at the sky and across the square in the +direction she meant to take, moved back again and picked up her basket, +set it firmly on her arm, stepped out and commenced to hobble at an +ungainly cumbersome trot across the square. She was no more than +half-way across when the shriek of another shell was heard approaching. +She stopped and cast a terrified glance about her, dumped the basket +down on the cobbles, and resumed the shambling trot at increased speed. +A soldier in khaki crossing the square also commenced to run for cover +as his ear caught the sound of the shell; passing near the woman's +basket, he stooped and grabbed it and doubled on with it after its +panting owner. + +A group of soldiers standing in the archway shouted laughter and +encouragement, pretending they were watching a race, urging on the +runners. + +"Go on, Khaki! go on!--two to one on the fat girl; two to one--I lay +the fie-ald." Their cries and clapping shut off, and they disappeared +like diving ducks as the shell roared down, struck with a horrible +crash one of the buildings in a side-street just off the square, burst +it open, and flung upward and outward a flash of blinding light, a +spurt of smoke, a torrent of flying bricks and broken stones. Through +the rattle and clatter of falling masonry and flying rubbish there +came, piercing and shrill, the sound of a woman's screams. They choked +off suddenly, and for some seconds there were no sounds but those of +falling fragments, jarring and hailing on the cobble-stones, of broken +glass crashing and tinkling from dozens of windows round the square. + +As the noises of the explosion died away, figures crowded out anxiously +into the doorways again, and stood there and about the pavements, +looking round, pointing and gesticulating, and plainly prepared to run +back under cover at the first sign of warning. The half-dozen men who +had cheered the race across the square emerged from the archway, looked +around, and then set off running, keeping close under the shelter of +the houses, and disappearing into the thick smoke and dust that still +hung a thick and writhing curtain about the street-end in the corner of +the square. + +The two officers who had sat at the café window looked at one another. + +"You heard that squeal?" said one. + +"Yes," said the other; "I think we might trot over. You knowing a +little bit about surgery might be useful." + +"Oh, I dunno," said the first. "But, anyhow, let's go." + +They paid their bill and went out, and as they crossed the square they +met a couple of the soldiers who had disappeared into the smoke. They +were moving at the double, but at a word from the officers they halted. +Both wore the Red Cross badge of the Army Medical Corps on their arms, +and one explained hurriedly that they were going for an ambulance, that +there was a woman killed, one man and a woman and two children badly +wounded. They ran on, and the two officers moved hastily towards the +shell-struck house. The smoke was clearing now, and it was possible to +see something of the damage that had been done. + +The shell apparently had struck the roof, had ripped and torn it off, +burst downwards and outwards, blowing out the whole face of the upper +story, the connecting-wall and corner of the houses next to it, part of +the top-floor, and a jagged gap in the face of the lower story. The +street was piled with broken bricks and tiles, with splinters of stone, +with uprooted cobbles, with fragments and beams, bits of furniture, +ragged-edged planks, fragments of smoldering cloth. As the two walked, +their feet crunched on a layer of splintered glass and broken crockery. +The air they breathed reeked with a sharp chemical odor and the stench +of burning rags. + +The R.A.M.C. men had collected the casualties, and were doing what they +could for them, and the officer who was "a bit of a surgeon" gave them +what help he could. The casualties were mangled cruelly, and one of +them, a child, died before the ambulance came. + +The shells began to come fast now. One after another they poured in, +the last noise of their approach before they struck sounding like the +rush and roar of an express train passing through a tunnel. No more +fell near the square; but the two officers, returning across it, with +the terrifying rush of its projectiles in their ears, moved hastily and +puffed sighs of relief as they reached the door of the café again. + +"I just about want a drink," said the one who was "a bit of a surgeon." +"Thank Heaven I didn't decide to go into the Medical. The more I see of +that job the less I like it." + +The other shuddered. "How these surgeons do it at all," he said, "beats +me. I had to go outside when you started to handle that kiddie. Sorry I +couldn't stay to help you." + +"It didn't matter," said the first. "Those Medical fellows did all I +wanted, and anyhow you were better employed giving a hand to stop that +building catching light." + +The two had their drink and prepared to move again. + +"Time we were off, I suppose," said the first. "Our lot must be getting +ready to take the road presently, and we ought to be there." + +So they moved and dodged through the quiet streets, with the shells +still whooping overhead and bursting noisily in different parts of the +town. On their way they entered a shop to buy some slabs of chocolate. +The shop was empty when they entered, but a few stout raps on the +counter brought a woman, pale-faced but volubly chattering, up a ladder +and through a trapdoor in the shop-floor. She served them while the +shells still moaned overhead, talking rapidly, apologizing for keeping +them waiting, and explaining that for the children's sake she always +went down into the cellar when the shelling commenced, wishing them, as +they gathered up their parcels and left, "bonne chance," and making for +the trap-door and the ladder as they closed the shop-door. + +About the main streets there were few signs of the shells' work, except +here and there a litter of fragments tossed over the roofs and sprayed +across the road. But, passing through a small side square, the two +officers saw something more of the effect of "direct hits." In the +square was parked a number of ambulance wagons, and over a building at +the side floated a huge Red Cross flag. Eight or nine shells had been +dropped in and around the square. Where they had fallen were huge round +holes, each with a scattered fringe of earth and cobble-stones and +broken pavement. The trees lining the square showed big white patches +on their trunks where the bark had been sliced by flying fragments, +branches broken, hanging and dangling, or holding out jagged white +stumps. Leaves and twigs and branches were littered about the square +and heaped thick under the trees. The brick walls of many of the houses +round were pitted and pocked and scarred by the shell fragments. The +face of one house was marked by a huge splash, with solid center and a +ragged-edged outline of radiating jerky rays, reminding one immediately +of a famous ink-maker's advertisement. The bricks had taken the +impression of the explosion's splash exactly as paper would take the +ink's. Practically every window in the square had been broken, and in +the case of the splash-marked house, blown in, sash and frame complete. +One ambulance wagon lay a torn and splintered wreck, and pieces of it +were flung wide to the four corners of the square. Another was +overturned, with broken wheels collapsed under it, and in the Red Cross +canvas tilts of others gaped huge tears and rents. + +At one spot a pool of blood spread wide across the pavement, and still +dripping and running sluggishly and thickly into and along the stone +gutter, showed where at least one shell had caught more than brick and +stone and tree, although now the square was deserted and empty of life. + +And even as the two hurriedly skirted the place another shell hurtled +over, tripped on the top edge of a roof across the square and exploded +with an appalling clatter and burst of noise. The roof vanished in a +whirlwind of smoke and dust, and the officers jumped from the doorway +where they had flung themselves crouching, and finished their passage +of the square at a run. + +"Hottish corner," said one, as they slowed to a walk some distance +away. + +"Silly fools," growled the other. "What do they want to hoist that huge +Red Cross flag up there for, where any airman can see it? Fairly asking +for it, I call it." + +When they came to the outskirts of the town they found rather more +signs of life. People were hanging about their doorways and the shops, +fewer windows were shuttered, fewer faces peeped from the tiny grated +windows of the cellars. And up the center of the road, with lordly +calm, marched three Highlanders. The smooth swing of their kilts, their +even, unhurried step, the shoulders well back, and the elbows a shade +outturned, the bonnets cocked to a precisely same angle on the upheld +heads, all bespoke either an amazing ignorance of, or a bland +indifference to, the bombardment. Their march was stopped by a sentry, +who shouted to them and moved out from the pavement. Some sort of +argument was going on as the officers approached, and in passing they +heard the finish of it. + +"You were pit there tae warn folk," a Highlander was saying. "Weel, +ye've dune that, so we'll awa on oor road. We're nae fonder o' shells +than y'are yersel. But we'd look bonnie, wouldn't we, t' be tellin' the +Cameron lads we promised to meet, that we were feared for a bit +shellin'...." + +And after they had passed, the officers looked back and saw the three +Scots swinging their kilts and swaggering imperturbably on to the town, +and their meeting with the "Cameron lads." + +There were no more shells, but that afternoon a Taube paid another of +its frequent visits and vigorously bombed the railway station again, +driving the inhabitants back once more to the inadequate shelter of +their cellars and basements. And yet, as the same two officers marched +with their battalion through the town towards the firing-line that +evening, they found the streets quite normally bustling and astir, and +there seemed to be no lack of light in the shops and houses and about +the streets. Here and there as they passed, children stood stiffly to +attention and gravely saluted the battalion, young women and old turned +to call a cheery "Bonne Chance" to the soldiers, to smile bravely and +wave farewells to them. + +"Plucky bloomin' lot, ain't they, Bill?" said one man, and blew a kiss +to three girls waving from a window. + +"I takes off my 'at to them," said his mate. "What wi' Jack Johnsons +and airyplane bombs, you might expec' the population to have emigrated +in a bunch. The Frenchmen is a plucky enough crowd, but the women--My +Lord." + +"Airyplanes every other day," said the first man. "But I don't notice +any darkened streets and white-painted kerbs; and we don't 'ear the +inhabitants shrieking about protection from air raids, or 'Where's the +anti-aircraft guns?' or 'Who's responsible for air defense?' or 'A baa +the Government that don't a baa the air raids!' 'say la gerr,' says +they, and shrugs their shoulders, and leaves it go at that." + +They were in a darker side-street now, and the glare of the burning +house shone red in the sky over the roof tops. "Somebody's 'appy 'ome +gone west," remarked one man, and a mouth-organ in the ranks answered, +with cheerful sarcasm, "Keep the Home Fires Burning!" + + + +THE SIGNALERS + + +_"It is reported that_ ... "--EXTRACT FROM OFFICIAL DESPATCH. + + +The "it" and the "that" which were reported, and which the despatch +related in another three or four lines, concerned the position of a +forward line of battle, but have really nothing to do with this +account, which aims only at relating something of the method by which +"it was reported" and the men whose particular work was concerned only +with the report as a report, a string of words, a jumble of letters, a +huddle of Morse dots and dashes. + +The Signaling Company in the forward lines was situated in a very damp +and very cold cellar of a half-destroyed house. In it were two or three +tables commandeered from upstairs or from some houses around. That one +was a rough deal kitchen table, and that another was of polished wood, +with beautiful inlaid work and artistic curved and carven legs, the +spoils of some drawing-room apparently, was a matter without the +faintest interest to the signalers who used them. To them a table was a +table, no more and no less, a thing to hold a litter of papers, message +forms, telephone gear, and a candle stuck in a bottle. If they had +stopped to consider the matter, and had been asked, they would probably +have given a dozen of the delicate inlaid tables for one of the rough +strong kitchen ones. There were three or four chairs about the place, +just as miscellaneous in their appearance as the tables. But beyond the +tables and chairs there was no furniture whatever, unless a scanty heap +of wet straw in one corner counts as furniture, which indeed it might +well do since it counted as a bed. + +There were fully a dozen men in the room, most of them orderlies for +the carrying of messages to and from the telephonists. These men came +and went continually. Outside it had been raining hard for the greater +part of the day, and now, getting on towards midnight, the drizzle +still held and the trenches and fields about the signalers' quarters +were running wet, churned into a mass of gluey chalk-and-clay mud. The +orderlies coming in with messages were daubed thick with the wet mud +from boot-soles to shoulders, often with their puttees and knees and +thighs dripping and running water as if they had just waded through a +stream. Those who by the carrying of a message had just completed a +turn of duty, reported themselves, handed over a message perhaps, +slouched wearily over to the wall farthest from the door, dropped on +the stone floor, bundled up a pack or a haversack, or anything else +convenient for a pillow, lay down and spread a wet mackintosh over +them, wriggled and composed their bodies into the most comfortable, or +rather the least uncomfortable possible position, and in a few minutes +were dead asleep. + +It was nothing to them that every now and again the house above them +shook and quivered to the shock of a heavy shell exploding somewhere on +the ground round the house, that the rattle of rifle fire dwindled away +at times to separate and scattered shots, brisked up again and rose to +a long roll, the devil's tattoo of the machine guns rattling through it +with exactly the sound a boy makes running a stick rapidly along a +railing. The bursting shells and scourging rifle fire, sweeping machine +guns, banging grenades and bombs were all affairs with which the +Signaling Company in the cellar had no connection. For the time being +the men in a row along the wall were as unconcerned in the progress of +the battle as if they were safely and comfortably asleep in London. +Presently any or all of them might be waked and sent out into the +flying death and dangers of the battlefield, but in the meantime their +immediate and only interest was in getting what sleep they could. Every +once in a while the signalers' sergeant would shout for a man, go +across to the line and rouse one of the sleepers; then the awakened man +would sit up and blink, rise and listen to his instructions, nod and +say, "Yes, Sergeant! All right, Sergeant!" when these were completed, +pouch his message, hitch his damp mackintosh about him and button it +close, drag heavily across the stone floor and vanish into the darkness +of the stone-staired passage. + +His journey might be a long or a short one, he might only have to find +a company commander in the trenches one or two hundred yards away, he +might on the other hand have a several hours' long trudge ahead of him, +a bewildering way to pick through the darkness across a maze of fields +and a net-work of trenches, over and between the rubble heaps that +represented the remains of a village, along roads pitted with all sorts +of blind traps in the way of shell holes, strings of barbed wire, +overturned carts, broken branches of trees, flung stones and beams; and +always, whether his journey was a short one or a long, he would move in +an atmosphere of risk, with sudden death or searing pain passing him by +at every step, and waiting for him, as he well knew, at the next step +and the next and every other one to his journey's end. + +Each man who took his instructions and pocketed his message and walked +up the cellar steps knew that he might never walk down them again, that +he might not take a dozen paces from them before the bullet found him. +He knew that its finding might come in black dark and in the middle of +an open field, that it might drop him there and leave him for the +stretcher-bearers to find some time, or for the burying party to lift +any time. Each man who carried out a message was aware that he might +never deliver it, that when some other hand did so, and the message was +being read, he might be past all messages, lying stark and cold in the +mud and filth with the rain beating on his gray unheeding face; or, on +the other hand, that he might be lying warm and comfortable in the +soothing ease of a bed in the hospital train, swaying gently and lulled +by the song of the flying wheels, the rock and roll of the long +compartment, swinging at top speed down the line to the base and the +hospital ship and home. An infinity of possibilities lay between the +two extremes. They were undoubtedly the two extremes: the death that +each man hoped to evade, the wound whose painful prospect held no +slightest terror but only rather the deep satisfaction of a task +performed, of an escape from death at the cheap price of a few days' or +weeks' pain, or even a crippled limb or a broken body. + +A man forgot all these things when he came down the cellar steps and +crept to a corner to snatch what sleep he could, but remembered them +again only when he was wakened and sent out into their midst, and into +all the toils and terrors the others had passed, or were to go into or +even then were meeting. + +The signalers at the instruments, the sergeants who gathered them in +and sent them forth, gave little or no thought to the orderlies. These +men were hardly more than shadows, things which brought them long +screeds to be translated to the tapping keys, hands which would stretch +into the candle-light and lift the messages that had just "buzzed" in +over their wires. The sergeant thought of them mostly as a list of +names to be ticked off one by one in a careful roster as each man did +his turn of duty, went out, or came back and reported in. And the man +who sent messages these men bore may never have given a thought to the +hands that would carry them, unless perhaps to wonder vaguely whether +the message could get through from so and so to such and such, from +this map square to that, and if the chance of the messages getting +through--the message you will note, not the messenger--seemed extra +doubtful, orders might be given to send it in duplicate or triplicate, +to double or treble the chances of its arriving. + +The night wore on, the orderlies slept and woke, stumbled in and out; +the telephonists droned out in monotonous voices to the telephone, or +"buzzed" even more monotonous strings of longs and shorts on the +"buzzer." And in the open about them, and all unheeded by them, men +fought, and suffered wounds and died, or fought on in the scarce lesser +suffering of cold and wet and hunger. + +In the signalers' room all the fluctuations of the fight were +translated from the pulsing fever, the human living tragedies and +heroisms, the violent hopes and fears and anxieties of the battle line, +to curt cold words, to scribbled letters on a message form. At times +these messages were almost meaningless to them, or at least their red +tragedy was unheeded. Their first thought when a message was handed in +for transmission, usually their first question when the signaler at the +other end called to take a message, was whether the message was a long +one or a short one. One telephonist was handed an urgent message to +send off, saying that bombs were running short in the forward line and +that further supplies were required at the earliest possible moment, +that the line was being severely bombed and unless they had the means +to reply must be driven out or destroyed. The signaler took that +message and sent it through; but his instrument was not working very +clearly, and he was a good deal more concerned and his mind was much +more fully taken up with the exasperating difficulty of making the +signaler at the other end catch word or letter correctly, than it was +with all the close packed volume of meaning it contained. It was not +that he did not understand the meaning; he himself had known a line +bombed out before now, the trenches rent and torn apart, the shattered +limbs and broken bodies of the defenders, the horrible ripping crash of +the bombs, the blinding flame, the numbing shock, the smoke and reek +and noise of the explosions; but though all these things were known to +him, the words "bombed out" meant no more now than nine letters of the +alphabet and the maddening stupidity of the man at the other end, who +would misunderstand the sound and meaning of "bombed" and had to have +it in time-consuming letter-by-letter spelling. + +When he had sent that message, he took off and wrote down one or two +others from the signaling station he was in touch with. His own +station, it will be remembered, was close up to the forward firing +line, a new firing line which marked the limits of the advance made +that morning. The station he was connected with was back in rear of +what, previous to the attack, had been the British forward line. +Between the two the thin insignificant thread of the telephone wire ran +twisting across the jumble of the trenches of our old firing line, the +neutral ground that had lain between the trenches, and the other maze +of trench, dug-out, and bomb-proof shelter pits that had been captured +from the enemy. Then in the middle of sending a message, the wire went +dead, gave no answer to repeated calls on the "buzzer." The sergeant, +called to consultation, helped to overlook and examine the instrument. +Nothing could be found wrong with it, but to make quite sure the fault +was not there, a spare instrument was coupled on to a short length of +wire between it and the old one. They carried the message perfectly, so +with curses of angry disgust the wire was pronounced disconnected, or +"disc," as the signaler called it. + +This meant that a man or men had to be sent out along the line to find +and repair the break, and that until this was done, no telephone +message could pass between that portion of the forward line and the +headquarters in the rear. The situation was the more serious, inasmuch +as this was the only connecting line for a considerable distance along +the new front. A corporal and two men took a spare instrument and a +coil of wire, and set out on their dangerous journey. + +The break of course had been reported to the O.C., and after that there +was nothing more for the signaler at the dead instrument to do, except +to listen for the buzz that would come back from the repair party as +they progressed along the line, tapping in occasionally to make sure +that they still had connection with the forward station, their getting +no reply at the same time from the rear station being of course +sufficient proof that they had not passed the break. + +Twice the signaler got a message, the second one being from the forward +side of the old neutral ground in what had been the German front line +trench; the report said also that fairly heavy fire was being +maintained on the open ground. After that there was silence. + +When the signaler had time to look about him, to light a cigarette and +to listen to the uproar of battle that filtered down the cellar steps +and through the closed door, he spoke to the sergeant about the noise, +and the sergeant agreed with him that it was getting louder, which +meant either that the fight was getting hotter or coming closer. The +answer to their doubts came swiftly to their hands in the shape of a +note from the O.C., with a message borne by the orderly that it was to +be sent through anyhow or somehow, but at once. + +Now the O.C., be it noted, had already had a report that the telephone +wire was cut; but he still scribbled his note, sent his message, and +thereafter put the matter out of his mind. He did not know how or in +what fashion the message would be sent; but he did know the Signaling +Company, and that was sufficient for him. + +In this he was doing nothing out of the usual. There are many +commanders who do the same thing, and this, if you read it aright, is a +compliment to the signaling companies beyond all the praise of General +Orders or the sweet flattery of the G.O.C. despatch--the men who sent +the messages put them out of their mind as soon as they were written +and handed to an orderly with a curt order, "Signaling company to send +that." + +You at home who slip a letter into the pillar box, consider it, +allowing due time for its journey, as good as delivered at the other +end; by so doing you pay an unconscious compliment to all manners and +grades of men, from high salaried managers down to humble porters and +postmen. But the somewhat similar compliment that is paid by the men +who send messages across the battlefield is paid in the bulk to one +little select circle; to the animal brawn and blood, the spiritual +courage and devotion, the bodies and brains, the pluck and +perseverance, the endurance, the grit and the determination of the +signaling companies. + +When the sergeant took his message and glanced through it, he pursed +his lips in a low whistle and asked the signaler to copy while he went +and roused three messengers. His quick glance through the note had told +him, even without the O.C.'s message, that it was to the last degree +urgent that the message should go back and be delivered at once and +without fail; therefore he sent three messengers, simply because three +men trebled the chances of the message getting through without delay. +If one man dropped, there were two to go on; if two fell, the third +would still carry on; if he fell--well, after that the matter was +beyond the sergeant's handling; he must leave it to the messenger to +find another man or means to carry on the message. + +The telephonist had scribbled a copy of the note to keep by him in case +the wire was mended and the message could be sent through after the +messengers started and before they reached the other end. The three +received their instructions, drew their wet coats about their shivering +shoulders, relieved their feelings in a few growled sentences about the +dog's life a man led in that company, and departed into the wet night. + +The sergeant came back, re-read the message and discussed it with the +signaler. It said: "Heavy attack is developing and being pressed +strongly on our center a-a-a.[Footnote: Three a's indicate a full +stop.] Our losses have been heavy and line is considerably weakened +a-a-a. Will hold on here to the last but urgently request that strong +reinforcements be sent up if the line is to be maintained a-a-a. +Additional artillery support would be useful a-a-a." + +"Sounds healthy, don't it?" said the sergeant reflectively. The +signaler nodded gloomily and listened apprehensively to the growing +sounds of battle. Now that his mind was free from first thoughts of +telephonic worries, he had time to consider outside matters. For nearly +ten minutes the two men listened, and talked in short sentences, and +listened again. The rattle of rifle fire was sustained and unbroken, +and punctuated liberally at short intervals by the boom of exploding +grenades and bombs. Decidedly the whole action was heavier--or coming +back closer to them. + +The sergeant was moving across the door to open it and listen when a +shell struck the house above them. The building shook violently, down +to the very flags of the stone floor; from overhead, after the first +crash, there came a rumble of falling masonry, the splintering cracks +of breaking wood-work, the clatter and rattle of cascading bricks and +tiles. A shower of plaster grit fell from the cellar roof and settled +thick upon the papers littered over the table. The sergeant halted +abruptly with his hand on the cellar door, three or four of the +sleepers stirred restlessly, one woke for a minute sufficiently to +grumble curses and ask "what the blank was that"; the rest slept on +serene and undisturbed. The sergeant stood there until the last sounds +of falling rubbish had ceased. "A shell," he said, and drew a deep +breath. "Plunk into upstairs somewhere." + +The signaler made no answer. He was quite busy at the moment +rearranging his disturbed papers and blowing the dust and grit off +them. + +A telephonist at another table commenced to take and write down a +message. It came from the forward trench on the left, and merely said +briefly that the attack on the center was spreading to them and that +they were holding it with some difficulty. The message was sent up to +the O.C. "Whoever the O.C. may be," as the sergeant said softly. "If +the Colonel was upstairs when that shell hit, there's another O.C. now, +most like." But the Colonel had escaped that shell and sent a message +back to the left trench to hang on, and that he had asked for +reënforcements. + +"He did ask," said the sergeant grimly, "but when he's going to get 'em +is a different pair o' shoes. It'll take those messengers most of an +hour to get there, even if they dodge all the lead on the way." + +As the minutes passed, it became more and more plain that the need for +reënforcements was growing more and more urgent. The sergeant was +standing now at the open door of the cellar, and the noise of the +conflict swept down and clamored and beat about them. + +"Think I'll just slip up and have a look round," said the sergeant. "I +shan't be long." + +When he had gone, the signaler rose and closed the door; it was cold +enough, as he very sensibly argued, and his being able to hear the +fighting better would do nothing to affect its issue. Just after came +another call on his instrument, and the repair party told him they had +crossed the neutral ground, had one man wounded in the arm, that he was +going on with them, and they were still following up the wire. The +message ceased, and the telephonist, leaning his elbows on the table +and his chin on his hands, was almost asleep before he realized it. He +wakened with a jerk, lit another cigarette, and stamped up and down the +room trying to warm his numbed feet. + +First one orderly and then another brought in messages to be sent to +the other trenches, and the signaler held them a minute and gathered +some more particulars as to how the fight was progressing up there. The +particulars were not encouraging. We must have lost a lot of men, since +the whole place was clotted up with casualties that kept coming in +quicker than the stretcher-bearers could move them. The rifle-fire was +hot, the bombing was still hotter, and the shelling was perhaps the +hottest and most horrible of all. Of the last the signaler hardly +required an account; the growling thumps of heavy shells exploding, +kept sending little shivers down the cellar walls, the shiver being, +oddly enough, more emphatic when the wail of the falling shell ended in +a muffled thump that proclaimed the missile "blind" or "a dud." Another +hurried messenger plunged down the steps with a note written by the +adjutant to say the colonel was severely wounded and had sent for the +second in command to take over. Ten more dragging minutes passed, and +now the separate little shivers and thrills that shook the cellar walls +had merged and run together. The rolling crash of the falling shells +and the bursting of bombs came close and fast one upon another, and at +intervals the terrific detonation of an aerial torpedo dwarfed for the +moment all the other sounds. + +By now the noise was so great that even the sleepers began to stir, and +one or two of them to wake. One sat up and asked the telephonist, +sitting idle over his instrument, what was happening. He was told +briefly, and told also that the line was "disc." He expressed +considerable annoyance at this, grumbling that he knew what it +meant--more trips in the mud and under fire to take the messages the +wire should have carried. + +"Do you think there's any chance of them pushing in the line and +rushing this house?" he asked. The telephonist didn't know. "Well," +said the man and lay down again. "It's none o' my dashed business if +they do anyway. I only hope we're tipped the wink in time to shunt out +o' here; I've no particular fancy for sitting in a cellar with the +Boche cock-shying their bombs down the steps at me." Then he shut his +eyes and went to sleep again. + +The morsed key signal for his own company buzzed rapidly on the +signaler's telephone and he caught the voice of the corporal who had +taken out the repair party. They had found the break, the corporal +said, and were mending it. He should be through--he was through--could +he hear the other end? The signaler could hear the other end calling +him and he promptly tapped off the answering signal and spoke into his +instrument. He could hear the morse signals on the buzzer plain enough, +but the voice was faint and indistinct. The signaler caught the +corporal before he withdrew his tap-in and implored him to search along +and find the leakage. + +"It's bad enough," he said, "to get all these messages through by +voice. I haven't a dog's chance of doing it if I have to buzz each +one." + +The rear station spoke again and informed him that he had several +urgent messages waiting. The forward signaler replied that he also had +several messages, and one in particular was urgent above all others. + +"The blanky line is being pushed in," he said. "No, it isn't pushed in +yet--I didn't say it--I said being pushed in--being--being, looks like +it will be pushed in--got that? The O.C. has' stopped one' and the +second has taken command. This message I want you to take is shrieking +for reënforcements--what? I can't hear--no I didn't say anything about +horses--I did _not_. Reënforcements I said; anyhow, take this message +and get it through quick." + +He was interrupted by another terrific crash, a fresh and louder +outburst of the din outside; running footsteps clattered and leaped +down the stairs, the door flung open and the sergeant rushed in +slamming the door violently behind him. He ran straight across to the +recumbent figures and began violently to shake and kick them into +wakefulness. + +"Up with ye!" he said, "every man. If you don't wake quick now, you'll +maybe not have the chance to wake at all." + +The men rolled over and sat and stood up blinking stupidly at him and +listening in amazement to the noise outside. + +"Rouse yourselves," he cried. "Get a move on. The Germans are almost on +top of us. The front line's falling back. They'll stand here." He +seized one or two of them and pushed them towards the door. "You," he +said, "and you and you, get outside and round the back there. See if +you can get a pickaxe, a trenching tool, anything, and break down that +grating and knock a bigger hole in the window. We may have to crawl out +there presently. The rest o' ye come with me an' help block up the +door." + +Through the din that followed, the telephonist fought to get his +message through; he had to give up an attempt to speak it while a +hatchet, a crowbar, and a pickaxe were noisily at work breaking out a +fresh exit from the back of the cellar, and even after that work had +been completed, it was difficult to make himself heard. He completed +the urgent message for reënforcements at last, listened to some +confused and confusing comments upon it, and then made ready to take +some messages from the other end. + +"You'll have to shout," he said, "no, shout--speak loud, because I +can't 'ardly 'ear myself think--no, 'ear myself think. Oh, all sorts, +but the shelling is the worst, and one o' them beastly airyale +torpedoes. All right, go ahead." + +The earpiece receiver strapped tightly over one ear, left his right +hand free to use a pencil, and as he took the spoken message word by +word, he wrote it on the pad of message forms under his hand. Under the +circumstances it is hardly surprising that the message took a good deal +longer than a normal time to send through, and while he was taking it, +the signaler's mind was altogether too occupied to pay any attention to +the progress of events above and around him. But now the sergeant came +back and warned him that he had better get his things ready and put +together as far as he could, in case they had to make a quick and +sudden move. + +"The game's up, I'm afraid," he said gloomily, and took a note that was +brought down by another orderly. "I thought so," he commented, as he +read it hastily and passed it to the other signaler. "It's a message +warning the right and left flanks that we can't hold the center any +longer, and that they are to commence falling back to conform to our +retirement at 3.20 _ac emma_, which is ten minutes from now." + +Over their heads the signalers could hear tramping scurrying feet, the +hammering out of loopholes, the dragging thump and flinging down of +obstacles piled up as an additional defense to the rickety walls. Then +there were more hurrying footsteps, and presently the jarring +_rap-rap-rap_ of a machine gun immediately over their heads. + +"That's done it!" said the sergeant. "We've got no orders to move, but +I'm going to chance it and establish an alternative signaling station +in one of the trenches somewhere behind here. This cellar roof is too +thin to stop an ordinary Fizzbang, much less a good solid Crump, and +that machine gun upstairs is a certain invitation to sudden death and +the German gunners to down and out us." + +He moved towards the new opening that had been made in the wall of the +cellar, scrambled up it and disappeared. All the signalers lifted their +attention from their instruments at the same moment and sat listening +to the fresh note that ran through the renewed and louder clamor and +racket. The signaler who was in touch with the rear station called them +and began to tell them what was happening. + +"We're about all in, I b'lieve," he said. "Five minutes ago we passed +word to the flanks to fall back in ten minutes. What? Yes, it's thick. +I don't know how many men we've lost hanging on, and I suppose we'll +lose as many again taking back the trench we're to give up. What's +that? No. I don't see how reënforcements could be here yet. How long +ago you say you passed orders for them to move up? An hour ago! That's +wrong, because the messengers can't have been back--telephone message? +That's a lot less than an hour ago. I sent it myself no more than half +an hour since. Oo-oo! did you get that bump? Dunno, couple o' big +shells or something dropped just outside. I can 'ardly 'ear you. +There's a most almighty row going on all round. They must be charging, +I think, or our front line's fallen back, because the rifles is going +nineteen to the dozen, a-a-ah! They're getting stronger too, and it +sounds like a lot more bombs going; hold on, there's that blighting +maxim again." + +He stopped speaking while upstairs the maxim clattered off belt after +belt of cartridges. The other signalers were shuffling their feet +anxiously and looking about them. + +"Are we going to stick it here?" said one. "Didn't the sergeant say +something about 'opping it?" + +"If he did," said the other, "he hasn't given any orders that I've +heard. I suppose he'll come back and do that, and we've just got to +carry on till then." + +The men had to shout now to make themselves heard to each other above +the constant clatter of the maxim and the roar of rifle fire. By now +they could hear, too, shouts and cries and the trampling rush of many +footsteps. The signaler spoke into his instrument again. + +"I think the line's fallen back," he said. "I can hear a heap o' men +running about there outside, and now I suppose us here is about due to +get it in the neck." + +There was a scuffle, a rush, and a plunge, and the sergeant shot down +through the rear opening and out into the cellar. + +"The flank trenches!" he shouted. "Quick! Get on to them--right and +left flank--tell them they're to stand fast. Quick, now, give them that +first. Stand fast; do not retire." + +The signalers leaped to their instruments, buzzed off the call, and +getting through, rattled their messages off. + +"Ask them," said the sergeant anxiously. "Had they commenced to +retire." He breathed a sigh of relief when the answers came. "No," that +the message had just stopped them in time. + +"Then," he said, "you can go ahead now and tell them the order to +retire is cancelled, that the reënforcements have arrived, that they're +up in our forward line, and we can hold it good--oh!" + +He paused and wiped his wet forehead; "you," he said, turning to the +other signaler, "tell them behind there the same thing." + +"How in thunder did they manage it, sergeant?" said the perplexed +signaler. "They haven't had time since they got my message through." + +"No," said the sergeant, "but they've just had time since they got +mine." + +"Got yours?" said the bewildered signaler. + +"Yes, didn't I tell you?" said the sergeant. "When I went out for a +look round that time, I found an artillery signaler laying out a new +line, and I got him to let me tap in and send a message through his +battery to headquarters." + +"You might have told me," said the aggrieved signaler. "It would have +saved me a heap of sweat getting that message through." After he had +finished his message to the rear station he spoke reflectively: "Lucky +thing you did get through," he said. "'Twas a pretty close shave. The +O.C. should have a 'thank you' for you over it." + +"I don't suppose," answered the sergeant, "the O.C. will ever know or +ever trouble about it; he sent a message to the signaling company to +send through--and it was sent through. There's the beginning and the +end of it." + +And as he said, so it was; or rather the end of it was in those three +words that appeared later in the despatch: "It is reported." + + + +CONSCRIPT COURAGE + + +You must know plenty of people--if you yourself are not one of +them--who hold out stoutly against any military compulsion or +conscription in the belief that the "fetched" man can never be the +equal in valor and fighting instinct of the volunteer, can only be a +source of weakness in any platoon, company and regiment. This tale may +throw a new light on that argument. + +Gerald Bunthrop was not a conscript in the strict sense of the word, +because when he enlisted no legal form of conscription existed in the +United Kingdom; but he was, as many more have been, a moral conscript, +a man utterly averse to any form of soldiering, much less fighting, +very reluctantly driven into the Army by force of circumstance and +pressure from without himself. Before the War the Army and its ways +were to him a sealed book. Of war he had the haziest ideas compounded +of novels he had read and dimly remembered and mental pictures in a +confused jumble of Charles O'Malley dragoons on spirited charges, +half-forgotten illustrations in the papers of pith-helmeted infantry in +the Boer War, faint boyhood recollections of Magersfontein and the +glumness of the "Black Week"--a much more realistic and vivid +impression of Waterloo as described by Brigadier Gerard--and odd +figures of black Soudanese, of Light Brigade troopers, of Peninsula +red-coats, of Sepoys and bonneted Highlanders in the Mutiny period, and +of Life Guard sentries at Whitehall, lines of fixed bayonets on City +procession routes, and khaki-clad Terriers seen about railway stations +and on bus-tops with incongruous rifles on Saturday afternoons. +Actually, it is not correct to include these living figures in his +vague idea of war. They had to him no connection with anything outside +normal peaceful life, stirred his thoughts to war no more than seeing a +gasbracket would wake him to imaginings of a coalmine or a pit +explosion. His slight conceptions of war, then, were a mere matter of +print and books and pictures, and the first months of this present war +were exactly the same, no more and no less--newspaper paragraphs and +photos and drawings in the weeklies hanging on the bookstalls. He read +about the Retreat and the Advance, skimmed the prophets' forecasts, +gulped the communiques with interest a good deal fainter than he read +the accounts of the football matches or a boxing bout. He expected "our +side" to win of course, and was quite patriotic; was in fact a +"supporter" of the British Army in exactly the sense of being a +"supporter" or "follower" of Tottenham Hotspurs or Kent County. Any +thoughts that he might shoulder a rifle and fight Germans would at that +time, if it had entered his head, have seemed just as ridiculous as a +thought that he should play in the Final at the Crystal Palace or step +into the ring to fight Carpentier. It took a long time to move him from +this attitude of aloofness. Recruiting posters failed utterly to touch +him. He looked at them, criticized them, even discussed their +"goodness" or drawing power on recruits with complete detachment and +without the vaguest idea that they were addressed to him. He bought +Allies' flag-buttons, and subscribed with his fellow-employees to a Red +Cross Fund, and joined them again in sending some sixpences to a +newspaper Smokes Gift Fund; he always most scrupulously stood up and +uncovered to "God Save the King," and clapped and encored vociferously +any patriotic songs or sentiments from the stage. He thought he was +doing his full duty as a loyal Briton, and even--this was when he +promised a regular sixpence a week to the Smokes Fund--going perhaps a +little beyond it. First hints and suggestions that he should enlist he +treated as an excellent jest, and when at last they became too frequent +and pointed for that, and began to come from complete strangers, he +became justly indignant at such "impudence" and "interference," and +began long explainings to people he knew, that he wasn't the one to be +bullied into anything, that fighting wasn't "his line," that he "had no +liking for soldiering," that he would have gone like a shot, but had +his own good and adequate reasons for not doing so. + +There is no need to tell of the stages by which he arrived at the +conclusion that he must enlist: from the first dawning wonder at such a +possibility, through qualms of doubt and fear and spasms of hope +and--almost--courage, to a dull apathy of resignation. No need to tell +either the particular circumstances that "conscripted" him at last, +because although his name is not real the man himself is, and one has +no wish to bring shame on him or his people. I have only described him +so closely to make it very clear that he was driven to enlistment, that +a less promising recruit never joined up, that he was a conscript in +every real sense of the word. We can pass over all his training, his +introduction to the life of the trenches, his feelings of terror under +conditions as little dangerous as the trenches could be. He managed, +more or less, to hide this terror, as many a worse and many a better +man has done before him, until one day---- + +The Germans had made a fierce attack, had overborne a section of the +defense and taken a good deal of trenched ground, had been +counter-attacked and partly driven back, had scourged the lost parts +with a fresh tempest of artillery fire and driven in again to close +quarters, to hot bomb and bayonet work; were again checked and for the +moment held. + +Private Gerald Bunthrop's battalion had been hurried up to support the +broken and breaking line, was thrust into a badly wrecked trench with +crumbling sides and broken traverses, with many dead and wounded +cumbering the feet of the few defenders, with a reek of high-explosive +fumes catching their throats and nostrils. The open ground beyond the +trench was scattered thick with great heaps of German dead, a few more +sprawled on the broken parapet, another and lesser few were huddled in +the trench itself amongst the many khaki forms. The battalion holding +the trench had been almost annihilated in the task, had in fact at +first been driven out from part of the line and had only reoccupied it +with heavy losses. Bunthrop had with his battalion passed along some +smashed communication trenches and over the open ground this fighting +had covered, and the sights they saw in passing might easily have +shaken the stoutest hearts and nerves. They made the approach, too, +under a destructive fire with high-explosive shells screaming and +crashing over, around, and amongst them, with bullets whistling and +hissing about them and striking the ground with the sound of constantly +exploding Chinese crackers. + +Bunthrop himself, to state the fact baldly, was in an agony of fear. He +might have been tempted to bolt, but was restrained by a complete lack +of any idea where to bolt to, by a lingering remnant of self-respect, +and by a firm conviction that he would be dealt with mercilessly if he +openly ran. But when he reached the comparative shelter of the broken +trench all these safeguards of his decent behavior vanished. He flung +himself into the trench, cowered in its deepest part, made not the +slightest attempt to look over the parapet, much less to use his rifle. +There is this much of excuse for him, that on the very instant that +they reached the cover of the trench a bursting high-explosive had +caught the four men next in line to him. The excuse may be insufficient +for those who have never witnessed at very close hand the instant and +terrible destruction of four companions with whom they have eaten and +slept and talked and moved and had their intimate being for many +months; but those who have known such happenings will understand. +Bunthrop's sergeant understood, and because he was a good sergeant and +had the instinct for the right handling of men--it must have been an +instinct, because, up to a year before, he had been ledger clerk in a +City office and had handled nothing more alive than columns of figures +in a book--he issued exactly the order that appealed exactly to +Bunthrop's terror and roused him from a shivering embodiment of fear to +a live thinking and order-obeying private. "Get up and sling some of +those sandbags back on the parapet, Bunthrop!" he said, "and see if you +can't make some decent cover for yourself. You've nothing there that +would stop a half-crippled Hun jumping in on top of you." When he came +back along the trench five minutes later he found Bunthrop feverishly +busy re-piling sandbags and strengthening the parapet, ducking hastily +and crouching low when a shell roared past overhead, but hurriedly +resuming work the instant it had passed. Then came the fresh German +attack, preceded by five minutes' intense artillery fire, concentrated +on the half-wrecked trench. The inferno of noise, the rush and roar of +the approaching shells, the crash and earth-shaking thunder of their +explosions, the ear-splitting cracks overhead of high-explosive +shrapnel, the drone and whirr and thump of their flying fragments--the +whole racking, roaring, deafening, sense-destroying tempest of noise +was too much for Bunthrop's nerve. He flung down and flattened himself +to the trench bottom again, squeezing himself close to the earth, +submerged and drowned in a sweeping wave of panic fear. He gave no heed +to the orders of his platoon commander, the shouting of his sergeant, +the stir that ran along the trench, the flat spitting reports of the +rifles that began to crack rapidly in a swiftly increasing volume of +fire. A huge fragment of shell came down and struck the trench bottom +with a suggestively violent thud a foot from his head. Half sick with +the instant thought, "If it had been a foot this way!..." half crazed +with the sense of openness to such a missile, Bunthrop rose to his +knees, pressing close to the forward parapet, and looking wildly about +him. His sergeant saw him. "You, Bunthrop," he shouted, "are you hit? +Get up, you fool, and shoot! If we can't stop 'em before they reach +here we're done in." Bunthrop hardly heeded him. Along the trench the +men were shooting at top speed over the parapet; a dozen paces away two +of the battalion machine-guns were clattering and racketing in rapid +gusts of fire; a little farther along a third one had jambed and was +being jerked and hammered at by a couple of sweating men and a wildly +cursing boy officer. So much Bunthrop saw, and then with a hideous +screeching roar a high explosive fell and burst in a shattering crash, +a spouting hurricane of noise and smoke and flung earth and fragments. +Bunthrop found himself half buried in a landslide of crumbling trench, +struggled desperately clear, gasping and choking in the black cloud of +smoke and fumes, saw presently, as the smoke thinned and dissolved, a +chaos of broken earth and sandbags where the machine-guns had stood; +saw one man and an officer dragging their gun from the débris, setting +it up again on the broken edge of the trench. Another man staggered up +the crumbling earth bank to help, and presently amongst them they got +the gun into action again. The officer left it and ran to where he saw +the other gun half buried in loose earth. He dragged it clear, found it +undamaged, looked round, shouted at Bunthrop crouching flat against the +trench wall; shouted again, came down the earth bank to him with a +rush. "Come and help!" he yelled, grabbing at Bunthrop's arm. Bunthrop +mumbled stupidly in reply. "What?" shouted the officer. "Come and help, +will you? Never mind if you are hurt," as he noticed a smear of blood +on the private's face. "You'll be hurt worse if they get into this +trench with the bayonet. Come on and help!" Bunthrop, hardly +understanding, obeyed the stronger will and followed him back to the +gun. "Can you load?" demanded the officer. "Can you fill the cartridges +into these drums while I shoot?" Bunthrop had had in a remote period of +his training some machine-gun instruction. He nodded and mumbled again. +"God!" said the officer. "Look at 'em! There's enough to eat us if they +get to bayonet distance! We _must_ stop 'em with the bullet. Hurry up, +man; hurry, if you don't want to be skewered like a stuck pig!" He +rattled off burst after burst of fire, clamoring at Bunthrop to hurry, +hurry, hurry. A wounded machine-gunner joined them, and then some +others, and the gun began to spit a steady string of bullets again. By +this time the full meaning of the officer's words--the meaning, too, of +remarks between the wounded helpers--had soaked into Bunthrop's brain. +Their only hope, his only hope of life, lay in stopping the attack +before it reached the trench; and the machine-guns were a main factor +in the stopping. He lost interest in everything except cramming the +cartridges into their place. When the officer was hit and rolled +backwards and lay groaning and swearing, Bunthrop's chief and agonizing +thought was that they--he--had lost the assistance and protection of +the gun. When one of the wounded gunners took the officer's place and +reopened fire, Bunthrop's only concern again was to keep pace with the +loading. The thoughts were repeated exactly when that gunner was hit +and collapsed and his place was taken by another man. And by now the +urgent need of keeping the gun going was so impressed on Bunthrop that +when the next gunner was struck down and the gun stood idle and +deserted it was Bunthrop who turned wildly urging the other loaders to +get up and keep the gun going; babbled excitedly about the only hope +being to stop the Germans before they "got in" with the bayonet, +repeated again and again at them the officer's phrase about "skewered +like stuck pigs." The others hung back. They had seen man after man +struck down at the gun, they could hear the _hiss_ and _whitt_ of the +bullets over their heads, the constant cracker-like smacks of others +that hit the parapet, and--they hung back. "Why th' 'ell don't you do +it yerself?" demanded one of them, angered by Bunthrop's goading and in +some degree, no doubt, by the disagreeable knowledge that they were +flinching from a duty. + +And then Bunthrop, the "conscript," the man who had held back from war +to the last possible minute, who hated soldiering and shrank from +violence and all fighting, who was known to his fellows as "a funk," +the source of much uneasiness to company and platoon commanders and +sergeants as "a weak spot," Bunthrop did what these others, these +average good men who had "joined up" freely, who had longed for the end +of home training and the transfer "out Front," dared not do. Bunthrop +scrambled up the broken bank, seized the gun, swung the sights full to +the broad gray target, and opened fire. He kept it going steadily, too, +with a sleet of bullets whistling and whipping past him, kept on after +a bullet snatched the cap from his head, and others in quick succession +cut away a shoulder strap, scored a red weal across his neck, stabbed +through the point of his shoulder. And when a shell-fragment smashed +the gun under his hands, he left it only to plunge hastily to the other +gun abandoned by all but dead and dying; pulled off a dead man who +sprawled across it and recommenced shooting. He stopped firing only +when his last cartridge was gone; squatted a moment longer staring over +the sights, and then raised his head and peered out into the trailing +film of smoke clouds from the bursting shells. Although it took him a +minute to be sure of it he saw plainly at last that the attack was +broken. Dimly he could see the heaped clusters of dead that lay out in +the open, the crawling and limping figures of the wounded who sought +safety back in the cover of their own trench, and more than that he +could see men running with their heads stooped and their gray coats +flapping about their ankles. It was this last that roused him again to +action. He scrambled hurriedly back down the broken parapet into the +trench. "Come on, you fellows," he shouted to two or three nearby men +who continued to fire their rifles over the parapet. "It's no use +waitin' here any longer." A heavy shell whooped roaring over them and +crashed thunderously close behind the parapet. Bunthrop paid no +slightest heed to it. His wide, staring eyes and white face, and blood +smeared from the trickling wound in his neck, his capless head and +tumbled hair, his clay and mud-caked and blood-stained uniform all gave +him a look of wildness, of desperation, of abandonment. His sergeant, +the man who had seen his fear and set him to pile the sandbags, caught +sight of him again now, heard some word of his shoutings, and pushed +hastily along the trench to where he fidgeted and called angrily to the +others to "chuck that silly shooting--I'm goin' anyhow ... what's the +use...." + +The sergeant interrupted sharply. + +"Here, you shut up, Bunthrop," he shouted. "Keep down in the trench. +You're wounded, aren't you? Well, you'll get back presently." + +"That be damn," said Bunthrop. "You don't understand. They're runnin' +away, but we can't go out after 'em if these silly blighters here keep +shootin'. Come on now, or they'll all be gone." And Private Bunthrop, +the despised "conscript," slung his bayoneted rifle over his wounded +shoulder and commenced to scramble up out over the front of the broken +parapet. And what is more he was really and genuinely annoyed when the +sergeant catching him by the heel dragged him down again and ordered +him to stay there. + +"Don't you understand?" he stuttered excitedly, and gesticulating +fiercely towards the front. "They're runnin', I tell you; the blighters +are runnin' away. Why can't we get out after 'em?" + + + +SMASHING THE COUNTER-ATTACK + + +" ... _a violent counter-attack was delivered but was successfully +repulsed at every point with heavy losses to the enemy_."--EXTRACT FROM +OFFICIAL DESPATCH. + + +There appears to be some doubt as to who rightly claims to have been +the first to notice and report signs of the massing of heavy forces of +Germans for the counter-attack on our positions. The infantry say that +a scouting patrol fumbling about in the darkness in front of the +forward fire trench heard suspicious sounds--little clickings of +equipment and accouterments, stealthy rustlings, distant tramping--and +reported on their return to the trench. An artillery observing officer +is said to have seen flitting shadows of figures in the gray light of +the dawn mists, and, later, an odd glimpse of cautious movement amongst +the trees of a wood some little distance behind the German lines, and +an unbroken passing of gray-covered heads behind a portion of a +communication trench parapet. He also reported, and he may have been +responsible for the dozen or so of shrapnel that were flung tentatively +into and over the wood. An airman droning high over the lines, with +fleecy white puffs of shrapnel smoke breaking about him, also saw and +reported clearly "large force of Germans massing Map Square So-and-so." + +But whoever was responsible for the first report matters little. The +great point is that the movement was detected in good time, apparently +before the preparations for attack were complete, so that the final +arraying and disposal of the force for the launching of the attack was +hampered and checked, and made perforce under a demoralizing artillery +fire. + +What the results might have been if the full weight of the massed +attack could have been prepared without detection and flung on our +lines without warning is hard to say; but there is every chance that +our first line at least might have been broken into and swamped by the +sheer weight of numbers. That, clearly, is what the Germans had +intended, and from the number of men employed it is evident that they +meant to push to the full any chance our breaking line gave them to +reoccupy and hold fast a considerable portion of the ground they had +lost. It is said that three to four full divisions were used. If that +is correct, it is certain that the German army was minus three to four +effective divisions when the attack withdrew, that a good half of the +men in them would never fight again. The attack lost its first great +advantage in losing the element of surprise. The bulk of the troops +would have been moved into position in the hours of darkness. That +wood, in all probability, was filled with men by night. The only +daylight movement attempted would have been the cautious filling of the +trenches, the pouring in of the long gray-coated lines along the +communication trenches, all keeping well down and under cover. Under +the elaborate system of deep trenches, fire-, and support-, +communication- and approach-trenches running back for miles to emerge +only behind houses or hill or wood, it is surprising how large a mass +of men can be pushed into the forward trenches without any disclosure +of movement to the enemy. Scores of thousands of men may be packed away +waiting motionless for the word, more thousands may be pouring slowly +up the communication ways, and still more thousands standing ready a +mile or two behind the lines; and yet to any eye looking from the +enemy's side the country is empty and still, and bare of life as a +swept barn. Even the all-seeing airmen can be cheated, and see nothing +but the usual quiet countryside, the tangled crisscross of trenches, +looking from above like so many wriggling lines of thin white braid +with a black cord-center, the neat dolls' toy-houses and streets of the +villages, the straight, broad ribbon of the Route Nationale, all still +and lifeless, except for an odd cart or two on the high road, a few +dotted figures in the village streets. Below the flying-men the packed +thousands are crouched still to earth. At the sound of the engine's +drone, at sight of the wheeling shape, square miles of country stiffen +to immobility, men scurry under cover of wall or bush, the long, moving +lines in the trenches halt and sink down and hang their heads (next to +movement the light dots of upturned, staring faces are the quickest and +surest betrayal of the earth-men to the air-men), the open roads are +emptied of men into the ditches and under the trees. For civilized man, +in his latest art of war, has gone back to be taught one more simple +lesson by the beasts of the field and birds of the air; the armed hosts +are hushed and stilled by the passing air-machine, exactly as the +finches and field-mice of hedgerow and ditch and field are frozen to +stillness by the shadow of a hovering hawk, the beat of its passing +wing. + +But this time some movement in the trenches, some delay in halting a +regiment, some neglect to keep men under cover, some transport too +suspiciously close-spaced on the roads, betrayed the movement. His +suspicions aroused, the airman would have risked the anti-aircraft guns +and dropped a few hundred feet and narrowly searched each hillside and +wood for the telltale gray against the green. Then the wireless would +commence to talk, or the 'plane swoop round and drive headlong for home +to report. + +And then, picture the bustle at the different headquarters, the stir +amongst the signalers, the frantic pipings of the telephone "buzzers," +the sharp calls. "Take a message. Ready? Brigade H.Q. to O.C. +Such-and-such Battery," or "to O.C. So-and-So Regiment"; imagine the +furtive scurry in the trenches to man the parapets, and prepare bombs, +and lay out more ammunition; the rush at the batteries, the quick +consulting of squared maps, the bellowed string of orders in a jargon +of angles of sight, correctors, ranges, figures and measures of degrees +and yards, the first scramble about the guns dropping to the smooth +work of ordered movement, the peering gun muzzles jerking and twitching +to their ordained angles, the click and slam of the closing +breech-blocks, the tense stillness as each gun reports "Ready!" and +waits the word to fire. + +And all the while imagine the Germans out there, creeping through the +trees, crowding along the trenches, sifting out and settling down into +the old favorite formation, making all ready for one more desperate +trial of it, stacking the cards for yet another deep gambling plunge on +the great German game--the massed attack in solid lines at close +interval. The plan no doubt was the same old plan--a quick and +overwhelming torrent of shell fire, a sudden hurricane of high +explosive on the forward trench, and then, before the supports could be +hurried up and brought in any weight through the reeking, shaking +inferno of the shell-smitten communication trenches, the surge forward +of line upon line, wave upon wave, of close-locked infantry. + +But the density of mass, the solid breadth, the depth, bulk, and weight +of men so irresistible at close-quarter work, is an invitation to utter +destruction if it is caught by the guns before it can move. And so this +time it was caught. Given their target, given the word "Go," the guns +wasted no moment. The first battery ready burst a quick couple of +ranging shots over the wood. A spray of torn leaves whirling from the +tree tops, the toss of a broken branch, showed the range correct; and +before the first rounds' solid white cotton-wooly balls of smoke had +thinned and disappeared, puff-puff-puff the shrapnel commenced to burst +in clouds over the wood. That was the beginning. Gun after gun, battery +after battery, picked up the range and poured shells over and into the +wood, went searching every hollow and hole, rending and destroying +trench and dug-out, parapet and parados. The trenches, clean white +streaks and zig-zags of chalk on a green slope, made perfect targets on +which the guns made perfect shooting; the wood was a mark that no gun +could miss, and surely no gun missed. What the scene in that wood must +have been is beyond imagining and beyond telling. It was quickly +shrouded in a pall of drifting smoke, and dimly through this the +observing officers directing the fire of their guns could see clouds of +leaves and twigs whirling and leaping under the lashing shrapnel, could +see branches and smashed tree-trunks and great clods of earth and stone +flying upward and outward from the blast of the lyddite shells. The +wood was slashed to ribbons, rent and riddled to tatters, deluged from +above with tearing blizzards of shrapnel bullets, scorched and riven +with high-explosive shells. In the trenches our men cowered at first, +listening in awe to the rushing whirlwinds of the shells' passage over +their heads, the roar of the cannonade behind them, the crash and boom +of the bursting shells in front, the shriek and whirr of flying +splinters, the splintering crash of the shattering trees. + +The German artillery strove to pick up the plan of the attack, to beat +down the torrent of our batteries' fire, to smash in the forward +trenches, shake the defense, open the way for the massed attack. But +the contest was too unequal, the devastation amongst the crowded mass +of German infantry too awful to be allowed to continue. Plainly the +attack, ready or not ready, had to be launched at speed, or perish +where it stood. + +And so it was that our New Armies had a glimpse of what the old +"Contemptible Little Army" has seen and faced so often, the huge gray +bulk looming through the drifting smoke, the packed mass of the old +German infantry attack. There were some of these "Old Contemptibles," +as they proudly style themselves now, who said when it was all over, +and they had time to think of anything but loading and firing a red-hot +rifle, that this attack did not compare favorably with the German +attacks of the Mons-Marne days, that it lacked something of the +steadiness, the rolling majesty of power, the swinging stride of the +old attacks; that it did not come so far or so fast, that beaten back +it took longer to rally and come again, that coming again it was easier +than ever to bring to a stand. But against that these "Old +Contemptibles" admit that they never in the old days fought under such +favorable conditions, that here in this fight they were in better +constructed and deeper trenches, that they were far better provided +with machine-guns, and, above all, that they had never, never, never +had such a magnificent backing from our guns, such a tremendous stream +of shells helping to smash the attack. + +And smashed, hopelessly and horribly smashed, the attack assuredly was. +The woods in and behind which the German hordes were massed lay from +three to four hundred yards from the muzzles of our rifles. Imagine it, +you men who were not there, you men of the New Armies still training at +home, you riflemen practicing and striving to work up the number of +aimed rounds fired in "the mad minute," you machine-gunners riddling +holes in a target or a row of posts. Imagine it, oh you Artillery, +imagine the target lavishly displayed in solid blocks in the open, with +a good four hundred yards of ground to go under your streaming +gun-muzzles. The gunners who were there that day will tell you how they +used that target, will tell you how they stretched themselves to the +call for "gun-fire" (which is an order for each gun to act +independently, to fire and keep on firing as fast as it can be served), +how the guns grew hotter and hotter, till the paint bubbled and +blistered and flaked off them in patches, till the breech burned the +incautious hand laid on it, till spurts of oil had to be sluiced into +the breech from a can between rounds and sizzled and boiled like fat in +a frying-pan as it fell on the hot steel, how the whole gun smoked and +reeked with heated oil, and how the gun-detachments were half-deaf for +days after. + +It was such a target as gunners in their fondest dreams dare hardly +hope for; and such a target as war may never see again, for surely the +fate of such massed attacks will be a warning to all infantry +commanders for all time. + +The guns took their toll, and where death from above missed, death from +the level came in an unbroken torrent of bullets sleeting across the +open from rifles and machine-guns. On our trenches shells were still +bursting, maxim and rifle bullets were still pelting from somewhere in +half enfilade at long range. But our men had no time to pay heed to +these. They hitched themselves well up on the parapet to get the fuller +view of their mark; their officers for the most part had no need to +bother about directing or controlling the fire--what need, indeed, to +direct with such a target bulking big before the sights? What need to +control when the only speed limit was a man's capacity to aim and fire? +So the officers, for the most part, took rifle themselves and helped +pelt lead into the slaughter-pit. + +There are few, if any, who can give details of how or when the attack +perished. A thick haze of smoke from the bursting shells blurred the +picture. To the eyes of the defenders there was only a picture of that +smoke-fog, with a gray wall of men looming through it, moving, walking, +running towards them, falling and rolling, and looming up again and +coming on, melting away into tangled heaps that disappeared again +behind advancing men, who in turn became more falling and fallen piles. +It was like watching those chariot races in a theater where the horses +gallop on a stage revolving under their feet, and for all their fury of +motion always remain in the same place. So it was with the German +line--it was pressing furiously forward, but always appeared to remain +stationary or to advance so slowly that it gave no impression of +advancing, but merely of growing bigger. Once, or perhaps twice, the +advancing line disappeared altogether, melted away behind the drifting +smoke, leaving only the mass of dark blotches sprawled on the grass. At +these times the fire died away along a part of our front, and the men +paused to gulp a drink from a water-bottle, to look round and tilt +their caps back and wipe the sweat from their brows, to gasp joyful +remarks to one another about "gettin' a bit of our own back," and "this +pays for the ninth o' May," and then listen to the full, deep roar of +rifle-fire that rolled out from further down the line, and try to peer +through the shifting smoke to see how "the lot next door" was faring. +But these respites were short. A call and a crackle of fire at their +elbows brought them back to business, to the grim business of +purposeful and methodical killing, of wiping out that moving wall that +was coming steadily at them again through the smoke and flame of the +bursting shells. The great bulk of the line came no nearer than a +hundred yards from our line; part pressed in another twenty or thirty +yards, and odd bunches of the dead were found still closer. But none +came to grips--none, indeed, were found within forty yards of our +rifles' wall of fire. A scattered remnant of the attackers ran back, +some whole and some hurt, thousands crawled away wounded, to reach the +safe shelter of their support trenches, some to be struck down by the +shells that still kept pounding down upon the death-swept field. The +counter-attack was smashed--hopelessly and horribly smashed. + + + +A GENERAL ACTION + + +"_At some points our lines have been slightly advanced and their +position improved_."--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH + + +It has to be admitted by all who know him that the average British +soldier has a deep-rooted and emphatic objection to "fatigues," all +trench-digging and pick-and-shovel work being included under that +title. This applies to the New Armies as well as the Old, and when one +remembers the safety conferred by a good deep trench and the fact that +few men are anxious to be killed sooner than is strictly necessary, the +objection is regrettable and very surprising. Still there it is, and +any officer will tell you that his men look on trench-digging with +distaste, have to be constantly persuaded and chivvied into doing +anything like their best at it, and on the whole would apparently much +rather take their chance in a shallow or poorly-constructed trench than +be at the labor of making it deep and safe. + +But one piece of trench-digging performed by the Tearaway Rifles must +come pretty near a record for speed. + +When the Rifles moved in for their regular spell in the forward line, +their O.C. was instructed that his battalion had to construct a section +of new trench in ground in front of the forward trench. + +It was particularly unfortunate that just about this time the winter +issue of a regular rum ration had ceased, and that, immediately before +they moved in, a number of the Tearaways had been put under stoppages +of pay for an escapade with which this story need have no concern. + +Without pay the men, of course, were cut off from even the sour and +watery delights of the beer sold in the local estaminets, which abound +in the villages where the troops are billeted in reserve some miles +behind the firing line. As Sergeant Clancy feelingly remarked: + +"They stopped the pay, and that stops the beer; and then they stopped +the rum. It's no pleasure in life they leave us at all, at all. They'll +be afther stopping the fighting next." + +Of that last, however, there was comparatively little fear at the +moment. A brisk action had opened some days before the Tearaways were +brought up from the reserve, and the forward line which they were now +sent in to occupy had been a German trench less than a week before. + +The main fighting had died down, but because the British were +suspicious of counter-attacks, and the Germans afraid of a continued +British movement, the opposing lines were very fully on the alert; the +artillery on both sides were indulging in constant dueling, and the +infantry were doing everything possible to prevent any sudden advantage +being snatched by the other side. + +As soon as the Tearaways were established in the new position, the O.C. +and the adjutant made a tour of their lines, carefully reconnoitering +through their periscopes the open ground which had been pointed out to +them on the map as the line of the new trench which they were to +commence digging. At this point the forward trench was curved sharply +inward, and the new trench was designed to run across and outwards from +the ends of the curve, meeting in a wide angle at a point where a hole +had been dug and a listening-post established. + +It was only possible to reach this listening-post by night, and the +half-dozen men in it had to remain there throughout the day, since it +was impossible to move across the open between the post and the +trenches by daylight. The right-hand portion of the new trench running +from the listening-post back to the forward trench had already been +sketched out with entrenching tools, but it formed no cover because it +was enfiladed by a portion of the German trench. + +It was the day when the Tearaways moved into the new position, and the +O.C. had been instructed that he was expected to commence digging +operations as soon as it was dark that night, the method and manner of +digging being left entirely in his own hand. The Major, the Adjutant, +and a couple of Captains conferred gloomily over the prospective task. +That reputation of a dislike for digging stood in the way of a quick +job being made. The stoppage of the rum ration prevented even an +inducement in the shape of an "extra tot" being promised for extra good +work, and it was well known to all the officers that the stoppage of +pay had put the men in a sulky humor, which made them a little hard to +handle, and harder to drive than the proverbial pigs. It was decided +that nothing should be said to the men of the task ahead of them until +it was time to tell off the fatigue party and start them on the work. + +"It's no good," said the Captain, "leaving them all the afternoon to +chew it over. They'd only be talking themselves into a state that is +first cousin to insubordination." + +"I wish," said the other Captain, "they had asked us to go across and +take another slice of the German trench. The men would do it a lot +quicker and surer, and a lot more willing, than they'd dig a new one." + +"The men," said the Colonel tartly, "are not going to be asked what +they'd like any more than I've been. I want you each to go down quietly +and have a look over at the new ground, tell the company commanders +what the job is, and have a talk with me after as to what you think is +the best way of setting about it." + +That afternoon Lieutenant Riley and Lieutenant Brock took turns in +peering through a periscope at the line of the new trench, and +discussed the problem presented. + +"It's all very fine," grumbled Riley, "for the O.C. to say the men must +dig because he says so. You can take a horse to the water where you +can't make it drink, and by the same token you can put a spade in a +man's hand where you can't make him dig, or if he does dig he'll only +do it as slow and gingerly as if it were his own grave and he was to be +buried in it as soon as it was ready." + +"Don't talk about burying," retorted Brock. "It isn't a pleasant +subject with so many candidates for a funeral scattered around the +front door." + +He sniffed the air, and made an exclamation of disgust: + +"They haven't even been chloride-of-limed," he said. "A lot of lazy, +untidy brutes that battalion must have been we have just relieved." + +Riley stared again into the periscope: "It's German the most of them +are, anyway," he said, "that's one consolation, although it's small +comfort to a sense of smell. I say, have a look at that man lying over +there, out to the left of the listening-post. His head is towards us, +and his hair is white as driven snow. They must be getting hard up for +men to be using up the grandfathers of that age." + +Brock examined the white head carefully. "He's a pretty old stager," he +said, "unless he's a young 'un whose hair has turned white in a night +like they do in novels; or, maybe he's a General." + +"A General!" said Riley, and stopped abruptly. "Man, now, wait a +minute. A General!" he continued musingly, and then suddenly burst into +chuckles, and nudged Brock in the ribs. "I have a great notion," he +said, "gr-r-reat notion, Brockie. What'll you bet I don't get the men +coming to us before night with a petition to be allowed to do some +digging?" + +Brock stared at him. "You're out of your senses," he said. "I'd as soon +expect them to come with a petition to be allowed to sign the pledge." + +"Well, now listen," said Riley, "and we'll try it, anyway." + +He explained swiftly, while over Brock's face a gentle smile beamed and +widened into subdued chucklings. + +"Here's Sergeant Clancy coming along the trench," said Riley. "You have +the notion now, so play up to me, and make sure Clancy hears every word +you say." + +"I want to see that General of theirs the Bosche prisoner spoke about," +said Riley, as Clancy came well within earshot. "An old man, the Bosche +said he was, with a head of hair as white and shining as a gull's +wing." + +"I'm not so interested in his shining head," said Brock, "as I am in +the shining gold he carries on him. Doesn't it seem sinful waste for +all that good money to be lying out there?" + +Out of the tail of his eye Riley saw the sergeant halt and stiffen into +an attitude of listening. He turned round. + +"Was it me you wanted to see, Clancy?" he said. + +"No, sorr--yes, sorr," said Clancy hurriedly, and then more slowly, in +neat adoption of the remarks he had just heard: "Leastways, sorr, I was +just afther wondering if you had heard anything of this tale of a +German Gineral lying out there on the ground beyanst." + +"You mean the one that was shot last week?" said Riley. + +"Him with the five thousand francs in his breeches pocket, and the +diamond-studded gold watch on his wrist?" said Brock. + +"The same, sorr, the same!" said Clancy eagerly, and with his eyes +glistening. "And have you made out which of them he is, sorr?" + +"No," said Riley shortly. "And remember, Sergeant, there are to be no +men going over the parapet this night without orders. The last +battalion in here lost a big handful of men trying to get hold of that +General, but the Germans were watching too close, and they've got a +machine-gun trained to cover him. See to it, Clancy! That's all now." + +Sergeant Clancy moved off, but he went reluctantly. + +"Why didn't you give him a bit more?" asked Brock. + +"Because I know Clancy," said Riley, whispering. "If we had said more +now, he might have suspected a plant. As it is, he's got enough to +tickle his curiosity, and you can be sure it won't be long before a +gentle pumping performance is in operation." + +Sergeant Clancy came in sight round the traverse again, moving briskly, +but obviously slowing down as he passed them, and very obviously +straining to hear anything they were saying. But they both kept silent, +and when he had disappeared round the next traverse, Riley grinned and +winked at his companion. + +"He's hooked, Brockie," he said exultantly. + +"Now you wait and--" He stopped as a rifle-man moved round the corner +and took up a position on the firing step near them. + +"I'll bet," said Riley delightedly, "Clancy has put him there to listen +to anything he can catch us saying." + +He turned to the man, who was clipping a tiny mirror on to his bayonet +and hoisting it to use as a periscope. + +"Are you on the look-out?" he asked. "And who posted you there?" + +"It was Sergeant Clancy, sir," answered the man. "He said I could hear +better--I mean, see better," he corrected himself, "from here." + +Riley abruptly turned to their own periscope and apparently resumed the +conversation. + +"I'm almost sure that's him with the white head," said Riley. "Out +there, about forty or fifty yards from the German parapet, and about a +hundred yards ten o'clock from our listening-post. Have a look." + +He handed the periscope over to Brock, and at the same time noticed how +eagerly the sentry was also having a look into his own periscope. + +"I've got him," said Brock. "Yes, I believe that's the man." + +"What makes it more certain," said Riley, "is that hen's scratch of a +trench the other battalion started to dig out to the listening-post. +They couldn't crawl out in the open to get to the General, and it's my +belief they meant to drive a sap out to the listening-post, and then +out to the General, and yank him in, so they could go through his +pockets." + +"It's a good bit of work to get at a dead man," said Brock +reflectively. + +"It is," said Riley, "but it isn't often you can drive a sap with five +thousand francs at the end of it." + +"To say nothing of a diamond-studded gold watch," said Brock. + +"Well, well," said Riley, "I suppose the Germans won't be leaving him +lying out there much longer. I hear the last battalion bagged quite a +bunch that tried to creep out at night to get him in; but I suppose our +fellows, not knowing about it, won't watch him so carefully." + +They turned the conversation to other and more casual things, and +shortly afterwards moved off. + +The first-fruits of their sowing showed within the hour, when some of +the officers were having tea together in a corner of a ruined cottage, +which had been converted into a keep. + +The servant who was preparing tea had placed a battered pot on the half +of a broken door, which served for a mess table; had laid out a loaf of +bread, tin pots of jam, a cake, and a flattened box of flattened +chocolates, and these offices having been fully performed he should +have retired. Instead, however, he fidgeted to and fro, offered to pour +the tea from the dented coffee-pot, asked if anything more was wanted, +pushed the loaf over to the Captain, apologizing at length for the +impossibility of getting a scrape of butter these days; hovered round +the table, and generally made it plain that he had something he wished +to say, or that he supposed they had something to say he wished to +hear. + +"What are you dodging about there for, man?" the Captain asked +irritably at last. "Is it anything you want?" + +"Nothing, sorr," said the man, "only I was just wondering if you had +heard annything of a Gineral with fifty thousand francs in his pocket, +lying out there beyond the trench." + +"Five thousand francs," corrected Riley gently. + +"'Twas fifty thousand I heard, sorr," said the man eagerly; "but ye +have heard, then, sorr?" + +"What's this about a General?" demanded the Captain. + +"Yes!" said Riley quickly. "What is it? We have heard nothing of the +General." + +"Ah!" said the messman, eyeing him thoughtfully, "I thought maybe ye +had heard." + +"We have heard nothing," said Riley. "What is it you are talking +about?" + +"About them fifty thousand francs, sorr," said the messman, cunningly, +"or five thousand, was it?" + +"What's this?" said the Captain, and the others making no attempt to +answer his question, left the messman to tell a voluble tale of a +German General ("though 'twas a Field-Marshal some said it was, and +others went the length of Von Kluck himself") who had been killed some +days before, and lay out in the open with five thousand, or fifty +thousand, francs in his breeches pocket, a diamond-studded gold watch +on his wrist, diamond rings on his fingers, and his breast covered with +Iron Crosses and jeweled Orders. + +That both Riley and Brock, as well as the Captain, professed their +profound ignorance of the tale only served, as they well knew, to +strengthen the Tearaways Rifles' belief in it, and after the man had +gone they imparted their plan with huge delight and joyful anticipation +to the Captain. + +When they had finished tea and left the keep to return to their own +posts, they were met by Sergeant Clancy. + +"I just wanted to speak wid you a moment, sorr," he said. "I have been +looking at that listening-post, and thinking to myself wouldn't it be +as well if we ran a sap out to it; it would save the crawling out +across the open at night, and keeping the men--and some wounded among +them maybe--cooped up the whole day." + +"There's something in that," said the Captain, pretending to reflect. +"And I see the last battalion had made something of a beginning to dig +a trench out to the post." + +"And they must have been thinking with their boots when they dug it +there," said Riley. "A trench on that side is open to enfilade fire. It +should have been dug out from the left corner of that curve instead of +the right." + +"If you would speak to the O.C. about it, sorr," said Clancy, "he might +be willing to let us dig it. The men is fresh, too, and won't harm for +a bit of exercise." + +"Very well," said the Captain carelessly, "we'll see about it +to-morrow." + +"Begging your pardon, sorr," said Clancy, "I was thinking it would be a +good night tonight, seein' there's a strong wind blowing that would +deaden the sound of the digging." + +"That's true enough," the Captain said slowly. "I think it's an +excellent idea, Clancy, and I'll speak to the O.C., and tell him you +suggested it." + +A few minutes after, an orderly brought a message that the O.C. was +coming round the trenches to see the company commanders. The company +commanders found him with rather a sharp edge to his temper, and +Captain Conroy, to whom Riley and Brock had confided the secret of +their plans, concluded the moment was not a happy one for explaining +the ruse to the O.C. He, therefore, merely took his instructions for +the detailing of a working party from his company, and the hour at +which they were to commence. + +"And remember," said the O.C. sharply, "you will stand no nonsense over +this work. If you think any man is loafing or not doing his full share, +make him a prisoner, or do anything else you think fit. I'll back you +in it, whatever it is." + +Conroy murmured a "Very good, sir," and left it at that. When he +returned to his company he made arrangements for the working party, +implying subtly to Sergeant Clancy that the trench was to be started as +the result of his, the sergeant's, arguments. + +Clancy went back to the men in high feather: + +"I suppose now," he said complacently, "there's some would be like to +laugh if they were told that a blessed sergeant could be saying where +and when he'd be having this trench or that trench dug or not dug; but +there's more ways of killing a cat than choking it with butter, and +Ould Prickles can take a hint as good as the next man when it's put to +him right." + +"Prickles," be it noted, being the fitting, if somewhat disrespectful, +name which the O.C. carried in the Rifles. + +"It's yourself has the tongue on ye," admitted Rifleman McRory +admiringly, "though I'm wonnering how'll you be schamin' to get another +trench dug from the listening-post out to the Gineral." + +"'Twill take some scheming," agreed another rifleman, "but maybe we can +get round the officer that's in the listening-post to-night to let us +drive a sap out." + +"It's not him ye'll be getting round," said McRory, "for it's the +Little Lad himself that's in it. But sure the Little Lad will be that +glad to see me offer to take a pick in my hand that I believe he'd be +willing to let me dig up his own grandfather's grave." + +"We'll find some way when the time comes, never fear," said Sergeant +Clancy, and the men willingly agreed to leave the matter in his capable +hands. + +Immediately after dark, the Little Lad, otherwise Lieutenant Riley, led +his party at a careful crawl and in wide-spaced single file out to the +listening-post, while Brock and the Captain crawled out with a couple +of men, a white tape, and a handful of pegs apiece to mark out the line +of the new trenches converging from the outside ends of the curved main +trench to the listening-post. + +When they returned and reported their job complete, the working parties +crawled cautiously out. There were plenty of flares being thrown up +from the German lines and a more or less erratic rifle fire was +crackling up and down the trenches on both sides, the Tearaways taking +care to keep their bullets clear of the working party, to fire no more +than enough to allay any German suspicions of a job being in hand, and +not to provoke any extra hostility. + +The working party crept out one by one, carrying their rifles and their +trenching tools, dropping flat and still in the long grass every time a +light flared, rising and crawling rapidly forward in the intervals of +darkness. When at last they were strung out at distances of less than a +man's length, they stealthily commenced operations. A line of filled +sandbags was handed out from the main trench and passed along the chain +of men until each had been provided with one. + +Making the sand-bag a foundation for head cover, the men began +cautiously to cut and scoop the soft ground and pile it up in front of +them. The grass was long and rank, and in the shifting light the work +went on unobserved for over an hour. The men, cramped and +uncomfortable, with every muscle aching from head to foot, worked +doggedly, knowing each five minutes' work, each handful of earth +scooped out and thrown up, meant an extra point off the odds on a +bullet reaching them when the Germans discovered their operations and +opened fire on the working party. + +They still worked only in the dark intervals between the flares, and, +of course, in as deep a silence as they possibly could. Brock and the +Captain crawled at intervals up and down the line with a word of praise +or a reproach dropped here and there as it was needed. At the end of +one trip, Brock crept into the listening-post and conversed in whispers +with Riley, his fellow-conspirator. + +"They're working like beavers," he said, "and, if the Boche doesn't +twig the game for another half-hour, we'll have enough cover scooped +out to go on without losing too many men from their fire." + +Riley chuckled. "It's working fine," he said. "I'm only hoping that +some ruffian doesn't spoil the game by crawling out and finding our +General is no more than a false alarm." + +"That would queer the pitch," agreed Brock, "but I don't fancy any one +will try it. They all know the working party is liable to be discovered +at any minute, and any one out in the open when that comes off, is +going to be in a tight corner." + +"There's a good many here," said Riley, "that would chance a few tight +corners if they knew five thousand francs was at the other side of it; +but I took the precaution to hint gently to Clancy that our machine gun +was going to keep on spraying lead round the General all night, to +discourage any private enterprise." + +"Anyhow," said Brock, "I suppose the whole regiment's in it, and +flatter themselves this trifle of digging is for the special benefit of +their pockets. But what are those fellows of ours supposed to be +digging at in the corner there!" + +"That," whispered the Little Lad, grinning, "is merely an improving of +the amenities of the listening-post and the beginning of a dugout +shelter from bombs; at least, that's Clancy's suggestion, though I have +a suspicion there will be no hurry to roof-in the dug-out and that its +back-door will travel an unusual length out." + +"Well, so long," said Brock; "I must sneak along again and have a look +at the digging." + +It was when he was half-way back to the main trench that it became +apparent the German suspicions were aroused, and that something--a +movement after a light flared, perhaps, or the line of a parapet +beginning to show above the grass--had drawn their attention to the +work. + +Light after light commenced to toss in an unbroken stream from their +parapet in the direction of the working party, and a score of bullets, +obviously aimed at them, hissed close overhead. + +"Glory be!" said Rifleman McRory, flattening himself to the ground. +"It's a good foot and a half I have of head-cover, and I'm thinking +it's soon we will be needing it, and all the rest we can get." + +The flaring lights ceased again for a moment, and the men plied their +tools in feverish haste to strengthen their scanty shelter against the +storm they knew must soon fall upon them. + +It came within a couple of minutes; again the lights streamed upward, +and flares burst and floated down in dazzling balls of fierce white +light, while the rifle-fire from the German parapet grew heavier and +heavier. Concealment was no longer possible, and the word was passed to +get along with the work in light or dark; and so, still lying flat upon +their faces, and with the bullets hissing and whistling above them, +slapping into the low parapet and into the bare ground beside them, the +working party scooped and buried and scraped, knowing that every inch +they could sink themselves or heighten their parapet added to their +chance of life. + +The work they had done gave them a certain amount of cover, at least +for the vital parts of head and shoulders, but in the next half-hour +there were many casualties, and man after man worked on with blood +oozing through the hastily-applied bandage of a first field-dressing or +crawled in under the scanty parapet and crouched there helplessly. + +It was little use at that stage trying to bring in the wounded. To do +so only meant exposing them to almost a certainty of another wound and +of further casualties amongst the stretcher-bearers. One or two men +were killed. + +Lieutenant Riley, dragging himself along the line, found Rifleman +McRory hard at work behind the shelter of a body rolled up on top of +his parapet. + +"It's killed he is," said McRory in answer to a question--"killed to +the bone. He won't be feeling any more bullets that hit him, and it's +himself would be the one to have said to use him this way." + +Riley admitted the force of the argument and crept on. Work moved +faster now that there was no need to wait for the periods between the +lights; but the German fire also grew faster, and a machine gun began +to pelt its bullets up and down the length of the growing parapet. + +By now, fortunately, the separate chain of pits dug by each man were +practically all connected up into a long, twisting, shallow trench. +Down this trench the wounded were passed, and a fresh working party +relieved the cramped and tired batch who had commenced the work. + +In the main trench men had been hard at work filling sand-bags, and now +these were passed out, dragged along from man to man, and piled up on +the parapet, doubling the security of the workers and allowing them the +greater freedom of rising to their knees to dig. + +The rifles and maxims of the Tearaways had from the main trench kept up +a steady volume of fire on the German parapet, in an endeavor to keep +down its fire. They shot from the main trench in comparative safety, +because the German fire was directed almost exclusively on the new +trench. + +Now that the new parapet had been heightened and strengthened, the +casualties behind it had almost ceased, and the Tearaways were quite +reasonably flattering themselves on the worst of the work being done +and the worst of the dangers over. It appeared to them that the trench +now provided quite sufficient shelter to fulfill both its ostensible +object of allowing relief parties to move to and from the +listening-post, and also their own private undertaking of attaining the +dead General; but the O.C. and company commanders did not look on it in +that light. + +The order was to construct a firing trench, and that meant a good deal +more work than had been done, so reliefs were kept going and the work +progressed steadily all night, a good deal of impetus being given to it +by some light German field-guns which commenced to scatter +high-explosive shrapnel over the open ground. + +The shooting, fortunately, was not very accurate, no doubt because, by +the light of the flares, it was difficult for the German observers to +direct their fire. But the hint was enough for the Tearaways, and they +knew that daybreak would bring more accurate and more constant +artillery fire upon the new position. + +The British gunners had been warned not to open fire unless called +upon, because a working party was in the open; but now the batteries +were telephoned to with a request for shrapnel on the German parapets +to keep down some of the heavy rifle fire. + +Since the gunners had already registered the target of the German +trench, their fire was just as accurate by night as it would be by day, +and shell after shell burst over the German parapet, sweeping their +trench with showers of shrapnel. + +While all this was going on the men at the listening-post had tackled +the job of driving their sap out to the German General. This work was +done in a different fashion from the digging of the new trench. + +The listening-post was merely a pit in the ground, originally a large +shell crater, and deepened and widened until it was sufficiently large +to hold half-a-dozen men. At one side of the pit the men commenced with +pick and spade to hack out an opening like a very narrow doorway. + +As the earth was broken down and shoveled back, the doorway gradually +grew to be a passage. In this two men at a time worked in turn, the one +on the right-hand side making a narrow cut that barely gave him +shoulder-play, the second man on the left working a few paces in the +rear and widening the passage. + +Necessarily it was slow work, because only these two men could reach +the face of the cut, and because it had to be of sufficient depth to +allow a man to work upright without his head showing above the ground. +But because they worked in short reliefs and put every ounce of energy +into their task, they made surprising and unusual progress. + +Lieutenant Riley, who was in command of the listening-post for that +night, left the workers to themselves, both because it was necessary +for him to keep a sharp look-out in order to give warning of any +attempt to rush the working party, and because officially he was not +supposed to know anything of any sap to an officially unrecognized dead +German General. + +When he was relieved after daybreak, Riley told the joke and explained +the position to the subaltern who took over from him, and that +subaltern in turn looked with a merely unofficial eye on the work of +the sapping party. As the day and the work went on, it was quite +obvious that a good many more men were working on the new trench than +had been told off to it. + +In the sap several fresh men were constantly awaiting their turn at the +face with pick and shovel. The diggers did no more than five minutes' +work, hacking and spading at top speed, yielding their tools to the +next comer and retiring, panting and blowing and mopping their +streaming brows. + +A fairly constant fire was maintained by the artillery on both sides, +the shells splashing and crashing on the open ground about the new +trench and the German parapet. There was little wind, and as a result +the smoke of the shell-bursts hung heavily and trailed slowly over the +open space between the trenches, veiling to some extent the sapping +operations and the new trench. On the latter a tendency was quickly +displayed to slacken work and to treat the job as being sufficiently +complete, but when it came to Lieutenant Riley's turn to take charge of +a fresh relief of workers on the new trench, he very quickly succeeded +in brisking up operations. + +Arrived at the listening-post, he found Sergeant Clancy and spoke a few +words to him. + +"Clancy," he said gently, "the work along that new trench is going a +great deal too slow." + +"'Tis hard work, sorr," replied Clancy excusingly, "and you'll be +remembering the boys have been at it all night." + +"Quite so, Clancy," said Riley smoothly, "and since it has to be dug a +good six foot deep, I am just thinking the best thing to do will be to +take this other party off the sap and turn 'em along to help on the +trench. I'm not denying, Clancy, that I've a notion what the sap is +for, although I'm supposed to know nothing of it; but I don't care if +the sap is made, and I do care that the trench is. Now do you think I +had better stop them on the sap, or can the party in the trench put a +bit more ginger into it?" + +"I'll just step along the trench again, sorr," said Clancy anxiously, +"and I don't think you'll be having need to grumble again." + +He stepped along the trench, and he left an extraordinary increase of +energy behind him as he went. + +"And what use might it be to make it any deeper?" grumbled McRory. +"Sure it's deep enough for all we need it." + +"May be," said Sergeant Clancy, with bitter sarcasm, "it's yourself +that'll just be stepping up to the Colonel and saying friendly like to +him: 'Prickles, me lad, it's deep enough we've dug to lave us get out +to our German Gineral. 