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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/26548-8.txt b/26548-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..11db0b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/26548-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5621 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale of a Trooper, by Clutha N. Mackenzie + +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: The Tale of a Trooper + +Author: Clutha N. Mackenzie + +Release Date: September 6, 2008 [EBook #26548] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF A TROOPER *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +ON ACTIVE SERVICE SERIES + + + + + +THE TALE OF A TROOPER + + +BY CLUTHA N. MACKENZIE + +TROOPER, WELLINGTON MOUNTED RIFLES, N.Z.E.F. + + + + +LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD + +NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY + +MCMXXI + + + + +_Printed in Great Britain by Ebenezer Baylis & Son,_ + +_Trinity Works, Worcester._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. + + I MAC BECOMES A TROOPER + II MAC EMBARKS FOR OVERSEAS + III SORROWS AND JOYS IN A TROOPSHIP + IV LAZY SHIPBOARD LIFE + V ASHORE AGAIN + VI DAYS IN THE DESERT + VII MAC GOES TO CAIRO + VIII MAC TOURS IN COMFORT + IX MAC LUNCHES WITH THE SULTAN + X MAC DISAPPROVES OF BEING LEFT + XI MAC LEAVES FOR ACTIVE SERVICE + XII GALLIPOLI AT LAST + XIII MAC JOINS IN THE WAR + XIV A WEARY DAY + XV MAC IS SLEEPY + XVI VARIOUS MISFORTUNES + XVII AN OUTPOST AFFAIR + XVIII SUMMER DRAGS ON + XIX MAC TAKES A CHANGE + XX ANZAC AWAKES + XXI NO. 3, TABLE TOP AND SUVLA BAY + XXII THE NIGHT BATTLE ON CHANAK BAIR + XXIII MAC IS WOUNDED + XXIV THE END OF MAC'S CAMPAIGNING DAYS + XXV HOMEWARD + + + + +THE TALE OF A TROOPER + + +CHAPTER I + +MAC BECOMES A TROOPER + +A winter storm raged across the ridges and tore in violent gusts down +the gullies, carrying great squalls of fleecy snow. The wind swept the +flakes horizontally through the gap where the station track ran an +irregular course through the bush; and, though but a short hour had +passed since the ominous mass of black cloud had swept over the early +morning sky, the ground was already thickly powdered. + +A ramshackle hut stood beside the track where it entered the bush, and +in a rough lean-to, where firewood, tools and saddlery were piled more +or less indiscriminately, two unkempt station ponies, saddled and +bridled, stood in somnolent attitudes. Huddled hens sheltered from the +searching blasts, which swept in eddies of snow, ruffling the feathers +of the hens and driving the tails of the horses between their legs. + +Charley and Mac had come thus far on their way out to have a look at +the stock in the big paddocks higher in the hills, before the +thickening snow had made purposeless their going further. So they had +dropped in to see old George, the rouseabout, and have a yarn with him, +or, if there were no signs of the weather clearing, to consider the +question of work in the wool-shed. + +"Hullo, boys!" mumbled George. "I reckon as thar' ain't no use us +gittin' art jist now. I thinks the fire's the best place ter day. +Squat yerself in that thar cheer, Mac, me boy. Jinny! get some tea," +he roared hospitably through the wall towards the wee kitchen where his +hard-working little wife was making bread for her large family of +children who were away at school. "And I'll give yer a toon on the +grammephone." + +Nothing averse, the two stockmen settled down before the big log fire +in George's den, aromatically smoky from firewood and tobacco, with its +walls papered from odd paperhangers' samples and prints from Victorian +journals, and with domestic odds and ends lying here and there. The +good lady speedily produced the tea and added cakes and scones, while +George brought into action his cheap American machine and its hoary old +records; vague, scratching echoes here in the depths of the bush of the +gay sparkling life of Piccadilly and Leicester Square by night, +laughing theatre crowds and wonderful women--a life worlds away from +George and his rough, but hospitable hearth. He laughed where +sometimes there were jokes, more frequently where there were not, and +the other two laughed good-naturedly in concert, for the machine +scratched so badly that they could not distinguish a word, though +George, remembering them in the freshness of their youth, was blind to +their growing infirmities. If the two laughed heartily, or expressed +in words the good qualities of a record, those, in addition to George's +particular cronies, were given a second or a third run. + +They grew rather tired of this entertainment, and turned their +attention to the domestic bookshelf and the family treasures which +adorned the walls and the mantelpiece. In a glass frame was an army +biscuit of army hardness on which Mrs. George's brother had written a +letter on a distant Christmas Day in South Africa and had posted to +her. They deserted other relics for a large book of Boer War pictures, +whose leaves they turned together, while the old gramophone ran +unfalteringly onwards through its extensive repertoire. + +"Those times must have been great," said Charley. + +"Don't those chaps look as if they're enjoying themselves?" + +"Not half. Cripes! I wish I had been there." + +"Why in the devil didn't that bloomin' war come in our time?" + + * * * * * + +"Not our luck. You know, Mac, if we'd been the same age we're now, +we'd have been there." + +Another month passed on that station, and the two stockmen, alone on +their beats, rode day after day across the wild ranges and down in the +ravines. Along the whole of the east ran a range of mountains, more +than a hundred miles of them, their lower slopes clothed in heavy bush, +and their serrated summits deep in winter snow. Standing in the north, +grand and solitary, was the massive blue-white shape of old Ruapehu, +his fires quenched these many years, and, near him, the active cone of +Ngaruahoe, whose angry, ominous smoke-clouds rained ashes sometimes on +the surrounding country, but more often his wisp of yellowy-white smoke +trailed lazily to leeward, or mounted heavenwards in cumulous shape. +Occasionally, on his rounds, Mac dismounted on the summit of a ridge, +threw the rein over a stump and settled down for a smoke, his back +against a log, his dogs at his feet, a wild ravine below him, then +ridge after ridge, bush-topped or strewn with charred trunks and +rotting stumps, and, away beyond, the two great snow volcanoes. They +were his friends, and, of all times, he loved most these moments spent +in contemplation of those grim reminders of the strength of Nature, of +the untamed fires which burnt beneath and of the smallness of man. He +revelled in the changing colour tones of the rugged ice cliffs, of the +mountain mists and of the rolling deliberate smoke-cloud. Grand, too, +was the space of it all, wonderful the air, and here, high on this +ridge, human selfishness scarce seemed to be of this world. Sometimes, +when he had been out here ready to start mustering at dawn, he had +watched the first glow of coming daylight on the summit of Ruapehu, and +again, at the end of a long summer day when the smoke of many +bush-fires was in the air, he had watched for an hour or more the +delicate lilacs, the greens and blues, reds and golds, the shadows +deepening beneath the buttresses, and the slow melting of the last warm +glow into the cold steely colour of night. + +He knew of no happier life than this of his--dodging along most days on +his station pony with his dogs following; always on the alert to +discover anything amiss with an odd sheep or a cattle-beast; sometimes +working with the sheep in the yards, dipping, crutching and such like, +or going off on jaunts to neighbouring stations or distant townships. +It was a life where there was opportunity for the whole of a man's +skill and wit, and where monotony and loneliness were not. After the +day's work he and Charley took turns in cooking the dinner, while the +other went for the mail. The several-day-old paper lost nothing by its +age. The meal finished, they smoked and read the news, had a game of +cards, perhaps, with some one who had ridden over, and turned into bunk +for sleep that was never sounder. + +Thus dawned the early days of August with Mac and Charley. There had +been Balkan rumblings, which, it hardly seemed possible, could echo in +these distant hills, but speedily the shadow on Europe darkened, and +they rode out to the cross-road to get the mail as soon as the coach +arrived. And then, through the long spun-out wire which connected many +scattered homesteads with the outer world, came the great news--War +with Germany. + +Mac and Charley piled up the great logs that night and sat before the +glowing timber until five in the morning, talking over the +probabilities and the possibilities of the moment. Already the old +station life seemed behind them. What mattered it if the sheep got on +their backs or the cattle broke their silly necks? And of the future +they had a vague apprehension--a terrible sinking that there might not +be a military force required from New Zealand, and, if there was one +formed, it was scarcely likely to reach Europe before the war was over. +That the Dominion would wish to send a force, they never doubted, but +whether England would want it was another question. + +They drew out their military kits from beneath their bunks, emptied +their contents on the floor and investigated them keenly with an +increased interest. They donned the tunics. Charley's body was +shortly garbed as that of a lieutenant of the West Coast Infantry +Regiment, but the rest of his figure was not in keeping with his wild +red hair, his bristly jowls awaiting the week-end shave, his open shirt +and his rough working trousers. Mac was in the Manawatu Mounted +Rifles, but had not risen above the humble, though estimable rank of +trooper, and his tunic fell far short of covering his lengthy arms. +Between bursts of laughter, they chatted away on these eccentricities, +and inspected the rest of the garments with a critical eye, commented +on their fitness for the field, and hung them finally on nails in the +wall. Regretfully they turned into bunk, and sank into sleep too deep +for dreaming. + +The next day Mac came across George at work on a break in a fence. + +"Good mornin', Mac, me boy. How's things? This 'ere slip do be a fair +devil." + +"Oh, stock's all right. What d'you think of what's happening?" + +"Aw, yer mean this 'ere row in Yourope? It's a bit of a business, +ain't it?" George was contemplatively filling his well-seasoned +cherry, and spoke of Europe as a sort of detached planet, and of its +concerns as far from likely to set going eddies in these wild hills. +"I reckon as they'll 'ave a bit of a go. Wot d'you think?" + +"I'm off to it, George, by the first bloomin' boat that goes." + +"Haw! Haw! Haw!" roared the old boy, throwing his head back, and +swaying with the fullness of his mirth. "What an 'ell of a joke." +Mac, too, chuckled as he sat in the saddle. + +"True, dink, George, I'm going." + +"Go on! Yer can't kid me that. Why the bloomin' thing's in Yourope, +an' it'll be all over in a couple o' shakes." + +"Never mind. I'm off. And so's Charley." + +But George was not to be persuaded, and Mac left him still enjoying the +joke. + +That night a distant voice on the telephone said it was probable that +an overseas force would be despatched as soon as possible, and inquired +if they would willingly volunteer. + +"You bet your boots!" Mac shouted down the line. + +"Good," said the voice. "The whole Regiment has so far volunteered." + +Three or four days passed wearily by, for all interest had gone out of +the old life and they were restless for the new. Disturbing rumours +came vaguely from without of an overseas force ready and about to sail, +and Charley and Mac unanimously decided that they were too far from the +centre of things, and that they must proceed closer to civilization +without delay. Finishing the day's work, they went through the +Saturday overhaul and made themselves presentable in public, saddled +the horses, and, in the refreshing spring evening, rode away down the +narrow winding road through glades of bush and lonely valleys to the +railway line. There they stayed at a neighbouring homestead, gathering +round a great, crackling log-fire to talk over the wonderful days ahead. + +Early in the morning they were again on the road for a small country +town where lived Mac's Colonel. Pleasant indeed were those hours, +riding ever over the glorious hills and down in the valleys, and as +they rode along the world seemed a wonderful place. + +The Colonel met Mac's anxious inquiries, as to whether there was any +chance of his getting away, with a cheery laugh. + +"No doubt about it, my boy. You'll be all right." + +But he was not able to relieve Charley's anxiety as to what was taking +place in infantry regiments. He told them of the Advance Guard which +lay at anchor in Port Nicholson awaiting orders to sail at any moment +for an unknown destination, but said it was no use trying to get away +with it, as it was composed only of infantry regiments from the cities. + +It was well towards midnight when they returned, Mac in absolute peace +of mind, but Charley still unsettled. His headquarters were a hundred +miles away, and their sport of a host spent the following day running +them down in his car, so that Charley might have final satisfaction, +and that night, as the car spun homeward hour after hour through the +darkness, there was no marring thought in the minds of the two would-be +campaigners. + +Mac seized two hours' sleep on