'Tisn't for you we're digging this trench,' +you'll be saying, ''tis for our own pleasure entirely.' You might just +let me know what the Colonel says to that." + +"There's some talk," he said, a little further down the line, "of our +being relieved from here to-morrow afternoon. I've told you what the +Little Lad was saying about turning the sap party in to help here. It's +pretty you'd look clearing out to-morrow and leaving another battalion +to come in to take over your new trench and your new sap and your +German Gineral and the gold in his britches pocket together." And with +that parting shaft he moved on. + +For the rest of that day and all that night work moved at speed, and +when the O.C. made his tour of inspection the following morning he was +as delighted as he was amazed at the work done--and that, as he told +the Adjutant, was saying something. Up to now he had known nothing of +the sap, merely expressing satisfaction--again mingled with +amazement--when he saw the entrance to the sap, lightly roofed in with +boards for a couple of yards and shut off beyond that by a curtain of +sacking, and was told that the men were amusing themselves making a +bomb-proof dug-out. + +But on this last morning, when the sap had approached to within twenty +or thirty feet of the white head which was its objective, the Colonel's +attention was directed to the matter somewhat forcibly. He heard the +roar of exploding heavy shells, and as the "_crump, crump,_" continued +steadily, he telephoned from the headquarters dug-out in rear of the +support line to ask the forward trenches what was happening. + +While he waited an answer, a message came from the Brigade saying that +the artillery had reported heavy German shelling on a sap-head, and +demanding to know what, where, and why was the sap-head referred to. +While the Colonel was puzzling over this mysterious message and vainly +trying to recall any sap-head within his sector of line, the regimental +Padre came into the dug-out. + +"I've just come from the dressing station," he said, "and there's a boy +there, McRory, that has me fair bewildered with his ravings. He's +wounded in the head with a shrapnel splinter, and, although he seems +sane and sensible enough in other ways, he's been begging me and the +doctor not to send him back to the hospital. Did ever ye hear the like, +and him with a lump as big as the palm of my hand cut from his head to +the bare bone, and bleeding like a stuck pig in an apoplexy?" + +The Colonel looked at him vacantly, his mind between this and the other +problem of the Brigade's message. + +"And that's not all that's in it," went on the Padre. "The doctor was +telling me that there's been a round dozen of the past two days' +casualties begging that same thing--not to be sent away till we come +out of the trenches. And to beat all, McRory, when he was told he was +going just the minute the ambulance came, had a confab with the +stretcher bearers, and I heard him arguing with them about 'his share,' +and 'when they got the Gineral,' and 'my bit o' the fifty thousand +francs.' It has me beat completely." + +By now the Colonel was completely bewildered, and he began to wonder +whether he or his battalion were hopelessly mad. It was extraordinary +enough that the men should have dug so willingly and well, and without +a grumble being heard or a complaint made. + +It was still more extraordinary that more or less severely wounded men +should not be ardently desirous of the safety and comfort and feeding +of the hospitals; and on the top of all was this mysterious message of +a sap apparently being made by his men voluntarily and without any +sanction, much less the usual required pressure. + +A message came from Captain Conroy, in the forward trench, to say that +Riley was coming up to headquarters and would explain matters. + +Riley and the explanation duly arrived. "Ould Prickles," inclined at +first to be mightily wroth at the unauthorized digging of the sap, +caught a twinkle in the Padre's eye; and a modest hint from the Little +Lad reminding him of the speed and excellence of the new trenches, +construction turned the scale. He burst into a roar of laughter, and +the Padre joined him heartily, while the Little Lad stood beaming and +chuckling complacently. + +"I must tell the Brigadier this," gasped the O.C. at last. "He might +have had a cross word or two to say about a sap being dug without +orders, but, thank heaven, he's an Irishman, and a poorer joke would +excuse a worse crime with him. But I'm wondering what's going to happen +when they reach their General and find no francs, and no watch, and not +even a General; and mind you, Riley, the sap must be stopped at once. I +can't be having good men casualtied on an unofficial job. Will you see +to that right away?" + +The Little Lad's chuckling rose to open giggling. + +"It's stopped now, sir," he said--"just before I came up here. And +what's more, the General won't need explaining; the German gunners +spied our sap, and, trying to drop a heavy shell on it--well, they +dropped one on to the General. So now there isn't a General, only a +hole in the ground where he was." + +Ould Prickles' and the Padre's laughter bellowed again. + +"I must tell that to the Brigadier, too," said the O.C.; "that finish +to the joke will completely satisfy him." + +"And I must go," said the Padre, rising, "and tell McRory, though I'm +not just sure whether it will be after satisfying him quite so +completely." + + + +AT LAST + + +"WHEN WE BEGIN TO PUSH" + +"Here we are," said the Colonel, halting his horse. "Fine view one gets +from here." + +"Rather a treat to be able to see over a bit of country again, after so +many months of the flat," said, the Adjutant, reining up beside the +other. They were halted on the top of a hill, or, father, the corner of +an edge on a wide plateau. On two sides of them the ground fell away +abruptly, the road they were on dipping sharply over the edge and +sweeping round and downward in a well-graded slope along the face of +the hill to the wide flats below. Over these flats they could see for +many miles, miles of cultivated fields, of little woods, of gentle +slopes. They could count the buildings of many farms, the roofs of half +a dozen villages, the spires of twice as many churches, the tall +chimneys and gaunt frame towers of scattered pit-heads. It had been +raining all day, but now in the late afternoon the clouds had broken +and the light of the low sun was tinging the landscape with a mellow +golden glow. + +"There's going to be a beautiful sunset presently," said the Colonel, +"with all those heavy broken clouds about. Let's dismount and wait for +a bit." + +Both dismounted and handed their reins to the orderly, who, riding +behind them, had halted when they did, but now at a sign came forward. + +"We'll just stroll to that rise on the left," the Colonel said. "The +best view should be from there." + +The Adjutant lingered a moment. "Take their bits out, Trumpeter," he +said, "and let them pick a mouthful of grass along the roadside." + +A rough country track ran to the left off the main road, and the two +walked along it a couple of hundred yards to where it plunged over the +crest and ran steeply down the hillside. Another main road ran along +the flat parallel with the hill foot, and along this crawled a long +khaki column. + +"Look at the light on those hills over there," said the Colonel. "Fine, +isn't it?" + +The Adjutant was busily engaged with the field-glasses he had taken +from the case slung over his shoulder and was focusing them on the road +below. + +"I say," he remarked suddenly, "those are the Canadians. I didn't know +the ----th Division was so far south. Moving up front, too." The +Colonel dropped his gaze to the road a moment and then swept it slowly +over the country-side. "Yes," he said, "and this area is pretty well +crowded with troops when you look closely." + +The light on the distant hills was growing more golden and beautiful, +the clouds were beginning to catch the first tints of the sunset, but +neither men for the moment noticed these things, searching with their +gaze the landscape below, sifting it over and picking out a battery of +artillery camped in a big chalk-pit by the roadside, the slow-rising +and drifting columns of blue smoke that curled up from a distant wood +and told of the regiment encamped there, the long strings of horses +converging on a big mine building for the afternoon watering, the lines +of transport wagons parked on the outskirts of a village, the shifting +khaki figures that stirred about every farm building in sight, the row +of gray-painted motor-omnibuses, drawn up in a long line on a side +road. The countryside that under a first look slept peacefully in the +afternoon sunlight, that drowsed calmly in the easy quiet of an +uneventful field and farm existence, proved under the closer searching +look to be a teeming hive of activity, a close-packed camp of +well-armed fighting men, a widespread net and chain of men and guns and +horses. The peaceful countryside was overflowing with men and bristling +with bayonets; every village was a crammed-full military cantonment, +every barn stuffed with soldiers like an overfilled barracks. + +The Adjutant whistled softly. "This," he said, and nodded again and +again to the plain below, "this looks like business--at last." + +"Yes," said the Colonel, "at last. It's going to be a very different +story this time, when we begin to push things." + +"Hark at the guns," said the Adjutant, and both stood silent a moment +listening to the long, deep, rolling thunder that boomed steady and +unbroken as surf on a distant beach. "And they're our guns too, +mostly," went on the Adjutant. "I suppose we're firing more shells in +an ordinary trench-war-routine day now than we dared fire in a month +this time last year. Last year we were short of shells, the year before +we were short of guns and shells and men. Now hear the guns and look +down there at a few of the men." + +Through the still air rose from below them the shrill crow of a +farmyard rooster, the placid mooing of a cow, the calls and laughter of +some romping children. + +But the two on the hillside had no ear for these sounds of peace. They +heard only that distant sullen boom of the rumbling guns, the throbbing +foot-beats of the marching battalions below them, the plop-plopping +hoofs and rattling wheels of wagons passing on their way up to the +firing line with food for the guns. + +"Our turn coming," said the Adjutant--"at last." + +"Yes," the Colonel said, and repeated grimly--"at last." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Action Front, by Boyd Cable (Ernest Andrew Ewart) + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11349 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f68a593 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11349 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11349) diff --git a/old/11349-8.txt b/old/11349-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc67b67 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11349-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7298 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Action Front, by Boyd Cable (Ernest Andrew Ewart) + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Action Front + +Author: Boyd Cable (Ernest Andrew Ewart) + +Release Date: February 28, 2004 [EBook #11349] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACTION FRONT *** + + + + +Produced by Edward Johnson and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +ACTION FRONT + + +BY + +BOYD CABLE + + +1916 + + + +TO + +MR. J. A. SPENDER + +_to whose recognition and appreciation of my work, and to whose instant +and eager hospitality in the "Westminster Gazette" so much of these war +writings is due, this book is very gratefully dedicated by_ + +THE AUTHOR + + + +FOREWORD + + +I make no apology for having followed in this book the same plan as in +my other one, "Between the Lines," of taking extracts from the official +despatches as "texts" and endeavoring to show something of what these +brief messages cover, because so many of my own friends, and so many +more unknown friends amongst the reviewers, expressed themselves so +pleased with the plan that I feel its repetition is justified. + +There were some who complained that my last book was in parts too grim +and too terrible, and no doubt the same complaint may lie against this +one. To that I can only reply that I have found it impossible to write +with any truth of the Front without the writing being grim, and in +writing my other book I felt it would be no bad thing if Home realized +the grimness a little better. + +But now there are so many at Home whose nearest and dearest are in the +trenches, and who require no telling of the horrors of the war, that I +have tried here to show there is a lighter side to war, to let them +know that we have our relaxations, and even find occasion for jests, in +the course of our business. + +I believe, or at least hope, that in showing both sides of the picture +I am doing what the Front would wish me to do. And I don't ask for any +greater satisfaction than that. + +BOYD CABLE. + +_May_, 1916. + + + +CONTENTS + + +IN ENEMY HANDS +A BENEVOLENT NEUTRAL +DRILL +A NIGHT PATROL +AS OTHERS SEE +THE FEAR OF FEAR +ANTI-AIRCRAFT +A FRAGMENT +AN OPEN TOWN +THE SIGNALERS +CONSCRIPT COURAGE +SMASHING THE COUNTER-ATTACK +A GENERAL ACTION +AT LAST + + + +IN ENEMY HANDS + + +The last conscious thought in the mind of Private Jock Macalister as he +reached the German trench was to get down into it; his next conscious +thought to get out of it. Up there on the level there were +uncomfortably many bullets, and even as he leaped on the low parapet +one of these struck the top of his forehead, ran deflecting over the +crown of his head, and away. He dropped limp as a pole-axed bullock, +slid and rolled helplessly down into the trench. + +When he came to his senses he found himself huddled in a corner against +the traverse, his head smarting and a bruised elbow aching abominably. +He lifted his head and groaned, and as the mists cleared from his dazed +eyes he found himself looking into a fat and very dirty face and the +ring of a rifle muzzle about a foot from his head. The German said +something which Macalister could not understand, but which he rightly +interpreted as a command not to move. But he could hear no sound of +Scottish voices or of the uproar of hand-to-hand fighting in the +trench. When he saw the Germans duck down hastily and squeeze close up +against the wall of the trench, while overhead a string of shells +crashed angrily and the shrapnel beat down in gusts across the trench, +he diagnosed correctly that the assault had failed, and that the +British gunners were again searching the German trench with shrapnel. +His German guard said something to the other men, and while one of them +remained at the loophole and fired an occasional shot, the others drew +close to their prisoner. The first thing they did was to search him, to +turn each pocket outside-in, and when they had emptied these, carefully +feel all over his body for any concealed article. Macalister bore it +all with great philosophy, mildly satisfied that he had no money to +lose and no personal property of any value. + +Their search concluded, the Germans held a short consultation, then one +of them slipped round the corner of the traverse, and, returning a +moment later, pointed the direction to Macalister and signed to him to +go. + +The trench was boxed into small compartments by the traverses, and in +the next section Macalister found three Germans waiting for him. One of +them asked him something in German, and on Macalister shaking his head +to show that he did not understand, he was signaled to approach, and a +German ran deftly through his pockets, fingering his waist, and, +searching for a money-belt, made a short exclamation of disgust, and +signed to the prisoner to move on round the next traverse, at the same +time shouting to the Germans there, and passing Macalister on at the +bayonet point. This performance was repeated exactly in all its details +through the next half-dozen traverses, the only exception being that in +one an excitable German, making violent motions with a bayonet as he +appeared round the corner, insisted on his holding his hands over his +head. + +At about the sixth traverse a German spoke to him in fairly good, +although strongly accented, English. He asked Macalister his rank and +regiment, and Macalister, knowing that the name on his shoulder-straps +would expose any attempt at deceit, gave these. Another man asked +something in German, which apparently he requested the English speaker +to translate. + +"He say," interpreted the other, "Why you English war have made?" +Macalister stared at him. "I'm no English," he returned composedly. +"I'm a Scot." + +"That the worse is," said the interpreter angrily. "Why have it your +business of the Scot?" + +Macalister knitted his brows over this. "You mean, I suppose, what +business is it of ours! Well, it's just Scotland's a bit of Britain, so +when Britain's at war, we are at war." + +A demand for an interpretation of this delayed the proceedings a +little, and then the English speaker returned to the attack. + +"For why haf Britain this war made!" he demanded. + +"We didna' make it," returned Macalister. "Germany began it." Excited +comment on the translation. + +"If you'll just listen to me a minute," said Macalister deliberately, +"I can prove I am right. Sir Edward Grey----" Bursts of exclamation +greeted the name, and Macalister grinned slightly. + +"You'll no be likin' him," he said. "An' I can weel understan' it." + +The questioner went off on a different line. "Haf your soldiers know," +he asked, "that the German fleet every day a town of England bombard?" + +Macalister stared at him. "Havers!" he said abruptly. + +The German went on to impart a great deal of astonishing +information--of the German advance on Petrograd, the invasion of Egypt, +the extermination of the Balkan Expedition, the complete blockade of +England, the decimation of the British fleet by submarines. + +After some vain attempts to argue the matter and disprove the +statements, Macalister resigned himself to contemptuous silence, only +rousing when the German spoke of England and English, to correct him to +Britain and British. + +When at last their interest flagged, the Germans ordered him to move +on. Macalister asked where he was going and what was to be done with +him, and received the scant comfort that he was being sent along to an +officer who would send him back as a prisoner, if he did not have him +killed--as German prisoners were killed by the English. + +"British, you mean," Macalister corrected again. "And, besides that, +it's a lie." + +He was told to go on; but as he moved be saw a foot-long piece of +barbed wire lying in the trench bottom. He asked gravely whether he +would be allowed to take it, and, receiving a somewhat puzzled and +grudging assent, picked it up, carefully rolled it in a small coil, and +placed it in a side jacket pocket. He derived immense gratification and +enjoyment at the ensuing searches he had to undergo, and the explosive +German that followed the diving of a hand into the barbed-wire pocket. + +He arrived at last at an officer and at a point where a communication +trench entered the firing trench. The officer in very mangled English +was attempting to extract some information, when he was interrupted by +the arrival from the communication trench of a small party led by an +officer, a person evidently of some importance, since the other officer +sprang to attention, clicked his heels, saluted stiffly, and spoke in a +tone of respectful humility. The new arrival was a young man in a +surprisingly clean and beautifully fitting uniform, and wearing a +helmet instead of the cloth cap commonly worn in the trenches. His face +was not a particularly pleasant one, the eyes close set, hard, and +cruel, the jaw thin and sharp, the mouth thin-lipped and shrewish. He +spoke to Macalister in the most perfect English. + +"Well, swine-hound," he said, "have you any reason to give why I should +not shoot you?" Macalister made no reply. He disliked exceedingly the +look of the new-comer, and had no wish to give an excuse for the +punishment he suspected would result from the officer's displeasure. +But his silence did not save him. + +"Sulky, eh, my swine-hound!" said the officer. "But I think we can +improve those manners." + +He gave an order in German, and a couple of men stepped forward and +placed their bayonets with the points touching Macalister's chest. + +"If you do not answer next time I speak," he said smoothly, "I will +give one word that will pin you to the trench wall and leave you there. +Do you understand!" he snapped suddenly and savagely. "You English +dog." + +"I understand," said Macalister. "But I'm no English. I'm a Scot" + +The crashing of a shell and the whistling of the bullets overhead moved +the officer, as it had the others, to a more sheltered place. He seated +himself upon an ammunition-box, and pointed to the wall of the trench +opposite him. + +"You," he said to Macalister, "will stand there, where you can get the +benefit of any bullets that come over. I suppose you would just as soon +be killed by an English bullet as by a German one." + +Macalister moved to the place indicated. + +"I'm no anxious," he said calmly, "to be killed by either a _British_ +or a German bullet." + +"Say 'sir' when you speak to me," roared the officer. "Say 'sir.'" + +Macalister looked at him and said "Sir"--no more and no less. + +"Have you no discipline in your English army?" he demanded, and +Macalister's lips silently formed the words "British Army." "Are you +not taught to say 'sir' to an officer?" + +"Yes--sir; we say 'sir' to any officer and any gentleman." + +"So," said the officer, an evil smile upon his thin lips. "You hint, I +suppose, that I am not a gentleman? We shall see. But first, as you +appear to be an insubordinate dog, we had better tie your hands up." + +He gave an order, and after some little trouble to find a cord, +Macalister's hands were lashed behind his back with the bandage from a +field-dressing. The officer inspected the tying when it was completed, +spoke angrily to the cringing men, and made them unfasten and re-tie +the lashing as tightly as they could draw it. + +"And now," said the officer, "we shall continue our little +conversation; but first you shall beg my pardon for that hint about a +gentleman. Do you hear me--beg," he snarled, as Macalister made no +reply. + +"If I've said anything you're no likin' and that I'm sorry for masel', +I apologize," he said. + +The officer glared at him with narrowed eyes. "That'll not do," he said +coldly. "When I say 'beg' you'll beg, and you will go on your knees to +beg. Do you hear? Kneel!" + +Macalister stood rigid. At a word, two of the soldiers placed +themselves in position again, with their bayonets at the prisoner's +breast. The officer spoke to the men, and then to Macalister. + +"Now," he said, "you will kneel, or they will thrust you through." + +Macalister stood without a sign of movement; but behind his back his +hands were straining furiously at the lashings upon his wrist. They +stretched and gave ever so little, and he worked on at them with a +desperate hope dawning in his heart. + +"Still obstinate," sneered the officer. "Well, it is rather early to +kill you yet, so we must find some other way." + +At a sentence from him one of the men threw his weight on the +prisoner's shoulders, while the other struck him savagely across the +tendons behind the knees. Whether he would or no, his knees had to +give, and Macalister dropped to them. But he was not beaten yet. He +simply allowed himself to collapse, and fell over on his side. The +officer cursed angrily, commanding him to rise to his knees again; the +men kicked him and pricked him with their bayonet points, hauled him at +last to his knees, and held him there by main force. + +"And now you will beg my pardon," the officer continued. Macalister +said nothing, but continued to stretch at his bonds and twist gently +with his hands and wrists. + +The officer spent the next ten minutes trying to force his prisoner to +beg his pardon. They were long and humiliating and painful minutes for +Macalister, but he endured them doggedly and in silence. The officer's +temper rose minute by minute. The forward wall of the firing trench was +built up with wicker-work facings and the officer drew out a thick +switch. + +"You will speak," he said, "or I shall flay you in strips and then +shoot you." + +Macalister said nothing, and was slashed so heavily across the face +that the stick broke in the striker's hands. The blood rose to his +head, and deep in his heart he prayed, prayed only for ten seconds with +his hands loose; but still he did not speak. + +At the end of ten minutes the officer's patience was exhausted. +Macalister was thrust back against the trench wall, and the officer +drew out a pistol. + +"In five minutes from now," he gritted, "I'm going to shoot you. I give +you the five minutes that you may enjoy some pleasant thoughts in the +interval." + +Macalister made no answer, but worked industriously at the lashings on +his wrists. The bandage stretched and loosened, and at last, at long +last, he succeeded in slipping one turn off his hand. He had no hope +now for anything but death, and the only wish left to him in life was +to get his hands free to wreak vengeance on the dapper little monster +opposite him, to die with his hands free and fighting. + +The minutes slipped one by one, and one by one the loosened turns of +the bandage were uncoiled. The trenches at this point were apparently +very close, for Macalister could hear the crack of the British rifles, +the clack-clack-clack of a machine gun at close range, and the thought +flitted through his mind that over there in his own trenches his own +fellows would hear presently the crack of the officer's pistol with no +understanding of what it meant. But with luck and his loosened hands he +would give them a squeal or two to listen to as well. + +Then the officer spoke. "One minute," he said, "and then I fire." He +lifted his pistol and pointed it straight at Macalister's face. "I am +not bandaging your eyes," went on the officer, "because I want you to +look into this little round, round hole, and wait to see the fire spout +out of it at you. Your minute is almost up ... you can watch my finger +pressing on the trigger." + +The last coil slipped off Macalister's wrist; he was free, but with a +curse he knew it to be too late. A movement of his hands from behind +his back would finish the pressure of that finger, and finish him. +Desperately he sought for a fighting chance. + +"I would like to ask," he muttered hoarsely, licking his dry lips, +"will ye no kill me if I say what ye wanted?" + +Keenly he watched that finger about the trigger, breathed silent relief +as he saw it slacken, and watched the muzzle drop slowly from level of +his eyes. But it was still held pointed at him, and that barely gave +him the chance he longed for. Only let the muzzle leave him for an +instant, and he would ask no more. The officer was a small and slightly +made man, Macalister, tall and broadly built, big almost to hugeness +and strong as a Highland bull. + +"So," said the officer softly, "your Scottish courage flinches then, +from dying?" + +While he spoke, and in the interval before answering him, Macalister's +mind was running feverishly over the quickest and surest plan of +action. If he could get one hand on the officer's wrist, and the other +on his pistol, he could finish the officer and perhaps get off another +round or two before he was done himself. But the pistol hand might +evade his grasp, and there would be brief time to struggle for it with +those bayonets within arm's length. A straight blow from the shoulder +would stun, but it might not kill. Plan after plan flashed through his +mind, and was in turn set aside in search of a better. But he had to +speak. + +"It's no just that I'm afraid," he said very slowly. "But it was just +somethin' I thought I might tell ye." + +The pistol muzzle dropped another inch or two, with Macalister's eye +watching its every quiver. His words brought to the officer's mind +something that in his rage he had quite overlooked. + +"If there is anything you can tell me," he said, "any useful +information you can give of where your regiment's headquarters are in +the trenches, or where there are any batteries placed, I might still +spare your life. But you must be quick," he added "for it sounds as if +another attack is coming." + +It was true that the fire of the British artillery had increased +heavily during the last few minutes. It was booming and bellowing now +in a deep, thunderous roar, the shells were streaming and rushing +overhead, and shrapnel was crashing and hailing and pattering down +along the parapet of the forward trench; the heavy boom of big shells +bursting somewhere behind the forward line and the roaring explosion of +trench mortar bombs about the forward trench set the ground quivering +and shaking. A shell burst close overhead, and involuntarily Macalister +glanced up, only to curse himself next moment for missing a chance that +his captor offered by a similar momentary lifting of his eyes. +Macalister set his eyes on the other, determined that no such chance +should be missed again. + +But now, above the thunder of the artillery and of the bursting shells, +they could hear the sound of rising rifle-fire. The officer must have +glimpsed the hope in Macalister's face, and, with an oath, he brought +the pistol up level again. + +"Do not cheat yourself," he said. "You cannot escape. If a charge comes +I shall shoot you first." + +With a sinking heart Macalister saw that his last slender hope was +gone. He could only pray that for the moment no attack was to be +launched; but then, just when it seemed that the tide of hope was at +its lowest ebb, the fates flung him another chance--a chance that for +the moment looked like no chance; looked, indeed, like a certainty of +sudden death. A soft, whistling hiss sounded in the air above them, a +note different from the shrill whine and buzz of bullets, the harsh +rush and shriek of the shells. The next instant a dark object fell with +a swoosh and thump in the bottom of the trench, rolled a little and lay +still, spitting a jet of fizzing sparks and wreathing smoke. + +When a live bomb falls in a narrow trench it is almost certain that +everyone in that immediate section will at the worst die suddenly, at +the best be badly wounded. Sometimes a bomb may be picked up and thrown +clear before it can burst, but the man who picks it up is throwing away +such chance as he has of being only wounded for the smaller chance of +having time to pitch the bomb clear. The first instinct of every man is +to remove himself from that particular traverse; the teaching of +experience ought to make him throw himself flat on the ground, since by +far the greater part of the force and fragments from the explosion +clear the ground by a foot or two. Of the Germans in this particular +section of trench some followed one plan, some the other. Of the two +men guarding the prisoner the one who was near the corner of the +traverse leapt round it, the other whirled himself round behind +Macalister and crouched sheltering behind his body. Two men near the +corner of the other traverse disappeared round it, two more flung +themselves violently on their faces, and another leapt into the opening +of the communication trench. The officer, without hesitation, dropped +on his face, his head pressed close behind the sandbag on which he had +been sitting. + +The whole of these movements happened, of course, in the twinkling of +an eye. Macalister's thoughts had been so full of his plans for the +destruction of the officer that the advent of the bomb merely switched +these plans in a new direction. His first realized thought was of the +man crouching beside and clinging to him, the quick following instinct +to free himself of this check to his movements. He was still on his +knees, with the man on his left side; without attempting to rise he +twisted round and backwards, and drove his fist full force in the +other's face; the man's head crashed back against the trench wall, and +his limp body collapsed and rolled sideways. His mind still running in +the groove of his set purpose, before his captor's relaxed fingers had +well loosed their grip, Macalister hurled himself across the trench and +fastened his ferocious grip on the body of the officer. He rose to his +feet, lifting the man with a jerking wrench, and swung him round. The +swift idea had come to him that by hurling the officer's body on top of +the bomb, and holding him there, he would at least make sure of his +vengeance, might even escape himself the fragments and full force of +the shock. Even in the midst of the swing he checked, glanced once at +the spitting fuse, and with a stoop and a heave flung the officer out +over the front parapet, leaped on the firing step, and hurled himself +over after him. + +It must be remembered that the burning fuse of a bomb gives no +indication of the length that remains to burn before it explodes the +charge. The fuse looks like a short length of thin black rope, its +outer cover does not burn and the same stream of sparks and smoke pours +from its end in the burning of the first inch and of the last. There +was nothing, then, to show Macalister whether the explosion would come +before his quick muscles could complete their movement, or whether long +seconds would elapse before the bomb burst. It was an even chance +either way, so he took the one that gave him most. Fortune favored him, +and the roar of the explosion followed his flying heels over the +parapet. + +The officer, dazed, shaken, and not yet realizing what had happened, +had gathered neither his wits nor his limbs to rise when Macalister +leaped down almost on top of him. The officer's hand still clung to the +pistol he had held, but Macalister's grasp swooped and clutched and +wrenched the weapon away. + +"Get up, my man," he said grimly. "Get up, or I'll blow a hole in ye as +ye lie." + +He added emphasis with the point of the pistol in the other's ribs, and +the officer staggered to his feet. + +"Now," said Macalister, "you'll quick mairch--that way." He waved the +pistol towards the British trench. + +The officer hesitated. + +"It is no good," he said sullenly. "I should be killed a dozen times +before I got across." + +"That's as may be," said Macalister coolly. + +"But if you don't go you'll get your first killing here, and say +naething o' the rest o' the dizen." + +A shell cracked overhead, and the shrapnel ripped down along the trench +behind them with a storm of bullets thudding into the ground about +their feet. + +"I will make you an offer," said the officer hurriedly. "You can go +your way and leave me to go mine." + +"You'll mak' an offer!" said Macalister contemptuously. "Here"--and he +waved the pistol across the open again. "Get along there." + +"I will give you--" the officer began, when Macalister broke in +abruptly. + +"This is no a debatin' society," he said. "But ye'll no walk ye maun +just drive." + +Without further words he thrust the pistol in his pocket, grabbed and +took one handful of coat at the back of the officer's neck and another +at the skirt, and commenced to thrust him before him across the open +ground. But the officer refused to walk, and would have thrown himself +down if Macalister's grasp had not prevented it. + +"Ye would, would ye?" growled the Scot, and seized his captive by the +shoulders and shook him till his teeth rattled. "Now," he said angrily, +"ye'll come wi' me or--" he broke off to fling a gigantic arm about the +officer's neck--"or I'll pull the heid aff ye." + +So it was that the occupants of the British trench viewed presently the +figure of a huge Highlander appearing through the drifting haze and +smoke at a trot, a head clutched close to his side by a circling arm, a +struggling German half-running, half-dragging behind his captor. + +Arrived at the parapet, "Here," shouted Macalister. "Catch, some o' +ye." He jerked his prisoner forward and thrust him over and into the +trench, and leaped in after him. + +It was purely on impulse that Private Macalister flung his prisoner out +of the German trench, but it was a set and reasoned purpose that made +him drag his struggling captive back over the open to the British +trench. He knew that the British line would not shoot at an obvious +kilted Highlander, and he supposed that the Germans would hesitate to +fire on one dragging an equally obvious German officer behind him. +Either his reasoning or his blind luck held true, and both he and his +captive tumbled over into the British trench unhurt. An officer +appeared, and Macalister explained briefly to him what had happened. + +"You'd better take him back with you," said the officer when he had +finished, and glanced at the German. "He's not likely to make trouble, +I suppose, but there are plenty of spare rifles, and you had better +take one. What's left of your battalion has withdrawn to the support +trench." + +"I am an officer," said the German suddenly to the British subaltern? +"I surrender myself to you, and demand to be treated as an honorable +prisoner of war. I do not wish to be left in this man's hands." + +"Wish this and wish that," said Macalister, "and much good may your +wishing do. Ye've heard what this officer said, so rise and mairch, +unless ye wad raither I took ye further like I brocht ye here." And he +moved as if to scoop the German's head under his arm again. + +"I will not," said the German furiously, and turned again to the +subaltern. "I tell you I surrender----" + +"There's no need for you to surrender," said the subaltern quietly. "I +might remind you that you are already a prisoner; and I am not here to +look after prisoners." + +The German yielded with a very bad grace, and moved ahead of Macalister +and his threatening bayonet, along the line and down the communication +trench to the support trench. Here the Scot found his fellows, and +introduced his prisoner, made his report to an officer, and asked and +received permission to remain on guard over his captive. Then he +returned to the corner of the trench where the remains of his own +company were. He told them how he had fallen into the German trench and +what had happened up to the moment the German officer came into the +proceedings. + +"This is the man," he said, nodding his head towards the officer, "and +I wad just like to tell you carefully and exactly what happened between +him an' me. Ye'll understaun' better if a' show ye as weel as tell ye. +Weel, now, he made twa men tie ma' hands behind ma' back first--if ony +o' ye will lend me a first field dressing I'll show ye how they did +it." + +A field dressing was promptly forthcoming, and Macalister bound the +German's hands behind his back, overcoming a slight attempt at +resistance by a warning word and an accompanying sharp twist on his +arms. + +"It's maybe no just as tight as mine was," said Macalister when he had +finished, and stood the prisoner back against the wall. "But it'll dae. +Then he made twa men stand wi' fixed bayonets against ma' breast, and +when I hinted what was true, that he was no gentleman, he said I was to +kneel and beg his pardon. And now you," he said, nodding to the +prisoner, "will go down on your marrow-bones and beg mine." + +"That is sufficient of this fooling," said the officer, with an attempt +at bravado. "It's your turn, I'll admit; but I will pay you well--" + +Macalister interrupted him-"Ye'll maybe think it's a bit mair than +fooling ere I'm done wi' ye," he said. "But speakin' o' pay... and +thank ye for reminding me. Ower there they riped ma pooches, an' took +a'thing I had." + +He stepped over to the prisoner, went expeditiously through his +pockets, removed the contents, and transferred them to his own. + +"I'm no saying but what I've got mair than I lost," he admitted to the +others, who stood round gravely watching and thoroughly enjoying the +proceedings. "But then they took all I had, an' I'm only taking all he +has." + +He pulled a couple of sandbags off the parapet and seated himself on +them. + +"To go on wi' this begging pardon business," he said, "If a couple o' +ye will just stand ower him wi' your fixed bayonets.... Thank ye. I +wouldna' kneel," he continued, "so one o' them put his weight on my +shoulders----" He looked at one of the guards, who, entering promptly +into the spirit of the play, put his massive weight on the German's +shoulders, and looked to Macalister for further instructions. + +"Then," said Macalister, "the ither guard gave me a swipe across the +back o' the knees." + +The "swipe" followed quickly and neatly, and the German went down with +a jerk. + +"That's it exactly," said Macalister, with a pleasantly reminiscent +smile. The German's temper broke, and he spat forth a torrent of abuse +in mixed English and German. + +Macalister listened a moment. "I said nothing; so I think he shouldna' +be allowed to say anything," he remarked judicially. His comment met +with emphatic approval from his listeners. + +"I think I could gag him," said one of his guards; "or if ye preferred +it I could just throttle his windpipe a wee bit, just enough to stop +his tongue and no to hurt him much." + +With an effort the German regained his control. "There is no need," he +said sullenly; "I shall be silent." + +"Weel," resumed Macalister, "there was a bit o' chaff back and forrit +between us, and next thing he did was to slap me across the face wi' +his hand. Do ye think," he appealed to his audience, "it would brak' +his jaw if I gave him a bit lick across it?" + +He advanced a huge hand for inspection, and listened to the free advice +given to try it, and the earnest assurances that it did not matter much +if the jaw did break. + +"Ye'll feenish him off presently onyway, I suppose?" said one, and +winked at Macalister. + +"Just bide a wee," answered Macalister, "I'm coming to that. I think +maybe I'll no brak his jaw, for fair's fair, and I want to give as near +as I can to what I got." + +He leant forward and dealt a mild but tingling slap on the German's +cheek. + +"I think," he went on, "the next thing I got was a slash wi' a bit +switch he pulled out from the trench wall. We've no sticks like it +here, so I maun just do the best I can instead." + +He leant forward and fastened a huge hand on the prisoner's +coat-collar, jerked him to him, and, despite his frantic struggles and +raging tongue, placed him face down across his knees and administered +punishment. + +"I think that's about enough," he said, and returned the choking and +spluttering prisoner to his place between the guards. + +"He kept me," he said, "on my knees, so I think he ought ... thank ye," +as the German went down again none too gently. "After that he went on +saying some things it would be waste o' time to repeat. Swine dog was +about the prettiest name he had any use for. But there was another +thing he did; ye'll see some muck on my face and on my jacket. It came +there like this; he took hold o' me by the hair--this way." And +Macalister proceeded to demonstrate as he explained. + +"Then--my hands being tied behind my back you will remember, like +this--it was easy enough for him to pull me over on my face--like +this... and rub my face in the mud.... The bottom o' this trench is in +no such a state a' filth as theirs, but it'll just have to do." He +hoisted the German back to his knees. "Then I think it was after that +the pistol and the killing bit came in." And Macalister put his hand to +his pocket and drew out the officer's pistol which he had thrust there. + +"He gave me five minutes, so I'll give him the same. Has ony o' ye a +watch?" + +A timekeeper stepped forward out of the little knot of spectators that +crowded the trench, and Macalister requested him to notify them when +only one minute of the five was left. + +"My manny here was good enough," said Macalister, "to tell me he +wouldna' bandage my eyes, because he wanted me to look down the muzzle +of his pistol; so now," turning to the prisoner, "you can watch my +finger pulling the trigger." + +As the four minutes ebbed, the German's courage ran out with them. The +jokes and laughter about him had ceased. Macalister's face was set and +savage, and there was a cold, hard look in his eye, a stern ferocity on +his mud and bloodstained face that convinced the German the end of the +five minutes would also surely see his end. + +"One minute to go," said the timekeeper. A sigh of indrawn breaths ran +round the circle, and then tense silence. Outside the trench they were +in the roar of the guns boomed unceasingly, the shells whooped and +screwed overhead, and from oat in front came the crackle and roar of +rifle-fire; and yet, despite the noise, the trench appeared still and +silent. Macalister noted that, as he had noted it over there in the +German trench. + +"Time's up," said the man with the watch. The German, looking straight +at the pistol muzzle and the cold eye behind the sights, gasped and +closed his eyes. The silence held, and after a dragging minute the +German opened his eyes, to find the pistol lowered but still pointing +at him. + +"To make it right and fair," said Macalister, "his hands should be +loose, because I had managed to loose mine. Will one o' ye ... thank +ye. It's no easy," continued Macalister, "to just fit the rest o' the +program in, seeing that it was here a bomb fell in the trench, an' his +men bein' weel occupied gettin' oot o' its way, I threw him ower the +parapet and dragged him across to oor lines. Maybe ye'd like to try and +throw me out the same way." + +The German was perhaps a brave enough man, but the ordeal of those last +five minutes especially had brought his nerve to near its breaking +strain. His lips twitched and quivered, his jaw hung slack, and at +Macalister's invitation he tittered hysterically. There was a stir and +a movement at the back of the spectators that by now thronged the +trench, and an officer pushed his way through. + +"What's this?" he said. "Oh, yes! the prisoner. Well, you fellows might +have more sense than heap yourselves up in a crowd like this. One +solitary Krupp dropping in here, and we'd have a pretty-looking mess. +Open out along the trench there, and keep low down. You can be ready to +move in a few minutes now; we are being relieved here and are going +further back. Now what about this prisoner? Who is looking after him?" + +"I am, sir," said Macalister. "The Captain said I was to take him +back." + +"Right," said the subaltern. "You can take him with you when you go. +They've got some more prisoners up the line, and you can join them." + +It was here that the episode ended so far as Macalister was concerned, +and his relations with the German officer thereafter were of the purely +official nature of a prisoner's guard. There were some other +indignities, but in these Macalister had no hand. They were probably +due to the circulation of the tale Macalister had told and +demonstrated, and were altogether above and beyond anything that +usually happens to a German prisoner. They need not be detailed, but +apparently the most serious of them was the removal of a portion of the +black mud which masked the German's face, so as to leave a +diamond-shaped patch, of staring cleanness over one eye, after the +style of a music-hall star known to fame as the White-eyed Kaffir; +the ripping of a small portion of that garment which permitted of the +extraction of a dangling shirt into a ridiculous wagging tail about a +foot and a half long, and a pressing invitation, accompanied by a hint +from the bayonet point, to give an exposition of the goose-step at the +head of the other prisoners whenever they and their escort were passing +a sufficient number of troops to form a properly appreciative audience. +Probably a Cockney-born Highlander was responsible for these +pleasantries, as he certainly was for the explanation he gave to +curious inquirers. + +"He's mad," he explained. "Mad as a coot; thinks he's the devil, and +insists on wagging his little tail. I have to keep him marching with +his hands up this way, because he might try to grab my rifle. Now, it's +no use you gritting your teeth and mumbling German swear words, +cherrybim. Keep your 'ands well up, and proceed with the goose-step." + +But with all this Macalister had nothing to do. When he had returned as +nearly as he could the exact sufferings he had endured, he was quite +satisfied to let the matter drop. "I suppose," he said reflectively, +when the officer had gone, after giving him orders to see the prisoner +back, "as that finishes this play, we'll just need to treat ma lad here +like an ordinary preesoner. Has ony o' ye got a wee bit biscuit an' +bully beef an' a mouthful o' water t' gie the puir shiverin' crater!" + + + +A BENEVOLENT NEUTRAL + + +" ... _the enemy temporarily gained a footing in a portion of our +trench, but in our counter-attack we retook this and a part of enemy +trench beyond_."--EXTRACT FROM OFFICIAL DESPATCH. + + +A wet night, a greasy road, and a side-slipping motor-bike provided the +means of an introduction between Second Lieutenant Courtenay of the 1st +Footsloggers and Sergeant Willard K. Rawbon of the Mechanical Transport +branch of the A.S.C. The Mechanical Transport as a rule extend a bland +contempt to motor-cycles running on the road, ignoring all their +frantic toots of entreaty for room to pass, and leaving them to scrape +as best they may along the narrow margin between a deep and muddy ditch +and the undeviating wheels of a Juggernaut Mechanical Transport lorry. +But a broken-down motor-cycle meets with a very different reception. It +invariably excites some feeling compounded apparently of compassion and +professional interest to the cycle, and an unlimited hospitality to the +stranded cyclist. + +This being well known to Second Lieutenant Courtenay, he, after +collecting himself, his cycle, and his scattered wits from the ditch +and conscientiously cursing the road, the dark, and the wet, duly +turned to bless the luck that had brought about an accident right at +the doorstep of a section of the Motor Transport. There were about ten +massive lorries drawn up close to the side of the road under the +poplars, and Courtenay made a direct line for one from which a chink of +light showed under the tarpaulin and sounds of revelry issued from a +melodeon and a rasping file. Courtenay pulled aside the flap, poked his +head in and found himself blinking in the bright glare of an acetylene +lamp suspended in the middle of a Mechanical Transport traveling +workshop. The walls--tarpaulin over a wooden frame--were closely packed +with an array of tools, and the floor was still more closely packed +with a work-bench, vice and lathe, spare motor parts, boxes, and half a +dozen men. The men were reading newspapers and magazines; one was +manipulating the melodeon, and another at the vice was busy with the +file. The various occupations ceased abruptly as Courtenay poked his +head in and explained briefly who he was and what his troubles were. + +"Thought you might be able to do something for me," he concluded, and +before he had finished speaking the man at the vice had laid down his +file and was reaching down a mackintosh from its hook. Courtenay +noticed a sergeant's stripes on his sleeve, and a thick and most +unsoldierly crop of hair on his head plastered back from the brow. + +"Why sure," the sergeant said. "If she's anyways fixable, you reckon +her as fixed. Whereabouts is she ditched?" + +Ten minutes later Courtenay was listening disconsolately to the list of +damages discovered by the glare of an electric torch and the sergeant's +searching examination. + +"It'll take 'most a couple of hours to make any sort of a job," said +the sergeant. "That bust up fork alone--but we'll put her to rights for +you. Let's yank 'er over to the shop." + +Courtenay was a good deal put out by this announcement. + +"I suppose there's no help for it," he said resignedly, "but it's +dashed awkward. I'm due back at the billets now really, and another two +or three hours late--whew!" + +"Carryin' a message, I s'pose," said the sergeant, as together they +seized the cycle and pushed it towards the repair lorry. + +"No," said Courtenay, "I was over seeing another officer out this way." +He had an idea from the sergeant's free and easy style of address that +the mackintosh, without any visible badges and with a very visible +spattering of mud, had concealed the fact that he was an officer, and +when he reached the light he casually opened his coat to show his belts +and tunic. But the sergeant made not the slightest difference in his +manner. + +"Guess you'd better pull that wet coat right off," he said casually, +"and set down while I get busy. You boys, pike out, hit it for the +downy, an' get any sleep you all can snatch. That break-down will be +ambling along in about three hours an' shoutin' for quick repairs, so +you'll have to hustle some. That three hours is about all the sleep +comin' to you to-night; so, beat it." + +The damaged cycle was lifted into the lorry and propped up on its stand +and before the men had donned their mackintoshes and "beat it," the +sergeant was busy dismembering the damaged fork. Courtenay pulled off +his wet coat and settled himself comfortably on a box after offering +his assistance and being assured it was not required. The sergeant +conversed affably as he worked. + +At first he addressed Courtenay as "mister," but suddenly--"Say," he +remarked, "what ought I to be calling you? I never can remember just +what those different stars-an'-stripes fixin's mean." + +"My name is Courtenay and I'm second lieutenant," said the other. He +was a good deal surprised, for naturally, a man does not usually reach +the rank of sergeant without learning the meaning of the badges of rank +on an officer's sleeve. + +"My name's Rawbon--Willard K. Rawbon," said the sergeant easily. "So +now we know where we are. Will you have a cigar, Loo-tenant?" he went +on, slipping a case from his pocket and extending it. Courtenay noticed +the solidly expensive get-up and the gold initials on the leather and +was still more puzzled. He reassured himself by another look at the +sergeant's stripes and the regulation soldier's khaki jacket. "No, +thanks," he said politely, and struggling with an inclination to laugh, +"I'll smoke a cigarette," and took one from his own case and lighted +it. He was a good deal interested and probed gently. + +"You're Canadian, I suppose?" he said. "But this isn't Canadian +Transport, is it?" + +"Not," said the sergeant "Neither it nor me. No Canuck in mine, +Loo-tenant. I'm good United States." + +"I see," said Courtenay. "Just joined up to get a finger in the +fighting?" + +"Yes an' no," said the sergeant, going on with his work in a manner +that showed plainly he was a thoroughly competent workman. "It was a +matter of business in the first place, a private business deal that--" + +"I beg your pardon," said Courtenay hastily, reddening to his ear-tips. +"Please don't think I meant to question you. I say, are you sure I +can't help with that? It's too bad my sitting here watching you do all +the work." + +The sergeant straightened himself slowly from the bench and looked at +Courtenay, a quizzical smile dawning on his thin lips. "Why now, +Loo-tenant," he said, "there's no need to get het up none. I know you +Britishers hate to be thought inquisitive--'bad form,' ain't it!--but I +didn't figure it thataway, not any. I'd forgot for a minute the +difference 'tween--" He broke off and looked down at his sleeve, +nodding to the stripes and then to the lieutenant's star. "An' if you +don't mind I'll keep on forgetting it meantime. 'Twon't hurt +discipline, seeing nobody's here anyway. Y' see," he went on, stooping +to his work again, "I'm not used to military manners an' customs. A +year ago if you'd told me I'd be a soldier, _and_ in the British Army, +I'd ha' thought you clean loco." + +Courtenay laughed. "There's a good many in the same British Army can +say the same as you," he said. + +"I was in London when the flare-up came, an' bein' interested in +business I didn't ball up my intellect with politics an' newspaper war +talk. So a cable I had from the firm hit me wallop, an' plumb dazed me. +It said, 'Try secure war contract. One hundred full-powered available +now. Two hundred delivery within month.' Then I began to sit up an' +take notice. Y' see, I'm in with a big firm of auto builders--mebbe you +know 'em--Rawbon an' Spedding, the Rawbon bein' my dad? No? Well, +anyhow, I got the contract, got it so quick it made my head swim. Gee, +that fellow in the War Office was buyin' up autos like I'd buy +pipe-lights. The hundred lorries was shipped over, an' I saw 'em safe +through the specified tests an' handed 'em over. Same with the next two +hundred, an' this"--tapping his toe on the floor--"is one of 'em right +here." + +"I see how the lorry got here," said Courtenay, hugely interested, "but +I don't see how you've managed to be aboard. You and a suit of khaki +and a sergeant's stripes weren't all in the contract, I suppose?" + +"Nope," said the sergeant, "not in the written one, mebbe. But I took a +fancy to seein' how the engines made out under war conditions, an' +figured I might get some useful notes on it for the firm, so I fixed it +to come right along." + +"But how?" asked Courtenay--"if that's not a secret." + +"Why, that guy in the testin' sheds was plump tickled when I told him +my notion. He fixed it all, and me suddenly discoverin' I was mistook +for a Canadian I just said 'M-m-m' when anybody asked me. I had to +enlist though, to put the deal through, an' after that there wasn't +trouble enough to clog the works of a lady's watch. But there was +trouble enough at the other end. My dad fair riz up an' screeched +cablegrams at me when I hinted at goin' to the Front. He made out it +was on the business side he was kickin', with the attitude of the +U-nited States toward the squabble thrown in as extra. Neutrals, he +said we was, benevolent neutrals, an' he wasn't goin' to have a son o' +his steppin' outside the ring-fence o' the U-nited States Constitution, +to say nothing of mebbe losin' good business we'd been do in' with the +Hoggheimers, an' Schmidt Brothers, an' Fritz Schneckluk, an' a heap +more buyers o' his that would rear up an' rip-snort an' refuse to do +another cent's worth of dealing with a firm that was sellin' 'em autos +wi' one hand an' shootin' holes in their brothers and cousins and +Kaisers wi' the other. I soothed the old man down by pointing out I was +to go working these lorries, and the British Army don't shoot Germans +with motor-lorries; and I'd be able to keep him posted in any weak +points, if, and as, and when they developed, so he could keep ahead o' +the crowd in improvements and hooking in more fat contracts; and +lastly, that the Schmidt customer crowd didn't need to know a thing +about me being here unless he was dub enough to tell 'em. So I signed +on to serve King George an' his missus an' kids for ever an' ever, or +duration of war, Amen, with a mental footnote, which last was the only +part I mentioned in mailing my dad, that I was a Benevolent Neutral. +An' here I am." + +"Good egg," laughed Courtenay. "Hope you're liking the job." + +"Waal, I'll amit I'm some disappointed, Loo-tenant," drawled the +sergeant. "Y' see I did expect I'd have a look in at some of the +fightin'. I'm no ragin' blood-drinker an' bone-buster by profession, +up-bringin', or liking. But it does seem sorter poor play that a man +should be plumb center of the biggest war in history an' never see a +single solitary corpse. An' that's me. I been trailin' around with this +convoy for months, and never got near enough to a shell burst to tell +it from a kid's firework. It ain't in the program of this trench +warfare to have motor transport under fire, and the program is bein' +strictly attended to. It's some sight too, they tell me, when a good +mix-up is goin' on up front. I've got a camera here that I bought +special, thinking it would be fun later to show round my album in the +States an' point out this man being skewered on a bayonet an' that one +being disrupted by a bomb an' the next lot charging a trench. But will +you believe me, Loo-tenant, I haven't as much as set eye or foot on the +trenches. I did once take a run up on the captain's 'Douglas,' thinking +I'd just have a walk around an' see the sights and get some snaps. But +I might as well have tried to break into Heaven an' steal the choir's +harps. I was turned back about ten ways I tried, and wound up by being +arrested as a spy an' darn near gettin' shot. I got mad at last and I +told some fellows, stuck all over with red tabs and cap-bands and +armlets, that they could keep their old trenches, and I didn't believe +they were worth looking at anyway." + +Courtenay was laughing again. "I fancy I see the faces of the staff," +he choked. + +"Oh, they ante-d up all right later on," admitted the sergeant, "when +they'd discovered this column and roped in my captain to identify me. +One old leather-face, 'specially--they told me after he was a +General--was as nice as pie, an' had me in an' fed me a fresh meat and +canned asparagus lunch and near chuckled himself into a choking fit +when I told him about dad, an' my being booked up as a Benevolent +Neutral. He was so mighty pleasant that I told him I'd like to have my +dad make him a present of as dandy an auto as rolls in France. I would +have, too, but he simply wouldn't listen to me; told me he'd send it +back freight if I did; and I had to believe him, though, it seemed +unnatural. But they wouldn't let me go look at their blame trenches. I +tried to get this General joker to pass me in, but he wouldn't fall for +it. 'No, no,' he gurgles and splutters. 'A Benevolent Neutral in the +trenches! Never do, never do. We'll have to put some new initials on +the Mechanical Transport,' he says, 'B.N.M.T. Benevolent Neutral! I +must tell Dallas of the Transport that.' And he shooed me off with +that." + +The sergeant had worked busily as he talked, and now, as he commenced +to replace the repaired fork, he was thoughtfully silent a moment. + +"I suppose there's some dandy sna-aps up in those trenches, +Loo-tenant?" he said at last. + +"Oh, well, I dunno," said Courtenay. "Sort of thing you see in the +picture papers, of course." + +"Them!" said the sergeant contemptuously. "I could make better sna-aps +posin' some of the transport crowd in these emergency trenches dug +twenty miles back from the front. I mean real pictures of the real +thing--fellows knee-deep in mud, and a shell lobbing in, and such +like--real dandy snaps. It makes my mouth water to think of 'em. But I +suppose I'll go through this darn war and never see enough to let me +hold up my head when I get back home and they ask me what was the war +really like and to tell 'em about the trenches. I could have made out +if I'd even seen those blame trenches and got some good snaps of 'em." + +Courtenay was moved to a rash compassion and a still more rash promise. + +"Look here, sergeant," he said, "I'm dashed if I don't have a try to +get you a look at the trenches. We go in again in two days and it might +be managed." + + * * * * * + +Three days later Sergeant Rawbon, mounted on the motor-cycle which he +had repaired and which had been sent over to him, found all his +obstacles to the trenches melt and vanish before a couple of passes +with which he was provided--one readily granted by his captain on +hearing the reason for its request, and one signed by Second Lieutenant +Courtenay to pass the bearer, Sergeant Rawbon, on his way to the +headquarters of the 1st Footsloggers with motor-cycle belonging to that +battalion. The last quarter mile of the run to the headquarters +introduced Sergeant Rawbon to the sensation of being under fire, and, +as he afterwards informed Courtenay, he did not find the sensation in +any way pleasant. + +"Loo-tenant," he said gravely, "I've had some of this under fire +performance already, and I tell you I finds it no ways nice. Coming +along that last bit of road I heard something whistling every now an' +then like the top note of a tin whistle, and something else goin' +_whisk_ like a cane switched past your ear, and another lot saying +_smack_ like a whip-lash snapping. I was riding slow and careful, +because that road ain't exactly--well, it would take a lot of +sandpapering to make it really smooth. But when I realized that those +sounds spelt bullets with a capital B, I decided that road wasn't as +bad as I'd thought, and that anything up to thirty knots wasn't outside +its limits." + +"Oh, you were all right," said Courtenay carelessly, "bullets can't +touch you there, except a few long-distance ones that fall in enfilade +over the village. From the front they go over your head, or hit that +parapet along the side of the road." + +"Which is comforting, so far," said the sergeant, "though, personally, +I've just about as much objection to be hit by a bullet that comes over +a village as any other kind." + +They were outside the remains of a house in the cellar of which was +headquarters, Courtenay having timed the sergeant to arrive at an hour +when he, Courtenay, could arrange to be waiting at headquarters. + +"Now we'll shove along down and round the trenches. I spoke to the O.C. +and explained the situation--partly. He didn't raise any trouble so +just follow me, and leave me to do any talking there is to do. You must +keep your eyes open and ask any questions about things after. It would +look a bit odd and raise remarks if the men saw me showing you round +and doing the Cook's Tour guide business. And if you've brought that +camera, keep it out of sight till I give you the word. When we get +along to my own company's bit of trench I'll tell you, and you can take +some snaps--when I'm not looking at you. Just tip the wink to any men +about and they'll be quite pleased to pose or anything you like." + +"Loo-tenant," said Sergeant Rawbon earnestly, "you're doin' this thing +real handsome, and I won't forget it. If ever you hit the U-nited +States----" + +"Oh, that's all right," said Courtenay, "come along now." + +"When we find your bunch," said Rawbon as they moved off, "if you could +make some sort of excuse out loud, and fade from the scene a minute and +leave me there with the men, I'll sure get some of the dandiest snaps +I'd wish. I reckon it'll satisfy the crowd if I promise to send 'em +copies. It will if they're anything like my lot in the Mechanical +Transport." + +They slid down into a deep and narrow and very muddy ditch that ran +twistingly through the wrecked village. Courtenay explained that +usually they could walk this part above ground, sheltered from bullets +by the broken-down houses and walls, but that a good few shells had +been coming over all day, and that in the communication trench they +were safe from all shells but those which burst directly over or in the +part they were in. + +"You want to run across this bit," he said presently. "A high explosive +broke that in this morning, and it can't be repaired properly till +dark. You go first and wait the other side for me. Now--jump lively!" + +Rawbon took one quick jumping stride to the middle of the gap, and +another and very much quicker one beyond it, as a bullet smacked +venomously into the broken side of the trench. Another threw a spurt of +mud at Courtenay's heels as he made the rush. "A sniper watches the gap +and pots at anyone passing," he explained to Rawbon. "It's fairly safe, +because at the range he's firing a bullet takes just a shade longer to +reach here than you take to run across. But it doesn't do to walk." + +"No," said Rawbon, "and going back somehow I don't think I will walk. I +can see without any more explainin' that it's no spot for a pleasant, +easy little saunter." He stopped suddenly as a succession of whooping +rushes passed overhead. "Gee! What's that?" + +"Shells from our own guns," said Courtenay, and took the lead again. In +his turn he stopped and crouched, calling to Rawbon to keek down. They +heard a long screaming whistle rising to a tempestuous roar and +breaking off in a crash which made the ground shake. Next moment a +shower of mud and earth and stones fell rattling and thumping about and +into the trench. + +"Coal-box," said Courtenay hurriedly. "Come on. They're apt to drop +some more about the same spot." + +"I'm with you," said Rawbon. "The same spot is a good one to quit, I +reckon." + +They hurried, slipping and floundering, along the wet trench, and +turned at last into another zig-zag one where a step ran along one +side, and men muffled in wet coats stood behind a loopholed parapet. +Along the trench was a series of tiny shelters scooped out of the bank, +built up with sand-bags, covered ineffectually with wet, shiny, +waterproof ground-sheets. In these, men were crouched over scantily +filled braziers, or huddled, curled up like homeless dogs on a +doorstep. At intervals along the parapet men watched through periscopes +hoisted over the top edge, and every now and then one fired through a +loophole. The trench bottom where they walked was anything from ankle- to +knee-deep in evil-looking watery mud of the consistency of very thin +porridge. The whole scene, the picture of wet misery, the dirt and +squalor and discomfort made Rawbon shiver as much from disgust as from +the raw cold that clung about the oozing clay walls and began to bite +through to his soaking feet and legs. Courtenay stopped near a group of +men, and telling the sergeant to wait there a moment, moved on and left +him. A puff of cold wet wind blew over the parapet, and the sergeant +wrinkled his nose disgustedly. "Some odorous," he commented to a +mud-caked private hunkered down on his heels on the fire-step with his +back against the trench wall. "Does, the Boche run a glue factory or a +fertilizer works around here?" + +"The last about fits it," said the private grimly. "They made an attack +here about a week back, and there's a tidy few fertilizin' out there +now--to say nothin' of some of ours we can't get in." + +Rawbon squirmed uneasily to think he should, however unwittingly, have +jested about their dead, but nobody there seemed in any way shocked or +resentful. The sergeant suddenly remembered his camera, and had thrust +his hand under his coat to his pocket when the warning screech of an +approaching shell and the example of the other men in the traverse sent +him crouching low in the trench bottom. The trench there was almost +knee-deep in thin mud, but everyone apparently took that as a matter of +course. The shell burst well behind them, but it was followed +immediately by about a dozen rounds from a light gun. They came +uncomfortably close, crashing overhead and just in front of the +parapet. A splinter from one lifted a man's cap from his head and sent +it flying. The splinter's whirr and the man's sharp exclamation brought +all eyes in his direction. His look of comical surprise and the +half-dazed fashion of his lifting a hand to fumble cautiously at his +head raised some laughter and a good deal of chaff. + +"Orright," he said angrily. "Orright, go on; laugh, dash yer. Fat lot +t' laugh at, seein' a man's good cap pitched in the mud." + +"No use you feelin' that 'ead o' yours," said his neighbor, grinning. +"You can't even raise a sick 'eadache out o' that squeak. 'Arf an inch +lower now an' you might 'ave 'ad a nice little trip 'ome in an +'orspital ship." + +"You're wrong there, Jack," said another solemnly. "That splinter hit +fair on top of his nut, an' glanced off. You don't think a pifflin' +little Pip-Squeak shell could go through _his_ head?" He stepped up on +the firing-step as he spoke, and on the instant, with a rush and crash, +another "Pip-Squeak" struck the parapet immediately in front of him, +blowing the top edge off it, filling the air with a volcano of mud, +dirt, smoke, and shrieking splinters, and, either from the shock of the +explosion or in an attempt to escape it, throwing the man off his +balance on the ledge of the firing-step to sprawl full length in the +mud. In the swirl of noise and smoke and flying earth Rawbon just +glimpsed the plunging fall of a man's body, and felt a curious sickly +feeling at the pit of his stomach. He was relieved beyond words to see +the figure rise to his knees and stagger to his feet, dripping mud and +filth, and swearing at the pitch of his voice. He paid no attention to +the stutter of laughter round him as he retrieved his mud-encrusted +rifle, and looked about him for his cap. The laughter rose as he groped +in the thin mud for it, still cursing wildly; and then the sergeant +noticed that the man who had lost his cap a minute before had quietly +snatched up the other one from the firing-step, clapped it on his own +head and pretended to help the loser to search. + +"It was blame funny, I suppose," Rawbon told the lieutenant a few +minutes after, as they moved from the spot. "Him chasin' round in the +mud cussin' all blue about his 'blarsted cap'; and t'other fellow wi' +the cap on his head and pretending to hunt for it, and callin' the rest +to come help. I dessay I'll laugh some myself, if I remember it when +I'm safe back about ten mile from here. Just at the moment my funny +bone hasn't got goin' right after me expectin' to see that feller +blowed to ribbons an' remnants. But them others--say, I've seen men +sittin' comfortable in an armchair seat at a roof-garden vaudeville +that couldn't raise as hearty a laugh at the prize antics of the +thousand dollar star comedian, as them fellers riz on that cap +episode." + +"Well, it was rather funny, you know," said Courtenay, grinning a +little himself. + +"Mebbe, mebbe," said Rawbon. "But me--well, if you'll excuse it, I'll +keep that laugh in pickle till I feel more like usin' it." + +"You wanted to come, you know," said Courtenay. "But I won't blame you +if you say you've had enough and head for home. As I told you before, +this 'joy-riding' game is rather silly. It's bad enough us taking risks +we have to, but----" + +"Yes, you spoke that piece, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon, "but I want to +see all there is on show now I'm here. Only don't expect me to shriek +with hilarious mirth every time a shell busts six inches off my nose." + +They had halted for a moment, and now another crackling string of light +shells burst along the trench. + +"There's another bunch o' humor arriving," said Rawbon. "But I don't +feel yet like encoring the turn any;" + +They moved on to a steady accompaniment of shell bursts and Courtenay +looked round uneasily. + +"I don't half like this," he said. "They don't usually shell us so at +this time of day. Hope there's no attack coming." + +"I agree with all you say, Loo-tenant, and then some. Especially about +not liking it." + +"I'm beginning to think you'd be better off these premises," said +Courtenay. "I ought to be with my company if any trouble is coming off. +And it might lead to questions and unpleasantness if you were found +here--especially if you're a casualty, or I am." + +"Nuff sed, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon promptly. "I don't want that sort +o' trouble for various reasons. I'd have an everlastin' job explaining +to my dad what I was doin' in the front seats o' the firing line. It +wouldn't just fit wi' my bein' a Benevolent Neutral, not anyhow." + +"We're only about thirty or forty yards from the Germ trench in this +bit," said Courtenay. "Here, carry my periscope, and when I'm talking +to some of the men just take a look quietly." + +But Rawbon was not able to see much when, a little later, he had a +chance to use the periscope. For one thing the short winter day was +fading and the light was already poor; for another any attempt to keep +the periscope above the parapet for more than a few seconds brought a +series of bullets hissing and zipping over, and periscope glasses in +those days were too precious to risk for mere curiosity's sake. + +"We'll just have a look at the Frying Pan," said Courtenay, "and then +you'll have seen about the lot. We hold a bit of the trench running out +beyond the Pan and the Germs are holding the same trench a little +further along. We've both got the trench plugged up with sandbag +barricades." + +They floundered along the twisting trench till it turned sharply to the +right and ran out into the shallow hollow of the Frying Pan. It was +swimming in greasy mud, and across the far side from where they stood +Rawbon could see a breastwork of sandbags. + +"We call this entrance trench the Handle, and the trench that runs out +from behind that barricade the Leak. There's always more or less +bombing going on in the Leak, and I don't know if it's very wise of you +to go up there. We call this the Frying Pan because--well, 'into the +fire,' you know. Will you chance it?" + +"Why, sure; if you don't mind, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon, "I might as +well see--" He was interrupted by a sudden crash and roar, running +bursts of flaring light, hoarse yells and shouts, and a few rifle shots +from somewhere beyond the barricade across the Leak. The work of the +next minute was too fast and furious for Rawbon to follow or +understand. The uproar beyond the barricade swelled and clamored, and +the earth shook to the roar of bursting bombs. In the Frying Pan there +was a sudden vision of confused figures, dimly seen through the +swirling smoke, swaying and struggling, threshing and splashing in the +liquid mud. He was just conscious of Courtenay shouting something about +"Get back," of his being thrust violently back into the wide trench, of +two or three figures crowding in after him, cursing and staggering and +shooting back into the Frying Pan, of Courtenay's voice shouting again +to "Stand clear," of a knot of men scrambling and heaving at something, +and then of a deafening "Rat-tat-tat-tat," and the streaming flashes of +a machine-gun. It stopped firing after a minute, and Rawbon, flattened +back against a corner of the trench wall, heard an explanation given by +a gasping private to Courtenay and another mud-bedaubed officer who +appeared mysteriously from somewhere. + +"Flung a shower o' bombs an' rushed us, sir," said the private. "They +was over a-top o' us 'fore you could say 'knife.' Only two or three o' +us that wasn't downed and was able to get back out o' the Leak an' +across the Pan to here." + +"We stopped them with the maxim," said Courtenay, "but I suppose +they'll rush again in a minute." + +He and the other officer conferred hastily. Rawbon caught a few words +about "counterattack" and "quicker the better" and "all the men I can +find," and then the other officer moved hurriedly down the trench and +men came jostling and crowding to the end of the Handle, just clear of +the corner where it turned into the Pan. A few sandbags were pulled +down off the parapet and heaped across the end of the trench, the +machine-gun was run close up to them and a couple of men posted, one to +watch with a periscope, and the other to keep Verey pistol lights +flaring into the Frying Pan. + +Two minutes later the other officer returned, spoke hastily to +Courtenay, and then calling to the men to follow, jumped the low +barricade and ran splashing out into the open hollow with the men +streaming after him. A burst of rifle fire and the shattering crash of +bombs met them, and continued fiercely for a few minutes after the last +of the counter-attacking party had swarmed out. But the attack broke +down, never reached the barricade beyond the Pan, was, in fact, cut +down almost as fast as it emerged into the open. A handful of men came +limping and floundering back, and Courtenay, waiting by the machine-gun +in case of another German rush, caught sight of the face of the last +man in. + +"Rawbon!" he said sharply. "Good Lord, man! I'd forgotten--What took +you out there?" + +"Say, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon, panting hard. "There's no crossin' that +mud puddle Fry-Pan. They're holding the barricade 'cross there; got +loopholes an' shootin' through 'em. Can't we climb out an' over the +open an' on top of 'em?" + +"No good," said Courtenay. "They're sweeping it with maxims. Listen!" + +Up to then Rawbon had heeded nothing above the level of the trench and +the hollow but now he could hear the steady roar of rifle and maxim +fire, and the constant whistle of bullets streaming overhead. + +"I must rally another crowd and try'n' rush it," said Courtenay. "Stand +ready with that maxim there. I won't be long." + +"I've got a box of bombs here, sir," said a man behind him. + +Courtenay turned sharply. "Good," he said. "But no--it's too far to +throw them." + +"I think I could just about fetch it, sir," said the man. + +"All right," said Courtenay. "Try it while I get some men together." + +"Here y' are, chum," said the man, "you light 'em an' I'll chuck 'em. +This way for the milky coco-nuts!" + +Rawbon watched curiously. The bomb was round shaped and rather larger +than a cricket ball. A black tube affair an inch or two long projected +from it and emitted, when lit, a jet of hissing, spitting sparks. The +bomb-thrower seized the missile quickly, stepped clear of the +sheltering corner of the trench, threw the bomb, and jumped back under +cover. A couple of bullets slapped into the wall of the trench, and +next moment the bomb burst. + +"Just short," said the thrower, who had peeped out at sound of the +report. "Let's 'ave another go." + +This time a shower of bullets greeted him as he stepped out, but he +hurled his bomb and stepped back in safety. A third he threw, but this +time a bullet caught him and he reeled back with blood staining the +shoulder of his tunic. + +"You'll 'ave to excuse me," he remarked gravely to the man with the +match. "Can't stay now. I 'ave an urgent appointment in +_Blighty_.[Footnote: England. A soldier's corruption of the Hindustani +word "Belati."] But I'll drink your 'ealth when I gets to Lunnon." + +Rawbon had watched the throwing impatiently. "Look here," he said +suddenly. "Just lemme have a whale at this pitching. I'll show 'em some +curves that'll dazzle 'em." + +The wounded man peered at him and then at his cap badge. "Now 'oo the +blank is this?" he demanded. "Blimey, Joe, if 'ere ain't a blooming +Universal Plum-an'-Apple Provider. 'Ere, 'oo stole the strawberry jam?" + +"You let me in on this ball game," said Rawbon. "Light 'em and pass 'em +quick, and see me put the Indian sign on that bunch." + +A minute later Courtenay came back and stared in amazement at the +scene. Two men were lighting and passing up bombs to the sergeant, who, +standing clear out in the opening, grabbed and hurled the balls with an +extraordinary prancing and dancing and arm-swinging series of +contortions, while the crowded trench laughed and applauded. + +"Some pitchin', Loo-tenant," he panted beamingly, stepping back into +shelter. "Hark at 'em. And every darn one right over the plate. Say, +step out here an' watch this next lot." + +"No time now," said Courtenay hurriedly. + +"They're strengthening their defense every minute. Are you all ready +there, lads?" + +"I don't know who this man is, sir," said a sergeant quickly. "But he's +doing great work. Every bomb has gone in behind the parado there. He +might try a few more to shake them before we advance." + +"Behind the parakeet," snorted Rawbon. "I should smile. You watch! I'll +put some through the darn loopholes for you. Didn't know I was pitcher +to the Purple Socks, the year we whipped the League, did you? Gimme +thirty seconds, Loo-tenant, and I'll put thirty o' these balls right +where they live." + +As he spoke he picked up two of the bombs from a fresh box and held +them to the lighter. As he plunged out a shower of bullets spattered +the trench wall about him, but without heeding these he began to throw. +As the roar of the bursting bombs began, the bullets slowed down and +ceased. "Keep the lights blazing," Rawbon paused to shout to the man +with the pistol flares. "You slide out for the home base, Loo-tenant, +and I'll keep 'em too busy to shoot their nasty little guns." He +commenced to hurl the bombs again. Courtenay stepped out and watched a +moment. Bomb after bomb whizzed true and hard across the hollow, just +skimmed the breastwork, struck on the trench wall that showed beyond +and a foot above it, and fell behind the barricade. Billowing +smoke-clouds and gusts of flame leaped and flashed above the parapet. +Courtenay saw the chance and took it. He plunged out into the lake of +mud and plowed through it towards the barricade, the men swarming +behind him, and the sergeant's bombs hurtling with trailing streams of +sparks over their heads. + +"Come on, son," said the sergeant. "You carry that box and gimme the +slow match. I pitch better with a little run." + +Courtenay reached the barricade and led his men over and round +it without a casualty. The space behind the barricade was +deserted--deserted, that is, except by the dead, and by some +unutterable things that would have been better dead. + +The lost portion of trench was recaptured, and more, the defense, +demoralized by that tornado of explosions, was pushed a good fifty +yards further back before the counter-attack was stayed. + +At daybreak next morning Courtenay and the sergeant stood together on +the road leading to the communication trench. Both were crusted to the +shoulders in thick mud; Rawbon's cap was gone, and his hair hung +plastered in a wet mop over his ears and forehead, and Courtenay showed +a red-stained bandage under his cap. + +"Rawbon," he said, "I feel rotten over this business. Here you've done +some real good work--I don't believe we'd ever have got across without +your bombing--and you won't let me say a word about it. I'm dashed if I +like it. Dash it, you ought to get a V.C., or a D.C.M. at least, for +it." + +"Now lookahere, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon soothingly. "There's no need +for you to feel peaked--not any. It was darn good of you to let me in +on these sacred no-admittance-'cept-on-business trenches, and I'm plumb +glad I landed in the mix-up. It would probably raise trouble for you if +your boss knew you'd slipped me in; and it sure would raise everlasting +trouble for me at home if my name was flourishin' in the papers gettin' +an A.B.C. or D.A.M.N. or whatever the fixin' is. And I'd sooner have +this"--slapping the German helmet that dangled at his belt--"than your +whole darn alphabet o' initials. Don't forget what I told you about the +dad an' those Schwartzeheimer friends o' his, the cousins o' which same +friends I've been blowin' off the earth with bomb base-balls. Let it go +at that, and never forget it, friend--I'm a Benevolent Neutral." + +"I won't forget it," said Courtenay, laughing and shaking hands. He +watched the sergeant as he bestrode the motor-cycle, pushed off, and +swung off warily down the wet road into the morning mist. + +"What was it that despatch said a while back!" he mused. "Something +about 'There are few who appreciate or even understand the value of the +varied work of the Army Service Corps.' Well, this lot was a bit more +varied than usual, and I fancy it might astonish even the fellow who +wrote that line." + + + +DRILL + + +"_Yesterday one of the enemy's heavy guns was put out of action by our +artillery._"--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +"Stand fast!" the instructor bellowed, and while the detachment +stiffened to immobility he went on, without stopping to draw breath, +bellowing other and less printable remarks. After he had finished these +he ordered "Detachment rear!" and taking more time and adding even more +point to his remarks, he repeated some of them and added others, +addressing abruptly and virulently the "Number" whose bungling had +aroused his wrath. + +"You've learnt your gun drill," he said, "learned it like a +sulphur-crested cockatoo learns to gabble 'Pretty Polly scratch a +poll'; why in the name of Moses you can't make your hands do what your +tongue says 'as me beat. You, Donovan, that's Number Three, let me hear +you repeat the drill for Action Front." + +Donovan, standing strictly to attention, and with his eyes fixed +straight to his front, drew a deep breath and rattled off: + +"At the order or signal from the battery leader or section commander, +'Halt action front!' One orders 'Halt action front!'--At the order from +One, the detachment dismounts, Three unkeys, and with Two lifts the +trail; when the trail is clear of the hook, Three orders 'Limber drive +on.'" + +The instructor interrupted explosively. + +"You see," he growled, "you know it. Three orders 'Limber drive on.' +You're Three! but did you order limber drive on, or limber drive off, +or drive anywhere at all? Did you expect drivers that would be sitting +up there on their horses, with their backs turned to you, to have eyes +in the backs of their heads to see when you had the trail lifted, or +did you be expectin' them to thought-read that you wanted them to drive +on!" + +Three, goaded at last to a sufficiency of daring, ventured to mutter +something about "was going to order it." + +The instructor caught up the phrase and flayed him again with it. "'Was +going to,'" he repeated, "'was going to order it.' Perhaps some day, +when a bullet comes along and drills a hole in your thick head, you +will want to tell it you 'was going to' get out of the way. You maybe +expect the detachment to halt and stand easy, and light a cigarette, +and have a chat while you wait to make up your mind what you're going +to say, and when you're going to say it! And if ever you get past +recruit drill in the barracks square, my lad, and smell powder burnt in +action, you'll learn that there's no such thing as 'going to' in your +gun drill. If you're slow at it, if you fumble your fingers, and tie +knots in your tongue, and stop to think about your 'going to,' you'll +find maybe that 'going to' has gone before you make up your mind, and +the only thing 'going to' will be you and your detachment; and its +Kingdom Come you'll be 'going to' at that. And now we'll try it again, +and if I find any more 'going to' about it this time it's an hour's +extra drill a day you'll be 'going to' for the next week." + +He kept the detachment grilling and grinding for another hour before he +let them go, and at the end of it he spent another five minutes +pointing out the manifold faults and failings of each individual in the +detachment, reminding them that they belonged to the Royal Regiment of +Artillery that is "The right of the line, the terror of the world, and +the pride of the British Army," and that any man who wasn't a shining +credit to the Royal Regiment was no less than a black disgrace to it. + +When the detachment dismissed, and for the most part gravitated to the +canteen, they passed some remarks upon their instructor almost pungent +enough to have been worthy of his utterance. "Him an' his everlastin' +'Cut the Time!'" + +"I'm just about fed up with him," said Gunner Donovan bitterly, "and +I'd like to know where's all the sense doing this drill against a +stop-watch. You'd think from the way he talks that a man's life was +hanging on the whiskers of a half-second. Blanky rot, I call it." + +"I wouldn't mind so much," said another gunner, "if ever he thought to +say we done it good, but not 'im. The better we does it and the faster, +the better and the faster he wants it done. It's my belief that if he +had a gun detachment picked from the angels above he'd tell 'em their +buttons and their gold crowns was a disgrace to Heaven, that they was +too slow to catch worms or catch a cold, and that they'd 'ave to cut +the time it took 'em to fly into column o' route from the right down +the Golden Stairs, or to bring their 'arps to the 'Alt action front." + +These were the mildest of the remarks that passed between the smarting +Numbers of the gun detachment, but they would have been astonished +beyond words if they could have heard what their instructor Sergeant +"Cut-the-Time" was saying at that moment to a fellow-sergeant in the +sergeants' mess. + +"They're good lads," he said, "and it's me, that in my time has seen +the making and the breaking and the handling and the hammering of gun +detachments enough to man every gun in the Army, that's saying it. I +had them on the 'Halt action front' this morning, and I tell you +they've come on amazing since I took 'em in hand. We cut three solid +seconds this morning off the time we have been taking to get the gun +into action, and a second a round off the firing of ten rounds. They'll +make gunners yet if they keep at it." + +"Three seconds is good enough," said the other mildly. + +"It isn't good enough," returned the instructor, "if they can make it +four, and four's not good enough if they can make it five. It's when +they can't cut the time down by another split fraction of a second that +I'll be calling them good enough. They won't be blessing me for it now, +but come the day maybe they will." + + * * * * * + +The battery was moving slowly down a muddy road that ran along the edge +of a thick wood. It had been marching most of the night, and, since the +night had been wet and dark, the battery was splashed and muddy to the +gun-muzzles and the tops of the drivers' caps. It was early morning, +and very cold. Gunners and drivers were muffled in coats and woolen +scarves, and sat half-asleep on their horses and wagons. A thick and +chilly mist had delayed the coming of light, but now the mist had +lifted suddenly, blown clear by a quickly risen chill wind. When the +mist had been swept away sufficiently for something to be seen of the +surrounding country, the Major, riding at the head of the battery, +passed the word to halt and dismount, and proceeded to "find himself on +the map." Glancing about him, he picked out a church steeple in the +distance, a wayside shrine, and a cross-road near at hand, a curve of +the wood beside the road, and by locating these on the squared map, +which he took from its mud-splashed leather case, he was enabled to +place his finger on the exact spot on the map where his battery stood +at that moment. Satisfied on this, he was just about to give the order +to mount when he heard the sound of breaking brushwood and saw an +infantry officer emerge from the trees close at hand. + +The officer was a young man, and was evidently on an errand of haste. +He slithered down the steep bank at the edge of the wood, leaped the +roadside ditch, asked a question of the nearest man, and, getting an +answer from him, came at the double past the guns and teams towards the +Major. He saluted hastily, said "Mornin', sir," and went on +breathlessly: "My colonel sent me across to catch you. We are in a +ditch along the edge of the far side of this wood, and could just see +enough of you between the trees to make out your battery. From where we +are we can see a German gun, one of their big brutes, with a team of +about twenty horses pulling it, plain and fair out in the open. The +Colonel thinks you could knock 'em to glory before they could reach +cover." + +"Where can I see them from!" said the Major quickly. + +"I'll show you," said the subaltern, "if you'll leave your horse and +come with me through this wood. It's only a narrow belt of trees here." + +The Major turned to one of his subalterns who was with him at the head +of the battery. + +"Send back word to the captain to come up here and wait for me!" he +said rapidly. "Tell him what you have just heard this officer say, and +tell him to give the word, 'Prepare for action.' And now," he said, +turning to the infantryman, "go ahead." + +The two of them jumped the ditch, scrambled up the bank, and +disappeared amongst the trees. + +A message back to the captain who was at the rear of the battery +brought him up at a canter. The subaltern explained briefly what he had +heard, and the captain, after interrupting him to shout an order to +"Prepare for action," heard the finish of the story, pulled out his +map, and pointing out on it a road shown as running through the trees, +sent the subaltern off to reconnoiter it. + +The men were stripping off their coats, rolling them and strapping them +to the saddles and the wagon seats; the Numbers One, the sergeants in +charge of each gun, bustling their gunners, and seeing everything about +the guns made ready: the gunners examining the mechanism and gears of +the gun, opening and closing the hinged flaps of the wagons, and +tearing the thin metal cover off the fuses. + +It was all done smartly and handily, and one after another the +sergeants reported their subsections as ready. Immediately the captain +gave the order to mount, drivers swung themselves to their saddles, and +the gunners to their seats on the wagons, and all sat quietly waiting +for whatever order might come next. + +The lifting of the mist had shown a target to the gunners on both sides +apparently, and the roar and boom of near and distant guns beat and +throbbed quicker and at closer intervals. + +In three minutes the Major came running back through the wood, and the +captain moved to meet him. + +"We've got a fair chance!" said the Major exultingly. "One of their big +guns clear in the open, and moving at a crawl. I want you to take the +battery along the road here, sharp to the right at the cross-road, and +through the wood. The Inf. tell me there is just a passable road +through. Take guns and firing battery wagons only; leave the others +here. When you get through the wood, turn to the right again, and along +its edge until you come to where I'll be waiting for you. I'll take the +range-taker with me. The order will be 'open sights'; it's the only +way--not time to hunt a covered position! Now, is all that clear?" + +"Quite clear," said the captain tersely. + +"Off you go, then," said the Major; "remember, it's quick work. +Trumpeter, come with me, and the range-taker. Sergeant-major, leave the +battery staff under cover with the first line." + +He swung into the saddle, set his horse at the ditch, and with a leap +and scramble was over and up the bank and crashing into the +undergrowth, followed by his trumpeter and a man with the six-foot tube +of a range-finder strapped to the saddle. + +Before he was well off the road the captain shouted the order to walk +march, and as the battery did so the subaltern who had been sent out to +reconnoiter the road came back at a canter. + +"We can just do it," he reported; "it's greasy going, and the road is +narrow and rather twisty, but we can do it all right." + +The captain sent back word to section commanders, and the other two +subalterns spurred forward and joined him. + +"We go through the wood," he explained, "and come into action on the +other side. The order is 'open sights,' so I expect we'll be in an +exposed position. You know what that means. There's a gun to knock out, +and if we can do it and get back quick before they get our range we may +get off light. If we can't----" and he broke off significantly. "Get +back and tell your Numbers One, and be ready for quick moving." + +Immediately they had fallen back the order was given to trot, and the +battery commenced to bump and rumble rapidly over the rough road. As +they neared the cross-roads they were halted a moment, and then the +guns and their attendant ammunition wagons only went on, turned into +the wood, and recommenced to trot. + +They jolted and swayed and slid over the rough, wet road, the gunners +clinging fiercely to the handrails, the drivers picking a way as best +they could over bowlders and between ruts. They emerged on the far side +of the wood, found themselves in an open field, turned sharply to the +right, and kept on at a fast trot. A line of infantry were entrenched +amongst the trees on the edge of the wood, but their shouted remarks +were drowned in the clatter and rattle and jingle of wheels and +harness. Out on their left the ground rose very gently, and far beyond +a low crest could be seen clumps of trees, patches of fields, and a few +scattered farm? houses. At several points on this distant slope the +White smoke-clouds of bursting shells were puffing and breaking, but so +far there was no sign to be seen of any man or of any gun. When they +came to where the Major was waiting he rode out from the trees, blew +sharply on a whistle, and made a rapid signal with hand and arm. The +guns and wagons had been moving along the edge of the wood in single +file, but now at the shouted order each team swung abruptly to its left +and commenced to move in a long line out from the wood towards the low +crest, the whole movement being performed neatly and cleanly and still +at a trot. The Major rode to his place in the center of the line, and +the battery, keeping its place close on his heels, steadily increased +its pace almost to a canter. The Major's whistle screamed again, and at +another signal and the shouted orders the battery dropped to a walk. +Every man could see now over the crest and into the shallow valley that +fell away from it and rose again in gentle folds and slopes. At first +they could see nothing of the gun against which they had expected to be +brought into action, but presently some one discovered a string of tiny +black dots that told of the long team and heavy gun it drew. Another +sharp whistle and the Major's signal brought the battery up with a +jerk. + +"Halt! action front!" The shouted order rang hoarsely along the line. +For a moment there was wild commotion; a seething chaos, a swirl of +bobbing heads and plunging horses. But in the apparent chaos there was +nothing but the most smooth and ordered movement, the quick but most +exact following of a routine drill so well ground in that its motions +were almost mechanical. The gunners were off their seats before the +wheels had stopped turning, the key snatched clear, and the trail of +the gun lifted, the wheels seized, and the gun whirled round in a +half-circle and dropped pointing to the enemy. The ammunition wagon +pulled up into place beside the gun, the traces flung clear, and the +teams hauled round and trotted off. As Gunner Donovan's trail was +lifted clear his yell of "Limber, drive on," started the team forward +with a jerk, and a moment later, as he and the Number Two slipped into +their seats on the gun the Number Two grinned at him. "Sharp's the +word," he said: "d'you mind the time----" He was interrupted roughly by +the sergeant, who had just had the target pointed out to him, jerking +up the trail to throw the gun roughly into line. + +"Shut yer head, and get on to it, Donovan. You see that target there, +don't you?" + +"See it a fair treat!" said Donovan joyfully; "I'll bet I plunk a bull +in the first three shots." + +Back in the wood the infantry colonel, from a vantage-point half-way up +a tall tree, watched the ensuing duel with the keenest excitement. + +The battery's first two ranging shots dropped in a neat bracket, one +over and one short; in the next two the bracket closed, the shorter +shot being almost on top of the target. This evidently gave the range +closely enough, and the whole battery burst into a roar of fire, the +blazing flashes running up and down the line of guns like the reports +of a gigantic Chinese cracker. Over the long team of the German gun a +thick cloud of white smoke hung heavily, burst following upon burst and +hail after hail of shrapnel sweeping the men and horses below. Then +through the crashing reports of the guns and the whimpering rush of +their shells' passage, there came a long whistling scream that rose and +rose and broke off abruptly in a deep rolling cr-r-r-rump. A spout of +brown earth and thick black smoke showed where the enemy shell had +burst far out in front of the battery. + +The infantry colonel watched anxiously. He knew that out there +somewhere another heavy German gun had come into action; he knew that +it was a good deal slower in its rate of fire, but that once it had +secured its line and range it could practically obliterate the light +field guns of the battery. The battery was fighting against time and +the German gunners to complete their task before they could be +silenced. The first team was crippled and destroyed, and another team, +rushed out from the cover of the trees, was fallen upon by the shrapnel +tornado, and likewise swept out of existence. + +Then another shell from the German gun roared over, to burst this time +well in the rear of the battery. + +The colonel knew what this meant. The German gun had got its bracket. +The battery had ceased to fire shrapnel, and was pouring high-explosive +about the derelict gun. The white bursts of shrapnel had given place to +a series of spouting volcanoes that leaped from the ground about the +gun itself. Another German shell fell in front of the battery and a +good 200 yards nearer to it. A movement below attracted the colonel's +attention, and he saw the huddled teams straighten out and canter hard +towards the guns. He turned his glasses on the German gun again, and +could not restrain a cry of delight as he saw it collapsed and lying on +its side, while high-explosive shells still pelted about it. + +The teams came up at a gallop, swept round the guns, and halted. +Instantly they were hooked in, the buried spades of the guns wrenched +free, the wheels manned, the trails dropped clashing on the limber +hooks. And as they dropped, another heavy shell soared over burst +behind the battery, so close this time that the pieces shrieked and +spun about the guns, wounding three horses and a couple of men. The +Major, mounted and waiting, cast quick glances from gun to gun. The +instant he saw they were ready he signaled an order, the drivers' spurs +clapped home, and the whips rose and fell whistling and snapping. The +battery jerked forward at a walk that broke immediately into a trot, +and from that to a hard canter. + +Even above the clatter and roll of the wheels and the hammering +hoof-beats the whistle and rush of another heavy shell could be heard. +Gunner Donovan, twisted sideways and clinging close to the jolting +seat, heard the sound growing louder and louder, until it sounded so +close that it seemed the shell was going to drop on top of them. But it +fell behind them, and exactly on the position where the battery had +stood. Donovan's eye caught the blinding flash of the burst, the +springing of a thick cloud of black smoke. A second later something +shrieked hurtling down and past his gun team, and struck with a vicious +thump into the ground. + +"That was near enough," shouted Mick, on the seat beside him. Donovan +craned over as they passed, and saw, half-buried in the soft ground, +the battered brass of one of their own shell cartridges. The heavy +shell had landed fairly on top of the spot where their gun had stood, +where the empty cartridge cases had been flung in a heap from the +breech. If they had been ten or twenty seconds later in getting clear, +if they had taken a few seconds longer over the coming into action or +limbering up, a few seconds more to the firing of their rounds, the +whole gun and detachment ... + +Gunner Donovan leaned across to Mick and shouted loudly. + +But his remark was so apparently irrelevant that Mick failed to +understand. A sudden skidding swerve as the team wheeled nearly jerked +him off his seat, the crackling bursts of half a dozen light shells +over the plain behind him distracted his attention for a moment +further. Then he leaned in towards Donovan, "What was that?" he yelled. +"What didjer say?" + +Donovan repeated his remark. "Gawd--bless--old 'Cut-the-Time.'" + +The battery plunged in amongst the trees, and into safety. + + + +A NIGHT PATROL + + +"_During the night, only patrol and reconnoitering engagements of small +consequence are reported."