a sofa, and then crept away into the +night to catch a mail train which, rumbling northwards through the +hills in the small hours, sometimes stopped near here to water. Late +the next afternoon he acquainted his relatives of his intentions, spent +a day or two with them, wished them a cheery farewell, and early the +next Sunday, ere the morning mists in the gullies had fled before the +first rays, he was again riding up the hill to the old homestead. He +slung his civilian clothes into his tin box, cast his eye rather +sorrowfully over his agricultural books as he stowed them away in a +kerosene case, and regarded his bare walls whimsically as he removed +from them his few precious photos and one or two quaint sketches. He +wondered vaguely while he donned his khaki breeches and puttees what +strange lands he might wander in, what queer beds might be his, and +what great adventures he might have ere he would again take that mufti +from the tin trunk. And would this fine old station life ever be his +again? In the evening he rode to neighbouring homesteads to bid +farewell to many whose homes had been his, and whose thoughts would go +with him on his unknown travels. Finally he parted with his dogs. + +The next morning, no longer a stockman, but a soldier of the King, he +turned his back on the station, a home of pleasant memories, and +travelled slowly the long road to the camp. His mare had come straight +from a long spell of grass, and it was late in the afternoon of the +following day before he dismounted finally in his squadron lines. Here +already, in the middle days of August, were several thousand splendid +men--a battalion of infantry, a regiment of mounted rifles, a battery +of artillery, medical corps, engineers, signallers and service corps; +fine men all, accustomed to life in the open, strong of build, active +of movement and infinitely amused with everything around--splendid +comrades with whom to embark on a campaign. + +Mac made his way to his tent, where he was straightway at home with +mates of previous camps and station days. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MAC EMBARKS FOR OVERSEAS + +Six weeks dragged slowly by. A few days after they came into camp, +there were ten great transports ready to take overseas the +Expeditionary Force of 8,500 men, horses, guns, limbers and stores, and +always there had been orders to be ready for instant embarkation and +that the probable date of departure was a week ahead. Constantly that +day was put off, and again put off, delay followed delay, while the men +speculated on the cause, condemned the authorities and blasphemed +generally. The War would be over before they could get anywhere near +the front, and they chafed vainly. The troopships lay in the harbours, +the men were ready in camp, why not embark? + +With the exception of this uneasiness of mind, nothing spoilt the full +enjoyment of the spring days. All day the sun shone bright and strong +from a blue sky, the warmth tempered by pleasant breezes from the sea +or the mountains, and at night the stars stood out brilliantly in the +great dome above. Used to many camps in the past, accustomed also to +cooking and to battling generally for themselves, they were as much at +home as ever they were in the lines of white tents, and for most of +them these were lazy holidays after the hard life of the bush and the +sheep-runs. The army was generous in its supply of food, and much good +butter, jam, meat and bread, which would have been luxuries indeed in +the months to come, went to waste in Awapuni incinerators. And day +after day came cars from towns and farms and stations within two +hundred miles, bringing tuck-box after tuck-box containing the choicest +products of the home larders. + +The red sun, lifting above the eastern hills, found long irregular +lines of horses straggling across dewy fields to water at the rushing +streams of the Manawatu River. On one bare-backed horse of every four +sat a trooper, clad sketchily in shirt and breeches tugged on hastily, +as a sergeant had called the roll. They played the fool as they +passed, laughing and chattering, losing their horses in their madness, +all making thorough nuisances of themselves and all atune with the +fresh glory of the dawn. Usually, during the day, in independent +troops of thirty or forty men, they wandered about the district, among +the pleasant suburban homes of Palmerston, along shady country roads or +up into the hills. They walked or cantered for an hour or so, and +then, selecting a likely-looking homestead, they would unsaddle and +unbridle their mounts and leave them to graze the succulent grass at +the sides of the road, or roll if they wished, while a man was put at +both ends of that stretch of road to prevent their straying. Then the +others would lie in the shade or sun themselves on the bank opposite +the homestead, sleeping, smoking, reading or playing cards. Scarcely +ever did the oracle fail to work. The door of the house would open and +a fair maid appear, anon, a mother and a sister. The first would come +tripping down the path to the soldiers and inquire: + +"Mother says would you like some tea?" + +"Well," they would reply, "it wouldn't be a bad idea, would it? But, I +say, wouldn't it be a lot of trouble?" + +"Oh, not at all." + +And she would skip away back to the house to the innards of which, +mother and sister, regarding the preamble as a mere formality, had +disappeared to get things under way. A brief interval was followed by +the appearance of large trays of cups, the whole of the household +crockery from the drawing-room, breakfast-room and kitchen, with scones +and cakes, and all the luxuries of the storeroom, and, perhaps, apples +from the barn. The good family, as is only in keeping with proper +hospitality, would join in the feast; and the disappearance of two or +three cheery troopers into the house to assist in washing up would end +one of those irresponsible, warm-hearted little scenes which were so +many in those far-away days of August '14. Another hour or so on the +march in the middle afternoon, and they would return to camp, to +"stables" and evening. Palmerston normally was never anything else +than a quiet country town of sober habits and eminent respectability, +but now the echoing emptiness of her streets was gone, the lights shone +brilliantly across the Square, the air was full of the murmur of the +crowd, the tread of heavy boots, the tinkling of spurs and glasses and +the laughter of merry parties. Perspiring waiters and flustered +waitresses fed the hordes in the hotels, while the baths worked +overtime. The road to the camp lay like a searchlight beam across the +landscape--the cloud of never-resting dust lit by the strong headlights +of a thousand taxis which careered along the rough road, careless of +life or of their own future. Happy and weary, the men came streaming +back to camp, entering by the front if before "Lights Out," through the +pine plantations if after. + +At length embarkation orders became concrete and remained so. + +The camp buzzed with excitement, and, when night came, all were busy +getting the gear ready. No one slept, and, in the dark, silent hours +before the dawn, the camp was struck. The neat lines of tents became +merely small bundles and odd poles, while hundreds of figures passed +hither and thither amid blazing fires of straw. In the early light the +Regiment moved away from the pleasant camp of Awapuni, the first of +many such abodes. In the middle of the morning, struggling engines +creaked away with the long lines of horse-trucks and carriages of rowdy +troopers who cheered wildly as they set out at last upon their +adventures. They crawled along the low country of the Manawatu, then +along the rough cliffs above the sea, over the hills, and at length +down the rocky gorge to Wellington. The troops detrained, watered and +fed the horses, hung about for a while, and eventually led the horses +to the wharves. Four great grey transports lay alongside, and the sun +shone down hotly on a scene of seething activity, a crowd of troops +working with the energy of enthusiasm, long strings of horses filing up +huge gangways and disappearing into lines of horse-boxes around the +bulwarks, or swinging aloft singly by cranes to be lowered swiftly into +the black depths of holds. + +Mac led his terrified mare up the steep gangway and down into a hold +where he left her with regret. Mac's squadron was to embark on another +ship, except some men who were to look after the horses. This +transport lay at Lyttleton. So Mac and his cobbers had a few hours' +leave pending the departure of the southward ferry steamer at eight +o'clock, and they, in the meantime, went up the town to have a good +time and to turn out old friends. They did not waste these few short +hours, the streets rang with their enthusiasm, and the departing +steamer took away from the pier a singing, rollicking crowd of happy +warriors. Mac slept soundly on a table, and awoke in the morning to +find the vessel was berthing at Lyttleton. + +Disembarking, they filed round the wharves to where two troopships lay +opposite each other, and embarked again on H.M.N.Z.T. No. 4, the S.S. +_Tahiti_. Mac grabbed what looked about the best bunk in the murky +depths of the 'tween decks which was the Squadron's alloted space, and +wrote his name in several places on the boards. The lucky ones got +breakfast during the forenoon, those who were lazy dodged fatigues and +slept in out-of-the-way corners in the sun, and so Mac and his cobber +Bill might have been found comfortably dozing on a great pile of onions +on the aft boat deck. They found such seclusion most satisfactory on +these turbulent days of movement, except for occasional visits to see +that no blighted trooper was trying to beat a fellow for his "possie" +in the hold. Trains kept rumbling out of the tunnel beneath the great +hills, bringing more troops, horses and stores, and all the afternoon +the gangways were crowded with these coming on board. By four, +embarkation was complete and a throng of people who had massed behind a +barrier to see the last of the troops, flooded on to the wharf. + +Secrecy had been strictly kept as to the time of departure, and so the +public were few to what there might have been. Pretty girls were +wildly enthusiastic and were not particular as to how many troopers +they fondly took farewell of, women smiled and laughed, though there +were often tears in their eyes, and the men were laboriously humorous. +A band played airs which the bandmaster considered suitable to the +occasion, the troops, swarming on the railings and the rigging, sang +lustily snatches of song; and finally, amidst the fortissimo strains of +the National Anthem, a wild holloing from every one, and a bellowing of +fog-horns, the ships drew slowly away from the wharf. They manoeuvred +awkwardly out through the moles, while the throng on shore became but +one black shape beneath a sea of fluttering handkerchiefs. + +That night the two ships steamed slowly to the north. Mac landed +horse-picket, and for four hours he paced a length of the boat-deck up +and down past fifty horses' heads, while the wind howled mournfully in +the rigging and the ship swayed easily to the swell. Morning broke, +with a dull sky, a dull sea and many miserable troopers. Towards +midday they were joined by two vessels from the south with the Otago +troops, and in the middle of the afternoon the whole four hove to in +Cook Strait, awaiting the four transports from Wellington. But +contrary orders came, and so, entering Wellington Harbour, they dropped +anchor towards evening. A gale came down in gusts from the hills +around, bringing furious squalls of rain; and Mac, in heavy oilskins, +again paced the boat-deck. Dawn broke grey and drear, and the troops +were in the depths of depression. It was not the ill weather which +distressed them, but at the eleventh hour, in the middle of the night, +a picket boat had brought unwelcome despatches and now all hope was +gone, all faith lost. "Owing to unforeseen circumstances, the +transports will not at present sail, and orders for disembarkation will +be issued in due course." So ran the death sentence. + +Most of the infantry remained on the transports, but the other branches +of the service mournfully disembarked and trekked to the few more or +less level places amid Wellington's hills, where they pitched camps. +The Wellington Mounteds found a home on Trentham racecourse, and passed +a fortnight there, riding along the valley roads and manoeuvring over +the steep hills. It was not so bad either, for day after day passed +with glorious sunshine and cooling breeze, and the city was in reach by +a weary train. There was a grand review which no one particularly +enjoyed, and Mac least of all, for he had an attack of influenza. All +the long day he rode with a dizzy, aching head; and one of Wellington's +very own tearing gales, which whirled upwards great clouds of yellow +dust, served not at all to cool his heated brow. And when, late at +night, he spread out his straw and lay down, the long day seemed to +have been a vague, bad dream. But the fever had gone when morning +came, which proves that there are more ways than one of curing +influenza. + +He had cut short the career of the same disease at Awapuni Camp when +out on an extensive movement one night near Feilding. His officer had +given him a goodly nip of strong Scotch whisky and had advised him to +remain at the first bivouac, but Mac thought that influenza was as bad +at one place as at another. So he successfully guarded a road all +night, his horse picketed to a fence, and himself in a greatcoat +stretched asleep in the middle of the road. + +Once again, the bright stars long before dawn looked down upon the +bustle of a breaking camp, looked down upon the flaring piles of +burning straw, the collapsing tents and the happy laughing throng of +busy troopers. Early in the dewy morning they clattered out of the +race-course gates and away down the winding road in the valley bottom. +Afternoon found them skirting the harbour beneath the great rocky +escarpments of Wellington's hills, and from here Mac espied a sight +which gladdened his soul and he lost no time in communicating his +discovery to Bill and the others. Across a distant neck of land at the +far side of the harbour, he had seen the tall tapering masts of two +men-of-war, moving rapidly, and two murky streaks of smoke. This +looked like business. + +In an hour two great cruisers rounded the far point, and the boys +welcomed them warmly as a sort of guarantee that there would be no +humbug about this embarkation. Again came the animated scene as they +shipped their horses, again a last night to roam streets, which echoed +with mirth far into the night, and again the crowded piers aflutter +with handkerchiefs, drawing away in the distance. The _Tahiti_ passed +close astern of the two cruisers, the Japanese _Ibuki_ and the British +_Minotaur_, and cheered their crews lustily as they came abeam. The +whole fleet anchored in the stream. All night long the Morse lamps +winked at the mastheads, the ships' lights twinkled on the water in +long twisting lines, and the great glow of a million lamps of the city +lit with fire the waters of the harbour, and the huge hills stood out +black against the sky. + +A day of squalls followed, and dragged slowly by. Why were the anchors +not weighed? Pessimists said they might never leave, and all eagerly +watched the warships for any signs of going to sea--an increasing +volume of smoke from the funnels, activity on the bridge or more than +an ordinary display of signal flags. But there was nothing to bring +lasting satisfaction and the grey day ended with a colourless sunset. +Towards midnight a tender bumped alongside, men shouted in the dark and +packages were dropped with thuds upon the deck above. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +SORROWS AND JOYS IN A TROOPSHIP + +Mac dragged himself regretfully out of his bunk when a mournful +"reveille" had finished echoing along the decks, and went above to see +what might be doing. They were off, or, at least, they soon would be. +Already the cruisers were coming steadily down the harbour, some +transports had weighed, and were awkwardly pulling their heads round to +seaward, others sent clouds of steam rumbling in a deafening roar from +their safety-valves. The cruisers passed, and each transport followed +in her appointed place. + +Everyone neglected the work of the moment in that hour of putting to +sea, and Mac, perched high on the roof of the wireless cabin, watched +it with as much pride and rapture as might an emperor reviewing the +grandest of fleets. In single line-ahead, the fourteen great grey +ships, their smoke trailing away over the port quarter before a fresh +wind, passed down the wild rocky gap of the entrance. The grey seas +rolled in a long swell, grey, flying clouds hid the eastern mountain +tops. The passengers of an in-bound steamer had hurried on deck, clad +lightly against the chill wind, sent a faint cheer to each passing ship. + +Hundreds of people waved vigorously from the western shore, having come +far to see the last of the adventurers, and the garrisons of the forts +looked like silhouetted maniacs above the fortress mounds. They, too, +faded in the distance, and at length the reefs with their white surge, +and Pencarrow Light high on the cliffs above the poor rusty remnants of +a wreck, were far astern. The leading vessels had lifted their bows +westward through the Strait, and each following ship was in turn +changing course. At sea at last, Mac left his perch, and departed +below to his work, a shower-bath and breakfast. + +Later in the morning the weather cleared, the cliffs, the hills and the +snowy mountains were glorious in the sunshine, and the troops basked at +full length on deck while distant points took form far ahead, came on +the beam and passed astern. Once through the Strait, the fleet took up +its regular formation, the ten transports in two lines of five, with +the two large cruisers ahead and the two small ones astern. Late at +night, the Farewell Light passed into the blackness, and when dawn +broke again, grey, chill and wet, no land was visible behind the +reeling stern. + +For five or six days--Mac lost count--the transports rolled and creaked +and swayed up the grey, lumpy swell, lurched over the crests and +plunged away down into the troughs. The spray lifted over the bows and +swept along the decks, the wind howled dismally through the rigging, +and the ship was wet and comfortless. All was grey--the ships, the +sky, the sea and the long trails of smoke fleeing away to leeward. Mac +had found a good job on board, together with Joe of the Canterbury +Squadron and Jock of his own squadron, in charge of the fodder. Both +were from the sheep country and real fine fellows, though Joe had had a +college education, while Jock claimed only to have been dragged up in +the bush. Three times a day, about an hour before their own meals, +they weighed out for the horses the rations of chaff, oats, hay, +linseed and so forth, and issued them to fatigues from the troops, the +service corps and the mounted machine-gunners, who came slipping and +sliding along the deck in heavy gum-boots. + +The second-class dining saloon of peace days had descended to becoming +a fodder room for the horses, and outside its door gathered the boys +clamouring for their loads, laughing and swearing and generally +hindering Mac and his cobbers at their work. Everything had gone like +clockwork in port, but, for the first few days at sea, these practical +sons of the bush and the sheep-stations were for the moment put out of +their stride. Hefty men lay huddled helplessly on their bunks and +others moped about searching for the drier, warmer corners. But the +horses had to be fed, though many of them, too, hung their heads in the +deepest dejection. The men who were not seasick turned to with a will, +and many who were went to work with bold hearts, though feeling too +utterly miserable for description when down below on the stuffy, +reeling horse-decks. + +Mac, in the foolishness of his abandonment, had flung himself at the +first spasm of seasickness on to the top of some of his bales of hay; +the sweet fragrance of the hay aggravated the evil effects of the +rolling, and three days passed like an interminable nightmare. +Sometimes the bales and bags slid about the place with the rolling of +the ship, occasionally he made weak though desperate attempts to help +Joe and Jock who struggled on nobly; but eventually Mac managed to drag +himself and two blankets to the top of the horse-boxes high on the +boat-deck. There lay rows of men like corpses in their blankets, with +pinched white faces peeping out, which smiled pathetically with the +bashfulness of returning spirits. + +All were on their feet again by dawn of the sixth day, and in odd +moments between work peered over the side to catch a glimpse of the low +dim line of the Tasmanian coast. They kept along the land for a few +hours, and then, forming single line-ahead, steamed slowly up the +beautiful sunny waters of the Derwent, with white curving beaches and +bush-clad hills on either side. Five ships berthed at once for fresh +water. In the afternoon the troops were marched through the town, and +the people cheered heartily and hurried in great excitement to see +them, bringing cake and fruit and beer. Some of the boys, keen on +adventure, slipped quietly out of the ranks and down side streets, and +in the evening other hard cases garbed themselves as stokers, walked +boldly past the guard and spent the merriest of evenings in Hobart, to +return, perhaps, to a term of C.B. which the holiday was well worth. +The other five vessels watered in the morning, and by evening the fleet +was again at sea, steaming slowly southwards in a fog towards the +southern point of Tasmania. In Morse code each ship in turn mournfully +wailed her number, and endeavoured to keep station in the thick pall. + +For day after day they swung over the long seas which always sweep +across the Australian Bight, but the troops ran about the ships as if +they had never been anywhere else, and the horses stamped and whinnied +unanimously when the boys stood ready to feed, and looked eagerly for +more than the martinet of a Vet would allow. + +The Vet was a brusque man whose job was to look after the horses and +not to concern himself with the fine points of military lore, +distinctions of rank, or the airs of those officers who thought +themselves not made of ordinary clay. He was impatient with people who +were incompetent or who hindered him in his work. So on the occasions +when Captain O'Grady violated the sanctity of the fodder-room by +stowing there some of his infantry equipment, the Vet would angrily +demand: + +"Mac! What's that blanky stuff doing there? Is that some more of +O'Grady's blanky rubbish?" + +"Yes. He said you said he----" + +"I don't care a blank what he said. Heave his blanky stuff out of +here. O'Grady and his blanky stuff can go to hell. Next time he tries +to bring his rubbish in here you tell him to get to blanky blazes with +it! See?" + +"Righto! I'll do that." + +Mac was not soaked in military etiquette, but he rather hesitated, when +the Captain-Quartermaster brought some gear to stow, to instruct him to +go to blanky hell with his blanky, etc., etc. However, as soon as +Captain O'Grady had disappeared he and Joe shoved his gear out on the +wet deck and the Quartermaster constantly finding it there decided to +seek other havens. + +"I'll teach that blanky infantryman to stow his blanky stuff here," +rumbled the Vet with satisfaction when there were no more signs of +alien goods lumbering the fodder-room. + +The first burial of a member of the force took place one stormy day in +the Australian Bight. He had died the night before on the Ruapehu. In +the middle of the afternoon the whole fleet lay to for ten minutes, the +troops standing to attention on every ship. The vessels rolled heavily +to the rushing silent seas, the troops with grim faces swayed in their +long lines on the careening decks. There was no colour to the scene +but grey. The greyness, the vast space, the haunting notes of the +"Last Post" echoing along the troopdecks, the lonely body deserted on +the wide sea, left a deep impression on those light-hearted +adventurers. Death! And to be buried here in a lonely ocean grave! +Mac wondered how many of these 8,500 men would see New Zealand's shores +again, and how many would lie in foreign lands. But such speculations +did not trouble him for long. "Carry On" sounded briskly, and Mac +returned to his work in the fodder-room. + +Like many others of that light-hearted crew, Mac had really not +embarked upon these adventures on account of the "ruthless violation of +the rights of small nations," with the desire "to crush once and for +all the Prussian military despotism," and so forth. Had he given the +question deep thought he might possibly have welcomed these reasons as +additional charms; though the fact was that he had never worried much +concerning why he had come. War, bloody war, romantic, glorious war +raging in the Old World, and he obeyed the irresistible desire to join +in it. + +The whole atmosphere of the life appealed to him, the uncertainty of +the future, the unknown destination, the company of all the boys, and +the free, fresh life. + +More than a week passed and then one morning against the pale blue of +the dawn sky showed low dim outlines of deeper blue, and towards midday +the fleet entered the wide waters of King George's Sound and cast +anchor with the _Tahiti_ nearest the sea. On the upper reaches of the +Sound lay a great fleet of thirty or forty large vessels--the +Australian fleet. Mac had not previously known that they were to fall +in with them here. For four days they lay at anchor swinging to the +tide, in the entrance, lonely and unvisited, while the eager, +bare-footed, bare-legged and bare-chested men gazed longingly at the +distant port and tried to persuade themselves that the vessel must go +up there for coal and water. Several times the life-boat crews lowered +the boats and raced clumsily with each other; and once the troops +polished and cleaned all the morning for an inspection by the G.O.C. +which never came off. Otherwise they drilled at odd times, groomed, +fed and exercised the horses and basked in the sun. Rumours were +unusually active, and the question of destination was fiercely +argued--South-West Africa, India for garrison duty, or France by the +Cape or Suez. The course the fleet set after leaving the Sound would +partly decide the question. + +The first daylight of Sunday, November 1st--a dawn of rare perfection, +with the spacious Sound unruffled by any stray breeze, the wide blue +heaven unbroken by any cloud--saw that purposeful activity among the +ships which immediately precedes putting to sea. Smoke drifted upwards +from many funnels, some ships were busy clearing their anchors, while +others manoeuvred out of tight corners. First came the men-o'-war, +sweeping majestically past the _Tahiti_ and out to sea. Then, in +single-line-ahead, followed the transports in grand procession past the +_Tahiti's_ bows, whose troops stood on the topmost perches to miss +nothing of the glorious review. Everywhere to the upperworks of each +passing vessel clung the Australians. As each vessel came abreast, +wild, enraptured cheering broke out, and, with all the power of healthy +lungs, with enthusiasm unreserved, with cooees and hakas and scrappy +messages semaphored by the arms, the Australians and New Zealanders met +in a deep friendship which was to last through years of campaigning and +privation. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LAZY SHIPBOARD LIFE + +The _Tahiti_ fell in astern of the long line whose foremost ships were +almost hull down, and left the Sound empty and deserted. When all were +at sea, they took station, the thirty Australian ships in three lines +ahead, with the ten New Zealand transports in two lines astern, their +leading ships stationed between the three rearmost vessels of the +Australian line. The men-o'-war took up positions far ahead on the +horizon and on the flanks. Towards evening a nor'-west course was set, +which the troops generally accepted as sufficient evidence that Colombo +would be the next port of call. + +For some days the fleet swung heavily to a considerable swell from the +west; and Mac watched, from the boat deck, the long line of careering +masts ahead, sliding about like so many drunken matches, spray flying +from the bows, and the foaming wake seething from the labouring screws +of the ship ahead. It amused him to cast his eyes aft along the boat +deck, the full length of which stretched two lines of horse-boxes +facing outwards. + +With an even keel only the noses of the horses showed beyond the +stalls; but, when the vessel rolled heavily to a beam swell, their +heads swung in and out like the cuckoos of cuckoo clocks. One moment, +as the ship lay well over into a trough, Mac could see nothing but a +long line of posts; the next, as she lifted to a sea, out shot those +eighty heads. They trod backwards and forwards in regular step, and +were cursed constantly by the men whose bunks were immediately below +the trampling hoofs. The horses settled down to the life in a +wonderful fashion, and through the splendid attention of the troops +appeared not a whit the worse for the first three weeks at sea. With +the increasing heat and the lack of exercise some of them were growing +a little short-tempered; and men, passing along the front of a line of +boxes, had to be prepared for a horse occasionally making a grab at him. + +Least of all to appreciate the presence of horses in the vessels were +the officers of the ships accustomed to Royal Mails and jolly +passengers. They now appeared in all the immaculate glory of white +ducks; and it almost gave Mac the impression that the horses had taken +a special dislike to them. Either they would frequently be bitten at, +or else when one of them was standing comfortably on deck smoking, a +horse would give a violent sneeze behind him, and he would disappear +into his cabin, muttering wrathfully as he changed into a clean suit. +And the Captain himself was no more pleased when he noticed the way in +which the constant trampling of the horses was wearing ugly tracks in +his best teak decks. + +Every morning and afternoon, when the vessels were not rolling too +heavily, long strips of cocoa-nut matting were laid round the boat deck +and the length of the upper deck; and the horses were led round and +round for a little, though valuable, exercise. Men spread awnings from +the front of the boxes, and watered them steadily from above, so that +the horses might be as cool as possible. All of this was hard, hot +work, to which the men stuck splendidly. Mac, however, had none of it, +for, his turn in the fodder-room being over, he was sent to the bridge +as a signaller. He knew little about the work, but another signaller +was wanted, and he was sent to learn. It was the best of work, clean, +cool and interesting. He did his watches on the bridge, looking down +on everything from that exalted position, swept the fleet constantly +with his glasses, and did what was told him. He peered into the log +book, and closely examined the charts in spare moments when the officer +of the watch was not noticing. He examined everything that was to be +examined, instruments, code books and distant ships, and altogether +thoroughly approved of being a signaller. Often there was work to be +done, in daylight by semaphore arms, or international flag code; and at +night by morse lamps, carefully shaded. Mac fumbled about and fell +over himself at times before he mastered the mysteries of flag +signals--the knots, the halyards and the nautical language. + +"AJP tackline J," the Skipper would roar; and two of the signallers +would fall over each other in a hurried attempt to get it all tied +together. And something usually went wrong--the tackline missed out, +two J's put on by mistake, or an M instead of a J. Once Mac failed to +make fast the two ends, and one hoist of flags went trailing out over +the beam. He let them down into the water, so that the weight might +swing them inboard, while the other signaller struggled manfully with a +hayrake to grapple them; and the Captain cursed and Mac flushed all +over, knowing that every ship in the fleet was grinning at them. + +Two days out from King George's Sound the fleet was joined by two more +transports with Australian troops from Fremantle. A week later H.M.S. +_Minotaur_ passed down the lines between the ships, and soon after +disappeared over the eastern horizon. The fleet had been sailing with +carefully screened lights, and now precautions were to be doubled, no +dynamos to be run, and navigation lights to be further dulled by +several thicknesses of signal flags across the glass. Various small +happenings left the troops with a sort of impression that there might +be something in the wind. When, therefore, early one tropic morning +the three remaining men-o'-war moved nervously from their stations, +rolled great black-brown coils of smoke from their funnels, and nosed +suspiciously out towards the western horizon, like three dogs +seeking a scent, it was evident the day would not be without +interest. Within a few minutes H.M.A.S. _Sydney_ set a definite +course, and with a foaming wake and a trail of heavy smoke, went off at +full speed to the sou'-west. Mac went below for breakfast in the +steamy saloon. Word went round that the _Emden_ was at the bottom of +the business; and men gathered in groups, talking with animation, and +gazing occasionally towards the south-west. Later in the morning the +Japanese cruiser went off in that direction, leaving only H.M.A.S. +_Melbourne_ with the fleet. + +At about eleven the great news came; and great enthusiasm welcomed it. +In the _Tahiti_ it leaked out before it was officially announced; and +the poor signallers were blamed in consequence. At any rate it was +true. About ten thirty the _Sydney_ had reported the _Emden_ beached +and blazing; and that she had gone off in pursuit of another vessel. +The _Maunganui_ had offered to take the _Sydney's_ wounded; but she +replied that there were only twelve casualties, sent her thanks, and +said there was no need. That was all the troops heard of the fight for +some days, though later the _Empress of Russia_ passed on her way to +pick up the many wounded from the wrecked _Emden_. + +Then came the crossing of the Line; and in all ships Father Neptunes +were busy lathering, dosing and abusing unlucky troops who tried to +escape their gentle hands. Crowds of men splashed rowdily about in +great sails of water. But a medical officer unfortunately lost his +life over these proceedings, and a momentary sadness settled over the +fleet. + +The New Zealand section went ahead of the main fleet a day or two +before reaching Colombo in order to proceed with coaling and watering. +Early on a Sunday morning the mist-covered hills of Ceylon took form on +the starboard bow; and, later on, a palm-grown shore and natives in +catamarans. Then the house-tops, the breakwater and the shipping of +Colombo emerged from the luxurious forest and curving shores. About +the middle of the forenoon the New Zealand vessels in two lines of five +were about to enter the harbour, when the _Sydney_ and the _Empress of +Russia_ were signalled coming up astern; and the New Zealand ships lay +to to give way to the men-o'-war. In deep, impressive silence, they +passed down between the lines, while the bluejackets and the troops +stood at rigid attention, salute after salute sounded from each ship in +turn, and ensigns dipped. + +Two days at Colombo passed merrily enough with forty-five shipfuls of +light-hearted troops exploring that Oriental city for the first time; +and at the end of it the Cingalees were left in a dazed condition. +Bazaars, wineshops, native quarters and Gal Face all rang with the +delighted shouts of irresponsible troops making the best of a short +time; and rickshaws were raced against each other with great effect. +Before many hours had passed the Staff announced their disapproval of +such unmilitary conduct, and stopped leave; but the men were not +overawed by the thunder of the heads, and those who could swarmed +ashore from the ships, leave or no leave. At length the vessels went +to the outer anchorage, at a safe distance from Oriental seductions. +Next morning a tug brought from the shore a washed-out collection of +adventurers, and distributed them to their ships. Under way again, the +fleet steered a west-nor'-westerly course for Aden, and the men, none +the worse for a little joy in Colombo, settled again to ship routine. +Six German sailors from the _Emden_ had been placed on board the +_Tahiti_ at Colombo; and from them Mac heard something of the +battle--how the _Sydney_ had surprised them when they had some boats' +crews away destroying the wireless and cable stations at Cocos Islands; +how the _Emden_ had been beached and raked by the _Sydney's_ terrible +broadsides; and the sufferings of the wounded before they were taken +off. Mac was interested to notice through the dome of the officers' +dining saloon, which projected through the bridge deck, that a German +naval officer prisoner drank the King's health along with the rest of +the mess. + +Several days dragged drowsily by in sweet procession. + +Mac was doing the afternoon watch. Between noon and one o'clock the +signallers were usually fairly busy while latitudes and longitudes were +hoisted and the staff disposed of the last of the morning's work. Then +peace reigned for three hours, while the fleet dozed through the hot +afternoon, and Mac could see through his glasses lazy figures stretched +in deck-chairs beneath shady awnings. He leaned over the starboard +light, neglected his lookout, and gazed far down at the swishing water +which ran the ship's length at a lazy ten knots. The fathomless blue +of the midday sea, with the white marblings from the bow wave, never +ceased to draw Mac's gaze. Down in its depths the red jelly-fish went +sailing past, and from there, too, came the terrified flying-fish, +which went winging away out to the beam, glittering in the bright sun. +The rumbling of the ship's engines filled the air with a sleepy +monotone; and Mac was hard put to keep awake. From his cool perch he +looked down on snowy awnings stretching fore and aft, though here and +there through openings he caught glimpses of mens' bare bodies as they +lay sleeping on deck, and of horses' heads hanging low with half-closed +eyes. The other signaller on duty was buried behind the flag-locker, +probably intending that it should be thought that he was busy putting +away the flags used in the last hoists, though that might have been +finished a full hour ago. The officer of the watch took an occasional +turn the length of the bridge, and now and then rang down to the +engine-room for one more or one less revolution per minute; while the +quartermaster periodically put the wheel a few spokes this way or that +to keep the ship in station with the vessel ahead. + +Mac had certainly drifted away to places other than the bridge of a +ship in the Indian Ocean, when he was speedily brought back to the +present by a vigorous poke in his ribs. He turned hurriedly; and the +officer of the watch with perfect clearness conveyed to him by a jerk +of his thumb, and a quizzical expression, that the flagship was making +a general signal. Mac shoved up the answering pennant, roused the +other drowsy signaller, and elicited the information that the New +Zealand ships would anchor 1 1/2 miles S.S.E. of Ras Marshag at 17.50. + +Mac looked ahead and saw the jagged blue outline of land above the +horizon. Towards four o'clock the heads awoke from their siestas, and +the signallers were kept busy. The forms on the decks below also +commenced to stir, whistles sounded, and soon hoses and brooms were +busy cleaning the horse-boxes. Half-naked men were at work with +brushes and combs in the narrow spaces between the animals; and others +poured cooling streams of water about their legs. Feeding time came +with an excited whinnying, snorting and trampling, while the men stood +along the deck in front with a long line of feed boxes. Then there was +a whistle and a chorus of neighing. The men went forward and attached +the boxes. Comparative silence followed, while the horses in deep +content poked their muzzles down into the feed and blew showers of +chaff into the air. For a time the satisfied munching went on quietly; +but at length the horses which had finished first stamped their feet, +and tugged at their halter chains, in attempts to get at their +neighbours' feeds. + +Mac finished his watch, and went below for a salt shower, and after +that the evening meal, which was never much to boast about. He went up +to the bridge again to investigate Aden from the