_--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +"Straff the Germans and all their works, particularly their mine +works!" said Lieutenant Ainsley disgustedly. + +"Seeing that's exactly what you're told off to do," said the other +occupant of the dug-out, "why grouse about it?" + +Lieutenant Ainsley laughed. "That's true enough," he admitted; +"although I fancy going out on patrol in this weather and on this part +of the line would be enough to make Mark Tapley himself grouse. +However, it's all in the course of a lifetime, I suppose." + +He completed the fastening of his mackintosh, felt that the revolver on +his belt moved freely from its holster, and that the wire nippers were +in place, pulled his soft cap well down on his head, grunted a +"Good-night," and dropped on his hands and knees to crawl out of the +dug-out. + +He made his way along the forward firing trench to where his little +patrol party awaited his coming, and having seen that they were +properly equipped and fully laden with bombs, and securing a number of +these for his own use, he issued careful instructions to the men to +crawl over the parapet one at a time, being cautious to do so only in +the intervals of darkness between the flaring lights. + +He was a little ahead of the appointed time; and because the trench +generally had been warned not to fire at anyone moving out in front at +a certain hour, it was necessary to wait until then exactly. He told +the men to wait, and spent the interval in smoking a cigarette. As he +lit it the thought came to him that perhaps it was the last cigarette +he would ever smoke. He tried to dismiss the thought, but it persisted +uncomfortably. He argued with himself and told himself that he mustn't +get jumpy, that the surest way to get shot was to be nervous about +being shot, that the job was bad enough but was only made worse by +worrying about it. As a relief and distraction to his own thoughts, he +listened to catch the low remarks that were passing between the men of +his party. + +"When I get home after this job's done," one of them was saying, "I'm +going to look for a billet as stoker in the gas works, or sign on in +one o' them factories that roll red-hot steel plates and you 'ave to +wear an asbestos sack to keep yourself from firing. After this I want +something as hot and as dry as I can find it." + +"I think," said another, "my job's going to be barman in a nice snug +little public with a fire in the bar parlor and red blinds on the +window." + +"Why don't you pick a job that'll be easy to get?" said the third, with +deep sarcasm--"say Prime Minister, or King of England. You've about as +much chance of getting them as the other." + +Lieutenant Ainsley grinned to himself in the darkness. At least, he +thought, these men have no doubts about their coming back in safety +from this patrol; but then of course it was easier for them because +they did not know the full detail of the risk they ran. But it was no +use thinking of that again, he told himself. + +He took his place in readiness, waited until one flare had burned out +and there was no immediate sign of another being thrown up, slipped +over the parapet and dropped flat in the mud on the other side. One by +one the men crawled over and dropped beside him, and then slowly and +cautiously, with the officer leading, they began to wend their way out +under their own entanglements. + +There may be some who will wonder that an officer should feel such +qualms as Ainsley had over the simple job of a night patrol over the +open ground in front of the German trench; but, then, there are patrols +and patrols, or as the inattentive recruit at the gunnery class said +when he was asked to describe the varieties of shells he had been told +of: "There are some sorts of one kind, and some of another." + +There are plenty of parts on the Western Front where affairs at +intervals settled down into such a peaceful state that there was +nothing more than a fair sporting risk attaching to the performance of +a patrol which leaves the shelter of our own lines at night to crawl +out amongst the barbed wire entanglements in the darkness. There have +been times when you might listen at night by the hour together and +hardly hear a rifle-shot, and when the burst of artillery fire was a +thing to be commented on. But at other times, and in some parts of the +line especially, business was run on very different lines. Then every +man in the forward firing-trench had a certain number of rounds to fire +each night, even although he had no definite target to fire at. +Magnesium flares and pistol lights were kept going almost without +ceasing, while the artillery made a regular practice of loosing off a +stated number of rounds per night. The Germans worked on fairly similar +lines, and as a result it can easily be imagined that any patrol or +reconnoitering work between the lines was apt to be exceedingly +unhealthy. Actually there were parts on the line where no feet had +pressed the ground of No Man's Land for weeks on end, unless in open +attack or counter-attack, and of these feet there were a good many that +never returned to the trench, and a good many others that did return +only to walk straight to the nearest aid-post and hospital. + +The neutral ground at this period of Ainsley's patrol was a sea of mud, +broken by heaped earth and yawning shell-craters; strung about with +barbed wire entanglements, littered with equipments and with packs +which had been cut from or slipped from the shoulders of the wounded; +dotted more or less thickly with the bodies of British or German who +had fallen there and could not be reached alive by any stretcher-bearer +parties. Unpleasant as was the coming in contact with these bodies, +Ainsley knew that their being there was of considerable service to him. +He and his men crawled in a scattered line, and whenever the upward +trail of sparks showed that a flare was about to burst into light, the +whole party dropped and lay still until the light had burned itself +out. Any Germans looking out could only see their huddled forms lying +as still as the thickly scattered dead; could not know but what the +party was of their number. + +It was necessary to move with the most extreme caution, because the +slightest motion might eaten the attention of a look-out, and would +certainly draw the fire of a score of rifles and probably of a +machine-gun. The first part of the journey was the worst, because they +had to cover a perfectly open piece of ground on their way to the +slight depression which Ainsley knew ran curling across the neutral +ground. Wide and shallow at the end nearest the British trench, this +depression narrowed and deepened as it ran slantingly towards the +German; halfway across, it turned abruptly and continued towards the +German side on another slant, and at a point about halfway between the +elbow and the German trench, came very close to an exploded +mine-crater, which was the objective of this night's patrol. + +It was supposed, or at least suspected, that the mine-crater was being +made the starting-point of a tunnel to run under the British trench, +and Ainsley had been told off to find out if possible whether this +suspicion was correct, and if so to do what damage he could to the mine +entrance and the miners by bombing. + +When his party reached the shallow depression, they moved cautiously +along it, and to Ainsley's relief reached the elbow in safety. Here +they were a good deal more protected from the German fire than they +could be at any point, because from here the depression was fully a +couple of feet deep and had its highest bank next the German trench. +Ainsley led his men at a fairly rapid crawl along the ditch, until he +had passed the point nearest to the mine-crater. Here he halted his +men, and with infinite caution crawled out to reconnoiter. The men, who +had been carefully instructed in the part they were to play, waited +huddling in silence under the bank for his return, or for the fusillade +of fire that would tell he was discovered. Immediately in front of the +crater was a patch of open ground without a single body lying in it; +and Ainsley knew that if he were seen lying there where no body had +been a minute before, the German who saw him would unhesitatingly place +a bullet in him. A bank of earth several feet high had been thrown up +by the mine explosion in a ring round the crater, and although this +covered him from the observation of the trench immediately behind the +mine, he knew that he could be seen from very little distance out on +the flank, and decided to abandon his crawling progress for once and +risk a quick dash across the open. For long he waited what seemed a +favorable moment, watched carefully in an endeavor to locate the nearer +positions in the German trench from which lights were being thrown up, +and to time the periods between them. + +At last three lights were thrown and burned almost simultaneously +within the area over which he calculated the illumination would expose +him. The instant the last flicker of the third light died out, he +leaped to his feet, and made a rush. The lights had shown him a scanty +few rows of barbed wire between him and the crater; he had reckoned +roughly the number of steps to it and counted as he ran, then more +cautiously pushed on, feeling for the wire, found it, threw himself +down, and began to wriggle desperately underneath. When he thought he +was through the last, he rose; but he had miscalculated, and the first +step brought his thighs in scratching contact with another wire. His +heart was in his mouth, for some seconds had passed since the last +light had died and he knew that another one must flare up at any +instant. Sweeping his arm downward and forward, he could feel no wire +higher than the one-which had pricked his legs. There was no time now +to fiddle about avoiding tears and scratches. He swung over the wire, +first one leg, then another, felt his mackintosh catch, dragged it free +with a screech of ripping cloth that brought his heart to his mouth, +turned and rushed again for the crater. As he ran, first one light, +then another, soared upwards and broke out into balls of vivid white +light that showed the crater within a dozen steps. It was no time for +caution, and everything depended on the blind luck of whether a German +lookout had his eyes on that spot at that moment. Without hesitation, +he continued his rush to the foot of the mound on the crater's edge, +hurled himself down on it and lay panting and straining his ears for +the sounds of shots and whistling bullets that would tell him he was +discovered. But the lights flared and burned out, leaped afresh and +died out again, and there was no sign that he had been seen. For the +moment he felt reasonably secure. The earth on the crater's rim was +broken and irregular, the surface an eye-deceiving patchwork of broken +light and black heavy shadow under the glare of the flying lights. The +mackintosh he wore was caked and plastered with mud, and blended well +with the background on which he lay. He took care to keep his arms in, +to sink his head well into his rounded shoulders, to curl his feet and +legs up under the skirt of his mackintosh, knowing well from his own +experience that where the outline of a body is vague and easily escapes +notice, a head or an arm, or especially and particularly a booted foot +and leg, will stand out glaringly distinct. As he lay, he placed his +ear to the muddy ground, but could hear no sound of mining operations +beneath him. Foot by foot he hitched himself upward to the rim of the +crater's edge, and again lay and listened for thrilling long-drawn +minute after minute. + +Suddenly his heart jumped and his flesh went cold. Unmistakingly he +heard the scuffle and swish of footsteps on the wet ground, the murmur +of voices apparently within a yard or two of his head. There were men +in the mine-crater, and, from the sound of their movements, they were +creeping out on a patrol similar to his own, perhaps, and, as near as +he could judge, on a line that would bring them directly on top of him. +The scuffing passed slowly in front of him and for a few yards along +the inside of the crater. The sound of the murmuring voices passed +suddenly from confused dullness to a sharp clearer-edged speech, +telling Ainsley, as plainly as if he could see, that the speaker had +risen from behind the sound-deadening ridge of earth and was looking +clear over its top, Ainsley lay as still as one of the clods of earth +about him, lay scarcely daring to breathe, and with his skin pringling. +There was a pause that may have been seconds, but that felt like hours. +He did not dare move his head to look; he could only wait in an agony +of apprehension with his flesh shrinking from the blow of a bullet that +he knew would be the first announcement of his discovery. But the +stillness was unbroken, and presently, to his infinite relief, he heard +again the guttural voices and the sliding footsteps pass back across +his front, and gradually diminish. But he would not let his impatience +risk the success of his enterprise; he lay without moving a muscle for +many long and nervous minutes. At last he began to hitch himself +slowly, an inch at a time, along the edge of the crater away from the +point to which the German lookout had moved. He halted and lay still +again when his ear caught a fresh murmur of guttural voices, the +trampling of many footsteps, and once or twice the low but clear clink +of an iron tool in the crater beneath him. + +It seemed fairly certain that the Germans were occupying the crater, +were either making it the starting-point of a mine tunnel, or were +fortifying it as a defensive point. But it was not enough to surmise +these things; he must make sure, and, if possible, bomb the working +party or the entrance to the mine tunnel. He continued to work his way +along the rim of the crater's edge. Arrived at a position where he +expected to be able to see the likeliest point of the crater for a mine +working to commence, he took the final and greatest chance. Moving only +in the intervals of darkness between the lights, he dragged the +mackintosh up on his shoulders until the edge of its deep collar came +above the top of his head, opened the throat and spread it wide to +disguise any outline of his head and neck, found a suitable hollow on +the edge of the ridge, and boldly thrust his head over to look +downwards into the hole. + +When the next light flared, he found that he could see the opposite +wall and perhaps a third of the bottom of the hole, with the head and +shoulders of two or three men moving about it. When the light died, he +hitched forward and again lay still. This time the light showed him +what he had come to seek: the black opening of a tunnel mouth in the +wall of the crater nearest the British line, a dozen men busily engaged +dragging sacks-full of earth from the opening, and emptying them +outside the shaft. He waited while several lights burned, marking as +carefully as possible the outline of the ridge immediately above the +mine shaft, endeavoring to pick a mark that would locate its position +from above it. It had begun to rain in a thin drizzling mist, and +although this obscured the outline of the crater to some extent, its +edge stood out well against the glow of such lights as were thrown up +from the British side. + +It was now well after midnight, and the firing on both sides had +slackened considerably, although there was still an irregular rattle of +rifle fire, the distant boom of a gun and the scream of its shell +passing overhead. A good deal emboldened by his freedom from discovery +and by the misty rain, Ainsley slid backwards, moved round the crater, +crept back to the barbed wire and under it, ran across the opening on +the other side and dropped into the hole where he had left his men. He +found them waiting patiently, stretched full length in the wet +discomfort of the soaking ground, but enduring it philosophically and +concerned, apparently, only for his welfare. + +His sergeant puffed a huge sigh of relief at his return. "I was just +about beginning to think you had 'gone west,' sir," he said, "and +wondering whether I oughtn't to come and 'ave a look for you." + +Ainsley explained what had happened and what he had seen. "I'm going +back, and I want you all to come with me," he said. "I'm going to shove +every bomb we've got down that mine shaft. If we meet with any luck, we +should wreck it up pretty well." + +"I suppose, sir," said the sergeant, "if we can plant a bomb or two in +the right spot, it will bottle up any Germans working inside?" + +"Sure to!" said Ainsley. "It will cave in the entrance completely; and +then as soon as we get back, we'll give the gunners the tip, and leave +them to keep on lobbing some shells in and breaking up any attempt to +reopen the shaft and dig out the mining party." + +"Billy!" said one of the men, in an audible aside, "don't you wish you +was a merry little German down that blinkin' tunnel, to-night!" + +"Imphim," answered Billy, "I don't think!" + +Ainsley explained his plan of campaign, saw that everything was in +readiness, and led his party out. The misty rain was still falling, +and, counting on this to hide them sufficiently from observation if +they lay still while any lights were burning, they crawled rapidly +across the open, wriggled underneath the wires, cut one or two of +them--especially any which were low enough to interfere with free +movement under them--and crawled along to the crater. + +Ainsley left the party sprawling flat at the foot of the rim, while he +crept up to locate the position over the mine shaft. Each man had +brought about a dozen small bombs and one large one packed with high +explosive. Before leaving the ditch, on Ainsley's directions, each man +tied his own lot in one bundle, bringing the ends of the fuses together +and tying them securely with their ends as nearly as possible level, so +that they could be lit at the same time. Each man had with him one of +those tinder pipe-lighters which are ignited by the sparks of a little +twirled wheel. When Ainsley had placed the men on the edge of the +crater, he gave the word, and each man lit his tinder, holding it so as +to be sheltered from sight from the German trench, behind the flap of +his mackintosh. Then each took a separate piece of fuse about a foot +long, and, at a whispered word from Ainsley, pressed the end into the +glowing tinder. Almost at the same instant the four fuses began to +burn, throwing out a fizzing jet of sparks. Each man knew that, shelter +them as they would from observation, the sparks were almost certain to +betray them; but although some rifles began at once to crack +spasmodically and the bullets to whistle overhead, each man went on +with the allotted program steadily, without haste and without fluster, +devoting all their attention to the proper igniting of the bomb-fuses, +and leaving what might follow to take care of itself. As his length of +fuse caught, each man said "Ready" in a low tone; Ainsley immediately +said "Light!" and each instantly directed the jet of sparks as from a +tiny hose into the tied bundle of the bomb-fuses' ends. The instant +each man saw his own bundle well ignited, he reported "Lit!" and thrust +the fuse ends well into the soft mud. Being so waterproofed as to burn +if necessary completely under water, this made no difference to the +fuses, except that it smothered the sparks and showed only a curling +smoke-wreath. But the first sparks had evidently been seen, for the +bomb party heard shoutings and a rapidly increasing fire from the +German lines. A light flamed upward near the mine-crater. Ainsley said, +"Now!--, and take good aim." The men scrambled to their knees and, +leaning well over until they could see the black entrance of the mine +shaft, tossed their bundles of bombs as nearly as they could into and +around it. In the pit below, Ainsley had a momentary glimpse of half a +dozen faces, gleaming white in the strong light, upturned, and staring +at him; from somewhere down there a pistol snapped twice, and the +bullets hissed past over their heads. The party ducked back below the +ridge of earth, and as a rattle of rifle fire commenced to break out +along the whole length of the German line, they lit from their tinder +the fuses of a couple of bombs specially reserved for the purpose, and +tossed them as nearly as they could into the German trench, a score of +paces away. Their fuses being cut much shorter than the others, the +bombs exploded almost instantly, and Ainsley and his party leapt down +to the level ground and raced across to the wire. + +By now the whole line had caught the alarm; the rifle fire had swelled +to a crackling roar, the bullets were whistling and storming across the +open. In desperate haste they threw themselves down and wriggled under +the wire, and as they did so they felt the earth beneath them jar and +quiver, heard a double and triple roar from behind them, saw the wet +ground in front of them and the wires overhead glow for an instant with +rosy light as the fire of the explosion flamed upwards from the crater. + +At the crashing blast of the discharge, the rifle fire was hushed for a +moment; Ainsley saw the chance and shouted to his men, and, as they +scrambled clear of the wire, they jumped to their feet, rushed back +over the flat, and dropped panting in the shelter of the ditch. The +rifle fire opened again more heavily than ever, and the bullets were +hailing and splashing and thudding into the wet earth around them, but +the bank protected them well, and they took the fullest advantage of +its cover. Because the depression they were in shallowed and afforded +less cover as it ran towards the British lines, it was safer for the +party to stay where they were until the fire slackened enough to give +them a fair sporting chance of crawling back in safety. + +They lay there for fully two hours before Ainsley considered it safe +enough to move. They were, of course, long since wet through, and by +now were chilled and numbed to the bone. Two of the men had been +wounded, but only very slightly in clean flesh wounds: one through the +arm and one in the flesh over the upper ribs. Ainsley himself bandaged +both men as well as he could in the darkness and the cramped position +necessary to keep below the level of the flying ballets, and both men, +when he had finished, assured him that they were quite comfortable and +entirely free from pain. Ainsley doubted this, and because of it was +the more impatient to get back to their own lines; but he restrained +his impatience, lest it should result in any of his party suffering +another and more serious wound. At last the rifle fire had died down to +about the normal night rate, had indeed dropped at the finish so +rapidly in the space of two or three minutes that Ainsley concluded +fresh orders for the slower rate must have been passed along the German +lines. He gave the word, and they began to creep slowly back, moving +again only when no lights were burning. + +There were some gaspings and groanings as the men commenced to move +their stiffened limbs. + +"I never knew," gasped one, "as I'd so many joints in my backbone, and +that each one of them could hold so many aches." + +"Same like!" said another. "If you'll listen, you can hear my knees and +hips creaking like the rusty hinges of an old barn-door." + +Although the men spoke in low tones, Ainsley whispered a stern command +for silence. + +"We're not so far away," he said, "but that a voice might carry; and +you can bet they're jumpy enough for the rest of the night to shoot at +the shadow of a whisper. Now come along, and keep low, and drop the +instant a light flares." + +They crawled back a score or so of yards that brought them to the +elbow-turn of the depression. The bank of the turn was practically the +last cover they could count upon, because here the ditch shallowed and +widened and was, in addition, more or less open to enfilading fire from +the German side. + +Ainsley halted the men and whispered to them that as soon as they +cleared the ditch they were to crawl out into open order, starting as +soon as darkness fell after the next light. Next moment they commenced +to move, and as they did so Ainsley fancied he heard a stealthy +rustling in the grass immediately in front of him. It occurred to him +that their long delay might have led to the sending out of a search +party, and he was on the point of whispering an order back to the men +to halt, while he investigated, when a couple of pistol lights flared +upwards, lighting the ground immediately about them. To his +surprise--surprise was his only feeling for the moment--he found +himself staring into a bearded face not six feet from his own, and +above the face was the little round flat cap that marked the man a +German. + +Both he and the German saw each other at the same instant; but because +the same imminent peril was over each, each instinctively dropped flat +to the wet ground. Ainsley had just time to glimpse the movement of +other three or four gray-coated figures as they also fell flat. Next +instant, he heard his sergeant's voice, hurried and sharp with warning, +but still low toned. + +"Look out, sir! There's a big Boche just in front of you." + +Ainsley "sh-sh-shed" him to silence, and at the same time was a little +amused and a great deal relieved to hear the German in front of him +similarly hush down the few low exclamations of his party. The flare +was still burning, and Ainsley, twisting his head, was able to look +across the muddy grass at the German eyes staring anxiously into his +own. + +"Do not move!" said Ainsley, wondering to himself if the man understood +English, and fumbling in vain in his mind for the German phrase that +would express his meaning. + +"Kamarade--eh?" grunted the German, with a note of interrogation that +left no doubt as to his meaning. + +"Nein, nein!" answered Ainsley. "You kamarade--sie kamarade." + +The other, in somewhat voluble gutturals, insisted that Ainsley must +"kamarade," otherwise surrender. He spoke too fast for Ainsley's very +limited knowledge of German to follow, but at least, to Ainsley's +relief, there was for the moment no motion towards hostilities on +either side. The Germans recognized, no doubt as he did, that the first +sign of a shot, the first wink of a rifle flash out there in the open, +would bring upon them a blaze of light and a storm of rifle and maxim +bullets. Even although his party had slightly the advantage of position +in the scanty cover of the ditch, he was not at all inclined to bring +about another burst of firing, particularly as he was not sure that +some excitable individuals in his own trench would not forget about his +party being in the open and hail indiscriminate bullets in the +direction of a rifle flash, or even the sound of indiscreetly loud +talking. + +Painfully, in very broken German, and a word or two at a time, he tried +to make his enemy understand that it was his, the German party, that +must surrender, pointing out as an argument that they were nearer to +the British than to the German lines. The German, however, discounted +this argument by stating that he had one more man in his party than +Ainsley had, and must therefore claim the privilege of being captor. + +The voice of his own sergeant close behind him spoke in a hoarse +undertone: "Shall I blow a blinkin' 'ole in 'im, sir? I could do 'im in +acrost your shoulder, as easy as kiss my 'and." + +"No, no!" said Ainsley hurriedly; "a shot here would raise the +mischief." + +At the same time he heard some of the other Germans speak to the man in +front of him and discovered that they were addressing him as +"Sergeant." + +"Sie ein sergeant?" he questioned, and on the German admitting that he +was a sergeant, Ainsley, with more fumbling after German words and +phrases, explained that he was an officer, and that therefore his, an +officer's patrol, took precedence over that of a mere sergeant. He had +a good deal of difficulty in making this clear to the German--either +because the sergeant was particularly thick-witted or possibly because +Ainsley's German was particularly bad. Ainsley inclined to put it down +to the German's stupidity, and he began to grow exceedingly wroth over +the business. Naturally it never occurred to him that he should +surrender to the German, but it annoyed him exceedingly that the German +should have any similar feelings about surrendering to him. Once more +he bent his persuasive powers and indifferent German to the task of +over-persuading the sergeant, and in return had to wait and slowly +unravel some meaning from the odd words he could catch here and there +in the sergeant's endeavor to over-persuade him. + +He began to think at last that there was no way out of it but that +suggested by his own sergeant--namely, to "blow a blinkin' 'ole in +'im," and his sergeant spoke again with the rattle of his chattering +teeth playing a castanet accompaniment to his words. + +"If you don't mind, sir, we'd all like to fight it out and make a run +for it. We're all about froze stiff." + +"I'm just about fed up with this fool, too," said Ainsley disgustedly. +"Look here, all of you! Watch me when the next light goes up. If you +see me grab my pistol, pick your man and shoot." + +The voice of the German sergeant broke in:-- + +"Nein, nein!" and then in English: "You no shoot! You shoot, and uns +shoot alzo!" + +Ainsley listened to the stammering English in an amazement that gave +way to overwhelming anger. "Here," he said angrily, "can you speak +English?" + +"Ein leetle, just ein leetle," replied the German. + +But at that and at the memory of the long minutes spent there lying in +the mud with chilled and frozen limbs trying to talk in German, at the +time wasted, at his own stumbling German and the probable amusement his +grammatical mistakes had given the others--the last, the Englishman's +dislike to being laughed at, being perhaps the strongest +factor--Ainsley's anger overcame him. + +"You miserable blighter!" he said wrathfully. "You have the blazing +cheek to keep me lying here in this filthy muck, mumbling and bungling +over your beastly German, and then calmly tell me that you understand +English all the time. + +"Why couldn't you _say_ you spoke English? What! D'you think I've +nothing better to do than lie out here in a puddle of mud listening to +you jabbering your beastly lingo? Silly ass! You saw that I didn't know +German properly, to begin with--why couldn't you say you spoke +English?" + +But in his anger he had raised his voice a good deal above the safety +limit, and the quick crackle of rifle fire and the soaring lights told +that his voice had been heard, that the party or parties were +discovered or suspected. + +The rest followed so quickly, the action was so rapid and +unpremeditated, that Ainsley never quite remembered its sequence. He +has a confused memory of seeing the wet ground illumined by many +lights, of drumming rifle fire and hissing bullets, and then, +immediately after, the rush and crash of a couple of German "Fizz-Bang" +shells. Probably it was the wet _plop_ of some of the backward-flung +bullets about him, possibly it was the movement of the German sergeant +that wiped out the instinctive desire to flatten himself close to +ground that drove him to instant action. The sergeant half lurched to +his knees, thrusting forward the muzzle of his rifle. Ainsley clutched +at the revolver in his holster, but before he could free it another +shell crashed, the German jerked forward as if struck by a +battering-ram between the shoulders, lay with white fingers clawing and +clutching at the muddy grass. A momentary darkness fell, and Ainsley +just had a glimpse of a knot of struggling figures, of the knot's +falling apart with a clash of steel, of a rifle spouting a long tongue +of flame ... and then a group of lights blazed again and disclosed the +figures of his own three men crouching and glancing about them. + +Of all these happenings Ainsley retains only a very jumbled +recollection, but he remembers very distinctly his savage satisfaction +at seeing "that fool sergeant" downed and the unappeased anger he still +felt with him. He carried that anger back to his own trench; it still +burned hot in him as they floundered and wallowed for interminable +seconds over the greasy mud with the bullets slapping and smacking +about them, as they wrenched and struggled over their own wire--where +Ainsley, as it happened, had to wait to help his sergeant, who for all +the advantage of their initiative in the attack and in the Germans +being barely risen to meet it, had been caught by a bayonet-thrust in +the thigh--the scramble across the parapet and hurried roll over into +the waterlogged trench. + +He arrived there wet to the skin and chilled to the bone, with his +shoulder stinging abominably from the ragged tear of a ricochet bullet +that had caught him in the last second on the parapet, and, above all, +still filled with a consuming anger against the German sergeant. Five +minutes later, in the Battalion H.Q. dugout, in making his report to +the O.C. while the Medical dressed his arm, he only gave the barest and +briefest account of his successful patrol and bombing work, but +descanted at full length and with lurid wrath on the incident of the +German patrol. + +"When I think of that ignorant beast of a sergeant keeping me out +there," he concluded disgustedly, "mumbling and spluttering over his +confounded 'yaw, yaw' and 'nein, nein,' trying to scrape up odd German +words--which I probably got all wrong--to make him understand, and him +all the time quite well able to speak good enough English--that's what +beats me--why couldn't he _say_ he spoke English?" + +"Well, anyhow," said the O.C. consolingly, "from what you tell me, he's +dead now." + +"I hope so," said Ainsley viciously, "and serve him jolly well right. +But just think of the trouble it might have saved if he'd only said at +first that he spoke English!" He sputtered wrathfully again: "Silly +ass! Why couldn't he just _say_ so?" + + + +AS OTHERS SEE + + +_"It may now be divulged that, some time ago, the British lines were +extended for a considerable distance to the South."_--EXTRACT FROM +OFFICIAL DISPATCH. + + +The first notice that the men of the Tower Bridge Foot had that they +were to move outside the territory they had learned so well in many +weary marches and wanderings in networks and mazes of trenches, was +when they crossed a road which had for long marked the boundary line +between the grounds occupied by the British and French forces. + +"Do you suppose the O.C. is drunk, or that the guide has lost his way?" +said Private Robinson. "Somebody ought to tell him we're off our beat +and that trespassers will be prosecuted. Not but what he don't know +that, seeing he prosecuted me cruel six months ago for roving off into +the French lines--said if I did it again I might be took for a spy and +shot. Anyhow, I'd be took for being where I was out o' bounds and get a +dose of Field Punishment. Wonder where we're bound for?" + +"Don't see as it matters much," said his next file. "I suppose one wet +field's as good as another to sleep in, so why worry?" + +A little farther on, the battalion met a French Infantry Regiment on +the march. The French regiment's road discipline was rather more lax +than the British, and many tolerantly amused criticisms were passed on +the loose formation, the lack of keeping step, and the straggling lines +of the French. The criticisms, curiously enough, came in a great many +cases from the very men in the Towers' ranks who had often "groused" +most at the silliness of themselves being kept up to the mark in these +matters. The marching Frenchmen were singing--but singing in a fashion +quite novel to the British. Throughout their column there were anything +up to a dozen songs in progress, some as choruses and some as solos, +and the effect was certainly rather weird. The Tower Bridge officers, +knowing their own men's fondness for swinging march songs, expected, +and, to tell truth, half hoped that they would give a display of their +harmonious powers. They did, but hardly in the expected fashion. One +man demanded in a growling bass that the "Home Fires be kept Burning," +while another bade farewell to Leicester Square in a high falsetto. The +giggling Towers caught the idea instantly, and a confused medley of +hymns, music-hall ditties, and patriotic songs in every key, from the +deepest bellowing bass to the shrillest wailing treble, arose from the +Towers' ranks, mixed with whistles and cat-calls and Corporal +Flannigan's famous imitation of "Life on a Farm." The joke lasted the +Towers for the rest of that march, and as sure as any Frenchman met or +overtook them on the road he was treated to a vocal entertainment that +must have left him forever convinced of the rumored potency of British +rum. + +By now word had passed round the Towers that they were to take over a +portion of the trenches hitherto occupied by the French. Many were the +doubts, and many were the arguments, as to whether this would or would +not be to the personal advantage and comfort of themselves; but at +least it made a change of scene and surroundings from those they had +learned for months past, and since such a change is as the breath of +life to the British soldier, they were on the whole highly pleased with +it. + +The morning was well advanced when they were met by guides and +interpreters from the French regiment which they were relieving, and +commenced to move into the new trenches. Although at first there were +some who were inclined to criticize, and reluctant to believe that a +Frenchman, or any other foreigner, could do or make anything better +than an Englishman, the Towers had to admit, even before they reached +the forward firing trench, that the work of making communication +trenches had been done in a manner beyond British praise. The trenches +were narrow and very deep, neatly paved throughout their length with +brick, spaced at regular intervals with sunk traps for draining off +rain-water, and with bays and niches cut deep in the side to permit the +passing of any one meeting a line of pack-burdened men in the +shoulder-wide alley-way. + +When they reached the forward firing trench, their admiration became +unbounded; they were as full of eager curiosity as children on a school +picnic. They fraternized instantly and warmly with the outgoing +Frenchmen, and the Frenchmen for their part were equally eager to +express friendship, to show the English the dugouts, the handy little +contrivances for comfort and safety, to bequeath to their successors +all sorts of stoves and pots and cooking utensils, and generally to +give an impression, which was put into words by Private Robinson: +"Strike me if this ain't the most cordiawl bloomin' ongtongt I've ever +met!" + +The Towers had never realized, or regretted, their lack of the French +as deeply as they came to do now. Hitherto dealings in the language had +been entirely with the women in the villages and billets of the reserve +lines, where there was plenty of time to find means of expressing the +two things that for the most part were all they had to express--their +wants and their thanks. And because by now they had no slightest +difficulty in making these billet inhabitants understand what they +required--a fire for cooking, stretching space on a floor, the location +of the nearest estaminets, whether eggs, butter, and bread were +obtainable, and how much was the price--they had fondly imagined in +their hearts, and boasted loudly in their home letters, that they were +quite satisfactorily conversant with the French language. Now they were +to discover that their knowledge was not quite so extensive as they had +imagined, although it never occurred to them that the French women in +the billets were learning English a great deal more rapidly and +efficiently than they were learning French, that it was not altogether +their mastery of the language which instantly produced soap and water, +for instance, when they made motions of washing their hands and said +slowly and loudly: "Soap--you compree, soap and l'eau; you +savvy--l'eau, wa-ter." But now, when it came to the technicalities of +their professional business, they found their command of the language +completely inadequate. There were many of them who could ask, "What is +the time?" but that helped them little to discover at what time the +Germans made a practice of shelling the trenches; they could have asked +with ease, "Have you any eggs?" but they could not twist this into a +sentence to ask whether there were any egg-selling farms in the +vicinity; could have asked "how much" was the bread, but not how many +yards it was to the German trench. + +A few Frenchmen, who spoke more or less English, found themselves in +enormous French and English demand, while Private 'Enery Irving, who +had hitherto borne some reputation as a French speaker--a reputation, +it may be mentioned, largely due to his artful knack of helping out +spoken words by imitation and explanatory acting--found his bubble +reputation suddenly and disastrously pricked. He made some attempt to +clutch at its remains by listening to the remarks addressed to him by a +Frenchman, with a most potently intelligent and understanding +expression, by ejaculating "Nong, nong!" and a profoundly understanding +"Ah, wee!" at intervals in the one-sided conversation. He tried this +method when called upon by a puzzled private to interpret the +torrential speech of a Frenchman, who wished to know whether the Towers +had any jam to spare, or whether they would exchange a rum ration for +some French wine. 'Enery interjected a few "Ah, wee's!" and then at the +finish explained to the private. + +"He speaks a bit fast," he said, "but he's trying to tell me something +about him coming from a place called Conserve, and that we can have his +'room' here--meaning, I suppose, his dug-out." He turned to the +Frenchman, spread out his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and +gesticulated after the most approved fashion of the stage Frenchman, +bowed deeply, and said, _"Merci, Monsieur,"_ many times. The Frenchman +naturally looked a good deal puzzled, but bowed politely in reply and +repeated his question at length. This producing no effect except +further stage shrugs, he seized upon one of the interpreters who was +passing and explained rapidly. "He asks," said the interpreter, turning +to 'Enery and the other men, "whether you have any _conserve et +rhum_--jam and rum--you wish to exchange for his wine." After that +'Enery Irving collapsed in the public estimation as a French speaker. + +When the Towers were properly installed, and the French regiment +commenced to move out, a Tower Bridge officer came along and told his +men that they were to be careful to keep out of sight, as the orders +were to deceive the Germans opposite and to keep them ignorant as long +as possible of the British-French exchange. Private Robinson promptly +improved upon this idea. He found a discarded French képi, put it on +his head, and looked over the parapet. He only stayed up for a second +or two and ducked again, just as a bullet whizzed over the parapet. He +repeated the performance at intervals from different parts of the +trench, but finding that his challenge drew quicker and quicker replies +was obliged at last to lift the cap no more than into sight on the +point of a bayonet. He was rather pleased with the applause of his +fellows and the half-dozen prompt bullets which each appearance of the +cap at last drew, until one bullet, piercing the cap and striking the +point of the bayonet, jarred his fingers unpleasantly and deflected the +bullet dangerously and noisily close to his ear. Some of the Frenchmen +who were filing out had paused to watch this performance, laughing and +bravo-ing at its finish. Robinson bowed with a magnificent flourish, +then replaced the képi on the point of the bayonet, raised the képi, +and made the bayonet bow to the audience. A French officer came +bustling along the trench urging his men to move on. He stood there to +keep the file passing along without check, and Robinson turned +presently to some of the others and asked if they knew what was the +meaning of this "Mays ongfong" that the officer kept repeating to his +men. "Ongfong," said 'Enery Irving briskly, seizing the opportunity to +reëstablish himself as a French speaker, "means 'children'; spelled +e-n-f-a-n-t-s, pronounced _ongfong_." + +"Children!" said Robinson. "Infants, eh? 'ealthy lookin' lot o' +infants. There's one now--that six-foot chap with the Father Christmas +whiskers; 'ow's that for a' infant?" + +As the Frenchmen filed out some of them smiled and nodded and called +cheery good-bys to our men, and 'Enery Irving turned to a man beside +him. "This," he said, "is about where some appropriate music should +come in the book. Exit to triumphant strains of martial music Buck up, +Snapper! Can't you mouth-organ 'em the Mar-shall-aise?" + +Snapper promptly produced his instrument and mouth-organed the opening +bars, and the Towers joined in and sang the tune with vociferous +"la-la-las." When they had finished, two or three of the Frenchmen, +after a quick word together struck up "God Save the King." Instantly +the others commenced to pick it up, but before they had sung three +words 'Enery Irving, in tones of horror, demanded "The Mar-shall-aise +again; quick, you idiot!" from Snapper, and himself swung off into a +falsetto rendering of "Three Blind Mice." In a moment the Towers had in +full swing their medley caricature of the French march singing, under +which "God Save the King" was very completely drowned. + +"What the devil d'you mean? Are you all mad?" demanded a wrathful +subaltern, plunging round the traverse to where Snapper mouth-organed +the "Marseillaise," 'Enery Irving lustily intoned his anthem of the +Blind Mice, and Corporal Flannigan passed from the deep lowing of a cow +to the clarion calls of the farmyard rooster. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said 'Enery Irving with lofty dignity, "but if I +'adn't started this row the 'ole trenchful o' Frenchies would 'ave been +'owling our 'Gawd Save.' I saw that 'ud be a clean give-away, an' the +order bein' to act so as to deceive----" + +"Quite right," said the officer, "and a smart idea of yours to block +it. But who was the crazy ass who started it by singing the +'Marseillaise'?" On this point, however, 'Enery was discreetly silent. + +Before the French had cleared the trench the Germans opened a leisurely +bombardment with a trench mortar. This delayed the proceeding somewhat, +because it was reckoned wiser to halt the men and clear them from the +crowded trench into the dug-outs. "With the double company of French +and British, there was rather a tight squeeze in the shelters, +wonderfully commodious as they were. + +"Now this," said Corporal Flannigan, "is what I call something like a +dug-out." He looked appreciatively round the square, smooth-walled +chamber and up the steps to the small opening which gave admittance to +it. "Good dodge, too, this sinking it deep underground. Even if a bomb +dropped in the trench just outside, and pieces blew in the door, they'd +only go over our heads. Something like, this is." + +"I wonder," said another reflectively, "why we don't have dug-outs like +this in our line?" He spoke in a slightly aggrieved tone, as if dugouts +were things that were issued from the Quarter-Master's store, and +therefore a legitimate cause for free complaint. He and his fellows +would certainly have felt a good deal more aggrieved, however, if they +had been set the labor of making such dug-outs. + +Up above, such of the French and British as had been left in the trench +were having quite a busy time with the bombs. The Frenchmen had rather +a unique way of dodging these, which the Towers were quick to adopt. +The whole length of the trench was divided up into compartments by +strong traverses running back at right angles from the forward parapet, +and in each of these compartments there were anything from four or five +to a dozen men, all crowded to the backward end of the traverse, +waiting and watching there to see the bomb come twirling slowly and +clumsily over. As it reached the highest point of its curve and began +to fall down towards the trench, it was as a rule fairly easy to say +whether it would fall to right or left of the traverse. If it fell in +the trench to the right, the men hurriedly plunged round the corner of +the traverse to the left, and waited there till the bomb exploded. The +crushing together at the angle of the traverse, the confused cries of +warning or advice, or speculation as to which side a bomb would fall, +the scuffling, tumbling rush to one side or the other, the cries of +derision which greeted the ineffective explosion--all made up a sort of +game. The Towers had had a good many unhappy experiences with bombs, +and at first played the unknown game carefully and anxiously, and with +some doubts as to its results. But they soon picked it up, and +presently made quite merry at it, laughing and shouting noisily, +tumbling and picking themselves up and laughing again like children. + +They lost three men, who were wounded through their slowness in +escaping from the compartment where the bomb exploded, and this rather +put the Towers on their mettle. As Private Robinson remarked, it wasn't +the cheese that a Frenchman should beat an Englishman at any blooming +game. + +"If we could only get a little bit of a stake on it," he said +wistfully, "we could take 'em on, the winners being them that loses +least men." + +It being impossible, however, to convey to the Frenchmen that interest +would be added by the addition of a little bet, the Towers had to +content themselves with playing platoon against platoon amongst +themselves, the losing platoon pay, what they could conveniently +afford, the day's rations of the men who were casualtied. The +subsequent task of dividing one and a quarter pots of jam, five +portions of cheese, bacon and a meat-and-potato stew was only settled +eventually by resource to a set of dice. + +As the bombing continued methodically, the French artillery, who were +still covering this portion of the trench, set to work to silence the +mortar, and the Towers thoroughly enjoyed the ensuing performance, and +the generous, not to say extravagant, fashion in which the French +battery, after the usual custom of French batteries, lavished its +shells upon the task. For five minutes the battery spoke in +four-tongued emphatic tones, and the shells screamed over the forward +trench, crackled and crashed above the German line, dotted the German +parapet along its length, played up and down it in long bursts of fire, +and deluged the suspected hiding-place of the mortar with a torrent of +high explosive. When it stopped, the bombing also had stopped for that +day. + +The French infantry did not wait for the ceasing of the artillery fire. +They gathered themselves and their belongings and recommenced to move +as soon as the guns began to speak. + +"Feenish!" as one of them said, placing a finger on the ground, lifting +it in a long curve, twirling it over and over and downward again in +imitation of a falling bomb. "Ze soixante-quinze speak, +bang-bang-bang!" and his fist jerked out four blows in a row. +"Feenish!" he concluded, holding a hand out towards the German lines +and making a motion of rubbing something off the slate. Plainly they +were very proud of their artillery, and the Towers caught that word +"soixante-quinze" in every tone of pleasure, pride, and satisfaction. +But as Private Robinson said, "I don't wonder at it. Cans is a good +name, but can-an'-does would be a better." + +When the last of the Frenchmen had gone, the Towers completed their +settling in and making themselves comfortable in the vacated quarters. +The greatest care was taken to avoid any man showing a British cap or +uniform. "Snapper" Brown, urged by the public-spirited 'Enery Irving, +exhausted himself in playing the "Marseillaise" at the fullest pitch of +his lungs and mouth-organ. His artistic soul revolted at last at the +repetition, but since the only other French tune that was suggested was +the Blue Danube Waltz, and there appeared to be divergent opinions as +to its nationality, "Snapper" at last struck, and refused to play the +"Marseillaise" a single time more. 'Enery Irving enthusiastically took +up this matter of "acting so as to deceive the Germans." + +"Act!" he said. "If I'd a make-up box and a false mustache 'ere, I'd +act so as to cheat the French President 'imself, much less a parcel of +beer-swilling Germs." + +The German trenches were too far away to allow of any conversation, but +'Enery secured a board, wrote on it in large letters "Veev la France," +and displayed it over the parapet. After the Germans had signified +their notice of the sentiment by firing a dozen shots at it, 'Enery +replaced it by a fresh one, "A baa la Bosh." This notice was left +standing, but to 'Enery's annoyance the Germans displayed in return a +board which said in plain English, "Good morning." "Ain't that a knock +out," said 'Enery disgustedly. "Much use me acting to deceive the +Germans if some silly blighter in another bit o' the line goes and +gives the game away." + +Throughout the rest of the day he endeavored to confuse the German's +evident information by the display of the French cap and of French +sentences on the board like "Bong jewr," "Bong nwee," and "Mercridi," +which he told the others was the French for a day of the week, the +spelling being correct as he knew because he had seen it written down, +and the day indicated, he believed, being Wednesday--or Thursday. "And +that's near enough," he said, "because to-day is Wednesday, and if +Mercridi means Wednesday, they'll think I'm signaling 'to-day'; and if +it means Thursday, they'll think I'm talking about to-morrow." All +doubts of the German's knowledge appeared to be removed, however, by +their next notice, which stated plainly, "You are Englander." To that +'Enery, his French having failed him, could only retort by a drawing of +outstretched fingers and a thumb placed against a prominent nose on an +obviously French face, with pointed mustache and imperial, and a French +cap. But clearly even this failed, and the German's next message read, +"WELL DONE, WALES!" The Towers were annoyed, intensely annoyed, because +shortly before that time the strikes of the Welsh miners had been +prominent in the English papers, and as the Towers guessed from this +notice at least equally prominent in the German journals. + +"And I only 'opes," said Robinson, "they sticks that notice up in front +of some of the Taffy regiments." + +"I don't see that a bit," said 'Enery Irving. "The Taffys out 'ere 'ave +done their bit along with the best, and they're just as mad as us, and +maybe madder, at these ha'penny-grabbing loafers on strike." + +"True enough," said Robinson, "but maybe they'll write 'ome and tell +their pals 'ow pleased the Bosche is with them, and 'ave a kind word in +passing to say when any of them goes 'ome casualtied or on leave, 'Well +done, Wales!' Well, I 'ope Wales likes that smack in the eye," and he +spat contemptuously. Presently he had the pleasure of expressing his +mind more freely to a French signaler of artillery who was on duty at +an observing post in this forward fire trench. The Frenchman had a +sufficient smattering of English to ask awkward questions as to why men +were allowed to strike in England in war time, but unfortunately not +enough to follow Robinson's lengthy and agonized explanations that +these men were not English but--a very different thing--Welsh, and, +more than that, unpatriotic swine, who ought to be shot. He was reduced +at last to turning the unpleasant subject aside by asking what the +Frenchman was doing there now the British had taken over. And presently +the matter was shelved by a French observing officer, who was on duty +there, calling his signalers to attention. The German guns had opened a +slow and casual fire about half an hour before on the forward British +trench, and now they quickened their fire and commenced methodically to +bombard the trench. At his captain's order a signaler called up a +battery by telephone. The telephone instrument was in a tall narrow box +with a handle at the side, and the signaler ground the handle +vigorously for a minute and shouted a long string of hello's into the +instrument, rapidly twirled the handle again and shouted, twirled and +shouted. + +The Towers watched him in some amusement. "'Ere, chum," said Robinson, +"you 'aven't put your tuppence in the slot," and 'Enery Irving in a +falsetto imitation of a telephone girl's metallic voice drawled: "Put +two pennies in, please, and turn the handle after each--one--two--thank +you! You're through." The signaler revolved the handle again. "You're +mistook, 'Enery," said Robinson, "'e ain't through. Chum, you ought to +get your tuppence back." + +"Ask to be put through to the inquiry office," said another. "Make a +complaint and tell 'em to come and take the blanky thing away if it +can't be kept in order. That's what I used to 'ear my governor say +every other day." + +From his lookout corner the captain called down in rapid French to his +signaler. + +"D 'ye 'ear that," said Robinson. "Garsong he called him. He's a +bloomin' waiter! Well, well, and me thought he was a signaler." + +The captain at last was forced to descend from his place, and with the +signaler endeavored to rectify the faulty instrument. They got through +at last, and the captain spoke to his battery. + +"'Ear that," said Robinson. "'Mes on-fong,' he says. He's got a lot o' +bloomin' infants too." + +"Queer crowd!" said Flannigan. "What with infants for soldiers and a +waiter for a signaler, and a butcher or a baker or candlestick-maker +for a President, as I'm told they have, they're a rum crush +altogether." + +The captain ascended to his place again. A German shell, soaring over, +burst with a loud _crump_ behind the trench. The French signaler +laughed and waved derisively towards the shell. He leaned his head and +body far to one side, straightened slowly, bent his head on a curve to +the other side, and brought it up with a jerk, imitating, as he did so, +the sound of the falling and bursting shell, +"_sss-eee-aaa-ahah-aow-Wump_." Another shell fell, and "_aow-Wump_," he +cried again, shuffling his feet and laughing gayly. The Towers laughed +with him, and when the next shell fell there was a general chorus of +imitation. + +The captain called again, the signaler ground the handle and spoke into +the telephone. "Fire!" he said, nodding delightedly to the Towers; +"boom-boom-boom-boom." Immediately after they heard the loud, harsh, +crackling reports of the battery to their rear, and the shells rushed +whistling overhead. + +The signaler mimicked the whistling sound, and clicked his heels +together. "Ha!" he said, "soixante-quinze--good, eh?" The captain +called to him, and again he revolved the handle and called to the +battery. + +"Garsong," said Robinson, "a plate of swa-song-canned beans, si voo +play--and serve 'em hot" + +A German shell dropped again, and again the chorused howls and laughter +of the Towers marked its fall. The captain called for high explosive, +and the signaler shouted on the order. + +"Exploseef," repeated 'Enery Irving, again airing his French. "That's +high explosive." + +"Garsong, twopennorth of exploseef soup," chanted Robinson. + +Then the order was sent down for rapid fire, and a moment later the +battery burst out in running quadruple reports, and the shells streamed +whistling overhead. The Towers peered through periscopes and over the +parapet to watch the tossing plumes of smoke and dust that leaped and +twisted in the German lines. "Good old cans!" said Robinson +appreciatively. + +When the fire stopped, the captain came to the telephone and spoke to +the battery in praise of their shooting. The Towers listened carefully +to catch a word here and there. "There he goes again," said Robinson, +"with 'is bloomin' infants," and later he asked the signaler the +meaning of "_mes braves_" that was so often in the captain's mouth. + +"'Ear that," he said to the other Towers when the signaler explained it +meant "my braves." "Bloomin' braves he's calling his battery now. +Infants was bad enough, but 'braves' is about the limit. I'm open to +admit they're brave enough; that bombing didn't seem to worry them, and +shell-fire pleases them like a call for dinner; and you remember that +time we was in action one side of the La Bassée road and they was in it +on the other? Strewth! When I remember the wiping they got crossing the +open, and the way they stuck it and plugged through that mud, and tore +the barbed wire up by the roots, and sailed over into the German +trench, I'm not going to contradict anybody that calls 'em brave. But +it sounds rum to 'ear 'em call each other it." + +Robinson was busy surveying in a periscope the ground between the +trenches. "I dunno if I'm seein' things," he remarked suddenly, "but I +could 've swore a man's 'and waved out o' the grass over there." With +the utmost caution half a dozen men peered out through loopholes and +with periscopes in the direction indicated, and presently a chorus of +exclamations told that the hand had again been seen. Robinson was just +about to wave in reply when 'Enery grabbed his arm. + +"You're a nice one to 'act so as to deceive,' you are," he said warmly. +"I s'pose a khaki sleeve is likely to make the 'Uns believe we're +French. Now, you watch me." + +He pulled back his tunic sleeve, held his shirtsleeved arm up the +moment the next wave came, and motioned a reply. + +"He's in a hole o' some sort," said 'Enery. "Now I wonder who it is. A +Frenchie by his tunic sleeve." + +"Yes; there's 'is cap," said Robinson suddenly. "Just up--and gone." + +"Make the same motion wi' this cap on a bayonet," said 'Enery; "then +knock off, case the Boshies spot 'im." + +The matter was reported, and presently a couple of officers came along, +made a careful examination, and waved the cap. A cautious reply, and a +couple of bullets whistling past their cap came at the same moment. + +Later, 'Enery sought the sergeant. "Mind you this, sergeant," he said, +"if there's any volunteerin' for the job o' fetchin' that chap in, he +belongs to me. I found 'im." The sergeant grinned. + +"Robinson was here two minutes ago wi' the same tale," he said. "Seems +you're all in a great hurry to get shot." + +"Like his bloomin' cheek!" said the indignant 'Enery. "I know why he +wants to go out; he's after those German helmets the interpreter told +us was lyin' out there." + +The difficulty was solved presently by the announcement that an officer +was going out and would take two volunteers--B Company to have first +offer. 'Enery and Robinson secured the post, and 'Enery immediately +sought the officer. Reminding him of the order to "act so as to +deceive," he unfolded a plan which was favorably considered. + +"Those Boshies thought they was bloomin' clever to twig we was +English," he told the others of B Company; "but you wait till the +lime-light's on me. I'll puzzle 'em." + +The two French artillery signalers were sleeping in the forward trench, +and after some explanation readily lent their long-skirted coats. The +officer and Robinson donned one each, and 'Enery carefully arrayed +himself in a torn and discarded pair of old French baggy red breeches +and the damaged French cap, and discarded his own jacket. His gray +shirt might have been of any nationality, so that on the whole he made +quite a passable Frenchman. While they waited for darkness he paraded +the trench, shrugging his shoulders, and gesticulating. "Bon joor, mays +ong-fong," he remarked with a careless hand-wave. "Hey, gar-song! +Donney-moi du pang eh du beurre, si voo play--and donnay-moi swoy-song +cans--rapeed--exploseef! Merci, mes braves, mes bloomin' 'eroes ... mes +noble warriors, merci. Snapper, strike up the 'Conkerin' 'Ero,' if you +please." + +Before the time came to go he added to his make-up by marking on his +face with a burnt stick huge black mustachios and an imperial, and +although the officer stared a little when he came along he ended by +laughing, and leaving 'Enery his "make-up" disguise. + +An hour after dark the three slipped quietly over the parapet and out +through the barbed wire, dragging a stretcher after them. It was a +fairly quiet night, with only an occasional rifle cracking and no +artillery fire. A bright moon floated behind scudding clouds, and +perhaps helped the adventure by the alternate minutes of light and dark +and the difficulty of focusing eyes to the differences of moonlight and +dark and the blaze of an occasional flare when the moon was obscured. +Behind the parapet the Towers waited with rifles ready, and stared out +through the loopholes; and behind them the French artillery officer, +and his signalers standing by their telephone, also waited with the +loaded guns and ready gunners at the other end of the wire. The +watchers saw the dark blot of men and stretcher slip under the wires, +and slowly, very slowly, creep on through the long grass. Half-way +across, the watchers lost them amidst the other black blots and +shadows, and it was a full half-hour after when a private exclaimed +suddenly: "I see them," he said. "There, close where we saw the hand." + +The moon vanished a moment, then sailed clear, throwing a strong +silvery light across the open ground, and showing plainly the German +wire entanglements and the black-and-white patchwork of their +barricade. There were no visible signs of the rescue party, for the +good reason that they had slipped into and lay prone in the wide shell +crater that held the wounded Frenchman. Far spent the man was when they +found him, for he had lain there three nights and two days with a +bullet-smashed thigh and the scrape across his skull that had led the +rest of his night patrol to count him dead and so abandon him. + +Now the moon slid again behind the racing clouds, and patches of light +and shadow in turn chased across the open ground. + +"Here they come," said the captain of B Company a few minutes later. +"At least I think it's them, altho' I can only see two men and no +stretcher." + +"Do you see them?" said an eager voice in French at his ear, and when +he turned and found the gunner captain and explained to him, the +captain made a gesture of despair. "Perhaps it is that they cannot move +him," he said. "Or would they, do you think, return for more help? I +should go myself but that I may be needed to talk with the battery. +Perhaps one of my signalers----" + +But the Englishman assured him it was better to wait; they could not be +returning for help; that the three could do all a dozen could. + +Again they waited and watched in eager suspense, glimpsing the crawling +figures now and then, losing them again, in doubts and certainty in +swift turns as to the whereabouts and identity of the crawling figures. + +"There is one of them," said the captain quickly; "there, by himself, +in those cursed red breeches. They show up in the flarelight like a +blood-spot on a clean collar. Dashed idiot! And I was a fool, too, to +let him go like that." + +But it was plain now that 'Enery Irving was dragging his red breeches +well clear of the others, although it was not plain, what the others +had done with the stretcher. There were two of them at the length of a +stretcher apart, and yet no visible stretcher lay between them. It was +the sergeant who solved the mystery. + +"I'm blowed!" he said, in admiring wonder; "they've covered the +stretcher over with cut grass. They've got their man too--see his head +this end." + +Now that they knew it, all could see the outline of the man's body +covered over with grass, the thick tufts waving upright from his hands +and nodding between his legs. + +They were three-quarters of the way across now, but still with a +dangerous slope to cross. It was ever so slight, but, tilted as it was +towards the enemy's line, it was enough to show much more plainly +anything that moved or lay upon its face. They crawled on with a +slowness that was an agony to watch, crawled an inch at a time, lying +dead and still when a light flared, hitching themselves and the +dragging stretcher onwards as the dullness of hazed moonlight fell. + +The French captain was consumed with impatience, muttering exhortations +to caution, whispering excited urgings to move, as if his lips were at +the creepers' ears, his fingers twitching and jerking, his body +hitching and holding still, exactly as if he too crawled out there and +dragged at the stretcher. + +And then when it seemed that the worst was over, when there was no more +than a score of feet to cover to the barbed wire, when they were +actually crawling over the brow of the gentle rise, discovery came. +There were quick shots from one spot of the German parapet, confused +shouting, the upward soaring of half a dozen blazing flares. + +And then before the two dragging the stretcher could move in a last +desperate rush for safety, before they could rise from their prone +position, they heard the rattle of fire increase swiftly to a trembling +staccato roar. But, miraculously, no bullets came near them, no +whistling was about their ears, no ping and smack of impacting lead +hailed about them--except, yes, just the fire of one rifle or two that +sent aimed bullet after bullet hissing over them. They could not +understand it, but without waiting to understand they half rose, thrust +and hauled at the stretcher, dragged it under the wires, heaved it over +to where eager hands tore down the sandbags to gap a passage for them. +A handful of bullets whipped and rapped about them as they tumbled +over, and the stretcher was hoisted in, but nothing worth mention, +nothing certainly of that volume of fire that drammed and rolled out +over there. They did not understand; but the others in the trench +understood, and laughed a little and swore a deal, then shut their +teeth and set themselves to pump bullets in a covering fire upon the +German parapet. + +The stretcher party drew little or no fire, simply and solely because +just one second after those first shots and loud shouts had declared +the game up, a figure sprang from the grass fifty yards along the +trench and twice as far out in the open, sprang up and ran out, and +stood in the glare of light, the baggy scarlet breeches and gray shirt +making a flaring mark that no eye, called suddenly to see, could miss, +that no rifle brought sliding through the loophole and searching for a +target could fail to mark. The bullets began to patter about 'Enery +Irving's feet, to whine and whimper and buzz about his ears. And +'Enery--this was where the trench, despite themselves, laughed--'Enery +placed his hand on his heart, swept off his cap in a magnificent arm's +length gesture, and bowed low; then swiftly he rose upright, struck an +attitude that would have graced the hero of the highest class Adelphi +drama, and in a shrill voice that rang clear above the hammering tumult +of the rifles, screamed "Veev la France! A baa la Bosh!" The rifles by +this time were pelting a storm of lead at him, and now that the haste +and flurry of the urgent call had passed and the shooters had steadied +to their task, the storm was perilously close. 'Enery stayed a moment +even then to spread his hands and raise his shoulders ear-high in a +magnificent stage shrug; but a bullet snatched the cap from his head, +and 'Enery ducked hastily, turned, and ran his hardest, with the +bullets snapping at his heels. + +Back in the trench a frantic French captain was raving at the +telephone, whirling the handle round, screaming for "Fire, fire, fire!" + +Private Flannigan looked over his shoulder at him, "Mong capitaine," he +said, "you ought, you reely ought, to ring up your telephone; turn the +handle round an' say something." + +"Drop two pennies in," mocked another as the captain birr-r-red the +handle and yelled again. + +Whether he got through, or whether the burst of rifle fire reached the +listening ears at the guns, nobody knew; but just as 'Enery did his +ear-embracing shoulder-shrug the first shells screamed over, burst and +leaped down along the German parapet. After that there was no complaint +about the guns. They scourged the parapet from end to end, up and down, +and up again; they shook it with the blast of high explosive, ripped +and flayed it with, driving blasts of shrapnel, smothered it with a +tempest of fire and lead, blotted it out behind a veil of writhing +smoke. + +At the sound of the first shot the gunner captain had leaped back to +the trench. "Is he in? Is he arrived?" he shouted in the ear of the B +Company captain who leaned anxiously over the parapet. The captain drew +back and down. "He's in--bless him--I mean dash his impudent hide!" + +The Frenchman turned and called to his signaler, and the next moment +the guns ceased. But the captain waited, watching with narrowed eyes +the German parapet. The storm of his shells had obliterated the rifle +fire, but after a few minutes it opened up again in straggling shots. + +The captain snapped back a few orders, and prompt to his word the +shells leaped and struck down again on the parapet. A dozen rounds and +they ceased, and again the captain waited and watched. The rifles were +silent now, and presently the captain relaxed his scowling glare and +his tightened lips. "Vermin!" he said. He used just the tone a man +gives to a ferocious dog he has beaten and cowed to a sullen +submission. + +But he caught sight of 'Enery making his way along the trench past his +laughing and chaffing mates, and leaped down and ran to him. "Bravo!" +he beamed, and threw his arms round the astonished soldier, and before +he could dodge, as the disgusted 'Enery said afterwards, "planted two +quick-fire kisses, smack, smack," on his two cheeks. + +"_Mon brave_!" he said, stepping back and regarding 'Enery with shining +eyes, "_Mon brave, mon beau Anglais, mon_----" + +But 'Enery's own captain arrived here and interrupted the flow of +admiration, cursing the grinning and sheepish private for a this, that, +and the other crazy, play-acting idiot, and winding up abruptly by +shaking hands with him and saying gruffly, "Good work, though. B +Company's proud of you, and so'm I." + +"An' I admit I felt easier after that rough-tonguin'," 'Enery told B +Company that night over a mess-tin of tea. "It was sort of +natural-like, an' what a man looks for, and it broke up about as +unpleasant a sit-u-ation as I've seen staged. I could see you all +grinnin', and I don't wonder at it. That slobberin' an' kissin' +business, an' the Mong Brav Conkerin' 'Ero may be all right for a lot +o' bloomin' Frenchies that don't know better--" + +He took a long swig of tea. + +"Though, mind you," he resumed, "I haven't a bad word to fit to a +Frenchman. They're real good fighting stuff, an' they ain't arf the +light-'earted an' light-'eaded grinnin' giddy goats I used to take 'em +for." + +"There wasn't much o' the light 'eart look about the Mong Cappytaine +to-night," said Robinson. "'Is eyes was snappin' like two ends o' a +live wire, and 'e 'andled them guns as business-like as a butcher +cutting chops." + +"That's it," said 'Enery, "business-like is the word for 'em. I noticed +them 'airy-faces shootin' to-day. They did it like they was sent there +to kill somebody, and they meant doin' their job thorough an' +competent. Afore I come this trip on the Continong I used to think a +Frenchman was good for nothing but fiddlin' an' dancin' an' makin' +love. But since I've seen 'em settin' to Bosh partners an' dancin' +across the neutral ground an' love-makin' wi' Rosalie,[Footnote: +_Rosalie_--the French nickname for the bayonet.] I've learned better. +'Ere's luck to 'im," and he drained the mess-tin. + +And the French, if one might judge from the story _mon capitaine_ had +to tell his major, had also revised some ancient opinions of their +Allies. + +"Cold!" he said scornfully; "never again tell me these English are +cold. Children--perhaps. Foolish--but yes, a little. They try to kill a +man between jests; they laugh if a bullet wounds a comrade so that he +grimaces with pain--it is true; I saw it." It _was_ true, and had +reference to a sight scrape of a bullet across the tip of the nose of a +Towers private, and the ribald jests and laughter thereat. "They make +jokes, and say a man 'stopped one,' meaning a shell had been stopped in +its flight by exploding on him--this the interpreter has explained to +me. But cold--no, no, no! If you had seen this man--ah, sublime, +magnificent! With the whistling balls all round him he stands, so +brave, so noble, so fine, stands--so! '_Vive la France_!' he cried +aloud, with a tongue of trumpets; '_Vive la France! A bas les +Boches_!'" + +The captain, as he declaimed "with a tongue of trumpets," leaped to his +feet and struck an attitude that was really quite a good imitation of +'Enery's own mock-tragedian one. But the officers listening breathed +awe and admiration; they did not, as the Towers did, laugh, because +here, unlike the Towers, they saw nothing to laugh at. + +The captain dropped to his chair amid a murmur of applause. "Sublime!" +he said. "That posture, that cry! Indeed, it was worthy of a Frenchman. +But certainly we must recommend him for a Cross of France, eh, my +major?" + +'Enery Irving got the Cross of the Legion of Honor. But I doubt if it +ever gave him such pure and legitimate joy as did a notice stuck up in +the German trench next day. Certainly it insulted the English by +stating that their workers stayed at home and went on strike while +Frenchmen fought and died. _But_ it was headed "Frenchman!" _and it was +written in French._ + + + +THE FEAR OF FEAR + + +_"At ---- we recaptured the portion of front line trench lost by us +some days ago."_--EXTRACT FROM DISPATCH. + +"In a charge," said the Sergeant, "the 'Hotwater Guards' don't think +about going back till there's none of them left to go back; and you can +always remember this: if you go forward you _may_ die, if you go back +you _will_ die." + +The memory of that phrase came back to Private Everton, tramping down +the dark road to the firing-line. Just because he had no knowledge of +how he himself would behave in this his baptism of fire, just because +he was in deadly fear that he would feel fear, or, still worse, show +it, he strove to fix that phrase firmly in front of his mind. "If I can +remember that," he thought, "it will stop me going back, anyway," and +he repeated: "If you go back you _will_ die, if you go back you _will_ +die," over and over. + +It is true that, for all his repetition, when a field battery, hidden +close by the side of the road on which they marched, roared in a sudden +and ear-splitting salvo of six guns, for the instant he thought he was +under fire and that a huge shell had burst somewhere desperately close +to them. He had jumped, his comrades assured him afterwards, a clear +foot and a half off the ground, and he himself remembered that his +first involuntary glance and thought flashed to the deep ditch that ran +alongside the road. + +When he came to the trenches, at last, and filed down the narrow +communication-trench and into his Company's appointed position in the +deep ditch with a narrow platform along its front that was the forward +fire-trench, he remembered with unpleasant clearness that instinctive +start and thought of taking cover. By that time he had actually been +under fire, had heard the shells rush over him and the shattering noise +of their burst; had heard the bullets piping and humming and hissing +over the communication- and firing-trenches. He took a little comfort +from the fact that he had not felt any great fear then, but he had to +temper that by the admission that there was little to be afraid of +there in the shelter of the deep trench. It was what he would do and +feel when he climbed out of cover on to the exposed and bullet-swept +flat before the trench that he was in doubt about; for the Hotwaters +had been told that at nine o'clock there was to be a brief but intense +bombardment on a section of trench in front of them which had been +captured from us the day before, and which, after several +counter-attacks had failed, was to be taken that morning by this +battalion of Hotwaters. + +At half-past eight, nobody entering their trench would have dreamed +that the Hotwaters were going into a serious action in half an hour. +The men were lounging about, squatting on the firing-step, chaffing and +talking--laughing even--quite easily and naturally; some were smoking, +and others had produced biscuits and bully beef from their haversacks +and were calmly eating their breakfast. + +Everton felt a glow of pride as he looked at them. These men were his +friends, his fellows, his comrades: they were of the Hotwater +Guards--his regiment, and his battalion. He had heard often enough that +the Guards Brigades were the finest brigades in the Army, that this +particular brigade was the best of all the Guards, that his battalion +was the best of the Brigade. Hitherto he had rather deprecated these +remarks as savoring of pride and self-conceit, but now he began to +believe that they must be true; and so believing, if he had but known +it, he had taken another long step on the way to becoming the perfect +soldier, who firmly believes his regiment the finest in the world and +is ready to die in proof of the belief. + +"Dusty Miller," the next file on his left, who was eating bread and +cheese, spoke to him. + +"Why don't you eat some grab, Toffee?" he mumbled cheerfully, with his +mouth full. "In a game like this you never know when you'll get the +next chance of a bite." + +"Don't feel particularly hungry," answered Toffee with an attempt to +appear as off-handed and casual and at ease as his questioner. "So I +think I'd better save my ration until I'm hungry." + +Dusty Miller sliced off a wedge of bread with the knife edge against +his thumb, popped it in his mouth, and followed it with a corner of +cheese. + +"A-ah!" he said profoundly, and still munching; "there's no sense in +saving rations when you're going into action. I'd a chum once that +always did that; said he got more satisfaction out of a meal when the +job was over and he was real hungry, and had a chance to eat in +comfort--more or less comfort. And one day we was for it he saved a tin +o' sardines and a big chunk of cake and a bottle of pickled onions that +had just come to him from home the day before; said he was looking +forward to a good feed that night after the show was over. And--and he +was killed that day!" + +Dusty Miller halted there with the inborn artistry that left his climax +to speak for itself. + +"Hard luck!" said Toffee sympathetically. "So his feed was wasted!" + +"Not to say wasted exactly," said Dusty, resuming bread and cheese. +"Because I remembers to this day how good them onions was. Still it was +wasted, far as he was concerned--and he was particular fond o' pickled +onions." + +But even the prospect of wasting his rations did nothing to induce +Toffee to eat a meal. The man on Toffee's right was crouched back on +the firing-step apparently asleep or near it. Dusty Miller had turned +and opened a low-toned conversation with the next man, the frequent +repetition of "I says" and "she says" affording some clew to the thread +of his story and inclining Toffee to believe it not meant for him to +hear. He felt he must speak to some one, and it was with relief that he +saw Halliday, the man on his other side, rouse himself and look up. +Something about Toffee's face caught his attention. + +"How are you feeling?" he asked, leaning forward and speaking quietly. +"This is your first charge, isn't it!" + +"Yes," said Toffee, "I'm all right. I--I think I'm all right." + +The other moved slightly on the firing-step, leaving a little room, and +Toffee took this as an invitation to sit down. Halliday continued to +speak in low tones that were not likely to pass beyond his listener's +ear. + +"Don't you get scared," he said. "You've nothing much to be scared +about." + +He threw a little emphasis, and Toffee fancied a little envy, into the +"you." + +"I'm not scared exactly," said Toffee. "I'm sort of wondering what it +will be like." + +"I know," said Halliday, "I know; and who should, if I didn't? But I +can tell you this--you don't need to be afraid of shells, you don't +need to be afraid of bullets, and least of all is there any need to be +afraid of the cold iron when the Hotwaters get into the trench. You +don't need to be afraid of being wounded, because that only means home +and a hospital and a warm dry bed; you don't need to be afraid of +dying, because you've got to die some day, anyhow. There's only one +thing in this game to be afraid of, and there isn't many finds that in +their first engagement. It's the ones like me that get it." + +Toffee glanced at him curiously and in some amazement. Now that he +looked closely, he could see that, despite his easy loungeful attitude +and steady voice, and apparently indifferent look, there was something +odd and unexplainable about Halliday: some faintest twitching of his +lips, a shade of pallor on his cheek, a hunted look deep at the back of +his eyes. Everton tried to speak lightly. + +"And what is it, then, that the likes o' you get?" + +Halliday's voice sank to little more than a whisper. "It's the fear o' +fear," he said steadily. "Maybe, you think you know what that is, that +you feel it yourself. You know what I mean, I suppose?" + +Toffee nodded. "I think so," he said. "What I fear myself is that I'll +be afraid and show that I'm afraid, that I'll do something rotten when +we get out up there." + +He jerked his head up and back towards the open where the rifles +sputtered and the bullets whistled querulously. + +"There's plenty fear that," admitted Halliday, "before their first +action; but mostly it passes the second they leave cover and can't +protect themselves and have to trust to whatever there is outside, +themselves to bring them through. You don't know the beginning of how +bad the fear o' fear can be till you have seen dozens of your mates +killed, till you've had death no more than touch you scores of times, +like I have." + +"But you don't mean to tell me," said Toffee incredulously, "that you +are afraid of yourself, that you can't trust yourself now? Why, I've +heard said often that you're one of the coolest under fire, and that +you don't know what fear is!" + +"It's a good reputation to have if you can keep it," said Halliday. +"But it makes it worse if you can't." + +"I wish," said Toffee enviously, "I was as sure of keeping it as you +are to-day." + +Halliday pulled his hand from his pocket and held it beside him where +only Toffee could see it. It was quivering like a flag-halliard in a +stiff breeze. He thrust it back in his pocket. + +"Doesn't look too sure, does it?" he said grimly. "And my heart is +shaking a sight worse than my hand." + +He was interrupted by the arrival of a group of German shells on and +about the section of trench they were in. One burst on the rear lip of +the trench, spattering earth and bullets about them and leaving a +choking reek swirling and eddying along the trench. There was silence +for an instant, and then an officer's voice called from the near +traverse. "Is anybody hit there!" A sergeant shouted back "No, sir," +and was immediately remonstrated with by an indignant private busily +engaged in scraping the remains of a mud clod from his eye. + +"You might wait a minute, Sergeant," he said, "afore you reports no +casualties, just to give us time to look round and count if all our +limbs is left on. And I've serious doubts at this minute whether my eye +is in its right place or bulging out the back o' my head; anyway, it +feels as if an eight-inch Krupp had bumped fair into it." + +When the explosion came, Toffee Everton had instinctively ducked and +crouched, but he noticed that Halliday never moved or gave a sign of +the nearness of any danger. Toffee remarked this to him. + +"And I don't see," he confessed, "where that fits in with this +hand- and heart-shaking o' yours." + +Halliday looked at him curiously. + +"If that was the worst," he said, "I could stand it. It isn't. It isn't +the beginning of the least of the worst. If it had fell in the trench, +now, and mucked up half a dozen men, there'd have been something to +squeal about. That's the sort o' thing that breaks a man up--your own +mates that was talking to you a minute afore, ripped to bits and torn +to ribbons. I've seen nothing left of a whole live man but a pair o' +burnt boots. I've seen--" He stopped abruptly and shivered a little. +"I'm not going to talk about it," he said. "I think about it and see it +too often in my dreams as it is. And, besides," he went on, "I didn't +duck that time, because I've learnt enough to know it's too late to +duck when the shell bursts a dozen yards from you. I'm not so much +afraid of dying, either. I've got to die, I've little doubt, before +this war is out; I don't think there's a dozen men in this battalion +that came out with it in the beginning and haven't been home sick or +wounded since. I've seen one-half the battalion wiped out in one +engagement and built up with drafts, and the other half wiped out in +the next scrap. We've lost fifty and sixty and seventy per cent. of our +strength at different times, and I've come through it all without a +scratch. Do you suppose I don't know it's against reason for me to last +out much longer? But I'm not afraid o' that. I'm not afraid of the +worst death I've seen a man die--and that's something pretty bad, +believe me. What I'm afraid of is myself, of my nerve cracking, of my +doing something that will disgrace the Regiment." + +The man's nerves were working now; there was a quiver of excitement in +his voice, a grayer shade on his cheek, a narrowing and a restless +movement of his eyes, a stronger twitching of his lips. More shells +crashed sharply; a little along the line a gust of rifle-bullets swept +over and into the parapet; a Maxim rap-rap-rapped and its bullets spat +hailing along the parapet above their heads. + +Halliday caught his breath and shivered again. + +"That," he said--"that is one of the devils we've got to face +presently." His eyes glanced furtively about him. "God!" he muttered, +"if I could only get out of this! 'Tisn't fair, I tell ye, it isn't +fair to ask a man that's been through what I have to take it on again, +knowing that if I do come through, 'twill be the same thing to go +through over and over until they get me; or until my own sergeant +shoots me for refusing to face it." + +Everton had listened in amazed silence--an understanding utterly beyond +him. He knew the name that Halliday bore in the regiment, knew that he +was seeing and hearing more than Halliday perhaps had ever shown or +told to anyone. Shamefacedly and self-consciously, he tried to say +something to console and hearten the other man, but Halliday +interrupted him roughly. + +"That's it!" he said bitterly. "Go on! Pat me on the back and tell me +to be a good boy and not to be frightened. I'm coming to it at last: +old Bob Halliday that's been through it from the beginning, one o' the +Old Contemptibles, come down to be mothered and hushaby-baby'd by a +blanky recruit, with the first polish hardly off his new buttons." + +He broke off and into bitter cursing, reviling the Germans, the war, +himself and Everton, his sergeant and platoon commander, the O.C., and +at last the regiment itself. But at that the torrent of his oaths broke +off, and he sat silent and shaking for a minute. He glanced sideways at +last at the embarrassed Everton. + +"Don't take no notice o' me, chum," he said. "I wasn't speaking too +loud, was I? The others haven't noticed, do you think? I don't want to +look round for a minute." + +Everton assured him that he had not spoken too loud, that nobody +appeared to have noticed anything, and that none were looking their +way. He added a feeble question as to whether Halliday, if he felt so +bad, could not report himself as sick or something and escape having to +leave the trench. + +Halliday's lips twisted in a bitter grin. + +"That would be a pretty tale," he said. "No, boy, I'll try and pull +through once more, and if my heart fails me--look here, I've often +thought o' this, and some day, maybe, it will come to it." + +He lifted his rifle and put the butt down in the trench bottom, slipped +his bayonet out, and holding the rifle near the muzzle with one hand, +with the other placed the point of the bayonet to the trigger of the +rifle. He removed it instantly and returned it to its place. + +"There's always that," he said. "It can be done in a second, and no +matter how a man's hand shakes, he can steady the point of the bayonet +against the trigger-guard, push it down till the point pushes the +trigger home." + +"Do you mean," stammered Everton in amazement--"do you mean--shoot +yourself?" + +"Ssh! not so loud," cautioned Halliday. "Yes, it's better than being +shot by my own officer, isn't it?" + +Everton's mind was floundering hopelessly round this strange problem. +He could understand a man being afraid; he was not sure that he wasn't +afraid himself; but that a man afraid that he could not face death +could yet contemplate certain death by his own hand, was completely +beyond him. + +Halliday drew his breath in a deep sigh. + +"We'll say no more about it," he said. "I feel better now; it's +something to know I always have that to fall back on at the worst. I'll +be all right now--until it comes the minute to climb over the parapet." + +It was nearly nine o'clock, and word was passed down the line for every +man to get down as low as he could in the bottom of the trench. The +trench they were about to attack was only forty or fifty yards away, +and since the Heavies as well as the Field guns were to bombard, there +was quite a large possibility of splinters and fragments being thrown +by the lyddite back as far as the British trench. At nine, sharp to the +tick of the clock, the _rush, rush, rush_ of a field battery's shells +passed overhead. Because the target was so close, the passing shells +seemed desperately near to the British parapet, as indeed they actually +were. The rush of shells and the crash of their explosion sounded in +the forward trench before the boom of the guns which fired them +traveled to the British trench. Before the first round of this opening +battery had finished, another and another joined in, and then, in a +deluge of noise, the intense bombardment commenced. + +Crouching low in the bottom of the trench, half deafened by the uproar, +the men waited for the word to move. The concentrated fire on this +portion of front indicated clearly to the Germans that an attack was +coming, and where it was to be expected. The obviously correct +procedure for the gunners was of course to have bombarded many sections +of front so that no certain clew would be given as to the point of the +coming attack. But this was in the days when shells were very, very +precious things, and gunners had to grit their teeth helplessly, doling +out round by round, while the German gun- and rifle-fire did its worst. +The Germans, then, could see now where the attack was concentrated, and +promptly proceeded to break it up before it was launched. Shells began +to sweep the trench where the Hotwater Guards lay, to batter at their +parapet, and to prepare a curtain of fire along their front. + +Everton lay and listened to the appalling clamor; but when the word was +passed round to get ready, he rose to his feet and climbed to the +firing-step without any overpowering sense of fear. A sentence from the +man on his left had done a good deal to hearten him. + +"Gostrewth! 'ark at our guns!" he said. "They ain't 'arf pitchin' it +in. W'y, this ain't goin' to be no charge; it's going to be a sort of +merry picnic, a game of ''Ere we go gatherin' nuts in May.' There won't +be any Germans left in them trenches, and we'll 'ave nothin' to do but +collect the 'elmets and sooveneers and make ourselves at 'ome." + +"Did you hear that!" Everton asked Halliday. "Is it anyways true, do +you think?" + +"A good bit," said Halliday. "I've never seen a bit of German front +smothered up by our guns the way this seems to be now, though I've +often enough seen it the other way. The trench in front should be +smashed past any shape for stopping our charge if the gunners are +making any straight shooting at all." + +It was evident that the whole trench shared his opinion, and +expressions of amazed delight ran up and down the length of the +Hotwaters. When the order came to leave the trench, the men were up and +out of it with a bound. + +Everton was too busy with his own scramble put to pay much heed to +Halliday; but as they worked out through their own barbed wire, he was +relieved to find him at his side. He caught Everton's look, and +although his teeth were gripped tight, he nodded cheerfully. Presently, +when they were forming into line again beyond the wire, Halliday spoke. + +"Not too bad," he said. "The guns has done it for us this time. Come +on, now, and keep your wits when you get across." + +In the ensuing rush across the open, Everton was conscious of no +sensation of fear. The guns had lifted their fire farther back as the +Hotwaters emerged from their trench, and the rush and rumble of their +shells was still passing overhead as the line advanced. The German +artillery hardly dared drop their range to sweep the advance, because +of its proximity to their own trench. A fairly heavy rifle-fire was +coming from the flanks, but to a certain extent that was kept down by +some of our batteries spreading their fire over those portions of the +German trench which were not being attacked, and by a heavy rifle- and +machine-gun fire which was pelted across from the opposite parts of the +British line. + +From the immediate front, which was the Hotwaters' objective, there was +practically no attempt at resistance until the advance was half-way +across the short distance between the trenches, and even then it was no +more than a spasmodic attempt and the feeble resistance of a few rifles +and a machine-gun. The Hotwaters reached the trench with comparatively +slight loss, pushed into it, and over it, and pressed on to the next +line, the object being to threaten the continuance of the attack, to +take the next trench if the resistance was not too severe, and so to +give time for the reorganization of the first captured trench to resist +the German counter-attack. + +Everton was one of the first to reach the forward trench. It had been +roughly handled by the artillery fire, and the men in it made little +show of resistance. The Hotwaters swarmed into the broken ditch, +shooting and stabbing the few who fought back, disarming the prisoners +who had surrendered with hands over their heads and quavering cries of +"Kamerad." Everton rushed one man who appeared to be in two minds +whether to surrender or not, fingering and half lifting his rifle and +lowering it again, looking round over his shoulder, once more raising +his rifle muzzle. Everton killed him with the bayonet. Afterwards he +climbed out and ran on, after the line had pushed forward to the next +trench. There was an awe, and a thrill of satisfaction in his heart as +he looked at his stained bayonet, but, as he suddenly recognized with a +tremendous joy, not the faintest sensation of being afraid. He looked +round grinning to the man next him, and was on the point of shouting +some jest to him, when he saw the man stumble and pitch heavily on his +face. It flashed into Everton's mind that he had tripped over a hidden +wire, and he was about to shout some chaffing remark, when he saw the +back of the man's head as he lay face down. But even that unpleasant +sight brought no fear to him. + +There was a stout barricade of wire in front of the next trench, and an +order was shouted along to halt and lie down in front of it. The line +dropped, and while some lay prone and fired as fast as they could at +any loophole or bobbing head they could see, others lit bombs and +tossed them into the trench. This trench also had been badly mauled by +the shells, and the fire from it was feeble. Everton lay firing for a +few minutes, casting side glances on an officer close in front of him, +and on two or three men along the line who were coolly cutting through +the barbed wire with heavy nippers. Everton saw the officer spin round +and drop to his knees, his left hand nursing his hanging right arm. +Everton jumped up and went over to him. + +"Let me go on with it, sir," he said eagerly, and without waiting for +any consent stooped and picked up the fallen wire-cutters and set to +work. He and the others, standing erect and working on the wire, +naturally drew a heavy proportion of the aimed fire; but Everton was +only conscious of an uplifting exhilaration, a delight that he should +have had the chance at such a prominent position. Many bullets came +very close to him, but none touched him, and he went on cutting wire +after wire, quickly and methodically, grasping the strand well in the +jaws of the nippers, gripping till the wire parted and the severed ends +sprang loose, calmly fitting the nippers to the next strand. + +Even when he had cut a clear path through, he went on working, widening +the breach, cutting more wires, dragging the trailing ends clear. Then +he ran back to the line and to the officer who had lain watching him. + +"Your wire-nippers, sir," he said. "Shall I put them in your case for +you?" + +"Stick them in your pocket, Everton," said the youngster; "you've done +good work with them. Now lie down here." + +All this was a matter of no more than three or four minutes' work. When +the other gaps were completed--the men in them being less fortunate +than Everton and having several wounded during the task--the line rose, +rushed streaming through the gaps and down into the trench. If +anything, the damage done by the shells was greater there than in the +first line, mainly perhaps because the heavier guns had not hesitated +to fire on the second line where the closeness of the first line to the +British would have made risky shooting. There were a good many dead and +wounded Germans in this second trench, and of the remainder many were +hidden away in their dug-outs, their nerves shaken beyond the +sticking-point of courage by the artillery fire first, and later by the +close-quarter bombing and the rush of the cold steel. + +The Hotwaters held that trench for some fifteen minutes. Then a weak +counter-attack attempted to emerge from another line of trenches a good +two hundred yards back, but was instantly fallen upon by our artillery +and scourged by the accurate fire of the Hotwaters. The attack broke +before it was well under way, and scrambled back under cover. + +Shortly afterwards the first captured trench having been put into some +shape for defense, the advance line of the Hotwaters retired. A small +covering party stayed and kept up a rapid fire till most of the others +had gone, and then climbed through the trench and doubled back after +them. + +The officer, whose wire-cutters Everton had used, had been hit rather +badly in the arm. He had made light of the wound, and remained in the +trench with the covering party; but when he came to retire, he found +that the pain and loss of blood had left him shaky and dizzy. Everton +helped him to climb from the trench; but as they ran back he saw from +the corner of his eye that the officer had slowed to a walk. He turned +back and, ignoring the officer's advice to push on, urged him to lean +on him. It ended up by Everton and the officer being the last men in, +Everton half supporting, half carrying the other. Once more he felt a +childish pleasure at this opportunity to distinguish himself. He was +half intoxicated with the heady wine of excitement and success, he +asked only for other and greater and riskier opportunities. "Risk," he +thought contemptuously, "is only a pleasant excitement, danger the +spice to the risk." He asked his sergeant to be allowed to go out and +help the stretcher-bearers who were clearing the wounded from the +ground over which the first advance had been made. + +"No," said the Sergeant shortly. "The stretcher-bearers have their job, +and they've got to do it. Your job is here, and you can stop and do +that. You've done enough for one day." Then, conscious perhaps that he +had spoken with unnecessary sharpness, he added a word. "You've made a +good beginning, lad, and done good work for your first show; don't +spoil it with rank gallery play." + +But now that the German gunners knew the British line had advanced and +held the captured trench, they pelted it, the open ground behind it, +and the trench that had been the British front line, with a storm of +shell-fire. The rifle-fire was hotter, too, and the rallied defense was +pouring in whistling stream of bullets. But the captured trench, which +it will be remembered was a recaptured British one, ran back and joined +up with the British lines. It was possible therefore to bring up plenty +of ammunition, sandbags, and reinforcements, and by now the defense had +been sufficiently made good to have every prospect of resisting any +counter-attack and of withstanding the bombardment to which it was +being subjected. But the heavy fire drove the stretcher-bearers off the +open ground, while there still remained some dead and wounded to be +brought in. + +Everton had missed Halliday, and his anxious inquiries failed to find +him or any word of him, until at last one man said he believed Halliday +had been dropped in the rush on the first trench. Everton stood up and +peered back over the ground behind them. Thirty yards away he saw a man +lying prone and busily at work with his trenching-tool, endeavoring to +build up a scanty cover. Everton shouted at the pitch of his voice, +"Halliday!" The digging figure paused, lifted the trenching-tool and +waved it, and then fell to work again. Everton pressed along the +crowded trench to the sergeant. + +"Sergeant," he said breathlessly, "Halliday's lying out there wounded, +he's a good pal o' mine and I'd like to fetch him in." + +The Sergeant was rather doubtful. He made Everton point out the digging +figure, and was calculating the distance from the nearest point of the +trench, and the bullets that drummed between. + +"It's almost a cert you get hit," he said, "even if you crawl out. He's +got a bit of cover and he's making more, fast. I think--" + +A voice behind interrupted, and Everton and the Sergeant turned to find +the Captain looking up at them. + +"What's this?" he repeated, and the Sergeant explained the position. + +"Go ahead!" said the Captain. "Get him in if you can, and good luck to +you." + +Everton wanted no more. Two minutes later he was out of the trench and +racing back across the open. + +"Come on, Halliday," he said. "I'll give you a hoist in. Where are you +hit?" + +"Leg and arm," said Halliday briefly; and then, rather ungraciously, +"You're a fool to be out here; but I suppose now you're here, you might +as well give me a hand in." + +But he spoke differently after Everton had given him a hand, had lifted +him and carried him, and so brought him back to the trench and lowered +him into waiting hands. His wounds were bandaged and, before he was +carried off, he spoke to Everton. + +"Good-by, Toffee," he said and held out his left hand, "I owe you a +heap. And look here---" He hesitated a moment and then spoke in tones +so low that Everton had to bend over the stretcher to hear him. "My +leg's smashed bad, and I'm done for the Front and the old Hotwaters. I +wouldn't like it to get about--I don't want the others to think--to +know about me feeling--well, like I told you back there before the +charge." + +Toffee grabbed the uninjured-hand hard. "You old frost!" he said gayly, +"there's no need to keep it up any longer now; but I don't mind telling +you, old man, you fairly hoaxed me that time, and actually I believed +what you were saying. 