best standpoint. The +evening lights were colouring splendidly the rocky heights of the range +above the port. The anchored fleet spread far across the bay, the +_Tahiti_ being close to the desert shore several miles from the port. +It was an evening of perfect calm. The last glow faded from the +topmost pinnacles, the stars came out with the brightness of the +desert, Morse signals winked from the mastheads, and the mooring lights +cast reflections on the calm water. For a time Mac joined a four for a +rubber or so in the cool night air, and then, collecting his blankets +from below, went away forward to sleep on top of the horse-boxes with +nothing but stars overhead. + +In the early morning, before the fresh charm of the desert dawn had +fled before the tropic day, the fleet weighed anchor, and, with a great +deal of signalling and manoeuvring, took steaming station again. Soon +after midday Perim lay on the starboard, its desolate sands shimmering +in the noon sun, shortly to disappear astern, veiled by the trailing +smoke. It took the fleet five days to steam the length of the Red Sea; +good days too, with cooling northerly breezes to air the stuffy horse +decks, though the chill nights made the signallers shiver on watch. +But, the day before they were due at Suez, the whole peaceful running +of things was upset by wild rumours, and then by definite fact. + +In late weeks it had been generally accepted by every one that England +would be the destination of the Expeditionary Force, and they had +settled comfortably to that point of view, and to the prospect of +having nothing to worry them for three or four more weeks. Turkey, +however, had declared war; and now, they heard, they were disembarking +immediately in Egypt. The troops were undecided whether or not to be +pleased. Most of them had hoped to see the Old Country and their +relatives there. Mac did not care a straw, for he saw no delights in +an English winter camp, and Egypt was said to be a fine interesting +country. Every one set about telling wild tales of Egypt; and +proceeded to walk more rapidly about the ship, collecting and putting +in order shore-going clothes--so that the quiet shipboard life was at +an end. + +In the voyaging days of 1914 the New Zealand troops regarded their +chances of actually joining in the campaign as being regrettably small. +It was clear, they thought in their out-of-the-world way, that the +enemy would be speedily overrun; that the New Zealand troops were only +untrained, untried colonials; that they could therefore expect no more +than garrison duty; and that every available Imperial soldier would be +thrown into the field before the colonial troops were drawn upon. +Consequently there was an uneasy feeling abroad that, should they once +land in Egypt, they would be left there for the duration of the war. + +The New Zealand transports, which had taken the lead, cast anchor in +Suez bay just as the sun was rising over the desert; and Mac gazed +appreciatively at the sweeping bay, the palms, the flat-topped houses, +and the open desert, clear cut in the early light. Suez was not +adapted for the disembarkation of large numbers of men and horses, and +Alexandria was the only harbour with sufficient accommodation. In the +early afternoon the _Tahiti_ entered the Canal; and there were no dull +moments for the next twelve hours. They were surprised to find, at +frequent intervals along the Canal bank, strongly wired entrenchments +occupied by Indian troops, with whom they exchanged cheers as they +passed. At night a moon lit the silent desert in greater beauty; and +Mac slept not a wink as the ship slid quietly past mile after mile of +the queer waterway. At three in the morning, with a clatter of chains +and a good deal of shouting, they moored in Port Said harbour. + +Again there was a day full of interest--bartering with natives, +watching the coolies coaling, cheering Australian transports as they +entered the basin, and examining the mixture of shipping in the port. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ASHORE AGAIN + +Late in the same afternoon the New Zealand ships put to sea, under +orders to steam individually at slow speed to meet off Alexandria at +dawn. There was not a great deal of settled sleep that night, for all +men were busy packing kit-bags and putting in order shore-going +clothes. The days of decks, bare feet and semi-nakedness were at an +end, and to-morrow would start again the life of boots and puttees, +saddles and tents. Men stood in small groups along the deck, shown +only by the embers of pipes and the occasional glow of a match. They +watched the low line of the Egyptian shore, deep black against a sky +which seemed vaster than usual and more brilliant with stars, and were +exhilarated by the knowledge that they would disembark to-morrow in +that queer old country. The mess room was filled for a while with a +cheery, laughing crowd to hear words of warning from an old soldier +concerning the joys and sorrows of Cairo and a few general instructions +on life in Egypt. + +The ships stood in towards the entrance to the port just as the rising +sun gilded the houses and minarets of Alexandria. Soon the gangway was +dropped for a pilot to come abroad, and shortly with much chattering +that gentleman appeared on the bridge. The Captain gazed on the +apparition with horror, and the signallers, in security behind the flag +locket, were convulsed with mirth. A pale, underfed little Hebrew, +not, apparently, the cleanest specimen of its race, clad in something +like a dressing-gown and a pair of bath slippers, and topped off by a +red tarboosh tilted well back and continuing the contour of its nose, +it looked about as capable of piloting a ship as a waste-paper-basket. +It chattered away cheerfully to every one on the bridge in a strange +lingo, waved its hands alternately here, there and everywhere, and +faced in all directions in the attitudes of ancient mural figures. It +was serenely unheeding of the business in hand, of the fact that four +ships, occupying the narrow fairway ahead, were slowing down, and that +three others were coming rapidly up behind, promising trouble. + +The skipper recovered from his astonishment. + +"Which way?" he said, interrupting a friendly jabber to the third +officer. + +The figure raised its eyebrows, bared its rabbit teeth and, wildly +waving its arms, poured a stream of unintelligible jargon in the +skipper's direction. + +"Shall I stop her?" yelled the skipper. + +A wide, inclusive sweep of the arms was the only reply and the +jabbering increased. + +"To starboard--or port?" inquired the Captain, indicating each with his +arm. + +To both queries the figure energetically nodded assent. + +The Captain flushed with anger. The figure looked crest-fallen. + +Meanwhile the bows were getting dangerously near the stern of the +vessel ahead, while the ship astern was overlapping the port quarter. +Moles threatened destruction on either beam, and quantities of small +Greek sailing vessels were in imminent danger. + +The Captain seized the little fellow by the shoulder and shook him. + +"Damn it, man!" he shouted. "What in hell----!" + +The woebegone figure spread his hands in innocent protestation. Then +the light of a bright idea suffused his countenance. He went to one +side and craned over the rail, gazing first forward and then aft. He +did the same on the other side. He repeated the action on both sides. +Then a wild yell announced a discovery, and, following his gaze, Mac +saw a launch which had appeared from behind one of the vessels ahead. +Shrill shrieks from the figure at length drew its attention and a +fortissimo of jabbering and arm-waving welcomed its nearer approach. A +more business-like person came aboard, who took the vessel in charge, +the while its late pilot muttered unhappily in the background. + +The rest of the manoeuvres went smoothly enough. The only particular +incident which amused Mac was watching a trio of Greek sailors +tormenting a terrified Egyptian by holding him by the legs upside down +over a ship's side, as if intending to drop him into the water. + +It was not Mac's luck to disembark immediately on berthing, for his +squadron were detailed to clean up the ship after all the men and +horses had gone ashore. They stripped themselves of their shore kit, +and with hoses and brooms scrubbed decks for hour after hour. In the +afternoon Mac did a watch by himself on the bridge for any signals +which might be sent. Few came, and it was a sad and lonely bridge +deserted after what seemed years at sea. The evening brought unloading +of the holds and by the light of great arc lamps stores of all sorts +were piled high. It was past midnight before the winches were silent. + +Before four in the morning the few remaining troops were again astir, +and by daybreak were all on the quay with their equipment. The ship on +which were the squadron's horses lay about two miles away, and they set +out for her. Mac was very sick, probably for unwisely sampling Turkish +delight sold him yesterday by an Egyptian at the ship's side. +Unaccustomed boots, a cobbled street and a heavy load did not add to +the pleasures of the march. They reached the other quay, and shivered +for two hours in the chilly Mediterranean breeze until they were sent +on board to unload stores. Hard work set Mac to rights, and the piles +of oats, chaff and hay grew steadily as the forenoon advanced. They +scratched up a meal in the depths of the ship, worked again, and then, +in the middle of the afternoon, unshipped the horses. One by one they +led them up the gangways from the holds, and then, sliding and slipping +on their weak legs, down a steep gangway to the low quay. Once on firm +ground, the horses threw up their heels, bucked and neighed in sheer +delight. But they overestimated their strength and came sprawling to +earth and soon, for lack of breath, quieted down. The squadron led its +horses to a piece of waste sandy ground, removed their covers, and let +them roll to their hearts' content. They were in excellent condition +after so long a voyage in warm seas, and Mac was grateful to the +fellows who had looked after them. His had been a pleasure voyage, but +they had had no such luck. From 5 a.m. till 9 p.m. it had been groom, +clean decks, feed, water and exercise; and then, more often than not, +it was horse-picket for part of the night. The temperature of the +horse-holes had for a long space never fallen below 110° F.; and five +horses had been each man's charge. + + * * * * * + +"Where are we going, d'you know, Bill?" asked Mac. + +"Sure I don't know. Some fellers say it's Cairo. Others say it's a +place called Zeitoun, and God only knows where that is. Anyhow I hope +it's Cairo. Cobber of mine, who'd bin there, told me it was just a bit +of all right. Said it was a reg'lar hot shop." + +"No such luck, Bill," chipped in Jock. "You don't find the heads +sending us anywhere decent like that. Afraid of givin' us too good a +time." + +"Yes. And the dear old wowser boys at home in N.Z. would get up on +their hind legs an' say, 'Is it right that our dear boys should be let +go free in such a dreadful city, what with the awful drink, and +gamblin' and worse than that, dear brethren. No, we will petition the +Minister of Defence to stop the dwedful catastrophe, to put the pubs +outer bounds, an' ter never have any wet canteens in the camps. Oh, +our poor innocent boys!'" + +"Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed Mac. "Anyway, it'll be a bit of a change. +Wonder how long we'll be here?" + +"Gawd only knows," answered Bill. "Mare looks well, Mac. Legs a bit +puffed, that's all." + +They wandered off in due course to water and feed. They rugged the +horses, and at six o'clock entrained them, packing them tightly in the +trucks. The men had a bit of a meal then themselves, bought oranges +from the natives, and settled down in third-class carriages of a filthy +and uncomfortable kind. Each horse truck bore a chalked date of when +it had last been disinfected, but the carriages had no such reassuring +legend. As darkness fell, the train started with a series of crashes, +and clanked unpromisingly away into the gloom. It was a weary journey, +and bitterly cold. Mac could not sleep and watched, by the silver +light of the waning moon, a not displeasing vista of palm trees, crops, +houses and villages which went jogging steadily by. Twice they crossed +great rivers, and the whole carriage bestirred itself to see its first +of what might be the Nile. Then there were many railway junctions and +tall houses and a tram-car or two, and again country. At midnight the +train jolted finally to a halt. They led their horses out into a sandy +square surrounded by houses and palm-trees. Mac noticed that they were +wandering unaware over what apparently were Nile mud bricks set out to +dry in the sun. Some poor native, he thought, would curse the war next +day. + +The column of tired horses and tired men wandered vaguely off to find +the camp, barracks or what-not which should prove to be their +destination. No one knew who it was, where it was or what it was, and +there was no guide. They took a turning to the right, passed a +convent, took other turnings and found nothing but shuttered houses +among trees peacefully asleep in the moonlight. There was no living +thing, and the hollow echo of their own clatter was the only sound. +They were all more or less asleep, and just wandered along, not caring +a hang whether they walked or halted, or stood on their heads. In due +course they passed the same old convent, which, in Mac's sleepy mind, +did not seem to be quite the right thing to be doing, though he did not +mind much. Eventually the column encountered a high iron railing +barring its path--a great iron railing stretching for miles and inside +it a camp. They found troughs and watered the horses, and picketed +them along the railings. There was some one in the camp, and the +squadron was told to stay by its horses till morning. + +It was colder than Mac had ever felt it. A great stillness held +everything, and the moon lit the sleeping camp with a clear soft light. +But it was cold! After the warm tropic weeks, the keen Egyptian winter +night went right to the marrow. Mac tried to bury himself in the sand +by scooping a long hole, lying in it and shovelling the sand back over +him. It was not a success, and there was nothing to do but pace up and +down in a vain endeavour to get warm. Hours passed in a dreamy fashion +until at length Mac's attention was drawn by signs of activity in the +camp. He went there and found some cooks round their dixies and iron +rails in the open just starting a fire. He immediately made friends, +and speedily assisted the fire to become a respectable blaze. Others +came from the squadron and soon the cooks were hospitably handing out +mugs of tea and bread for toast. It was the camp of the Lancashire +Artillery, Mac learned, who had arrived from England a month since. +The sergeant-cook soon joined the great-coated circle round the fire. + +"Yus," he said, with the confidence of a host to whom deference should +be paid, "Yus. Hi 'eard as 'ow them Noo Zealanders wus comin', an' I +says ter meself as 'ow it 'ud be another o' these 'ere lingos we'd 'av +ter try an' parley. An' I think's as 'ow that don't suit us chaps +zactly. But the fust of you fellers I sees this mornin' I says ter 'im +like, 'Goo' mornin,' maate!' An' 'e says ter me 'Goo' mornin,' maate,' +jest the same as meself! We thought as 'ow you'd talk some funny +lingo, I tell yer I did. But yuse jest speak same's us, an' I wus +glad." + +Daylight revealed a scene as inspiring to an untravelled New Zealander +as America to Columbus. Close at hand stood an oriental city of +splendid architecture, the early light touching with romance its +minarets and pillared galleries. Spread before him, and stretching +away into the distance until lost in a soft blue mistiness, lay Cairo, +its forest of minarets, its domes and its square-topped houses. +Beyond, unmistakable in the blue distance, were the old familiar +outlines of the great pyramids. Behind him, the great yellow desert +spread away to the horizon and the rising sun, and was bordered on the +other hand by a forest of palm trees, almost hiding many fine houses +with shady courts and playing fountains. + +The sun soon brought warmth into the troopers' frozen limbs, and they +went to work watering and feeding the horses. Later in the morning +they moved to the site of the camp to be, about a mile away. It was a +wind-smoothed stretch of untouched desert, but speedily horse-lines and +white tents broke its vastness. That night Mac, doing his turn of +horse-picket while the tired camp slept, walked out a little way into +the silver moonlit desert. In the utter stillness, with the cold pure +air, the sands unmarked by any footstep, and the impression of +unlimited space, the desert seemed a new world--a world far away from +the old one. + +But busy days followed, and the desert soon lost its first charm in the +solid practical work of leading the horses across it on foot till they +should be strong enough to be ridden again. It was hot dusty work in +the midday sun, and Mac was thankful when the day came for him to hoist +his lazy bones into the saddle. The camp grew, and became a place of +importance with its great piles of stores, its roads and its rows of +mean speedily-erected shops of Greek, Armenian and Egyptian cheapjacks. +The troops quickly fell in with the life, and set out to make the most +of Egypt and its pleasures. They were there until the end of April, +and in those five months Mac saw most of the country one way or +another, though all his journeyings are not chronicled in the pages to +come. In the course of time he hated the place, and longed with the +rest of the mounted men to pass to new fields and fresh adventures. +But he looks back now on those Egyptian days as the jolliest days there +ever were, and breathes a sigh of sorrow that they can never come again. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +DAYS IN THE DESERT + +Mac felt absolutely dejected, and looked it. His mare, too, appeared +neither happy nor spirited. Except for some nebulous figures, +indistinct in the yellow murk, little else was visible. Mac crouched +scowling in the lee of the mare, who stood with drooping head and +closed eyes, swaying occasionally to the violent buffetings of the +desert storm, and patiently waiting for some move on the part of her +master. The three squadrons and the transport had left camp +independently just after dawn with instructions to bivouac together, at +midday, at a certain spot known to the High Command by the enigmatical +formula "No. 3. Tower, 105°--Virgin's Breasts 45°." + +Mac, who carried the compass, had taken various bearings before the +breaking of the storm, and had now halted where the Major and he +considered angles, bearings, and letters indicated. There was no sign +of the other units. Either they had sagaciously abandoned the +expedition earlier or else they had other opinions regarding the +trysting place. Anyhow, whether they were still wandering about the +infernal desert or not, Mac was firmly convinced that camp was the +place for him. Picking up his rein, he made in the direction of a blur +he knew to be the Major, and told him so. The Major had visions of +pleasant refuge in a Cairene hotel, a good dinner, and a cool bath, +instead of a night trek in the desert as originally intended. So he +agreed, and shrill whistling stirred to life more or less comatose +troopers and horses. + +Steering, nor'-nor'-west, each following close upon the next ahead, +they rode in deep silence. They crossed wave after wave of sand-hills, +monotonous and bewildering. The khamsin blew in hot, sandy spurts, and +lulled; then came again in hotter, more shrivelling bursts "From Hell!" +thought the troopers, one and all. Sand trickled down their necks, and +filtered down to that place where it neither increased the comfort of +their riding nor diminished the ardour of their revilings against the +weather. With fiercer gusts, gravel rose and stung horse and rider, +while the former stumbled frequently over unseen boulders. + +In the latter half of the afternoon they struck the old railway +embankment to Suez, lost it again, but soon found the edge of the +irrigated land and followed it to the camp. Parched, red-eyed, +headachy, and yellow with dust, they made for their lines, watered +their horses, and set about making themselves as comfortable as +circumstances allowed. The happiness of the trooper was not enhanced +when he failed to find a misty blur representing his tent. It had +chosen to give up the unequal contest and had departed down-wind. He +followed, and joined the rest of the tent's company in recovering the +tattered remnants, and towels, and personal property which had strayed +into the domain of the next regiment. + +Camp was not a healthy spot in the khamsin days, Mac decided. Coins to +a piastreless cobber smoothed over a horse-picket difficulty, and he +passed out of the camp by back ways. So, in the village of Helmieh, he +spent the night. Gusts bellowed through the swaying date-palms +overhead, and roared round the courtyard, but his bed was comfortable, +and the house of his good French friends proof against the sand-laden +blasts of the spring storm. He was awakened sufficiently early to +allow of his appearance at roll-call next morning. It was not +according to his nature to rise early from so pleasant a bed, but it +was a matter of discretion. + +Many days were passed in the desert, none worse and many better. Troop +days were all right; squadron days were not bad; regimental days were +tolerable at times; but brigade and divisional manoeuvres were +inventions of the devil. On these latter occasions elusive white +flags, the skeleton enemy, appeared and disappeared. Scouts reported +them here, then there. The mounted men advanced in open order, all +except the front line smothered in a fog of dust. Infantry toiled and +sweated after them. The maligned staff viewed from afar the battle +royal. Thankful men received wounds from galloping umpires, and lay +down peacefully to await rescue by the attentive ambulance. +Chastisements descended from great to lesser dignitaries. Why had not +Colonel Macpherson managed to move his flank-guard three miles in two +minutes? So a field day would pass, each rank being roundly condemned +to everlasting perdition by the rank immediately below it, until the +G.O.C., Egypt, and the British Empire, bore the brunt of the awful +damnings. Bad-tempered and dishevelled, the troops would set off on +their homeward march, the final straw being added to the annoyances of +the infantry by the passage to windward of the mounted rifles. +Shrouded in the dust, they levelled their final, terrible threats +against those who would be home two hours before them. + +Times there were, too, good times, when the troopers would trek across +the Delta to the Barrage du Nil, a pleasant spot where the Nile divides +into its delta streams and canals. Here they would bivouac for the +night beneath shady plantations of lebbak trees in beautiful gardens. +In the daytime they swam their horses in the river. A jolly form of +amusement there was the blanket-tossing of intruding natives, who were +rather prone to contract those things which did not belong to them; and +no method of discouragement was so efficacious. The "Gyppies" were +fleet of foot, but so were the troopers, and to see a lanky southerner +pursuing a victim was good entertainment. Captured at length and +shrieking in abject terror, they would go flying skyward from the +tautened blanket. But, alas, the blankets were of Government +manufacture, and occasionally, upon the victim's meteoric return, would +split in two. Thus many blankets were rent in twain, and thus did many +dusky ones learn that the belongings of the troopers were sacred +property. + +And so Egyptian days passed light-heartedly enough. That was before +the serious times, before they had been involved in the real fierce +thing. And now few of them ride together any longer. Many will ride +no more, and others are scattered over the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MAC GOES TO CAIRO + +The camp lay listless in the glaring heat of high noon. Long rows of +tents gleamed dazzlingly in the sun. Saddlery, horse-rugs, nose-bags +and gear were untidily scattered about. Except for the sleepy figure +of the horse-picket, attempting vainly to keep his lanky person within +the shadow of the feed-trough, there was no one in sight. The horses +needed little attention. With heads low and legs crooked, they dozed +in every attitude of siesta. Within the open tents lay the human +element, more or less replete after the seldom varying meal of sandy +stew and bread. Most of the men slept, stretched full length upon rush +matting on the shady sides of the tents. Some wore trousers, some +shirts and some neither. + +Stretched full length upon his back, his head supported upon his +neighbour's chest, and his eyes idly following the ceaseless procession +of flies round the tent pole, Mac smoked and pondered deeply: was it +worth the fag to go to Cairo? Knowing full well that his last three +weeks' shirts and socks awaited washing, he decidedly dutifully to +remain at home, though possibly he might take the air, and probably the +beer, of Heliopolis in the evening. However, his good intentions were +ruthlessly upset, for at that moment the interior of his desert +domicile was swiftly converted into a swirling tornado of dust and +dirt. Blankets, towels and hay departed upwards, and all was turmoil. +In five seconds the air was calm again, but not so the eight +inhabitants of the canvas home. + +Emerging from repose and a fog of grimy dust, they condemned Egypt and +things Egyptian in no uncertain tones. They had washed and eaten, and +had settled down comfortably for the afternoon, and why had this +confounded blanky cyclone selected their blanky tent to blanky well +empty itself upon! Often during the midday heat, "weary Willies," +swirling spiral columns of sand 1,000 feet high, wandered in slow +procession along the edge of the desert from the north-east, usually +missing the camp, but sometimes crossing it, leaving a narrow trail of +chaos and ill temper. Mac met the situation with admirable dignity and +philosophy. This disturbance decided the Cairo question--he would go. +Still muttering wrathfully, the tent's complement sought their +individual towels and gravitated independently and sorrowfully towards +the shower-baths. + +Three-quarters of an hour later found Mac, suitably adorned, sitting on +a bench at Helmeih Station having his boots and bandolier polished by +four jabbering, disreputable "Gyppie" youngsters, who swore glibly the +while the most lurid English oaths. Incidentally, they often +terminated an exceptionally fluent flow with "Eh, Mistah Mickkenzie?" +the usual mode of native address to New Zealanders after the High +Commissioner's visit, which sometimes ruffled Mac's dignity, but more +often amused him. His toilet was cut short by the arrival of the +train, so, seizing bandolier and spurs and dropping a few coins, he +jumped into a second-class compartment with but one boot clean of +desert sand. Rattling through Palais de Koubbeh and Demerdache, he +considered what