'Course, I know better now; but I'll punch the +head off any man that ever whispers a word against you." + +Halliday looked at him queerly. "Good-by, Toffee," he said again, "and +thank ye." + + + +ANTI-AIRCRAFT + + +"_Enemy airmen appearing over our lines have been turned hack or driven +off by shell fire."_--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +Gardening is a hobby which does not exist under very favorable +conditions at the front, its greatest drawback being that when the +gardener's unit is moved from one place to another his garden cannot +accompany him. Its devotees appear to derive a certain amount of +satisfaction from the mere making of a garden, the laying-out and +digging and planting; but it can be imagined that the most enthusiastic +gardener would in time become discouraged by a long series of +beginnings without any endings to his labors, to a frequent sowing and +an entire absence of reaping. + +There are, however, some units which, from the nature of their +business, are stationary in one place for months on end, and here the +gardener as a rule has an opportunity for the indulgence of his +pursuit. In clearing-hospitals, ammunition-parks, and Army Service +Corps supply points, there are, I believe, many such fixed abodes; but +the manners and customs of the inhabitants of such happy resting-places +are practically unknown to the men who live month in month out in a +narrow territory, bounded on the east by the forward firing line and on +the west by the line of the battery positions, or at farthest the +villages of the reserve billets. In any case these places are rather +outside the scope of tales dealing with what may be called the "Under +Fire Front," and it was this front which I had in mind when I said that +gardening did not receive much encouragement at the front. But during +the first spring of the War I know of at least one enthusiast who did +his utmost, metaphorically speaking, to beat his sword into a +plowshare, and to turn aside at every opportunity from the duty of +killing Germans to the pleasures of growing potatoes. He was a gunner +in the detachment of the Blue Marines, which ran a couple of armored +motor-cars carrying anti-aircraft guns. + +It is one of the advantages of this branch of the air-war that when a +suitable position is fixed on for defense of any other position, the +detachment may stay there for some considerable time. There are other +advantages which will unfold themselves to those initiated in the ways +of the trench zone, although those outside of it may miss them; but +everyone will see that prolonged stays in the one position give the +gardener his opportunity. In this particular unit of the Blue Marines +was a gunner who intensely loved the potting and planting, the turning +over of yielding earth, the bedding-out and transplanting, the watering +and weeding and tending of a garden, possibly because the greater part +of his life had been lived at sea in touch with nothing more yielding +than a steel plate or a hard plank. + +The gunner was known throughout the unit by no other name than Mary, +fittingly taken from the nursery rhyme which inquires, "Mary, Mary, +quite contrary, how does your garden grow?" The similarity between Mary +of the Blue Marines and Mary of the nursery rhyme ends, however, with +the first line, since Blue Marine Mary made no attempt to rear "silver +bells and cockle shells" (whatever they may be) all in a row. His whole +energies were devoted to the raising of much more practical things, +like lettuces, radishes, carrots, spring onions, and any other +vegetable which has the commendable reputation of arriving reasonably +early at maturity. + +Twice that spring Mary's labors had been wasted because the section had +moved before the time was ripe from a gardener's point of view, and +although Mary strove to transplant his garden by uprooting the +vegetables, packing them away in a box in the motor, and planting them +out in the new position, the vegetables failed to survive the breaking +of their home ties, and languished and died in spite of Mary's tender +care. After the first failure he tried to lay out a portable garden, +enlisting the aid of "Chips" the carpenter in the manufacture of a +number of boxes, in which he placed earth and his new seedlings. This +attempt, however, failed even more disastrously than the first, the +O.C. having made a most unpleasant fuss on the discovery of two large +boxes of mustard and cress "cluttering up," as he called it, the +gun-mountings on one of the armored cars, and, when the section moved +suddenly in the dead of night, refusing point-blank to allow any +available space to be loaded up with Mary's budding garden. Mary's +plaintive inquiry as to what he was to do with the boxes was met by the +brutal order to "chuck the lot overboard," and the counter-inquiry as +to whether he thought this show was a perambulating botanical gardens. + +So Mary lost his second garden complete, even unto the box of spring +onions which were the apple of his gardening eye. But he brisked up +when the new position was established and he learned through the +officer's servant that the selected spot was considered an excellent +one, and offered every prospect of being held by the section for a +considerable time. He selected a favorable spot and proceeded once more +to lay out a garden and to plant out a new lot of vegetables. + +The section's new position was only some fifteen hundred yards from the +forward trench; but, being at the bottom of a gently sloping ridge +which ran between the position and the German lines, it was covered +from all except air observation. The two armored cars, containing guns, +were hidden away amongst the shattered ruins of a little hamlet; their +armor-plated bodies, already rendered as inconspicuous as possible by +erratic daubs of bright colors laid on after the most approved Futurist +style, were further hidden by untidy wisps of straw, a few casual +beams, and any other of the broken rubbish which had once been a +village. The men had their quarters in the cellars of one of the broken +houses, and the two officers inhabited the corner of a house with a +more or less remaining roof. + +Mary's garden was in a sunny corner of what had been in happier days +the back garden of one of the cottages. The selection, as it turned +out, was not altogether a happy one, because the garden, when abandoned +by its former owner, had run to seed most liberally, and the whole of +its area appeared to be impregnated with a variety of those seeds which +give the most trouble to the new possessor of an old garden. Anyone +with the real gardening instinct appears to have no difficulty in +distinguishing between weeds and otherwise, even on their first +appearance in shape of a microscopic green shoot; but flowers are not +weeds, and Mary had a good deal of trouble to distinguish between the +self-planted growths of nasturtiums, foxgloves, marigolds, +forget-me-nots, and other flowers, and the more prosaic but useful +carrots and spring onions which Mary had introduced. Probably a good +many onions suffered the penalty of bad company, and were sacrificed in +the belief that they were flowers; but on the whole the new garden did +well, and began to show the trim rows of green shoots which afford such +joy to the gardening soul. The shoots grew rapidly, and as time passed +uneventfully and the section remained unmoved, the garden flourished +and the vegetables drew near to the day when they would be fit for +consumption. + +Mary gloated over that garden; he went to a world of trouble with it, +he bent over it and weeded it for hours on end; he watered it +religiously every night, he even erected miniature forcing frames over +some of the vegetable rows, ransacking the remains of the broken-down +hamlet for squares of glass or for any pieces large enough for his +purpose. He built these cunningly with frameworks of wood and untwisted +strands of barbed wire, and there is no doubt they helped the growth of +his garden immensely. + +Although they have not been torched upon, it must not be supposed that +Mary had no other duties. Despite our frequently announced "Supremacy +of the Air," the anti-aircraft guns were in action rather frequently. +The German aeroplanes in this part of the line appeared to ignore the +repeated assurances in our Press that the German 'plane invariably +makes off on the appearance of a British one; and although it is true +that in almost every case the German was "turned back," he very +frequently postponed the turning until he had sailed up and down the +line a few times and seen, it may be supposed, all that there was to +see. + +At such times--and they happened as a rule at least once a day and +occasionally two, three, or four times a day--Mary had to run from his +gardening and help man the guns. + +In the course of a month the section shot away many thousands of +shells, and, it is to be hoped, severely frightened many German pilots, +although at that time they could only claim to have brought down one +'plane, and that in a descent so far behind the German lines that its +fate was uncertain. + +It must be admitted that the gunners on the whole made excellent +shooting, and if they did not destroy their target, or even make him +turn back, they fulfilled the almost equally useful object of making +him keep so high that he could do little useful observing. But the +short periods of time spent by the section in shooting were no more +than enough to add a pleasant flavor of sport to life, and on the +whole, since the weather was good and the German gunnery was not--or at +least not good enough to be troublesome to the section--life during +that month moved very pleasantly. + +But at last there came a day when it looked as if some of the +inconveniences of war were due to arrive. The German aeroplane appeared +as usual one morning just after the section had completed breakfast. +The methodical regularity of hours kept by the German pilots added +considerably to the comfort and convenience of the section by allowing +them to time their hours of sleep, their meals, or an afternoon run by +the O.C. on the motor into the near-by town, so as to fit in nicely +with the duty of anti-aircraft guns. + +On this morning at the usual hour the aeroplane appeared, and the +gunners, who were waiting in handy proximity to the cars, jumped to +their stations. The muzzles of the two-pounder pom-poms moved slowly +after their target, and when the range-indicator told that it was +within reach of their shells the first gun opened with a trial beltful. +"Bang--bang--bang--bang!" it shouted, a string of shells singing +and sighing on their way into silence. In a few seconds, +"Puff--puff--puff--puff!" four pretty little white balls broke out and +floated solid against the sky. They appeared well below their target, +and both the muzzles tilted a little and barked off another flight of +shells. This time they appeared to burst in beautiful proximity to the +racing aeroplane, and immediately the two-pounders opened a steady and +accurate bombardment. The shells were evidently dangerously close to +the 'plane, for it tilted sharply and commenced to climb steadily; but +it still held on its way over the British lines, and the course it was +taking it was evident would bring it almost directly over the Blue +Marines and their guns. The pom-poms continued their steady yap-yap, +jerking and springing between each, round, like eager terriers jumping +the length of their chain, recoiling and jumping, and yelping at every +jump. But although the shells were dead in line the range was too +great, and the guns slowed down their rate of fire, merely rapping off +an occasional few rounds to keep the observer at a respectful distance, +without an unnecessary waste of ammunition. + +Arrived above them, the aeroplane banked steeply and swung round in a +complete circle. + +"Dash his impudence," growled the captain. "Slap at him again, just for +luck." The only effect the resulting slap at him had, however, was to +show the 'plane pilot that he was well out of range and to bring him +spiraling steeply down a good thousand feet. This brought him within +reach of the shells again, and both guns opened rapidly, dotting the +sky thickly with beautiful white puffs of smoke, through which the +enemy sailed swiftly. Then suddenly another shape and color of smoke +appeared beneath him, and a red light burst from it flaring and +floating slowly downwards. Another followed, and then another, and the +'plane straightened out its course, swerved, and flashed swiftly off +down-wind, pursued to the limit of their range by the raving pom-poms. +"Which it seems to me," said the Blue Marine sergeant reflectively, +"that our Tauby had us spotted and was signaling his guns to call and +leave a card on us." + +That afternoon showed some proof of the correctness of the sergeant's +supposition; a heavy shell soared over and dropped with a crash in an +open field some two hundred yards beyond the outermost house of the +hamlet. In five minutes another followed, and in the same field blew +out a hole about twenty yards from the first. A third made another hole +another twenty yards off, and a fourth again at the same interval. + +When the performance ceased, the captain and his lieutenant held a +conference over the matter. "It looks as if we'd have to shift," said +the captain. "That fellow has got us marked down right enough." + +"If he doesn't come any nearer," said the lieutenant, "we're all right. +We won't need to take cover when the shelling starts, and even if the +guns are shooting when the German is shelling, the armor-plate will +easily stand off splinters from that distance." + +"Yes," said the captain. "But do you suppose our friend the Flighty Hun +won't have a peep at us to-morrow morning to see where those shells +landed? If he does, or if he takes a photograph, those holes will show +up like a chalk-mark on a blackboard; then he has only to tell his gun +to step this way a couple of hundred yards and we get it in the neck. +I'm inclined to think we'd better up anchor and away." + +"We're pretty comfortable here, you know," urged the lieutenant, "and +it's a pity to get out. It might be that those shots were blind chance. +I vote for waiting another day, anyhow, and seeing what happens. At the +worst we can pack up and stand by with steam up; then if the shells +pitch too near we can slip the cable and run for it" + +"Right-oh!" said the captain. + +Next morning the enemy aeroplane appeared again at its appointed hour +and sailed overhead, leaving behind it a long wake of smoke-puffs; and +at the same hour in the afternoon as the previous shelling the German +gun opened fire, dropping its first shell neatly fifty yards further +from the shell-holes of the day before. The aeroplane, of course, had +reported, or its photograph had shown, the previous day's shells to +have dropped apparently fifty yards to the left of the hamlet. The gun +accordingly corrected its aim and opened fire on a spot fifty yards +more to the right. For hours it bombarded that suffering field +energetically, and at the end of that time, when they were satisfied +the shelling was over, the Blue Marines climbed from their cellar. Next +morning the aeroplane appeared again, and the Blue Marines allowed it +this time to approach unattacked. Convinced probably by this and the +appearance of the numerous shell-pits scattered round the gun position, +the aeroplane swooped lower to verify its observations. Unfortunately +another anti-aircraft gun a mile further along the line thought this +too good an opportunity to miss, and opened rapid fire. The 'plane +leaped upward and away, and the Blue Marines sped on its way with a +stream of following shells. + +"If the Huns' minds work on the fixed and appointed path, one would +expect the same old field will get a strafing this afternoon," said the +captain afterwards. "The airman will have seen the village knocked +about, and if he knew that those last shells came from here he'll just +conclude that yesterday's shooting missed us, and the gunners will have +another whale at us this afternoon." + +He was right; the gun had "another whale" at them, and again dug many +holes in the old field. + +But next morning the Germans played a new and disconcerting game. The +aeroplane hovered high above and dropped a light, and a minute later +the Blue Marines heard a shrill whistle, that grew and changed to a +whoop, and ended with the same old crash in the same old field. + +"Now," said the captain. "Stand by for trouble. That brute is spotting +for his gun." + +The aeroplane dropped a light, turned, and circled round to the left. +Five minutes later another shell screamed over, and this time fell +crashing into the hamlet. The hit was palpable and unmistakable; a huge +dense cloud of smoke and mortar-, lime-, and red brick-dust leapt and +billowed and hung heavily over the village. + +"This," said the captain rapidly, "is where we do the rabbit act. Get +to cover, all of you, and lie low." + +They did the rabbit act, scuttling amongst the broken houses to the +shelter of their cellar and diving hastily into it. Another shell +arrived, shrieking wrathfully, smashed into another broken house, and +scattered its ruins in a whirlwind of flying fragments. + +Now Mary, of course, was in the cellar with the rest, and Mary's garden +was in full view from the cellar entrance, and twenty or twenty-five +yards from it. The rest of the party were surprised to see Mary, as the +loud clatter of falling stones subsided, leap for the cellar steps, run +up them, and disappear out into the open. He was back in a couple of +minutes. "I just wondered," he said breathlessly, "if those blighters +had done any damage to my vegetables." When another shell came he +popped up again for another look, and this time he dodged back and said +many unprintable things until the next shell landed. He looked a little +relieved when he came back this time. "This one was farther away," he +said, "but that one afore dropped somebody's hearth-stone inside a +dozen paces from my onion bed." For the next half-hour the big shells +pounded the village, tearing the ruins apart, battering down the walls, +blasting huge holes in the road and between the houses, re-destroying +all that had already been destroyed, and completing the destruction of +some of the few parts that had hitherto escaped. + +Between rounds Mary ran up and looked out. Once he rushed across to his +garden and came back cursing impotently, to report a shell fallen close +to the garden, his carefully erected forcing frames shattered to +splinters by the shock, and a hail of small stones and the ruins of an +iron stove dropped obliteratingly across his carrots. + +"If only they'd left this crazy shooting for another week," said Mary, +"a whole lot of those things would have been ready for pulling up. The +onions is pretty near big enough to eat now, and I've half a mind to +pull some o' them before that cock-eyed Hun lands a shell in me garden +and blows it to glory." + +Later he ran out, pulled an onion, a carrot, and a lettuce, brought +them back to the cellar, proudly passed them round, and anxiously +demanded an opinion as to whether they were ready for pulling, and +counsel as to whether he ought to strip his garden. + +"Now look here!" said the sergeant at last; "you let your bloomin' +garden alone; I'm not going to have you running out there plucking +carrot and onion nosegays under fire. If a shell blows your garden +half-way through to Australia, I can't help it, and neither can you. +I'll be quite happy to split a dish of spuds with you if so be your +garden offers them up; but I'm not going to have you casualtied +rescuing your perishing radishes under fire. Nothing'll be said to me +if your garden is strafed off the earth; but there's a whole lot going +to be said if you are strafed along with it, and I have to report that +you had disobeyed orders and not kept under cover, and that I had +looked on while you broke ship and was blown to blazes with a boo-kay +of onions in your hand. So just you anchor down there till the owner +pipes to carry on." + +Mary had no choice but to obey, and when at last the shelling was over +he rushed to the garden and examined it with anxious care. He was in a +more cheerful mood when he rejoined the others. "It ain't so bad," he +said. "Total casualties, half the carrots killed, the radish-bed +severely wounded (half a chimney-pot did that), and some o' the onions +slightly wounded by bits of gravel. But what do you reckon the owner's +going to do now? Has he given any orders yet?" + +No orders had been given, but the betting amongst the Blue Marines was +about ninety-seven to one in favor of their moving. Sure enough, orders +were given to pack up and prepare to move as soon as it was dark, and +the captain went off with a working party to reconnoiter a new position +and prepare places for the cars. Mary was sent off in "the shore boat" +(otherwise the light runabout which carried them on duty or pleasure to +and from the ten-mile-distant town) with orders to draw the day's +rations, collect the day's mail, buy the day's papers, and return to +the village, being back not later than five o'clock. + +It was made known that the position to which the captain contemplated +moving was one in a clump of trees within half a mile of the position +they were leaving. Mary was hugely satisfied. "That ain't half bad," he +said when he heard. "I can walk over and water the garden at night, and +pop across any time between the Tauby's usual promenade hours and do a +bit o' weeding, and just keep an eye on things generally. And inside a +week we're going to have carrots for dinner every day, _and_ spring +onions. Hey, my lads! what about bread and cheese and spring onions, +wot?" + +He climbed aboard the run-about, drove out of the yard, and rattled off +down the road. He executed his commissions, and was sailing happily +back to the village, when about a mile short of it a sitting figure +rose from the roadside, stepped forward, and waved an arresting hand. +To his surprise, Mary saw that it was one of the Blue Marines. + +"What's up?" he said, as the Marine came round to the side and +proceeded to step on board. + +"Orders," said the Marine briefly. "I was looking out for you. Change +course and direction and steer for the new anchorage." + +"The idea being wot!" asked Mary. + +"We've been in action again," said the Marine gloomily. "Only two +shells this time, but they did more damage than all the rest put +together this morning." + +"More damage?" gasped Mary. "Wot--wot have they damaged?" + +The Marine ticked off the damages on his fingers one by one. + +"Car hit, badly damaged, and down by the stern; gun out of +action--mounting smashed; the sergeant hit, piece of his starboard leg +carried away; and five men slightly wounded." + +He dropped his hands, which Mary took as a sign that the tally was +finished. "Is that all?" he said, and breathed a sigh of relief. +"Strewth! I thought you was going to tell me that my garden had been +gott-straffed." + + + +A FRAGMENT + + +This is not a story, it is rather a fragment, beginning where usually a +battle story ends, with a man being "casualtied," showing the principal +character only in a passive part--a very passive part--and ending, I am +afraid, with a lot of unsatisfactory loose ends ungathered up. I only +tell it because I fancy that at the back of it you may find some hint +of the spirit that has helped the British Army in many a tight corner. + +Private Wally Ruthven was knocked out by the bursting of a couple of +bombs in his battalion's charge on the front line German trenches. Any +account of the charge need not be given here, except that it failed, +and the battalion making it, or what was left of them, beaten back. +Private Wally knew nothing of this, knew nothing of the renewed British +bombardment, the renewed British attack half a dozen hours later, and +again its renewed failure. All this time he was lying where the force +of the bomb's explosion had thrown him, in a hole blasted out of the +ground by a bursting shell. During all that time he was unconscious of +anything except pain, although certainly he had enough of that to keep +his mind very fully occupied. He was brought back to an agonizing +consciousness by the hurried grip of strong hands and a wrenching lift +that poured liquid flames of pain through every nerve in his mangled +body. To say that he was badly wounded hardly describes the case; an +R.A.M.C. orderly afterwards described his appearance with painful +picturesqueness as "raw meat on a butcher's block," and indeed it is +doubtful if the stretcher-bearers who lifted him from the shell-hole +would not rather have left him lying there and given their brief time +and badly needed services to a casualty more promising of recovery, if +they had seen at first Private Ruthven's serious condition. As it was, +one stretcher-bearer thought and said the man was dead, and was for +tipping him off the stretcher again. Ruthven heard that and opened his +eyes to look at the speaker, although at the moment it would not have +troubled him much if he had been tipped off again. But the other +stretcher-bearer said there was still life in him; and partly because +the ground about them was pattering with bullets, and the air about +them clamant and reverberating with the rush and roar of passing and +exploding shells and bombs, and that particular spot, therefore, no +place or time for argument; partly because stretcher-bearers have a +stubborn conviction and fundamental belief--which, by the way, has +saved many a life even against their own momentary judgment--that while +there is life there is hope, that a man "isn't dead till he's buried," +and finally that a stretcher must always be brought in with a load, a +live one if possible, and the nearest thing to alive if not, they +brought him in. + +The stretcher-bearers carried their burden into the front trench and +there attempted to set about the first bandaging of their casualty. The +job, however, was quite beyond them, but one of them succeeded in +finding a doctor, who in all the uproar of a desperate battle was +playing Mahomet to the mountain of such cases as could not come to him +in the field dressing station. The orderly requested the doctor to come +to the casualty, who was so badly wounded that "he near came to bits +when we lifted him." The doctor, who had several urgent cases within +arm's length of him as he worked at the moment, said that he would come +as soon as he could, and told the orderly in the meantime to go and +bandage any minor wounds his casualty might have. The bearer replied +that there were no minor wounds, that the man was "just nothing but one +big wound all over"; and as for bandaging, that he "might as well try +to do first aid on a pound of meat that had run through a mincing +machine." The doctor at last, hobbling painfully and leaning on the +stretcher-bearer--for he himself had been twice wounded, once in the +foot by a piece of shrapnel, and once through the tip of the shoulder +by a rifle bullet--came to Private Ruthven. He spent a good deal of +time and innumerable yards of bandages on him, so that when the +stretcher-bearers brought him into the dressing station there was +little but bandages to be seen of him. The stretcher-bearer delivered a +message from the doctor that there was very little hope, so that +Ruthven for the time being was merely given an injection of morphia and +put aside. + +The approaches to the dressing station and the station itself were +under so severe a fire for some hours afterwards that it was impossible +for any ambulance to be brought near it. Such casualties as could walk +back walked, others were carried slowly and painfully to a point which +the ambulances had a fair sporting chance of reaching intact. One way +and another a good many hours passed before Ruthven's turn came to be +removed. The doctor who had bandaged him in the firing-line had by then +returned to the dressing station, mainly because his foot had become +too painful to allow him to use it at all. Merely as an aside, and +although it has nothing to do with Private Ruthven's case, it may be +worth mentioning that the same doctor, having cleaned, sterilized, and +bandaged his wounds, remained in the dressing station for another +twelve hours, doing such work as could be accomplished sitting in a +chair and with one sound and one unsound arm. He saw Private Ruthven +for a moment as he was being started on his journey to the ambulance; +he remembered the case, as indeed everyone who handled or saw that case +remembered it for many days, and, moved by professional interest and +some amazement that the man was still alive, he hobbled from his chair +to look at him. He found Private Ruthven returning his look; for the +passing of time and the excess of pain had by now overcome the effects +of the morphia injection. There was a hauntingly appealing look in the +eyes that looked up at him, and the doctor tried to answer the question +he imagined those eyes would have conveyed. + +"I don't know, my boy," he said, "whether you'll pull through, but +we'll do the best we can for you. And now we have you here we'll have +you back in hospital in no time, and there you'll get every chance +there is." + +He imagined the question remained in those eyes still unsatisfied, and +that Ruthven gave just the suggestion of a slow head-shake. + +"Don't give up, my boy," he said briskly. "We might save you yet. Now +I'm going to take away the pain for you," and he called an orderly to +bring a hypodermic injection. While he was finding a place among the +bandages to make the injection, the orderly who was waiting spoke: "I +believe, sir, he's trying to ask something or say something." + +It has to be told here that Private Ruthven could say nothing in the +terms of ordinary speech, and would never be able to do so again. +Without going into details it will be enough to say that the whole +lower part of--well, his face--was tightly bound about with bandages, +leaving little more than his nostrils, part of his cheeks, and his eyes +clear. He was frowning now and again, just shaking his head to denote a +negative, and his left hand, bound to the bigness of a football in +bandages, moved slowly in an endeavor to push aside the doctor's hands. + +"It's all right, my lad," the doctor said soothingly. "I'm not going to +hurt you." + +The frown cleared for an instant and the eloquent eyes appeared to +smile, as indeed the lad might well have smiled at the thought that +anyone could "hurt" such a bundle of pain. But although it appeared +quite evident that Ruthven did not want morphia, the doctor in his +wisdom decreed otherwise, and the jolting journey down the rough +shell-torn road, and the longer but smoother journey in the +sweetly-sprung motor ambulance, were accomplished in sleep. + +When he wakened again to consciousness he lay for some time looking +about him, moving only his eyes and very slowly his head. He took in +the canvas walls and roof of the big hospital marquee, the +scarlet-blanketed beds, the flitting figures of a couple of +silent-footed Sisters, the screens about two of the beds; the little +clump of figures, doctor, orderlies, and Sister, stooped over another +bed. Presently he caught the eye of a Sister as she passed swiftly the +foot of his bed, and she, seeing the appealing look, the barely +perceptible upward twitch of his head that was all he could do to +beckon, stopped and turned, and moved quickly to his side. She smoothed +the pillow about his head and the sheets across his shoulders, and +spoke softly. + +"I wonder if there is anything you want?" she said. "You can't tell me, +can you? just close your eyes a minute if there is anything I can do. +Shut them for yes--keep them open for no." + +The eyes closed instantly, opened, and stared upward at her. + +"Is it the pain?" she said. "Is it very dreadful?" + +The eyes held steady and unflickering upon hers. She knew well that +there they did not speak truth, and that the pain must indeed be very +dreadful. + +"We can stop the pain, you know," she said "Is that what you want?" + +The steady unwinking eyes answered "No" again, and to add emphasis to +it the bandaged head shook slowly from side to side on the pillow. + +The Sister was puzzled; she could find out what he wanted, of course, +she was confident of that; but it might take some time and many +questions, and time just then was something that she or no one else in +the big clearing hospital could find enough of for the work in their +hands. Even then urgent work was calling her; so she left him, +promising to come again as soon as she could. + +She spoke to the doctor, and presently he came back with her to the +bedside. "It's marvelous," he said in a low tone to the Sister, "that +he has held on to life so long." + +Private Ruthven's wounds had been dressed there on arrival, before he +woke out of the morphia sleep, and the doctor had seen and knew. + +"There is nothing we can do for him," he said, "except morphia again, +to ease him out of his pain." + +But again the boy, his brow wrinkling with the effort, attempted with +his bandaged hand to stay the needle in the doctor's fingers. + +"I'm sure," said the Sister, "he doesn't want the morphia; he told me +so, didn't you?" appealing to the boy. + +The eyes shut and gripped tight in an emphatic answer, and the Sister +explained their code. + +"Listen!" she said gently. "The doctor will only give you enough to +make you sleep for two or three hours, and then I shall have time to +come and talk to you. Will that do!" + +The unmoving eyes answered "No" again, and the doctor stood up. + +"If he can bear it, Sister," he said, "we may as well leave him. I +can't understand it, though. I know how those wounds must hurt." + +They left him then, and he lay for another couple of hours, his eyes +set on the canvas roof above his head, dropped for an instant to any +passing figure, lifting again to their fixed position. The eyes and the +mute appeal in them haunted the Sister, and half a dozen times, as she +moved about the beds, she flitted over to him, just to drop a word that +she had not forgotten and she was coming presently. + +"You want me to talk to you, don't you?" she said. "There is something +you want me to find out?" + +"Yes--yes--yes," said the quickly flickering eyelids. + +The Sister read the label that was tied to him when he was brought in. +She asked questions round the ward of those who were able to answer +them, and sent an orderly to make inquiries in the other tents. He came +back presently and reported the finding of another man who belonged to +Ruthven's regiment and who knew him. So presently, when she was +relieved from duty--the first relief for thirty-six solid hours of +physical stress and heart-tearing strain--she went straight to the +other tent and questioned the man who knew Private Ruthven. He had a +hopelessly shattered arm, but appeared mightily content and amazingly +cheerful. He knew Wally, he said, was in the same platoon with him; +didn't know much about him except that he was a very decent sort; no, +knew nothing about his people or his home, although he remembered--yes, +there was a girl. Wally had shown him her photograph once, "and a real +ripper she is too." Didn't know if Wally was engaged to her, or +anything more about her, and certainly not her name. + +The Sister went back to Wally. His wrinkled brow cleared at the sight +of her, but she could see that the eyes were sunk more deeply in his +head, that they were dulled, no doubt with his suffering. + +"I'm going to ask you a lot of questions," she said, "and you'll just +close your eyes again if I speak of what you want to tell me. You do +want to tell me something, don't you?" + +To her surprise, the "Yes" was not signaled back to her. She was +puzzled a moment. "You want to ask me something?" she said. + +"Yes," the eyelids flicked back. + +"Is it about a girl?" she asked. ("No.") + +"Is it about money of any sort?" ("No.") + +"Is it about your mother, or your people, or your home? Is it about +yourself?" + +She had paused after each question and went on to the next, but seeing +no sign of answering "Yes" she was baffled for a moment. But she felt +that she could not go to her own bed to which she had been dismissed, +could not go to the sleep she so badly needed, until she had found and +answered the question in those pitiful eyes. She tried again. + +"Is it about your regiment?" she asked, and the eyes snapped "Yes," and +"Yes," and "Yes" again. She puzzled over that, and then went back to +the doctor in charge of the other ward and brought back with her the +man who "knew Wally." Mentally she clapped her hands at the light that +leaped to the boy's eyes. She had told the man that it was something +about the regiment he wanted to know; told him, too, his method of +answering "Yes" and "No," and to put his questions in such, a form that +they could be so answered. + +The friend advanced to the bedside with clumsy caution. + +"Hello, Wally!" he said cheerfully. "They've pretty well chewed you up +and spit you out again, 'aven't they? But you're all right, old son, +you're going to pull through, 'cause the O.C. o' the Linseed +Lancers[Footnote: Medical Service.] here told me so. But Sister here +tells me you want to ask something about someone in the old crush." He +hesitated a moment. "I can't think who it would be," he confessed. "It +can't be his own chum, 'cause he 'stopped one,' and Wally saw it and +knew he was dead hours before. But look 'ere," he said determinedly, +"I'll go through the whole bloomin' regiment, from the O.C. down to the +cook, by name and one at a time, and you'll tip me a wink and stop me +at the right one. I'll start off with our own platoon first; that ought +to do it," he said to the Sister. + +"Perhaps," she said quickly, "he wants to ask about one of his +officers. Is that it?" And she turned to him. + +The eyes looked at her long and steadily, and then closed flutteringly +and hesitatingly. + +"We're coming near it," she said, "although he didn't seem sure about +that 'Yes.'" + +"Look 'ere," said the other, with a sudden inspiration, "there's no +good o' this 'Yes' and 'No' guessin' game; Wally and me was both in the +flag-wagging class, and we knows enough to--there you are." He broke +off in triumph and nodded to Wally's flickering eyelids, that danced +rapidly in the long and short of the Morse code. + +"Y-e-s. Ac-ac-ac."[Footnote: Ac-ac-ac: three A's, denoting a full stop. +In "Signalese" similar-sounding letters are given names to avoid +confusion. A is Ac; T, Toe; D, Don; P, Pip; M, Emma, etc.] + +"Yes," he said. "If you'll get a bit of paper, Sister, you can write +down the message while I spells it off. That's what you want, ain't it, +chum?" + +The Sister took paper and pencil and wrote the letters one by one as +the code ticked them off and the reader called them to her. + +"Ready. Begins!" Go on, Miss, write it down," as she hesitated. +"Don-I-Don--Did; W-E--we; Toc-ac-K-E--take; Toc-H-E--the; +Toc-R-E-N-C-H--trench; ac-ac-ac. Did we take the trench?" + +The signaler being a very unimaginative man, possibly it might never +have occurred to him to lie, to have told anything but the blunt truth +that they did not take the trench; that the regiment had been cut to +pieces in the attempt to take it; that the further attempt of another +regiment on the same trench had been beaten back with horrible loss; +that the lines on both sides, when he was sent to the rear late at +night, were held exactly as they had been held before the attack; that +the whole result of the action was _nil_--except for the casualty list. +But he caught just in time the softly sighing whispered "Yes" from the +unmoving lips of the Sister, and he lied promptly and swiftly, +efficiently and at full length. + +"Yes," he said. "We took it. I thought you knew that, and that you was +wounded the other side of it; we took it all right. Got a hammering of +course, but what was left of us cleared it with the bayonet. You should +'ave 'eard 'em squeal when the bayonet took 'em. There was one big +brute----" + +He was proceeding with a cheerful imagination, colored by past +experiences, when the Sister stopped him. Wally's eyes were closed. + +"I think," she said quietly, "that's all that Wally wants to know. +Isn't it, Wally?" + +The lids lifted slowly and the Sister could have cried at the glory and +satisfaction that shone in them. They closed once softly, lifted +slowly, and closed again tiredly and gently. That is all. Wally died an +hour afterwards. + + + +AN OPEN TOWN + + +_"Yesterday hostile artillery shelled the town of_ ---- _some miles +behind our lines, without military result. Several civilians were +killed_."--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +Two officers were cashing checks in the Bank of France and chatting +with the cashier, who was telling them about a bombardment of the town +the day before. The bank had removed itself and its business to the +underground vaults, and the large room on the ground floor, with its +polished mahogany counters, brass grills and desks, loomed dim and +indistinct in the light which filtered past the sandbags piled outside. +The walls bore notices with a black hand pointing downwards to the +cellar steps, and the big room echoed eerily to the footsteps of +customers, who tramped across the tiled floor and disappeared +downstairs to the vaults. + +"One shell," the cashier was saying, "fell close outside there," waving +a hand up the cellar steps. "_Bang! crash!_ we feel the building +shake--so." His hands left their task of counting notes, seized an +imaginary person by the lapels of an imaginary coat and shook him +violently. + +"The noise, the great c-r-rash, the shoutings, the little squeals, and +then the peoples running, the glasses breaking--tinkle--tinkle--you +have seen the smoke, thick black smoke, and smelling--pah!" + +He wrinkled his nose with disgust. "At first--for one second--I think +the bank is hit; but no, it is the street outside. Little stones--yes, +and splinters, through the windows; they come and hit all round, +inside--rap, rap, rap!" His darting hand played the splinters' part, +indicating with little pointing stabs the ceiling and the walls. +"Mademoiselle there, you see? yes! one little piece of shell," and he +held finger and thumb to illustrate an inch-long fragment. + +The two officers looked at Mademoiselle, an exceedingly pretty young +girl, sitting composedly at a typewriter. There was a strip of plaster +marring the smooth cheek, and at the cashier's words she looked round +at the young officers, flashed them a cheerful smile, and returned to +her hammering on the key-board. + +"My word, Mademoiselle," said one of the officers. "Near thing, eh? I +wonder you are not scared to carry on." + +The girl turned a slightly puzzled glance on them. + +"Monsieur means," explained the cashier friendlily to her, "is it that +you have no fear--_peur_, to continue the affairs?" + +Mademoiselle smiled brightly and shook her head. "But no," she said +cheerfully, "it is nossings," and went back to her work. + +"Jolly plucky girl, I think," said the officer. "Nearly as plucky as +she is pretty. I say, old man, my French isn't up to handling a +compliment like that; see if you can--" + +He did not finish the sentence, for at that moment there was a faint +far-off _bang_, and they sensed rather than felt a faint quiver in the +solid earth beneath their feet. The cashier held up one hand and stood +with head turned sideways in an attitude of listening. + +"You hear?" he said, arching his eyebrows. + +"What was it?" said the officer. "Sounded like a door banging +upstairs." + +"No, no," said the cashier. "They have commenced again. It is the same +hour as last time, and the time before." + +Mademoiselle had stopped typing, and the ledger clerk at the desk +behind her had also ceased work and sat listening; but after a moment +Mademoiselle threw a little smile towards them--a half-pleased, +half-deprecating little smile, as of one who shows a visitor something +interesting, something one is glad to show, and then resumed her +clicking on the typewriter. The ledger clerk, too, went back to work, +and the cashier said off-handedly: "It is not near--the station +perhaps--yes!" as if the station were a few hundred miles off, instead +of a few hundred yards. He finished rapidly counting his bundle of +notes and handed them to the officer. + +When the two emerged from the bank they found the street a good deal +quieter than when they had entered it. They walked along towards the +main square, noticing that some of the shopkeepers were calmly putting +up their shutters, while others quietly continued serving the few +customers who were hurriedly completing their purchases. As the two +walked along the narrow street they heard the thin savage whistle of an +approaching shell and a moment later a tremendous _bang_! They and +everybody else near them stopped and looked round, up and down the +street, and up over the roofs of the houses. They could see nothing, +and had turned to walk on when something crashed sharply on a roof +above them, bounced off, and fell with a rap on the cobble-stones in +the street. A child, an eager-faced youngster, ran from an arched +gateway and pounced on the little object, rose, and held up a piece of +stone, with intense annoyance and disgust plainly written on his face, +threw it from him with an exclamation of disappointment. + +The two walked on chuckling. "Little bounder!" said one. "Thought he'd +got a souvenir; rather a sell for him--what?" + +In the main square, they found a number of market women packing up +their little stalls and moving off, others debating volubly and looking +up at the sky, pointing in the direction of the last sound, and clearly +arguing with each other as to whether they should stay or move. A +couple of Army Transport wagons clattered across the square. One +driver, with the reins bunched up in his hand and the whip under his +arm, was busily engaged striking matches and trying to light a +cigarette; the other, allowing his horses to follow the first wagon, +and with his mouth open, gazed up into the sky as if he expected to see +the next shell coming. A few civilians scattered about the square were +walking briskly; a woman, clutching the arm of a little boy, ran, +dragging him, with his little legs going at a rapid trot. More +civilians, a few men in khaki, and some in French uniform, were +standing in archways or in shop-doors. + +There was another long whistle, louder and harsher this time, and +followed by a splintering crash and rattle. The groups in the doorways +flicked out of sight; the people in the open half halted and turned to +hurry on, or in some cases, without looking round, ran hurriedly to +cover. Stones and little fragments of débris clacked down one by one, +and then in a little pattering shower on the stones of the square. The +last of the market women, hesitating no longer, hurriedly bundled up +their belongings and hastened off. The two officers turned into a café +with a wide front window, seated themselves near this at a little +marble table, and ordered beer. There were about a score of officers in +the room, talking or reading the English papers. All of them had very +clean and very close-shaven faces, and very dirty and weather-stained, +mud-marked clothes. For the most part they seemed a great deal more +interested in each other, in their conversations, and in their papers, +than in any notice of the bombardment. The two who were seated near the +window had a good view from it, and extracted plenty of interest from +watching the people outside. + +Another shell whistled and roared down, burst with a deep angry bellow, +a clattering and rending and splintering sound of breaking stone and +wood. This time bigger fragments of stone, a shower of broken tiles and +slates rattled down into the square; a thick cloud of dirty black +smoke, gray and red tinged with mortar and brick-dust, appeared up +above the roofs on the other side of the square, spread slowly and +thickly, and hung long, dissolving very gradually and thinning off in +trailing wisps. + +In the café there was silence for a moment, and many remarks about +"coming rather close" and "getting a bit unhealthy," and a jesting +inquiry of the proprietor as to the shelter available in the cellar +with the beer barrels. A few rose and moved over to the window; one or +two opened the door, to stand there and look round. + +"Look at that old girl in the doorway across there," said one. "You +would think she was frightened she was going to get her best bonnet +wet." + +The woman's motions had, in fact, a curious resemblance to those of one +who hesitated about venturing out in a heavy rainstorm. She stood in +the doorway and looked round, drew back and spoke to someone inside, +picked up a heavy basket, set it down, stepped into the door, glanced +carefully and calculatingly up at the sky and across the square in the +direction she meant to take, moved back again and picked up her basket, +set it firmly on her arm, stepped out and commenced to hobble at an +ungainly cumbersome trot across the square. She was no more than +half-way across when the shriek of another shell was heard approaching. +She stopped and cast a terrified glance about her, dumped the basket +down on the cobbles, and resumed the shambling trot at increased speed. +A soldier in khaki crossing the square also commenced to run for cover +as his ear caught the sound of the shell; passing near the woman's +basket, he stooped and grabbed it and doubled on with it after its +panting owner. + +A group of soldiers standing in the archway shouted laughter and +encouragement, pretending they were watching a race, urging on the +runners. + +"Go on, Khaki! go on!--two to one on the fat girl; two to one--I lay +the fie-ald." Their cries and clapping shut off, and they disappeared +like diving ducks as the shell roared down, struck with a horrible +crash one of the buildings in a side-street just off the square, burst +it open, and flung upward and outward a flash of blinding light, a +spurt of smoke, a torrent of flying bricks and broken stones. Through +the rattle and clatter of falling masonry and flying rubbish there +came, piercing and shrill, the sound of a woman's screams. They choked +off suddenly, and for some seconds there were no sounds but those of +falling fragments, jarring and hailing on the cobble-stones, of broken +glass crashing and tinkling from dozens of windows round the square. + +As the noises of the explosion died away, figures crowded out anxiously +into the doorways again, and stood there and about the pavements, +looking round, pointing and gesticulating, and plainly prepared to run +back under cover at the first sign of warning. The half-dozen men who +had cheered the race across the square emerged from the archway, looked +around, and then set off running, keeping close under the shelter of +the houses, and disappearing into the thick smoke and dust that still +hung a thick and writhing curtain about the street-end in the corner of +the square. + +The two officers who had sat at the café window looked at one another. + +"You heard that squeal?" said one. + +"Yes," said the other; "I think we might trot over. You knowing a +little bit about surgery might be useful." + +"Oh, I dunno," said the first. "But, anyhow, let's go." + +They paid their bill and went out, and as they crossed the square they +met a couple of the soldiers who had disappeared into the smoke. They +were moving at the double, but at a word from the officers they halted. +Both wore the Red Cross badge of the Army Medical Corps on their arms, +and one explained hurriedly that they were going for an ambulance, that +there was a woman killed, one man and a woman and two children badly +wounded. They ran on, and the two officers moved hastily towards the +shell-struck house. The smoke was clearing now, and it was possible to +see something of the damage that had been done. + +The shell apparently had struck the roof, had ripped and torn it off, +burst downwards and outwards, blowing out the whole face of the upper +story, the connecting-wall and corner of the houses next to it, part of +the top-floor, and a jagged gap in the face of the lower story. The +street was piled with broken bricks and tiles, with splinters of stone, +with uprooted cobbles, with fragments and beams, bits of furniture, +ragged-edged planks, fragments of smoldering cloth. As the two walked, +their feet crunched on a layer of splintered glass and broken crockery. +The air they breathed reeked with a sharp chemical odor and the stench +of burning rags. + +The R.A.M.C. men had collected the casualties, and were doing what they +could for them, and the officer who was "a bit of a surgeon" gave them +what help he could. The casualties were mangled cruelly, and one of +them, a child, died before the ambulance came. + +The shells began to come fast now. One after another they poured in, +the last noise of their approach before they struck sounding like the +rush and roar of an express train passing through a tunnel. No more +fell near the square; but the two officers, returning across it, with +the terrifying rush of its projectiles in their ears, moved hastily and +puffed sighs of relief as they reached the door of the café again. + +"I just about want a drink," said the one who was "a bit of a surgeon." +"Thank Heaven I didn't decide to go into the Medical. The more I see of +that job the less I like it." + +The other shuddered. "How these surgeons do it at all," he said, "beats +me. I had to go outside when you started to handle that kiddie. Sorry I +couldn't stay to help you." + +"It didn't matter," said the first. "Those Medical fellows did all I +wanted, and anyhow you were better employed giving a hand to stop that +building catching light." + +The two had their drink and prepared to move again. + +"Time we were off, I suppose," said the first. "Our lot must be getting +ready to take the road presently, and we ought to be there." + +So they moved and dodged through the quiet streets, with the shells +still whooping overhead and bursting noisily in different parts of the +town. On their way they entered a shop to buy some slabs of chocolate. +The shop was empty when they entered, but a few stout raps on the +counter brought a woman, pale-faced but volubly chattering, up a ladder +and through a trapdoor in the shop-floor. She served them while the +shells still moaned overhead, talking rapidly, apologizing for keeping +them waiting, and explaining that for the children's sake she always +went down into the cellar when the shelling commenced, wishing them, as +they gathered up their parcels and left, "bonne chance," and making for +the trap-door and the ladder as they closed the shop-door. + +About the main streets there were few signs of the shells' work, except +here and there a litter of fragments tossed over the roofs and sprayed +across the road. But, passing through a small side square, the two +officers saw something more of the effect of "direct hits." In the +square was parked a number of ambulance wagons, and over a building at +the side floated a huge Red Cross flag. Eight or nine shells had been +dropped in and around the square. Where they had fallen were huge round +holes, each with a scattered fringe of earth and cobble-stones and +broken pavement. The trees lining the square showed big white patches +on their trunks where the bark had been sliced by flying fragments, +branches broken, hanging and dangling, or holding out jagged white +stumps. Leaves and twigs and branches were littered about the square +and heaped thick under the trees. The brick walls of many of the houses +round were pitted and pocked and scarred by the shell fragments. The +face of one house was marked by a huge splash, with solid center and a +ragged-edged outline of radiating jerky rays, reminding one immediately +of a famous ink-maker's advertisement. The bricks had taken the +impression of the explosion's splash exactly as paper would take the +ink's. Practically every window in the square had been broken, and in +the case of the splash-marked house, blown in, sash and frame complete. +One ambulance wagon lay a torn and splintered wreck, and pieces of it +were flung wide to the four corners of the square. Another was +overturned, with broken wheels collapsed under it, and in the Red Cross +canvas tilts of others gaped huge tears and rents. + +At one spot a pool of blood spread wide across the pavement, and still +dripping and running sluggishly and thickly into and along the stone +gutter, showed where at least one shell had caught more than brick and +stone and tree, although now the square was deserted and empty of life. + +And even as the two hurriedly skirted the place another shell hurtled +over, tripped on the top edge of a roof across the square and exploded +with an appalling clatter and burst of noise. The roof vanished in a +whirlwind of smoke and dust, and the officers jumped from the doorway +where they had flung themselves crouching, and finished their passage +of the square at a run. + +"Hottish corner," said one, as they slowed to a walk some distance +away. + +"Silly fools," growled the other. "What do they want to hoist that huge +Red Cross flag up there for, where any airman can see it? Fairly asking +for it, I call it." + +When they came to the outskirts of the town they found rather more +signs of life. People were hanging about their doorways and the shops, +fewer windows were shuttered, fewer faces peeped from the tiny grated +windows of the cellars. And up the center of the road, with lordly +calm, marched three Highlanders. The smooth swing of their kilts, their +even, unhurried step, the shoulders well back, and the elbows a shade +outturned, the bonnets cocked to a precisely same angle on the upheld +heads, all bespoke either an amazing ignorance of, or a bland +indifference to, the bombardment. Their march was stopped by a sentry, +who shouted to them and moved out from the pavement. Some sort of +argument was going on as the officers approached, and in passing they +heard the finish of it. + +"You were pit there tae warn folk," a Highlander was saying. "Weel, +ye've dune that, so we'll awa on oor road. We're nae fonder o' shells +than y'are yersel. But we'd look bonnie, wouldn't we, t' be tellin' the +Cameron lads we promised to meet, that we were feared for a bit +shellin'...." + +And after they had passed, the officers looked back and saw the three +Scots swinging their kilts and swaggering imperturbably on to the town, +and their meeting with the "Cameron lads." + +There were no more shells, but that afternoon a Taube paid another of +its frequent visits and vigorously bombed the railway station again, +driving the inhabitants back once more to the inadequate shelter of +their cellars and basements. And yet, as the same two officers marched +with their battalion through the town towards the firing-line that +evening, they found the streets quite normally bustling and astir, and +there seemed to be no lack of light in the shops and houses and about +the streets. Here and there as they passed, children stood stiffly to +attention and gravely saluted the battalion, young women and old turned +to call a cheery "Bonne Chance" to the soldiers, to smile bravely and +wave farewells to them. + +"Plucky bloomin' lot, ain't they, Bill?" said one man, and blew a kiss +to three girls waving from a window. + +"I takes off my 'at to them," said his mate. "What wi' Jack Johnsons +and airyplane bombs, you might expec' the population to have emigrated +in a bunch. The Frenchmen is a plucky enough crowd, but the women--My +Lord." + +"Airyplanes every other day," said the first man. "But I don't notice +any darkened streets and white-painted kerbs; and we don't 'ear the +inhabitants shrieking about protection from air raids, or 'Where's the +anti-aircraft guns?' or 'Who's responsible for air defense?' or 'A baa +the Government that don't a baa the air raids!' 'say la gerr,' says +they, and shrugs their shoulders, and leaves it go at that." + +They were in a darker side-street now, and the glare of the burning +house shone red in the sky over the roof tops. "Somebody's 'appy 'ome +gone west," remarked one man, and a mouth-organ in the ranks answered, +with cheerful sarcasm, "Keep the Home Fires Burning!" + + + +THE SIGNALERS + + +_"It is reported that_ ... "--EXTRACT FROM OFFICIAL DESPATCH. + + +The "it" and the "that" which were reported, and which the despatch +related in another three or four lines, concerned the position of a +forward line of battle, but have really nothing to do with this +account, which aims only at relating something of the method by which +"it was reported" and the men whose particular work was concerned only +with the report as a report, a string of words, a jumble of letters, a +huddle of Morse dots and dashes. + +The Signaling Company in the forward lines was situated in a very damp +and very cold cellar of a half-destroyed house. In it were two or three +tables commandeered from upstairs or from some houses around. That one +was a rough deal kitchen table, and that another was of polished wood, +with beautiful inlaid work and artistic curved and carven legs, the +spoils of some drawing-room apparently, was a matter without the +faintest interest to the signalers who used them. To them a table was a +table, no more and no less, a thing to hold a litter of papers, message +forms, telephone gear, and a candle stuck in a bottle. If they had +stopped to consider the matter, and had been asked, they would probably +have given a dozen of the delicate inlaid tables for one of the rough +strong kitchen ones. There were three or four chairs about the place, +just as miscellaneous in their appearance as the tables. But beyond the +tables and chairs there was no furniture whatever, unless a scanty heap +of wet straw in one corner counts as furniture, which indeed it might +well do since it counted as a bed. + +There were fully a dozen men in the room, most of them orderlies for +the carrying of messages to and from the telephonists. These men came +and went continually. Outside it had been raining hard for the greater +part of the day, and now, getting on towards midnight, the drizzle +still held and the trenches and fields about the signalers' quarters +were running wet, churned into a mass of gluey chalk-and-clay mud. The +orderlies coming in with messages were daubed thick with the wet mud +from boot-soles to shoulders, often with their puttees and knees and +thighs dripping and running water as if they had just waded through a +stream. Those who by the carrying of a message had just completed a +turn of duty, reported themselves, handed over a message perhaps, +slouched wearily over to the wall farthest from the door, dropped on +the stone floor, bundled up a pack or a haversack, or anything else +convenient for a pillow, lay down and spread a wet mackintosh over +them, wriggled and composed their bodies into the most comfortable, or +rather the least uncomfortable possible position, and in a few minutes +were dead asleep. + +It was nothing to them that every now and again the house above them +shook and quivered to the shock of a heavy shell exploding somewhere on +the ground round the house, that the rattle of rifle fire dwindled away +at times to separate and scattered shots, brisked up again and rose to +a long roll, the devil's tattoo of the machine guns rattling through it +with exactly the sound a boy makes running a stick rapidly along a +railing. The bursting shells and scourging rifle fire, sweeping machine +guns, banging grenades and bombs were all affairs with which the +Signaling Company in the cellar had no connection. For the time being +the men in a row along the wall were as unconcerned in the progress of +the battle as if they were safely and comfortably asleep in London. +Presently any or all of them might be waked and sent out into the +flying death and dangers of the battlefield, but in the meantime their +immediate and only interest was in getting what sleep they could. Every +once in a while the signalers' sergeant would shout for a man, go +across to the line and rouse one of the sleepers; then the awakened man +would sit up and blink, rise and listen to his instructions, nod and +say, "Yes, Sergeant! All right, Sergeant!" when these were completed, +pouch his message, hitch his damp mackintosh about him and button it +close, drag heavily across the stone floor and vanish into the darkness +of the stone-staired passage. + +His journey might be a long or a short one, he might only have to find +a company commander in the trenches one or two hundred yards away, he +might on the other hand have a several hours' long trudge ahead of him, +a bewildering way to pick through the darkness across a maze of fields +and a net-work of trenches, over and between the rubble heaps that +represented the remains of a village, along roads pitted with all sorts +of blind traps in the way of shell holes, strings of barbed wire, +overturned carts, broken branches of trees, flung stones and beams; and +always, whether his journey was a short one or a long, he would move in +an atmosphere of risk, with sudden death or searing pain passing him by +at every step, and waiting for him, as he well knew, at the next step +and the next and every other one to his journey's end. + +Each man who took his instructions and pocketed his message and walked +up the cellar steps knew that he might never walk down them again, that +he might not take a dozen paces from them before the bullet found him. +He knew that its finding might come in black dark and in the middle of +an open field, that it might drop him there and leave him for the +stretcher-bearers to find some time, or for the burying party to lift +any time. Each man who carried out a message was aware that he might +never deliver it, that when some other hand did so, and the message was +being read, he might be past all messages, lying stark and cold in the +mud and filth with the rain beating on his gray unheeding face; or, on +the other hand, that he might be lying warm and comfortable in the +soothing ease of a bed in the hospital train, swaying gently and lulled +by the song of the flying wheels, the rock and roll of the long +compartment, swinging at top speed down the line to the base and the +hospital ship and home. An infinity of possibilities lay between the +two extremes. They were undoubtedly the two extremes: the death that +each man hoped to evade, the wound whose painful prospect held no +slightest terror but only rather the deep satisfaction of a task +performed, of an escape from death at the cheap price of a few days' or +weeks' pain, or even a crippled limb or a broken body. + +A man forgot all these things when he came down the cellar steps and +crept to a corner to snatch what sleep he could, but remembered them +again only when he was wakened and sent out into their midst, and into +all the toils and terrors the others had passed, or were to go into or +even then were meeting. + +The signalers at the instruments, the sergeants who gathered them in +and sent them forth, gave little or no thought to the orderlies. These +men were hardly more than shadows, things which brought them long +screeds to be translated to the tapping keys, hands which would stretch +into the candle-light and lift the messages that had just "buzzed" in +over their wires. The sergeant thought of them mostly as a list of +names to be ticked off one by one in a careful roster as each man did +his turn of duty, went out, or came back and reported in. And the man +who sent messages these men bore may never have given a thought to the +hands that would carry them, unless perhaps to wonder vaguely whether +the message could get through from so and so to such and such, from +this map square to that, and if the chance of the messages getting +through--the message you will note, not the messenger--seemed extra +doubtful, orders might be given to send it in duplicate or triplicate, +to double or treble the chances of its arriving. + +The night wore on, the orderlies slept and woke, stumbled in and out; +the telephonists droned out in monotonous voices to the telephone, or +"buzzed" even more monotonous strings of longs and shorts on the +"buzzer." And in the open about them, and all unheeded by them, men +fought, and suffered wounds and died, or fought on in the scarce lesser +suffering of cold and wet and hunger. + +In the signalers' room all the fluctuations of the fight were +translated from the pulsing fever, the human living tragedies and +heroisms, the violent hopes and fears and anxieties of the battle line, +to curt cold words, to scribbled letters on a message form. At times +these messages were almost meaningless to them, or at least their red +tragedy was unheeded. Their first thought when a message was handed in +for transmission, usually their first question when the signaler at the +other end called to take a message, was whether the message was a long +one or a short one. One telephonist was handed an urgent message to +send off, saying that bombs were running short in the forward line and +that further supplies were required at the earliest possible moment, +that the line was being severely bombed and unless they had the means +to reply must be driven out or destroyed. The signaler took that +message and sent it through; but his instrument was not working very +clearly, and he was a good deal more concerned and his mind was much +more fully taken up with the exasperating difficulty of making the +signaler at the other end catch word or letter correctly, than it was +with all the close packed volume of meaning it contained. It was not +that he did not understand the meaning; he himself had known a line +bombed out before now, the trenches rent and torn apart, the shattered +limbs and broken bodies of the defenders, the horrible ripping crash of +the bombs, the blinding flame, the numbing shock, the smoke and reek +and noise of the explosions; but though all these things were known to +him, the words "bombed out" meant no more now than nine letters of the +alphabet and the maddening stupidity of the man at the other end, who +would misunderstand the sound and meaning of "bombed" and had to have +it in time-consuming letter-by-letter spelling. + +When he had sent that message, he took off and wrote down one or two +others from the signaling station he was in touch with. His own +station, it will be remembered, was close up to the forward firing +line, a new firing line which marked the limits of the advance made +that morning. The station he was connected with was back in rear of +what, previous to the attack, had been the British forward line. +Between the two the thin insignificant thread of the telephone wire ran +twisting across the jumble of the trenches of our old firing line, the +neutral ground that had lain between the trenches, and the other maze +of trench, dug-out, and bomb-proof shelter pits that had been captured +from the enemy. Then in the middle of sending a message, the wire went +dead, gave no answer to repeated calls on the "buzzer." The sergeant, +called to consultation, helped to overlook and examine the instrument. +Nothing could be found wrong with it, but to make quite sure the fault +was not there, a spare instrument was coupled on to a short length of +wire between it and the old one. They carried the message perfectly, so +with curses of angry disgust the wire was pronounced disconnected, or +"disc," as the signaler called it. + +This meant that a man or men had to be sent out along the line to find +and repair the break, and that until this was done, no telephone +message could pass between that portion of the forward line and the +headquarters in the rear. The situation was the more serious, inasmuch +as this was the only connecting line for a considerable distance along +the new front. A corporal and two men took a spare instrument and a +coil of wire, and set out on their dangerous journey. + +The break of course had been reported to the O.C., and after that there +was nothing more for the signaler at the dead instrument to do, except +to listen for the buzz that would come back from the repair party as +they progressed along the line, tapping in occasionally to make sure +that they still had connection with the forward station, their getting +no reply at the same time from the rear station being of course +sufficient proof that they had not passed the break. + +Twice the signaler got a message, the second one being from the forward +side of the old neutral ground in what had been the German front line +trench; the report said also that fairly heavy fire was being +maintained on the open ground. After that there was silence. + +When the signaler had time to look about him, to light a cigarette and +to listen to the uproar of battle that filtered down the cellar steps +and through the closed door, he spoke to the sergeant about the noise, +and the sergeant agreed with him that it was getting louder, which +meant either that the fight was getting hotter or coming closer. The +answer to their doubts came swiftly to their hands in the shape of a +note from the O.C., with a message borne by the orderly that it was to +be sent through anyhow or somehow, but at once. + +Now the O.C., be it noted, had already had a report that the telephone +wire was cut; but he still scribbled his note, sent his message, and +thereafter put the matter out of his mind. He did not know how or in +what fashion the message would be sent; but he did know the Signaling +Company, and that was sufficient for him. + +In this he was doing nothing out of the usual. There are many +commanders who do the same thing, and this, if you read it aright, is a +compliment to the signaling companies beyond all the praise of General +Orders or the sweet flattery of the G.O.C. despatch--the men who sent +the messages put them out of their mind as soon as they were written +and handed to an orderly with a curt order, "Signaling company to send +that." + +You at home who slip a letter into the pillar box, consider it, +allowing due time for its journey, as good as delivered at the other +end; by so doing you pay an unconscious compliment to all manners and +grades of men, from high salaried managers down to humble porters and +postmen. But the somewhat similar compliment that is paid by the men +who send messages across the battlefield is paid in the bulk to one +little select circle; to the animal brawn and blood, the spiritual +courage and devotion, the bodies and brains, the pluck and +perseverance, the endurance, the grit and the determination of the +signaling companies. + +When the sergeant took his message and glanced through it, he pursed +his lips in a low whistle and asked the signaler to copy while he went +and roused three messengers. His quick glance through the note had told +him, even without the O.C.'s message, that it was to the last degree +urgent that the message should go back and be delivered at once and +without fail; therefore he sent three messengers, simply because three +men trebled the chances of the message getting through without delay. +If one man dropped, there were two to go on; if two fell, the third +would still carry on; if he fell--well, after that the matter was +beyond the sergeant's handling; he must leave it to the messenger to +find another man or means to carry on the message. + +The telephonist had scribbled a copy of the note to keep by him in case +the wire was mended and the message could be sent through after the +messengers started and before they reached the other end. The three +received their instructions, drew their wet coats about their shivering +shoulders, relieved their feelings in a few growled sentences about the +dog's life a man led in that company, and departed into the wet night. + +The sergeant came back, re-read the message and discussed it with the +signaler. It said: "Heavy attack is developing and being pressed +strongly on our center a-a-a.[Footnote: Three a's indicate a full +stop.] Our losses have been heavy and line is considerably weakened +a-a-a. Will hold on here to the last but urgently request that strong +reinforcements be sent up if the line is to be maintained a-a-a. +Additional artillery support would be useful a-a-a." + +"Sounds healthy, don't it?" said the sergeant reflectively. The +signaler nodded gloomily and listened apprehensively to the growing +sounds of battle. Now that his mind was free from first thoughts of +telephonic worries, he had time to consider outside matters. For nearly +ten minutes the two men listened, and talked in short sentences, and +listened again. The rattle of rifle fire was sustained and unbroken, +and punctuated liberally at short intervals by the boom of exploding +grenades and bombs. Decidedly the whole action was heavier--or coming +back closer to them. + +The sergeant was moving across the door to open it and listen when a +shell struck the house above them. The building shook violently, down +to the very flags of the stone floor; from overhead, after the first +crash, there came a rumble of falling masonry, the splintering cracks +of breaking wood-work, the clatter and rattle of cascading bricks and +tiles. A shower of plaster grit fell from the cellar roof and settled +thick upon the papers littered over the table. The sergeant halted +abruptly with his hand on the cellar door, three or four of the +sleepers stirred restlessly, one woke for a minute sufficiently to +grumble curses and ask "what the blank was that"; the rest slept on +serene and undisturbed. The sergeant stood there until the last sounds +of falling rubbish had ceased. "A shell," he said, and drew a deep +breath. "Plunk into upstairs somewhere." + +The signaler made no answer. He was quite busy at the moment +rearranging his disturbed papers and blowing the dust and grit off +them. + +A telephonist at another table commenced to take and write down a +message. It came from the forward trench on the left, and merely said +briefly that the attack on the center was spreading to them and that +they were holding it with some difficulty. The message was sent up to +the O.C. "Whoever the O.C. may be," as the sergeant said softly. "If +the Colonel was upstairs when that shell hit, there's another O.C. now, +most like." But the Colonel had escaped that shell and sent a message +back to the left trench to hang on, and that he had asked for +reënforcements. + +"He did ask," said the sergeant grimly, "but when he's going to get 'em +is a different pair o' shoes. It'll take those messengers most of an +hour to get there, even if they dodge all the lead on the way." + +As the minutes passed, it became more and more plain that the need for +reënforcements was growing more and more urgent. The sergeant was +standing now at the open door of the cellar, and the noise of the +conflict swept down and clamored and beat about them. + +"Think I'll just slip up and have a look round," said the sergeant. "I +shan't be long." + +When he had gone, the signaler rose and closed the door; it was cold +enough, as he very sensibly argued, and his being able to hear the +fighting better would do nothing to affect its issue. Just after came +another call on his instrument, and the repair party told him they had +crossed the neutral ground, had one man wounded in the arm, that he was +going on with them, and they were still following up the wire. The +message ceased, and the telephonist, leaning his elbows on the table +and his chin on his hands, was almost asleep before he realized it. He +wakened with a jerk, lit another cigarette, and stamped up and down the +room trying to warm his numbed feet. + +First one orderly and then another brought in messages to be sent to +the other trenches, and the signaler held them a minute and gathered +some more particulars as to how the fight was progressing up there. The +particulars were not encouraging. We must have lost a lot of men, since +the whole place was clotted up with casualties that kept coming in +quicker than the stretcher-bearers could move them. The rifle-fire was +hot, the bombing was still hotter, and the shelling was perhaps the +hottest and most horrible of all. Of the last the signaler hardly +required an account; the growling thumps of heavy shells exploding, +kept sending little shivers down the cellar walls, the shiver being, +oddly enough, more emphatic when the wail of the falling shell ended in +a muffled thump that proclaimed the missile "blind" or "a dud." Another +hurried messenger plunged down the steps with a note written by the +adjutant to say the colonel was severely wounded and had sent for the +second in command to take over. Ten more dragging minutes passed, and +now the separate little shivers and thrills that shook the cellar walls +had merged and run together. The rolling crash of the falling shells +and the bursting of bombs came close and fast one upon another, and at +intervals the terrific detonation of an aerial torpedo dwarfed for the +moment all the other sounds. + +By now the noise was so great that even the sleepers began to stir, and +one or two of them to wake. One sat up and asked the telephonist, +sitting idle over his instrument, what was happening. He was told +briefly, and told also that the line was "disc." He expressed +considerable annoyance at this, grumbling that he knew what it +meant--more trips in the mud and under fire to take the messages the +wire should have carried. + +"Do you think there's any chance of them pushing in the line and +rushing this house?" he asked. The telephonist didn't know. "Well," +said the man and lay down again. "It's none o' my dashed business if +they do anyway. I only hope we're tipped the wink in time to shunt out +o' here; I've no particular fancy for sitting in a cellar with the +Boche cock-shying their bombs down the steps at me." Then he shut his +eyes and went to sleep again. + +The morsed key signal for his own company buzzed rapidly on the +signaler's telephone and he caught the voice of the corporal who had +taken out the repair party. They had found the break, the corporal +said, and were mending it. He should be through--he was through--could +he hear the other end? The signaler could hear the other end calling +him and he promptly tapped off the answering signal and spoke into his +instrument. He could hear the morse signals on the buzzer plain enough, +but the voice was faint and indistinct. The signaler caught the +corporal before he withdrew his tap-in and implored him to search along +and find the leakage. + +"It's bad enough," he said, "to get all these messages through by +voice. I haven't a dog's chance of doing it if I have to buzz each +one." + +The rear station spoke again and informed him that he had several +urgent messages waiting. The forward signaler replied that he also had +several messages, and one in particular was urgent above all others. + +"The blanky line is being pushed in," he said. "No, it isn't pushed in +yet--I didn't say it--I said being pushed in--being--being, looks like +it will be pushed in--got that? The O.C. has' stopped one' and the +second has taken command. This message I want you to take is shrieking +for reënforcements--what? I can't hear--no I didn't say anything about +horses--I did _not_. Reënforcements I said; anyhow, take this message +and get it through quick." + +He was interrupted by another terrific crash, a fresh and louder +outburst of the din outside; running footsteps clattered and leaped +down the stairs, the door flung open and the sergeant rushed in +slamming the door violently behind him. He ran straight across to the +recumbent figures and began violently to shake and kick them into +wakefulness. + +"Up with ye!" he said, "every man. If you don't wake quick now, you'll +maybe not have the chance to wake at all." + +The men rolled over and sat and stood up blinking stupidly at him and +listening in amazement to the noise outside. + +"Rouse yourselves," he cried. "Get a move on. The Germans are almost on +top of us. The front line's falling back. They'll stand here." He +seized one or two of them and pushed them towards the door. "You," he +said, "and you and you, get outside and round the back there. See if +you can get a pickaxe, a trenching tool, anything, and break down that +grating and knock a bigger hole in the window. We may have to crawl out +there presently. The rest o' ye come with me an' help block up the +door." + +Through the din that followed, the telephonist fought to get his +message through; he had to give up an attempt to speak it while a +hatchet, a crowbar, and a pickaxe were noisily at work breaking out a +fresh exit from the back of the cellar, and even after that work had +been completed, it was difficult to make himself heard. He completed +the urgent message for reënforcements at last, listened to some +confused and confusing comments upon it, and then made ready to take +some messages from the other end. + +"You'll have to shout," he said, "no, shout--speak loud, because I +can't 'ardly 'ear myself think--no, 'ear myself think. Oh, all sorts, +but the shelling is the worst, and one o' them beastly airyale +torpedoes. All right, go ahead." + +The earpiece receiver strapped tightly over one ear, left his right +hand free to use a pencil, and as he took the spoken message word by +word, he wrote it on the pad of message forms under his hand. Under the +circumstances it is hardly surprising that the message took a good deal +longer than a normal time to send through, and while he was taking it, +the signaler's mind was altogether too occupied to pay any attention to +the progress of events above and around him. But now the sergeant came +back and warned him that he had better get his things ready and put +together as far as he could, in case they had to make a quick and +sudden move. + +"The game's up, I'm afraid," he said gloomily, and took a note that was +brought down by another orderly. "I thought so," he commented, as he +read it hastily and passed it to the other signaler. "It's a message +warning the right and left flanks that we can't hold the center any +longer, and that they are to commence falling back to conform to our +retirement at 3.20 _ac emma_, which is ten minutes from now." + +Over their heads the signalers could hear tramping scurrying feet, the +hammering out of loopholes, the dragging thump and flinging down of +obstacles piled up as an additional defense to the rickety walls. Then +there were more hurrying footsteps, and presently the jarring +_rap-rap-rap_ of a machine gun immediately over their heads. + +"That's done it!" said the sergeant. "We've got no orders to move, but +I'm going to chance it and establish an alternative signaling station +in one of the trenches somewhere behind here. This cellar roof is too +thin to stop an ordinary Fizzbang, much less a good solid Crump, and +that machine gun upstairs is a certain invitation to sudden death and +the German gunners to down and out us." + +He moved towards the new opening that had been made in the wall of the +cellar, scrambled up it and disappeared. All the signalers lifted their +attention from their instruments at the same moment and sat listening +to the fresh note that ran through the renewed and louder clamor and +racket. The signaler who was in touch with the rear station called them +and began to tell them what was happening. + +"We're about all in, I b'lieve," he said. "Five minutes ago we passed +word to the flanks to fall back in ten minutes. What? Yes, it's thick. +I don't know how many men we've lost hanging on, and I suppose we'll +lose as many again taking back the trench we're to give up. What's +that? No. I don't see how reënforcements could be here yet. How long +ago you say you passed orders for them to move up? An hour ago! That's +wrong, because the messengers can't have been back--telephone message? +That's a lot less than an hour ago. I sent it myself no more than half +an hour since. Oo-oo! did you get that bump? Dunno, couple o' big +shells or something dropped just outside. I can 'ardly 'ear you. +There's a most almighty row going on all round. They must be charging, +I think, or our front line's fallen back, because the rifles is going +nineteen to the dozen, a-a-ah! They're getting stronger too, and it +sounds like a lot more bombs going; hold on, there's that blighting +maxim again." + +He stopped speaking while upstairs the maxim clattered off belt after +belt of cartridges. The other signalers were shuffling their feet +anxiously and looking about them. + +"Are we going to stick it here?" said one. "Didn't the sergeant say +something about 'opping it?" + +"If he did," said the other, "he hasn't given any orders that I've +heard. I suppose he'll come back and do that, and we've just got to +carry on till then." + +The men had to shout now to make themselves heard to each other above +the constant clatter of the maxim and the roar of rifle fire. By now +they could hear, too, shouts and cries and the trampling rush of many +footsteps. The signaler spoke into his instrument again. + +"I think the line's fallen back," he said. "I can hear a heap o' men +running about there outside, and now I suppose us here is about due to +get it in the neck." + +There was a scuffle, a rush, and a plunge, and the sergeant shot down +through the rear opening and out into the cellar. + +"The flank trenches!" he shouted. "Quick! Get on to them--right and +left flank--tell them they're to stand fast. Quick, now, give them that +first. Stand fast; do not retire." + +The signalers leaped to their instruments, buzzed off the call, and +getting through, rattled their messages off. + +"Ask them," said the sergeant anxiously. "Had they commenced to +retire." He breathed a sigh of relief when the answers came. "No," that +the message had just stopped them in time. + +"Then," he said, "you can go ahead now and tell them the order to +retire is cancelled, that the reënforcements have arrived, that they're +up in our forward line, and we can hold it good--oh!" + +He paused and wiped his wet forehead; "you," he said, turning to the +other signaler, "tell them behind there the same thing." + +"How in thunder did they manage it, sergeant?" said the perplexed +signaler. "They haven't had time since they got my message through." + +"No," said the sergeant, "but they've just had time since they got +mine." + +"Got yours?" said the bewildered signaler. + +"Yes, didn't I tell you?" said the sergeant. "When I went out for a +look round that time, I found an artillery signaler laying out a new +line, and I got him to let me tap in and send a message through his +battery to headquarters." + +"You might have told me," said the aggrieved signaler. "It would have +saved me a heap of sweat getting that message through." After he had +finished his message to the rear station he spoke reflectively: "Lucky +thing you did get through," he said. "'Twas a pretty close shave. The +O.C. should have a 'thank you' for you over it." + +"I don't suppose," answered the sergeant, "the O.C. will ever know or +ever trouble about it; he sent a message to the signaling company to +send through--and it was sent through. There's the beginning and the +end of it." + +And as he said, so it was; or rather the end of it was in those three +words that appeared later in the despatch: "It is reported." + + + +CONSCRIPT COURAGE + + +You must know plenty of people--if you yourself are not one of +them--who hold out stoutly against any military compulsion or +conscription in the belief that the "fetched" man can never be the +equal in valor and fighting instinct of the volunteer, can only be a +source of weakness in any platoon, company and regiment. This tale may +throw a new light on that argument. + +Gerald Bunthrop was not a conscript in the strict sense of the word, +because when he enlisted no legal form of conscription existed in the +United Kingdom; but he was, as many more have been, a moral conscript, +a man utterly averse to any form of soldiering, much less fighting, +very reluctantly driven into the Army by force of circumstance and +pressure from without himself. Before the War the Army and its ways +were to him a sealed book. Of war he had the haziest ideas compounded +of novels he had read and dimly remembered and mental pictures in a +confused jumble of Charles O'Malley dragoons on spirited charges, +half-forgotten illustrations in the papers of pith-helmeted infantry in +the Boer War, faint boyhood recollections of Magersfontein and the +glumness of the "Black Week"--a much more realistic and vivid +impression of Waterloo as described by Brigadier Gerard--and odd +figures of black Soudanese, of Light Brigade troopers, of Peninsula +red-coats, of Sepoys and bonneted Highlanders in the Mutiny period, and +of Life Guard sentries at Whitehall, lines of fixed bayonets on City +procession routes, and khaki-clad Terriers seen about railway stations +and on bus-tops with incongruous rifles on Saturday afternoons. +Actually, it is not correct to include these living figures in his +vague idea of war. They had to him no connection with anything outside +normal peaceful life, stirred his thoughts to war no more than seeing a +gasbracket would wake him to imaginings of a coalmine or a pit +explosion. His slight conceptions of war, then, were a mere matter of +print and books and pictures, and the first months of this present war +were exactly the same, no more and no less--newspaper paragraphs and +photos and drawings in the weeklies hanging on the bookstalls. He read +about the Retreat and the Advance, skimmed the prophets' forecasts, +gulped the communiques with interest a good deal fainter than he read +the accounts of the football matches or a boxing bout. He expected "our +side" to win of course, and was quite patriotic; was in fact a +"supporter" of the British Army in exactly the sense of being a +"supporter" or "follower" of Tottenham Hotspurs or Kent County. Any +thoughts that he might shoulder a rifle and fight Germans would at that +time, if it had entered his head, have seemed just as ridiculous as a +thought that he should play in the Final at the Crystal Palace or step +into the ring to fight Carpentier. It took a long time to move him from +this attitude of aloofness. Recruiting posters failed utterly to touch +him. He looked at them, criticized them, even discussed their +"goodness" or drawing power on recruits with complete detachment and +without the vaguest idea that they were addressed to him. He bought +Allies' flag-buttons, and subscribed with his fellow-employees to a Red +Cross Fund, and joined them again in sending some sixpences to a +newspaper Smokes Gift Fund; he always most scrupulously stood up and +uncovered to "God Save the King," and clapped and encored vociferously +any patriotic songs or sentiments from the stage. He thought he was +doing his full duty as a loyal Briton, and even--this was when he +promised a regular sixpence a week to the Smokes Fund--going perhaps a +little beyond it. First hints and suggestions that he should enlist he +treated as an excellent jest, and when at last they became too frequent +and pointed for that, and began to come from complete strangers, he +became justly indignant at such "impudence" and "interference," and +began long explainings to people he knew, that he wasn't the one to be +bullied into anything, that fighting wasn't "his line," that he "had no +liking for soldiering," that he would have gone like a shot, but had +his own good and adequate reasons for not doing so. + +There is no need to tell of the stages by which he arrived at the +conclusion that he must enlist: from the first dawning wonder at such a +possibility, through qualms of doubt and fear and spasms of hope +and--almost--courage, to a dull apathy of resignation. No need to tell +either the particular circumstances that "conscripted" him at last, +because although his name is not real the man himself is, and one has +no wish to bring shame on him or his people. I have only described him +so closely to make it very clear that he was driven to enlistment, that +a less promising recruit never joined up, that he was a conscript in +every real sense of the word. We can pass over all his training, his +introduction to the life of the trenches, his feelings of terror under +conditions as little dangerous as the trenches could be. He managed, +more or less, to hide this terror, as many a worse and many a better +man has done before him, until one day---- + +The Germans had made a fierce attack, had overborne a section of the +defense and taken a good deal of trenched ground, had been +counter-attacked and partly driven back, had scourged the lost parts +with a fresh tempest of artillery fire and driven in again to close +quarters, to hot bomb and bayonet work; were again checked and for the +moment held. + +Private Gerald Bunthrop's battalion had been hurried up to support the +broken and breaking line, was thrust into a badly wrecked trench with +crumbling sides and broken traverses, with many dead and wounded +cumbering the feet of the few defenders, with a reek of high-explosive +fumes catching their throats and nostrils. The open ground beyond the +trench was scattered thick with great heaps of German dead, a few more +sprawled on the broken parapet, another and lesser few were huddled in +the trench itself amongst the many khaki forms. The battalion holding +the trench had been almost annihilated in the task, had in fact at +first been driven out from part of the line and had only reoccupied it +with heavy losses. Bunthrop had with his battalion passed along some +smashed communication trenches and over the open ground this fighting +had covered, and the sights they saw in passing might easily have +shaken the stoutest hearts and nerves. They made the approach, too, +under a destructive fire with high-explosive shells screaming and +crashing over, around, and amongst them, with bullets whistling and +hissing about them and striking the ground with the sound of constantly +exploding Chinese crackers. + +Bunthrop himself, to state the fact baldly, was in an agony of fear. He +might have been tempted to bolt, but was restrained by a complete lack +of any idea where to bolt to, by a lingering remnant of self-respect, +and by a firm conviction that he would be dealt with mercilessly if he +openly ran. But when he reached the comparative shelter of the broken +trench all these safeguards of his decent behavior vanished. He flung +himself into the trench, cowered in its deepest part, made not the +slightest attempt to look over the parapet, much less to use his rifle. +There is this much of excuse for him, that on the very instant that +they reached the cover of the trench a bursting high-explosive had +caught the four men next in line to him. The excuse may be insufficient +for those who have never witnessed at very close hand the instant and +terrible destruction of four companions with whom they have eaten and +slept and talked and moved and had their intimate being for many +months; but those who have known such happenings will understand. +Bunthrop's sergeant understood, and because he was a good sergeant and +had the instinct for the right handling of men--it must have been an +instinct, because, up to a year before, he had been ledger clerk in a +City office and had handled nothing more alive than columns of figures +in a book--he issued exactly the order that appealed exactly to +Bunthrop's terror and roused him from a shivering embodiment of fear to +a live thinking and order-obeying private. "Get up and sling some of +those sandbags back on the parapet, Bunthrop!" he said, "and see if you +can't make some decent cover for yourself. You've nothing there that +would stop a half-crippled Hun jumping in on top of you." When he came +back along the trench five minutes later he found Bunthrop feverishly +busy re-piling sandbags and strengthening the parapet, ducking hastily +and crouching low when a shell roared past overhead, but hurriedly +resuming work the instant it had passed. Then came the fresh German +attack, preceded by five minutes' intense artillery fire, concentrated +on the half-wrecked trench. The inferno of noise, the rush and roar of +the approaching shells, the crash and earth-shaking thunder of their +explosions, the ear-splitting cracks overhead of high-explosive +shrapnel, the drone and whirr and thump of their flying fragments--the +whole racking, roaring, deafening, sense-destroying tempest of noise +was too much for Bunthrop's nerve. He flung down and flattened himself +to the trench bottom again, squeezing himself close to the earth, +submerged and drowned in a sweeping wave of panic fear. He gave no heed +to the orders of his platoon commander, the shouting of his sergeant, +the stir that ran along the trench, the flat spitting reports of the +rifles that began to crack rapidly in a swiftly increasing volume of +fire. A huge fragment of shell came down and struck the trench bottom +with a suggestively violent thud a foot from his head. Half sick with +the instant thought, "If it had been a foot this way!..." half crazed +with the sense of openness to such a missile, Bunthrop rose to his +knees, pressing close to the forward parapet, and looking wildly about +him. His sergeant saw him. "You, Bunthrop," he shouted, "are you hit? +Get up, you fool, and shoot! If we can't stop 'em before they reach +here we're done in." Bunthrop hardly heeded him. Along the trench the +men were shooting at top speed over the parapet; a dozen paces away two +of the battalion machine-guns were clattering and racketing in rapid +gusts of fire; a little farther along a third one had jambed and was +being jerked and hammered at by a couple of sweating men and a wildly +cursing boy officer. So much Bunthrop saw, and then with a hideous +screeching roar a high explosive fell and burst in a shattering crash, +a spouting hurricane of noise and smoke and flung earth and fragments. +Bunthrop found himself half buried in a landslide of crumbling trench, +struggled desperately clear, gasping and choking in the black cloud of +smoke and fumes, saw presently, as the smoke thinned and dissolved, a +chaos of broken earth and sandbags where the machine-guns had stood; +saw one man and an officer dragging their gun from the débris, setting +it up again on the broken edge of the trench. Another man staggered up +the crumbling earth bank to help, and presently amongst them they got +the gun into action again. The officer left it and ran to where he saw +the other gun half buried in loose earth. He dragged it clear, found it +undamaged, looked round, shouted at Bunthrop crouching flat against the +trench wall; shouted again, came down the earth bank to him with a +rush. "Come and help!" he yelled, grabbing at Bunthrop's arm. Bunthrop +mumbled stupidly in reply. "What?" shouted the officer. "Come and help, +will you? Never mind if you are hurt," as he noticed a smear of blood +on the private's face. "You'll be hurt worse if they get into this +trench with the bayonet. Come on and help!" Bunthrop, hardly +understanding, obeyed the stronger will and followed him back to the +gun. "Can you load?" demanded the officer. "Can you fill the cartridges +into these drums while I shoot?" Bunthrop had had in a remote period of +his training some machine-gun instruction. He nodded and mumbled again. +"God!" said the officer. "Look at 'em! There's enough to eat us if they +get to bayonet distance! We _must_ stop 'em with the bullet. Hurry up, +man; hurry, if you don't want to be skewered like a stuck pig!" He +rattled off burst after burst of fire, clamoring at Bunthrop to hurry, +hurry, hurry. A wounded machine-gunner joined them, and then some +others, and the gun began to spit a steady string of bullets again. By +this time the full meaning of the officer's words--the meaning, too, of +remarks between the wounded helpers--had soaked into Bunthrop's brain. +Their only hope, his only hope of life, lay in stopping the attack +before it reached the trench; and the machine-guns were a main factor +in the stopping. He lost interest in everything except cramming the +cartridges into their place. When the officer was hit and rolled +backwards and lay groaning and swearing, Bunthrop's chief and agonizing +thought was that they--he--had lost the assistance and protection of +the gun. When one of the wounded gunners took the officer's place and +reopened fire, Bunthrop's only concern again was to keep pace with the +loading. The thoughts were repeated exactly when that gunner was hit +and collapsed and his place was taken by another man. And by now the +urgent need of keeping the gun going was so impressed on Bunthrop that +when the next gunner was struck down and the gun stood idle and +deserted it was Bunthrop who turned wildly urging the other loaders to +get up and keep the gun going; babbled excitedly about the only hope +being to stop the Germans before they "got in" with the bayonet, +repeated again and again at them the officer's phrase about "skewered +like stuck pigs." The others hung back. They had seen man after man +struck down at the gun, they could hear the _hiss_ and _whitt_ of the +bullets over their heads, the constant cracker-like smacks of others +that hit the parapet, and--they hung back. "Why th' 'ell don't you do +it yerself?" demanded one of them, angered by Bunthrop's goading and in +some degree, no doubt, by the disagreeable knowledge that they were +flinching from a duty. + +And then Bunthrop, the "conscript," the man who had held back from war +to the last possible minute, who hated soldiering and shrank from +violence and all fighting, who was known to his fellows as "a funk," +the source of much uneasiness to company and platoon commanders and +sergeants as "a weak spot," Bunthrop did what these others, these +average good men who had "joined up" freely, who had longed for the end +of home training and the transfer "out Front," dared not do. Bunthrop +scrambled up the broken bank, seized the gun, swung the sights full to +the broad gray target, and opened fire. He kept it going steadily, too, +with a sleet of bullets whistling and whipping past him, kept on after +a bullet snatched the cap from his head, and others in quick succession +cut away a shoulder strap, scored a red weal across his neck, stabbed +through the point of his shoulder. And when a shell-fragment smashed +the gun under his hands, he left it only to plunge hastily to the other +gun abandoned by all but dead and dying; pulled off a dead man who +sprawled across it and recommenced shooting. He stopped firing only +when his last cartridge was gone; squatted a moment longer staring over +the sights, and then raised his head and peered out into the trailing +film of smoke clouds from the bursting shells. Although it took him a +minute to be sure of it he saw plainly at last that the attack was +broken. Dimly he could see the heaped clusters of dead that lay out in +the open, the crawling and limping figures of the wounded who sought +safety back in the cover of their own trench, and more than that he +could see men running with their heads stooped and their gray coats +flapping about their ankles. It was this last that roused him again to +action. He scrambled hurriedly back down the broken parapet into the +trench. "Come on, you fellows," he shouted to two or three nearby men +who continued to fire their rifles over the parapet. "It's no use +waitin' here any longer." A heavy shell whooped roaring over them and +crashed thunderously close behind the parapet. Bunthrop paid no +slightest heed to it. His wide, staring eyes and white face, and blood +smeared from the trickling wound in his neck, his capless head and +tumbled hair, his clay and mud-caked and blood-stained uniform all gave +him a look of wildness, of desperation, of abandonment. His sergeant, +the man who had seen his fear and set him to pile the sandbags, caught +sight of him again now, heard some word of his shoutings, and pushed +hastily along the trench to where he fidgeted and called angrily to the +others to "chuck that silly shooting--I'm goin' anyhow ... what's the +use...." + +The sergeant interrupted sharply. + +"Here, you shut up, Bunthrop," he shouted. "Keep down in the trench. +You're wounded, aren't you? Well, you'll get back presently." + +"That be damn," said Bunthrop. "You don't understand. They're runnin' +away, but we can't go out after 'em if these silly blighters here keep +shootin'. Come on now, or they'll all be gone." And Private Bunthrop, +the despised "conscript," slung his bayoneted rifle over his wounded +shoulder and commenced to scramble up out over the front of the broken +parapet. And what is more he was really and genuinely annoyed when the +sergeant catching him by the heel dragged him down again and ordered +him to stay there. + +"Don't you understand?" he stuttered excitedly, and gesticulating +fiercely towards the front. "They're runnin', I tell you; the blighters +are runnin' away. Why can't we get out after 'em?" + + + +SMASHING THE COUNTER-ATTACK + + +" ... _a violent counter-attack was delivered but was successfully +repulsed at every point with heavy losses to the enemy_."