he might do with himself now he had quitted camp. +Money was not so plentiful as in those palmy days when they had set +foot in this Orient land with two months' pay behind them. "Special +prices," too, were quoted for these men from the south. However, it +was a lot of trouble to think on such an afternoon; he would decide it +later. At any rate a shave was felt to be the most overpowering +necessity, though, really, the desert did make one thirsty! A shave +would be the second item. + +In a small inferior café near the Boulak Station, he discovered Jock, +an artilleryman he knew, and together they satisfied their thirst; +neither had formed any plan for the afternoon, so both welcomed the +idea of spending it in company. They adjourned to the barber's. +Shaving in Sahara sand appealed not to Mac's heart, and, failing visits +to Cairo, mornings found him in an evil mood with a painful task before +him. + +Shaving over, and Mac's other boot cleaned, a little sight-seeing was +suggested as a modest and inexpensive way of passing the afternoon. +The Pyramids were stale, besides being a dickens of a distance off. +The gunner voted for the Citadel, and Mac didn't mind, though he had +been there once already. They made their way towards a gharry stand, +and, spurning clamouring drivers from their path, comfortably seated +themselves in the one which appeared to sport the best pair of Arab +horses. Their feet supported upon the opposite seat, blue wisps of the +best Egyptian tobacco smoke trailing over the hood behind, they set +off. Scanning the Oriental life surging round them, criticizing Arab +methods of dressing sheep, amused by the scribes and +money-changers--dirty though prosperous-looking sharpers--and so on and +so forth, they passed slowly down the long Sharia-Mahommed Ali, between +the frowning walls of two great Mosques, where the cannon balls of +Napoleon are still fast in the stone, and then up the sharp incline +into the Citadel itself. + +Leaving the Arab driver in a paroxysm of tears because he had received +only one-third more than his lawful fare, Jock and Mac passed by the +sentries, through the cavernous mouth of the main gate into the inner +precincts of the Citadel. How powerful a fortress in days gone by it +must have been, they thought, but how short lived and unavailing it +would prove before modern artillery. They came to a halt before the +great Mosque of Mahommed Ali, and the fine, tapering minarets met with +their deepest approval. At the entrance they assumed the apologetic +sandals and were taken in hand by an obtrusive dragoman, who, besides +impressing them with his own importance, related with small +appreciation of truth fabulous facts concerning the edifice. They duly +noted his salient pronouncements, rewarded him with a few piastres and +"imshi yallah'ed" in duet when he demanded more. Then, in the late +afternoon sunlight, they stood on the edge of the cliff without. There +they talked of many things while looking out over that weird, +mysterious city, over its forests of graceful minarets, towards the +green delta beyond; across the Nile to the west where the Pyramids of +Gizeh stood silhouetted against the setting sun, and down into the +gloom in the valley to the east, where, silent and deserted, lay the +City of the Dead. + +Stirred into activity once more by feelings of emptiness and thoughts +of their weekly square meal, they turned their backs upon the glory of +the Egyptian evening and wandered down to the depths again. They +jostled their way through the throng, human and animal, which made +progress difficult and the atmosphere strong. Spotting a couple of +donkeys in the charge of one Arab donkey boy, they schemed with each +other with a view to his undoing. + +"Very gude, Noo Zealand," said the dusky one when approached. "Gib it +twenty piastres for stashion." + +"All right, ole sport. You'll get it at t'other end, and make your +blanky bone-bags go. Savvy?" + +They proceeded fairly satisfactorily at first, Ahmed only having to be +occasionally reprimanded for not producing sufficient speed on the part +of his donks. Then, while the Arab was in front of Mac, vainly +endeavouring to persuade Jock's mount to proceed less swiftly, Mac +quietly took a turning to the left. The Arab went twenty-five yards +farther before he missed him. In violent excitement he tore after him +and besought him to stop. + +"All right, you black diamond," said Mac cheerfully, and remained +standing in the street. + +The Arab, his fears at rest, chased the other soldier, but as soon as +the native had disappeared round the corner, Mac moved on again. The +same thing happened in the case of the gunner, who halted immediately +the Arab arrived. The latter wanted to lead the donkey in the +direction of the trooper, but the gunner was obstinate and insisted +that his was the correct way. In a frame of mind too horrible to +contemplate, the Arab disappeared once more in pursuit of the trooper, +only to find he had entirely evaporated. In the throes of the greatest +dilemma of his life he returned, to learn that the worst had come to +pass and the gunner and his donkey also were gone from his sight. + +"Allah! Oh, Allah!" he wailed, and, burying his head in his long blue +skirts, he dissolved into tears. + +By devious ways Mac and Jock journeyed onwards, until, happy and +laughing at having for once done a nigger in the eye, they rejoined at +the Obelisk Restaurant, where they turned their borrowed steeds adrift. +Coming weekly as it did, dinner in Cairo was an affair of some length, +and, between shandies and cigarettes, it was already late when it was +_mafeesh_. They strolled along the streets and were about to drop into +the Café Égyptien, when they espied a fellow-countryman struggling with +a donkey. They went to his assistance, to discover that the donk-man +was, quite unnecessarily, attempting to stop a bottle of beer being +poured down the donk's throat. This promised sport, so Jock quickly +procured four more bottles of cheap beer and they joined the third +soldier in his estimable effort. Abdul had secured an assistant +against this vile outrage to his animal, but he was temporarily put out +of action by having the reins made fast round his lower extremities. + +The donk rapidly absorbed three bottles, while the distracted "Gyppies" +tugged and wailed, "No gude! No gude! Finish Noo Zealand!" to which +the only reply was "Imshi Yallah, you black devils." At this stage the +little beast, an animal of rather miserable dimensions, with a large, +rotund centrepiece, escaped and wobbled ridiculously down the street. +He was recaptured, drenched with two more bottles, and let loose to +wander wherever his tottery legs would carry him. The donk swayed and +stumbled, his ears cocked at all angles, and his expression happy and +foolish. The gathered soldiers laughed till their sides were sore, and +when tired of this fun they let the Arabs take away, as best they +could, their ill-used, though happy, ass. + +The hour had grown late. To the station the trooper and the gunner +wended their way. A short sleep in the train, a tired walk campwards +in the clear coolness of the Egyptian night, and to bed on the open +sand beneath a starry vault. "Lights out" sounded clearly in their +camp, and echoed more beautifully and faintly from other camps along +the desert's edge. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MAC TOURS IN COMFORT + +Mac sighed appreciatively. If Egypt was to be seen, this was +undoubtedly the way to see it. On the whole it had been an exceedingly +profitable little bit of diplomacy, coupled with good luck, that had +attached him to a party of distinguished people, whose privilege it was +to be shown Egypt as the Government chose to show it. He lay +comfortably in his bed smoking. Travelling in this manner appealed to +him. His first tastes of Egyptian railway travelling, in dirty, +clanking boxes, which required disinfecting, had not been pleasant. +Now, from the darkened cabin of a saloon car on the Cairo-Luxor express +de luxe, he watched the fleeting vista of moonlit palms, sleeping +villages, and silhouetted hills. + +He had left New Zealand some six months before with the intention of +slaying Germans, not of touring in luxury in Egypt, but he was not +averse to these interim enjoyments. The war could wait, and anyhow at +that particular moment it was hardly showing any inclination of +stopping, and neither was Zeitoun Camp a place of unmixed blessings. +Arrived at this state of mental satisfaction, he threw the remnants of +his cigarette out of the window and went to sleep. + +When he awoke, they were rattling over a Nile bridge, and the sun shone +full in upon him. The early morning scene of industrious blue-robed +fellaheen at work in the green fields, the graceful palms, desert +hills, and blue sky thrilled the one artistic fibre which had strayed +into his soul. He shaved at leisure, bathed luxuriously, dressed, and +met the other four members of the party in the saloon for breakfast. +Towards the end of the meal they steamed into Luxor, where once stood +the ancient and wonderful Theban capital. + +Here many days were passed, investigating tombs and temples of all +shapes and sizes; great and wonderful hieroglyphics were explained, +though these left the trooper cold. They rode on donkeys deep into the +deserts, followed by Sudanese guards on fine Arab steeds. + +From Luxor they duly departed in the direction of Assuan. The direct +distance was not over-long, but the day was blazing hot, the railway +was badly constructed, and the sand filtered steadily into the cars. +It was a comic-opera railway, this narrow-gauge line. The contract for +its construction was let at an exceedingly profitable rate per mile to +a French company. More miles meant more money, so naturally they spun +the thing out and consequently for no apparent reason, the line zigzags +across perfectly level stretches of desert. + +Assuan at last. Great nabobs bowed; Mac saluted. The honoured guests +would take the State gharries to their hotel? No? Walk! Impossible! +Great people did not walk. It took much gentle persuasion to convey to +the Mahmoudieh--the Governor of the Province--that the guests wished to +take exercise, now that the cool of the evening was come. His +Excellency was a gentleman of portly proportions, who, at some other +period, may have walked. Despite his dimensions, he was agile and +graceful in his sweeping salaams; when he spoke he emphasized every +word with an appropriate sweep of the arm, and his eyebrows arched and +his eyes bulged in superlative, ecstatic moments. The tassel of his +tarboosh, a little red inverted flowerpot capping the summit, gyrated +violently in moments of excitement. Altogether he was a mighty person. +Perceiving this, the five great ones from the far south paid court to +him, addressed him "Your Excellency this" and "Your Excellency that"; +and paid tribute to his lands, to his people, and his province, and +expressed a desire to see his wives. The Mahmoudieh visibly swelled +with pleasure. + +Assuan was duly investigated. Much like Luxor, it consisted of a +terrace along the river-bank, of hotels, some clean and comfortable, +some Greek; foreign consulates and banks. Gardens, shaded by palms and +lebbak-trees, made this portion of the town quite habitable. Behind, +on the rising sand-dunes, lay the crowded, stifling mass of native +dwellings, to visit which one's heart must be strong. Bazaars might be +artistic and unique, but as their quaintness and picturesqueness +increased so also did the odours of garlic, the uncleanliness, and the +flies in their myriads. + +Time passed pleasantly in Assuan, though at length Mac thought they had +about exhausted most of its possibilities. There were mosques, temples +and bazaars; there was a wild race of desert Bisharin, whose living was +precarious in those days of war, since they had existed by dancing +weird, wild dances for the enlightenment of tourists; there was a +museum, rather a mouldy place like their kind, where were relics of +ages untold, and, much to Mac's amusement, a mummified sheep. He +thought the New Zealand method of freezing much more practicable. + +At length, one morning, ere the mist wraiths had vanished, they crawled +slowly southwards across the rich golden sand of the lower Sudanese +desert. It was pleasantly bracing and clear in the early desert +morning, and Mac felt light-hearted and happy, as he gazed across the +distant featureless dunes of sand. Successfully accomplishing a +non-stop run of twenty miles in an hour and a half, they arrived at +Shellal, a village of a few mud huts and a station, a jetty with a +steamer or two, which took travellers farther to the south, to Wadi +Haifa and Khartoum. About the place itself there was little of +interest; it was a one-horse show with a few Arabs, Bedouins and +Sudanese, many flea-bitten mongrels and clouds of flies. But this +island-studded expanse of water was the great Assuan Dam. The gates +had been closed at this season for about a month, and the rising tide +had just reached the floor of the beautiful Temple of Isis, which +stood, half a mile away, perfectly reflected in the calm waters. They +wheezed away over to it in a steam pinnace, got temporarily snagged on +the top of a stray pillar, and eventually disembarked from their +hissing, modern contraption at the very portals, where oft times +Cleopatra and her suite were wont to enter from their state barges. +Mac's rather hazy notions of that lady wrapped her in a halo of +romance, and now he walked the lovely aisles which she had trod. Was +it, he thought, worth while gradually to spoil this wonderful building +for the sake of lucre