--EXTRACT FROM +OFFICIAL DESPATCH. + + +There appears to be some doubt as to who rightly claims to have been +the first to notice and report signs of the massing of heavy forces of +Germans for the counter-attack on our positions. The infantry say that +a scouting patrol fumbling about in the darkness in front of the +forward fire trench heard suspicious sounds--little clickings of +equipment and accouterments, stealthy rustlings, distant tramping--and +reported on their return to the trench. An artillery observing officer +is said to have seen flitting shadows of figures in the gray light of +the dawn mists, and, later, an odd glimpse of cautious movement amongst +the trees of a wood some little distance behind the German lines, and +an unbroken passing of gray-covered heads behind a portion of a +communication trench parapet. He also reported, and he may have been +responsible for the dozen or so of shrapnel that were flung tentatively +into and over the wood. An airman droning high over the lines, with +fleecy white puffs of shrapnel smoke breaking about him, also saw and +reported clearly "large force of Germans massing Map Square So-and-so." + +But whoever was responsible for the first report matters little. The +great point is that the movement was detected in good time, apparently +before the preparations for attack were complete, so that the final +arraying and disposal of the force for the launching of the attack was +hampered and checked, and made perforce under a demoralizing artillery +fire. + +What the results might have been if the full weight of the massed +attack could have been prepared without detection and flung on our +lines without warning is hard to say; but there is every chance that +our first line at least might have been broken into and swamped by the +sheer weight of numbers. That, clearly, is what the Germans had +intended, and from the number of men employed it is evident that they +meant to push to the full any chance our breaking line gave them to +reoccupy and hold fast a considerable portion of the ground they had +lost. It is said that three to four full divisions were used. If that +is correct, it is certain that the German army was minus three to four +effective divisions when the attack withdrew, that a good half of the +men in them would never fight again. The attack lost its first great +advantage in losing the element of surprise. The bulk of the troops +would have been moved into position in the hours of darkness. That +wood, in all probability, was filled with men by night. The only +daylight movement attempted would have been the cautious filling of the +trenches, the pouring in of the long gray-coated lines along the +communication trenches, all keeping well down and under cover. Under +the elaborate system of deep trenches, fire-, and support-, +communication- and approach-trenches running back for miles to emerge +only behind houses or hill or wood, it is surprising how large a mass +of men can be pushed into the forward trenches without any disclosure +of movement to the enemy. Scores of thousands of men may be packed away +waiting motionless for the word, more thousands may be pouring slowly +up the communication ways, and still more thousands standing ready a +mile or two behind the lines; and yet to any eye looking from the +enemy's side the country is empty and still, and bare of life as a +swept barn. Even the all-seeing airmen can be cheated, and see nothing +but the usual quiet countryside, the tangled crisscross of trenches, +looking from above like so many wriggling lines of thin white braid +with a black cord-center, the neat dolls' toy-houses and streets of the +villages, the straight, broad ribbon of the Route Nationale, all still +and lifeless, except for an odd cart or two on the high road, a few +dotted figures in the village streets. Below the flying-men the packed +thousands are crouched still to earth. At the sound of the engine's +drone, at sight of the wheeling shape, square miles of country stiffen +to immobility, men scurry under cover of wall or bush, the long, moving +lines in the trenches halt and sink down and hang their heads (next to +movement the light dots of upturned, staring faces are the quickest and +surest betrayal of the earth-men to the air-men), the open roads are +emptied of men into the ditches and under the trees. For civilized man, +in his latest art of war, has gone back to be taught one more simple +lesson by the beasts of the field and birds of the air; the armed hosts +are hushed and stilled by the passing air-machine, exactly as the +finches and field-mice of hedgerow and ditch and field are frozen to +stillness by the shadow of a hovering hawk, the beat of its passing +wing. + +But this time some movement in the trenches, some delay in halting a +regiment, some neglect to keep men under cover, some transport too +suspiciously close-spaced on the roads, betrayed the movement. His +suspicions aroused, the airman would have risked the anti-aircraft guns +and dropped a few hundred feet and narrowly searched each hillside and +wood for the telltale gray against the green. Then the wireless would +commence to talk, or the 'plane swoop round and drive headlong for home +to report. + +And then, picture the bustle at the different headquarters, the stir +amongst the signalers, the frantic pipings of the telephone "buzzers," +the sharp calls. "Take a message. Ready? Brigade H.Q. to O.C. +Such-and-such Battery," or "to O.C. So-and-So Regiment"; imagine the +furtive scurry in the trenches to man the parapets, and prepare bombs, +and lay out more ammunition; the rush at the batteries, the quick +consulting of squared maps, the bellowed string of orders in a jargon +of angles of sight, correctors, ranges, figures and measures of degrees +and yards, the first scramble about the guns dropping to the smooth +work of ordered movement, the peering gun muzzles jerking and twitching +to their ordained angles, the click and slam of the closing +breech-blocks, the tense stillness as each gun reports "Ready!" and +waits the word to fire. + +And all the while imagine the Germans out there, creeping through the +trees, crowding along the trenches, sifting out and settling down into +the old favorite formation, making all ready for one more desperate +trial of it, stacking the cards for yet another deep gambling plunge on +the great German game--the massed attack in solid lines at close +interval. The plan no doubt was the same old plan--a quick and +overwhelming torrent of shell fire, a sudden hurricane of high +explosive on the forward trench, and then, before the supports could be +hurried up and brought in any weight through the reeking, shaking +inferno of the shell-smitten communication trenches, the surge forward +of line upon line, wave upon wave, of close-locked infantry. + +But the density of mass, the solid breadth, the depth, bulk, and weight +of men so irresistible at close-quarter work, is an invitation to utter +destruction if it is caught by the guns before it can move. And so this +time it was caught. Given their target, given the word "Go," the guns +wasted no moment. The first battery ready burst a quick couple of +ranging shots over the wood. A spray of torn leaves whirling from the +tree tops, the toss of a broken branch, showed the range correct; and +before the first rounds' solid white cotton-wooly balls of smoke had +thinned and disappeared, puff-puff-puff the shrapnel commenced to burst +in clouds over the wood. That was the beginning. Gun after gun, battery +after battery, picked up the range and poured shells over and into the +wood, went searching every hollow and hole, rending and destroying +trench and dug-out, parapet and parados. The trenches, clean white +streaks and zig-zags of chalk on a green slope, made perfect targets on +which the guns made perfect shooting; the wood was a mark that no gun +could miss, and surely no gun missed. What the scene in that wood must +have been is beyond imagining and beyond telling. It was quickly +shrouded in a pall of drifting smoke, and dimly through this the +observing officers directing the fire of their guns could see clouds of +leaves and twigs whirling and leaping under the lashing shrapnel, could +see branches and smashed tree-trunks and great clods of earth and stone +flying upward and outward from the blast of the lyddite shells. The +wood was slashed to ribbons, rent and riddled to tatters, deluged from +above with tearing blizzards of shrapnel bullets, scorched and riven +with high-explosive shells. In the trenches our men cowered at first, +listening in awe to the rushing whirlwinds of the shells' passage over +their heads, the roar of the cannonade behind them, the crash and boom +of the bursting shells in front, the shriek and whirr of flying +splinters, the splintering crash of the shattering trees. + +The German artillery strove to pick up the plan of the attack, to beat +down the torrent of our batteries' fire, to smash in the forward +trenches, shake the defense, open the way for the massed attack. But +the contest was too unequal, the devastation amongst the crowded mass +of German infantry too awful to be allowed to continue. Plainly the +attack, ready or not ready, had to be launched at speed, or perish +where it stood. + +And so it was that our New Armies had a glimpse of what the old +"Contemptible Little Army" has seen and faced so often, the huge gray +bulk looming through the drifting smoke, the packed mass of the old +German infantry attack. There were some of these "Old Contemptibles," +as they proudly style themselves now, who said when it was all over, +and they had time to think of anything but loading and firing a red-hot +rifle, that this attack did not compare favorably with the German +attacks of the Mons-Marne days, that it lacked something of the +steadiness, the rolling majesty of power, the swinging stride of the +old attacks; that it did not come so far or so fast, that beaten back +it took longer to rally and come again, that coming again it was easier +than ever to bring to a stand. But against that these "Old +Contemptibles" admit that they never in the old days fought under such +favorable conditions, that here in this fight they were in better +constructed and deeper trenches, that they were far better provided +with machine-guns, and, above all, that they had never, never, never +had such a magnificent backing from our guns, such a tremendous stream +of shells helping to smash the attack. + +And smashed, hopelessly and horribly smashed, the attack assuredly was. +The woods in and behind which the German hordes were massed lay from +three to four hundred yards from the muzzles of our rifles. Imagine it, +you men who were not there, you men of the New Armies still training at +home, you riflemen practicing and striving to work up the number of +aimed rounds fired in "the mad minute," you machine-gunners riddling +holes in a target or a row of posts. Imagine it, oh you Artillery, +imagine the target lavishly displayed in solid blocks in the open, with +a good four hundred yards of ground to go under your streaming +gun-muzzles. The gunners who were there that day will tell you how they +used that target, will tell you how they stretched themselves to the +call for "gun-fire" (which is an order for each gun to act +independently, to fire and keep on firing as fast as it can be served), +how the guns grew hotter and hotter, till the paint bubbled and +blistered and flaked off them in patches, till the breech burned the +incautious hand laid on it, till spurts of oil had to be sluiced into +the breech from a can between rounds and sizzled and boiled like fat in +a frying-pan as it fell on the hot steel, how the whole gun smoked and +reeked with heated oil, and how the gun-detachments were half-deaf for +days after. + +It was such a target as gunners in their fondest dreams dare hardly +hope for; and such a target as war may never see again, for surely the +fate of such massed attacks will be a warning to all infantry +commanders for all time. + +The guns took their toll, and where death from above missed, death from +the level came in an unbroken torrent of bullets sleeting across the +open from rifles and machine-guns. On our trenches shells were still +bursting, maxim and rifle bullets were still pelting from somewhere in +half enfilade at long range. But our men had no time to pay heed to +these. They hitched themselves well up on the parapet to get the fuller +view of their mark; their officers for the most part had no need to +bother about directing or controlling the fire--what need, indeed, to +direct with such a target bulking big before the sights? What need to +control when the only speed limit was a man's capacity to aim and fire? +So the officers, for the most part, took rifle themselves and helped +pelt lead into the slaughter-pit. + +There are few, if any, who can give details of how or when the attack +perished. A thick haze of smoke from the bursting shells blurred the +picture. To the eyes of the defenders there was only a picture of that +smoke-fog, with a gray wall of men looming through it, moving, walking, +running towards them, falling and rolling, and looming up again and +coming on, melting away into tangled heaps that disappeared again +behind advancing men, who in turn became more falling and fallen piles. +It was like watching those chariot races in a theater where the horses +gallop on a stage revolving under their feet, and for all their fury of +motion always remain in the same place. So it was with the German +line--it was pressing furiously forward, but always appeared to remain +stationary or to advance so slowly that it gave no impression of +advancing, but merely of growing bigger. Once, or perhaps twice, the +advancing line disappeared altogether, melted away behind the drifting +smoke, leaving only the mass of dark blotches sprawled on the grass. At +these times the fire died away along a part of our front, and the men +paused to gulp a drink from a water-bottle, to look round and tilt +their caps back and wipe the sweat from their brows, to gasp joyful +remarks to one another about "gettin' a bit of our own back," and "this +pays for the ninth o' May," and then listen to the full, deep roar of +rifle-fire that rolled out from further down the line, and try to peer +through the shifting smoke to see how "the lot next door" was faring. +But these respites were short. A call and a crackle of fire at their +elbows brought them back to business, to the grim business of +purposeful and methodical killing, of wiping out that moving wall that +was coming steadily at them again through the smoke and flame of the +bursting shells. The great bulk of the line came no nearer than a +hundred yards from our line; part pressed in another twenty or thirty +yards, and odd bunches of the dead were found still closer. But none +came to grips--none, indeed, were found within forty yards of our +rifles' wall of fire. A scattered remnant of the attackers ran back, +some whole and some hurt, thousands crawled away wounded, to reach the +safe shelter of their support trenches, some to be struck down by the +shells that still kept pounding down upon the death-swept field. The +counter-attack was smashed--hopelessly and horribly smashed. + + + +A GENERAL ACTION + + +"_At some points our lines have been slightly advanced and their +position improved_."--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH + + +It has to be admitted by all who know him that the average British +soldier has a deep-rooted and emphatic objection to "fatigues," all +trench-digging and pick-and-shovel work being included under that +title. This applies to the New Armies as well as the Old, and when one +remembers the safety conferred by a good deep trench and the fact that +few men are anxious to be killed sooner than is strictly necessary, the +objection is regrettable and very surprising. Still there it is, and +any officer will tell you that his men look on trench-digging with +distaste, have to be constantly persuaded and chivvied into doing +anything like their best at it, and on the whole would apparently much +rather take their chance in a shallow or poorly-constructed trench than +be at the labor of making it deep and safe. + +But one piece of trench-digging performed by the Tearaway Rifles must +come pretty near a record for speed. + +When the Rifles moved in for their regular spell in the forward line, +their O.C. was instructed that his battalion had to construct a section +of new trench in ground in front of the forward trench. + +It was particularly unfortunate that just about this time the winter +issue of a regular rum ration had ceased, and that, immediately before +they moved in, a number of the Tearaways had been put under stoppages +of pay for an escapade with which this story need have no concern. + +Without pay the men, of course, were cut off from even the sour and +watery delights of the beer sold in the local estaminets, which abound +in the villages where the troops are billeted in reserve some miles +behind the firing line. As Sergeant Clancy feelingly remarked: + +"They stopped the pay, and that stops the beer; and then they stopped +the rum. It's no pleasure in life they leave us at all, at all. They'll +be afther stopping the fighting next." + +Of that last, however, there was comparatively little fear at the +moment. A brisk action had opened some days before the Tearaways were +brought up from the reserve, and the forward line which they were now +sent in to occupy had been a German trench less than a week before. + +The main fighting had died down, but because the British were +suspicious of counter-attacks, and the Germans afraid of a continued +British movement, the opposing lines were very fully on the alert; the +artillery on both sides were indulging in constant dueling, and the +infantry were doing everything possible to prevent any sudden advantage +being snatched by the other side. + +As soon as the Tearaways were established in the new position, the O.C. +and the adjutant made a tour of their lines, carefully reconnoitering +through their periscopes the open ground which had been pointed out to +them on the map as the line of the new trench which they were to +commence digging. At this point the forward trench was curved sharply +inward, and the new trench was designed to run across and outwards from +the ends of the curve, meeting in a wide angle at a point where a hole +had been dug and a listening-post established. + +It was only possible to reach this listening-post by night, and the +half-dozen men in it had to remain there throughout the day, since it +was impossible to move across the open between the post and the +trenches by daylight. The right-hand portion of the new trench running +from the listening-post back to the forward trench had already been +sketched out with entrenching tools, but it formed no cover because it +was enfiladed by a portion of the German trench. + +It was the day when the Tearaways moved into the new position, and the +O.C. had been instructed that he was expected to commence digging +operations as soon as it was dark that night, the method and manner of +digging being left entirely in his own hand. The Major, the Adjutant, +and a couple of Captains conferred gloomily over the prospective task. +That reputation of a dislike for digging stood in the way of a quick +job being made. The stoppage of the rum ration prevented even an +inducement in the shape of an "extra tot" being promised for extra good +work, and it was well known to all the officers that the stoppage of +pay had put the men in a sulky humor, which made them a little hard to +handle, and harder to drive than the proverbial pigs. It was decided +that nothing should be said to the men of the task ahead of them until +it was time to tell off the fatigue party and start them on the work. + +"It's no good," said the Captain, "leaving them all the afternoon to +chew it over. They'd only be talking themselves into a state that is +first cousin to insubordination." + +"I wish," said the other Captain, "they had asked us to go across and +take another slice of the German trench. The men would do it a lot +quicker and surer, and a lot more willing, than they'd dig a new one." + +"The men," said the Colonel tartly, "are not going to be asked what +they'd like any more than I've been. I want you each to go down quietly +and have a look over at the new ground, tell the company commanders +what the job is, and have a talk with me after as to what you think is +the best way of setting about it." + +That afternoon Lieutenant Riley and Lieutenant Brock took turns in +peering through a periscope at the line of the new trench, and +discussed the problem presented. + +"It's all very fine," grumbled Riley, "for the O.C. to say the men must +dig because he says so. You can take a horse to the water where you +can't make it drink, and by the same token you can put a spade in a +man's hand where you can't make him dig, or if he does dig he'll only +do it as slow and gingerly as if it were his own grave and he was to be +buried in it as soon as it was ready." + +"Don't talk about burying," retorted Brock. "It isn't a pleasant +subject with so many candidates for a funeral scattered around the +front door." + +He sniffed the air, and made an exclamation of disgust: + +"They haven't even been chloride-of-limed," he said. "A lot of lazy, +untidy brutes that battalion must have been we have just relieved." + +Riley stared again into the periscope: "It's German the most of them +are, anyway," he said, "that's one consolation, although it's small +comfort to a sense of smell. I say, have a look at that man lying over +there, out to the left of the listening-post. His head is towards us, +and his hair is white as driven snow. They must be getting hard up for +men to be using up the grandfathers of that age." + +Brock examined the white head carefully. "He's a pretty old stager," he +said, "unless he's a young 'un whose hair has turned white in a night +like they do in novels; or, maybe he's a General." + +"A General!" said Riley, and stopped abruptly. "Man, now, wait a +minute. A General!" he continued musingly, and then suddenly burst into +chuckles, and nudged Brock in the ribs. "I have a great notion," he +said, "gr-r-reat notion, Brockie. What'll you bet I don't get the men +coming to us before night with a petition to be allowed to do some +digging?" + +Brock stared at him. "You're out of your senses," he said. "I'd as soon +expect them to come with a petition to be allowed to sign the pledge." + +"Well, now listen," said Riley, "and we'll try it, anyway." + +He explained swiftly, while over Brock's face a gentle smile beamed and +widened into subdued chucklings. + +"Here's Sergeant Clancy coming along the trench," said Riley. "You have +the notion now, so play up to me, and make sure Clancy hears every word +you say." + +"I want to see that General of theirs the Bosche prisoner spoke about," +said Riley, as Clancy came well within earshot. "An old man, the Bosche +said he was, with a head of hair as white and shining as a gull's +wing." + +"I'm not so interested in his shining head," said Brock, "as I am in +the shining gold he carries on him. Doesn't it seem sinful waste for +all that good money to be lying out there?" + +Out of the tail of his eye Riley saw the sergeant halt and stiffen into +an attitude of listening. He turned round. + +"Was it me you wanted to see, Clancy?" he said. + +"No, sorr--yes, sorr," said Clancy hurriedly, and then more slowly, in +neat adoption of the remarks he had just heard: "Leastways, sorr, I was +just afther wondering if you had heard anything of this tale of a +German Gineral lying out there on the ground beyanst." + +"You mean the one that was shot last week?" said Riley. + +"Him with the five thousand francs in his breeches pocket, and the +diamond-studded gold watch on his wrist?" said Brock. + +"The same, sorr, the same!" said Clancy eagerly, and with his eyes +glistening. "And have you made out which of them he is, sorr?" + +"No," said Riley shortly. "And remember, Sergeant, there are to be no +men going over the parapet this night without orders. The last +battalion in here lost a big handful of men trying to get hold of that +General, but the Germans were watching too close, and they've got a +machine-gun trained to cover him. See to it, Clancy! That's all now." + +Sergeant Clancy moved off, but he went reluctantly. + +"Why didn't you give him a bit more?" asked Brock. + +"Because I know Clancy," said Riley, whispering. "If we had said more +now, he might have suspected a plant. As it is, he's got enough to +tickle his curiosity, and you can be sure it won't be long before a +gentle pumping performance is in operation." + +Sergeant Clancy came in sight round the traverse again, moving briskly, +but obviously slowing down as he passed them, and very obviously +straining to hear anything they were saying. But they both kept silent, +and when he had disappeared round the next traverse, Riley grinned and +winked at his companion. + +"He's hooked, Brockie," he said exultantly. + +"Now you wait and--" He stopped as a rifle-man moved round the corner +and took up a position on the firing step near them. + +"I'll bet," said Riley delightedly, "Clancy has put him there to listen +to anything he can catch us saying." + +He turned to the man, who was clipping a tiny mirror on to his bayonet +and hoisting it to use as a periscope. + +"Are you on the look-out?" he asked. "And who posted you there?" + +"It was Sergeant Clancy, sir," answered the man. "He said I could hear +better--I mean, see better," he corrected himself, "from here." + +Riley abruptly turned to their own periscope and apparently resumed the +conversation. + +"I'm almost sure that's him with the white head," said Riley. "Out +there, about forty or fifty yards from the German parapet, and about a +hundred yards ten o'clock from our listening-post. Have a look." + +He handed the periscope over to Brock, and at the same time noticed how +eagerly the sentry was also having a look into his own periscope. + +"I've got him," said Brock. "Yes, I believe that's the man." + +"What makes it more certain," said Riley, "is that hen's scratch of a +trench the other battalion started to dig out to the listening-post. +They couldn't crawl out in the open to get to the General, and it's my +belief they meant to drive a sap out to the listening-post, and then +out to the General, and yank him in, so they could go through his +pockets." + +"It's a good bit of work to get at a dead man," said Brock +reflectively. + +"It is," said Riley, "but it isn't often you can drive a sap with five +thousand francs at the end of it." + +"To say nothing of a diamond-studded gold watch," said Brock. + +"Well, well," said Riley, "I suppose the Germans won't be leaving him +lying out there much longer. I hear the last battalion bagged quite a +bunch that tried to creep out at night to get him in; but I suppose our +fellows, not knowing about it, won't watch him so carefully." + +They turned the conversation to other and more casual things, and +shortly afterwards moved off. + +The first-fruits of their sowing showed within the hour, when some of +the officers were having tea together in a corner of a ruined cottage, +which had been converted into a keep. + +The servant who was preparing tea had placed a battered pot on the half +of a broken door, which served for a mess table; had laid out a loaf of +bread, tin pots of jam, a cake, and a flattened box of flattened +chocolates, and these offices having been fully performed he should +have retired. Instead, however, he fidgeted to and fro, offered to pour +the tea from the dented coffee-pot, asked if anything more was wanted, +pushed the loaf over to the Captain, apologizing at length for the +impossibility of getting a scrape of butter these days; hovered round +the table, and generally made it plain that he had something he wished +to say, or that he supposed they had something to say he wished to +hear. + +"What are you dodging about there for, man?" the Captain asked +irritably at last. "Is it anything you want?" + +"Nothing, sorr," said the man, "only I was just wondering if you had +heard annything of a Gineral with fifty thousand francs in his pocket, +lying out there beyond the trench." + +"Five thousand francs," corrected Riley gently. + +"'Twas fifty thousand I heard, sorr," said the man eagerly; "but ye +have heard, then, sorr?" + +"What's this about a General?" demanded the Captain. + +"Yes!" said Riley quickly. "What is it? We have heard nothing of the +General." + +"Ah!" said the messman, eyeing him thoughtfully, "I thought maybe ye +had heard." + +"We have heard nothing," said Riley. "What is it you are talking +about?" + +"About them fifty thousand francs, sorr," said the messman, cunningly, +"or five thousand, was it?" + +"What's this?" said the Captain, and the others making no attempt to +answer his question, left the messman to tell a voluble tale of a +German General ("though 'twas a Field-Marshal some said it was, and +others went the length of Von Kluck himself") who had been killed some +days before, and lay out in the open with five thousand, or fifty +thousand, francs in his breeches pocket, a diamond-studded gold watch +on his wrist, diamond rings on his fingers, and his breast covered with +Iron Crosses and jeweled Orders. + +That both Riley and Brock, as well as the Captain, professed their +profound ignorance of the tale only served, as they well knew, to +strengthen the Tearaways Rifles' belief in it, and after the man had +gone they imparted their plan with huge delight and joyful anticipation +to the Captain. + +When they had finished tea and left the keep to return to their own +posts, they were met by Sergeant Clancy. + +"I just wanted to speak wid you a moment, sorr," he said. "I have been +looking at that listening-post, and thinking to myself wouldn't it be +as well if we ran a sap out to it; it would save the crawling out +across the open at night, and keeping the men--and some wounded among +them maybe--cooped up the whole day." + +"There's something in that," said the Captain, pretending to reflect. +"And I see the last battalion had made something of a beginning to dig +a trench out to the post." + +"And they must have been thinking with their boots when they dug it +there," said Riley. "A trench on that side is open to enfilade fire. It +should have been dug out from the left corner of that curve instead of +the right." + +"If you would speak to the O.C. about it, sorr," said Clancy, "he might +be willing to let us dig it. The men is fresh, too, and won't harm for +a bit of exercise." + +"Very well," said the Captain carelessly, "we'll see about it +to-morrow." + +"Begging your pardon, sorr," said Clancy, "I was thinking it would be a +good night tonight, seein' there's a strong wind blowing that would +deaden the sound of the digging." + +"That's true enough," the Captain said slowly. "I think it's an +excellent idea, Clancy, and I'll speak to the O.C., and tell him you +suggested it." + +A few minutes after, an orderly brought a message that the O.C. was +coming round the trenches to see the company commanders. The company +commanders found him with rather a sharp edge to his temper, and +Captain Conroy, to whom Riley and Brock had confided the secret of +their plans, concluded the moment was not a happy one for explaining +the ruse to the O.C. He, therefore, merely took his instructions for +the detailing of a working party from his company, and the hour at +which they were to commence. + +"And remember," said the O.C. sharply, "you will stand no nonsense over +this work. If you think any man is loafing or not doing his full share, +make him a prisoner, or do anything else you think fit. I'll back you +in it, whatever it is." + +Conroy murmured a "Very good, sir," and left it at that. When he +returned to his company he made arrangements for the working party, +implying subtly to Sergeant Clancy that the trench was to be started as +the result of his, the sergeant's, arguments. + +Clancy went back to the men in high feather: + +"I suppose now," he said complacently, "there's some would be like to +laugh if they were told that a blessed sergeant could be saying where +and when he'd be having this trench or that trench dug or not dug; but +there's more ways of killing a cat than choking it with butter, and +Ould Prickles can take a hint as good as the next man when it's put to +him right." + +"Prickles," be it noted, being the fitting, if somewhat disrespectful, +name which the O.C. carried in the Rifles. + +"It's yourself has the tongue on ye," admitted Rifleman McRory +admiringly, "though I'm wonnering how'll you be schamin' to get another +trench dug from the listening-post out to the Gineral." + +"'Twill take some scheming," agreed another rifleman, "but maybe we can +get round the officer that's in the listening-post to-night to let us +drive a sap out." + +"It's not him ye'll be getting round," said McRory, "for it's the +Little Lad himself that's in it. But sure the Little Lad will be that +glad to see me offer to take a pick in my hand that I believe he'd be +willing to let me dig up his own grandfather's grave." + +"We'll find some way when the time comes, never fear," said Sergeant +Clancy, and the men willingly agreed to leave the matter in his capable +hands. + +Immediately after dark, the Little Lad, otherwise Lieutenant Riley, led +his party at a careful crawl and in wide-spaced single file out to the +listening-post, while Brock and the Captain crawled out with a couple +of men, a white tape, and a handful of pegs apiece to mark out the line +of the new trenches converging from the outside ends of the curved main +trench to the listening-post. + +When they returned and reported their job complete, the working parties +crawled cautiously out. There were plenty of flares being thrown up +from the German lines and a more or less erratic rifle fire was +crackling up and down the trenches on both sides, the Tearaways taking +care to keep their bullets clear of the working party, to fire no more +than enough to allay any German suspicions of a job being in hand, and +not to provoke any extra hostility. + +The working party crept out one by one, carrying their rifles and their +trenching tools, dropping flat and still in the long grass every time a +light flared, rising and crawling rapidly forward in the intervals of +darkness. When at last they were strung out at distances of less than a +man's length, they stealthily commenced operations. A line of filled +sandbags was handed out from the main trench and passed along the chain +of men until each had been provided with one. + +Making the sand-bag a foundation for head cover, the men began +cautiously to cut and scoop the soft ground and pile it up in front of +them. The grass was long and rank, and in the shifting light the work +went on unobserved for over an hour. The men, cramped and +uncomfortable, with every muscle aching from head to foot, worked +doggedly, knowing each five minutes' work, each handful of earth +scooped out and thrown up, meant an extra point off the odds on a +bullet reaching them when the Germans discovered their operations and +opened fire on the working party. + +They still worked only in the dark intervals between the flares, and, +of course, in as deep a silence as they possibly could. Brock and the +Captain crawled at intervals up and down the line with a word of praise +or a reproach dropped here and there as it was needed. At the end of +one trip, Brock crept into the listening-post and conversed in whispers +with Riley, his fellow-conspirator. + +"They're working like beavers," he said, "and, if the Boche doesn't +twig the game for another half-hour, we'll have enough cover scooped +out to go on without losing too many men from their fire." + +Riley chuckled. "It's working fine," he said. "I'm only hoping that +some ruffian doesn't spoil the game by crawling out and finding our +General is no more than a false alarm." + +"That would queer the pitch," agreed Brock, "but I don't fancy any one +will try it. They all know the working party is liable to be discovered +at any minute, and any one out in the open when that comes off, is +going to be in a tight corner." + +"There's a good many here," said Riley, "that would chance a few tight +corners if they knew five thousand francs was at the other side of it; +but I took the precaution to hint gently to Clancy that our machine gun +was going to keep on spraying lead round the General all night, to +discourage any private enterprise." + +"Anyhow," said Brock, "I suppose the whole regiment's in it, and +flatter themselves this trifle of digging is for the special benefit of +their pockets. But what are those fellows of ours supposed to be +digging at in the corner there!" + +"That," whispered the Little Lad, grinning, "is merely an improving of +the amenities of the listening-post and the beginning of a dugout +shelter from bombs; at least, that's Clancy's suggestion, though I have +a suspicion there will be no hurry to roof-in the dug-out and that its +back-door will travel an unusual length out." + +"Well, so long," said Brock; "I must sneak along again and have a look +at the digging." + +It was when he was half-way back to the main trench that it became +apparent the German suspicions were aroused, and that something--a +movement after a light flared, perhaps, or the line of a parapet +beginning to show above the grass--had drawn their attention to the +work. + +Light after light commenced to toss in an unbroken stream from their +parapet in the direction of the working party, and a score of bullets, +obviously aimed at them, hissed close overhead. + +"Glory be!" said Rifleman McRory, flattening himself to the ground. +"It's a good foot and a half I have of head-cover, and I'm thinking +it's soon we will be needing it, and all the rest we can get." + +The flaring lights ceased again for a moment, and the men plied their +tools in feverish haste to strengthen their scanty shelter against the +storm they knew must soon fall upon them. + +It came within a couple of minutes; again the lights streamed upward, +and flares burst and floated down in dazzling balls of fierce white +light, while the rifle-fire from the German parapet grew heavier and +heavier. Concealment was no longer possible, and the word was passed to +get along with the work in light or dark; and so, still lying flat upon +their faces, and with the bullets hissing and whistling above them, +slapping into the low parapet and into the bare ground beside them, the +working party scooped and buried and scraped, knowing that every inch +they could sink themselves or heighten their parapet added to their +chance of life. + +The work they had done gave them a certain amount of cover, at least +for the vital parts of head and shoulders, but in the next half-hour +there were many casualties, and man after man worked on with blood +oozing through the hastily-applied bandage of a first field-dressing or +crawled in under the scanty parapet and crouched there helplessly. + +It was little use at that stage trying to bring in the wounded. To do +so only meant exposing them to almost a certainty of another wound and +of further casualties amongst the stretcher-bearers. One or two men +were killed. + +Lieutenant Riley, dragging himself along the line, found Rifleman +McRory hard at work behind the shelter of a body rolled up on top of +his parapet. + +"It's killed he is," said McRory in answer to a question--"killed to +the bone. He won't be feeling any more bullets that hit him, and it's +himself would be the one to have said to use him this way." + +Riley admitted the force of the argument and crept on. Work moved +faster now that there was no need to wait for the periods between the +lights; but the German fire also grew faster, and a machine gun began +to pelt its bullets up and down the length of the growing parapet. + +By now, fortunately, the separate chain of pits dug by each man were +practically all connected up into a long, twisting, shallow trench. +Down this trench the wounded were passed, and a fresh working party +relieved the cramped and tired batch who had commenced the work. + +In the main trench men had been hard at work filling sand-bags, and now +these were passed out, dragged along from man to man, and piled up on +the parapet, doubling the security of the workers and allowing them the +greater freedom of rising to their knees to dig. + +The rifles and maxims of the Tearaways had from the main trench kept up +a steady volume of fire on the German parapet, in an endeavor to keep +down its fire. They shot from the main trench in comparative safety, +because the German fire was directed almost exclusively on the new +trench. + +Now that the new parapet had been heightened and strengthened, the +casualties behind it had almost ceased, and the Tearaways were quite +reasonably flattering themselves on the worst of the work being done +and the worst of the dangers over. It appeared to them that the trench +now provided quite sufficient shelter to fulfill both its ostensible +object of allowing relief parties to move to and from the +listening-post, and also their own private undertaking of attaining the +dead General; but the O.C. and company commanders did not look on it in +that light. + +The order was to construct a firing trench, and that meant a good deal +more work than had been done, so reliefs were kept going and the work +progressed steadily all night, a good deal of impetus being given to it +by some light German field-guns which commenced to scatter +high-explosive shrapnel over the open ground. + +The shooting, fortunately, was not very accurate, no doubt because, by +the light of the flares, it was difficult for the German observers to +direct their fire. But the hint was enough for the Tearaways, and they +knew that daybreak would bring more accurate and more constant +artillery fire upon the new position. + +The British gunners had been warned not to open fire unless called +upon, because a working party was in the open; but now the batteries +were telephoned to with a request for shrapnel on the German parapets +to keep down some of the heavy rifle fire. + +Since the gunners had already registered the target of the German +trench, their fire was just as accurate by night as it would be by day, +and shell after shell burst over the German parapet, sweeping their +trench with showers of shrapnel. + +While all this was going on the men at the listening-post had tackled +the job of driving their sap out to the German General. This work was +done in a different fashion from the digging of the new trench. + +The listening-post was merely a pit in the ground, originally a large +shell crater, and deepened and widened until it was sufficiently large +to hold half-a-dozen men. At one side of the pit the men commenced with +pick and spade to hack out an opening like a very narrow doorway. + +As the earth was broken down and shoveled back, the doorway gradually +grew to be a passage. In this two men at a time worked in turn, the one +on the right-hand side making a narrow cut that barely gave him +shoulder-play, the second man on the left working a few paces in the +rear and widening the passage. + +Necessarily it was slow work, because only these two men could reach +the face of the cut, and because it had to be of sufficient depth to +allow a man to work upright without his head showing above the ground. +But because they worked in short reliefs and put every ounce of energy +into their task, they made surprising and unusual progress. + +Lieutenant Riley, who was in command of the listening-post for that +night, left the workers to themselves, both because it was necessary +for him to keep a sharp look-out in order to give warning of any +attempt to rush the working party, and because officially he was not +supposed to know anything of any sap to an officially unrecognized dead +German General. + +When he was relieved after daybreak, Riley told the joke and explained +the position to the subaltern who took over from him, and that +subaltern in turn looked with a merely unofficial eye on the work of +the sapping party. As the day and the work went on, it was quite +obvious that a good many more men were working on the new trench than +had been told off to it. + +In the sap several fresh men were constantly awaiting their turn at the +face with pick and shovel. The diggers did no more than five minutes' +work, hacking and spading at top speed, yielding their tools to the +next comer and retiring, panting and blowing and mopping their +streaming brows. + +A fairly constant fire was maintained by the artillery on both sides, +the shells splashing and crashing on the open ground about the new +trench and the German parapet. There was little wind, and as a result +the smoke of the shell-bursts hung heavily and trailed slowly over the +open space between the trenches, veiling to some extent the sapping +operations and the new trench. On the latter a tendency was quickly +displayed to slacken work and to treat the job as being sufficiently +complete, but when it came to Lieutenant Riley's turn to take charge of +a fresh relief of workers on the new trench, he very quickly succeeded +in brisking up operations. + +Arrived at the listening-post, he found Sergeant Clancy and spoke a few +words to him. + +"Clancy," he said gently, "the work along that new trench is going a +great deal too slow." + +"'Tis hard work, sorr," replied Clancy excusingly, "and you'll be +remembering the boys have been at it all night." + +"Quite so, Clancy," said Riley smoothly, "and since it has to be dug a +good six foot deep, I am just thinking the best thing to do will be to +take this other party off the sap and turn 'em along to help on the +trench. I'm not denying, Clancy, that I've a notion what the sap is +for, although I'm supposed to know nothing of it; but I don't care if +the sap is made, and I do care that the trench is. Now do you think I +had better stop them on the sap, or can the party in the trench put a +bit more ginger into it?" + +"I'll just step along the trench again, sorr," said Clancy anxiously, +"and I don't think you'll be having need to grumble again." + +He stepped along the trench, and he left an extraordinary increase of +energy behind him as he went. + +"And what use might it be to make it any deeper?" grumbled McRory. +"Sure it's deep enough for all we need it." + +"May be," said Sergeant Clancy, with bitter sarcasm, "it's yourself +that'll just be stepping up to the Colonel and saying friendly like to +him: 'Prickles, me lad, it's deep enough we've dug to lave us get out +to our German Gineral. 'Tisn't for you we're digging this trench,' +you'll be saying, ''tis for our own pleasure entirely.' You might just +let me know what the Colonel says to that." + +"There's some talk," he said, a little further down the line, "of our +being relieved from here to-morrow afternoon. I've told you what the +Little Lad was saying about turning the sap party in to help here. It's +pretty you'd look clearing out to-morrow and leaving another battalion +to come in to take over your new trench and your new sap and your +German Gineral and the gold in his britches pocket together." And with +that parting shaft he moved on. + +For the rest of that day and all that night work moved at speed, and +when the O.C. made his tour of inspection the following morning he was +as delighted as he was amazed at the work done--and that, as he told +the Adjutant, was saying something. Up to now he had known nothing of +the sap, merely expressing satisfaction--again mingled with +amazement--when he saw the entrance to the sap, lightly roofed in with +boards for a couple of yards and shut off beyond that by a curtain of +sacking, and was told that the men were amusing themselves making a +bomb-proof dug-out. + +But on this last morning, when the sap had approached to within twenty +or thirty feet of the white head which was its objective, the Colonel's +attention was directed to the matter somewhat forcibly. He heard the +roar of exploding heavy shells, and as the "_crump, crump,_" continued +steadily, he telephoned from the headquarters dug-out in rear of the +support line to ask the forward trenches what was happening. + +While he waited an answer, a message came from the Brigade saying that +the artillery had reported heavy German shelling on a sap-head, and +demanding to know what, where, and why was the sap-head referred to. +While the Colonel was puzzling over this mysterious message and vainly +trying to recall any sap-head within his sector of line, the regimental +Padre came into the dug-out. + +"I've just come from the dressing station," he said, "and there's a boy +there, McRory, that has me fair bewildered with his ravings. He's +wounded in the head with a shrapnel splinter, and, although he seems +sane and sensible enough in other ways, he's been begging me and the +doctor not to send him back to the hospital. Did ever ye hear the like, +and him with a lump as big as the palm of my hand cut from his head to +the bare bone, and bleeding like a stuck pig in an apoplexy?" + +The Colonel looked at him vacantly, his mind between this and the other +problem of the Brigade's message. + +"And that's not all that's in it," went on the Padre. "The doctor was +telling me that there's been a round dozen of the past two days' +casualties begging that same thing--not to be sent away till we come +out of the trenches. And to beat all, McRory, when he was told he was +going just the minute the ambulance came, had a confab with the +stretcher bearers, and I heard him arguing with them about 'his share,' +and 'when they got the Gineral,' and 'my bit o' the fifty thousand +francs.' It has me beat completely." + +By now the Colonel was completely bewildered, and he began to wonder +whether he or his battalion were hopelessly mad. It was extraordinary +enough that the men should have dug so willingly and well, and without +a grumble being heard or a complaint made. + +It was still more extraordinary that more or less severely wounded men +should not be ardently desirous of the safety and comfort and feeding +of the hospitals; and on the top of all was this mysterious message of +a sap apparently being made by his men voluntarily and without any +sanction, much less the usual required pressure. + +A message came from Captain Conroy, in the forward trench, to say that +Riley was coming up to headquarters and would explain matters. + +Riley and the explanation duly arrived. "Ould Prickles," inclined at +first to be mightily wroth at the unauthorized digging of the sap, +caught a twinkle in the Padre's eye; and a modest hint from the Little +Lad reminding him of the speed and excellence of the new trenches, +construction turned the scale. He burst into a roar of laughter, and +the Padre joined him heartily, while the Little Lad stood beaming and +chuckling complacently. + +"I must tell the Brigadier this," gasped the O.C. at last. "He might +have had a cross word or two to say about a sap being dug without +orders, but, thank heaven, he's an Irishman, and a poorer joke would +excuse a worse crime with him. But I'm wondering what's going to happen +when they reach their General and find no francs, and no watch, and not +even a General; and mind you, Riley, the sap must be stopped at once. I +can't be having good men casualtied on an unofficial job. Will you see +to that right away?" + +The Little Lad's chuckling rose to open giggling. + +"It's stopped now, sir," he said--"just before I came up here. And +what's more, the General won't need explaining; the German gunners +spied our sap, and, trying to drop a heavy shell on it--well, they +dropped one on to the General. So now there isn't a General, only a +hole in the ground where he was." + +Ould Prickles' and the Padre's laughter bellowed again. + +"I must tell that to the Brigadier, too," said the O.C.; "that finish +to the joke will completely satisfy him." + +"And I must go," said the Padre, rising, "and tell McRory, though I'm +not just sure whether it will be after satisfying him quite so +completely." + + + +AT LAST + + +"WHEN WE BEGIN TO PUSH" + +"Here we are," said the Colonel, halting his horse. "Fine view one gets +from here." + +"Rather a treat to be able to see over a bit of country again, after so +many months of the flat," said, the Adjutant, reining up beside the +other. They were halted on the top of a hill, or, father, the corner of +an edge on a wide plateau. On two sides of them the ground fell away +abruptly, the road they were on dipping sharply over the edge and +sweeping round and downward in a well-graded slope along the face of +the hill to the wide flats below. Over these flats they could see for +many miles, miles of cultivated fields, of little woods, of gentle +slopes. They could count the buildings of many farms, the roofs of half +a dozen villages, the spires of twice as many churches, the tall +chimneys and gaunt frame towers of scattered pit-heads. It had been +raining all day, but now in the late afternoon the clouds had broken +and the light of the low sun was tinging the landscape with a mellow +golden glow. + +"There's going to be a beautiful sunset presently," said the Colonel, +"with all those heavy broken clouds about. Let's dismount and wait for +a bit." + +Both dismounted and handed their reins to the orderly, who, riding +behind them, had halted when they did, but now at a sign came forward. + +"We'll just stroll to that rise on the left," the Colonel said. "The +best view should be from there." + +The Adjutant lingered a moment. "Take their bits out, Trumpeter," he +said, "and let them pick a mouthful of grass along the roadside." + +A rough country track ran to the left off the main road, and the two +walked along it a couple of hundred yards to where it plunged over the +crest and ran steeply down the hillside. Another main road ran along +the flat parallel with the hill foot, and along this crawled a long +khaki column. + +"Look at the light on those hills over there," said the Colonel. "Fine, +isn't it?" + +The Adjutant was busily engaged with the field-glasses he had taken +from the case slung over his shoulder and was focusing them on the road +below. + +"I say," he remarked suddenly, "those are the Canadians. I didn't know +the ----th Division was so far south. Moving up front, too." The +Colonel dropped his gaze to the road a moment and then swept it slowly +over the country-side. "Yes," he said, "and this area is pretty well +crowded with troops when you look closely." + +The light on the distant hills was growing more golden and beautiful, +the clouds were beginning to catch the first tints of the sunset, but +neither men for the moment noticed these things, searching with their +gaze the landscape below, sifting it over and picking out a battery of +artillery camped in a big chalk-pit by the roadside, the slow-rising +and drifting columns of blue smoke that curled up from a distant wood +and told of the regiment encamped there, the long strings of horses +converging on a big mine building for the afternoon watering, the lines +of transport wagons parked on the outskirts of a village, the shifting +khaki figures that stirred about every farm building in sight, the row +of gray-painted motor-omnibuses, drawn up in a long line on a side +road. The countryside that under a first look slept peacefully in the +afternoon sunlight, that drowsed calmly in the easy quiet of an +uneventful field and farm existence, proved under the closer searching +look to be a teeming hive of activity, a close-packed camp of +well-armed fighting men, a widespread net and chain of men and guns and +horses. The peaceful countryside was overflowing with men and bristling +with bayonets; every village was a crammed-full military cantonment, +every barn stuffed with soldiers like an overfilled barracks. + +The Adjutant whistled softly. "This," he said, and nodded again and +again to the plain below, "this looks like business--at last." + +"Yes," said the Colonel, "at last. It's going to be a very different +story this time, when we begin to push things." + +"Hark at the guns," said the Adjutant, and both stood silent a moment +listening to the long, deep, rolling thunder that boomed steady and +unbroken as surf on a distant beach. "And they're our guns too, +mostly," went on the Adjutant. "I suppose we're firing more shells in +an ordinary trench-war-routine day now than we dared fire in a month +this time last year. Last year we were short of shells, the year before +we were short of guns and shells and men. Now hear the guns and look +down there at a few of the men." + +Through the still air rose from below them the shrill crow of a +farmyard rooster, the placid mooing of a cow, the calls and laughter of +some romping children. + +But the two on the hillside had no ear for these sounds of peace. They +heard only that distant sullen boom of the rumbling guns, the throbbing +foot-beats of the marching battalions below them, the plop-plopping +hoofs and rattling wheels of wagons passing on their way up to the +firing line with food for the guns. + +"Our turn coming," said the Adjutant--"at last." + +"Yes," the Colonel said, and repeated grimly--"at last." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Action Front, by Boyd Cable (Ernest Andrew Ewart) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACTION FRONT *** + +***** This file should be named 11349-8.txt or 11349-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/4/11349/ + +Produced by Edward Johnson and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Action Front + +Author: Boyd Cable (Ernest Andrew Ewart) + +Release Date: February 28, 2004 [EBook #11349] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACTION FRONT *** + + + + +Produced by Edward Johnson and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +ACTION FRONT + + +BY + +BOYD CABLE + + +1916 + + + +TO + +MR. J. A. SPENDER + +_to whose recognition and appreciation of my work, and to whose instant +and eager hospitality in the "Westminster Gazette" so much of these war +writings is due, this book is very gratefully dedicated by_ + +THE AUTHOR + + + +FOREWORD + + +I make no apology for having followed in this book the same plan as in +my other one, "Between the Lines," of taking extracts from the official +despatches as "texts" and endeavoring to show something of what these +brief messages cover, because so many of my own friends, and so many +more unknown friends amongst the reviewers, expressed themselves so +pleased with the plan that I feel its repetition is justified. + +There were some who complained that my last book was in parts too grim +and too terrible, and no doubt the same complaint may lie against this +one. To that I can only reply that I have found it impossible to write +with any truth of the Front without the writing being grim, and in +writing my other book I felt it would be no bad thing if Home realized +the grimness a little better. + +But now there are so many at Home whose nearest and dearest are in the +trenches, and who require no telling of the horrors of the war, that I +have tried here to show there is a lighter side to war, to let them +know that we have our relaxations, and even find occasion for jests, in +the course of our business. + +I believe, or at least hope, that in showing both sides of the picture +I am doing what the Front would wish me to do. And I don't ask for any +greater satisfaction than that. + +BOYD CABLE. + +_May_, 1916. + + + +CONTENTS + + +IN ENEMY HANDS +A BENEVOLENT NEUTRAL +DRILL +A NIGHT PATROL +AS OTHERS SEE +THE FEAR OF FEAR +ANTI-AIRCRAFT +A FRAGMENT +AN OPEN TOWN +THE SIGNALERS +CONSCRIPT COURAGE +SMASHING THE COUNTER-ATTACK +A GENERAL ACTION +AT LAST + + + +IN ENEMY HANDS + + +The last conscious thought in the mind of Private Jock Macalister as he +reached the German trench was to get down into it; his next conscious +thought to get out of it. Up there on the level there were +uncomfortably many bullets, and even as he leaped on the low parapet +one of these struck the top of his forehead, ran deflecting over the +crown of his head, and away. He dropped limp as a pole-axed bullock, +slid and rolled helplessly down into the trench. + +When he came to his senses he found himself huddled in a corner against +the traverse, his head smarting and a bruised elbow aching abominably. +He lifted his head and groaned, and as the mists cleared from his dazed +eyes he found himself looking into a fat and very dirty face and the +ring of a rifle muzzle about a foot from his head. The German said +something which Macalister could not understand, but which he rightly +interpreted as a command not to move. But he could hear no sound of +Scottish voices or of the uproar of hand-to-hand fighting in the +trench. When he saw the Germans duck down hastily and squeeze close up +against the wall of the trench, while overhead a string of shells +crashed angrily and the shrapnel beat down in gusts across the trench, +he diagnosed correctly that the assault had failed, and that the +British gunners were again searching the German trench with shrapnel. +His German guard said something to the other men, and while one of them +remained at the loophole and fired an occasional shot, the others drew +close to their prisoner. The first thing they did was to search him, to +turn each pocket outside-in, and when they had emptied these, carefully +feel all over his body for any concealed article. Macalister bore it +all with great philosophy, mildly satisfied that he had no money to +lose and no personal property of any value. + +Their search concluded, the Germans held a short consultation, then one +of them slipped round the corner of the traverse, and, returning a +moment later, pointed the direction to Macalister and signed to him to +go. + +The trench was boxed into small compartments by the traverses, and in +the next section Macalister found three Germans waiting for him. One of +them asked him something in German, and on Macalister shaking his head +to show that he did not understand, he was signaled to approach, and a +German ran deftly through his pockets, fingering his waist, and, +searching for a money-belt, made a short exclamation of disgust, and +signed to the prisoner to move on round the next traverse, at the same +time shouting to the Germans there, and passing Macalister on at the +bayonet point. This performance was repeated exactly in all its details +through the next half-dozen traverses, the only exception being that in +one an excitable German, making violent motions with a bayonet as he +appeared round the corner, insisted on his holding his hands over his +head. + +At about the sixth traverse a German spoke to him in fairly good, +although strongly accented, English. He asked Macalister his rank and +regiment, and Macalister, knowing that the name on his shoulder-straps +would expose any attempt at deceit, gave these. Another man asked +something in German, which apparently he requested the English speaker +to translate. + +"He say," interpreted the other, "Why you English war have made?" +Macalister stared at him. "I'm no English," he returned composedly. +"I'm a Scot." + +"That the worse is," said the interpreter angrily. "Why have it your +business of the Scot?" + +Macalister knitted his brows over this. "You mean, I suppose, what +business is it of ours! Well, it's just Scotland's a bit of Britain, so +when Britain's at war, we are at war." + +A demand for an interpretation of this delayed the proceedings a +little, and then the English speaker returned to the attack. + +"For why haf Britain this war made!" he demanded. + +"We didna' make it," returned Macalister. "Germany began it." Excited +comment on the translation. + +"If you'll just listen to me a minute," said Macalister deliberately, +"I can prove I am right. Sir Edward Grey----" Bursts of exclamation +greeted the name, and Macalister grinned slightly. + +"You'll no be likin' him," he said. "An' I can weel understan' it." + +The questioner went off on a different line. "Haf your soldiers know," +he asked, "that the German fleet every day a town of England bombard?" + +Macalister stared at him. "Havers!" he said abruptly. + +The German went on to impart a great deal of astonishing +information--of the German advance on Petrograd, the invasion of Egypt, +the extermination of the Balkan Expedition, the complete blockade of +England, the decimation of the British fleet by submarines. + +After some vain attempts to argue the matter and disprove the +statements, Macalister resigned himself to contemptuous silence, only +rousing when the German spoke of England and English, to correct him to +Britain and British. + +When at last their interest flagged, the Germans ordered him to move +on. Macalister asked where he was going and what was to be done with +him, and received the scant comfort that he was being sent along to an +officer who would send him back as a prisoner, if he did not have him +killed--as German prisoners were killed by the English. + +"British, you mean," Macalister corrected again. "And, besides that, +it's a lie." + +He was told to go on; but as he moved be saw a foot-long piece of +barbed wire lying in the trench bottom. He asked gravely whether he +would be allowed to take it, and, receiving a somewhat puzzled and +grudging assent, picked it up, carefully rolled it in a small coil, and +placed it in a side jacket pocket. He derived immense gratification and +enjoyment at the ensuing searches he had to undergo, and the explosive +German that followed the diving of a hand into the barbed-wire pocket. + +He arrived at last at an officer and at a point where a communication +trench entered the firing trench. The officer in very mangled English +was attempting to extract some information, when he was interrupted by +the arrival from the communication trench of a small party led by an +officer, a person evidently of some importance, since the other officer +sprang to attention, clicked his heels, saluted stiffly, and spoke in a +tone of respectful humility. The new arrival was a young man in a +surprisingly clean and beautifully fitting uniform, and wearing a +helmet instead of the cloth cap commonly worn in the trenches. His face +was not a particularly pleasant one, the eyes close set, hard, and +cruel, the jaw thin and sharp, the mouth thin-lipped and shrewish. He +spoke to Macalister in the most perfect English. + +"Well, swine-hound," he said, "have you any reason to give why I should +not shoot you?" Macalister made no reply. He disliked exceedingly the +look of the new-comer, and had no wish to give an excuse for the +punishment he suspected would result from the officer's displeasure. +But his silence did not save him. + +"Sulky, eh, my swine-hound!" said the officer. "But I think we can +improve those manners." + +He gave an order in German, and a couple of men stepped forward and +placed their bayonets with the points touching Macalister's chest. + +"If you do not answer next time I speak," he said smoothly, "I will +give one word that will pin you to the trench wall and leave you there. +Do you understand!" he snapped suddenly and savagely. "You English +dog." + +"I understand," said Macalister. "But I'm no English. I'm a Scot" + +The crashing of a shell and the whistling of the bullets overhead moved +the officer, as it had the others, to a more sheltered place. He seated +himself upon an ammunition-box, and pointed to the wall of the trench +opposite him. + +"You," he said to Macalister, "will stand there, where you can get the +benefit of any bullets that come over. I suppose you would just as soon +be killed by an English bullet as by a German one." + +Macalister moved to the place indicated. + +"I'm no anxious," he said calmly, "to be killed by either a _British_ +or a German bullet." + +"Say 'sir' when you speak to me," roared the officer. "Say 'sir.'" + +Macalister looked at him and said "Sir"--no more and no less. + +"Have you no discipline in your English army?" he demanded, and +Macalister's lips silently formed the words "British Army." "Are you +not taught to say 'sir' to an officer?" + +"Yes--sir; we say 'sir' to any officer and any gentleman." + +"So," said the officer, an evil smile upon his thin lips. "You hint, I +suppose, that I am not a gentleman? We shall see. But first, as you +appear to be an insubordinate dog, we had better tie your hands up." + +He gave an order, and after some little trouble to find a cord, +Macalister's hands were lashed behind his back with the bandage from a +field-dressing. The officer inspected the tying when it was completed, +spoke angrily to the cringing men, and made them unfasten and re-tie +the lashing as tightly as they could draw it. + +"And now," said the officer, "we shall continue our little +conversation; but first you shall beg my pardon for that hint about a +gentleman. Do you hear me--beg," he snarled, as Macalister made no +reply. + +"If I've said anything you're no likin' and that I'm sorry for masel', +I apologize," he said. + +The officer glared at him with narrowed eyes. "That'll not do," he said +coldly. "When I say 'beg' you'll beg, and you will go on your knees to +beg. Do you hear? Kneel!" + +Macalister stood rigid. At a word, two of the soldiers placed +themselves in position again, with their bayonets at the prisoner's +breast. The officer spoke to the men, and then to Macalister. + +"Now," he said, "you will kneel, or they will thrust you through." + +Macalister stood without a sign of movement; but behind his back his +hands were straining furiously at the lashings upon his wrist. They +stretched and gave ever so little, and he worked on at them with a +desperate hope dawning in his heart. + +"Still obstinate," sneered the officer. "Well, it is rather early to +kill you yet, so we must find some other way." + +At a sentence from him one of the men threw his weight on the +prisoner's shoulders, while the other struck him savagely across the +tendons behind the knees. Whether he would or no, his knees had to +give, and Macalister dropped to them. But he was not beaten yet. He +simply allowed himself to collapse, and fell over on his side. The +officer cursed angrily, commanding him to rise to his knees again; the +men kicked him and pricked him with their bayonet points, hauled him at +last to his knees, and held him there by main force. + +"And now you will beg my pardon," the officer continued. Macalister +said nothing, but continued to stretch at his bonds and twist gently +with his hands and wrists. + +The officer spent the next ten minutes trying to force his prisoner to +beg his pardon. They were long and humiliating and painful minutes for +Macalister, but he endured them doggedly and in silence. The officer's +temper rose minute by minute. The forward wall of the firing trench was +built up with wicker-work facings and the officer drew out a thick +switch. + +"You will speak," he said, "or I shall flay you in strips and then +shoot you." + +Macalister said nothing, and was slashed so heavily across the face +that the stick broke in the striker's hands. The blood rose to his +head, and deep in his heart he prayed, prayed only for ten seconds with +his hands loose; but still he did not speak. + +At the end of ten minutes the officer's patience was exhausted. +Macalister was thrust back against the trench wall, and the officer +drew out a pistol. + +"In five minutes from now," he gritted, "I'm going to shoot you. I give +you the five minutes that you may enjoy some pleasant thoughts in the +interval." + +Macalister made no answer, but worked industriously at the lashings on +his wrists. The bandage stretched and loosened, and at last, at long +last, he succeeded in slipping one turn off his hand. He had no hope +now for anything but death, and the only wish left to him in life was +to get his hands free to wreak vengeance on the dapper little monster +opposite him, to die with his hands free and fighting. + +The minutes slipped one by one, and one by one the loosened turns of +the bandage were uncoiled. The trenches at this point were apparently +very close, for Macalister could hear the crack of the British rifles, +the clack-clack-clack of a machine gun at close range, and the thought +flitted through his mind that over there in his own trenches his own +fellows would hear presently the crack of the officer's pistol with no +understanding of what it meant. But with luck and his loosened hands he +would give them a squeal or two to listen to as well. + +Then the officer spoke. "One minute," he said, "and then I fire." He +lifted his pistol and pointed it straight at Macalister's face. "I am +not bandaging your eyes," went on the officer, "because I want you to +look into this little round, round hole, and wait to see the fire spout +out of it at you. Your minute is almost up ... you can watch my finger +pressing on the trigger." + +The last coil slipped off Macalister's wrist; he was free, but with a +curse he knew it to be too late. A movement of his hands from behind +his back would finish the pressure of that finger, and finish him. +Desperately he sought for a fighting chance. + +"I would like to ask," he muttered hoarsely, licking his dry lips, +"will ye no kill me if I say what ye wanted?" + +Keenly he watched that finger about the trigger, breathed silent relief +as he saw it slacken, and watched the muzzle drop slowly from level of +his eyes. But it was still held pointed at him, and that barely gave +him the chance he longed for. Only let the muzzle leave him for an +instant, and he would ask no more. The officer was a small and slightly +made man, Macalister, tall and broadly built, big almost to hugeness +and strong as a Highland bull. + +"So," said the officer softly, "your Scottish courage flinches then, +from dying?" + +While he spoke, and in the interval before answering him, Macalister's +mind was running feverishly over the quickest and surest plan of +action. If he could get one hand on the officer's wrist, and the other +on his pistol, he could finish the officer and perhaps get off another +round or two before he was done himself. But the pistol hand might +evade his grasp, and there would be brief time to struggle for it with +those bayonets within arm's length. A straight blow from the shoulder +would stun, but it might not kill. Plan after plan flashed through his +mind, and was in turn set aside in search of a better. But he had to +speak. + +"It's no just that I'm afraid," he said very slowly. "But it was just +somethin' I thought I might tell ye." + +The pistol muzzle dropped another inch or two, with Macalister's eye +watching its every quiver. His words brought to the officer's mind +something that in his rage he had quite overlooked. + +"If there is anything you can tell me," he said, "any useful +information you can give of where your regiment's headquarters are in +the trenches, or where there are any batteries placed, I might still +spare your life. But you must be quick," he added "for it sounds as if +another attack is coming." + +It was true that the fire of the British artillery had increased +heavily during the last few minutes. It was booming and bellowing now +in a deep, thunderous roar, the shells were streaming and rushing +overhead, and shrapnel was crashing and hailing and pattering down +along the parapet of the forward trench; the heavy boom of big shells +bursting somewhere behind the forward line and the roaring explosion of +trench mortar bombs about the forward trench set the ground quivering +and shaking. A shell burst close overhead, and involuntarily Macalister +glanced up, only to curse himself next moment for missing a chance that +his captor offered by a similar momentary lifting of his eyes. +Macalister set his eyes on the other, determined that no such chance +should be missed again. + +But now, above the thunder of the artillery and of the bursting shells, +they could hear the sound of rising rifle-fire. The officer must have +glimpsed the hope in Macalister's face, and, with an oath, he brought +the pistol up level again. + +"Do not cheat yourself," he said. "You cannot escape. If a charge comes +I shall shoot you first." + +With a sinking heart Macalister saw that his last slender hope was +gone. He could only pray that for the moment no attack was to be +launched; but then, just when it seemed that the tide of hope was at +its lowest ebb, the fates flung him another chance--a chance that for +the moment looked like no chance; looked, indeed, like a certainty of +sudden death. A soft, whistling hiss sounded in the air above them, a +note different from the shrill whine and buzz of bullets, the harsh +rush and shriek of the shells. The next instant a dark object fell with +a swoosh and thump in the bottom of the trench, rolled a little and lay +still, spitting a jet of fizzing sparks and wreathing smoke. + +When a live bomb falls in a narrow trench it is almost certain that +everyone in that immediate section will at the worst die suddenly, at +the best be badly wounded. Sometimes a bomb may be picked up and thrown +clear before it can burst, but the man who picks it up is throwing away +such chance as he has of being only wounded for the smaller chance of +having time to pitch the bomb clear. The first instinct of every man is +to remove himself from that particular traverse; the teaching of +experience ought to make him throw himself flat on the ground, since by +far the greater part of the force and fragments from the explosion +clear the ground by a foot or two. Of the Germans in this particular +section of trench some followed one plan, some the other. Of the two +men guarding the prisoner the one who was near the corner of the +traverse leapt round it, the other whirled himself round behind +Macalister and crouched sheltering behind his body. Two men near the +corner of the other traverse disappeared round it, two more flung +themselves violently on their faces, and another leapt into the opening +of the communication trench. The officer, without hesitation, dropped +on his face, his head pressed close behind the sandbag on which he had +been sitting. + +The whole of these movements happened, of course, in the twinkling of +an eye. Macalister's thoughts had been so full of his plans for the +destruction of the officer that the advent of the bomb merely switched +these plans in a new direction. His first realized thought was of the +man crouching beside and clinging to him, the quick following instinct +to free himself of this check to his movements. He was still on his +knees, with the man on his left side; without attempting to rise he +twisted round and backwards, and drove his fist full force in the +other's face; the man's head crashed back against the trench wall, and +his limp body collapsed and rolled sideways. His mind still running in +the groove of his set purpose, before his captor's relaxed fingers had +well loosed their grip, Macalister hurled himself across the trench and +fastened his ferocious grip on the body of the officer. He rose to his +feet, lifting the man with a jerking wrench, and swung him round. The +swift idea had come to him that by hurling the officer's body on top of +the bomb, and holding him there, he would at least make sure of his +vengeance, might even escape himself the fragments and full force of +the shock. Even in the midst of the swing he checked, glanced once at +the spitting fuse, and with a stoop and a heave flung the officer out +over the front parapet, leaped on the firing step, and hurled himself +over after him. + +It must be remembered that the burning fuse of a bomb gives no +indication of the length that remains to burn before it explodes the +charge. The fuse looks like a short length of thin black rope, its +outer cover does not burn and the same stream of sparks and smoke pours +from its end in the burning of the first inch and of the last. There +was nothing, then, to show Macalister whether the explosion would come +before his quick muscles could complete their movement, or whether long +seconds would elapse before the bomb burst. It was an even chance +either way, so he took the one that gave him most. Fortune favored him, +and the roar of the explosion followed his flying heels over the +parapet. + +The officer, dazed, shaken, and not yet realizing what had happened, +had gathered neither his wits nor his limbs to rise when Macalister +leaped down almost on top of him. The officer's hand still clung to the +pistol he had held, but Macalister's grasp swooped and clutched and +wrenched the weapon away. + +"Get up, my man," he said grimly. "Get up, or I'll blow a hole in ye as +ye lie." + +He added emphasis with the point of the pistol in the other's ribs, and +the officer staggered to his feet. + +"Now," said Macalister, "you'll quick mairch--that way." He waved the +pistol towards the British trench. + +The officer hesitated. + +"It is no good," he said sullenly. "I should be killed a dozen times +before I got across." + +"That's as may be," said Macalister coolly. + +"But if you don't go you'll get your first killing here, and say +naething o' the rest o' the dizen." + +A shell cracked overhead, and the shrapnel ripped down along the trench +behind them with a storm of bullets thudding into the ground about +their feet. + +"I will make you an offer," said the officer hurriedly. "You can go +your way and leave me to go mine." + +"You'll mak' an offer!" said Macalister contemptuously. "Here"--and he +waved the pistol across the open again. "Get along there." + +"I will give you--" the officer began, when Macalister broke in +abruptly. + +"This is no a debatin' society," he said. "But ye'll no walk ye maun +just drive." + +Without further words he thrust the pistol in his pocket, grabbed and +took one handful of coat at the back of the officer's neck and another +at the skirt, and commenced to thrust him before him across the open +ground. But the officer refused to walk, and would have thrown himself +down if Macalister's grasp had not prevented it. + +"Ye would, would ye?" growled the Scot, and seized his captive by the +shoulders and shook him till his teeth rattled. "Now," he said angrily, +"ye'll come wi' me or--" he broke off to fling a gigantic arm about the +officer's neck--"or I'll pull the heid aff ye." + +So it was that the occupants of the British trench viewed presently the +figure of a huge Highlander appearing through the drifting haze and +smoke at a trot, a head clutched close to his side by a circling arm, a +struggling German half-running, half-dragging behind his captor. + +Arrived at the parapet, "Here," shouted Macalister. "Catch, some o' +ye." He jerked his prisoner forward and thrust him over and into the +trench, and leaped in after him. + +It was purely on impulse that Private Macalister flung his prisoner out +of the German trench, but it was a set and reasoned purpose that made +him drag his struggling captive back over the open to the British +trench. He knew that the British line would not shoot at an obvious +kilted Highlander, and he supposed that the Germans would hesitate to +fire on one dragging an equally obvious German officer behind him. +Either his reasoning or his blind luck held true, and both he and his +captive tumbled over into the British trench unhurt. An officer +appeared, and Macalister explained briefly to him what had happened. + +"You'd better take him back with you," said the officer when he had +finished, and glanced at the German. "He's not likely to make trouble, +I suppose, but there are plenty of spare rifles, and you had better +take one. What's left of your battalion has withdrawn to the support +trench." + +"I am an officer," said the German suddenly to the British subaltern? +"I surrender myself to you, and demand to be treated as an honorable +prisoner of war. I do not wish to be left in this man's hands." + +"Wish this and wish that," said Macalister, "and much good may your +wishing do. Ye've heard what this officer said, so rise and mairch, +unless ye wad raither I took ye further like I brocht ye here." And he +moved as if to scoop the German's head under his arm again. + +"I will not," said the German furiously, and turned again to the +subaltern. "I tell you I surrender----" + +"There's no need for you to surrender," said the subaltern quietly. "I +might remind you that you are already a prisoner; and I am not here to +look after prisoners." + +The German yielded with a very bad grace, and moved ahead of Macalister +and his threatening bayonet, along the line and down the communication +trench to the support trench. Here the Scot found his fellows, and +introduced his prisoner, made his report to an officer, and asked and +received permission to remain on guard over his captive. Then he +returned to the corner of the trench where the remains of his own +company were. He told them how he had fallen into the German trench and +what had happened up to the moment the German officer came into the +proceedings. + +"This is the man," he said, nodding his head towards the officer, "and +I wad just like to tell you carefully and exactly what happened between +him an' me. Ye'll understaun' better if a' show ye as weel as tell ye. +Weel, now, he made twa men tie ma' hands behind ma' back first--if ony +o' ye will lend me a first field dressing I'll show ye how they did +it." + +A field dressing was promptly forthcoming, and Macalister bound the +German's hands behind his back, overcoming a slight attempt at +resistance by a warning word and an accompanying sharp twist on his +arms. + +"It's maybe no just as tight as mine was," said Macalister when he had +finished, and stood the prisoner back against the wall. "But it'll dae. +Then he made twa men stand wi' fixed bayonets against ma' breast, and +when I hinted what was true, that he was no gentleman, he said I was to +kneel and beg his pardon. And now you," he said, nodding to the +prisoner, "will go down on your marrow-bones and beg mine." + +"That is sufficient of this fooling," said the officer, with an attempt +at bravado. "It's your turn, I'll admit; but I will pay you well--" + +Macalister interrupted him-"Ye'll maybe think it's a bit mair than +fooling ere I'm done wi' ye," he said. "But speakin' o' pay... and +thank ye for reminding me. Ower there they riped ma pooches, an' took +a'thing I had." + +He stepped over to the prisoner, went expeditiously through his +pockets, removed the contents, and transferred them to his own. + +"I'm no saying but what I've got mair than I lost," he admitted to the +others, who stood round gravely watching and thoroughly enjoying the +proceedings. "But then they took all I had, an' I'm only taking all he +has." + +He pulled a couple of sandbags off the parapet and seated himself on +them. + +"To go on wi' this begging pardon business," he said, "If a couple o' +ye will just stand ower him wi' your fixed bayonets.... Thank ye. I +wouldna' kneel," he continued, "so one o' them put his weight on my +shoulders----" He looked at one of the guards, who, entering promptly +into the spirit of the play, put his massive weight on the German's +shoulders, and looked to Macalister for further instructions. + +"Then," said Macalister, "the ither guard gave me a swipe across the +back o' the knees." + +The "swipe" followed quickly and neatly, and the German went down with +a jerk. + +"That's it exactly," said Macalister, with a pleasantly reminiscent +smile. The German's temper broke, and he spat forth a torrent of abuse +in mixed English and German. + +Macalister listened a moment. "I said nothing; so I think he shouldna' +be allowed to say anything," he remarked judicially. His comment met +with emphatic approval from his listeners. + +"I think I could gag him," said one of his guards; "or if ye preferred +it I could just throttle his windpipe a wee bit, just enough to stop +his tongue and no to hurt him much." + +With an effort the German regained his control. "There is no need," he +said sullenly; "I shall be silent." + +"Weel," resumed Macalister, "there was a bit o' chaff back and forrit +between us, and next thing he did was to slap me across the face wi' +his hand. Do ye think," he appealed to his audience, "it would brak' +his jaw if I gave him a bit lick across it?" + +He advanced a huge hand for inspection, and listened to the free advice +given to try it, and the earnest assurances that it did not matter much +if the jaw did break. + +"Ye'll feenish him off presently onyway, I suppose?" said one, and +winked at Macalister. + +"Just bide a wee," answered Macalister, "I'm coming to that. I think +maybe I'll no brak his jaw, for fair's fair, and I want to give as near +as I can to what I got." + +He leant forward and dealt a mild but tingling slap on the German's +cheek. + +"I think," he went on, "the next thing I got was a slash wi' a bit +switch he pulled out from the trench wall. We've no sticks like it +here, so I maun just do the best I can instead." + +He leant forward and fastened a huge hand on the prisoner's +coat-collar, jerked him to him, and, despite his frantic struggles and +raging tongue, placed him face down across his knees and administered +punishment. + +"I think that's about enough," he said, and returned the choking and +spluttering prisoner to his place between the guards. + +"He kept me," he said, "on my knees, so I think he ought ... thank ye," +as the German went down again none too gently. "After that he went on +saying some things it would be waste o' time to repeat. Swine dog was +about the prettiest name he had any use for. But there was another +thing he did; ye'll see some muck on my face and on my jacket. It came +there like this; he took hold o' me by the hair--this way." And +Macalister proceeded to demonstrate as he explained. + +"Then--my hands being tied behind my back you will remember, like +this--it was easy enough for him to pull me over on my face--like +this... and rub my face in the mud.... The bottom o' this trench is in +no such a state a' filth as theirs, but it'll just have to do." He +hoisted the German back to his knees. "Then I think it was after that +the pistol and the killing bit came in." And Macalister put his hand to +his pocket and drew out the officer's pistol which he had thrust there. + +"He gave me five minutes, so I'll give him the same. Has ony o' ye a +watch?" + +A timekeeper stepped forward out of the little knot of spectators that +crowded the trench, and Macalister requested him to notify them when +only one minute of the five was left. + +"My manny here was good enough," said Macalister, "to tell me he +wouldna' bandage my eyes, because he wanted me to look down the muzzle +of his pistol; so now," turning to the prisoner, "you can watch my +finger pulling the trigger." + +As the four minutes ebbed, the German's courage ran out with them. The +jokes and laughter about him had ceased. Macalister's face was set and +savage, and there was a cold, hard look in his eye, a stern ferocity on +his mud and bloodstained face that convinced the German the end of the +five minutes would also surely see his end. + +"One minute to go," said the timekeeper. A sigh of indrawn breaths ran +round the circle, and then tense silence. Outside the trench they were +in the roar of the guns boomed unceasingly, the shells whooped and +screwed overhead, and from oat in front came the crackle and roar of +rifle-fire; and yet, despite the noise, the trench appeared still and +silent. Macalister noted that, as he had noted it over there in the +German trench. + +"Time's up," said the man with the watch. The German, looking straight +at the pistol muzzle and the cold eye behind the sights, gasped and +closed his eyes. The silence held, and after a dragging minute the +German opened his eyes, to find the pistol lowered but still pointing +at him. + +"To make it right and fair," said Macalister, "his hands should be +loose, because I had managed to loose mine. Will one o' ye ... thank +ye. It's no easy," continued Macalister, "to just fit the rest o' the +program in, seeing that it was here a bomb fell in the trench, an' his +men bein' weel occupied gettin' oot o' its way, I threw him ower the +parapet and dragged him across to oor lines. Maybe ye'd like to try and +throw me out the same way." + +The German was perhaps a brave enough man, but the ordeal of those last +five minutes especially had brought his nerve to near its breaking +strain. His lips twitched and quivered, his jaw hung slack, and at +Macalister's invitation he tittered hysterically. There was a stir and +a movement at the back of the spectators that by now thronged the +trench, and an officer pushed his way through. + +"What's this?" he said. "Oh, yes! the prisoner. Well, you fellows might +have more sense than heap yourselves up in a crowd like this. One +solitary Krupp dropping in here, and we'd have a pretty-looking mess. +Open out along the trench there, and keep low down. You can be ready to +move in a few minutes now; we are being relieved here and are going +further back. Now what about this prisoner? Who is looking after him?" + +"I am, sir," said Macalister. "The Captain said I was to take him +back." + +"Right," said the subaltern. "You can take him with you when you go. +They've got some more prisoners up the line, and you can join them." + +It was here that the episode ended so far as Macalister was concerned, +and his relations with the German officer thereafter were of the purely +official nature of a prisoner's guard. There were some other +indignities, but in these Macalister had no hand. They were probably +due to the circulation of the tale Macalister had told and +demonstrated, and were altogether above and beyond anything that +usually happens to a German prisoner. They need not be detailed, but +apparently the most serious of them was the removal of a portion of the +black mud which masked the German's face, so as to leave a +diamond-shaped patch, of staring cleanness over one eye, after the +style of a music-hall star known to fame as the White-eyed Kaffir; +the ripping of a small portion of that garment which permitted of the +extraction of a dangling shirt into a ridiculous wagging tail about a +foot and a half long, and a pressing invitation, accompanied by a hint +from the bayonet point, to give an exposition of the goose-step at the +head of the other prisoners whenever they and their escort were passing +a sufficient number of troops to form a properly appreciative audience. +Probably a Cockney-born Highlander was responsible for these +pleasantries, as he certainly was for the explanation he gave to +curious inquirers. + +"He's mad," he explained. "Mad as a coot; thinks he's the devil, and +insists on wagging his little tail. I have to keep him marching with +his hands up this way, because he might try to grab my rifle. Now, it's +no use you gritting your teeth and mumbling German swear words, +cherrybim. Keep your 'ands well up, and proceed with the goose-step." + +But with all this Macalister had nothing to do. When he had returned as +nearly as he could the exact sufferings he had endured, he was quite +satisfied to let the matter drop. "I suppose," he said reflectively, +when the officer had gone, after giving him orders to see the prisoner +back, "as that finishes this play, we'll just need to treat ma lad here +like an ordinary preesoner. Has ony o' ye got a wee bit biscuit an' +bully beef an' a mouthful o' water t' gie the puir shiverin' crater!" + + + +A BENEVOLENT NEUTRAL + + +" ... _the enemy temporarily gained a footing in a portion of our +trench, but in our counter-attack we retook this and a part of enemy +trench beyond_."--EXTRACT FROM OFFICIAL DESPATCH. + + +A wet night, a greasy road, and a side-slipping motor-bike provided the +means of an introduction between Second Lieutenant Courtenay of the 1st +Footsloggers and Sergeant Willard K. Rawbon of the Mechanical Transport +branch of the A.S.C. The Mechanical Transport as a rule extend a bland +contempt to motor-cycles running on the road, ignoring all their +frantic toots of entreaty for room to pass, and leaving them to scrape +as best they may along the narrow margin between a deep and muddy ditch +and the undeviating wheels of a Juggernaut Mechanical Transport lorry. +But a broken-down motor-cycle meets with a very different reception. It +invariably excites some feeling compounded apparently of compassion and +professional interest to the cycle, and an unlimited hospitality to the +stranded cyclist. + +This being well known to Second Lieutenant Courtenay, he, after +collecting himself, his cycle, and his scattered wits from the ditch +and conscientiously cursing the road, the dark, and the wet, duly +turned to bless the luck that had brought about an accident right at +the doorstep of a section of the Motor Transport. There were about ten +massive lorries drawn up close to the side of the road under the +poplars, and Courtenay made a direct line for one from which a chink of +light showed under the tarpaulin and sounds of revelry issued from a +melodeon and a rasping file. Courtenay pulled aside the flap, poked his +head in and found himself blinking in the bright glare of an acetylene +lamp suspended in the middle of a Mechanical Transport traveling +workshop. The walls--tarpaulin over a wooden frame--were closely packed +with an array of tools, and the floor was still more closely packed +with a work-bench, vice and lathe, spare motor parts, boxes, and half a +dozen men. The men were reading newspapers and magazines; one was +manipulating the melodeon, and another at the vice was busy with the +file. The various occupations ceased abruptly as Courtenay poked his +head in and explained briefly who he was and what his troubles were. + +"Thought you might be able to do something for me," he concluded, and +before he had finished speaking the man at the vice had laid down his +file and was reaching down a mackintosh from its hook. Courtenay +noticed a sergeant's stripes on his sleeve, and a thick and most +unsoldierly crop of hair on his head plastered back from the brow. + +"Why sure," the sergeant said. "If she's anyways fixable, you reckon +her as fixed. Whereabouts is she ditched?" + +Ten minutes later Courtenay was listening disconsolately to the list of +damages discovered by the glare of an electric torch and the sergeant's +searching examination. + +"It'll take 'most a couple of hours to make any sort of a job," said +the sergeant. "That bust up fork alone--but we'll put her to rights for +you. Let's yank 'er over to the shop." + +Courtenay was a good deal put out by this announcement. + +"I suppose there's no help for it," he said resignedly, "but it's +dashed awkward. I'm due back at the billets now really, and another two +or three hours late--whew!" + +"Carryin' a message, I s'pose," said the sergeant, as together they +seized the cycle and pushed it towards the repair lorry. + +"No," said Courtenay, "I was over seeing another officer out this way." +He had an idea from the sergeant's free and easy style of address that +the mackintosh, without any visible badges and with a very visible +spattering of mud, had concealed the fact that he was an officer, and +when he reached the light he casually opened his coat to show his belts +and tunic. But the sergeant made not the slightest difference in his +manner. + +"Guess you'd better pull that wet coat right off," he said casually, +"and set down while I get busy. You boys, pike out, hit it for the +downy, an' get any sleep you all can snatch. That break-down will be +ambling along in about three hours an' shoutin' for quick repairs, so +you'll have to hustle some. That three hours is about all the sleep +comin' to you to-night; so, beat it." + +The damaged cycle was lifted into the lorry and propped up on its stand +and before the men had donned their mackintoshes and "beat it," the +sergeant was busy dismembering the damaged fork. Courtenay pulled off +his wet coat and settled himself comfortably on a box after offering +his assistance and being assured it was not required. The sergeant +conversed affably as he worked. + +At first he addressed Courtenay as "mister," but suddenly--"Say," he +remarked, "what ought I to be calling you? I never can remember just +what those different stars-an'-stripes fixin's mean." + +"My name is Courtenay and I'm second lieutenant," said the other. He +was a good deal surprised, for naturally, a man does not usually reach +the rank of sergeant without learning the meaning of the badges of rank +on an officer's sleeve. + +"My name's Rawbon--Willard K. Rawbon," said the sergeant easily. "So +now we know where we are. Will you have a cigar, Loo-tenant?" he went +on, slipping a case from his pocket and extending it. Courtenay noticed +the solidly expensive get-up and the gold initials on the leather and +was still more puzzled. He reassured himself by another look at the +sergeant's stripes and the regulation soldier's khaki jacket. "No, +thanks," he said politely, and struggling with an inclination to laugh, +"I'll smoke a cigarette," and took one from his own case and lighted +it. He was a good deal interested and probed gently. + +"You're Canadian, I suppose?" he said. "But this isn't Canadian +Transport, is it?" + +"Not," said the sergeant "Neither it nor me. No Canuck in mine, +Loo-tenant. I'm good United States." + +"I see," said Courtenay. "Just joined up to get a finger in the +fighting?" + +"Yes an' no," said the sergeant, going on with his work in a manner +that showed plainly he was a thoroughly competent workman. "It was a +matter of business in the first place, a private business deal that--" + +"I beg your pardon," said Courtenay hastily, reddening to his ear-tips. +"Please don't think I meant to question you. I say, are you sure I +can't help with that? It's too bad my sitting here watching you do all +the work." + +The sergeant straightened himself slowly from the bench and looked at +Courtenay, a quizzical smile dawning on his thin lips. "Why now, +Loo-tenant," he said, "there's no need to get het up none. I know you +Britishers hate to be thought inquisitive--'bad form,' ain't it!--but I +didn't figure it thataway, not any. I'd forgot for a minute the +difference 'tween--" He broke off and looked down at his sleeve, +nodding to the stripes and then to the lieutenant's star. "An' if you +don't mind I'll keep on forgetting it meantime. 'Twon't hurt +discipline, seeing nobody's here anyway. Y' see," he went on, stooping +to his work again, "I'm not used to military manners an' customs. A +year ago if you'd told me I'd be a soldier, _and_ in the British Army, +I'd ha' thought you clean loco." + +Courtenay laughed. "There's a good many in the same British Army can +say the same as you," he said. + +"I was in London when the flare-up came, an' bein' interested in +business I didn't ball up my intellect with politics an' newspaper war +talk. So a cable I had from the firm hit me wallop, an' plumb dazed me. +It said, 'Try secure war contract. One hundred full-powered available +now. Two hundred delivery within month.' Then I began to sit up an' +take notice. Y' see, I'm in with a big firm of auto builders--mebbe you +know 'em--Rawbon an' Spedding, the Rawbon bein' my dad? No? Well, +anyhow, I got the contract, got it so quick it made my head swim. Gee, +that fellow in the War Office was buyin' up autos like I'd buy +pipe-lights. The hundred lorries was shipped over, an' I saw 'em safe +through the specified tests an' handed 'em over. Same with the next two +hundred, an' this"--tapping his toe on the floor--"is one of 'em right +here." + +"I see how the lorry got here," said Courtenay, hugely interested, "but +I don't see how you've managed to be aboard. You and a suit of khaki +and a sergeant's stripes weren't all in the contract, I suppose?" + +"Nope," said the sergeant, "not in the written one, mebbe. But I took a +fancy to seein' how the engines made out under war conditions, an' +figured I might get some useful notes on it for the firm, so I fixed it +to come right along." + +"But how?" asked Courtenay--"if that's not a secret." + +"Why, that guy in the testin' sheds was plump tickled when I told him +my notion. He fixed it all, and me suddenly discoverin' I was mistook +for a Canadian I just said 'M-m-m' when anybody asked me. I had to +enlist though, to put the deal through, an' after that there wasn't +trouble enough to clog the works of a lady's watch. But there was +trouble enough at the other end. My dad fair riz up an' screeched +cablegrams at me when I hinted at goin' to the Front. He made out it +was on the business side he was kickin', with the attitude of the +U-nited States toward the squabble thrown in as extra. Neutrals, he +said we was, benevolent neutrals, an' he wasn't goin' to have a son o' +his steppin' outside the ring-fence o' the U-nited States Constitution, +to say nothing of mebbe losin' good business we'd been do in' with the +Hoggheimers, an' Schmidt Brothers, an' Fritz Schneckluk, an' a heap +more buyers o' his that would rear up an' rip-snort an' refuse to do +another cent's worth of dealing with a firm that was sellin' 'em autos +wi' one hand an' shootin' holes in their brothers and cousins and +Kaisers wi' the other. I soothed the old man down by pointing out I was +to go working these lorries, and the British Army don't shoot Germans +with motor-lorries; and I'd be able to keep him posted in any weak +points, if, and as, and when they developed, so he could keep ahead o' +the crowd in improvements and hooking in more fat contracts; and +lastly, that the Schmidt customer crowd didn't need to know a thing +about me being here unless he was dub enough to tell 'em. So I signed +on to serve King George an' his missus an' kids for ever an' ever, or +duration of war, Amen, with a mental footnote, which last was the only +part I mentioned in mailing my dad, that I was a Benevolent Neutral. +An' here I am." + +"Good egg," laughed Courtenay. "Hope you're liking the job." + +"Waal, I'll amit I'm some disappointed, Loo-tenant," drawled the +sergeant. "Y' see I did expect I'd have a look in at some of the +fightin'. I'm no ragin' blood-drinker an' bone-buster by profession, +up-bringin', or liking. But it does seem sorter poor play that a man +should be plumb center of the biggest war in history an' never see a +single solitary corpse. An' that's me. I been trailin' around with this +convoy for months, and never got near enough to a shell burst to tell +it from a kid's firework. It ain't in the program of this trench +warfare to have motor transport under fire, and the program is bein' +strictly attended to. It's some sight too, they tell me, when a good +mix-up is goin' on up front. I've got a camera here that I bought +special, thinking it would be fun later to show round my album in the +States an' point out this man being skewered on a bayonet an' that one +being disrupted by a bomb an' the next lot charging a trench. But will +you believe me, Loo-tenant, I haven't as much as set eye or foot on the +trenches. I did once take a run up on the captain's 'Douglas,' thinking +I'd just have a walk around an' see the sights and get some snaps. But +I might as well have tried to break into Heaven an' steal the choir's +harps. I was turned back about ten ways I tried, and wound up by being +arrested as a spy an' darn near gettin' shot. I got mad at last and I +told some fellows, stuck all over with red tabs and cap-bands and +armlets, that they could keep their old trenches, and I didn't believe +they were worth looking at anyway." + +Courtenay was laughing again. "I fancy I see the faces of the staff," +he choked. + +"Oh, they ante-d up all right later on," admitted the sergeant, "when +they'd discovered this column and roped in my captain to identify me. +One old leather-face, 'specially--they told me after he was a +General--was as nice as pie, an' had me in an' fed me a fresh meat and +canned asparagus lunch and near chuckled himself into a choking fit +when I told him about dad, an' my being booked up as a Benevolent +Neutral. He was so mighty pleasant that I told him I'd like to have my +dad make him a present of as dandy an auto as rolls in France. I would +have, too, but he simply wouldn't listen to me; told me he'd send it +back freight if I did; and I had to believe him, though, it seemed +unnatural. But they wouldn't let me go look at their blame trenches. I +tried to get this General joker to pass me in, but he wouldn't fall for +it. 'No, no,' he gurgles and splutters. 'A Benevolent Neutral in the +trenches! Never do, never do. We'll have to put some new initials on +the Mechanical Transport,' he says, 'B.N.M.T. Benevolent Neutral! I +must tell Dallas of the Transport that.' And he shooed me off with +that." + +The sergeant had worked busily as he talked, and now, as he commenced +to replace the repaired fork, he was thoughtfully silent a moment. + +"I suppose there's some dandy sna-aps up in those trenches, +Loo-tenant?" he said at last. + +"Oh, well, I dunno," said Courtenay. "Sort of thing you see in the +picture papers, of course." + +"Them!" said the sergeant contemptuously. "I could make better sna-aps +posin' some of the transport crowd in these emergency trenches dug +twenty miles back from the front. I mean real pictures of the real +thing--fellows knee-deep in mud, and a shell lobbing in, and such +like--real dandy snaps. It makes my mouth water to think of 'em. But I +suppose I'll go through this darn war and never see enough to let me +hold up my head when I get back home and they ask me what was the war +really like and to tell 'em about the trenches. I could have made out +if I'd even seen those blame trenches and got some good snaps of 'em." + +Courtenay was moved to a rash compassion and a still more rash promise. + +"Look here, sergeant," he said, "I'm dashed if I don't have a try to +get you a look at the trenches. We go in again in two days and it might +be managed." + + * * * * * + +Three days later Sergeant Rawbon, mounted on the motor-cycle which he +had repaired and which had been sent over to him, found all his +obstacles to the trenches melt and vanish before a couple of passes +with which he was provided--one readily granted by his captain on +hearing the reason for its request, and one signed by Second Lieutenant +Courtenay to pass the bearer, Sergeant Rawbon, on his way to the +headquarters of the 1st Footsloggers with motor-cycle belonging to that +battalion. The last quarter mile of the run to the headquarters +introduced Sergeant Rawbon to the sensation of being under fire, and, +as he afterwards informed Courtenay, he did not find the sensation in +any way pleasant. + +"Loo-tenant," he said gravely, "I've had some of this under fire +performance already, and I tell you I finds it no ways nice. Coming +along that last bit of road I heard something whistling every now an' +then like the top note of a tin whistle, and something else goin' +_whisk_ like a cane switched past your ear, and another lot saying +_smack_ like a whip-lash snapping. I was riding slow and careful, +because that road ain't exactly--well, it would take a lot of +sandpapering to make it really smooth. But when I realized that those +sounds spelt bullets with a capital B, I decided that road wasn't as +bad as I'd thought, and that anything up to thirty knots wasn't outside +its limits." + +"Oh, you were all right," said Courtenay carelessly, "bullets can't +touch you there, except a few long-distance ones that fall in enfilade +over the village. From the front they go over your head, or hit that +parapet along the side of the road." + +"Which is comforting, so far," said the sergeant, "though, personally, +I've just about as much objection to be hit by a bullet that comes over +a village as any other kind." + +They were outside the remains of a house in the cellar of which was +headquarters, Courtenay having timed the sergeant to arrive at an hour +when he, Courtenay, could arrange to be waiting at headquarters. + +"Now we'll shove along down and round the trenches. I spoke to the O.C. +and explained the situation--partly. He didn't raise any trouble so +just follow me, and leave me to do any talking there is to do. You must +keep your eyes open and ask any questions about things after. It would +look a bit odd and raise remarks if the men saw me showing you round +and doing the Cook's Tour guide business. And if you've brought that +camera, keep it out of sight till I give you the word. When we get +along to my own company's bit of trench I'll tell you, and you can take +some snaps--when I'm not looking at you. Just tip the wink to any men +about and they'll be quite pleased to pose or anything you like." + +"Loo-tenant," said Sergeant Rawbon earnestly, "you're doin' this thing +real handsome, and I won't forget it. If ever you hit the U-nited +States----" + +"Oh, that's all right," said Courtenay, "come along now." + +"When we find your bunch," said Rawbon as they moved off, "if you could +make some sort of excuse out loud, and fade from the scene a minute and +leave me there with the men, I'll sure get some of the dandiest snaps +I'd wish. I reckon it'll satisfy the crowd if I promise to send 'em +copies. It will if they're anything like my lot in the Mechanical +Transport." + +They slid down into a deep and narrow and very muddy ditch that ran +twistingly through the wrecked village. Courtenay explained that +usually they could walk this part above ground, sheltered from bullets +by the broken-down houses and walls, but that a good few shells had +been coming over all day, and that in the communication trench they +were safe from all shells but those which burst directly over or in the +part they were in. + +"You want to run across this bit," he said presently. "A high explosive +broke that in this morning, and it can't be repaired properly till +dark. You go first and wait the other side for me. Now--jump lively!" + +Rawbon took one quick jumping stride to the middle of the gap, and +another and very much quicker one beyond it, as a bullet smacked +venomously into the broken side of the trench. Another threw a spurt of +mud at Courtenay's heels as he made the rush. "A sniper watches the gap +and pots at anyone passing," he explained to Rawbon. "It's fairly safe, +because at the range he's firing a bullet takes just a shade longer to +reach here than you take to run across. But it doesn't do to walk." + +"No," said Rawbon, "and going back somehow I don't think I will walk. I +can see without any more explainin' that it's no spot for a pleasant, +easy little saunter." He stopped suddenly as a succession of whooping +rushes passed overhead. "Gee! What's that?" + +"Shells from our own guns," said Courtenay, and took the lead again. In +his turn he stopped and crouched, calling to Rawbon to keek down. They +heard a long screaming whistle rising to a tempestuous roar and +breaking off in a crash which made the ground shake. Next moment a +shower of mud and earth and stones fell rattling and thumping about and +into the trench. + +"Coal-box," said Courtenay hurriedly. "Come on. They're apt to drop +some more about the same spot." + +"I'm with you," said Rawbon. "The same spot is a good one to quit, I +reckon." + +They hurried, slipping and floundering, along the wet trench, and +turned at last into another zig-zag one where a step ran along one +side, and men muffled in wet coats stood behind a loopholed parapet. +Along the trench was a series of tiny shelters scooped out of the bank, +built up with sand-bags, covered ineffectually with wet, shiny, +waterproof ground-sheets. In these, men were crouched over scantily +filled braziers, or huddled, curled up like homeless dogs on a +doorstep. At intervals along the parapet men watched through periscopes +hoisted over the top edge, and every now and then one fired through a +loophole. The trench bottom where they walked was anything from ankle- to +knee-deep in evil-looking watery mud of the consistency of very thin +porridge. The whole scene, the picture of wet misery, the dirt and +squalor and discomfort made Rawbon shiver as much from disgust as from +the raw cold that clung about the oozing clay walls and began to bite +through to his soaking feet and legs. Courtenay stopped near a group of +men, and telling the sergeant to wait there a moment, moved on and left +him. A puff of cold wet wind blew over the parapet, and the sergeant +wrinkled his nose disgustedly. "Some odorous," he commented to a +mud-caked private hunkered down on his heels on the fire-step with his +back against the trench wall. "Does, the Boche run a glue factory or a +fertilizer works around here?" + +"The last about fits it," said the private grimly. "They made an attack +here about a week back, and there's a tidy few fertilizin' out there +now--to say nothin' of some of ours we can't get in." + +Rawbon squirmed uneasily to think he should, however unwittingly, have +jested about their dead, but nobody there seemed in any way shocked or +resentful. The sergeant suddenly remembered his camera, and had thrust +his hand under his coat to his pocket when the warning screech of an +approaching shell and the example of the other men in the traverse sent +him crouching low in the trench bottom. The trench there was almost +knee-deep in thin mud, but everyone apparently took that as a matter of +course. The shell burst well behind them, but it was followed +immediately by about a dozen rounds from a light gun. They came +uncomfortably close, crashing overhead and just in front of the +parapet. A splinter from one lifted a man's cap from his head and sent +it flying. The splinter's whirr and the man's sharp exclamation brought +all eyes in his direction. His look of comical surprise and the +half-dazed fashion of his lifting a hand to fumble cautiously at his +head raised some laughter and a good deal of chaff. + +"Orright," he said angrily. "Orright, go on; laugh, dash yer. Fat lot +t' laugh at, seein' a man's good cap pitched in the mud." + +"No use you feelin' that 'ead o' yours," said his neighbor, grinning. +"You can't even raise a sick 'eadache out o' that squeak. 'Arf an inch +lower now an' you might 'ave 'ad a nice little trip 'ome in an +'orspital ship." + +"You're wrong there, Jack," said another solemnly. "That splinter hit +fair on top of his nut, an' glanced off. You don't think a pifflin' +little Pip-Squeak shell could go through _his_ head?" He stepped up on +the firing-step as he spoke, and on the instant, with a rush and crash, +another "Pip-Squeak" struck the parapet immediately in front of him, +blowing the top edge off it, filling the air with a volcano of mud, +dirt, smoke, and shrieking splinters, and, either from the shock of the +explosion or in an attempt to escape it, throwing the man off his +balance on the ledge of the firing-step to sprawl full length in the +mud. In the swirl of noise and smoke and flying earth Rawbon just +glimpsed the plunging fall of a man's body, and felt a curious sickly +feeling at the pit of his stomach. He was relieved beyond words to see +the figure rise to his knees and stagger to his feet, dripping mud and +filth, and swearing at the pitch of his voice. He paid no attention to +the stutter of laughter round him as he retrieved his mud-encrusted +rifle, and looked about him for his cap. The laughter rose as he groped +in the thin mud for it, still cursing wildly; and then the sergeant +noticed that the man who had lost his cap a minute before had quietly +snatched up the other one from the firing-step, clapped it on his own +head and pretended to help the loser to search. + +"It was blame funny, I suppose," Rawbon told the lieutenant a few +minutes after, as they moved from the spot. "Him chasin' round in the +mud cussin' all blue about his 'blarsted cap'; and t'other fellow wi' +the cap on his head and pretending to hunt for it, and callin' the rest +to come help. I dessay I'll laugh some myself, if I remember it when +I'm safe back about ten mile from here. Just at the moment my funny +bone hasn't got goin' right after me expectin' to see that feller +blowed to ribbons an' remnants. But them others--say, I've seen men +sittin' comfortable in an armchair seat at a roof-garden vaudeville +that couldn't raise as hearty a laugh at the prize antics of the +thousand dollar star comedian, as them fellers riz on that cap +episode." + +"Well, it was rather funny, you know," said Courtenay, grinning a +little himself. + +"Mebbe, mebbe," said Rawbon. "But me--well, if you'll excuse it, I'll +keep that laugh in pickle till I feel more like usin' it." + +"You wanted to come, you know," said Courtenay. "But I won't blame you +if you say you've had enough and head for home. As I told you before, +this 'joy-riding' game is rather silly. It's bad enough us taking risks +we have to, but----" + +"Yes, you spoke that piece, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon, "but I want to +see all there is on show now I'm here. Only don't expect me to shriek +with hilarious mirth every time a shell busts six inches off my nose." + +They had halted for a moment, and now another crackling string of light +shells burst along the trench. + +"There's another bunch o' humor arriving," said Rawbon. "But I don't +feel yet like encoring the turn any;" + +They moved on to a steady accompaniment of shell bursts and Courtenay +looked round uneasily. + +"I don't half like this," he said. "They don't usually shell us so at +this time of day. Hope there's no attack coming." + +"I agree with all you say, Loo-tenant, and then some. Especially about +not liking it." + +"I'm beginning to think you'd be better off these premises," said +Courtenay. "I ought to be with my company if any trouble is coming off. +And it might lead to questions and unpleasantness if you were found +here--especially if you're a casualty, or I am." + +"Nuff sed, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon promptly. "I don't want that sort +o' trouble for various reasons. I'd have an everlastin' job explaining +to my dad what I was doin' in the front seats o' the firing line. It +wouldn't just fit wi' my bein' a Benevolent Neutral, not anyhow." + +"We're only about thirty or forty yards from the Germ trench in this +bit," said Courtenay. "Here, carry my periscope, and when I'm talking +to some of the men just take a look quietly." + +But Rawbon was not able to see much when, a little later, he had a +chance to use the periscope. For one thing the short winter day was +fading and the light was already poor; for another any attempt to keep +the periscope above the parapet for more than a few seconds brought a +series of bullets hissing and zipping over, and periscope glasses in +those days were too precious to risk for mere curiosity's sake. + +"We'll just have a look at the Frying Pan," said Courtenay, "and then +you'll have seen about the lot. We hold a bit of the trench running out +beyond the Pan and the Germs are holding the same trench a little +further along. We've both got the trench plugged up with sandbag +barricades." + +They floundered along the twisting trench till it turned sharply to the +right and ran out into the shallow hollow of the Frying Pan. It was +swimming in greasy mud, and across the far side from where they stood +Rawbon could see a breastwork of sandbags. + +"We call this entrance trench the Handle, and the trench that runs out +from behind that barricade the Leak. There's always more or less +bombing going on in the Leak, and I don't know if it's very wise of you +to go up there. We call this the Frying Pan because--well, 'into the +fire,' you know. Will you chance it?" + +"Why, sure; if you don't mind, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon, "I might as +well see--" He was interrupted by a sudden crash and roar, running +bursts of flaring light, hoarse yells and shouts, and a few rifle shots +from somewhere beyond the barricade across the Leak. The work of the +next minute was too fast and furious for Rawbon to follow or +understand. The uproar beyond the barricade swelled and clamored, and +the earth shook to the roar of bursting bombs. In the Frying Pan there +was a sudden vision of confused figures, dimly seen through the +swirling smoke, swaying and struggling, threshing and splashing in the +liquid mud. He was just conscious of Courtenay shouting something about +"Get back," of his being thrust violently back into the wide trench, of +two or three figures crowding in after him, cursing and staggering and +shooting back into the Frying Pan, of Courtenay's voice shouting again +to "Stand clear," of a knot of men scrambling and heaving at something, +and then of a deafening "Rat-tat-tat-tat," and the streaming flashes of +a machine-gun. It stopped firing after a minute, and Rawbon, flattened +back against a corner of the trench wall, heard an explanation given by +a gasping private to Courtenay and another mud-bedaubed officer who +appeared mysteriously from somewhere. + +"Flung a shower o' bombs an' rushed us, sir," said the private. "They +was over a-top o' us 'fore you could say 'knife.' Only two or three o' +us that wasn't downed and was able to get back out o' the Leak an' +across the Pan to here." + +"We stopped them with the maxim," said Courtenay, "but I suppose +they'll rush again in a minute." + +He and the other officer conferred hastily. Rawbon caught a few words +about "counterattack" and "quicker the better" and "all the men I can +find," and then the other officer moved hurriedly down the trench and +men came jostling and crowding to the end of the Handle, just clear of +the corner where it turned into the Pan. A few sandbags were pulled +down off the parapet and heaped across the end of the trench, the +machine-gun was run close up to them and a couple of men posted, one to +watch with a periscope, and the other to keep Verey pistol lights +flaring into the Frying Pan. + +Two minutes later the other officer returned, spoke hastily to +Courtenay, and then calling to the men to follow, jumped the low +barricade and ran splashing out into the open hollow with the men +streaming after him. A burst of rifle fire and the shattering crash of +bombs met them, and continued fiercely for a few minutes after the last +of the counter-attacking party had swarmed out. But the attack broke +down, never reached the barricade beyond the Pan, was, in fact, cut +down almost as fast as it emerged into the open. A handful of men came +limping and floundering back, and Courtenay, waiting by the machine-gun +in case of another German rush, caught sight of the face of the last +man in. + +"Rawbon!" he said sharply. "Good Lord, man! I'd forgotten--What took +you out there?" + +"Say, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon, panting hard. "There's no crossin' that +mud puddle Fry-Pan. They're holding the barricade 'cross there; got +loopholes an' shootin' through 'em. Can't we climb out an' over the +open an' on top of 'em?" + +"No good," said Courtenay. "They're sweeping it with maxims. Listen!" + +Up to then Rawbon had heeded nothing above the level of the trench and +the hollow but now he could hear the steady roar of rifle and maxim +fire, and the constant whistle of bullets streaming overhead. + +"I must rally another crowd and try'n' rush it," said Courtenay. "Stand +ready with that maxim there. I won't be long." + +"I've got a box of bombs here, sir," said a man behind him. + +Courtenay turned sharply. "Good," he said. "But no--it's too far to +throw them." + +"I think I could just about fetch it, sir," said the man. + +"All right," said Courtenay. "Try it while I get some men together." + +"Here y' are, chum," said the man, "you light 'em an' I'll chuck 'em. +This way for the milky coco-nuts!" + +Rawbon watched curiously. The bomb was round shaped and rather larger +than a cricket ball. A black tube affair an inch or two long projected +from it and emitted, when lit, a jet of hissing, spitting sparks. The +bomb-thrower seized the missile quickly, stepped clear of the +sheltering corner of the trench, threw the bomb, and jumped back under +cover. A couple of bullets slapped into the wall of the trench, and +next moment the bomb burst. + +"Just short," said the thrower, who had peeped out at sound of the +report. "Let's 'ave another go." + +This time a shower of bullets greeted him as he stepped out, but he +hurled his bomb and stepped back in safety. A third he threw, but this +time a bullet caught him and he reeled back with blood staining the +shoulder of his tunic. + +"You'll 'ave to excuse me," he remarked gravely to the man with the +match. "Can't stay now. I 'ave an urgent appointment in +_Blighty_.[Footnote: England. A soldier's corruption of the Hindustani +word "Belati."] But I'll drink your 'ealth when I gets to Lunnon." + +Rawbon had watched the throwing impatiently. "Look here," he said +suddenly. "Just lemme have a whale at this pitching. I'll show 'em some +curves that'll dazzle 'em." + +The wounded man peered at him and then at his cap badge. "Now 'oo the +blank is this?" he demanded. "Blimey, Joe, if 'ere ain't a blooming +Universal Plum-an'-Apple Provider. 'Ere, 'oo stole the strawberry jam?" + +"You let me in on this ball game," said Rawbon. "Light 'em and pass 'em +quick, and see me put the Indian sign on that bunch." + +A minute later Courtenay came back and stared in amazement at the +scene. Two men were lighting and passing up bombs to the sergeant, who, +standing clear out in the opening, grabbed and hurled the balls with an +extraordinary prancing and dancing and arm-swinging series of +contortions, while the crowded trench laughed and applauded. + +"Some pitchin', Loo-tenant," he panted beamingly, stepping back into +shelter. "Hark at 'em. And every darn one right over the plate. Say, +step out here an' watch this next lot." + +"No time now," said Courtenay hurriedly. + +"They're strengthening their defense every minute. Are you all ready +there, lads?" + +"I don't know who this man is, sir," said a sergeant quickly. "But he's +doing great work. Every bomb has gone in behind the parado there. He +might try a few more to shake them before we advance." + +"Behind the parakeet," snorted Rawbon. "I should smile. You watch! I'll +put some through the darn loopholes for you. Didn't know I was pitcher +to the Purple Socks, the year we whipped the League, did you? Gimme +thirty seconds, Loo-tenant, and I'll put thirty o' these balls right +where they live." + +As he spoke he picked up two of the bombs from a fresh box and held +them to the lighter. As he plunged out a shower of bullets spattered +the trench wall about him, but without heeding these he began to throw. +As the roar of the bursting bombs began, the bullets slowed down and +ceased. "Keep the lights blazing," Rawbon paused to shout to the man +with the pistol flares. "You slide out for the home base, Loo-tenant, +and I'll keep 'em too busy to shoot their nasty little guns." He +commenced to hurl the bombs again. Courtenay stepped out and watched a +moment. Bomb after bomb whizzed true and hard across the hollow, just +skimmed the breastwork, struck on the trench wall that showed beyond +and a foot above it, and fell behind the barricade. Billowing +smoke-clouds and gusts of flame leaped and flashed above the parapet. +Courtenay saw the chance and took it. He plunged out into the lake of +mud and plowed through it towards the barricade, the men swarming +behind him, and the sergeant's bombs hurtling with trailing streams of +sparks over their heads. + +"Come on, son," said the sergeant. "You carry that box and gimme the +slow match. I pitch better with a little run." + +Courtenay reached the barricade and led his men over and round +it without a casualty. The space behind the barricade was +deserted--deserted, that is, except by the dead, and by some +unutterable things that would have been better dead. + +The lost portion of trench was recaptured, and more, the defense, +demoralized by that tornado of explosions, was pushed a good fifty +yards further back before the counter-attack was stayed. + +At daybreak next morning Courtenay and the sergeant stood together on +the road leading to the communication trench. Both were crusted to the +shoulders in thick mud; Rawbon's cap was gone, and his hair hung +plastered in a wet mop over his ears and forehead, and Courtenay showed +a red-stained bandage under his cap. + +"Rawbon," he said, "I feel rotten over this business. Here you've done +some real good work--I don't believe we'd ever have got across without +your bombing--and you won't let me say a word about it. I'm dashed if I +like it. Dash it, you ought to get a V.C., or a D.C.M. at least, for +it." + +"Now lookahere, Loo-tenant," said Rawbon soothingly. "There's no need +for you to feel peaked--not any. It was darn good of you to let me in +on these sacred no-admittance-'cept-on-business trenches, and I'm plumb +glad I landed in the mix-up. It would probably raise trouble for you if +your boss knew you'd slipped me in; and it sure would raise everlasting +trouble for me at home if my name was flourishin' in the papers gettin' +an A.B.C. or D.A.M.N. or whatever the fixin' is. And I'd sooner have +this"--slapping the German helmet that dangled at his belt--"than your +whole darn alphabet o' initials. Don't forget what I told you about the +dad an' those Schwartzeheimer friends o' his, the cousins o' which same +friends I've been blowin' off the earth with bomb base-balls. Let it go +at that, and never forget it, friend--I'm a Benevolent Neutral." + +"I won't forget it," said Courtenay, laughing and shaking hands. He +watched the sergeant as he bestrode the motor-cycle, pushed off, and +swung off warily down the wet road into the morning mist. + +"What was it that despatch said a while back!" he mused. "Something +about 'There are few who appreciate or even understand the value of the +varied work of the Army Service Corps.' Well, this lot was a bit more +varied than usual, and I fancy it might astonish even the fellow who +wrote that line." + + + +DRILL + + +"_Yesterday one of the enemy's heavy guns was put out of action by our +artillery._"--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +"Stand fast!" the instructor bellowed, and while the detachment +stiffened to immobility he went on, without stopping to draw breath, +bellowing other and less printable remarks. After he had finished these +he ordered "Detachment rear!" and taking more time and adding even more +point to his remarks, he repeated some of them and added others, +addressing abruptly and virulently the "Number" whose bungling had +aroused his wrath. + +"You've learnt your gun drill," he said, "learned it like a +sulphur-crested cockatoo learns to gabble 'Pretty Polly scratch a +poll'; why in the name of Moses you can't make your hands do what your +tongue says 'as me beat. You, Donovan, that's Number Three, let me hear +you repeat the drill for Action Front." + +Donovan, standing strictly to attention, and with his eyes fixed +straight to his front, drew a deep breath and rattled off: + +"At the order or signal from the battery leader or section commander, +'Halt action front!' One orders 'Halt action front!'--At the order from +One, the detachment dismounts, Three unkeys, and with Two lifts the +trail; when the trail is clear of the hook, Three orders 'Limber drive +on.'" + +The instructor interrupted explosively. + +"You see," he growled, "you know it. Three orders 'Limber drive on.' +You're Three! but did you order limber drive on, or limber drive off, +or drive anywhere at all? Did you expect drivers that would be sitting +up there on their horses, with their backs turned to you, to have eyes +in the backs of their heads to see when you had the trail lifted, or +did you be expectin' them to thought-read that you wanted them to drive +on!" + +Three, goaded at last to a sufficiency of daring, ventured to mutter +something about "was going to order it." + +The instructor caught up the phrase and flayed him again with it. "'Was +going to,'" he repeated, "'was going to order it.' Perhaps some day, +when a bullet comes along and drills a hole in your thick head, you +will want to tell it you 'was going to' get out of the way. You maybe +expect the detachment to halt and stand easy, and light a cigarette, +and have a chat while you wait to make up your mind what you're going +to say, and when you're going to say it! And if ever you get past +recruit drill in the barracks square, my lad, and smell powder burnt in +action, you'll learn that there's no such thing as 'going to' in your +gun drill. If you're slow at it, if you fumble your fingers, and tie +knots in your tongue, and stop to think about your 'going to,' you'll +find maybe that 'going to' has gone before you make up your mind, and +the only thing 'going to' will be you and your detachment; and its +Kingdom Come you'll be 'going to' at that. And now we'll try it again, +and if I find any more 'going to' about it this time it's an hour's +extra drill a day you'll be 'going to' for the next week." + +He kept the detachment grilling and grinding for another hour before he +let them go, and at the end of it he spent another five minutes +pointing out the manifold faults and failings of each individual in the +detachment, reminding them that they belonged to the Royal Regiment of +Artillery that is "The right of the line, the terror of the world, and +the pride of the British Army," and that any man who wasn't a shining +credit to the Royal Regiment was no less than a black disgrace to it. + +When the detachment dismissed, and for the most part gravitated to the +canteen, they passed some remarks upon their instructor almost pungent +enough to have been worthy of his utterance. "Him an' his everlastin' +'Cut the Time!'" + +"I'm just about fed up with him," said Gunner Donovan bitterly, "and +I'd like to know where's all the sense doing this drill against a +stop-watch. You'd think from the way he talks that a man's life was +hanging on the whiskers of a half-second. Blanky rot, I call it." + +"I wouldn't mind so much," said another gunner, "if ever he thought to +say we done it good, but not 'im. The better we does it and the faster, +the better and the faster he wants it done. It's my belief that if he +had a gun detachment picked from the angels above he'd tell 'em their +buttons and their gold crowns was a disgrace to Heaven, that they was +too slow to catch worms or catch a cold, and that they'd 'ave to cut +the time it took 'em to fly into column o' route from the right down +the Golden Stairs, or to bring their 'arps to the 'Alt action front." + +These were the mildest of the remarks that passed between the smarting +Numbers of the gun detachment, but they would have been astonished +beyond words if they could have heard what their instructor Sergeant +"Cut-the-Time" was saying at that moment to a fellow-sergeant in the +sergeants' mess. + +"They're good lads," he said, "and it's me, that in my time has seen +the making and the breaking and the handling and the hammering of gun +detachments enough to man every gun in the Army, that's saying it. I +had them on the 'Halt action front' this morning, and I tell you +they've come on amazing since I took 'em in hand. We cut three solid +seconds this morning off the time we have been taking to get the gun +into action, and a second a round off the firing of ten rounds. They'll +make gunners yet if they keep at it." + +"Three seconds is good enough," said the other mildly. + +"It isn't good enough," returned the instructor, "if they can make it +four, and four's not good enough if they can make it five. It's when +they can't cut the time down by another split fraction of a second that +I'll be calling them good enough. They won't be blessing me for it now, +but come the day maybe they will." + + * * * * * + +The battery was moving slowly down a muddy road that ran along the edge +of a thick wood. It had been marching most of the night, and, since the +night had been wet and dark, the battery was splashed and muddy to the +gun-muzzles and the tops of the drivers' caps. It was early morning, +and very cold. Gunners and drivers were muffled in coats and woolen +scarves, and sat half-asleep on their horses and wagons. A thick and +chilly mist had delayed the coming of light, but now the mist had +lifted suddenly, blown clear by a quickly risen chill wind. When the +mist had been swept away sufficiently for something to be seen of the +surrounding country, the Major, riding at the head of the battery, +passed the word to halt and dismount, and proceeded to "find himself on +the map." Glancing about him, he picked out a church steeple in the +distance, a wayside shrine, and a cross-road near at hand, a curve of +the wood beside the road, and by locating these on the squared map, +which he took from its mud-splashed leather case, he was enabled to +place his finger on the exact spot on the map where his battery stood +at that moment. Satisfied on this, he was just about to give the order +to mount when he heard the sound of breaking brushwood and saw an +infantry officer emerge from the trees close at hand. + +The officer was a young man, and was evidently on an errand of haste. +He slithered down the steep bank at the edge of the wood, leaped the +roadside ditch, asked a question of the nearest man, and, getting an +answer from him, came at the double past the guns and teams towards the +Major. He saluted hastily, said "Mornin', sir," and went on +breathlessly: "My colonel sent me across to catch you. We are in a +ditch along the edge of the far side of this wood, and could just see +enough of you between the trees to make out your battery. From where we +are we can see a German gun, one of their big brutes, with a team of +about twenty horses pulling it, plain and fair out in the open. The +Colonel thinks you could knock 'em to glory before they could reach +cover." + +"Where can I see them from!" said the Major quickly. + +"I'll show you," said the subaltern, "if you'll leave your horse and +come with me through this wood. It's only a narrow belt of trees here." + +The Major turned to one of his subalterns who was with him at the head +of the battery. + +"Send back word to the captain to come up here and wait for me!" he +said rapidly. "Tell him what you have just heard this officer say, and +tell him to give the word, 'Prepare for action.' And now," he said, +turning to the infantryman, "go ahead." + +The two of them jumped the ditch, scrambled up the bank, and +disappeared amongst the trees. + +A message back to the captain who was at the rear of the battery +brought him up at a canter. The subaltern explained briefly what he had +heard, and the captain, after interrupting him to shout an order to +"Prepare for action," heard the finish of the story, pulled out his +map, and pointing out on it a road shown as running through the trees, +sent the subaltern off to reconnoiter it. + +The men were stripping off their coats, rolling them and strapping them +to the saddles and the wagon seats; the Numbers One, the sergeants in +charge of each gun, bustling their gunners, and seeing everything about +the guns made ready: the gunners examining the mechanism and gears of +the gun, opening and closing the hinged flaps of the wagons, and +tearing the thin metal cover off the fuses. + +It was all done smartly and handily, and one after another the +sergeants reported their subsections as ready. Immediately the captain +gave the order to mount, drivers swung themselves to their saddles, and +the gunners to their seats on the wagons, and all sat quietly waiting +for whatever order might come next. + +The lifting of the mist had shown a target to the gunners on both sides +apparently, and the roar and boom of near and distant guns beat and +throbbed quicker and at closer intervals. + +In three minutes the Major came running back through the wood, and the +captain moved to meet him. + +"We've got a fair chance!" said the Major exultingly. "One of their big +guns clear in the open, and moving at a crawl. I want you to take the +battery along the road here, sharp to the right at the cross-road, and +through the wood. The Inf. tell me there is just a passable road +through. Take guns and firing battery wagons only; leave the others +here. When you get through the wood, turn to the right again, and along +its edge until you come to where I'll be waiting for you. I'll take the +range-taker with me. The order will be 'open sights'; it's the only +way--not time to hunt a covered position! Now, is all that clear?" + +"Quite clear," said the captain tersely. + +"Off you go, then," said the Major; "remember, it's quick work. +Trumpeter, come with me, and the range-taker. Sergeant-major, leave the +battery staff under cover with the first line." + +He swung into the saddle, set his horse at the ditch, and with a leap +and scramble was over and up the bank and crashing into the +undergrowth, followed by his trumpeter and a man with the six-foot tube +of a range-finder strapped to the saddle. + +Before he was well off the road the captain shouted the order to walk +march, and as the battery did so the subaltern who had been sent out to +reconnoiter the road came back at a canter. + +"We can just do it," he reported; "it's greasy going, and the road is +narrow and rather twisty, but we can do it all right." + +The captain sent back word to section commanders, and the other two +subalterns spurred forward and joined him. + +"We go through the wood," he explained, "and come into action on the +other side. The order is 'open sights,' so I expect we'll be in an +exposed position. You know what that means. There's a gun to knock out, +and if we can do it and get back quick before they get our range we may +get off light. If we can't----" and he broke off significantly. "Get +back and tell your Numbers One, and be ready for quick moving." + +Immediately they had fallen back the order was given to trot, and the +battery commenced to bump and rumble rapidly over the rough road. As +they neared the cross-roads they were halted a moment, and then the +guns and their attendant ammunition wagons only went on, turned into +the wood, and recommenced to trot. + +They jolted and swayed and slid over the rough, wet road, the gunners +clinging fiercely to the handrails, the drivers picking a way as best +they could over bowlders and between ruts. They emerged on the far side +of the wood, found themselves in an open field, turned sharply to the +right, and kept on at a fast trot. A line of infantry were entrenched +amongst the trees on the edge of the wood, but their shouted remarks +were drowned in the clatter and rattle and jingle of wheels and +harness. Out on their left the ground rose very gently, and far beyond +a low crest could be seen clumps of trees, patches of fields, and a few +scattered farm? houses. At several points on this distant slope the +White smoke-clouds of bursting shells were puffing and breaking, but so +far there was no sign to be seen of any man or of any gun. When they +came to where the Major was waiting he rode out from the trees, blew +sharply on a whistle, and made a rapid signal with hand and arm. The +guns and wagons had been moving along the edge of the wood in single +file, but now at the shouted order each team swung abruptly to its left +and commenced to move in a long line out from the wood towards the low +crest, the whole movement being performed neatly and cleanly and still +at a trot. The Major rode to his place in the center of the line, and +the battery, keeping its place close on his heels, steadily increased +its pace almost to a canter. The Major's whistle screamed again, and at +another signal and the shouted orders the battery dropped to a walk. +Every man could see now over the crest and into the shallow valley that +fell away from it and rose again in gentle folds and slopes. At first +they could see nothing of the gun against which they had expected to be +brought into action, but presently some one discovered a string of tiny +black dots that told of the long team and heavy gun it drew. Another +sharp whistle and the Major's signal brought the battery up with a +jerk. + +"Halt! action front!" The shouted order rang hoarsely along the line. +For a moment there was wild commotion; a seething chaos, a swirl of +bobbing heads and plunging horses. But in the apparent chaos there was +nothing but the most smooth and ordered movement, the quick but most +exact following of a routine drill so well ground in that its motions +were almost mechanical. The gunners were off their seats before the +wheels had stopped turning, the key snatched clear, and the trail of +the gun lifted, the wheels seized, and the gun whirled round in a +half-circle and dropped pointing to the enemy. The ammunition wagon +pulled up into place beside the gun, the traces flung clear, and the +teams hauled round and trotted off. As Gunner Donovan's trail was +lifted clear his yell of "Limber, drive on," started the team forward +with a jerk, and a moment later, as he and the Number Two slipped into +their seats on the gun the Number Two grinned at him. "Sharp's the +word," he said: "d'you mind the time----" He was interrupted roughly by +the sergeant, who had just had the target pointed out to him, jerking +up the trail to throw the gun roughly into line. + +"Shut yer head, and get on to it, Donovan. You see that target there, +don't you?" + +"See it a fair treat!" said Donovan joyfully; "I'll bet I plunk a bull +in the first three shots." + +Back in the wood the infantry colonel, from a vantage-point half-way up +a tall tree, watched the ensuing duel with the keenest excitement. + +The battery's first two ranging shots dropped in a neat bracket, one +over and one short; in the next two the bracket closed, the shorter +shot being almost on top of the target. This evidently gave the range +closely enough, and the whole battery burst into a roar of fire, the +blazing flashes running up and down the line of guns like the reports +of a gigantic Chinese cracker. Over the long team of the German gun a +thick cloud of white smoke hung heavily, burst following upon burst and +hail after hail of shrapnel sweeping the men and horses below. Then +through the crashing reports of the guns and the whimpering rush of +their shells' passage, there came a long whistling scream that rose and +rose and broke off abruptly in a deep rolling cr-r-r-rump. A spout of +brown earth and thick black smoke showed where the enemy shell had +burst far out in front of the battery. + +The infantry colonel watched anxiously. He knew that out there +somewhere another heavy German gun had come into action; he knew that +it was a good deal slower in its rate of fire, but that once it had +secured its line and range it could practically obliterate the light +field guns of the battery. The battery was fighting against time and +the German gunners to complete their task before they could be +silenced. The first team was crippled and destroyed, and another team, +rushed out from the cover of the trees, was fallen upon by the shrapnel +tornado, and likewise swept out of existence. + +Then another shell from the German gun roared over, to burst this time +well in the rear of the battery. + +The colonel knew what this meant. The German gun had got its bracket. +The battery had ceased to fire shrapnel, and was pouring high-explosive +about the derelict gun. The white bursts of shrapnel had given place to +a series of spouting volcanoes that leaped from the ground about the +gun itself. Another German shell fell in front of the battery and a +good 200 yards nearer to it. A movement below attracted the colonel's +attention, and he saw the huddled teams straighten out and canter hard +towards the guns. He turned his glasses on the German gun again, and +could not restrain a cry of delight as he saw it collapsed and lying on +its side, while high-explosive shells still pelted about it. + +The teams came up at a gallop, swept round the guns, and halted. +Instantly they were hooked in, the buried spades of the guns wrenched +free, the wheels manned, the trails dropped clashing on the limber +hooks. And as they dropped, another heavy shell soared over burst +behind the battery, so close this time that the pieces shrieked and +spun about the guns, wounding three horses and a couple of men. The +Major, mounted and waiting, cast quick glances from gun to gun. The +instant he saw they were ready he signaled an order, the drivers' spurs +clapped home, and the whips rose and fell whistling and snapping. The +battery jerked forward at a walk that broke immediately into a trot, +and from that to a hard canter. + +Even above the clatter and roll of the wheels and the hammering +hoof-beats the whistle and rush of another heavy shell could be heard. +Gunner Donovan, twisted sideways and clinging close to the jolting +seat, heard the sound growing louder and louder, until it sounded so +close that it seemed the shell was going to drop on top of them. But it +fell behind them, and exactly on the position where the battery had +stood. Donovan's eye caught the blinding flash of the burst, the +springing of a thick cloud of black smoke. A second later something +shrieked hurtling down and past his gun team, and struck with a vicious +thump into the ground. + +"That was near enough," shouted Mick, on the seat beside him. Donovan +craned over as they passed, and saw, half-buried in the soft ground, +the battered brass of one of their own shell cartridges. The heavy +shell had landed fairly on top of the spot where their gun had stood, +where the empty cartridge cases had been flung in a heap from the +breech. If they had been ten or twenty seconds later in getting clear, +if they had taken a few seconds longer over the coming into action or +limbering up, a few seconds more to the firing of their rounds, the +whole gun and detachment ... + +Gunner Donovan leaned across to Mick and shouted loudly. + +But his remark was so apparently irrelevant that Mick failed to +understand. A sudden skidding swerve as the team wheeled nearly jerked +him off his seat, the crackling bursts of half a dozen light shells +over the plain behind him distracted his attention for a moment +further. Then he leaned in towards Donovan, "What was that?" he yelled. +"What didjer say?" + +Donovan repeated his remark. "Gawd--bless--old 'Cut-the-Time.'" + +The battery plunged in amongst the trees, and into safety. + + + +A NIGHT PATROL + + +"_During the night, only patrol and reconnoitering engagements of small +consequence are reported."_--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +"Straff the Germans and all their works, particularly their mine +works!" said Lieutenant Ainsley disgustedly. + +"Seeing that's exactly what you're told off to do," said the other +occupant of the dug-out, "why grouse about it?" + +Lieutenant Ainsley laughed. "That's true enough," he admitted; +"although I fancy going out on patrol in this weather and on this part +of the line would be enough to make Mark Tapley himself grouse. +However, it's all in the course of a lifetime, I suppose." + +He completed the fastening of his mackintosh, felt that the revolver on +his belt moved freely from its holster, and that the wire nippers were +in place, pulled his soft cap well down on his head, grunted a +"Good-night," and dropped on his hands and knees to crawl out of the +dug-out. + +He made his way along the forward firing trench to where his little +patrol party awaited his coming, and having seen that they were +properly equipped and fully laden with bombs, and securing a number of +these for his own use, he issued careful instructions to the men to +crawl over the parapet one at a time, being cautious to do so only in +the intervals of darkness between the flaring lights. + +He was a little ahead of the appointed time; and because the trench +generally had been warned not to fire at anyone moving out in front at +a certain hour, it was necessary to wait until then exactly. He told +the men to wait, and spent the interval in smoking a cigarette. As he +lit it the thought came to him that perhaps it was the last cigarette +he would ever smoke. He tried to dismiss the thought, but it persisted +uncomfortably. He argued with himself and told himself that he mustn't +get jumpy, that the surest way to get shot was to be nervous about +being shot, that the job was bad enough but was only made worse by +worrying about it. As a relief and distraction to his own thoughts, he +listened to catch the low remarks that were passing between the men of +his party. + +"When I get home after this job's done," one of them was saying, "I'm +going to look for a billet as stoker in the gas works, or sign on in +one o' them factories that roll red-hot steel plates and you 'ave to +wear an asbestos sack to keep yourself from firing. After this I want +something as hot and as dry as I can find it." + +"I think," said another, "my job's going to be barman in a nice snug +little public with a fire in the bar parlor and red blinds on the +window." + +"Why don't you pick a job that'll be easy to get?" said the third, with +deep sarcasm--"say Prime Minister, or King of England. You've about as +much chance of getting them as the other." + +Lieutenant Ainsley grinned to himself in the darkness. At least, he +thought, these men have no doubts about their coming back in safety +from this patrol; but then of course it was easier for them because +they did not know the full detail of the risk they ran. But it was no +use thinking of that again, he told himself. + +He took his place in readiness, waited until one flare had burned out +and there was no immediate sign of another being thrown up, slipped +over the parapet and dropped flat in the mud on the other side. One by +one the men crawled over and dropped beside him, and then slowly and +cautiously, with the officer leading, they began to wend their way out +under their own entanglements. + +There may be some who will wonder that an officer should feel such +qualms as Ainsley had over the simple job of a night patrol over the +open ground in front of the German trench; but, then, there are patrols +and patrols, or as the inattentive recruit at the gunnery class said +when he was asked to describe the varieties of shells he had been told +of: "There are some sorts of one kind, and some of another." + +There are plenty of parts on the Western Front where affairs at +intervals settled down into such a peaceful state that there was +nothing more than a fair sporting risk attaching to the performance of +a patrol which leaves the shelter of our own lines at night to crawl +out amongst the barbed wire entanglements in the darkness. There have +been times when you might listen at night by the hour together and +hardly hear a rifle-shot, and when the burst of artillery fire was a +thing to be commented on. But at other times, and in some parts of the +line especially, business was run on very different lines. Then every +man in the forward firing-trench had a certain number of rounds to fire +each night, even although he had no definite target to fire at. +Magnesium flares and pistol lights were kept going almost without +ceasing, while the artillery made a regular practice of loosing off a +stated number of rounds per night. The Germans worked on fairly similar +lines, and as a result it can easily be imagined that any patrol or +reconnoitering work between the lines was apt to be exceedingly +unhealthy. Actually there were parts on the line where no feet had +pressed the ground of No Man's Land for weeks on end, unless in open +attack or counter-attack, and of these feet there were a good many that +never returned to the trench, and a good many others that did return +only to walk straight to the nearest aid-post and hospital. + +The neutral ground at this period of Ainsley's patrol was a sea of mud, +broken by heaped earth and yawning shell-craters; strung about with +barbed wire entanglements, littered with equipments and with packs +which had been cut from or slipped from the shoulders of the wounded; +dotted more or less thickly with the bodies of British or German who +had fallen there and could not be reached alive by any stretcher-bearer +parties. Unpleasant as was the coming in contact with these bodies, +Ainsley knew that their being there was of considerable service to him. +He and his men crawled in a scattered line, and whenever the upward +trail of sparks showed that a flare was about to burst into light, the +whole party dropped and lay still until the light had burned itself +out. Any Germans looking out could only see their huddled forms lying +as still as the thickly scattered dead; could not know but what the +party was of their number. + +It was necessary to move with the most extreme caution, because the +slightest motion might eaten the attention of a look-out, and would +certainly draw the fire of a score of rifles and probably of a +machine-gun. The first part of the journey was the worst, because they +had to cover a perfectly open piece of ground on their way to the +slight depression which Ainsley knew ran curling across the neutral +ground. Wide and shallow at the end nearest the British trench, this +depression narrowed and deepened as it ran slantingly towards the +German; halfway across, it turned abruptly and continued towards the +German side on another slant, and at a point about halfway between the +elbow and the German trench, came very close to an exploded +mine-crater, which was the objective of this night's patrol. + +It was supposed, or at least suspected, that the mine-crater was being +made the starting-point of a tunnel to run under the British trench, +and Ainsley had been told off to find out if possible whether this +suspicion was correct, and if so to do what damage he could to the mine +entrance and the miners by bombing. + +When his party reached the shallow depression, they moved cautiously +along it, and to Ainsley's relief reached the elbow in safety. Here +they were a good deal more protected from the German fire than they +could be at any point, because from here the depression was fully a +couple of feet deep and had its highest bank next the German trench. +Ainsley led his men at a fairly rapid crawl along the ditch, until he +had passed the point nearest to the mine-crater. Here he halted his +men, and with infinite caution crawled out to reconnoiter. The men, who +had been carefully instructed in the part they were to play, waited +huddling in silence under the bank for his return, or for the fusillade +of fire that would tell he was discovered. Immediately in front of the +crater was a patch of open ground without a single body lying in it; +and Ainsley knew that if he were seen lying there where no body had +been a minute before, the German who saw him would unhesitatingly place +a bullet in him. A bank of earth several feet high had been thrown up +by the mine explosion in a ring round the crater, and although this +covered him from the observation of the trench immediately behind the +mine, he knew that he could be seen from very little distance out on +the flank, and decided to abandon his crawling progress for once and +risk a quick dash across the open. For long he waited what seemed a +favorable moment, watched carefully in an endeavor to locate the nearer +positions in the German trench from which lights were being thrown up, +and to time the periods between them. + +At last three lights were thrown and burned almost simultaneously +within the area over which he calculated the illumination would expose +him. The instant the last flicker of the third light died out, he +leaped to his feet, and made a rush. The lights had shown him a scanty +few rows of barbed wire between him and the crater; he had reckoned +roughly the number of steps to it and counted as he ran, then more +cautiously pushed on, feeling for the wire, found it, threw himself +down, and began to wriggle desperately underneath. When he thought he +was through the last, he rose; but he had miscalculated, and the first +step brought his thighs in scratching contact with another wire. His +heart was in his mouth, for some seconds had passed since the last +light had died and he knew that another one must flare up at any +instant. Sweeping his arm downward and forward, he could feel no wire +higher than the one-which had pricked his legs. There was no time now +to fiddle about avoiding tears and scratches. He swung over the wire, +first one leg, then another, felt his mackintosh catch, dragged it free +with a screech of ripping cloth that brought his heart to his mouth, +turned and rushed again for the crater. As he ran, first one light, +then another, soared upwards and broke out into balls of vivid white +light that showed the crater within a dozen steps. It was no time for +caution, and everything depended on the blind luck of whether a German +lookout had his eyes on that spot at that moment. Without hesitation, +he continued his rush to the foot of the mound on the crater's edge, +hurled himself down on it and lay panting and straining his ears for +the sounds of shots and whistling bullets that would tell him he was +discovered. But the lights flared and burned out, leaped afresh and +died out again, and there was no sign that he had been seen. For the +moment he felt reasonably secure. The earth on the crater's rim was +broken and irregular, the surface an eye-deceiving patchwork of broken +light and black heavy shadow under the glare of the flying lights. The +mackintosh he wore was caked and plastered with mud, and blended well +with the background on which he lay. He took care to keep his arms in, +to sink his head well into his rounded shoulders, to curl his feet and +legs up under the skirt of his mackintosh, knowing well from his own +experience that where the outline of a body is vague and easily escapes +notice, a head or an arm, or especially and particularly a booted foot +and leg, will stand out glaringly distinct. As he lay, he placed his +ear to the muddy ground, but could hear no sound of mining operations +beneath him. Foot by foot he hitched himself upward to the rim of the +crater's edge, and again lay and listened for thrilling long-drawn +minute after minute. + +Suddenly his heart jumped and his flesh went cold. Unmistakingly he +heard the scuffle and swish of footsteps on the wet ground, the murmur +of voices apparently within a yard or two of his head. There were men +in the mine-crater, and, from the sound of their movements, they were +creeping out on a patrol similar to his own, perhaps, and, as near as +he could judge, on a line that would bring them directly on top of him. +The scuffing passed slowly in front of him and for a few yards along +the inside of the crater. The sound of the murmuring voices passed +suddenly from confused dullness to a sharp clearer-edged speech, +telling Ainsley, as plainly as if he could see, that the speaker had +risen from behind the sound-deadening ridge of earth and was looking +clear over its top, Ainsley lay as still as one of the clods of earth +about him, lay scarcely daring to breathe, and with his skin pringling. +There was a pause that may have been seconds, but that felt like hours. +He did not dare move his head to look; he could only wait in an agony +of apprehension with his flesh shrinking from the blow of a bullet that +he knew would be the first announcement of his discovery. But the +stillness was unbroken, and presently, to his infinite relief, he heard +again the guttural voices and the sliding footsteps pass back across +his front, and gradually diminish. But he would not let his impatience +risk the success of his enterprise; he lay without moving a muscle for +many long and nervous minutes. At last he began to hitch himself +slowly, an inch at a time, along the edge of the crater away from the +point to which the German lookout had moved. He halted and lay still +again when his ear caught a fresh murmur of guttural voices, the +trampling of many footsteps, and once or twice the low but clear clink +of an iron tool in the crater beneath him. + +It seemed fairly certain that the Germans were occupying the crater, +were either making it the starting-point of a mine tunnel, or were +fortifying it as a defensive point. But it was not enough to surmise +these things; he must make sure, and, if possible, bomb the working +party or the entrance to the mine tunnel. He continued to work his way +along the rim of the crater's edge. Arrived at a position where he +expected to be able to see the likeliest point of the crater for a mine +working to commence, he took the final and greatest chance. Moving only +in the intervals of darkness between the lights, he dragged the +mackintosh up on his shoulders until the edge of its deep collar came +above the top of his head, opened the throat and spread it wide to +disguise any outline of his head and neck, found a suitable hollow on +the edge of the ridge, and boldly thrust his head over to look +downwards into the hole. + +When the next light flared, he found that he could see the opposite +wall and perhaps a third of the bottom of the hole, with the head and +shoulders of two or three men moving about it. When the light died, he +hitched forward and again lay still. This time the light showed him +what he had come to seek: the black opening of a tunnel mouth in the +wall of the crater nearest the British line, a dozen men busily engaged +dragging sacks-full of earth from the opening, and emptying them +outside the shaft. He waited while several lights burned, marking as +carefully as possible the outline of the ridge immediately above the +mine shaft, endeavoring to pick a mark that would locate its position +from above it. It had begun to rain in a thin drizzling mist, and +although this obscured the outline of the crater to some extent, its +edge stood out well against the glow of such lights as were thrown up +from the British side. + +It was now well after midnight, and the firing on both sides had +slackened considerably, although there was still an irregular rattle of +rifle fire, the distant boom of a gun and the scream of its shell +passing overhead. A good deal emboldened by his freedom from discovery +and by the misty rain, Ainsley slid backwards, moved round the crater, +crept back to the barbed wire and under it, ran across the opening on +the other side and dropped into the hole where he had left his men. He +found them waiting patiently, stretched full length in the wet +discomfort of the soaking ground, but enduring it philosophically and +concerned, apparently, only for his welfare. + +His sergeant puffed a huge sigh of relief at his return. "I was just +about beginning to think you had 'gone west,' sir," he said, "and +wondering whether I oughtn't to come and 'ave a look for you." + +Ainsley explained what had happened and what he had seen. "I'm going +back, and I want you all to come with me," he said. "I'm going to shove +every bomb we've got down that mine shaft. If we meet with any luck, we +should wreck it up pretty well." + +"I suppose, sir," said the sergeant, "if we can plant a bomb or two in +the right spot, it will bottle up any Germans working inside?" + +"Sure to!" said Ainsley. "It will cave in the entrance completely; and +then as soon as we get back, we'll give the gunners the tip, and leave +them to keep on lobbing some shells in and breaking up any attempt to +reopen the shaft and dig out the mining party." + +"Billy!" said one of the men, in an audible aside, "don't you wish you +was a merry little German down that blinkin' tunnel, to-night!" + +"Imphim," answered Billy, "I don't think!" + +Ainsley explained his plan of campaign, saw that everything was in +readiness, and led his party out. The misty rain was still falling, +and, counting on this to hide them sufficiently from observation if +they lay still while any lights were burning, they crawled rapidly +across the open, wriggled underneath the wires, cut one or two of +them--especially any which were low enough to interfere with free +movement under them--and crawled along to the crater. + +Ainsley left the party sprawling flat at the foot of the rim, while he +crept up to locate the position over the mine shaft. Each man had +brought about a dozen small bombs and one large one packed with high +explosive. Before leaving the ditch, on Ainsley's directions, each man +tied his own lot in one bundle, bringing the ends of the fuses together +and tying them securely with their ends as nearly as possible level, so +that they could be lit at the same time. Each man had with him one of +those tinder pipe-lighters which are ignited by the sparks of a little +twirled wheel. When Ainsley had placed the men on the edge of the +crater, he gave the word, and each man lit his tinder, holding it so as +to be sheltered from sight from the German trench, behind the flap of +his mackintosh. Then each took a separate piece of fuse about a foot +long, and, at a whispered word from Ainsley, pressed the end into the +glowing tinder. Almost at the same instant the four fuses began to +burn, throwing out a fizzing jet of sparks. Each man knew that, shelter +them as they would from observation, the sparks were almost certain to +betray them; but although some rifles began at once to crack +spasmodically and the bullets to whistle overhead, each man went on +with the allotted program steadily, without haste and without fluster, +devoting all their attention to the proper igniting of the bomb-fuses, +and leaving what might follow to take care of itself. As his length of +fuse caught, each man said "Ready" in a low tone; Ainsley immediately +said "Light!" and each instantly directed the jet of sparks as from a +tiny hose into the tied bundle of the bomb-fuses' ends. The instant +each man saw his own bundle well ignited, he reported "Lit!" and thrust +the fuse ends well into the soft mud. Being so waterproofed as to burn +if necessary completely under water, this made no difference to the +fuses, except that it smothered the sparks and showed only a curling +smoke-wreath. But the first sparks had evidently been seen, for the +bomb party heard shoutings and a rapidly increasing fire from the +German lines. A light flamed upward near the mine-crater. Ainsley said, +"Now!--, and take good aim." The men scrambled to their knees and, +leaning well over until they could see the black entrance of the mine +shaft, tossed their bundles of bombs as nearly as they could into and +around it. In the pit below, Ainsley had a momentary glimpse of half a +dozen faces, gleaming white in the strong light, upturned, and staring +at him; from somewhere down there a pistol snapped twice, and the +bullets hissed past over their heads. The party ducked back below the +ridge of earth, and as a rattle of rifle fire commenced to break out +along the whole length of the German line, they lit from their tinder +the fuses of a couple of bombs specially reserved for the purpose, and +tossed them as nearly as they could into the German trench, a score of +paces away. Their fuses being cut much shorter than the others, the +bombs exploded almost instantly, and Ainsley and his party leapt down +to the level ground and raced across to the wire. + +By now the whole line had caught the alarm; the rifle fire had swelled +to a crackling roar, the bullets were whistling and storming across the +open. In desperate haste they threw themselves down and wriggled under +the wire, and as they did so they felt the earth beneath them jar and +quiver, heard a double and triple roar from behind them, saw the wet +ground in front of them and the wires overhead glow for an instant with +rosy light as the fire of the explosion flamed upwards from the crater. + +At the crashing blast of the discharge, the rifle fire was hushed for a +moment; Ainsley saw the chance and shouted to his men, and, as they +scrambled clear of the wire, they jumped to their feet, rushed back +over the flat, and dropped panting in the shelter of the ditch. The +rifle fire opened again more heavily than ever, and the bullets were +hailing and splashing and thudding into the wet earth around them, but +the bank protected them well, and they took the fullest advantage of +its cover. Because the depression they were in shallowed and afforded +less cover as it ran towards the British lines, it was safer for the +party to stay where they were until the fire slackened enough to give +them a fair sporting chance of crawling back in safety. + +They lay there for fully two hours before Ainsley considered it safe +enough to move. They were, of course, long since wet through, and by +now were chilled and numbed to the bone. Two of the men had been +wounded, but only very slightly in clean flesh wounds: one through the +arm and one in the flesh over the upper ribs. Ainsley himself bandaged +both men as well as he could in the darkness and the cramped position +necessary to keep below the level of the flying ballets, and both men, +when he had finished, assured him that they were quite comfortable and +entirely free from pain. Ainsley doubted this, and because of it was +the more impatient to get back to their own lines; but he restrained +his impatience, lest it should result in any of his party suffering +another and more serious wound. At last the rifle fire had died down to +about the normal night rate, had indeed dropped at the finish so +rapidly in the space of two or three minutes that Ainsley concluded +fresh orders for the slower rate must have been passed along the German +lines. He gave the word, and they began to creep slowly back, moving +again only when no lights were burning. + +There were some gaspings and groanings as the men commenced to move +their stiffened limbs. + +"I never knew," gasped one, "as I'd so many joints in my backbone, and +that each one of them could hold so many aches." + +"Same like!" said another. "If you'll listen, you can hear my knees and +hips creaking like the rusty hinges of an old barn-door." + +Although the men spoke in low tones, Ainsley whispered a stern command +for silence. + +"We're not so far away," he said, "but that a voice might carry; and +you can bet they're jumpy enough for the rest of the night to shoot at +the shadow of a whisper. Now come along, and keep low, and drop the +instant a light flares." + +They crawled back a score or so of yards that brought them to the +elbow-turn of the depression. The bank of the turn was practically the +last cover they could count upon, because here the ditch shallowed and +widened and was, in addition, more or less open to enfilading fire from +the German side. + +Ainsley halted the men and whispered to them that as soon as they +cleared the ditch they were to crawl out into open order, starting as +soon as darkness fell after the next light. Next moment they commenced +to move, and as they did so Ainsley fancied he heard a stealthy +rustling in the grass immediately in front of him. It occurred to him +that their long delay might have led to the sending out of a search +party, and he was on the point of whispering an order back to the men +to halt, while he investigated, when a couple of pistol lights flared +upwards, lighting the ground immediately about them. To his +surprise--surprise was his only feeling for the moment--he found +himself staring into a bearded face not six feet from his own, and +above the face was the little round flat cap that marked the man a +German. + +Both he and the German saw each other at the same instant; but because +the same imminent peril was over each, each instinctively dropped flat +to the wet ground. Ainsley had just time to glimpse the movement of +other three or four gray-coated figures as they also fell flat. Next +instant, he heard his sergeant's voice, hurried and sharp with warning, +but still low toned. + +"Look out, sir! There's a big Boche just in front of you." + +Ainsley "sh-sh-shed" him to silence, and at the same time was a little +amused and a great deal relieved to hear the German in front of him +similarly hush down the few low exclamations of his party. The flare +was still burning, and Ainsley, twisting his head, was able to look +across the muddy grass at the German eyes staring anxiously into his +own. + +"Do not move!" said Ainsley, wondering to himself if the man understood +English, and fumbling in vain in his mind for the German phrase that +would express his meaning. + +"Kamarade--eh?" grunted the German, with a note of interrogation that +left no doubt as to his meaning. + +"Nein, nein!" answered Ainsley. "You kamarade--sie kamarade." + +The other, in somewhat voluble gutturals, insisted that Ainsley must +"kamarade," otherwise surrender. He spoke too fast for Ainsley's very +limited knowledge of German to follow, but at least, to Ainsley's +relief, there was for the moment no motion towards hostilities on +either side. The Germans recognized, no doubt as he did, that the first +sign of a shot, the first wink of a rifle flash out there in the open, +would bring upon them a blaze of light and a storm of rifle and maxim +bullets. Even although his party had slightly the advantage of position +in the scanty cover of the ditch, he was not at all inclined to bring +about another burst of firing, particularly as he was not sure that +some excitable individuals in his own trench would not forget about his +party being in the open and hail indiscriminate bullets in the +direction of a rifle flash, or even the sound of indiscreetly loud +talking. + +Painfully, in very broken German, and a word or two at a time, he tried +to make his enemy understand that it was his, the German party, that +must surrender, pointing out as an argument that they were nearer to +the British than to the German lines. The German, however, discounted +this argument by stating that he had one more man in his party than +Ainsley had, and must therefore claim the privilege of being captor. + +The voice of his own sergeant close behind him spoke in a hoarse +undertone: "Shall I blow a blinkin' 'ole in 'im, sir? I could do 'im in +acrost your shoulder, as easy as kiss my 'and." + +"No, no!" said Ainsley hurriedly; "a shot here would raise the +mischief." + +At the same time he heard some of the other Germans speak to the man in +front of him and discovered that they were addressing him as +"Sergeant." + +"Sie ein sergeant?" he questioned, and on the German admitting that he +was a sergeant, Ainsley, with more fumbling after German words and +phrases, explained that he was an officer, and that therefore his, an +officer's patrol, took precedence over that of a mere sergeant. He had +a good deal of difficulty in making this clear to the German--either +because the sergeant was particularly thick-witted or possibly because +Ainsley's German was particularly bad. Ainsley inclined to put it down +to the German's stupidity, and he began to grow exceedingly wroth over +the business. Naturally it never occurred to him that he should +surrender to the German, but it annoyed him exceedingly that the German +should have any similar feelings about surrendering to him. Once more +he bent his persuasive powers and indifferent German to the task of +over-persuading the sergeant, and in return had to wait and slowly +unravel some meaning from the odd words he could catch here and there +in the sergeant's endeavor to over-persuade him. + +He began to think at last that there was no way out of it but that +suggested by his own sergeant--namely, to "blow a blinkin' 'ole in +'im," and his sergeant spoke again with the rattle of his chattering +teeth playing a castanet accompaniment to his words. + +"If you don't mind, sir, we'd all like to fight it out and make a run +for it. We're all about froze stiff." + +"I'm just about fed up with this fool, too," said Ainsley disgustedly. +"Look here, all of you! Watch me when the next light goes up. If you +see me grab my pistol, pick your man and shoot." + +The voice of the German sergeant broke in:-- + +"Nein, nein!" and then in English: "You no shoot! You shoot, and uns +shoot alzo!" + +Ainsley listened to the stammering English in an amazement that gave +way to overwhelming anger. "Here," he said angrily, "can you speak +English?" + +"Ein leetle, just ein leetle," replied the German. + +But at that and at the memory of the long minutes spent there lying in +the mud with chilled and frozen limbs trying to talk in German, at the +time wasted, at his own stumbling German and the probable amusement his +grammatical mistakes had given the others--the last, the Englishman's +dislike to being laughed at, being perhaps the strongest +factor--Ainsley's anger overcame him. + +"You miserable blighter!" he said wrathfully. "You have the blazing +cheek to keep me lying here in this filthy muck, mumbling and bungling +over your beastly German, and then calmly tell me that you understand +English all the time. + +"Why couldn't you _say_ you spoke English? What! D'you think I've +nothing better to do than lie out here in a puddle of mud listening to +you jabbering your beastly lingo? Silly ass! You saw that I didn't know +German properly, to begin with--why couldn't you say you spoke +English?" + +But in his anger he had raised his voice a good deal above the safety +limit, and the quick crackle of rifle fire and the soaring lights told +that his voice had been heard, that the party or parties were +discovered or suspected. + +The rest followed so quickly, the action was so rapid and +unpremeditated, that Ainsley never quite remembered its sequence. He +has a confused memory of seeing the wet ground illumined by many +lights, of drumming rifle fire and hissing bullets, and then, +immediately after, the rush and crash of a couple of German "Fizz-Bang" +shells. Probably it was the wet _plop_ of some of the backward-flung +bullets about him, possibly it was the movement of the German sergeant +that wiped out the instinctive desire to flatten himself close to +ground that drove him to instant action. The sergeant half lurched to +his knees, thrusting forward the muzzle of his rifle. Ainsley clutched +at the revolver in his holster, but before he could free it another +shell crashed, the German jerked forward as if struck by a +battering-ram between the shoulders, lay with white fingers clawing and +clutching at the muddy grass. A momentary darkness fell, and Ainsley +just had a glimpse of a knot of struggling figures, of the knot's +falling apart with a clash of steel, of a rifle spouting a long tongue +of flame ... and then a group of lights blazed again and disclosed the +figures of his own three men crouching and glancing about them. + +Of all these happenings Ainsley retains only a very jumbled +recollection, but he remembers very distinctly his savage satisfaction +at seeing "that fool sergeant" downed and the unappeased anger he still +felt with him. He carried that anger back to his own trench; it still +burned hot in him as they floundered and wallowed for interminable +seconds over the greasy mud with the bullets slapping and smacking +about them, as they wrenched and struggled over their own wire--where +Ainsley, as it happened, had to wait to help his sergeant, who for all +the advantage of their initiative in the attack and in the Germans +being barely risen to meet it, had been caught by a bayonet-thrust in +the thigh--the scramble across the parapet and hurried roll over into +the waterlogged trench. + +He arrived there wet to the skin and chilled to the bone, with his +shoulder stinging abominably from the ragged tear of a ricochet bullet +that had caught him in the last second on the parapet, and, above all, +still filled with a consuming anger against the German sergeant. Five +minutes later, in the Battalion H.Q. dugout, in making his report to +the O.C. while the Medical dressed his arm, he only gave the barest and +briefest account of his successful patrol and bombing work, but +descanted at full length and with lurid wrath on the incident of the +German patrol. + +"When I think of that ignorant beast of a sergeant keeping me out +there," he concluded disgustedly, "mumbling and spluttering over his +confounded 'yaw, yaw' and 'nein, nein,' trying to scrape up odd German +words--which I probably got all wrong--to make him understand, and him +all the time quite well able to speak good enough English--that's what +beats me--why couldn't he _say_ he spoke English?" + +"Well, anyhow," said the O.C. consolingly, "from what you tell me, he's +dead now." + +"I hope so," said Ainsley viciously, "and serve him jolly well right. +But just think of the trouble it might have saved if he'd only said at +first that he spoke English!" He sputtered wrathfully again: "Silly +ass! Why couldn't he just _say_ so?" + + + +AS OTHERS SEE + + +_"It may now be divulged that, some time ago, the British lines were +extended for a considerable distance to the South."_--EXTRACT FROM +OFFICIAL DISPATCH. + + +The first notice that the men of the Tower Bridge Foot had that they +were to move outside the territory they had learned so well in many +weary marches and wanderings in networks and mazes of trenches, was +when they crossed a road which had for long marked the boundary line +between the grounds occupied by the British and French forces. + +"Do you suppose the O.C. is drunk, or that the guide has lost his way?" +said Private Robinson. "Somebody ought to tell him we're off our beat +and that trespassers will be prosecuted. Not but what he don't know +that, seeing he prosecuted me cruel six months ago for roving off into +the French lines--said if I did it again I might be took for a spy and +shot. Anyhow, I'd be took for being where I was out o' bounds and get a +dose of Field Punishment. Wonder where we're bound for?" + +"Don't see as it matters much," said his next file. "I suppose one wet +field's as good as another to sleep in, so why worry?" + +A little farther on, the battalion met a French Infantry Regiment on +the march. The French regiment's road discipline was rather more lax +than the British, and many tolerantly amused criticisms were passed on +the loose formation, the lack of keeping step, and the straggling lines +of the French. The criticisms, curiously enough, came in a great many +cases from the very men in the Towers' ranks who had often "groused" +most at the silliness of themselves being kept up to the mark in these +matters. The marching Frenchmen were singing--but singing in a fashion +quite novel to the British. Throughout their column there were anything +up to a dozen songs in progress, some as choruses and some as solos, +and the effect was certainly rather weird. The Tower Bridge officers, +knowing their own men's fondness for swinging march songs, expected, +and, to tell truth, half hoped that they would give a display of their +harmonious powers. They did, but hardly in the expected fashion. One +man demanded in a growling bass that the "Home Fires be kept Burning," +while another bade farewell to Leicester Square in a high falsetto. The +giggling Towers caught the idea instantly, and a confused medley of +hymns, music-hall ditties, and patriotic songs in every key, from the +deepest bellowing bass to the shrillest wailing treble, arose from the +Towers' ranks, mixed with whistles and cat-calls and Corporal +Flannigan's famous imitation of "Life on a Farm." The joke lasted the +Towers for the rest of that march, and as sure as any Frenchman met or +overtook them on the road he was treated to a vocal entertainment that +must have left him forever convinced of the rumored potency of British +rum. + +By now word had passed round the Towers that they were to take over a +portion of the trenches hitherto occupied by the French. Many were the +doubts, and many were the arguments, as to whether this would or would +not be to the personal advantage and comfort of themselves; but at +least it made a change of scene and surroundings from those they had +learned for months past, and since such a change is as the breath of +life to the British soldier, they were on the whole highly pleased with +it. + +The morning was well advanced when they were met by guides and +interpreters from the French regiment which they were relieving, and +commenced to move into the new trenches. Although at first there were +some who were inclined to criticize, and reluctant to believe that a +Frenchman, or any other foreigner, could do or make anything better +than an Englishman, the Towers had to admit, even before they reached +the forward firing trench, that the work of making communication +trenches had been done in a manner beyond British praise. The trenches +were narrow and very deep, neatly paved throughout their length with +brick, spaced at regular intervals with sunk traps for draining off +rain-water, and with bays and niches cut deep in the side to permit the +passing of any one meeting a line of pack-burdened men in the +shoulder-wide alley-way. + +When they reached the forward firing trench, their admiration became +unbounded; they were as full of eager curiosity as children on a school +picnic. They fraternized instantly and warmly with the outgoing +Frenchmen, and the Frenchmen for their part were equally eager to +express friendship, to show the English the dugouts, the handy little +contrivances for comfort and safety, to bequeath to their successors +all sorts of stoves and pots and cooking utensils, and generally to +give an impression, which was put into words by Private Robinson: +"Strike me if this ain't the most cordiawl bloomin' ongtongt I've ever +met!" + +The Towers had never realized, or regretted, their lack of the French +as deeply as they came to do now. Hitherto dealings in the language had +been entirely with the women in the villages and billets of the reserve +lines, where there was plenty of time to find means of expressing the +two things that for the most part were all they had to express--their +wants and their thanks. And because by now they had no slightest +difficulty in making these billet inhabitants understand what they +required--a fire for cooking, stretching space on a floor, the location +of the nearest estaminets, whether eggs, butter, and bread were +obtainable, and how much was the price--they had fondly imagined in +their hearts, and boasted loudly in their home letters, that they were +quite satisfactorily conversant with the French language. Now they were +to discover that their knowledge was not quite so extensive as they had +imagined, although it never occurred to them that the French women in +the billets were learning English a great deal more rapidly and +efficiently than they were learning French, that it was not altogether +their mastery of the language which instantly produced soap and water, +for instance, when they made motions of washing their hands and said +slowly and loudly: "Soap--you compree, soap and l'eau; you +savvy--l'eau, wa-ter." But now, when it came to the technicalities of +their professional business, they found their command of the language +completely inadequate. There were many of them who could ask, "What is +the time?" but that helped them little to discover at what time the +Germans made a practice of shelling the trenches; they could have asked +with ease, "Have you any eggs?" but they could not twist this into a +sentence to ask whether there were any egg-selling farms in the +vicinity; could have asked "how much" was the bread, but not how many +yards it was to the German trench. + +A few Frenchmen, who spoke more or less English, found themselves in +enormous French and English demand, while Private 'Enery Irving, who +had hitherto borne some reputation as a French speaker--a reputation, +it may be mentioned, largely due to his artful knack of helping out +spoken words by imitation and explanatory acting--found his bubble +reputation suddenly and disastrously pricked. He made some attempt to +clutch at its remains by listening to the remarks addressed to him by a +Frenchman, with a most potently intelligent and understanding +expression, by ejaculating "Nong, nong!" and a profoundly understanding +"Ah, wee!" at intervals in the one-sided conversation. He tried this +method when called upon by a puzzled private to interpret the +torrential speech of a Frenchman, who wished to know whether the Towers +had any jam to spare, or whether they would exchange a rum ration for +some French wine. 'Enery interjected a few "Ah, wee's!" and then at the +finish explained to the private. + +"He speaks a bit fast," he said, "but he's trying to tell me something +about him coming from a place called Conserve, and that we can have his +'room' here--meaning, I suppose, his dug-out." He turned to the +Frenchman, spread out his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and +gesticulated after the most approved fashion of the stage Frenchman, +bowed deeply, and said, _"Merci, Monsieur,"_ many times. The Frenchman +naturally looked a good deal puzzled, but bowed politely in reply and +repeated his question at length. This producing no effect except +further stage shrugs, he seized upon one of the interpreters who was +passing and explained rapidly. "He asks," said the interpreter, turning +to 'Enery and the other men, "whether you have any _conserve et +rhum_--jam and rum--you wish to exchange for his wine." After that +'Enery Irving collapsed in the public estimation as a French speaker. + +When the Towers were properly installed, and the French regiment +commenced to move out, a Tower Bridge officer came along and told his +men that they were to be careful to keep out of sight, as the orders +were to deceive the Germans opposite and to keep them ignorant as long +as possible of the British-French exchange. Private Robinson promptly +improved upon this idea. He found a discarded French kepi, put it on +his head, and looked over the parapet. He only stayed up for a second +or two and ducked again, just as a bullet whizzed over the parapet. He +repeated the performance at intervals from different parts of the +trench, but finding that his challenge drew quicker and quicker replies +was obliged at last to lift the cap no more than into sight on the +point of a bayonet. He was rather pleased with the applause of his +fellows and the half-dozen prompt bullets which each appearance of the +cap at last drew, until one bullet, piercing the cap and striking the +point of the bayonet, jarred his fingers unpleasantly and deflected the +bullet dangerously and noisily close to his ear. Some of the Frenchmen +who were filing out had paused to watch this performance, laughing and +bravo-ing at its finish. Robinson bowed with a magnificent flourish, +then replaced the kepi on the point of the bayonet, raised the kepi, +and made the bayonet bow to the audience. A French officer came +bustling along the trench urging his men to move on. He stood there to +keep the file passing along without check, and Robinson turned +presently to some of the others and asked if they knew what was the +meaning of this "Mays ongfong" that the officer kept repeating to his +men. "Ongfong," said 'Enery Irving briskly, seizing the opportunity to +reestablish himself as a French speaker, "means 'children'; spelled +e-n-f-a-n-t-s, pronounced _ongfong_." + +"Children!" said Robinson. "Infants, eh? 'ealthy lookin' lot o' +infants. There's one now--that six-foot chap with the Father Christmas +whiskers; 'ow's that for a' infant?" + +As the Frenchmen filed out some of them smiled and nodded and called +cheery good-bys to our men, and 'Enery Irving turned to a man beside +him. "This," he said, "is about where some appropriate music should +come in the book. Exit to triumphant strains of martial music Buck up, +Snapper! Can't you mouth-organ 'em the Mar-shall-aise?" + +Snapper promptly produced his instrument and mouth-organed the opening +bars, and the Towers joined in and sang the tune with vociferous +"la-la-las." When they had finished, two or three of the Frenchmen, +after a quick word together struck up "God Save the King." Instantly +the others commenced to pick it up, but before they had sung three +words 'Enery Irving, in tones of horror, demanded "The Mar-shall-aise +again; quick, you idiot!" from Snapper, and himself swung off into a +falsetto rendering of "Three Blind Mice." In a moment the Towers had in +full swing their medley caricature of the French march singing, under +which "God Save the King" was very completely drowned. + +"What the devil d'you mean? Are you all mad?" demanded a wrathful +subaltern, plunging round the traverse to where Snapper mouth-organed +the "Marseillaise," 'Enery Irving lustily intoned his anthem of the +Blind Mice, and Corporal Flannigan passed from the deep lowing of a cow +to the clarion calls of the farmyard rooster. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said 'Enery Irving with lofty dignity, "but if I +'adn't started this row the 'ole trenchful o' Frenchies would 'ave been +'owling our 'Gawd Save.' I saw that 'ud be a clean give-away, an' the +order bein' to act so as to deceive----" + +"Quite right," said the officer, "and a smart idea of yours to block +it. But who was the crazy ass who started it by singing the +'Marseillaise'?" On this point, however, 'Enery was discreetly silent. + +Before the French had cleared the trench the Germans opened a leisurely +bombardment with a trench mortar. This delayed the proceeding somewhat, +because it was reckoned wiser to halt the men and clear them from the +crowded trench into the dug-outs. "With the double company of French +and British, there was rather a tight squeeze in the shelters, +wonderfully commodious as they were. + +"Now this," said Corporal Flannigan, "is what I call something like a +dug-out." He looked appreciatively round the square, smooth-walled +chamber and up the steps to the small opening which gave admittance to +it. "Good dodge, too, this sinking it deep underground. Even if a bomb +dropped in the trench just outside, and pieces blew in the door, they'd +only go over our heads. Something like, this is." + +"I wonder," said another reflectively, "why we don't have dug-outs like +this in our line?" He spoke in a slightly aggrieved tone, as if dugouts +were things that were issued from the Quarter-Master's store, and +therefore a legitimate cause for free complaint. He and his fellows +would certainly have felt a good deal more aggrieved, however, if they +had been set the labor of making such dug-outs. + +Up above, such of the French and British as had been left in the trench +were having quite a busy time with the bombs. The Frenchmen had rather +a unique way of dodging these, which the Towers were quick to adopt. +The whole length of the trench was divided up into compartments by +strong traverses running back at right angles from the forward parapet, +and in each of these compartments there were anything from four or five +to a dozen men, all crowded to the backward end of the traverse, +waiting and watching there to see the bomb come twirling slowly and +clumsily over. As it reached the highest point of its curve and began +to fall down towards the trench, it was as a rule fairly easy to say +whether it would fall to right or left of the traverse. If it fell in +the trench to the right, the men hurriedly plunged round the corner of +the traverse to the left, and waited there till the bomb exploded. The +crushing together at the angle of the traverse, the confused cries of +warning or advice, or speculation as to which side a bomb would fall, +the scuffling, tumbling rush to one side or the other, the cries of +derision which greeted the ineffective explosion--all made up a sort of +game. The Towers had had a good many unhappy experiences with bombs, +and at first played the unknown game carefully and anxiously, and with +some doubts as to its results. But they soon picked it up, and +presently made quite merry at it, laughing and shouting noisily, +tumbling and picking themselves up and laughing again like children. + +They lost three men, who were wounded through their slowness in +escaping from the compartment where the bomb exploded, and this rather +put the Towers on their mettle. As Private Robinson remarked, it wasn't +the cheese that a Frenchman should beat an Englishman at any blooming +game. + +"If we could only get a little bit of a stake on it," he said +wistfully, "we could take 'em on, the winners being them that loses +least men." + +It being impossible, however, to convey to the Frenchmen that interest +would be added by the addition of a little bet, the Towers had to +content themselves with playing platoon against platoon amongst +themselves, the losing platoon pay, what they could conveniently +afford, the day's rations of the men who were casualtied. The +subsequent task of dividing one and a quarter pots of jam, five +portions of cheese, bacon and a meat-and-potato stew was only settled +eventually by resource to a set of dice. + +As the bombing continued methodically, the French artillery, who were +still covering this portion of the trench, set to work to silence the +mortar, and the Towers thoroughly enjoyed the ensuing performance, and +the generous, not to say extravagant, fashion in which the French +battery, after the usual custom of French batteries, lavished its +shells upon the task. For five minutes the battery spoke in +four-tongued emphatic tones, and the shells screamed over the forward +trench, crackled and crashed above the German line, dotted the German +parapet along its length, played up and down it in long bursts of fire, +and deluged the suspected hiding-place of the mortar with a torrent of +high explosive. When it stopped, the bombing also had stopped for that +day. + +The French infantry did not wait for the ceasing of the artillery fire. +They gathered themselves and their belongings and recommenced to move +as soon as the guns began to speak. + +"Feenish!" as one of them said, placing a finger on the ground, lifting +it in a long curve, twirling it over and over and downward again in +imitation of a falling bomb. "Ze soixante-quinze speak, +bang-bang-bang!" and his fist jerked out four blows in a row. +"Feenish!" he concluded, holding a hand out towards the German lines +and making a motion of rubbing something off the slate. Plainly they +were very proud of their artillery, and the Towers caught that word +"soixante-quinze" in every tone of pleasure, pride, and satisfaction. +But as Private Robinson said, "I don't wonder at it. Cans is a good +name, but can-an'-does would be a better." + +When the last of the Frenchmen had gone, the Towers completed their +settling in and making themselves comfortable in the vacated quarters. +The greatest care was taken to avoid any man showing a British cap or +uniform. "Snapper" Brown, urged by the public-spirited 'Enery Irving, +exhausted himself in playing the "Marseillaise" at the fullest pitch of +his lungs and mouth-organ. His artistic soul revolted at last at the +repetition, but since the only other French tune that was suggested was +the Blue Danube Waltz, and there appeared to be divergent opinions as +to its nationality, "Snapper" at last struck, and refused to play the +"Marseillaise" a single time more. 'Enery Irving enthusiastically took +up this matter of "acting so as to deceive the Germans." + +"Act!" he said. "If I'd a make-up box and a false mustache 'ere, I'd +act so as to cheat the French President 'imself, much less a parcel of +beer-swilling Germs." + +The German trenches were too far away to allow of any conversation, but +'Enery secured a board, wrote on it in large letters "Veev la France," +and displayed it over the parapet. After the Germans had signified +their notice of the sentiment by firing a dozen shots at it, 'Enery +replaced it by a fresh one, "A baa la Bosh." This notice was left +standing, but to 'Enery's annoyance the Germans displayed in return a +board which said in plain English, "Good morning." "Ain't that a knock +out," said 'Enery disgustedly. "Much use me acting to deceive the +Germans if some silly blighter in another bit o' the line goes and +gives the game away." + +Throughout the rest of the day he endeavored to confuse the German's +evident information by the display of the French cap and of French +sentences on the board like "Bong jewr," "Bong nwee," and "Mercridi," +which he told the others was the French for a day of the week, the +spelling being correct as he knew because he had seen it written down, +and the day indicated, he believed, being Wednesday--or Thursday. "And +that's near enough," he said, "because to-day is Wednesday, and if +Mercridi means Wednesday, they'll think I'm signaling 'to-day'; and if +it means Thursday, they'll think I'm talking about to-morrow." All +doubts of the German's knowledge appeared to be removed, however, by +their next notice, which stated plainly, "You are Englander." To that +'Enery, his French having failed him, could only retort by a drawing of +outstretched fingers and a thumb placed against a prominent nose on an +obviously French face, with pointed mustache and imperial, and a French +cap. But clearly even this failed, and the German's next message read, +"WELL DONE, WALES!" The Towers were annoyed, intensely annoyed, because +shortly before that time the strikes of the Welsh miners had been +prominent in the English papers, and as the Towers guessed from this +notice at least equally prominent in the German journals. + +"And I only 'opes," said Robinson, "they sticks that notice up in front +of some of the Taffy regiments." + +"I don't see that a bit," said 'Enery Irving. "The Taffys out 'ere 'ave +done their bit along with the best, and they're just as mad as us, and +maybe madder, at these ha'penny-grabbing loafers on strike." + +"True enough," said Robinson, "but maybe they'll write 'ome and tell +their pals 'ow pleased the Bosche is with them, and 'ave a kind word in +passing to say when any of them goes 'ome casualtied or on leave, 'Well +done, Wales!' Well, I 'ope Wales likes that smack in the eye," and he +spat contemptuously. Presently he had the pleasure of expressing his +mind more freely to a French signaler of artillery who was on duty at +an observing post in this forward fire trench. The Frenchman had a +sufficient smattering of English to ask awkward questions as to why men +were allowed to strike in England in war time, but unfortunately not +enough to follow Robinson's lengthy and agonized explanations that +these men were not English but--a very different thing--Welsh, and, +more than that, unpatriotic swine, who ought to be shot. He was reduced +at last to turning the unpleasant subject aside by asking what the +Frenchman was doing there now the British had taken over. And presently +the matter was shelved by a French observing officer, who was on duty +there, calling his signalers to attention. The German guns had opened a +slow and casual fire about half an hour before on the forward British +trench, and now they quickened their fire and commenced methodically to +bombard the trench. At his captain's order a signaler called up a +battery by telephone. The telephone instrument was in a tall narrow box +with a handle at the side, and the signaler ground the handle +vigorously for a minute and shouted a long string of hello's into the +instrument, rapidly twirled the handle again and shouted, twirled and +shouted. + +The Towers watched him in some amusement. "'Ere, chum," said Robinson, +"you 'aven't put your tuppence in the slot," and 'Enery Irving in a +falsetto imitation of a telephone girl's metallic voice drawled: "Put +two pennies in, please, and turn the handle after each--one--two--thank +you! You're through." The signaler revolved the handle again. "You're +mistook, 'Enery," said Robinson, "'e ain't through. Chum, you ought to +get your tuppence back." + +"Ask to be put through to the inquiry office," said another. "Make a +complaint and tell 'em to come and take the blanky thing away if it +can't be kept in order. That's what I used to 'ear my governor say +every other day." + +From his lookout corner the captain called down in rapid French to his +signaler. + +"D 'ye 'ear that," said Robinson. "Garsong he called him. He's a +bloomin' waiter! Well, well, and me thought he was a signaler." + +The captain at last was forced to descend from his place, and with the +signaler endeavored to rectify the faulty instrument. They got through +at last, and the captain spoke to his battery. + +"'Ear that," said Robinson. "'Mes on-fong,' he says. He's got a lot o' +bloomin' infants too." + +"Queer crowd!" said Flannigan. "What with infants for soldiers and a +waiter for a signaler, and a butcher or a baker or candlestick-maker +for a President, as I'm told they have, they're a rum crush +altogether." + +The captain ascended to his place again. A German shell, soaring over, +burst with a loud _crump_ behind the trench. The French signaler +laughed and waved derisively towards the shell. He leaned his head and +body far to one side, straightened slowly, bent his head on a curve to +the other side, and brought it up with a jerk, imitating, as he did so, +the sound of the falling and bursting shell, +"_sss-eee-aaa-ahah-aow-Wump_." Another shell fell, and "_aow-Wump_," he +cried again, shuffling his feet and laughing gayly. The Towers laughed +with him, and when the next shell fell there was a general chorus of +imitation. + +The captain called again, the signaler ground the handle and spoke into +the telephone. "Fire!" he said, nodding delightedly to the Towers; +"boom-boom-boom-boom." Immediately after they heard the loud, harsh, +crackling reports of the battery to their rear, and the shells rushed +whistling overhead. + +The signaler mimicked the whistling sound, and clicked his heels +together. "Ha!" he said, "soixante-quinze--good, eh?" The captain +called to him, and again he revolved the handle and called to the +battery. + +"Garsong," said Robinson, "a plate of swa-song-canned beans, si voo +play--and serve 'em hot" + +A German shell dropped again, and again the chorused howls and laughter +of the Towers marked its fall. The captain called for high explosive, +and the signaler shouted on the order. + +"Exploseef," repeated 'Enery Irving, again airing his French. "That's +high explosive." + +"Garsong, twopennorth of exploseef soup," chanted Robinson. + +Then the order was sent down for rapid fire, and a moment later the +battery burst out in running quadruple reports, and the shells streamed +whistling overhead. The Towers peered through periscopes and over the +parapet to watch the tossing plumes of smoke and dust that leaped and +twisted in the German lines. "Good old cans!" said Robinson +appreciatively. + +When the fire stopped, the captain came to the telephone and spoke to +the battery in praise of their shooting. The Towers listened carefully +to catch a word here and there. "There he goes again," said Robinson, +"with 'is bloomin' infants," and later he asked the signaler the +meaning of "_mes braves_" that was so often in the captain's mouth. + +"'Ear that," he said to the other Towers when the signaler explained it +meant "my braves." "Bloomin' braves he's calling his battery now. +Infants was bad enough, but 'braves' is about the limit. I'm open to +admit they're brave enough; that bombing didn't seem to worry them, and +shell-fire pleases them like a call for dinner; and you remember that +time we was in action one side of the La Bassee road and they was in it +on the other? Strewth! When I remember the wiping they got crossing the +open, and the way they stuck it and plugged through that mud, and tore +the barbed wire up by the roots, and sailed over into the German +trench, I'm not going to contradict anybody that calls 'em brave. But +it sounds rum to 'ear 'em call each other it." + +Robinson was busy surveying in a periscope the ground between the +trenches. "I dunno if I'm seein' things," he remarked suddenly, "but I +could 've swore a man's 'and waved out o' the grass over there." With +the utmost caution half a dozen men peered out through loopholes and +with periscopes in the direction indicated, and presently a chorus of +exclamations told that the hand had again been seen. Robinson was just +about to wave in reply when 'Enery grabbed his arm. + +"You're a nice one to 'act so as to deceive,' you are," he said warmly. +"I s'pose a khaki sleeve is likely to make the 'Uns believe we're +French. Now, you watch me." + +He pulled back his tunic sleeve, held his shirtsleeved arm up the +moment the next wave came, and motioned a reply. + +"He's in a hole o' some sort," said 'Enery. "Now I wonder who it is. A +Frenchie by his tunic sleeve." + +"Yes; there's 'is cap," said Robinson suddenly. "Just up--and gone." + +"Make the same motion wi' this cap on a bayonet," said 'Enery; "then +knock off, case the Boshies spot 'im." + +The matter was reported, and presently a couple of officers came along, +made a careful examination, and waved the cap. A cautious reply, and a +couple of bullets whistling past their cap came at the same moment. + +Later, 'Enery sought the sergeant. "Mind you this, sergeant," he said, +"if there's any volunteerin' for the job o' fetchin' that chap in, he +belongs to me. I found 'im." The sergeant grinned. + +"Robinson was here two minutes ago wi' the same tale," he said. "Seems +you're all in a great hurry to get shot." + +"Like his bloomin' cheek!" said the indignant 'Enery. "I know why he +wants to go out; he's after those German helmets the interpreter told +us was lyin' out there." + +The difficulty was solved presently by the announcement that an officer +was going out and would take two volunteers--B Company to have first +offer. 'Enery and Robinson secured the post, and 'Enery immediately +sought the officer. Reminding him of the order to "act so as to +deceive," he unfolded a plan which was favorably considered. + +"Those Boshies thought they was bloomin' clever to twig we was +English," he told the others of B Company; "but you wait till the +lime-light's on me. I'll puzzle 'em." + +The two French artillery signalers were sleeping in the forward trench, +and after some explanation readily lent their long-skirted coats. The +officer and Robinson donned one each, and 'Enery carefully arrayed +himself in a torn and discarded pair of old French baggy red breeches +and the damaged French cap, and discarded his own jacket. His gray +shirt might have been of any nationality, so that on the whole he made +quite a passable Frenchman. While they waited for darkness he paraded +the trench, shrugging his shoulders, and gesticulating. "Bon joor, mays +ong-fong," he remarked with a careless hand-wave. "Hey, gar-song! +Donney-moi du pang eh du beurre, si voo play--and donnay-moi swoy-song +cans--rapeed--exploseef! Merci, mes braves, mes bloomin' 'eroes ... mes +noble warriors, merci. Snapper, strike up the 'Conkerin' 'Ero,' if you +please." + +Before the time came to go he added to his make-up by marking on his +face with a burnt stick huge black mustachios and an imperial, and +although the officer stared a little when he came along he ended by +laughing, and leaving 'Enery his "make-up" disguise. + +An hour after dark the three slipped quietly over the parapet and out +through the barbed wire, dragging a stretcher after them. It was a +fairly quiet night, with only an occasional rifle cracking and no +artillery fire. A bright moon floated behind scudding clouds, and +perhaps helped the adventure by the alternate minutes of light and dark +and the difficulty of focusing eyes to the differences of moonlight and +dark and the blaze of an occasional flare when the moon was obscured. +Behind the parapet the Towers waited with rifles ready, and stared out +through the loopholes; and behind them the French artillery officer, +and his signalers standing by their telephone, also waited with the +loaded guns and ready gunners at the other end of the wire. The +watchers saw the dark blot of men and stretcher slip under the wires, +and slowly, very slowly, creep on through the long grass. Half-way +across, the watchers lost them amidst the other black blots and +shadows, and it was a full half-hour after when a private exclaimed +suddenly: "I see them," he said. "There, close where we saw the hand." + +The moon vanished a moment, then sailed clear, throwing a strong +silvery light across the open ground, and showing plainly the German +wire entanglements and the black-and-white patchwork of their +barricade. There were no visible signs of the rescue party, for the +good reason that they had slipped into and lay prone in the wide shell +crater that held the wounded Frenchman. Far spent the man was when they +found him, for he had lain there three nights and two days with a +bullet-smashed thigh and the scrape across his skull that had led the +rest of his night patrol to count him dead and so abandon him. + +Now the moon slid again behind the racing clouds, and patches of light +and shadow in turn chased across the open ground. + +"Here they come," said the captain of B Company a few minutes later. +"At least I think it's them, altho' I can only see two men and no +stretcher." + +"Do you see them?" said an eager voice in French at his ear, and when +he turned and found the gunner captain and explained to him, the +captain made a gesture of despair. "Perhaps it is that they cannot move +him," he said. "Or would they, do you think, return for more help? I +should go myself but that I may be needed to talk with the battery. +Perhaps one of my signalers----" + +But the Englishman assured him it was better to wait; they could not be +returning for help; that the three could do all a dozen could. + +Again they waited and watched in eager suspense, glimpsing the crawling +figures now and then, losing them again, in doubts and certainty in +swift turns as to the whereabouts and identity of the crawling figures. + +"There is one of them," said the captain quickly; "there, by himself, +in those cursed red breeches. They show up in the flarelight like a +blood-spot on a clean collar. Dashed idiot! And I was a fool, too, to +let him go like that." + +But it was plain now that 'Enery Irving was dragging his red breeches +well clear of the others, although it was not plain, what the others +had done with the stretcher. There were two of them at the length of a +stretcher apart, and yet no visible stretcher lay between them. It was +the sergeant who solved the mystery. + +"I'm blowed!" he said, in admiring wonder; "they've covered the +stretcher over with cut grass. They've got their man too--see his head +this end." + +Now that they knew it, all could see the outline of the man's body +covered over with grass, the thick tufts waving upright from his hands +and nodding between his legs. + +They were three-quarters of the way across now, but still with a +dangerous slope to cross. It was ever so slight, but, tilted as it was +towards the enemy's line, it was enough to show much more plainly +anything that moved or lay upon its face. They crawled on with a +slowness that was an agony to watch, crawled an inch at a time, lying +dead and still when a light flared, hitching themselves and the +dragging stretcher onwards as the dullness of hazed moonlight fell. + +The French captain was consumed with impatience, muttering exhortations +to caution, whispering excited urgings to move, as if his lips were at +the creepers' ears, his fingers twitching and jerking, his body +hitching and holding still, exactly as if he too crawled out there and +dragged at the stretcher. + +And then when it seemed that the worst was over, when there was no more +than a score of feet to cover to the barbed wire, when they were +actually crawling over the brow of the gentle rise, discovery came. +There were quick shots from one spot of the German parapet, confused +shouting, the upward soaring of half a dozen blazing flares. + +And then before the two dragging the stretcher could move in a last +desperate rush for safety, before they could rise from their prone +position, they heard the rattle of fire increase swiftly to a trembling +staccato roar. But, miraculously, no bullets came near them, no +whistling was about their ears, no ping and smack of impacting lead +hailed about them--except, yes, just the fire of one rifle or two that +sent aimed bullet after bullet hissing over them. They could not +understand it, but without waiting to understand they half rose, thrust +and hauled at the stretcher, dragged it under the wires, heaved it over +to where eager hands tore down the sandbags to gap a passage for them. +A handful of bullets whipped and rapped about them as they tumbled +over, and the stretcher was hoisted in, but nothing worth mention, +nothing certainly of that volume of fire that drammed and rolled out +over there. They did not understand; but the others in the trench +understood, and laughed a little and swore a deal, then shut their +teeth and set themselves to pump bullets in a covering fire upon the +German parapet. + +The stretcher party drew little or no fire, simply and solely because +just one second after those first shots and loud shouts had declared +the game up, a figure sprang from the grass fifty yards along the +trench and twice as far out in the open, sprang up and ran out, and +stood in the glare of light, the baggy scarlet breeches and gray shirt +making a flaring mark that no eye, called suddenly to see, could miss, +that no rifle brought sliding through the loophole and searching for a +target could fail to mark. The bullets began to patter about 'Enery +Irving's feet, to whine and whimper and buzz about his ears. And +'Enery--this was where the trench, despite themselves, laughed--'Enery +placed his hand on his heart, swept off his cap in a magnificent arm's +length gesture, and bowed low; then swiftly he rose upright, struck an +attitude that would have graced the hero of the highest class Adelphi +drama, and in a shrill voice that rang clear above the hammering tumult +of the rifles, screamed "Veev la France! A baa la Bosh!" The rifles by +this time were pelting a storm of lead at him, and now that the haste +and flurry of the urgent call had passed and the shooters had steadied +to their task, the storm was perilously close. 'Enery stayed a moment +even then to spread his hands and raise his shoulders ear-high in a +magnificent stage shrug; but a bullet snatched the cap from his head, +and 'Enery ducked hastily, turned, and ran his hardest, with the +bullets snapping at his heels. + +Back in the trench a frantic French captain was raving at the +telephone, whirling the handle round, screaming for "Fire, fire, fire!" + +Private Flannigan looked over his shoulder at him, "Mong capitaine," he +said, "you ought, you reely ought, to ring up your telephone; turn the +handle round an' say something." + +"Drop two pennies in," mocked another as the captain birr-r-red the +handle and yelled again. + +Whether he got through, or whether the burst of rifle fire reached the +listening ears at the guns, nobody knew; but just as 'Enery did his +ear-embracing shoulder-shrug the first shells screamed over, burst and +leaped down along the German parapet. After that there was no complaint +about the guns. They scourged the parapet from end to end, up and down, +and up again; they shook it with the blast of high explosive, ripped +and flayed it with, driving blasts of shrapnel, smothered it with a +tempest of fire and lead, blotted it out behind a veil of writhing +smoke. + +At the sound of the first shot the gunner captain had leaped back to +the trench. "Is he in? Is he arrived?" he shouted in the ear of the B +Company captain who leaned anxiously over the parapet. The captain drew +back and down. "He's in--bless him--I mean dash his impudent hide!" + +The Frenchman turned and called to his signaler, and the next moment +the guns ceased. But the captain waited, watching with narrowed eyes +the German parapet. The storm of his shells had obliterated the rifle +fire, but after a few minutes it opened up again in straggling shots. + +The captain snapped back a few orders, and prompt to his word the +shells leaped and struck down again on the parapet. A dozen rounds and +they ceased, and again the captain waited and watched. The rifles were +silent now, and presently the captain relaxed his scowling glare and +his tightened lips. "Vermin!" he said. He used just the tone a man +gives to a ferocious dog he has beaten and cowed to a sullen +submission. + +But he caught sight of 'Enery making his way along the trench past his +laughing and chaffing mates, and leaped down and ran to him. "Bravo!" +he beamed, and threw his arms round the astonished soldier, and before +he could dodge, as the disgusted 'Enery said afterwards, "planted two +quick-fire kisses, smack, smack," on his two cheeks. + +"_Mon brave_!" he said, stepping back and regarding 'Enery with shining +eyes, "_Mon brave, mon beau Anglais, mon_----" + +But 'Enery's own captain arrived here and interrupted the flow of +admiration, cursing the grinning and sheepish private for a this, that, +and the other crazy, play-acting idiot, and winding up abruptly by +shaking hands with him and saying gruffly, "Good work, though. B +Company's proud of you, and so'm I." + +"An' I admit I felt easier after that rough-tonguin'," 'Enery told B +Company that night over a mess-tin of tea. "It was sort of +natural-like, an' what a man looks for, and it broke up about as +unpleasant a sit-u-ation as I've seen staged. I could see you all +grinnin', and I don't wonder at it. That slobberin' an' kissin' +business, an' the Mong Brav Conkerin' 'Ero may be all right for a lot +o' bloomin' Frenchies that don't know better--" + +He took a long swig of tea. + +"Though, mind you," he resumed, "I haven't a bad word to fit to a +Frenchman. They're real good fighting stuff, an' they ain't arf the +light-'earted an' light-'eaded grinnin' giddy goats I used to take 'em +for." + +"There wasn't much o' the light 'eart look about the Mong Cappytaine +to-night," said Robinson. "'Is eyes was snappin' like two ends o' a +live wire, and 'e 'andled them guns as business-like as a butcher +cutting chops." + +"That's it," said 'Enery, "business-like is the word for 'em. I noticed +them 'airy-faces shootin' to-day. They did it like they was sent there +to kill somebody, and they meant doin' their job thorough an' +competent. Afore I come this trip on the Continong I used to think a +Frenchman was good for nothing but fiddlin' an' dancin' an' makin' +love. But since I've seen 'em settin' to Bosh partners an' dancin' +across the neutral ground an' love-makin' wi' Rosalie,[Footnote: +_Rosalie_--the French nickname for the bayonet.] I've learned better. +'Ere's luck to 'im," and he drained the mess-tin. + +And the French, if one might judge from the story _mon capitaine_ had +to tell his major, had also revised some ancient opinions of their +Allies. + +"Cold!" he said scornfully; "never again tell me these English are +cold. Children--perhaps. Foolish--but yes, a little. They try to kill a +man between jests; they laugh if a bullet wounds a comrade so that he +grimaces with pain--it is true; I saw it." It _was_ true, and had +reference to a sight scrape of a bullet across the tip of the nose of a +Towers private, and the ribald jests and laughter thereat. "They make +jokes, and say a man 'stopped one,' meaning a shell had been stopped in +its flight by exploding on him--this the interpreter has explained to +me. But cold--no, no, no! If you had seen this man--ah, sublime, +magnificent! With the whistling balls all round him he stands, so +brave, so noble, so fine, stands--so! '_Vive la France_!' he cried +aloud, with a tongue of trumpets; '_Vive la France! A bas les +Boches_!'" + +The captain, as he declaimed "with a tongue of trumpets," leaped to his +feet and struck an attitude that was really quite a good imitation of +'Enery's own mock-tragedian one. But the officers listening breathed +awe and admiration; they did not, as the Towers did, laugh, because +here, unlike the Towers, they saw nothing to laugh at. + +The captain dropped to his chair amid a murmur of applause. "Sublime!" +he said. "That posture, that cry! Indeed, it was worthy of a Frenchman. +But certainly we must recommend him for a Cross of France, eh, my +major?" + +'Enery Irving got the Cross of the Legion of Honor. But I doubt if it +ever gave him such pure and legitimate joy as did a notice stuck up in +the German trench next day. Certainly it insulted the English by +stating that their workers stayed at home and went on strike while +Frenchmen fought and died. _But_ it was headed "Frenchman!" _and it was +written in French._ + + + +THE FEAR OF FEAR + + +_"At ---- we recaptured the portion of front line trench lost by us +some days ago."_--EXTRACT FROM DISPATCH. + +"In a charge," said the Sergeant, "the 'Hotwater Guards' don't think +about going back till there's none of them left to go back; and you can +always remember this: if you go forward you _may_ die, if you go back +you _will_ die." + +The memory of that phrase came back to Private Everton, tramping down +the dark road to the firing-line. Just because he had no knowledge of +how he himself would behave in this his baptism of fire, just because +he was in deadly fear that he would feel fear, or, still worse, show +it, he strove to fix that phrase firmly in front of his mind. "If I can +remember that," he thought, "it will stop me going back, anyway," and +he repeated: "If you go back you _will_ die, if you go back you _will_ +die," over and over. + +It is true that, for all his repetition, when a field battery, hidden +close by the side of the road on which they marched, roared in a sudden +and ear-splitting salvo of six guns, for the instant he thought he was +under fire and that a huge shell had burst somewhere desperately close +to them. He had jumped, his comrades assured him afterwards, a clear +foot and a half off the ground, and he himself remembered that his +first involuntary glance and thought flashed to the deep ditch that ran +alongside the road. + +When he came to the trenches, at last, and filed down the narrow +communication-trench and into his Company's appointed position in the +deep ditch with a narrow platform along its front that was the forward +fire-trench, he remembered with unpleasant clearness that instinctive +start and thought of taking cover. By that time he had actually been +under fire, had heard the shells rush over him and the shattering noise +of their burst; had heard the bullets piping and humming and hissing +over the communication- and firing-trenches. He took a little comfort +from the fact that he had not felt any great fear then, but he had to +temper that by the admission that there was little to be afraid of +there in the shelter of the deep trench. It was what he would do and +feel when he climbed out of cover on to the exposed and bullet-swept +flat before the trench that he was in doubt about; for the Hotwaters +had been told that at nine o'clock there was to be a brief but intense +bombardment on a section of trench in front of them which had been +captured from us the day before, and which, after several +counter-attacks had failed, was to be taken that morning by this +battalion of Hotwaters. + +At half-past eight, nobody entering their trench would have dreamed +that the Hotwaters were going into a serious action in half an hour. +The men were lounging about, squatting on the firing-step, chaffing and +talking--laughing even--quite easily and naturally; some were smoking, +and others had produced biscuits and bully beef from their haversacks +and were calmly eating their breakfast. + +Everton felt a glow of pride as he looked at them. These men were his +friends, his fellows, his comrades: they were of the Hotwater +Guards--his regiment, and his battalion. He had heard often enough that +the Guards Brigades were the finest brigades in the Army, that this +particular brigade was the best of all the Guards, that his battalion +was the best of the Brigade. Hitherto he had rather deprecated these +remarks as savoring of pride and self-conceit, but now he began to +believe that they must be true; and so believing, if he had but known +it, he had taken another long step on the way to becoming the perfect +soldier, who firmly believes his regiment the finest in the world and +is ready to die in proof of the belief. + +"Dusty Miller," the next file on his left, who was eating bread and +cheese, spoke to him. + +"Why don't you eat some grab, Toffee?" he mumbled cheerfully, with his +mouth full. "In a game like this you never know when you'll get the +next chance of a bite." + +"Don't feel particularly hungry," answered Toffee with an attempt to +appear as off-handed and casual and at ease as his questioner. "So I +think I'd better save my ration until I'm hungry." + +Dusty Miller sliced off a wedge of bread with the knife edge against +his thumb, popped it in his mouth, and followed it with a corner of +cheese. + +"A-ah!" he said profoundly, and still munching; "there's no sense in +saving rations when you're going into action. I'd a chum once that +always did that; said he got more satisfaction out of a meal when the +job was over and he was real hungry, and had a chance to eat in +comfort--more or less comfort. And one day we was for it he saved a tin +o' sardines and a big chunk of cake and a bottle of pickled onions that +had just come to him from home the day before; said he was looking +forward to a good feed that night after the show was over. And--and he +was killed that day!" + +Dusty Miller halted there with the inborn artistry that left his climax +to speak for itself. + +"Hard luck!" said Toffee sympathetically. "So his feed was wasted!" + +"Not to say wasted exactly," said Dusty, resuming bread and cheese. +"Because I remembers to this day how good them onions was. Still it was +wasted, far as he was concerned--and he was particular fond o' pickled +onions." + +But even the prospect of wasting his rations did nothing to induce +Toffee to eat a meal. The man on Toffee's right was crouched back on +the firing-step apparently asleep or near it. Dusty Miller had turned +and opened a low-toned conversation with the next man, the frequent +repetition of "I says" and "she says" affording some clew to the thread +of his story and inclining Toffee to believe it not meant for him to +hear. He felt he must speak to some one, and it was with relief that he +saw Halliday, the man on his other side, rouse himself and look up. +Something about Toffee's face caught his attention. + +"How are you feeling?" he asked, leaning forward and speaking quietly. +"This is your first charge, isn't it!" + +"Yes," said Toffee, "I'm all right. I--I think I'm all right." + +The other moved slightly on the firing-step, leaving a little room, and +Toffee took this as an invitation to sit down. Halliday continued to +speak in low tones that were not likely to pass beyond his listener's +ear. + +"Don't you get scared," he said. "You've nothing much to be scared +about." + +He threw a little emphasis, and Toffee fancied a little envy, into the +"you." + +"I'm not scared exactly," said Toffee. "I'm sort of wondering what it +will be like." + +"I know," said Halliday, "I know; and who should, if I didn't? But I +can tell you this--you don't need to be afraid of shells, you don't +need to be afraid of bullets, and least of all is there any need to be +afraid of the cold iron when the Hotwaters get into the trench. You +don't need to be afraid of being wounded, because that only means home +and a hospital and a warm dry bed; you don't need to be afraid of +dying, because you've got to die some day, anyhow. There's only one +thing in this game to be afraid of, and there isn't many finds that in +their first engagement. It's the ones like me that get it." + +Toffee glanced at him curiously and in some amazement. Now that he +looked closely, he could see that, despite his easy loungeful attitude +and steady voice, and apparently indifferent look, there was something +odd and unexplainable about Halliday: some faintest twitching of his +lips, a shade of pallor on his cheek, a hunted look deep at the back of +his eyes. Everton tried to speak lightly. + +"And what is it, then, that the likes o' you get?" + +Halliday's voice sank to little more than a whisper. "It's the fear o' +fear," he said steadily. "Maybe, you think you know what that is, that +you feel it yourself. You know what I mean, I suppose?" + +Toffee nodded. "I think so," he said. "What I fear myself is that I'll +be afraid and show that I'm afraid, that I'll do something rotten when +we get out up there." + +He jerked his head up and back towards the open where the rifles +sputtered and the bullets whistled querulously. + +"There's plenty fear that," admitted Halliday, "before their first +action; but mostly it passes the second they leave cover and can't +protect themselves and have to trust to whatever there is outside, +themselves to bring them through. You don't know the beginning of how +bad the fear o' fear can be till you have seen dozens of your mates +killed, till you've had death no more than touch you scores of times, +like I have." + +"But you don't mean to tell me," said Toffee incredulously, "that you +are afraid of yourself, that you can't trust yourself now? Why, I've +heard said often that you're one of the coolest under fire, and that +you don't know what fear is!" + +"It's a good reputation to have if you can keep it," said Halliday. +"But it makes it worse if you can't." + +"I wish," said Toffee enviously, "I was as sure of keeping it as you +are to-day." + +Halliday pulled his hand from his pocket and held it beside him where +only Toffee could see it. It was quivering like a flag-halliard in a +stiff breeze. He thrust it back in his pocket. + +"Doesn't look too sure, does it?" he said grimly. "And my heart is +shaking a sight worse than my hand." + +He was interrupted by the arrival of a group of German shells on and +about the section of trench they were in. One burst on the rear lip of +the trench, spattering earth and bullets about them and leaving a +choking reek swirling and eddying along the trench. There was silence +for an instant, and then an officer's voice called from the near +traverse. "Is anybody hit there!" A sergeant shouted back "No, sir," +and was immediately remonstrated with by an indignant private busily +engaged in scraping the remains of a mud clod from his eye. + +"You might wait a minute, Sergeant," he said, "afore you reports no +casualties, just to give us time to look round and count if all our +limbs is left on. And I've serious doubts at this minute whether my eye +is in its right place or bulging out the back o' my head; anyway, it +feels as if an eight-inch Krupp had bumped fair into it." + +When the explosion came, Toffee Everton had instinctively ducked and +crouched, but he noticed that Halliday never moved or gave a sign of +the nearness of any danger. Toffee remarked this to him. + +"And I don't see," he confessed, "where that fits in with this +hand- and heart-shaking o' yours." + +Halliday looked at him curiously. + +"If that was the worst," he said, "I could stand it. It isn't. It isn't +the beginning of the least of the worst. If it had fell in the trench, +now, and mucked up half a dozen men, there'd have been something to +squeal about. That's the sort o' thing that breaks a man up--your own +mates that was talking to you a minute afore, ripped to bits and torn +to ribbons. I've seen nothing left of a whole live man but a pair o' +burnt boots. I've seen--" He stopped abruptly and shivered a little. +"I'm not going to talk about it," he said. "I think about it and see it +too often in my dreams as it is. And, besides," he went on, "I didn't +duck that time, because I've learnt enough to know it's too late to +duck when the shell bursts a dozen yards from you. I'm not so much +afraid of dying, either. I've got to die, I've little doubt, before +this war is out; I don't think there's a dozen men in this battalion +that came out with it in the beginning and haven't been home sick or +wounded since. I've seen one-half the battalion wiped out in one +engagement and built up with drafts, and the other half wiped out in +the next scrap. We've lost fifty and sixty and seventy per cent. of our +strength at different times, and I've come through it all without a +scratch. Do you suppose I don't know it's against reason for me to last +out much longer? But I'm not afraid o' that. I'm not afraid of the +worst death I've seen a man die--and that's something pretty bad, +believe me. What I'm afraid of is myself, of my nerve cracking, of my +doing something that will disgrace the Regiment." + +The man's nerves were working now; there was a quiver of excitement in +his voice, a grayer shade on his cheek, a narrowing and a restless +movement of his eyes, a stronger twitching of his lips. More shells +crashed sharply; a little along the line a gust of rifle-bullets swept +over and into the parapet; a Maxim rap-rap-rapped and its bullets spat +hailing along the parapet above their heads. + +Halliday caught his breath and shivered again. + +"That," he said--"that is one of the devils we've got to face +presently." His eyes glanced furtively about him. "God!" he muttered, +"if I could only get out of this! 'Tisn't fair, I tell ye, it isn't +fair to ask a man that's been through what I have to take it on again, +knowing that if I do come through, 'twill be the same thing to go +through over and over until they get me; or until my own sergeant +shoots me for refusing to face it." + +Everton had listened in amazed silence--an understanding utterly beyond +him. He knew the name that Halliday bore in the regiment, knew that he +was seeing and hearing more than Halliday perhaps had ever shown or +told to anyone. Shamefacedly and self-consciously, he tried to say +something to console and hearten the other man, but Halliday +interrupted him roughly. + +"That's it!" he said bitterly. "Go on! Pat me on the back and tell me +to be a good boy and not to be frightened. I'm coming to it at last: +old Bob Halliday that's been through it from the beginning, one o' the +Old Contemptibles, come down to be mothered and hushaby-baby'd by a +blanky recruit, with the first polish hardly off his new buttons." + +He broke off and into bitter cursing, reviling the Germans, the war, +himself and Everton, his sergeant and platoon commander, the O.C., and +at last the regiment itself. But at that the torrent of his oaths broke +off, and he sat silent and shaking for a minute. He glanced sideways at +last at the embarrassed Everton. + +"Don't take no notice o' me, chum," he said. "I wasn't speaking too +loud, was I? The others haven't noticed, do you think? I don't want to +look round for a minute." + +Everton assured him that he had not spoken too loud, that nobody +appeared to have noticed anything, and that none were looking their +way. He added a feeble question as to whether Halliday, if he felt so +bad, could not report himself as sick or something and escape having to +leave the trench. + +Halliday's lips twisted in a bitter grin. + +"That would be a pretty tale," he said. "No, boy, I'll try and pull +through once more, and if my heart fails me--look here, I've often +thought o' this, and some day, maybe, it will come to it." + +He lifted his rifle and put the butt down in the trench bottom, slipped +his bayonet out, and holding the rifle near the muzzle with one hand, +with the other placed the point of the bayonet to the trigger of the +rifle. He removed it instantly and returned it to its place. + +"There's always that," he said. "It can be done in a second, and no +matter how a man's hand shakes, he can steady the point of the bayonet +against the trigger-guard, push it down till the point pushes the +trigger home." + +"Do you mean," stammered Everton in amazement--"do you mean--shoot +yourself?" + +"Ssh! not so loud," cautioned Halliday. "Yes, it's better than being +shot by my own officer, isn't it?" + +Everton's mind was floundering hopelessly round this strange problem. +He could understand a man being afraid; he was not sure that he wasn't +afraid himself; but that a man afraid that he could not face death +could yet contemplate certain death by his own hand, was completely +beyond him. + +Halliday drew his breath in a deep sigh. + +"We'll say no more about it," he said. "I feel better now; it's +something to know I always have that to fall back on at the worst. I'll +be all right now--until it comes the minute to climb over the parapet." + +It was nearly nine o'clock, and word was passed down the line for every +man to get down as low as he could in the bottom of the trench. The +trench they were about to attack was only forty or fifty yards away, +and since the Heavies as well as the Field guns were to bombard, there +was quite a large possibility of splinters and fragments being thrown +by the lyddite back as far as the British trench. At nine, sharp to the +tick of the clock, the _rush, rush, rush_ of a field battery's shells +passed overhead. Because the target was so close, the passing shells +seemed desperately near to the British parapet, as indeed they actually +were. The rush of shells and the crash of their explosion sounded in +the forward trench before the boom of the guns which fired them +traveled to the British trench. Before the first round of this opening +battery had finished, another and another joined in, and then, in a +deluge of noise, the intense bombardment commenced. + +Crouching low in the bottom of the trench, half deafened by the uproar, +the men waited for the word to move. The concentrated fire on this +portion of front indicated clearly to the Germans that an attack was +coming, and where it was to be expected. The obviously correct +procedure for the gunners was of course to have bombarded many sections +of front so that no certain clew would be given as to the point of the +coming attack. But this was in the days when shells were very, very +precious things, and gunners had to grit their teeth helplessly, doling +out round by round, while the German gun- and rifle-fire did its worst. +The Germans, then, could see now where the attack was concentrated, and +promptly proceeded to break it up before it was launched. Shells began +to sweep the trench where the Hotwater Guards lay, to batter at their +parapet, and to prepare a curtain of fire along their front. + +Everton lay and listened to the appalling clamor; but when the word was +passed round to get ready, he rose to his feet and climbed to the +firing-step without any overpowering sense of fear. A sentence from the +man on his left had done a good deal to hearten him. + +"Gostrewth! 'ark at our guns!" he said. "They ain't 'arf pitchin' it +in. W'y, this ain't goin' to be no charge; it's going to be a sort of +merry picnic, a game of ''Ere we go gatherin' nuts in May.' There won't +be any Germans left in them trenches, and we'll 'ave nothin' to do but +collect the 'elmets and sooveneers and make ourselves at 'ome." + +"Did you hear that!" Everton asked Halliday. "Is it anyways true, do +you think?" + +"A good bit," said Halliday. "I've never seen a bit of German front +smothered up by our guns the way this seems to be now, though I've +often enough seen it the other way. The trench in front should be +smashed past any shape for stopping our charge if the gunners are +making any straight shooting at all." + +It was evident that the whole trench shared his opinion, and +expressions of amazed delight ran up and down the length of the +Hotwaters. When the order came to leave the trench, the men were up and +out of it with a bound. + +Everton was too busy with his own scramble put to pay much heed to +Halliday; but as they worked out through their own barbed wire, he was +relieved to find him at his side. He caught Everton's look, and +although his teeth were gripped tight, he nodded cheerfully. Presently, +when they were forming into line again beyond the wire, Halliday spoke. + +"Not too bad," he said. "The guns has done it for us this time. Come +on, now, and keep your wits when you get across." + +In the ensuing rush across the open, Everton was conscious of no +sensation of fear. The guns had lifted their fire farther back as the +Hotwaters emerged from their trench, and the rush and rumble of their +shells was still passing overhead as the line advanced. The German +artillery hardly dared drop their range to sweep the advance, because +of its proximity to their own trench. A fairly heavy rifle-fire was +coming from the flanks, but to a certain extent that was kept down by +some of our batteries spreading their fire over those portions of the +German trench which were not being attacked, and by a heavy rifle- and +machine-gun fire which was pelted across from the opposite parts of the +British line. + +From the immediate front, which was the Hotwaters' objective, there was +practically no attempt at resistance until the advance was half-way +across the short distance between the trenches, and even then it was no +more than a spasmodic attempt and the feeble resistance of a few rifles +and a machine-gun. The Hotwaters reached the trench with comparatively +slight loss, pushed into it, and over it, and pressed on to the next +line, the object being to threaten the continuance of the attack, to +take the next trench if the resistance was not too severe, and so to +give time for the reorganization of the first captured trench to resist +the German counter-attack. + +Everton was one of the first to reach the forward trench. It had been +roughly handled by the artillery fire, and the men in it made little +show of resistance. The Hotwaters swarmed into the broken ditch, +shooting and stabbing the few who fought back, disarming the prisoners +who had surrendered with hands over their heads and quavering cries of +"Kamerad." Everton rushed one man who appeared to be in two minds +whether to surrender or not, fingering and half lifting his rifle and +lowering it again, looking round over his shoulder, once more raising +his rifle muzzle. Everton killed him with the bayonet. Afterwards he +climbed out and ran on, after the line had pushed forward to the next +trench. There was an awe, and a thrill of satisfaction in his heart as +he looked at his stained bayonet, but, as he suddenly recognized with a +tremendous joy, not the faintest sensation of being afraid. He looked +round grinning to the man next him, and was on the point of shouting +some jest to him, when he saw the man stumble and pitch heavily on his +face. It flashed into Everton's mind that he had tripped over a hidden +wire, and he was about to shout some chaffing remark, when he saw the +back of the man's head as he lay face down. But even that unpleasant +sight brought no fear to him. + +There was a stout barricade of wire in front of the next trench, and an +order was shouted along to halt and lie down in front of it. The line +dropped, and while some lay prone and fired as fast as they could at +any loophole or bobbing head they could see, others lit bombs and +tossed them into the trench. This trench also had been badly mauled by +the shells, and the fire from it was feeble. Everton lay firing for a +few minutes, casting side glances on an officer close in front of him, +and on two or three men along the line who were coolly cutting through +the barbed wire with heavy nippers. Everton saw the officer spin round +and drop to his knees, his left hand nursing his hanging right arm. +Everton jumped up and went over to him. + +"Let me go on with it, sir," he said eagerly, and without waiting for +any consent stooped and picked up the fallen wire-cutters and set to +work. He and the others, standing erect and working on the wire, +naturally drew a heavy proportion of the aimed fire; but Everton was +only conscious of an uplifting exhilaration, a delight that he should +have had the chance at such a prominent position. Many bullets came +very close to him, but none touched him, and he went on cutting wire +after wire, quickly and methodically, grasping the strand well in the +jaws of the nippers, gripping till the wire parted and the severed ends +sprang loose, calmly fitting the nippers to the next strand. + +Even when he had cut a clear path through, he went on working, widening +the breach, cutting more wires, dragging the trailing ends clear. Then +he ran back to the line and to the officer who had lain watching him. + +"Your wire-nippers, sir," he said. "Shall I put them in your case for +you?" + +"Stick them in your pocket, Everton," said the youngster; "you've done +good work with them. Now lie down here." + +All this was a matter of no more than three or four minutes' work. When +the other gaps were completed--the men in them being less fortunate +than Everton and having several wounded during the task--the line rose, +rushed streaming through the gaps and down into the trench. If +anything, the damage done by the shells was greater there than in the +first line, mainly perhaps because the heavier guns had not hesitated +to fire on the second line where the closeness of the first line to the +British would have made risky shooting. There were a good many dead and +wounded Germans in this second trench, and of the remainder many were +hidden away in their dug-outs, their nerves shaken beyond the +sticking-point of courage by the artillery fire first, and later by the +close-quarter bombing and the rush of the cold steel. + +The Hotwaters held that trench for some fifteen minutes. Then a weak +counter-attack attempted to emerge from another line of trenches a good +two hundred yards back, but was instantly fallen upon by our artillery +and scourged by the accurate fire of the Hotwaters. The attack broke +before it was well under way, and scrambled back under cover. + +Shortly afterwards the first captured trench having been put into some +shape for defense, the advance line of the Hotwaters retired. A small +covering party stayed and kept up a rapid fire till most of the others +had gone, and then climbed through the trench and doubled back after +them. + +The officer, whose wire-cutters Everton had used, had been hit rather +badly in the arm. He had made light of the wound, and remained in the +trench with the covering party; but when he came to retire, he found +that the pain and loss of blood had left him shaky and dizzy. Everton +helped him to climb from the trench; but as they ran back he saw from +the corner of his eye that the officer had slowed to a walk. He turned +back and, ignoring the officer's advice to push on, urged him to lean +on him. It ended up by Everton and the officer being the last men in, +Everton half supporting, half carrying the other. Once more he felt a +childish pleasure at this opportunity to distinguish himself. He was +half intoxicated with the heady wine of excitement and success, he +asked only for other and greater and riskier opportunities. "Risk," he +thought contemptuously, "is only a pleasant excitement, danger the +spice to the risk." He asked his sergeant to be allowed to go out and +help the stretcher-bearers who were clearing the wounded from the +ground over which the first advance had been made. + +"No," said the Sergeant shortly. "The stretcher-bearers have their job, +and they've got to do it. Your job is here, and you can stop and do +that. You've done enough for one day." Then, conscious perhaps that he +had spoken with unnecessary sharpness, he added a word. "You've made a +good beginning, lad, and done good work for your first show; don't +spoil it with rank gallery play." + +But now that the German gunners knew the British line had advanced and +held the captured trench, they pelted it, the open ground behind it, +and the trench that had been the British front line, with a storm of +shell-fire. The rifle-fire was hotter, too, and the rallied defense was +pouring in whistling stream of bullets. But the captured trench, which +it will be remembered was a recaptured British one, ran back and joined +up with the British lines. It was possible therefore to bring up plenty +of ammunition, sandbags, and reinforcements, and by now the defense had +been sufficiently made good to have every prospect of resisting any +counter-attack and of withstanding the bombardment to which it was +being subjected. But the heavy fire drove the stretcher-bearers off the +open ground, while there still remained some dead and wounded to be +brought in. + +Everton had missed Halliday, and his anxious inquiries failed to find +him or any word of him, until at last one man said he believed Halliday +had been dropped in the rush on the first trench. Everton stood up and +peered back over the ground behind them. Thirty yards away he saw a man +lying prone and busily at work with his trenching-tool, endeavoring to +build up a scanty cover. Everton shouted at the pitch of his voice, +"Halliday!" The digging figure paused, lifted the trenching-tool and +waved it, and then fell to work again. Everton pressed along the +crowded trench to the sergeant. + +"Sergeant," he said breathlessly, "Halliday's lying out there wounded, +he's a good pal o' mine and I'd like to fetch him in." + +The Sergeant was rather doubtful. He made Everton point out the digging +figure, and was calculating the distance from the nearest point of the +trench, and the bullets that drummed between. + +"It's almost a cert you get hit," he said, "even if you crawl out. He's +got a bit of cover and he's making more, fast. I think--" + +A voice behind interrupted, and Everton and the Sergeant turned to find +the Captain looking up at them. + +"What's this?" he repeated, and the Sergeant explained the position. + +"Go ahead!" said the Captain. "Get him in if you can, and good luck to +you." + +Everton wanted no more. Two minutes later he was out of the trench and +racing back across the open. + +"Come on, Halliday," he said. "I'll give you a hoist in. Where are you +hit?" + +"Leg and arm," said Halliday briefly; and then, rather ungraciously, +"You're a fool to be out here; but I suppose now you're here, you might +as well give me a hand in." + +But he spoke differently after Everton had given him a hand, had lifted +him and carried him, and so brought him back to the trench and lowered +him into waiting hands. His wounds were bandaged and, before he was +carried off, he spoke to Everton. + +"Good-by, Toffee," he said and held out his left hand, "I owe you a +heap. And look here---" He hesitated a moment and then spoke in tones +so low that Everton had to bend over the stretcher to hear him. "My +leg's smashed bad, and I'm done for the Front and the old Hotwaters. I +wouldn't like it to get about--I don't want the others to think--to +know about me feeling--well, like I told you back there before the +charge." + +Toffee grabbed the uninjured-hand hard. "You old frost!" he said gayly, +"there's no need to keep it up any longer now; but I don't mind telling +you, old man, you fairly hoaxed me that time, and actually I believed +what you were saying. 'Course, I know better now; but I'll punch the +head off any man that ever whispers a word against you." + +Halliday looked at him queerly. "Good-by, Toffee," he said again, "and +thank ye." + + + +ANTI-AIRCRAFT + + +"_Enemy airmen appearing over our lines have been turned hack or driven +off by shell fire."_--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +Gardening is a hobby which does not exist under very favorable +conditions at the front, its greatest drawback being that when the +gardener's unit is moved from one place to another his garden cannot +accompany him. Its devotees appear to derive a certain amount of +satisfaction from the mere making of a garden, the laying-out and +digging and planting; but it can be imagined that the most enthusiastic +gardener would in time become discouraged by a long series of +beginnings without any endings to his labors, to a frequent sowing and +an entire absence of reaping. + +There are, however, some units which, from the nature of their +business, are stationary in one place for months on end, and here the +gardener as a rule has an opportunity for the indulgence of his +pursuit. In clearing-hospitals, ammunition-parks, and Army Service +Corps supply points, there are, I believe, many such fixed abodes; but +the manners and customs of the inhabitants of such happy resting-places +are practically unknown to the men who live month in month out in a +narrow territory, bounded on the east by the forward firing line and on +the west by the line of the battery positions, or at farthest the +villages of the reserve billets. In any case these places are rather +outside the scope of tales dealing with what may be called the "Under +Fire Front," and it was this front which I had in mind when I said that +gardening did not receive much encouragement at the front. But during +the first spring of the War I know of at least one enthusiast who did +his utmost, metaphorically speaking, to beat his sword into a +plowshare, and to turn aside at every opportunity from the duty of +killing Germans to the pleasures of growing potatoes. He was a gunner +in the detachment of the Blue Marines, which ran a couple of armored +motor-cars carrying anti-aircraft guns. + +It is one of the advantages of this branch of the air-war that when a +suitable position is fixed on for defense of any other position, the +detachment may stay there for some considerable time. There are other +advantages which will unfold themselves to those initiated in the ways +of the trench zone, although those outside of it may miss them; but +everyone will see that prolonged stays in the one position give the +gardener his opportunity. In this particular unit of the Blue Marines +was a gunner who intensely loved the potting and planting, the turning +over of yielding earth, the bedding-out and transplanting, the watering +and weeding and tending of a garden, possibly because the greater part +of his life had been lived at sea in touch with nothing more yielding +than a steel plate or a hard plank. + +The gunner was known throughout the unit by no other name than Mary, +fittingly taken from the nursery rhyme which inquires, "Mary, Mary, +quite contrary, how does your garden grow?" The similarity between Mary +of the Blue Marines and Mary of the nursery rhyme ends, however, with +the first line, since Blue Marine Mary made no attempt to rear "silver +bells and cockle shells" (whatever they may be) all in a row. His whole +energies were devoted to the raising of much more practical things, +like lettuces, radishes, carrots, spring onions, and any other +vegetable which has the commendable reputation of arriving reasonably +early at maturity. + +Twice that spring Mary's labors had been wasted because the section had +moved before the time was ripe from a gardener's point of view, and +although Mary strove to transplant his garden by uprooting the +vegetables, packing them away in a box in the motor, and planting them +out in the new position, the vegetables failed to survive the breaking +of their home ties, and languished and died in spite of Mary's tender +care. After the first failure he tried to lay out a portable garden, +enlisting the aid of "Chips" the carpenter in the manufacture of a +number of boxes, in which he placed earth and his new seedlings. This +attempt, however, failed even more disastrously than the first, the +O.C. having made a most unpleasant fuss on the discovery of two large +boxes of mustard and cress "cluttering up," as he called it, the +gun-mountings on one of the armored cars, and, when the section moved +suddenly in the dead of night, refusing point-blank to allow any +available space to be loaded up with Mary's budding garden. Mary's +plaintive inquiry as to what he was to do with the boxes was met by the +brutal order to "chuck the lot overboard," and the counter-inquiry as +to whether he thought this show was a perambulating botanical gardens. + +So Mary lost his second garden complete, even unto the box of spring +onions which were the apple of his gardening eye. But he brisked up +when the new position was established and he learned through the +officer's servant that the selected spot was considered an excellent +one, and offered every prospect of being held by the section for a +considerable time. He selected a favorable spot and proceeded once more +to lay out a garden and to plant out a new lot of vegetables. + +The section's new position was only some fifteen hundred yards from the +forward trench; but, being at the bottom of a gently sloping ridge +which ran between the position and the German lines, it was covered +from all except air observation. The two armored cars, containing guns, +were hidden away amongst the shattered ruins of a little hamlet; their +armor-plated bodies, already rendered as inconspicuous as possible by +erratic daubs of bright colors laid on after the most approved Futurist +style, were further hidden by untidy wisps of straw, a few casual +beams, and any other of the broken rubbish which had once been a +village. The men had their quarters in the cellars of one of the broken +houses, and the two officers inhabited the corner of a house with a +more or less remaining roof. + +Mary's garden was in a sunny corner of what had been in happier days +the back garden of one of the cottages. The selection, as it turned +out, was not altogether a happy one, because the garden, when abandoned +by its former owner, had run to seed most liberally, and the whole of +its area appeared to be impregnated with a variety of those seeds which +give the most trouble to the new possessor of an old garden. Anyone +with the real gardening instinct appears to have no difficulty in +distinguishing between weeds and otherwise, even on their first +appearance in shape of a microscopic green shoot; but flowers are not +weeds, and Mary had a good deal of trouble to distinguish between the +self-planted growths of nasturtiums, foxgloves, marigolds, +forget-me-nots, and other flowers, and the more prosaic but useful +carrots and spring onions which Mary had introduced. Probably a good +many onions suffered the penalty of bad company, and were sacrificed in +the belief that they were flowers; but on the whole the new garden did +well, and began to show the trim rows of green shoots which afford such +joy to the gardening soul. The shoots grew rapidly, and as time passed +uneventfully and the section remained unmoved, the garden flourished +and the vegetables drew near to the day when they would be fit for +consumption. + +Mary gloated over that garden; he went to a world of trouble with it, +he bent over it and weeded it for hours on end; he watered it +religiously every night, he even erected miniature forcing frames over +some of the vegetable rows, ransacking the remains of the broken-down +hamlet for squares of glass or for any pieces large enough for his +purpose. He built these cunningly with frameworks of wood and untwisted +strands of barbed wire, and there is no doubt they helped the growth of +his garden immensely. + +Although they have not been torched upon, it must not be supposed that +Mary had no other duties. Despite our frequently announced "Supremacy +of the Air," the anti-aircraft guns were in action rather frequently. +The German aeroplanes in this part of the line appeared to ignore the +repeated assurances in our Press that the German 'plane invariably +makes off on the appearance of a British one; and although it is true +that in almost every case the German was "turned back," he very +frequently postponed the turning until he had sailed up and down the +line a few times and seen, it may be supposed, all that there was to +see. + +At such times--and they happened as a rule at least once a day and +occasionally two, three, or four times a day--Mary had to run from his +gardening and help man the guns. + +In the course of a month the section shot away many thousands of +shells, and, it is to be hoped, severely frightened many German pilots, +although at that time they could only claim to have brought down one +'plane, and that in a descent so far behind the German lines that its +fate was uncertain. + +It must be admitted that the gunners on the whole made excellent +shooting, and if they did not destroy their target, or even make him +turn back, they fulfilled the almost equally useful object of making +him keep so high that he could do little useful observing. But the +short periods of time spent by the section in shooting were no more +than enough to add a pleasant flavor of sport to life, and on the +whole, since the weather was good and the German gunnery was not--or at +least not good enough to be troublesome to the section--life during +that month moved very pleasantly. + +But at last there came a day when it looked as if some of the +inconveniences of war were due to arrive. The German aeroplane appeared +as usual one morning just after the section had completed breakfast. +The methodical regularity of hours kept by the German pilots added +considerably to the comfort and convenience of the section by allowing +them to time their hours of sleep, their meals, or an afternoon run by +the O.C. on the motor into the near-by town, so as to fit in nicely +with the duty of anti-aircraft guns. + +On this morning at the usual hour the aeroplane appeared, and the +gunners, who were waiting in handy proximity to the cars, jumped to +their stations. The muzzles of the two-pounder pom-poms moved slowly +after their target, and when the range-indicator told that it was +within reach of their shells the first gun opened with a trial beltful. +"Bang--bang--bang--bang!" it shouted, a string of shells singing +and sighing on their way into silence. In a few seconds, +"Puff--puff--puff--puff!" four pretty little white balls broke out and +floated solid against the sky. They appeared well below their target, +and both the muzzles tilted a little and barked off another flight of +shells. This time they appeared to burst in beautiful proximity to the +racing aeroplane, and immediately the two-pounders opened a steady and +accurate bombardment. The shells were evidently dangerously close to +the 'plane, for it tilted sharply and commenced to climb steadily; but +it still held on its way over the British lines, and the course it was +taking it was evident would bring it almost directly over the Blue +Marines and their guns. The pom-poms continued their steady yap-yap, +jerking and springing between each, round, like eager terriers jumping +the length of their chain, recoiling and jumping, and yelping at every +jump. But although the shells were dead in line the range was too +great, and the guns slowed down their rate of fire, merely rapping off +an occasional few rounds to keep the observer at a respectful distance, +without an unnecessary waste of ammunition. + +Arrived above them, the aeroplane banked steeply and swung round in a +complete circle. + +"Dash his impudence," growled the captain. "Slap at him again, just for +luck." The only effect the resulting slap at him had, however, was to +show the 'plane pilot that he was well out of range and to bring him +spiraling steeply down a good thousand feet. This brought him within +reach of the shells again, and both guns opened rapidly, dotting the +sky thickly with beautiful white puffs of smoke, through which the +enemy sailed swiftly. Then suddenly another shape and color of smoke +appeared beneath him, and a red light burst from it flaring and +floating slowly downwards. Another followed, and then another, and the +'plane straightened out its course, swerved, and flashed swiftly off +down-wind, pursued to the limit of their range by the raving pom-poms. +"Which it seems to me," said the Blue Marine sergeant reflectively, +"that our Tauby had us spotted and was signaling his guns to call and +leave a card on us." + +That afternoon showed some proof of the correctness of the sergeant's +supposition; a heavy shell soared over and dropped with a crash in an +open field some two hundred yards beyond the outermost house of the +hamlet. In five minutes another followed, and in the same field blew +out a hole about twenty yards from the first. A third made another hole +another twenty yards off, and a fourth again at the same interval. + +When the performance ceased, the captain and his lieutenant held a +conference over the matter. "It looks as if we'd have to shift," said +the captain. "That fellow has got us marked down right enough." + +"If he doesn't come any nearer," said the lieutenant, "we're all right. +We won't need to take cover when the shelling starts, and even if the +guns are shooting when the German is shelling, the armor-plate will +easily stand off splinters from that distance." + +"Yes," said the captain. "But do you suppose our friend the Flighty Hun +won't have a peep at us to-morrow morning to see where those shells +landed? If he does, or if he takes a photograph, those holes will show +up like a chalk-mark on a blackboard; then he has only to tell his gun +to step this way a couple of hundred yards and we get it in the neck. +I'm inclined to think we'd better up anchor and away." + +"We're pretty comfortable here, you know," urged the lieutenant, "and +it's a pity to get out. It might be that those shots were blind chance. +I vote for waiting another day, anyhow, and seeing what happens. At the +worst we can pack up and stand by with steam up; then if the shells +pitch too near we can slip the cable and run for it" + +"Right-oh!" said the captain. + +Next morning the enemy aeroplane appeared again at its appointed hour +and sailed overhead, leaving behind it a long wake of smoke-puffs; and +at the same hour in the afternoon as the previous shelling the German +gun opened fire, dropping its first shell neatly fifty yards further +from the shell-holes of the day before. The aeroplane, of course, had +reported, or its photograph had shown, the previous day's shells to +have dropped apparently fifty yards to the left of the hamlet. The gun +accordingly corrected its aim and opened fire on a spot fifty yards +more to the right. For hours it bombarded that suffering field +energetically, and at the end of that time, when they were satisfied +the shelling was over, the Blue Marines climbed from their cellar. Next +morning the aeroplane appeared again, and the Blue Marines allowed it +this time to approach unattacked. Convinced probably by this and the +appearance of the numerous shell-pits scattered round the gun position, +the aeroplane swooped lower to verify its observations. Unfortunately +another anti-aircraft gun a mile further along the line thought this +too good an opportunity to miss, and opened rapid fire. The 'plane +leaped upward and away, and the Blue Marines sped on its way with a +stream of following shells. + +"If the Huns' minds work on the fixed and appointed path, one would +expect the same old field will get a strafing this afternoon," said the +captain afterwards. "The airman will have seen the village knocked +about, and if he knew that those last shells came from here he'll just +conclude that yesterday's shooting missed us, and the gunners will have +another whale at us this afternoon." + +He was right; the gun had "another whale" at them, and again dug many +holes in the old field. + +But next morning the Germans played a new and disconcerting game. The +aeroplane hovered high above and dropped a light, and a minute later +the Blue Marines heard a shrill whistle, that grew and changed to a +whoop, and ended with the same old crash in the same old field. + +"Now," said the captain. "Stand by for trouble. That brute is spotting +for his gun." + +The aeroplane dropped a light, turned, and circled round to the left. +Five minutes later another shell screamed over, and this time fell +crashing into the hamlet. The hit was palpable and unmistakable; a huge +dense cloud of smoke and mortar-, lime-, and red brick-dust leapt and +billowed and hung heavily over the village. + +"This," said the captain rapidly, "is where we do the rabbit act. Get +to cover, all of you, and lie low." + +They did the rabbit act, scuttling amongst the broken houses to the +shelter of their cellar and diving hastily into it. Another shell +arrived, shrieking wrathfully, smashed into another broken house, and +scattered its ruins in a whirlwind of flying fragments. + +Now Mary, of course, was in the cellar with the rest, and Mary's garden +was in full view from the cellar entrance, and twenty or twenty-five +yards from it. The rest of the party were surprised to see Mary, as the +loud clatter of falling stones subsided, leap for the cellar steps, run +up them, and disappear out into the open. He was back in a couple of +minutes. "I just wondered," he said breathlessly, "if those blighters +had done any damage to my vegetables." When another shell came he +popped up again for another look, and this time he dodged back and said +many unprintable things until the next shell landed. He looked a little +relieved when he came back this time. "This one was farther away," he +said, "but that one afore dropped somebody's hearth-stone inside a +dozen paces from my onion bed." For the next half-hour the big shells +pounded the village, tearing the ruins apart, battering down the walls, +blasting huge holes in the road and between the houses, re-destroying +all that had already been destroyed, and completing the destruction of +some of the few parts that had hitherto escaped. + +Between rounds Mary ran up and looked out. Once he rushed across to his +garden and came back cursing impotently, to report a shell fallen close +to the garden, his carefully erected forcing frames shattered to +splinters by the shock, and a hail of small stones and the ruins of an +iron stove dropped obliteratingly across his carrots. + +"If only they'd left this crazy shooting for another week," said Mary, +"a whole lot of those things would have been ready for pulling up. The +onions is pretty near big enough to eat now, and I've half a mind to +pull some o' them before that cock-eyed Hun lands a shell in me garden +and blows it to glory." + +Later he ran out, pulled an onion, a carrot, and a lettuce, brought +them back to the cellar, proudly passed them round, and anxiously +demanded an opinion as to whether they were ready for pulling, and +counsel as to whether he ought to strip his garden. + +"Now look here!" said the sergeant at last; "you let your bloomin' +garden alone; I'm not going to have you running out there plucking +carrot and onion nosegays under fire. If a shell blows your garden +half-way through to Australia, I can't help it, and neither can you. +I'll be quite happy to split a dish of spuds with you if so be your +garden offers them up; but I'm not going to have you casualtied +rescuing your perishing radishes under fire. Nothing'll be said to me +if your garden is strafed off the earth; but there's a whole lot going +to be said if you are strafed along with it, and I have to report that +you had disobeyed orders and not kept under cover, and that I had +looked on while you broke ship and was blown to blazes with a boo-kay +of onions in your hand. So just you anchor down there till the owner +pipes to carry on." + +Mary had no choice but to obey, and when at last the shelling was over +he rushed to the garden and examined it with anxious care. He was in a +more cheerful mood when he rejoined the others. "It ain't so bad," he +said. "Total casualties, half the carrots killed, the radish-bed +severely wounded (half a chimney-pot did that), and some o' the onions +slightly wounded by bits of gravel. But what do you reckon the owner's +going to do now? Has he given any orders yet?" + +No orders had been given, but the betting amongst the Blue Marines was +about ninety-seven to one in favor of their moving. Sure enough, orders +were given to pack up and prepare to move as soon as it was dark, and +the captain went off with a working party to reconnoiter a new position +and prepare places for the cars. Mary was sent off in "the shore boat" +(otherwise the light runabout which carried them on duty or pleasure to +and from the ten-mile-distant town) with orders to draw the day's +rations, collect the day's mail, buy the day's papers, and return to +the village, being back not later than five o'clock. + +It was made known that the position to which the captain contemplated +moving was one in a clump of trees within half a mile of the position +they were leaving. Mary was hugely satisfied. "That ain't half bad," he +said when he heard. "I can walk over and water the garden at night, and +pop across any time between the Tauby's usual promenade hours and do a +bit o' weeding, and just keep an eye on things generally. And inside a +week we're going to have carrots for dinner every day, _and_ spring +onions. Hey, my lads! what about bread and cheese and spring onions, +wot?" + +He climbed aboard the run-about, drove out of the yard, and rattled off +down the road. He executed his commissions, and was sailing happily +back to the village, when about a mile short of it a sitting figure +rose from the roadside, stepped forward, and waved an arresting hand. +To his surprise, Mary saw that it was one of the Blue Marines. + +"What's up?" he said, as the Marine came round to the side and +proceeded to step on board. + +"Orders," said the Marine briefly. "I was looking out for you. Change +course and direction and steer for the new anchorage." + +"The idea being wot!" asked Mary. + +"We've been in action again," said the Marine gloomily. "Only two +shells this time, but they did more damage than all the rest put +together this morning." + +"More damage?" gasped Mary. "Wot--wot have they damaged?" + +The Marine ticked off the damages on his fingers one by one. + +"Car hit, badly damaged, and down by the stern; gun out of +action--mounting smashed; the sergeant hit, piece of his starboard leg +carried away; and five men slightly wounded." + +He dropped his hands, which Mary took as a sign that the tally was +finished. "Is that all?" he said, and breathed a sigh of relief. +"Strewth! I thought you was going to tell me that my garden had been +gott-straffed." + + + +A FRAGMENT + + +This is not a story, it is rather a fragment, beginning where usually a +battle story ends, with a man being "casualtied," showing the principal +character only in a passive part--a very passive part--and ending, I am +afraid, with a lot of unsatisfactory loose ends ungathered up. I only +tell it because I fancy that at the back of it you may find some hint +of the spirit that has helped the British Army in many a tight corner. + +Private Wally Ruthven was knocked out by the bursting of a couple of +bombs in his battalion's charge on the front line German trenches. Any +account of the charge need not be given here, except that it failed, +and the battalion making it, or what was left of them, beaten back. +Private Wally knew nothing of this, knew nothing of the renewed British +bombardment, the renewed British attack half a dozen hours later, and +again its renewed failure. All this time he was lying where the force +of the bomb's explosion had thrown him, in a hole blasted out of the +ground by a bursting shell. During all that time he was unconscious of +anything except pain, although certainly he had enough of that to keep +his mind very fully occupied. He was brought back to an agonizing +consciousness by the hurried grip of strong hands and a wrenching lift +that poured liquid flames of pain through every nerve in his mangled +body. To say that he was badly wounded hardly describes the case; an +R.A.M.C. orderly afterwards described his appearance with painful +picturesqueness as "raw meat on a butcher's block," and indeed it is +doubtful if the stretcher-bearers who lifted him from the shell-hole +would not rather have left him lying there and given their brief time +and badly needed services to a casualty more promising of recovery, if +they had seen at first Private Ruthven's serious condition. As it was, +one stretcher-bearer thought and said the man was dead, and was for +tipping him off the stretcher again. Ruthven heard that and opened his +eyes to look at the speaker, although at the moment it would not have +troubled him much if he had been tipped off again. But the other +stretcher-bearer said there was still life in him; and partly because +the ground about them was pattering with bullets, and the air about +them clamant and reverberating with the rush and roar of passing and +exploding shells and bombs, and that particular spot, therefore, no +place or time for argument; partly because stretcher-bearers have a +stubborn conviction and fundamental belief--which, by the way, has +saved many a life even against their own momentary judgment--that while +there is life there is hope, that a man "isn't dead till he's buried," +and finally that a stretcher must always be brought in with a load, a +live one if possible, and the nearest thing to alive if not, they +brought him in. + +The stretcher-bearers carried their burden into the front trench and +there attempted to set about the first bandaging of their casualty. The +job, however, was quite beyond them, but one of them succeeded in +finding a doctor, who in all the uproar of a desperate battle was +playing Mahomet to the mountain of such cases as could not come to him +in the field dressing station. The orderly requested the doctor to come +to the casualty, who was so badly wounded that "he near came to bits +when we lifted him." The doctor, who had several urgent cases within +arm's length of him as he worked at the moment, said that he would come +as soon as he could, and told the orderly in the meantime to go and +bandage any minor wounds his casualty might have. The bearer replied +that there were no minor wounds, that the man was "just nothing but one +big wound all over"; and as for bandaging, that he "might as well try +to do first aid on a pound of meat that had run through a mincing +machine." The doctor at last, hobbling painfully and leaning on the +stretcher-bearer--for he himself had been twice wounded, once in the +foot by a piece of shrapnel, and once through the tip of the shoulder +by a rifle bullet--came to Private Ruthven. He spent a good deal of +time and innumerable yards of bandages on him, so that when the +stretcher-bearers brought him into the dressing station there was +little but bandages to be seen of him. The stretcher-bearer delivered a +message from the doctor that there was very little hope, so that +Ruthven for the time being was merely given an injection of morphia and +put aside. + +The approaches to the dressing station and the station itself were +under so severe a fire for some hours afterwards that it was impossible +for any ambulance to be brought near it. Such casualties as could walk +back walked, others were carried slowly and painfully to a point which +the ambulances had a fair sporting chance of reaching intact. One way +and another a good many hours passed before Ruthven's turn came to be +removed. The doctor who had bandaged him in the firing-line had by then +returned to the dressing station, mainly because his foot had become +too painful to allow him to use it at all. Merely as an aside, and +although it has nothing to do with Private Ruthven's case, it may be +worth mentioning that the same doctor, having cleaned, sterilized, and +bandaged his wounds, remained in the dressing station for another +twelve hours, doing such work as could be accomplished sitting in a +chair and with one sound and one unsound arm. He saw Private Ruthven +for a moment as he was being started on his journey to the ambulance; +he remembered the case, as indeed everyone who handled or saw that case +remembered it for many days, and, moved by professional interest and +some amazement that the man was still alive, he hobbled from his chair +to look at him. He found Private Ruthven returning his look; for the +passing of time and the excess of pain had by now overcome the effects +of the morphia injection. There was a hauntingly appealing look in the +eyes that looked up at him, and the doctor tried to answer the question +he imagined those eyes would have conveyed. + +"I don't know, my boy," he said, "whether you'll pull through, but +we'll do the best we can for you. And now we have you here we'll have +you back in hospital in no time, and there you'll get every chance +there is." + +He imagined the question remained in those eyes still unsatisfied, and +that Ruthven gave just the suggestion of a slow head-shake. + +"Don't give up, my boy," he said briskly. "We might save you yet. Now +I'm going to take away the pain for you," and he called an orderly to +bring a hypodermic injection. While he was finding a place among the +bandages to make the injection, the orderly who was waiting spoke: "I +believe, sir, he's trying to ask something or say something." + +It has to be told here that Private Ruthven could say nothing in the +terms of ordinary speech, and would never be able to do so again. +Without going into details it will be enough to say that the whole +lower part of--well, his face--was tightly bound about with bandages, +leaving little more than his nostrils, part of his cheeks, and his eyes +clear. He was frowning now and again, just shaking his head to denote a +negative, and his left hand, bound to the bigness of a football in +bandages, moved slowly in an endeavor to push aside the doctor's hands. + +"It's all right, my lad," the doctor said soothingly. "I'm not going to +hurt you." + +The frown cleared for an instant and the eloquent eyes appeared to +smile, as indeed the lad might well have smiled at the thought that +anyone could "hurt" such a bundle of pain. But although it appeared +quite evident that Ruthven did not want morphia, the doctor in his +wisdom decreed otherwise, and the jolting journey down the rough +shell-torn road, and the longer but smoother journey in the +sweetly-sprung motor ambulance, were accomplished in sleep. + +When he wakened again to consciousness he lay for some time looking +about him, moving only his eyes and very slowly his head. He took in +the canvas walls and roof of the big hospital marquee, the +scarlet-blanketed beds, the flitting figures of a couple of +silent-footed Sisters, the screens about two of the beds; the little +clump of figures, doctor, orderlies, and Sister, stooped over another +bed. Presently he caught the eye of a Sister as she passed swiftly the +foot of his bed, and she, seeing the appealing look, the barely +perceptible upward twitch of his head that was all he could do to +beckon, stopped and turned, and moved quickly to his side. She smoothed +the pillow about his head and the sheets across his shoulders, and +spoke softly. + +"I wonder if there is anything you want?" she said. "You can't tell me, +can you? just close your eyes a minute if there is anything I can do. +Shut them for yes--keep them open for no." + +The eyes closed instantly, opened, and stared upward at her. + +"Is it the pain?" she said. "Is it very dreadful?" + +The eyes held steady and unflickering upon hers. She knew well that +there they did not speak truth, and that the pain must indeed be very +dreadful. + +"We can stop the pain, you know," she said "Is that what you want?" + +The steady unwinking eyes answered "No" again, and to add emphasis to +it the bandaged head shook slowly from side to side on the pillow. + +The Sister was puzzled; she could find out what he wanted, of course, +she was confident of that; but it might take some time and many +questions, and time just then was something that she or no one else in +the big clearing hospital could find enough of for the work in their +hands. Even then urgent work was calling her; so she left him, +promising to come again as soon as she could. + +She spoke to the doctor, and presently he came back with her to the +bedside. "It's marvelous," he said in a low tone to the Sister, "that +he has held on to life so long." + +Private Ruthven's wounds had been dressed there on arrival, before he +woke out of the morphia sleep, and the doctor had seen and knew. + +"There is nothing we can do for him," he said, "except morphia again, +to ease him out of his pain." + +But again the boy, his brow wrinkling with the effort, attempted with +his bandaged hand to stay the needle in the doctor's fingers. + +"I'm sure," said the Sister, "he doesn't want the morphia; he told me +so, didn't you?" appealing to the boy. + +The eyes shut and gripped tight in an emphatic answer, and the Sister +explained their code. + +"Listen!" she said gently. "The doctor will only give you enough to +make you sleep for two or three hours, and then I shall have time to +come and talk to you. Will that do!" + +The unmoving eyes answered "No" again, and the doctor stood up. + +"If he can bear it, Sister," he said, "we may as well leave him. I +can't understand it, though. I know how those wounds must hurt." + +They left him then, and he lay for another couple of hours, his eyes +set on the canvas roof above his head, dropped for an instant to any +passing figure, lifting again to their fixed position. The eyes and the +mute appeal in them haunted the Sister, and half a dozen times, as she +moved about the beds, she flitted over to him, just to drop a word that +she had not forgotten and she was coming presently. + +"You want me to talk to you, don't you?" she said. "There is something +you want me to find out?" + +"Yes--yes--yes," said the quickly flickering eyelids. + +The Sister read the label that was tied to him when he was brought in. +She asked questions round the ward of those who were able to answer +them, and sent an orderly to make inquiries in the other tents. He came +back presently and reported the finding of another man who belonged to +Ruthven's regiment and who knew him. So presently, when she was +relieved from duty--the first relief for thirty-six solid hours of +physical stress and heart-tearing strain--she went straight to the +other tent and questioned the man who knew Private Ruthven. He had a +hopelessly shattered arm, but appeared mightily content and amazingly +cheerful. He knew Wally, he said, was in the same platoon with him; +didn't know much about him except that he was a very decent sort; no, +knew nothing about his people or his home, although he remembered--yes, +there was a girl. Wally had shown him her photograph once, "and a real +ripper she is too." Didn't know if Wally was engaged to her, or +anything more about her, and certainly not her name. + +The Sister went back to Wally. His wrinkled brow cleared at the sight +of her, but she could see that the eyes were sunk more deeply in his +head, that they were dulled, no doubt with his suffering. + +"I'm going to ask you a lot of questions," she said, "and you'll just +close your eyes again if I speak of what you want to tell me. You do +want to tell me something, don't you?" + +To her surprise, the "Yes" was not signaled back to her. She was +puzzled a moment. "You want to ask me something?" she said. + +"Yes," the eyelids flicked back. + +"Is it about a girl?" she asked. ("No.") + +"Is it about money of any sort?" ("No.") + +"Is it about your mother, or your people, or your home? Is it about +yourself?" + +She had paused after each question and went on to the next, but seeing +no sign of answering "Yes" she was baffled for a moment. But she felt +that she could not go to her own bed to which she had been dismissed, +could not go to the sleep she so badly needed, until she had found and +answered the question in those pitiful eyes. She tried again. + +"Is it about your regiment?" she asked, and the eyes snapped "Yes," and +"Yes," and "Yes" again. She puzzled over that, and then went back to +the doctor in charge of the other ward and brought back with her the +man who "knew Wally." Mentally she clapped her hands at the light that +leaped to the boy's eyes. She had told the man that it was something +about the regiment he wanted to know; told him, too, his method of +answering "Yes" and "No," and to put his questions in such, a form that +they could be so answered. + +The friend advanced to the bedside with clumsy caution. + +"Hello, Wally!" he said cheerfully. "They've pretty well chewed you up +and spit you out again, 'aven't they? But you're all right, old son, +you're going to pull through, 'cause the O.C. o' the Linseed +Lancers[Footnote: Medical Service.] here told me so. But Sister here +tells me you want to ask something about someone in the old crush." He +hesitated a moment. "I can't think who it would be," he confessed. "It +can't be his own chum, 'cause he 'stopped one,' and Wally saw it and +knew he was dead hours before. But look 'ere," he said determinedly, +"I'll go through the whole bloomin' regiment, from the O.C. down to the +cook, by name and one at a time, and you'll tip me a wink and stop me +at the right one. I'll start off with our own platoon first; that ought +to do it," he said to the Sister. + +"Perhaps," she said quickly, "he wants to ask about one of his +officers. Is that it?" And she turned to him. + +The eyes looked at her long and steadily, and then closed flutteringly +and hesitatingly. + +"We're coming near it," she said, "although he didn't seem sure about +that 'Yes.'" + +"Look 'ere," said the other, with a sudden inspiration, "there's no +good o' this 'Yes' and 'No' guessin' game; Wally and me was both in the +flag-wagging class, and we knows enough to--there you are." He broke +off in triumph and nodded to Wally's flickering eyelids, that danced +rapidly in the long and short of the Morse code. + +"Y-e-s. Ac-ac-ac."[Footnote: Ac-ac-ac: three A's, denoting a full stop. +In "Signalese" similar-sounding letters are given names to avoid +confusion. A is Ac; T, Toe; D, Don; P, Pip; M, Emma, etc.] + +"Yes," he said. "If you'll get a bit of paper, Sister, you can write +down the message while I spells it off. That's what you want, ain't it, +chum?" + +The Sister took paper and pencil and wrote the letters one by one as +the code ticked them off and the reader called them to her. + +"Ready. Begins!" Go on, Miss, write it down," as she hesitated. +"Don-I-Don--Did; W-E--we; Toc-ac-K-E--take; Toc-H-E--the; +Toc-R-E-N-C-H--trench; ac-ac-ac. Did we take the trench?" + +The signaler being a very unimaginative man, possibly it might never +have occurred to him to lie, to have told anything but the blunt truth +that they did not take the trench; that the regiment had been cut to +pieces in the attempt to take it; that the further attempt of another +regiment on the same trench had been beaten back with horrible loss; +that the lines on both sides, when he was sent to the rear late at +night, were held exactly as they had been held before the attack; that +the whole result of the action was _nil_--except for the casualty list. +But he caught just in time the softly sighing whispered "Yes" from the +unmoving lips of the Sister, and he lied promptly and swiftly, +efficiently and at full length. + +"Yes," he said. "We took it. I thought you knew that, and that you was +wounded the other side of it; we took it all right. Got a hammering of +course, but what was left of us cleared it with the bayonet. You should +'ave 'eard 'em squeal when the bayonet took 'em. There was one big +brute----" + +He was proceeding with a cheerful imagination, colored by past +experiences, when the Sister stopped him. Wally's eyes were closed. + +"I think," she said quietly, "that's all that Wally wants to know. +Isn't it, Wally?" + +The lids lifted slowly and the Sister could have cried at the glory and +satisfaction that shone in them. They closed once softly, lifted +slowly, and closed again tiredly and gently. That is all. Wally died an +hour afterwards. + + + +AN OPEN TOWN + + +_"Yesterday hostile artillery shelled the town of_ ---- _some miles +behind our lines, without military result. Several civilians were +killed_."--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH. + + +Two officers were cashing checks in the Bank of France and chatting +with the cashier, who was telling them about a bombardment of the town +the day before. The bank had removed itself and its business to the +underground vaults, and the large room on the ground floor, with its +polished mahogany counters, brass grills and desks, loomed dim and +indistinct in the light which filtered past the sandbags piled outside. +The walls bore notices with a black hand pointing downwards to the +cellar steps, and the big room echoed eerily to the footsteps of +customers, who tramped across the tiled floor and disappeared +downstairs to the vaults. + +"One shell," the cashier was saying, "fell close outside there," waving +a hand up the cellar steps. "_Bang! crash!_ we feel the building +shake--so." His hands left their task of counting notes, seized an +imaginary person by the lapels of an imaginary coat and shook him +violently. + +"The noise, the great c-r-rash, the shoutings, the little squeals, and +then the peoples running, the glasses breaking--tinkle--tinkle--you +have seen the smoke, thick black smoke, and smelling--pah!" + +He wrinkled his nose with disgust. "At first--for one second--I think +the bank is hit; but no, it is the street outside. Little stones--yes, +and splinters, through the windows; they come and hit all round, +inside--rap, rap, rap!" His darting hand played the splinters' part, +indicating with little pointing stabs the ceiling and the walls. +"Mademoiselle there, you see? yes! one little piece of shell," and he +held finger and thumb to illustrate an inch-long fragment. + +The two officers looked at Mademoiselle, an exceedingly pretty young +girl, sitting composedly at a typewriter. There was a strip of plaster +marring the smooth cheek, and at the cashier's words she looked round +at the young officers, flashed them a cheerful smile, and returned to +her hammering on the key-board. + +"My word, Mademoiselle," said one of the officers. "Near thing, eh? I +wonder you are not scared to carry on." + +The girl turned a slightly puzzled glance on them. + +"Monsieur means," explained the cashier friendlily to her, "is it that +you have no fear--_peur_, to continue the affairs?" + +Mademoiselle smiled brightly and shook her head. "But no," she said +cheerfully, "it is nossings," and went back to her work. + +"Jolly plucky girl, I think," said the officer. "Nearly as plucky as +she is pretty. I say, old man, my French isn't up to handling a +compliment like that; see if you can--" + +He did not finish the sentence, for at that moment there was a faint +far-off _bang_, and they sensed rather than felt a faint quiver in the +solid earth beneath their feet. The cashier held up one hand and stood +with head turned sideways in an attitude of listening. + +"You hear?" he said, arching his eyebrows. + +"What was it?" said the officer. "Sounded like a door banging +upstairs." + +"No, no," said the cashier. "They have commenced again. It is the same +hour as last time, and the time before." + +Mademoiselle had stopped typing, and the ledger clerk at the desk +behind her had also ceased work and sat listening; but after a moment +Mademoiselle threw a little smile towards them--a half-pleased, +half-deprecating little smile, as of one who shows a visitor something +interesting, something one is glad to show, and then resumed her +clicking on the typewriter. The ledger clerk, too, went back to work, +and the cashier said off-handedly: "It is not near--the station +perhaps--yes!" as if the station were a few hundred miles off, instead +of a few hundred yards. He finished rapidly counting his bundle of +notes and handed them to the officer. + +When the two emerged from the bank they found the street a good deal +quieter than when they had entered it. They walked along towards the +main square, noticing that some of the shopkeepers were calmly putting +up their shutters, while others quietly continued serving the few +customers who were hurriedly completing their purchases. As the two +walked along the narrow street they heard the thin savage whistle of an +approaching shell and a moment later a tremendous _bang_! They and +everybody else near them stopped and looked round, up and down the +street, and up over the roofs of the houses. They could see nothing, +and had turned to walk on when something crashed sharply on a roof +above them, bounced off, and fell with a rap on the cobble-stones in +the street. A child, an eager-faced youngster, ran from an arched +gateway and pounced on the little object, rose, and held up a piece of +stone, with intense annoyance and disgust plainly written on his face, +threw it from him with an exclamation of disappointment. + +The two walked on chuckling. "Little bounder!" said one. "Thought he'd +got a souvenir; rather a sell for him--what?" + +In the main square, they found a number of market women packing up +their little stalls and moving off, others debating volubly and looking +up at the sky, pointing in the direction of the last sound, and clearly +arguing with each other as to whether they should stay or move. A +couple of Army Transport wagons clattered across the square. One +driver, with the reins bunched up in his hand and the whip under his +arm, was busily engaged striking matches and trying to light a +cigarette; the other, allowing his horses to follow the first wagon, +and with his mouth open, gazed up into the sky as if he expected to see +the next shell coming. A few civilians scattered about the square were +walking briskly; a woman, clutching the arm of a little boy, ran, +dragging him, with his little legs going at a rapid trot. More +civilians, a few men in khaki, and some in French uniform, were +standing in archways or in shop-doors. + +There was another long whistle, louder and harsher this time, and +followed by a splintering crash and rattle. The groups in the doorways +flicked out of sight; the people in the open half halted and turned to +hurry on, or in some cases, without looking round, ran hurriedly to +cover. Stones and little fragments of debris clacked down one by one, +and then in a little pattering shower on the stones of the square. The +last of the market women, hesitating no longer, hurriedly bundled up +their belongings and hastened off. The two officers turned into a cafe +with a wide front window, seated themselves near this at a little +marble table, and ordered beer. There were about a score of officers in +the room, talking or reading the English papers. All of them had very +clean and very close-shaven faces, and very dirty and weather-stained, +mud-marked clothes. For the most part they seemed a great deal more +interested in each other, in their conversations, and in their papers, +than in any notice of the bombardment. The two who were seated near the +window had a good view from it, and extracted plenty of interest from +watching the people outside. + +Another shell whistled and roared down, burst with a deep angry bellow, +a clattering and rending and splintering sound of breaking stone and +wood. This time bigger fragments of stone, a shower of broken tiles and +slates rattled down into the square; a thick cloud of dirty black +smoke, gray and red tinged with mortar and brick-dust, appeared up +above the roofs on the other side of the square, spread slowly and +thickly, and hung long, dissolving very gradually and thinning off in +trailing wisps. + +In the cafe there was silence for a moment, and many remarks about +"coming rather close" and "getting a bit unhealthy," and a jesting +inquiry of the proprietor as to the shelter available in the cellar +with the beer barrels. A few rose and moved over to the window; one or +two opened the door, to stand there and look round. + +"Look at that old girl in the doorway across there," said one. "You +would think she was frightened she was going to get her best bonnet +wet." + +The woman's motions had, in fact, a curious resemblance to those of one +who hesitated about venturing out in a heavy rainstorm. She stood in +the doorway and looked round, drew back and spoke to someone inside, +picked up a heavy basket, set it down, stepped into the door, glanced +carefully and calculatingly up at the sky and across the square in the +direction she meant to take, moved back again and picked up her basket, +set it firmly on her arm, stepped out and commenced to hobble at an +ungainly cumbersome trot across the square. She was no more than +half-way across when the shriek of another shell was heard approaching. +She stopped and cast a terrified glance about her, dumped the basket +down on the cobbles, and resumed the shambling trot at increased speed. +A soldier in khaki crossing the square also commenced to run for cover +as his ear caught the sound of the shell; passing near the woman's +basket, he stooped and grabbed it and doubled on with it after its +panting owner. + +A group of soldiers standing in the archway shouted laughter and +encouragement, pretending they were watching a race, urging on the +runners. + +"Go on, Khaki! go on!--two to one on the fat girl; two to one--I lay +the fie-ald." Their cries and clapping shut off, and they disappeared +like diving ducks as the shell roared down, struck with a horrible +crash one of the buildings in a side-street just off the square, burst +it open, and flung upward and outward a flash of blinding light, a +spurt of smoke, a torrent of flying bricks and broken stones. Through +the rattle and clatter of falling masonry and flying rubbish there +came, piercing and shrill, the sound of a woman's screams. They choked +off suddenly, and for some seconds there were no sounds but those of +falling fragments, jarring and hailing on the cobble-stones, of broken +glass crashing and tinkling from dozens of windows round the square. + +As the noises of the explosion died away, figures crowded out anxiously +into the doorways again, and stood there and about the pavements, +looking round, pointing and gesticulating, and plainly prepared to run +back under cover at the first sign of warning. The half-dozen men who +had cheered the race across the square emerged from the archway, looked +around, and then set off running, keeping close under the shelter of +the houses, and disappearing into the thick smoke and dust that still +hung a thick and writhing curtain about the street-end in the corner of +the square. + +The two officers who had sat at the cafe window looked at one another. + +"You heard that squeal?" said one. + +"Yes," said the other; "I think we might trot over. You knowing a +little bit about surgery might be useful." + +"Oh, I dunno," said the first. "But, anyhow, let's go." + +They paid their bill and went out, and as they crossed the square they +met a couple of the soldiers who had disappeared into the smoke. They +were moving at the double, but at a word from the officers they halted. +Both wore the Red Cross badge of the Army Medical Corps on their arms, +and one explained hurriedly that they were going for an ambulance, that +there was a woman killed, one man and a woman and two children badly +wounded. They ran on, and the two officers moved hastily towards the +shell-struck house. The smoke was clearing now, and it was possible to +see something of the damage that had been done. + +The shell apparently had struck the roof, had ripped and torn it off, +burst downwards and outwards, blowing out the whole face of the upper +story, the connecting-wall and corner of the houses next to it, part of +the top-floor, and a jagged gap in the face of the lower story. The +street was piled with broken bricks and tiles, with splinters of stone, +with uprooted cobbles, with fragments and beams, bits of furniture, +ragged-edged planks, fragments of smoldering cloth. As the two walked, +their feet crunched on a layer of splintered glass and broken crockery. +The air they breathed reeked with a sharp chemical odor and the stench +of burning rags. + +The R.A.M.C. men had collected the casualties, and were doing what they +could for them, and the officer who was "a bit of a surgeon" gave them +what help he could. The casualties were mangled cruelly, and one of +them, a child, died before the ambulance came. + +The shells began to come fast now. One after another they poured in, +the last noise of their approach before they struck sounding like the +rush and roar of an express train passing through a tunnel. No more +fell near the square; but the two officers, returning across it, with +the terrifying rush of its projectiles in their ears, moved hastily and +puffed sighs of relief as they reached the door of the cafe again. + +"I just about want a drink," said the one who was "a bit of a surgeon." +"Thank Heaven I didn't decide to go into the Medical. The more I see of +that job the less I like it." + +The other shuddered. "How these surgeons do it at all," he said, "beats +me. I had to go outside when you started to handle that kiddie. Sorry I +couldn't stay to help you." + +"It didn't matter," said the first. "Those Medical fellows did all I +wanted, and anyhow you were better employed giving a hand to stop that +building catching light." + +The two had their drink and prepared to move again. + +"Time we were off, I suppose," said the first. "Our lot must be getting +ready to take the road presently, and we ought to be there." + +So they moved and dodged through the quiet streets, with the shells +still whooping overhead and bursting noisily in different parts of the +town. On their way they entered a shop to buy some slabs of chocolate. +The shop was empty when they entered, but a few stout raps on the +counter brought a woman, pale-faced but volubly chattering, up a ladder +and through a trapdoor in the shop-floor. She served them while the +shells still moaned overhead, talking rapidly, apologizing for keeping +them waiting, and explaining that for the children's sake she always +went down into the cellar when the shelling commenced, wishing them, as +they gathered up their parcels and left, "bonne chance," and making for +the trap-door and the ladder as they closed the shop-door. + +About the main streets there were few signs of the shells' work, except +here and there a litter of fragments tossed over the roofs and sprayed +across the road. But, passing through a small side square, the two +officers saw something more of the effect of "direct hits." In the +square was parked a number of ambulance wagons, and over a building at +the side floated a huge Red Cross flag. Eight or nine shells had been +dropped in and around the square. Where they had fallen were huge round +holes, each with a scattered fringe of earth and cobble-stones and +broken pavement. The trees lining the square showed big white patches +on their trunks where the bark had been sliced by flying fragments, +branches broken, hanging and dangling, or holding out jagged white +stumps. Leaves and twigs and branches were littered about the square +and heaped thick under the trees. The brick walls of many of the houses +round were pitted and pocked and scarred by the shell fragments. The +face of one house was marked by a huge splash, with solid center and a +ragged-edged outline of radiating jerky rays, reminding one immediately +of a famous ink-maker's advertisement. The bricks had taken the +impression of the explosion's splash exactly as paper would take the +ink's. Practically every window in the square had been broken, and in +the case of the splash-marked house, blown in, sash and frame complete. +One ambulance wagon lay a torn and splintered wreck, and pieces of it +were flung wide to the four corners of the square. Another was +overturned, with broken wheels collapsed under it, and in the Red Cross +canvas tilts of others gaped huge tears and rents. + +At one spot a pool of blood spread wide across the pavement, and still +dripping and running sluggishly and thickly into and along the stone +gutter, showed where at least one shell had caught more than brick and +stone and tree, although now the square was deserted and empty of life. + +And even as the two hurriedly skirted the place another shell hurtled +over, tripped on the top edge of a roof across the square and exploded +with an appalling clatter and burst of noise. The roof vanished in a +whirlwind of smoke and dust, and the officers jumped from the doorway +where they had flung themselves crouching, and finished their passage +of the square at a run. + +"Hottish corner," said one, as they slowed to a walk some distance +away. + +"Silly fools," growled the other. "What do they want to hoist that huge +Red Cross flag up there for, where any airman can see it? Fairly asking +for it, I call it." + +When they came to the outskirts of the town they found rather more +signs of life. People were hanging about their doorways and the shops, +fewer windows were shuttered, fewer faces peeped from the tiny grated +windows of the cellars. And up the center of the road, with lordly +calm, marched three Highlanders. The smooth swing of their kilts, their +even, unhurried step, the shoulders well back, and the elbows a shade +outturned, the bonnets cocked to a precisely same angle on the upheld +heads, all bespoke either an amazing ignorance of, or a bland +indifference to, the bombardment. Their march was stopped by a sentry, +who shouted to them and moved out from the pavement. Some sort of +argument was going on as the officers approached, and in passing they +heard the finish of it. + +"You were pit there tae warn folk," a Highlander was saying. "Weel, +ye've dune that, so we'll awa on oor road. We're nae fonder o' shells +than y'are yersel. But we'd look bonnie, wouldn't we, t' be tellin' the +Cameron lads we promised to meet, that we were feared for a bit +shellin'...." + +And after they had passed, the officers looked back and saw the three +Scots swinging their kilts and swaggering imperturbably on to the town, +and their meeting with the "Cameron lads." + +There were no more shells, but that afternoon a Taube paid another of +its frequent visits and vigorously bombed the railway station again, +driving the inhabitants back once more to the inadequate shelter of +their cellars and basements. And yet, as the same two officers marched +with their battalion through the town towards the firing-line that +evening, they found the streets quite normally bustling and astir, and +there seemed to be no lack of light in the shops and houses and about +the streets. Here and there as they passed, children stood stiffly to +attention and gravely saluted the battalion, young women and old turned +to call a cheery "Bonne Chance" to the soldiers, to smile bravely and +wave farewells to them. + +"Plucky bloomin' lot, ain't they, Bill?" said one man, and blew a kiss +to three girls waving from a window. + +"I takes off my 'at to them," said his mate. "What wi' Jack Johnsons +and airyplane bombs, you might expec' the population to have emigrated +in a bunch. The Frenchmen is a plucky enough crowd, but the women--My +Lord." + +"Airyplanes every other day," said the first man. "But I don't notice +any darkened streets and white-painted kerbs; and we don't 'ear the +inhabitants shrieking about protection from air raids, or 'Where's the +anti-aircraft guns?' or 'Who's responsible for air defense?' or 'A baa +the Government that don't a baa the air raids!' 'say la gerr,' says +they, and shrugs their shoulders, and leaves it go at that." + +They were in a darker side-street now, and the glare of the burning +house shone red in the sky over the roof tops. "Somebody's 'appy 'ome +gone west," remarked one man, and a mouth-organ in the ranks answered, +with cheerful sarcasm, "Keep the Home Fires Burning!" + + + +THE SIGNALERS + + +_"It is reported that_ ... "--EXTRACT FROM OFFICIAL DESPATCH. + + +The "it" and the "that" which were reported, and which the despatch +related in another three or four lines, concerned the position of a +forward line of battle, but have really nothing to do with this +account, which aims only at relating something of the method by which +"it was reported" and the men whose particular work was concerned only +with the report as a report, a string of words, a jumble of letters, a +huddle of Morse dots and dashes. + +The Signaling Company in the forward lines was situated in a very damp +and very cold cellar of a half-destroyed house. In it were two or three +tables commandeered from upstairs or from some houses around. That one +was a rough deal kitchen table, and that another was of polished wood, +with beautiful inlaid work and artistic curved and carven legs, the +spoils of some drawing-room apparently, was a matter without the +faintest interest to the signalers who used them. To them a table was a +table, no more and no less, a thing to hold a litter of papers, message +forms, telephone gear, and a candle stuck in a bottle. If they had +stopped to consider the matter, and had been asked, they would probably +have given a dozen of the delicate inlaid tables for one of the rough +strong kitchen ones. There were three or four chairs about the place, +just as miscellaneous in their appearance as the tables. But beyond the +tables and chairs there was no furniture whatever, unless a scanty heap +of wet straw in one corner counts as furniture, which indeed it might +well do since it counted as a bed. + +There were fully a dozen men in the room, most of them orderlies for +the carrying of messages to and from the telephonists. These men came +and went continually. Outside it had been raining hard for the greater +part of the day, and now, getting on towards midnight, the drizzle +still held and the trenches and fields about the signalers' quarters +were running wet, churned into a mass of gluey chalk-and-clay mud. The +orderlies coming in with messages were daubed thick with the wet mud +from boot-soles to shoulders, often with their puttees and knees and +thighs dripping and running water as if they had just waded through a +stream. Those who by the carrying of a message had just completed a +turn of duty, reported themselves, handed over a message perhaps, +slouched wearily over to the wall farthest from the door, dropped on +the stone floor, bundled up a pack or a haversack, or anything else +convenient for a pillow, lay down and spread a wet mackintosh over +them, wriggled and composed their bodies into the most comfortable, or +rather the least uncomfortable possible position, and in a few minutes +were dead asleep. + +It was nothing to them that every now and again the house above them +shook and quivered to the shock of a heavy shell exploding somewhere on +the ground round the house, that the rattle of rifle fire dwindled away +at times to separate and scattered shots, brisked up again and rose to +a long roll, the devil's tattoo of the machine guns rattling through it +with exactly the sound a boy makes running a stick rapidly along a +railing. The bursting shells and scourging rifle fire, sweeping machine +guns, banging grenades and bombs were all affairs with which the +Signaling Company in the cellar had no connection. For the time being +the men in a row along the wall were as unconcerned in the progress of +the battle as if they were safely and comfortably asleep in London. +Presently any or all of them might be waked and sent out into the +flying death and dangers of the battlefield, but in the meantime their +immediate and only interest was in getting what sleep they could. Every +once in a while the signalers' sergeant would shout for a man, go +across to the line and rouse one of the sleepers; then the awakened man +would sit up and blink, rise and listen to his instructions, nod and +say, "Yes, Sergeant! All right, Sergeant!" when these were completed, +pouch his message, hitch his damp mackintosh about him and button it +close, drag heavily across the stone floor and vanish into the darkness +of the stone-staired passage. + +His journey might be a long or a short one, he might only have to find +a company commander in the trenches one or two hundred yards away, he +might on the other hand have a several hours' long trudge ahead of him, +a bewildering way to pick through the darkness across a maze of fields +and a net-work of trenches, over and between the rubble heaps that +represented the remains of a village, along roads pitted with all sorts +of blind traps in the way of shell holes, strings of barbed wire, +overturned carts, broken branches of trees, flung stones and beams; and +always, whether his journey was a short one or a long, he would move in +an atmosphere of risk, with sudden death or searing pain passing him by +at every step, and waiting for him, as he well knew, at the next step +and the next and every other one to his journey's end. + +Each man who took his instructions and pocketed his message and walked +up the cellar steps knew that he might never walk down them again, that +he might not take a dozen paces from them before the bullet found him. +He knew that its finding might come in black dark and in the middle of +an open field, that it might drop him there and leave him for the +stretcher-bearers to find some time, or for the burying party to lift +any time. Each man who carried out a message was aware that he might +never deliver it, that when some other hand did so, and the message was +being read, he might be past all messages, lying stark and cold in the +mud and filth with the rain beating on his gray unheeding face; or, on +the other hand, that he might be lying warm and comfortable in the +soothing ease of a bed in the hospital train, swaying gently and lulled +by the song of the flying wheels, the rock and roll of the long +compartment, swinging at top speed down the line to the base and the +hospital ship and home. An infinity of possibilities lay between the +two extremes. They were undoubtedly the two extremes: the death that +each man hoped to evade, the wound whose painful prospect held no +slightest terror but only rather the deep satisfaction of a task +performed, of an escape from death at the cheap price of a few days' or +weeks' pain, or even a crippled limb or a broken body. + +A man forgot all these things when he came down the cellar steps and +crept to a corner to snatch what sleep he could, but remembered them +again only when he was wakened and sent out into their midst, and into +all the toils and terrors the others had passed, or were to go into or +even then were meeting. + +The signalers at the instruments, the sergeants who gathered them in +and sent them forth, gave little or no thought to the orderlies. These +men were hardly more than shadows, things which brought them long +screeds to be translated to the tapping keys, hands which would stretch +into the candle-light and lift the messages that had just "buzzed" in +over their wires. The sergeant thought of them mostly as a list of +names to be ticked off one by one in a careful roster as each man did +his turn of duty, went out, or came back and reported in. And the man +who sent messages these men bore may never have given a thought to the +hands that would carry them, unless perhaps to wonder vaguely whether +the message could get through from so and so to such and such, from +this map square to that, and if the chance of the messages getting +through--the message you will note, not the messenger--seemed extra +doubtful, orders might be given to send it in duplicate or triplicate, +to double or treble the chances of its arriving. + +The night wore on, the orderlies slept and woke, stumbled in and out; +the telephonists droned out in monotonous voices to the telephone, or +"buzzed" even more monotonous strings of longs and shorts on the +"buzzer." And in the open about them, and all unheeded by them, men +fought, and suffered wounds and died, or fought on in the scarce lesser +suffering of cold and wet and hunger. + +In the signalers' room all the fluctuations of the fight were +translated from the pulsing fever, the human living tragedies and +heroisms, the violent hopes and fears and anxieties of the battle line, +to curt cold words, to scribbled letters on a message form. At times +these messages were almost meaningless to them, or at least their red +tragedy was unheeded. Their first thought when a message was handed in +for transmission, usually their first question when the signaler at the +other end called to take a message, was whether the message was a long +one or a short one. One telephonist was handed an urgent message to +send off, saying that bombs were running short in the forward line and +that further supplies were required at the earliest possible moment, +that the line was being severely bombed and unless they had the means +to reply must be driven out or destroyed. The signaler took that +message and sent it through; but his instrument was not working very +clearly, and he was a good deal more concerned and his mind was much +more fully taken up with the exasperating difficulty of making the +signaler at the other end catch word or letter correctly, than it was +with all the close packed volume of meaning it contained. It was not +that he did not understand the meaning; he himself had known a line +bombed out before now, the trenches rent and torn apart, the shattered +limbs and broken bodies of the defenders, the horrible ripping crash of +the bombs, the blinding flame, the numbing shock, the smoke and reek +and noise of the explosions; but though all these things were known to +him, the words "bombed out" meant no more now than nine letters of the +alphabet and the maddening stupidity of the man at the other end, who +would misunderstand the sound and meaning of "bombed" and had to have +it in time-consuming letter-by-letter spelling. + +When he had sent that message, he took off and wrote down one or two +others from the signaling station he was in touch with. His own +station, it will be remembered, was close up to the forward firing +line, a new firing line which marked the limits of the advance made +that morning. The station he was connected with was back in rear of +what, previous to the attack, had been the British forward line. +Between the two the thin insignificant thread of the telephone wire ran +twisting across the jumble of the trenches of our old firing line, the +neutral ground that had lain between the trenches, and the other maze +of trench, dug-out, and bomb-proof shelter pits that had been captured +from the enemy. Then in the middle of sending a message, the wire went +dead, gave no answer to repeated calls on the "buzzer." The sergeant, +called to consultation, helped to overlook and examine the instrument. +Nothing could be found wrong with it, but to make quite sure the fault +was not there, a spare instrument was coupled on to a short length of +wire between it and the old one. They carried the message perfectly, so +with curses of angry disgust the wire was pronounced disconnected, or +"disc," as the signaler called it. + +This meant that a man or men had to be sent out along the line to find +and repair the break, and that until this was done, no telephone +message could pass between that portion of the forward line and the +headquarters in the rear. The situation was the more serious, inasmuch +as this was the only connecting line for a considerable distance along +the new front. A corporal and two men took a spare instrument and a +coil of wire, and set out on their dangerous journey. + +The break of course had been reported to the O.C., and after that there +was nothing more for the signaler at the dead instrument to do, except +to listen for the buzz that would come back from the repair party as +they progressed along the line, tapping in occasionally to make sure +that they still had connection with the forward station, their getting +no reply at the same time from the rear station being of course +sufficient proof that they had not passed the break. + +Twice the signaler got a message, the second one being from the forward +side of the old neutral ground in what had been the German front line +trench; the report said also that fairly heavy fire was being +maintained on the open ground. After that there was silence. + +When the signaler had time to look about him, to light a cigarette and +to listen to the uproar of battle that filtered down the cellar steps +and through the closed door, he spoke to the sergeant about the noise, +and the sergeant agreed with him that it was getting louder, which +meant either that the fight was getting hotter or coming closer. The +answer to their doubts came swiftly to their hands in the shape of a +note from the O.C., with a message borne by the orderly that it was to +be sent through anyhow or somehow, but at once. + +Now the O.C., be it noted, had already had a report that the telephone +wire was cut; but he still scribbled his note, sent his message, and +thereafter put the matter out of his mind. He did not know how or in +what fashion the message would be sent; but he did know the Signaling +Company, and that was sufficient for him. + +In this he was doing nothing out of the usual. There are many +commanders who do the same thing, and this, if you read it aright, is a +compliment to the signaling companies beyond all the praise of General +Orders or the sweet flattery of the G.O.C. despatch--the men who sent +the messages put them out of their mind as soon as they were written +and handed to an orderly with a curt order, "Signaling company to send +that." + +You at home who slip a letter into the pillar box, consider it, +allowing due time for its journey, as good as delivered at the other +end; by so doing you pay an unconscious compliment to all manners and +grades of men, from high salaried managers down to humble porters and +postmen. But the somewhat similar compliment that is paid by the men +who send messages across the battlefield is paid in the bulk to one +little select circle; to the animal brawn and blood, the spiritual +courage and devotion, the bodies and brains, the pluck and +perseverance, the endurance, the grit and the determination of the +signaling companies. + +When the sergeant took his message and glanced through it, he pursed +his lips in a low whistle and asked the signaler to copy while he went +and roused three messengers. His quick glance through the note had told +him, even without the O.C.'s message, that it was to the last degree +urgent that the message should go back and be delivered at once and +without fail; therefore he sent three messengers, simply because three +men trebled the chances of the message getting through without delay. +If one man dropped, there were two to go on; if two fell, the third +would still carry on; if he fell--well, after that the matter was +beyond the sergeant's handling; he must leave it to the messenger to +find another man or means to carry on the message. + +The telephonist had scribbled a copy of the note to keep by him in case +the wire was mended and the message could be sent through after the +messengers started and before they reached the other end. The three +received their instructions, drew their wet coats about their shivering +shoulders, relieved their feelings in a few growled sentences about the +dog's life a man led in that company, and departed into the wet night. + +The sergeant came back, re-read the message and discussed it with the +signaler. It said: "Heavy attack is developing and being pressed +strongly on our center a-a-a.[Footnote: Three a's indicate a full +stop.] Our losses have been heavy and line is considerably weakened +a-a-a. Will hold on here to the last but urgently request that strong +reinforcements be sent up if the line is to be maintained a-a-a. +Additional artillery support would be useful a-a-a." + +"Sounds healthy, don't it?" said the sergeant reflectively. The +signaler nodded gloomily and listened apprehensively to the growing +sounds of battle. Now that his mind was free from first thoughts of +telephonic worries, he had time to consider outside matters. For nearly +ten minutes the two men listened, and talked in short sentences, and +listened again. The rattle of rifle fire was sustained and unbroken, +and punctuated liberally at short intervals by the boom of exploding +grenades and bombs. Decidedly the whole action was heavier--or coming +back closer to them. + +The sergeant was moving across the door to open it and listen when a +shell struck the house above them. The building shook violently, down +to the very flags of the stone floor; from overhead, after the first +crash, there came a rumble of falling masonry, the splintering cracks +of breaking wood-work, the clatter and rattle of cascading bricks and +tiles. A shower of plaster grit fell from the cellar roof and settled +thick upon the papers littered over the table. The sergeant halted +abruptly with his hand on the cellar door, three or four of the +sleepers stirred restlessly, one woke for a minute sufficiently to +grumble curses and ask "what the blank was that"; the rest slept on +serene and undisturbed. The sergeant stood there until the last sounds +of falling rubbish had ceased. "A shell," he said, and drew a deep +breath. "Plunk into upstairs somewhere." + +The signaler made no answer. He was quite busy at the moment +rearranging his disturbed papers and blowing the dust and grit off +them. + +A telephonist at another table commenced to take and write down a +message. It came from the forward trench on the left, and merely said +briefly that the attack on the center was spreading to them and that +they were holding it with some difficulty. The message was sent up to +the O.C. "Whoever the O.C. may be," as the sergeant said softly. "If +the Colonel was upstairs when that shell hit, there's another O.C. now, +most like." But the Colonel had escaped that shell and sent a message +back to the left trench to hang on, and that he had asked for +reenforcements. + +"He did ask," said the sergeant grimly, "but when he's going to get 'em +is a different pair o' shoes. It'll take those messengers most of an +hour to get there, even if they dodge all the lead on the way." + +As the minutes passed, it became more and more plain that the need for +reenforcements was growing more and more urgent. The sergeant was +standing now at the open door of the cellar, and the noise of the +conflict swept down and clamored and beat about them. + +"Think I'll just slip up and have a look round," said the sergeant. "I +shan't be long." + +When he had gone, the signaler rose and closed the door; it was cold +enough, as he very sensibly argued, and his being able to hear the +fighting better would do nothing to affect its issue. Just after came +another call on his instrument, and the repair party told him they had +crossed the neutral ground, had one man wounded in the arm, that he was +going on with them, and they were still following up the wire. The +message ceased, and the telephonist, leaning his elbows on the table +and his chin on his hands, was almost asleep before he realized it. He +wakened with a jerk, lit another cigarette, and stamped up and down the +room trying to warm his numbed feet. + +First one orderly and then another brought in messages to be sent to +the other trenches, and the signaler held them a minute and gathered +some more particulars as to how the fight was progressing up there. The +particulars were not encouraging. We must have lost a lot of men, since +the whole place was clotted up with casualties that kept coming in +quicker than the stretcher-bearers could move them. The rifle-fire was +hot, the bombing was still hotter, and the shelling was perhaps the +hottest and most horrible of all. Of the last the signaler hardly +required an account; the growling thumps of heavy shells exploding, +kept sending little shivers down the cellar walls, the shiver being, +oddly enough, more emphatic when the wail of the falling shell ended in +a muffled thump that proclaimed the missile "blind" or "a dud." Another +hurried messenger plunged down the steps with a note written by the +adjutant to say the colonel was severely wounded and had sent for the +second in command to take over. Ten more dragging minutes passed, and +now the separate little shivers and thrills that shook the cellar walls +had merged and run together. The rolling crash of the falling shells +and the bursting of bombs came close and fast one upon another, and at +intervals the terrific detonation of an aerial torpedo dwarfed for the +moment all the other sounds. + +By now the noise was so great that even the sleepers began to stir, and +one or two of them to wake. One sat up and asked the telephonist, +sitting idle over his instrument, what was happening. He was told +briefly, and told also that the line was "disc." He expressed +considerable annoyance at this, grumbling that he knew what it +meant--more trips in the mud and under fire to take the messages the +wire should have carried. + +"Do you think there's any chance of them pushing in the line and +rushing this house?" he asked. The telephonist didn't know. "Well," +said the man and lay down again. "It's none o' my dashed business if +they do anyway. I only hope we're tipped the wink in time to shunt out +o' here; I've no particular fancy for sitting in a cellar with the +Boche cock-shying their bombs down the steps at me." Then he shut his +eyes and went to sleep again. + +The morsed key signal for his own company buzzed rapidly on the +signaler's telephone and he caught the voice of the corporal who had +taken out the repair party. They had found the break, the corporal +said, and were mending it. He should be through--he was through--could +he hear the other end? The signaler could hear the other end calling +him and he promptly tapped off the answering signal and spoke into his +instrument. He could hear the morse signals on the buzzer plain enough, +but the voice was faint and indistinct. The signaler caught the +corporal before he withdrew his tap-in and implored him to search along +and find the leakage. + +"It's bad enough," he said, "to get all these messages through by +voice. I haven't a dog's chance of doing it if I have to buzz each +one." + +The rear station spoke again and informed him that he had several +urgent messages waiting. The forward signaler replied that he also had +several messages, and one in particular was urgent above all others. + +"The blanky line is being pushed in," he said. "No, it isn't pushed in +yet--I didn't say it--I said being pushed in--being--being, looks like +it will be pushed in--got that? The O.C. has' stopped one' and the +second has taken command. This message I want you to take is shrieking +for reenforcements--what? I can't hear--no I didn't say anything about +horses--I did _not_. Reenforcements I said; anyhow, take this message +and get it through quick." + +He was interrupted by another terrific crash, a fresh and louder +outburst of the din outside; running footsteps clattered and leaped +down the stairs, the door flung open and the sergeant rushed in +slamming the door violently behind him. He ran straight across to the +recumbent figures and began violently to shake and kick them into +wakefulness. + +"Up with ye!" he said, "every man. If you don't wake quick now, you'll +maybe not have the chance to wake at all." + +The men rolled over and sat and stood up blinking stupidly at him and +listening in amazement to the noise outside. + +"Rouse yourselves," he cried. "Get a move on. The Germans are almost on +top of us. The front line's falling back. They'll stand here." He +seized one or two of them and pushed them towards the door. "You," he +said, "and you and you, get outside and round the back there. See if +you can get a pickaxe, a trenching tool, anything, and break down that +grating and knock a bigger hole in the window. We may have to crawl out +there presently. The rest o' ye come with me an' help block up the +door." + +Through the din that followed, the telephonist fought to get his +message through; he had to give up an attempt to speak it while a +hatchet, a crowbar, and a pickaxe were noisily at work breaking out a +fresh exit from the back of the cellar, and even after that work had +been completed, it was difficult to make himself heard. He completed +the urgent message for reenforcements at last, listened to some +confused and confusing comments upon it, and then made ready to take +some messages from the other end. + +"You'll have to shout," he said, "no, shout--speak loud, because I +can't 'ardly 'ear myself think--no, 'ear myself think. Oh, all sorts, +but the shelling is the worst, and one o' them beastly airyale +torpedoes. All right, go ahead." + +The earpiece receiver strapped tightly over one ear, left his right +hand free to use a pencil, and as he took the spoken message word by +word, he wrote it on the pad of message forms under his hand. Under the +circumstances it is hardly surprising that the message took a good deal +longer than a normal time to send through, and while he was taking it, +the signaler's mind was altogether too occupied to pay any attention to +the progress of events above and around him. But now the sergeant came +back and warned him that he had better get his things ready and put +together as far as he could, in case they had to make a quick and +sudden move. + +"The game's up, I'm afraid," he said gloomily, and took a note that was +brought down by another orderly. "I thought so," he commented, as he +read it hastily and passed it to the other signaler. "It's a message +warning the right and left flanks that we can't hold the center any +longer, and that they are to commence falling back to conform to our +retirement at 3.20 _ac emma_, which is ten minutes from now." + +Over their heads the signalers could hear tramping scurrying feet, the +hammering out of loopholes, the dragging thump and flinging down of +obstacles piled up as an additional defense to the rickety walls. Then +there were more hurrying footsteps, and presently the jarring +_rap-rap-rap_ of a machine gun immediately over their heads. + +"That's done it!" said the sergeant. "We've got no orders to move, but +I'm going to chance it and establish an alternative signaling station +in one of the trenches somewhere behind here. This cellar roof is too +thin to stop an ordinary Fizzbang, much less a good solid Crump, and +that machine gun upstairs is a certain invitation to sudden death and +the German gunners to down and out us." + +He moved towards the new opening that had been made in the wall of the +cellar, scrambled up it and disappeared. All the signalers lifted their +attention from their instruments at the same moment and sat listening +to the fresh note that ran through the renewed and louder clamor and +racket. The signaler who was in touch with the rear station called them +and began to tell them what was happening. + +"We're about all in, I b'lieve," he said. "Five minutes ago we passed +word to the flanks to fall back in ten minutes. What? Yes, it's thick. +I don't know how many men we've lost hanging on, and I suppose we'll +lose as many again taking back the trench we're to give up. What's +that? No. I don't see how reenforcements could be here yet. How long +ago you say you passed orders for them to move up? An hour ago! That's +wrong, because the messengers can't have been back--telephone message? +That's a lot less than an hour ago. I sent it myself no more than half +an hour since. Oo-oo! did you get that bump? Dunno, couple o' big +shells or something dropped just outside. I can 'ardly 'ear you. +There's a most almighty row going on all round. They must be charging, +I think, or our front line's fallen back, because the rifles is going +nineteen to the dozen, a-a-ah! They're getting stronger too, and it +sounds like a lot more bombs going; hold on, there's that blighting +maxim again." + +He stopped speaking while upstairs the maxim clattered off belt after +belt of cartridges. The other signalers were shuffling their feet +anxiously and looking about them. + +"Are we going to stick it here?" said one. "Didn't the sergeant say +something about 'opping it?" + +"If he did," said the other, "he hasn't given any orders that I've +heard. I suppose he'll come back and do that, and we've just got to +carry on till then." + +The men had to shout now to make themselves heard to each other above +the constant clatter of the maxim and the roar of rifle fire. By now +they could hear, too, shouts and cries and the trampling rush of many +footsteps. The signaler spoke into his instrument again. + +"I think the line's fallen back," he said. "I can hear a heap o' men +running about there outside, and now I suppose us here is about due to +get it in the neck." + +There was a scuffle, a rush, and a plunge, and the sergeant shot down +through the rear opening and out into the cellar. + +"The flank trenches!" he shouted. "Quick! Get on to them--right and +left flank--tell them they're to stand fast. Quick, now, give them that +first. Stand fast; do not retire." + +The signalers leaped to their instruments, buzzed off the call, and +getting through, rattled their messages off. + +"Ask them," said the sergeant anxiously. "Had they commenced to +retire." He breathed a sigh of relief when the answers came. "No," that +the message had just stopped them in time. + +"Then," he said, "you can go ahead now and tell them the order to +retire is cancelled, that the reenforcements have arrived, that they're +up in our forward line, and we can hold it good--oh!" + +He paused and wiped his wet forehead; "you," he said, turning to the +other signaler, "tell them behind there the same thing." + +"How in thunder did they manage it, sergeant?" said the perplexed +signaler. "They haven't had time since they got my message through." + +"No," said the sergeant, "but they've just had time since they got +mine." + +"Got yours?" said the bewildered signaler. + +"Yes, didn't I tell you?" said the sergeant. "When I went out for a +look round that time, I found an artillery signaler laying out a new +line, and I got him to let me tap in and send a message through his +battery to headquarters." + +"You might have told me," said the aggrieved signaler. "It would have +saved me a heap of sweat getting that message through." After he had +finished his message to the rear station he spoke reflectively: "Lucky +thing you did get through," he said. "'Twas a pretty close shave. The +O.C. should have a 'thank you' for you over it." + +"I don't suppose," answered the sergeant, "the O.C. will ever know or +ever trouble about it; he sent a message to the signaling company to +send through--and it was sent through. There's the beginning and the +end of it." + +And as he said, so it was; or rather the end of it was in those three +words that appeared later in the despatch: "It is reported." + + + +CONSCRIPT COURAGE + + +You must know plenty of people--if you yourself are not one of +them--who hold out stoutly against any military compulsion or +conscription in the belief that the "fetched" man can never be the +equal in valor and fighting instinct of the volunteer, can only be a +source of weakness in any platoon, company and regiment. This tale may +throw a new light on that argument. + +Gerald Bunthrop was not a conscript in the strict sense of the word, +because when he enlisted no legal form of conscription existed in the +United Kingdom; but he was, as many more have been, a moral conscript, +a man utterly averse to any form of soldiering, much less fighting, +very reluctantly driven into the Army by force of circumstance and +pressure from without himself. Before the War the Army and its ways +were to him a sealed book. Of war he had the haziest ideas compounded +of novels he had read and dimly remembered and mental pictures in a +confused jumble of Charles O'Malley dragoons on spirited charges, +half-forgotten illustrations in the papers of pith-helmeted infantry in +the Boer War, faint boyhood recollections of Magersfontein and the +glumness of the "Black Week"--a much more realistic and vivid +impression of Waterloo as described by Brigadier Gerard--and odd +figures of black Soudanese, of Light Brigade troopers, of Peninsula +red-coats, of Sepoys and bonneted Highlanders in the Mutiny period, and +of Life Guard sentries at Whitehall, lines of fixed bayonets on City +procession routes, and khaki-clad Terriers seen about railway stations +and on bus-tops with incongruous rifles on Saturday afternoons. +Actually, it is not correct to include these living figures in his +vague idea of war. They had to him no connection with anything outside +normal peaceful life, stirred his thoughts to war no more than seeing a +gasbracket would wake him to imaginings of a coalmine or a pit +explosion. His slight conceptions of war, then, were a mere matter of +print and books and pictures, and the first months of this present war +were exactly the same, no more and no less--newspaper paragraphs and +photos and drawings in the weeklies hanging on the bookstalls. He read +about the Retreat and the Advance, skimmed the prophets' forecasts, +gulped the communiques with interest a good deal fainter than he read +the accounts of the football matches or a boxing bout. He expected "our +side" to win of course, and was quite patriotic; was in fact a +"supporter" of the British Army in exactly the sense of being a +"supporter" or "follower" of Tottenham Hotspurs or Kent County. Any +thoughts that he might shoulder a rifle and fight Germans would at that +time, if it had entered his head, have seemed just as ridiculous as a +thought that he should play in the Final at the Crystal Palace or step +into the ring to fight Carpentier. It took a long time to move him from +this attitude of aloofness. Recruiting posters failed utterly to touch +him. He looked at them, criticized them, even discussed their +"goodness" or drawing power on recruits with complete detachment and +without the vaguest idea that they were addressed to him. He bought +Allies' flag-buttons, and subscribed with his fellow-employees to a Red +Cross Fund, and joined them again in sending some sixpences to a +newspaper Smokes Gift Fund; he always most scrupulously stood up and +uncovered to "God Save the King," and clapped and encored vociferously +any patriotic songs or sentiments from the stage. He thought he was +doing his full duty as a loyal Briton, and even--this was when he +promised a regular sixpence a week to the Smokes Fund--going perhaps a +little beyond it. First hints and suggestions that he should enlist he +treated as an excellent jest, and when at last they became too frequent +and pointed for that, and began to come from complete strangers, he +became justly indignant at such "impudence" and "interference," and +began long explainings to people he knew, that he wasn't the one to be +bullied into anything, that fighting wasn't "his line," that he "had no +liking for soldiering," that he would have gone like a shot, but had +his own good and adequate reasons for not doing so. + +There is no need to tell of the stages by which he arrived at the +conclusion that he must enlist: from the first dawning wonder at such a +possibility, through qualms of doubt and fear and spasms of hope +and--almost--courage, to a dull apathy of resignation. No need to tell +either the particular circumstances that "conscripted" him at last, +because although his name is not real the man himself is, and one has +no wish to bring shame on him or his people. I have only described him +so closely to make it very clear that he was driven to enlistment, that +a less promising recruit never joined up, that he was a conscript in +every real sense of the word. We can pass over all his training, his +introduction to the life of the trenches, his feelings of terror under +conditions as little dangerous as the trenches could be. He managed, +more or less, to hide this terror, as many a worse and many a better +man has done before him, until one day---- + +The Germans had made a fierce attack, had overborne a section of the +defense and taken a good deal of trenched ground, had been +counter-attacked and partly driven back, had scourged the lost parts +with a fresh tempest of artillery fire and driven in again to close +quarters, to hot bomb and bayonet work; were again checked and for the +moment held. + +Private Gerald Bunthrop's battalion had been hurried up to support the +broken and breaking line, was thrust into a badly wrecked trench with +crumbling sides and broken traverses, with many dead and wounded +cumbering the feet of the few defenders, with a reek of high-explosive +fumes catching their throats and nostrils. The open ground beyond the +trench was scattered thick with great heaps of German dead, a few more +sprawled on the broken parapet, another and lesser few were huddled in +the trench itself amongst the many khaki forms. The battalion holding +the trench had been almost annihilated in the task, had in fact at +first been driven out from part of the line and had only reoccupied it +with heavy losses. Bunthrop had with his battalion passed along some +smashed communication trenches and over the open ground this fighting +had covered, and the sights they saw in passing might easily have +shaken the stoutest hearts and nerves. They made the approach, too, +under a destructive fire with high-explosive shells screaming and +crashing over, around, and amongst them, with bullets whistling and +hissing about them and striking the ground with the sound of constantly +exploding Chinese crackers. + +Bunthrop himself, to state the fact baldly, was in an agony of fear. He +might have been tempted to bolt, but was restrained by a complete lack +of any idea where to bolt to, by a lingering remnant of self-respect, +and by a firm conviction that he would be dealt with mercilessly if he +openly ran. But when he reached the comparative shelter of the broken +trench all these safeguards of his decent behavior vanished. He flung +himself into the trench, cowered in its deepest part, made not the +slightest attempt to look over the parapet, much less to use his rifle. +There is this much of excuse for him, that on the very instant that +they reached the cover of the trench a bursting high-explosive had +caught the four men next in line to him. The excuse may be insufficient +for those who have never witnessed at very close hand the instant and +terrible destruction of four companions with whom they have eaten and +slept and talked and moved and had their intimate being for many +months; but those who have known such happenings will understand. +Bunthrop's sergeant understood, and because he was a good sergeant and +had the instinct for the right handling of men--it must have been an +instinct, because, up to a year before, he had been ledger clerk in a +City office and had handled nothing more alive than columns of figures +in a book--he issued exactly the order that appealed exactly to +Bunthrop's terror and roused him from a shivering embodiment of fear to +a live thinking and order-obeying private. "Get up and sling some of +those sandbags back on the parapet, Bunthrop!" he said, "and see if you +can't make some decent cover for yourself. You've nothing there that +would stop a half-crippled Hun jumping in on top of you." When he came +back along the trench five minutes later he found Bunthrop feverishly +busy re-piling sandbags and strengthening the parapet, ducking hastily +and crouching low when a shell roared past overhead, but hurriedly +resuming work the instant it had passed. Then came the fresh German +attack, preceded by five minutes' intense artillery fire, concentrated +on the half-wrecked trench. The inferno of noise, the rush and roar of +the approaching shells, the crash and earth-shaking thunder of their +explosions, the ear-splitting cracks overhead of high-explosive +shrapnel, the drone and whirr and thump of their flying fragments--the +whole racking, roaring, deafening, sense-destroying tempest of noise +was too much for Bunthrop's nerve. He flung down and flattened himself +to the trench bottom again, squeezing himself close to the earth, +submerged and drowned in a sweeping wave of panic fear. He gave no heed +to the orders of his platoon commander, the shouting of his sergeant, +the stir that ran along the trench, the flat spitting reports of the +rifles that began to crack rapidly in a swiftly increasing volume of +fire. A huge fragment of shell came down and struck the trench bottom +with a suggestively violent thud a foot from his head. Half sick with +the instant thought, "If it had been a foot this way!..." half crazed +with the sense of openness to such a missile, Bunthrop rose to his +knees, pressing close to the forward parapet, and looking wildly about +him. His sergeant saw him. "You, Bunthrop," he shouted, "are you hit? +Get up, you fool, and shoot! If we can't stop 'em before they reach +here we're done in." Bunthrop hardly heeded him. Along the trench the +men were shooting at top speed over the parapet; a dozen paces away two +of the battalion machine-guns were clattering and racketing in rapid +gusts of fire; a little farther along a third one had jambed and was +being jerked and hammered at by a couple of sweating men and a wildly +cursing boy officer. So much Bunthrop saw, and then with a hideous +screeching roar a high explosive fell and burst in a shattering crash, +a spouting hurricane of noise and smoke and flung earth and fragments. +Bunthrop found himself half buried in a landslide of crumbling trench, +struggled desperately clear, gasping and choking in the black cloud of +smoke and fumes, saw presently, as the smoke thinned and dissolved, a +chaos of broken earth and sandbags where the machine-guns had stood; +saw one man and an officer dragging their gun from the debris, setting +it up again on the broken edge of the trench. Another man staggered up +the crumbling earth bank to help, and presently amongst them they got +the gun into action again. The officer left it and ran to where he saw +the other gun half buried in loose earth. He dragged it clear, found it +undamaged, looked round, shouted at Bunthrop crouching flat against the +trench wall; shouted again, came down the earth bank to him with a +rush. "Come and help!" he yelled, grabbing at Bunthrop's arm. Bunthrop +mumbled stupidly in reply. "What?" shouted the officer. "Come and help, +will you? Never mind if you are hurt," as he noticed a smear of blood +on the private's face. "You'll be hurt worse if they get into this +trench with the bayonet. Come on and help!" Bunthrop, hardly +understanding, obeyed the stronger will and followed him back to the +gun. "Can you load?" demanded the officer. "Can you fill the cartridges +into these drums while I shoot?" Bunthrop had had in a remote period of +his training some machine-gun instruction. He nodded and mumbled again. +"God!" said the officer. "Look at 'em! There's enough to eat us if they +get to bayonet distance! We _must_ stop 'em with the bullet. Hurry up, +man; hurry, if you don't want to be skewered like a stuck pig!" He +rattled off burst after burst of fire, clamoring at Bunthrop to hurry, +hurry, hurry. A wounded machine-gunner joined them, and then some +others, and the gun began to spit a steady string of bullets again. By +this time the full meaning of the officer's words--the meaning, too, of +remarks between the wounded helpers--had soaked into Bunthrop's brain. +Their only hope, his only hope of life, lay in stopping the attack +before it reached the trench; and the machine-guns were a main factor +in the stopping. He lost interest in everything except cramming the +cartridges into their place. When the officer was hit and rolled +backwards and lay groaning and swearing, Bunthrop's chief and agonizing +thought was that they--he--had lost the assistance and protection of +the gun. When one of the wounded gunners took the officer's place and +reopened fire, Bunthrop's only concern again was to keep pace with the +loading. The thoughts were repeated exactly when that gunner was hit +and collapsed and his place was taken by another man. And by now the +urgent need of keeping the gun going was so impressed on Bunthrop that +when the next gunner was struck down and the gun stood idle and +deserted it was Bunthrop who turned wildly urging the other loaders to +get up and keep the gun going; babbled excitedly about the only hope +being to stop the Germans before they "got in" with the bayonet, +repeated again and again at them the officer's phrase about "skewered +like stuck pigs." The others hung back. They had seen man after man +struck down at the gun, they could hear the _hiss_ and _whitt_ of the +bullets over their heads, the constant cracker-like smacks of others +that hit the parapet, and--they hung back. "Why th' 'ell don't you do +it yerself?" demanded one of them, angered by Bunthrop's goading and in +some degree, no doubt, by the disagreeable knowledge that they were +flinching from a duty. + +And then Bunthrop, the "conscript," the man who had held back from war +to the last possible minute, who hated soldiering and shrank from +violence and all fighting, who was known to his fellows as "a funk," +the source of much uneasiness to company and platoon commanders and +sergeants as "a weak spot," Bunthrop did what these others, these +average good men who had "joined up" freely, who had longed for the end +of home training and the transfer "out Front," dared not do. Bunthrop +scrambled up the broken bank, seized the gun, swung the sights full to +the broad gray target, and opened fire. He kept it going steadily, too, +with a sleet of bullets whistling and whipping past him, kept on after +a bullet snatched the cap from his head, and others in quick succession +cut away a shoulder strap, scored a red weal across his neck, stabbed +through the point of his shoulder. And when a shell-fragment smashed +the gun under his hands, he left it only to plunge hastily to the other +gun abandoned by all but dead and dying; pulled off a dead man who +sprawled across it and recommenced shooting. He stopped firing only +when his last cartridge was gone; squatted a moment longer staring over +the sights, and then raised his head and peered out into the trailing +film of smoke clouds from the bursting shells. Although it took him a +minute to be sure of it he saw plainly at last that the attack was +broken. Dimly he could see the heaped clusters of dead that lay out in +the open, the crawling and limping figures of the wounded who sought +safety back in the cover of their own trench, and more than that he +could see men running with their heads stooped and their gray coats +flapping about their ankles. It was this last that roused him again to +action. He scrambled hurriedly back down the broken parapet into the +trench. "Come on, you fellows," he shouted to two or three nearby men +who continued to fire their rifles over the parapet. "It's no use +waitin' here any longer." A heavy shell whooped roaring over them and +crashed thunderously close behind the parapet. Bunthrop paid no +slightest heed to it. His wide, staring eyes and white face, and blood +smeared from the trickling wound in his neck, his capless head and +tumbled hair, his clay and mud-caked and blood-stained uniform all gave +him a look of wildness, of desperation, of abandonment. His sergeant, +the man who had seen his fear and set him to pile the sandbags, caught +sight of him again now, heard some word of his shoutings, and pushed +hastily along the trench to where he fidgeted and called angrily to the +others to "chuck that silly shooting--I'm goin' anyhow ... what's the +use...." + +The sergeant interrupted sharply. + +"Here, you shut up, Bunthrop," he shouted. "Keep down in the trench. +You're wounded, aren't you? Well, you'll get back presently." + +"That be damn," said Bunthrop. "You don't understand. They're runnin' +away, but we can't go out after 'em if these silly blighters here keep +shootin'. Come on now, or they'll all be gone." And Private Bunthrop, +the despised "conscript," slung his bayoneted rifle over his wounded +shoulder and commenced to scramble up out over the front of the broken +parapet. And what is more he was really and genuinely annoyed when the +sergeant catching him by the heel dragged him down again and ordered +him to stay there. + +"Don't you understand?" he stuttered excitedly, and gesticulating +fiercely towards the front. "They're runnin', I tell you; the blighters +are runnin' away. Why can't we get out after 'em?" + + + +SMASHING THE COUNTER-ATTACK + + +" ... _a violent counter-attack was delivered but was successfully +repulsed at every point with heavy losses to the enemy_."--EXTRACT FROM +OFFICIAL DESPATCH. + + +There appears to be some doubt as to who rightly claims to have been +the first to notice and report signs of the massing of heavy forces of +Germans for the counter-attack on our positions. The infantry say that +a scouting patrol fumbling about in the darkness in front of the +forward fire trench heard suspicious sounds--little clickings of +equipment and accouterments, stealthy rustlings, distant tramping--and +reported on their return to the trench. An artillery observing officer +is said to have seen flitting shadows of figures in the gray light of +the dawn mists, and, later, an odd glimpse of cautious movement amongst +the trees of a wood some little distance behind the German lines, and +an unbroken passing of gray-covered heads behind a portion of a +communication trench parapet. He also reported, and he may have been +responsible for the dozen or so of shrapnel that were flung tentatively +into and over the wood. An airman droning high over the lines, with +fleecy white puffs of shrapnel smoke breaking about him, also saw and +reported clearly "large force of Germans massing Map Square So-and-so." + +But whoever was responsible for the first report matters little. The +great point is that the movement was detected in good time, apparently +before the preparations for attack were complete, so that the final +arraying and disposal of the force for the launching of the attack was +hampered and checked, and made perforce under a demoralizing artillery +fire. + +What the results might have been if the full weight of the massed +attack could have been prepared without detection and flung on our +lines without warning is hard to say; but there is every chance that +our first line at least might have been broken into and swamped by the +sheer weight of numbers. That, clearly, is what the Germans had +intended, and from the number of men employed it is evident that they +meant to push to the full any chance our breaking line gave them to +reoccupy and hold fast a considerable portion of the ground they had +lost. It is said that three to four full divisions were used. If that +is correct, it is certain that the German army was minus three to four +effective divisions when the attack withdrew, that a good half of the +men in them would never fight again. The attack lost its first great +advantage in losing the element of surprise. The bulk of the troops +would have been moved into position in the hours of darkness. That +wood, in all probability, was filled with men by night. The only +daylight movement attempted would have been the cautious filling of the +trenches, the pouring in of the long gray-coated lines along the +communication trenches, all keeping well down and under cover. Under +the elaborate system of deep trenches, fire-, and support-, +communication- and approach-trenches running back for miles to emerge +only behind houses or hill or wood, it is surprising how large a mass +of men can be pushed into the forward trenches without any disclosure +of movement to the enemy. Scores of thousands of men may be packed away +waiting motionless for the word, more thousands may be pouring slowly +up the communication ways, and still more thousands standing ready a +mile or two behind the lines; and yet to any eye looking from the +enemy's side the country is empty and still, and bare of life as a +swept barn. Even the all-seeing airmen can be cheated, and see nothing +but the usual quiet countryside, the tangled crisscross of trenches, +looking from above like so many wriggling lines of thin white braid +with a black cord-center, the neat dolls' toy-houses and streets of the +villages, the straight, broad ribbon of the Route Nationale, all still +and lifeless, except for an odd cart or two on the high road, a few +dotted figures in the village streets. Below the flying-men the packed +thousands are crouched still to earth. At the sound of the engine's +drone, at sight of the wheeling shape, square miles of country stiffen +to immobility, men scurry under cover of wall or bush, the long, moving +lines in the trenches halt and sink down and hang their heads (next to +movement the light dots of upturned, staring faces are the quickest and +surest betrayal of the earth-men to the air-men), the open roads are +emptied of men into the ditches and under the trees. For civilized man, +in his latest art of war, has gone back to be taught one more simple +lesson by the beasts of the field and birds of the air; the armed hosts +are hushed and stilled by the passing air-machine, exactly as the +finches and field-mice of hedgerow and ditch and field are frozen to +stillness by the shadow of a hovering hawk, the beat of its passing +wing. + +But this time some movement in the trenches, some delay in halting a +regiment, some neglect to keep men under cover, some transport too +suspiciously close-spaced on the roads, betrayed the movement. His +suspicions aroused, the airman would have risked the anti-aircraft guns +and dropped a few hundred feet and narrowly searched each hillside and +wood for the telltale gray against the green. Then the wireless would +commence to talk, or the 'plane swoop round and drive headlong for home +to report. + +And then, picture the bustle at the different headquarters, the stir +amongst the signalers, the frantic pipings of the telephone "buzzers," +the sharp calls. "Take a message. Ready? Brigade H.Q. to O.C. +Such-and-such Battery," or "to O.C. So-and-So Regiment"; imagine the +furtive scurry in the trenches to man the parapets, and prepare bombs, +and lay out more ammunition; the rush at the batteries, the quick +consulting of squared maps, the bellowed string of orders in a jargon +of angles of sight, correctors, ranges, figures and measures of degrees +and yards, the first scramble about the guns dropping to the smooth +work of ordered movement, the peering gun muzzles jerking and twitching +to their ordained angles, the click and slam of the closing +breech-blocks, the tense stillness as each gun reports "Ready!" and +waits the word to fire. + +And all the while imagine the Germans out there, creeping through the +trees, crowding along the trenches, sifting out and settling down into +the old favorite formation, making all ready for one more desperate +trial of it, stacking the cards for yet another deep gambling plunge on +the great German game--the massed attack in solid lines at close +interval. The plan no doubt was the same old plan--a quick and +overwhelming torrent of shell fire, a sudden hurricane of high +explosive on the forward trench, and then, before the supports could be +hurried up and brought in any weight through the reeking, shaking +inferno of the shell-smitten communication trenches, the surge forward +of line upon line, wave upon wave, of close-locked infantry. + +But the density of mass, the solid breadth, the depth, bulk, and weight +of men so irresistible at close-quarter work, is an invitation to utter +destruction if it is caught by the guns before it can move. And so this +time it was caught. Given their target, given the word "Go," the guns +wasted no moment. The first battery ready burst a quick couple of +ranging shots over the wood. A spray of torn leaves whirling from the +tree tops, the toss of a broken branch, showed the range correct; and +before the first rounds' solid white cotton-wooly balls of smoke had +thinned and disappeared, puff-puff-puff the shrapnel commenced to burst +in clouds over the wood. That was the beginning. Gun after gun, battery +after battery, picked up the range and poured shells over and into the +wood, went searching every hollow and hole, rending and destroying +trench and dug-out, parapet and parados. The trenches, clean white +streaks and zig-zags of chalk on a green slope, made perfect targets on +which the guns made perfect shooting; the wood was a mark that no gun +could miss, and surely no gun missed. What the scene in that wood must +have been is beyond imagining and beyond telling. It was quickly +shrouded in a pall of drifting smoke, and dimly through this the +observing officers directing the fire of their guns could see clouds of +leaves and twigs whirling and leaping under the lashing shrapnel, could +see branches and smashed tree-trunks and great clods of earth and stone +flying upward and outward from the blast of the lyddite shells. The +wood was slashed to ribbons, rent and riddled to tatters, deluged from +above with tearing blizzards of shrapnel bullets, scorched and riven +with high-explosive shells. In the trenches our men cowered at first, +listening in awe to the rushing whirlwinds of the shells' passage over +their heads, the roar of the cannonade behind them, the crash and boom +of the bursting shells in front, the shriek and whirr of flying +splinters, the splintering crash of the shattering trees. + +The German artillery strove to pick up the plan of the attack, to beat +down the torrent of our batteries' fire, to smash in the forward +trenches, shake the defense, open the way for the massed attack. But +the contest was too unequal, the devastation amongst the crowded mass +of German infantry too awful to be allowed to continue. Plainly the +attack, ready or not ready, had to be launched at speed, or perish +where it stood. + +And so it was that our New Armies had a glimpse of what the old +"Contemptible Little Army" has seen and faced so often, the huge gray +bulk looming through the drifting smoke, the packed mass of the old +German infantry attack. There were some of these "Old Contemptibles," +as they proudly style themselves now, who said when it was all over, +and they had time to think of anything but loading and firing a red-hot +rifle, that this attack did not compare favorably with the German +attacks of the Mons-Marne days, that it lacked something of the +steadiness, the rolling majesty of power, the swinging stride of the +old attacks; that it did not come so far or so fast, that beaten back +it took longer to rally and come again, that coming again it was easier +than ever to bring to a stand. But against that these "Old +Contemptibles" admit that they never in the old days fought under such +favorable conditions, that here in this fight they were in better +constructed and deeper trenches, that they were far better provided +with machine-guns, and, above all, that they had never, never, never +had such a magnificent backing from our guns, such a tremendous stream +of shells helping to smash the attack. + +And smashed, hopelessly and horribly smashed, the attack assuredly was. +The woods in and behind which the German hordes were massed lay from +three to four hundred yards from the muzzles of our rifles. Imagine it, +you men who were not there, you men of the New Armies still training at +home, you riflemen practicing and striving to work up the number of +aimed rounds fired in "the mad minute," you machine-gunners riddling +holes in a target or a row of posts. Imagine it, oh you Artillery, +imagine the target lavishly displayed in solid blocks in the open, with +a good four hundred yards of ground to go under your streaming +gun-muzzles. The gunners who were there that day will tell you how they +used that target, will tell you how they stretched themselves to the +call for "gun-fire" (which is an order for each gun to act +independently, to fire and keep on firing as fast as it can be served), +how the guns grew hotter and hotter, till the paint bubbled and +blistered and flaked off them in patches, till the breech burned the +incautious hand laid on it, till spurts of oil had to be sluiced into +the breech from a can between rounds and sizzled and boiled like fat in +a frying-pan as it fell on the hot steel, how the whole gun smoked and +reeked with heated oil, and how the gun-detachments were half-deaf for +days after. + +It was such a target as gunners in their fondest dreams dare hardly +hope for; and such a target as war may never see again, for surely the +fate of such massed attacks will be a warning to all infantry +commanders for all time. + +The guns took their toll, and where death from above missed, death from +the level came in an unbroken torrent of bullets sleeting across the +open from rifles and machine-guns. On our trenches shells were still +bursting, maxim and rifle bullets were still pelting from somewhere in +half enfilade at long range. But our men had no time to pay heed to +these. They hitched themselves well up on the parapet to get the fuller +view of their mark; their officers for the most part had no need to +bother about directing or controlling the fire--what need, indeed, to +direct with such a target bulking big before the sights? What need to +control when the only speed limit was a man's capacity to aim and fire? +So the officers, for the most part, took rifle themselves and helped +pelt lead into the slaughter-pit. + +There are few, if any, who can give details of how or when the attack +perished. A thick haze of smoke from the bursting shells blurred the +picture. To the eyes of the defenders there was only a picture of that +smoke-fog, with a gray wall of men looming through it, moving, walking, +running towards them, falling and rolling, and looming up again and +coming on, melting away into tangled heaps that disappeared again +behind advancing men, who in turn became more falling and fallen piles. +It was like watching those chariot races in a theater where the horses +gallop on a stage revolving under their feet, and for all their fury of +motion always remain in the same place. So it was with the German +line--it was pressing furiously forward, but always appeared to remain +stationary or to advance so slowly that it gave no impression of +advancing, but merely of growing bigger. Once, or perhaps twice, the +advancing line disappeared altogether, melted away behind the drifting +smoke, leaving only the mass of dark blotches sprawled on the grass. At +these times the fire died away along a part of our front, and the men +paused to gulp a drink from a water-bottle, to look round and tilt +their caps back and wipe the sweat from their brows, to gasp joyful +remarks to one another about "gettin' a bit of our own back," and "this +pays for the ninth o' May," and then listen to the full, deep roar of +rifle-fire that rolled out from further down the line, and try to peer +through the shifting smoke to see how "the lot next door" was faring. +But these respites were short. A call and a crackle of fire at their +elbows brought them back to business, to the grim business of +purposeful and methodical killing, of wiping out that moving wall that +was coming steadily at them again through the smoke and flame of the +bursting shells. The great bulk of the line came no nearer than a +hundred yards from our line; part pressed in another twenty or thirty +yards, and odd bunches of the dead were found still closer. But none +came to grips--none, indeed, were found within forty yards of our +rifles' wall of fire. A scattered remnant of the attackers ran back, +some whole and some hurt, thousands crawled away wounded, to reach the +safe shelter of their support trenches, some to be struck down by the +shells that still kept pounding down upon the death-swept field. The +counter-attack was smashed--hopelessly and horribly smashed. + + + +A GENERAL ACTION + + +"_At some points our lines have been slightly advanced and their +position improved_."--EXTRACT FROM DESPATCH + + +It has to be admitted by all who know him that the average British +soldier has a deep-rooted and emphatic objection to "fatigues," all +trench-digging and pick-and-shovel work being included under that +title. This applies to the New Armies as well as the Old, and when one +remembers the safety conferred by a good deep trench and the fact that +few men are anxious to be killed sooner than is strictly necessary, the +objection is regrettable and very surprising. Still there it is, and +any officer will tell you that his men look on trench-digging with +distaste, have to be constantly persuaded and chivvied into doing +anything like their best at it, and on the whole would apparently much +rather take their chance in a shallow or poorly-constructed trench than +be at the labor of making it deep and safe. + +But one piece of trench-digging performed by the Tearaway Rifles must +come pretty near a record for speed. + +When the Rifles moved in for their regular spell in the forward line, +their O.C. was instructed that his battalion had to construct a section +of new trench in ground in front of the forward trench. + +It was particularly unfortunate that just about this time the winter +issue of a regular rum ration had ceased, and that, immediately before +they moved in, a number of the Tearaways had been put under stoppages +of pay for an escapade with which this story need have no concern. + +Without pay the men, of course, were cut off from even the sour and +watery delights of the beer sold in the local estaminets, which abound +in the villages where the troops are billeted in reserve some miles +behind the firing line. As Sergeant Clancy feelingly remarked: + +"They stopped the pay, and that stops the beer; and then they stopped +the rum. It's no pleasure in life they leave us at all, at all. They'll +be afther stopping the fighting next." + +Of that last, however, there was comparatively little fear at the +moment. A brisk action had opened some days before the Tearaways were +brought up from the reserve, and the forward line which they were now +sent in to occupy had been a German trench less than a week before. + +The main fighting had died down, but because the British were +suspicious of counter-attacks, and the Germans afraid of a continued +British movement, the opposing lines were very fully on the alert; the +artillery on both sides were indulging in constant dueling, and the +infantry were doing everything possible to prevent any sudden advantage +being snatched by the other side. + +As soon as the Tearaways were established in the new position, the O.C. +and the adjutant made a tour of their lines, carefully reconnoitering +through their periscopes the open ground which had been pointed out to +them on the map as the line of the new trench which they were to +commence digging. At this point the forward trench was curved sharply +inward, and the new trench was designed to run across and outwards from +the ends of the curve, meeting in a wide angle at a point where a hole +had been dug and a listening-post established. + +It was only possible to reach this listening-post by night, and the +half-dozen men in it had to remain there throughout the day, since it +was impossible to move across the open between the post and the +trenches by daylight. The right-hand portion of the new trench running +from the listening-post back to the forward trench had already been +sketched out with entrenching tools, but it formed no cover because it +was enfiladed by a portion of the German trench. + +It was the day when the Tearaways moved into the new position, and the +O.C. had been instructed that he was expected to commence digging +operations as soon as it was dark that night, the method and manner of +digging being left entirely in his own hand. The Major, the Adjutant, +and a couple of Captains conferred gloomily over the prospective task. +That reputation of a dislike for digging stood in the way of a quick +job being made. The stoppage of the rum ration prevented even an +inducement in the shape of an "extra tot" being promised for extra good +work, and it was well known to all the officers that the stoppage of +pay had put the men in a sulky humor, which made them a little hard to +handle, and harder to drive than the proverbial pigs. It was decided +that nothing should be said to the men of the task ahead of them until +it was time to tell off the fatigue party and start them on the work. + +"It's no good," said the Captain, "leaving them all the afternoon to +chew it over. They'd only be talking themselves into a state that is +first cousin to insubordination." + +"I wish," said the other Captain, "they had asked us to go across and +take another slice of the German trench. The men would do it a lot +quicker and surer, and a lot more willing, than they'd dig a new one." + +"The men," said the Colonel tartly, "are not going to be asked what +they'd like any more than I've been. I want you each to go down quietly +and have a look over at the new ground, tell the company commanders +what the job is, and have a talk with me after as to what you think is +the best way of setting about it." + +That afternoon Lieutenant Riley and Lieutenant Brock took turns in +peering through a periscope at the line of the new trench, and +discussed the problem presented. + +"It's all very fine," grumbled Riley, "for the O.C. to say the men must +dig because he says so. You can take a horse to the water where you +can't make it drink, and by the same token you can put a spade in a +man's hand where you can't make him dig, or if he does dig he'll only +do it as slow and gingerly as if it were his own grave and he was to be +buried in it as soon as it was ready." + +"Don't talk about burying," retorted Brock. "It isn't a pleasant +subject with so many candidates for a funeral scattered around the +front door." + +He sniffed the air, and made an exclamation of disgust: + +"They haven't even been chloride-of-limed," he said. "A lot of lazy, +untidy brutes that battalion must have been we have just relieved." + +Riley stared again into the periscope: "It's German the most of them +are, anyway," he said, "that's one consolation, although it's small +comfort to a sense of smell. I say, have a look at that man lying over +there, out to the left of the listening-post. His head is towards us, +and his hair is white as driven snow. They must be getting hard up for +men to be using up the grandfathers of that age." + +Brock examined the white head carefully. "He's a pretty old stager," he +said, "unless he's a young 'un whose hair has turned white in a night +like they do in novels; or, maybe he's a General." + +"A General!" said Riley, and stopped abruptly. "Man, now, wait a +minute. A General!" he continued musingly, and then suddenly burst into +chuckles, and nudged Brock in the ribs. "I have a great notion," he +said, "gr-r-reat notion, Brockie. What'll you bet I don't get the men +coming to us before night with a petition to be allowed to do some +digging?" + +Brock stared at him. "You're out of your senses," he said. "I'd as soon +expect them to come with a petition to be allowed to sign the pledge." + +"Well, now listen," said Riley, "and we'll try it, anyway." + +He explained swiftly, while over Brock's face a gentle smile beamed and +widened into subdued chucklings. + +"Here's Sergeant Clancy coming along the trench," said Riley. "You have +the notion now, so play up to me, and make sure Clancy hears every word +you say." + +"I want to see that General of theirs the Bosche prisoner spoke about," +said Riley, as Clancy came well within earshot. "An old man, the Bosche +said he was, with a head of hair as white and shining as a gull's +wing." + +"I'm not so interested in his shining head," said Brock, "as I am in +the shining gold he carries on him. Doesn't it seem sinful waste for +all that good money to be lying out there?" + +Out of the tail of his eye Riley saw the sergeant halt and stiffen into +an attitude of listening. He turned round. + +"Was it me you wanted to see, Clancy?" he said. + +"No, sorr--yes, sorr," said Clancy hurriedly, and then more slowly, in +neat adoption of the remarks he had just heard: "Leastways, sorr, I was +just afther wondering if you had heard anything of this tale of a +German Gineral lying out there on the ground beyanst." + +"You mean the one that was shot last week?" said Riley. + +"Him with the five thousand francs in his breeches pocket, and the +diamond-studded gold watch on his wrist?" said Brock. + +"The same, sorr, the same!" said Clancy eagerly, and with his eyes +glistening. "And have you made out which of them he is, sorr?" + +"No," said Riley shortly. "And remember, Sergeant, there are to be no +men going over the parapet this night without orders. The last +battalion in here lost a big handful of men trying to get hold of that +General, but the Germans were watching too close, and they've got a +machine-gun trained to cover him. See to it, Clancy! That's all now." + +Sergeant Clancy moved off, but he went reluctantly. + +"Why didn't you give him a bit more?" asked Brock. + +"Because I know Clancy," said Riley, whispering. "If we had said more +now, he might have suspected a plant. As it is, he's got enough to +tickle his curiosity, and you can be sure it won't be long before a +gentle pumping performance is in operation." + +Sergeant Clancy came in sight round the traverse again, moving briskly, +but obviously slowing down as he passed them, and very obviously +straining to hear anything they were saying. But they both kept silent, +and when he had disappeared round the next traverse, Riley grinned and +winked at his companion. + +"He's hooked, Brockie," he said exultantly. + +"Now you wait and--" He stopped as a rifle-man moved round the corner +and took up a position on the firing step near them. + +"I'll bet," said Riley delightedly, "Clancy has put him there to listen +to anything he can catch us saying." + +He turned to the man, who was clipping a tiny mirror on to his bayonet +and hoisting it to use as a periscope. + +"Are you on the look-out?" he asked. "And who posted you there?" + +"It was Sergeant Clancy, sir," answered the man. "He said I could hear +better--I mean, see better," he corrected himself, "from here." + +Riley abruptly turned to their own periscope and apparently resumed the +conversation. + +"I'm almost sure that's him with the white head," said Riley. "Out +there, about forty or fifty yards from the German parapet, and about a +hundred yards ten o'clock from our listening-post. Have a look." + +He handed the periscope over to Brock, and at the same time noticed how +eagerly the sentry was also having a look into his own periscope. + +"I've got him," said Brock. "Yes, I believe that's the man." + +"What makes it more certain," said Riley, "is that hen's scratch of a +trench the other battalion started to dig out to the listening-post. +They couldn't crawl out in the open to get to the General, and it's my +belief they meant to drive a sap out to the listening-post, and then +out to the General, and yank him in, so they could go through his +pockets." + +"It's a good bit of work to get at a dead man," said Brock +reflectively. + +"It is," said Riley, "but it isn't often you can drive a sap with five +thousand francs at the end of it." + +"To say nothing of a diamond-studded gold watch," said Brock. + +"Well, well," said Riley, "I suppose the Germans won't be leaving him +lying out there much longer. I hear the last battalion bagged quite a +bunch that tried to creep out at night to get him in; but I suppose our +fellows, not knowing about it, won't watch him so carefully." + +They turned the conversation to other and more casual things, and +shortly afterwards moved off. + +The first-fruits of their sowing showed within the hour, when some of +the officers were having tea together in a corner of a ruined cottage, +which had been converted into a keep. + +The servant who was preparing tea had placed a battered pot on the half +of a broken door, which served for a mess table; had laid out a loaf of +bread, tin pots of jam, a cake, and a flattened box of flattened +chocolates, and these offices having been fully performed he should +have retired. Instead, however, he fidgeted to and fro, offered to pour +the tea from the dented coffee-pot, asked if anything more was wanted, +pushed the loaf over to the Captain, apologizing at length for the +impossibility of getting a scrape of butter these days; hovered round +the table, and generally made it plain that he had something he wished +to say, or that he supposed they had something to say he wished to +hear. + +"What are you dodging about there for, man?" the Captain asked +irritably at last. "Is it anything you want?" + +"Nothing, sorr," said the man, "only I was just wondering if you had +heard annything of a Gineral with fifty thousand francs in his pocket, +lying out there beyond the trench." + +"Five thousand francs," corrected Riley gently. + +"'Twas fifty thousand I heard, sorr," said the man eagerly; "but ye +have heard, then, sorr?" + +"What's this about a General?" demanded the Captain. + +"Yes!" said Riley quickly. "What is it? We have heard nothing of the +General." + +"Ah!" said the messman, eyeing him thoughtfully, "I thought maybe ye +had heard." + +"We have heard nothing," said Riley. "What is it you are talking +about?" + +"About them fifty thousand francs, sorr," said the messman, cunningly, +"or five thousand, was it?" + +"What's this?" said the Captain, and the others making no attempt to +answer his question, left the messman to tell a voluble tale of a +German General ("though 'twas a Field-Marshal some said it was, and +others went the length of Von Kluck himself") who had been killed some +days before, and lay out in the open with five thousand, or fifty +thousand, francs in his breeches pocket, a diamond-studded gold watch +on his wrist, diamond rings on his fingers, and his breast covered with +Iron Crosses and jeweled Orders. + +That both Riley and Brock, as well as the Captain, professed their +profound ignorance of the tale only served, as they well knew, to +strengthen the Tearaways Rifles' belief in it, and after the man had +gone they imparted their plan with huge delight and joyful anticipation +to the Captain. + +When they had finished tea and left the keep to return to their own +posts, they were met by Sergeant Clancy. + +"I just wanted to speak wid you a moment, sorr," he said. "I have been +looking at that listening-post, and thinking to myself wouldn't it be +as well if we ran a sap out to it; it would save the crawling out +across the open at night, and keeping the men--and some wounded among +them maybe--cooped up the whole day." + +"There's something in that," said the Captain, pretending to reflect. +"And I see the last battalion had made something of a beginning to dig +a trench out to the post." + +"And they must have been thinking with their boots when they dug it +there," said Riley. "A trench on that side is open to enfilade fire. It +should have been dug out from the left corner of that curve instead of +the right." + +"If you would speak to the O.C. about it, sorr," said Clancy, "he might +be willing to let us dig it. The men is fresh, too, and won't harm for +a bit of exercise." + +"Very well," said the Captain carelessly, "we'll see about it +to-morrow." + +"Begging your pardon, sorr," said Clancy, "I was thinking it would be a +good night tonight, seein' there's a strong wind blowing that would +deaden the sound of the digging." + +"That's true enough," the Captain said slowly. "I think it's an +excellent idea, Clancy, and I'll speak to the O.C., and tell him you +suggested it." + +A few minutes after, an orderly brought a message that the O.C. was +coming round the trenches to see the company commanders. The company +commanders found him with rather a sharp edge to his temper, and +Captain Conroy, to whom Riley and Brock had confided the secret of +their plans, concluded the moment was not a happy one for explaining +the ruse to the O.C. He, therefore, merely took his instructions for +the detailing of a working party from his company, and the hour at +which they were to commence. + +"And remember," said the O.C. sharply, "you will stand no nonsense over +this work. If you think any man is loafing or not doing his full share, +make him a prisoner, or do anything else you think fit. I'll back you +in it, whatever it is." + +Conroy murmured a "Very good, sir," and left it at that. When he +returned to his company he made arrangements for the working party, +implying subtly to Sergeant Clancy that the trench was to be started as +the result of his, the sergeant's, arguments. + +Clancy went back to the men in high feather: + +"I suppose now," he said complacently, "there's some would be like to +laugh if they were told that a blessed sergeant could be saying where +and when he'd be having this trench or that trench dug or not dug; but +there's more ways of killing a cat than choking it with butter, and +Ould Prickles can take a hint as good as the next man when it's put to +him right." + +"Prickles," be it noted, being the fitting, if somewhat disrespectful, +name which the O.C. carried in the Rifles. + +"It's yourself has the tongue on ye," admitted Rifleman McRory +admiringly, "though I'm wonnering how'll you be schamin' to get another +trench dug from the listening-post out to the Gineral." + +"'Twill take some scheming," agreed another rifleman, "but maybe we can +get round the officer that's in the listening-post to-night to let us +drive a sap out." + +"It's not him ye'll be getting round," said McRory, "for it's the +Little Lad himself that's in it. But sure the Little Lad will be that +glad to see me offer to take a pick in my hand that I believe he'd be +willing to let me dig up his own grandfather's grave." + +"We'll find some way when the time comes, never fear," said Sergeant +Clancy, and the men willingly agreed to leave the matter in his capable +hands. + +Immediately after dark, the Little Lad, otherwise Lieutenant Riley, led +his party at a careful crawl and in wide-spaced single file out to the +listening-post, while Brock and the Captain crawled out with a couple +of men, a white tape, and a handful of pegs apiece to mark out the line +of the new trenches converging from the outside ends of the curved main +trench to the listening-post. + +When they returned and reported their job complete, the working parties +crawled cautiously out. There were plenty of flares being thrown up +from the German lines and a more or less erratic rifle fire was +crackling up and down the trenches on both sides, the Tearaways taking +care to keep their bullets clear of the working party, to fire no more +than enough to allay any German suspicions of a job being in hand, and +not to provoke any extra hostility. + +The working party crept out one by one, carrying their rifles and their +trenching tools, dropping flat and still in the long grass every time a +light flared, rising and crawling rapidly forward in the intervals of +darkness. When at last they were strung out at distances of less than a +man's length, they stealthily commenced operations. A line of filled +sandbags was handed out from the main trench and passed along the chain +of men until each had been provided with one. + +Making the sand-bag a foundation for head cover, the men began +cautiously to cut and scoop the soft ground and pile it up in front of +them. The grass was long and rank, and in the shifting light the work +went on unobserved for over an hour. The men, cramped and +uncomfortable, with every muscle aching from head to foot, worked +doggedly, knowing each five minutes' work, each handful of earth +scooped out and thrown up, meant an extra point off the odds on a +bullet reaching them when the Germans discovered their operations and +opened fire on the working party. + +They still worked only in the dark intervals between the flares, and, +of course, in as deep a silence as they possibly could. Brock and the +Captain crawled at intervals up and down the line with a word of praise +or a reproach dropped here and there as it was needed. At the end of +one trip, Brock crept into the listening-post and conversed in whispers +with Riley, his fellow-conspirator. + +"They're working like beavers," he said, "and, if the Boche doesn't +twig the game for another half-hour, we'll have enough cover scooped +out to go on without losing too many men from their fire." + +Riley chuckled. "It's working fine," he said. "I'm only hoping that +some ruffian doesn't spoil the game by crawling out and finding our +General is no more than a false alarm." + +"That would queer the pitch," agreed Brock, "but I don't fancy any one +will try it. They all know the working party is liable to be discovered +at any minute, and any one out in the open when that comes off, is +going to be in a tight corner." + +"There's a good many here," said Riley, "that would chance a few tight +corners if they knew five thousand francs was at the other side of it; +but I took the precaution to hint gently to Clancy that our machine gun +was going to keep on spraying lead round the General all night, to +discourage any private enterprise." + +"Anyhow," said Brock, "I suppose the whole regiment's in it, and +flatter themselves this trifle of digging is for the special benefit of +their pockets. But what are those fellows of ours supposed to be +digging at in the corner there!" + +"That," whispered the Little Lad, grinning, "is merely an improving of +the amenities of the listening-post and the beginning of a dugout +shelter from bombs; at least, that's Clancy's suggestion, though I have +a suspicion there will be no hurry to roof-in the dug-out and that its +back-door will travel an unusual length out." + +"Well, so long," said Brock; "I must sneak along again and have a look +at the digging." + +It was when he was half-way back to the main trench that it became +apparent the German suspicions were aroused, and that something--a +movement after a light flared, perhaps, or the line of a parapet +beginning to show above the grass--had drawn their attention to the +work. + +Light after light commenced to toss in an unbroken stream from their +parapet in the direction of the working party, and a score of bullets, +obviously aimed at them, hissed close overhead. + +"Glory be!" said Rifleman McRory, flattening himself to the ground. +"It's a good foot and a half I have of head-cover, and I'm thinking +it's soon we will be needing it, and all the rest we can get." + +The flaring lights ceased again for a moment, and the men plied their +tools in feverish haste to strengthen their scanty shelter against the +storm they knew must soon fall upon them. + +It came within a couple of minutes; again the lights streamed upward, +and flares burst and floated down in dazzling balls of fierce white +light, while the rifle-fire from the German parapet grew heavier and +heavier. Concealment was no longer possible, and the word was passed to +get along with the work in light or dark; and so, still lying flat upon +their faces, and with the bullets hissing and whistling above them, +slapping into the low parapet and into the bare ground beside them, the +working party scooped and buried and scraped, knowing that every inch +they could sink themselves or heighten their parapet added to their +chance of life. + +The work they had done gave them a certain amount of cover, at least +for the vital parts of head and shoulders, but in the next half-hour +there were many casualties, and man after man worked on with blood +oozing through the hastily-applied bandage of a first field-dressing or +crawled in under the scanty parapet and crouched there helplessly. + +It was little use at that stage trying to bring in the wounded. To do +so only meant exposing them to almost a certainty of another wound and +of further casualties amongst the stretcher-bearers. One or two men +were killed. + +Lieutenant Riley, dragging himself along the line, found Rifleman +McRory hard at work behind the shelter of a body rolled up on top of +his parapet. + +"It's killed he is," said McRory in answer to a question--"killed to +the bone. He won't be feeling any more bullets that hit him, and it's +himself would be the one to have said to use him this way." + +Riley admitted the force of the argument and crept on. Work moved +faster now that there was no need to wait for the periods between the +lights; but the German fire also grew faster, and a machine gun began +to pelt its bullets up and down the length of the growing parapet. + +By now, fortunately, the separate chain of pits dug by each man were +practically all connected up into a long, twisting, shallow trench. +Down this trench the wounded were passed, and a fresh working party +relieved the cramped and tired batch who had commenced the work. + +In the main trench men had been hard at work filling sand-bags, and now +these were passed out, dragged along from man to man, and piled up on +the parapet, doubling the security of the workers and allowing them the +greater freedom of rising to their knees to dig. + +The rifles and maxims of the Tearaways had from the main trench kept up +a steady volume of fire on the German parapet, in an endeavor to keep +down its fire. They shot from the main trench in comparative safety, +because the German fire was directed almost exclusively on the new +trench. + +Now that the new parapet had been heightened and strengthened, the +casualties behind it had almost ceased, and the Tearaways were quite +reasonably flattering themselves on the worst of the work being done +and the worst of the dangers over. It appeared to them that the trench +now provided quite sufficient shelter to fulfill both its ostensible +object of allowing relief parties to move to and from the +listening-post, and also their own private undertaking of attaining the +dead General; but the O.C. and company commanders did not look on it in +that light. + +The order was to construct a firing trench, and that meant a good deal +more work than had been done, so reliefs were kept going and the work +progressed steadily all night, a good deal of impetus being given to it +by some light German field-guns which commenced to scatter +high-explosive shrapnel over the open ground. + +The shooting, fortunately, was not very accurate, no doubt because, by +the light of the flares, it was difficult for the German observers to +direct their fire. But the hint was enough for the Tearaways, and they +knew that daybreak would bring more accurate and more constant +artillery fire upon the new position. + +The British gunners had been warned not to open fire unless called +upon, because a working party was in the open; but now the batteries +were telephoned to with a request for shrapnel on the German parapets +to keep down some of the heavy rifle fire. + +Since the gunners had already registered the target of the German +trench, their fire was just as accurate by night as it would be by day, +and shell after shell burst over the German parapet, sweeping their +trench with showers of shrapnel. + +While all this was going on the men at the listening-post had tackled +the job of driving their sap out to the German General. This work was +done in a different fashion from the digging of the new trench. + +The listening-post was merely a pit in the ground, originally a large +shell crater, and deepened and widened until it was sufficiently large +to hold half-a-dozen men. At one side of the pit the men commenced with +pick and spade to hack out an opening like a very narrow doorway. + +As the earth was broken down and shoveled back, the doorway gradually +grew to be a passage. In this two men at a time worked in turn, the one +on the right-hand side making a narrow cut that barely gave him +shoulder-play, the second man on the left working a few paces in the +rear and widening the passage. + +Necessarily it was slow work, because only these two men could reach +the face of the cut, and because it had to be of sufficient depth to +allow a man to work upright without his head showing above the ground. +But because they worked in short reliefs and put every ounce of energy +into their task, they made surprising and unusual progress. + +Lieutenant Riley, who was in command of the listening-post for that +night, left the workers to themselves, both because it was necessary +for him to keep a sharp look-out in order to give warning of any +attempt to rush the working party, and because officially he was not +supposed to know anything of any sap to an officially unrecognized dead +German General. + +When he was relieved after daybreak, Riley told the joke and explained +the position to the subaltern who took over from him, and that +subaltern in turn looked with a merely unofficial eye on the work of +the sapping party. As the day and the work went on, it was quite +obvious that a good many more men were working on the new trench than +had been told off to it. + +In the sap several fresh men were constantly awaiting their turn at the +face with pick and shovel. The diggers did no more than five minutes' +work, hacking and spading at top speed, yielding their tools to the +next comer and retiring, panting and blowing and mopping their +streaming brows. + +A fairly constant fire was maintained by the artillery on both sides, +the shells splashing and crashing on the open ground about the new +trench and the German parapet. There was little wind, and as a result +the smoke of the shell-bursts hung heavily and trailed slowly over the +open space between the trenches, veiling to some extent the sapping +operations and the new trench. On the latter a tendency was quickly +displayed to slacken work and to treat the job as being sufficiently +complete, but when it came to Lieutenant Riley's turn to take charge of +a fresh relief of workers on the new trench, he very quickly succeeded +in brisking up operations. + +Arrived at the listening-post, he found Sergeant Clancy and spoke a few +words to him. + +"Clancy," he said gently, "the work along that new trench is going a +great deal too slow." + +"'Tis hard work, sorr," replied Clancy excusingly, "and you'll be +remembering the boys have been at it all night." + +"Quite so, Clancy," said Riley smoothly, "and since it has to be dug a +good six foot deep, I am just thinking the best thing to do will be to +take this other party off the sap and turn 'em along to help on the +trench. I'm not denying, Clancy, that I've a notion what the sap is +for, although I'm supposed to know nothing of it; but I don't care if +the sap is made, and I do care that the trench is. Now do you think I +had better stop them on the sap, or can the party in the trench put a +bit more ginger into it?" + +"I'll just step along the trench again, sorr," said Clancy anxiously, +"and I don't think you'll be having need to grumble again." + +He stepped along the trench, and he left an extraordinary increase of +energy behind him as he went. + +"And what use might it be to make it any deeper?" grumbled McRory. +"Sure it's deep enough for all we need it." + +"May be," said Sergeant Clancy, with bitter sarcasm, "it's yourself +that'll just be stepping up to the Colonel and saying friendly like to +him: 'Prickles, me lad, it's deep enough we've dug to lave us get out +to our German Gineral. 'Tisn't for you we're digging this trench,' +you'll be saying, ''tis for our own pleasure entirely.' You might just +let me know what the Colonel says to that." + +"There's some talk," he said, a little further down the line, "of our +being relieved from here to-morrow afternoon. I've told you what the +Little Lad was saying about turning the sap party in to help here. It's +pretty you'd look clearing out to-morrow and leaving another battalion +to come in to take over your new trench and your new sap and your +German Gineral and the gold in his britches pocket together." And with +that parting shaft he moved on. + +For the rest of that day and all that night work moved at speed, and +when the O.C. made his tour of inspection the following morning he was +as delighted as he was amazed at the work done--and that, as he told +the Adjutant, was saying something. Up to now he had known nothing of +the sap, merely expressing satisfaction--again mingled with +amazement--when he saw the entrance to the sap, lightly roofed in with +boards for a couple of yards and shut off beyond that by a curtain of +sacking, and was told that the men were amusing themselves making a +bomb-proof dug-out. + +But on this last morning, when the sap had approached to within twenty +or thirty feet of the white head which was its objective, the Colonel's +attention was directed to the matter somewhat forcibly. He heard the +roar of exploding heavy shells, and as the "_crump, crump,_" continued +steadily, he telephoned from the headquarters dug-out in rear of the +support line to ask the forward trenches what was happening. + +While he waited an answer, a message came from the Brigade saying that +the artillery had reported heavy German shelling on a sap-head, and +demanding to know what, where, and why was the sap-head referred to. +While the Colonel was puzzling over this mysterious message and vainly +trying to recall any sap-head within his sector of line, the regimental +Padre came into the dug-out. + +"I've just come from the dressing station," he said, "and there's a boy +there, McRory, that has me fair bewildered with his ravings. He's +wounded in the head with a shrapnel splinter, and, although he seems +sane and sensible enough in other ways, he's been begging me and the +doctor not to send him back to the hospital. Did ever ye hear the like, +and him with a lump as big as the palm of my hand cut from his head to +the bare bone, and bleeding like a stuck pig in an apoplexy?" + +The Colonel looked at him vacantly, his mind between this and the other +problem of the Brigade's message. + +"And that's not all that's in it," went on the Padre. "The doctor was +telling me that there's been a round dozen of the past two days' +casualties begging that same thing--not to be sent away till we come +out of the trenches. And to beat all, McRory, when he was told he was +going just the minute the ambulance came, had a confab with the +stretcher bearers, and I heard him arguing with them about 'his share,' +and 'when they got the Gineral,' and 'my bit o' the fifty thousand +francs.' It has me beat completely." + +By now the Colonel was completely bewildered, and he began to wonder +whether he or his battalion were hopelessly mad. It was extraordinary +enough that the men should have dug so willingly and well, and without +a grumble being heard or a complaint made. + +It was still more extraordinary that more or less severely wounded men +should not be ardently desirous of the safety and comfort and feeding +of the hospitals; and on the top of all was this mysterious message of +a sap apparently being made by his men voluntarily and without any +sanction, much less the usual required pressure. + +A message came from Captain Conroy, in the forward trench, to say that +Riley was coming up to headquarters and would explain matters. + +Riley and the explanation duly arrived. "Ould Prickles," inclined at +first to be mightily wroth at the unauthorized digging of the sap, +caught a twinkle in the Padre's eye; and a modest hint from the Little +Lad reminding him of the speed and excellence of the new trenches, +construction turned the scale. He burst into a roar of laughter, and +the Padre joined him heartily, while the Little Lad stood beaming and +chuckling complacently. + +"I must tell the Brigadier this," gasped the O.C. at last. "He might +have had a cross word or two to say about a sap being dug without +orders, but, thank heaven, he's an Irishman, and a poorer joke would +excuse a worse crime with him. But I'm wondering what's going to happen +when they reach their General and find no francs, and no watch, and not +even a General; and mind you, Riley, the sap must be stopped at once. I +can't be having good men casualtied on an unofficial job. Will you see +to that right away?" + +The Little Lad's chuckling rose to open giggling. + +"It's stopped now, sir," he said--"just before I came up here. And +what's more, the General won't need explaining; the German gunners +spied our sap, and, trying to drop a heavy shell on it--well, they +dropped one on to the General. So now there isn't a General, only a +hole in the ground where he was." + +Ould Prickles' and the Padre's laughter bellowed again. + +"I must tell that to the Brigadier, too," said the O.C.; "that finish +to the joke will completely satisfy him." + +"And I must go," said the Padre, rising, "and tell McRory, though I'm +not just sure whether it will be after satisfying him quite so +completely." + + + +AT LAST + + +"WHEN WE BEGIN TO PUSH" + +"Here we are," said the Colonel, halting his horse. "Fine view one gets +from here." + +"Rather a treat to be able to see over a bit of country again, after so +many months of the flat," said, the Adjutant, reining up beside the +other. They were halted on the top of a hill, or, father, the corner of +an edge on a wide plateau. On two sides of them the ground fell away +abruptly, the road they were on dipping sharply over the edge and +sweeping round and downward in a well-graded slope along the face of +the hill to the wide flats below. Over these flats they could see for +many miles, miles of cultivated fields, of little woods, of gentle +slopes. They could count the buildings of many farms, the roofs of half +a dozen villages, the spires of twice as many churches, the tall +chimneys and gaunt frame towers of scattered pit-heads. It had been +raining all day, but now in the late afternoon the clouds had broken +and the light of the low sun was tinging the landscape with a mellow +golden glow. + +"There's going to be a beautiful sunset presently," said the Colonel, +"with all those heavy broken clouds about. Let's dismount and wait for +a bit." + +Both dismounted and handed their reins to the orderly, who, riding +behind them, had halted when they did, but now at a sign came forward. + +"We'll just stroll to that rise on the left," the Colonel said. "The +best view should be from there." + +The Adjutant lingered a moment. "Take their bits out, Trumpeter," he +said, "and let them pick a mouthful of grass along the roadside." + +A rough country track ran to the left off the main road, and the two +walked along it a couple of hundred yards to where it plunged over the +crest and ran steeply down the hillside. Another main road ran along +the flat parallel with the hill foot, and along this crawled a long +khaki column. + +"Look at the light on those hills over there," said the Colonel. "Fine, +isn't it?" + +The Adjutant was busily engaged with the field-glasses he had taken +from the case slung over his shoulder and was focusing them on the road +below. + +"I say," he remarked suddenly, "those are the Canadians. I didn't know +the ----th Division was so far south. Moving up front, too." The +Colonel dropped his gaze to the road a moment and then swept it slowly +over the country-side. "Yes," he said, "and this area is pretty well +crowded with troops when you look closely." + +The light on the distant hills was growing more golden and beautiful, +the clouds were beginning to catch the first tints of the sunset, but +neither men for the moment noticed these things, searching with their +gaze the landscape below, sifting it over and picking out a battery of +artillery camped in a big chalk-pit by the roadside, the slow-rising +and drifting columns of blue smoke that curled up from a distant wood +and told of the regiment encamped there, the long strings of horses +converging on a big mine building for the afternoon watering, the lines +of transport wagons parked on the outskirts of a village, the shifting +khaki figures that stirred about every farm building in sight, the row +of gray-painted motor-omnibuses, drawn up in a long line on a side +road. The countryside that under a first look slept peacefully in the +afternoon sunlight, that drowsed calmly in the easy quiet of an +uneventful field and farm existence, proved under the closer searching +look to be a teeming hive of activity, a close-packed camp of +well-armed fighting men, a widespread net and chain of men and guns and +horses. The peaceful countryside was overflowing with men and bristling +with bayonets; every village was a crammed-full military cantonment, +every barn stuffed with soldiers like an overfilled barracks. + +The Adjutant whistled softly. "This," he said, and nodded again and +again to the plain below, "this looks like business--at last." + +"Yes," said the Colonel, "at last. It's going to be a very different +story this time, when we begin to push things." + +"Hark at the guns," said the Adjutant, and both stood silent a moment +listening to the long, deep, rolling thunder that boomed steady and +unbroken as surf on a distant beach. "And they're our guns too, +mostly," went on the Adjutant. "I suppose we're firing more shells in +an ordinary trench-war-routine day now than we dared fire in a month +this time last year. Last year we were short of shells, the year before +we were short of guns and shells and men. Now hear the guns and look +down there at a few of the men." + +Through the still air rose from below them the shrill crow of a +farmyard rooster, the placid mooing of a cow, the calls and laughter of +some romping children. + +But the two on the hillside had no ear for these sounds of peace. They +heard only that distant sullen boom of the rumbling guns, the throbbing +foot-beats of the marching battalions below them, the plop-plopping +hoofs and rattling wheels of wagons passing on their way up to the +firing line with food for the guns. + +"Our turn coming," said the Adjutant--"at last." + +"Yes," the Colonel said, and repeated grimly--"at last." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Action Front, by Boyd Cable (Ernest Andrew Ewart) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACTION FRONT *** + +***** This file should be named 11349.txt or 11349.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/4/11349/ + +Produced by Edward Johnson and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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