from twentieth century Egypt? + +From the old they went to the new, landing at the eastern end of the +great granite wall that bars the Nile at the head of the foaming first +cataract. Natives pushed them in trollies along the top of the mile +wall. Water roared in great white jets through the sluices, tempering +the blistering heat of the midday hours. It was a wonderful work, this +dam, a great peaceful desert lake above and a turbulent flood below. +They descended by a flight of locks to the quieter water, and steamed +ten or fifteen miles down stream between many islands of red granite, +smoothly polished by the rushing waters of countless centuries. Back +again at Assuan, they embarked on a luxurious river steamer, the +_Sakkara_, and immediately cast off, for down river. + +This method of seeing the country took a lot of beating, meditated Mac, +as he lounged back in a low chair on the cool deck, with his sleeves +rolled up, smoking a cigar. The life of the Nile river-bank was deeply +interesting, with a slightly varying background of green fields of +berseem, stately palms and rocky desert hills. How cool the palms +looked, but he knew from experience that the degree of shade ascribed +to them in romantic novels didn't exist in real life. Lulled by the +steady reverberations of the paddle-wheels, conscious internally of a +satisfying lunch and good wine, he fell asleep. When he awoke, they +were manoeuvring carefully up to the bank, and black sailors in Jack +Tar uniform quickly extemporized a landing out of planks. + +Drawn up on top of the bank, brightly polished and perspiring, stood a +line of dusky soldiers, presenting arms. At the end of the gang-plank, +his portliness exceeded only by his stateliness, was the great +potentate His Excellency the Mahmoudieh of Assuan. With sweeping +obeisances, he greeted each one in a manner only befitting those who +held his provinces in such deep respect. His demeanour demanded rather +a setting of pillared palace and crimson velvet than a background of +castor-oil bushes and sugar-cane. But he did things properly, did the +Mahmoudieh, showed them Kom Ombo Temple, with all the dignity of the +proprietor, took them to his sugar-mills in his best donkey-drawn +tram-car, and offered them almost everything in his dominions. +Finally, when they re-embarked farther down stream, they warmly bade +farewell to the old boy, told him emphatically of the unapproachability +of his Province, and bowed and waved handkerchiefs until beyond a bend +in the river they lost sight of his memorable shape. + +That night the steamer lay moored to the bank near the native town of +Edfu. The skipper was considerably concerned, as he explained with +violent gesticulations, at the possibility of being stranded on the +morrow, as the season of low Nile was at hand. To Mac a day or two in +the middle of the river was a matter of little moment. The quarters +were comfortable, and Zeitoun Camp was no place towards which to hurry. +So, unmoved by the skipper's anxieties, he retired to the lower deck, +and praised the engines to the Sudanese engineer until that gentleman +beamed with pride and his teeth glistened white in the dusk. + +In the early hours soon after dawn, they went on donkeys to the Temple +of Edfu. The morning was mysterious and foreboding. Over the whole +country a weird silence reigned and wrapped the towering walls of the +ancient temple in eeriness; there were no clouds, but the sun was like +a great red moon, and all the landscape enveloped in an orange gloom. +They rode in silence, awed strangely by Nature's will. Animals were +restive and gloomy too. They returned to breakfast aboard when the +steamer cast off, and proceeded down river. Soon a hot breath of wind +came from the south, on which great columns of sand swept over the +desert. The gale increased, puffs blew as from a fiery furnace; the +sun became obscured altogether, and soon also the river banks. Bored +by the gloom of his fellow-voyagers and depressed, Mac betook himself +to his state-room, and went to sleep. He woke for lunch, went once +more to sleep, awoke again in the evening when Luxor was reached, and +hastened through the squalid streets to board the saloon car for Cairo. +Even in the gale and the fog of sand the skipper had not managed to +find a convenient mud-bank on which to ground his steamer, and Mac told +him he didn't think he was much of a sport. + +He had enjoyed Upper Egypt, especially journeying in so comfortable a +manner, but, after all, it wouldn't be bad fun seeing the boys again, +even if they were at Zeitoun Camp. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MAC LUNCHES WITH THE SULTAN + +In the glaring heat of the Egyptian high-noon hours a car drew up +outside the large hotel in the Sharia Kamel and a more or less soiled +and weather-beaten trooper alighted. He made his way up the steps, +across the shady terrace and into the dim cool depths of the pillared +hall. He had been to an excessively sandy inspection that morning +somewhere in the Sahara, and now his mien betokened appreciative +anticipation of a refresher to his dusty throat. After that a wash +would go rather well, perhaps a cigarette, and then lunch. But, alas, +no such luck! Apparently something out of the ordinary was afoot. +Even the dignity of the heavy-weight, superior, self-satisfied, alleged +Swiss _maitre d'hotel_ was for the moment disturbed. Native s'fragis, +neglecting their work, were voluble, gesticulatory, but quite +unintelligible. + +Finally, Mac was led to understand that His Serene Highness the Sultan, +learning of his presence at the hotel, had made known the Imperial wish +that he desired to honour the trooper by entertaining him to lunch. +However, there had been grave difficulties in putting the whole affair +in order. Mac had left early for the desert inspection, and several +envoys, calling in regular succession, had been unable to learn his +Christian name. Moreover, it had been deemed necessary to obtain the +assurance of the General Officer Commanding in Egypt that it would be +quite in order to invite a trooper to the palace of His Serene +Highness. But those small difficulties were duly overcome, and now, +twenty minutes before the appointed hour, an extremely gorgeous and +majestic person presented Mac with the Serene invitation. + +Now, he had considered it an extravagance to arise sufficiently early +to permit of his being shaved before the parade. Also his garments, +which had wallowed in the mud of Takapau Camp many months ago, were +constructed for a person of smaller dimensions, and his generous +Government had not taken into consideration such occasions as Sultans' +luncheon parties, when designing the uniform. These were small matters +in his mind, and if the Sultan's Imperial wish was to be granted he +should have the trooper, beard, uniform and all. So, with the +immediate dust of the desert removed and with a borrowed but ancient +shako upon his head, he was salaamed down the steps again with unusual +pomp and flourish. + +The Royal equipage conveyed him with much dignity down the long Sharia +Abdin and across the great open square to the palace entrance. As he +entered he acknowledged the salute of the gaudy guard in just that +off-hand manner befitting a bush-country shepherd. He was much bowed +into a great room where there was an epidemic of liveried darkies, a +grand chamberlain or so and a few Cabinet Ministers. In common with +the rest, he was subjected to a thorough spring-cleaning with feather +dusters. Before imperturbable and mighty chamberlains, up to his +ankles in crimson carpet and generally struck with the magnificence of +his surroundings, Mac for a moment lost his nerve, but speedily +recovering himself, informed a tarbooshed individual that it was a fine +day. Unfortunately this conversation did not prove fruitful, for, +besides the fact that the subject of the weather in Egypt is a quickly +exhausted topic, the gentleman to whom the remark had been addressed +soon made it evident that he failed to comprehend. However, the +trooper soon unearthed a magnificently emblazoned official from the +Sudan, who happened to be English, and struck up an acquaintance with +him. + +A nervous plucking of garments on the part of some of the company +indicated that the prelude was near an end. Slowly the assembly was +ushered from the room, along a hall, up a wonderful staircase, and at +last into the august presence of His Serene Highness. Mac took note of +the contortions through which his predecessors passed, made his bow and +shook hands with becoming dignity, muttered once more that the day was +fine, and backed across the room. All stood round the chamber, and +talked about nothing to no one. Others entered and did their +gymnastics, until the room contained the whole Cabinet, all portly +persons in tarbooshes, the afore-mentioned Sudan gentleman, and a few +British people, one in khaki. Now came the real thing. All in order, +according to their great greatness or their lesser greatness, filed +from the room, Mac bringing up the rear. The dining-room was an +apartment of a gorgeousness, the like of which he had not seen before. +He was accorded the gentleman from the Sudan on one side, and a Cabinet +Minister with an unpronounceable name on the other. The table was oval +and loaded with a munificence of delicacies on dishes of gold and +silver and a riot of strange exotic flowers. + +The epidemic of servants in post-impressionist attire had spread to the +dining-hall. Savoury dishes of rare and exceeding excellence appeared +and disappeared in rapid procession. Dusky men switched one dish +silently away before Mac had half tasted its delights and promptly +replaced it by another. Breakfast was some distance in the rear and +this food of kings was more to his palate than sand stew "_à la_ +Zeitun," and the wine stood high in comparison to the watered beer of +Ind, Coope. So all went well. The gentleman from the Sudan talked of +many things, and Mac told him nearly all about God's own country. The +Cabinet Minister chipped in occasionally, but scarcely seemed to +comprehend the vastness of a sheep station with 200,000 sheep and only +a score of shepherds to tend them. + +Coffee came, cigars followed, and the trooper made hay while the sun +shone. + +Eventually a retreat was made to the ante-room. The haze of tobacco +smoke filled the place, and those who had a language in common spoke +cordially one to the other. At length a thrill ran instinctively, it +seemed, through the company, and all became severely courtly once more. +Chamberlains took up their accustomed places, people said formal things +to each other; obeisances were indulged in, hands shaken, courteous +remarks made, and thus the company gradually evaporated. Mac's turn +came. Before His Serene Highness he successfully accomplished his +sweeping earthward curves, thanked the Sultan for his kindness, but, +unaccustomed to the retrograde manner of leaving a room backwards, he +unfortunately found that the door was in the wrong place, and met the +wall with a resounding thwack. However, it was all in the game, even +though he did not think much of this method of quitting a room. So, +leaving by the normal mode, he was soon back in the old spring-cleaning +room, being salaamed, his hat and appurtenances being returned to him +with the usual Oriental ceremony. + +Mac was not quite certain of the rest of the programme and was somewhat +surprised to find that the next act was the meeting at the station of +the New High Commissioner for Egypt. However, why not? It was all +very interesting and there was one of the Sultan's cars waiting. So, +waving a return salute to the Sudanese guard, as it presented arms, he +embarked upon this next little jaunt. + +Away through the sun-baked Abdin Square again, back along the Sharia +and past the Ezbekieh, he was soon passing down the narrow lane between +throngs of garlic-scented humanity. At the great iron gates of the +Boulak Station, the car with the trooper, solitary and dignified +within, entered the avenue of Sphinx-like dragoons, well polished and +groomed. This led to a square lined with infantry. In the centre on +one side was the Royal door thrown wide, towards which stretched a +broad ribbon of crimson carpet. The car came to a standstill. Nothing +daunted, the trooper descended in solitary state. An unearthly silence +held the throng and to Mac the carpet seemed interminable, but at last +it ended, and, passing through the cavernous, gloomy opening, he was +soon swallowed up in a great crowd of mighty dignitaries. Acres of the +same crimson carpet covered the platform, its far limits bordered by +khaki soldiers. On it moved a kaleidoscopic gallery of tarbooshes, red +tabs and top hats. Never before had top hats been used officially in +Egypt, and, resurrected from long neglect, were mostly relics of a past +decade. Mac thought they were about as suitable for the climate as a +cellular shirt in the Antarctic. Most of the company looked rather +bored, and he could find no one to speak to, for all were apparently +inwardly dwelling too much upon costume and coming formalities. The +train was late. They grew still more bored. At last, hideously +decorated with flags and shrubbery, it rattled in, hissing and +steaming. From a saloon carriage stepped the new arrival, garbed in +court apparel. Taken in charge by some great officials, he was being +introduced to all and sundry. Mac rather wondered under what high +title, he, a mere private, might be introduced. Among all the mighty +men there, the only one he knew was his Army Corps Commander; so, +placing himself at that gentleman's back, he awaited events. Slowly +the lengthy procedure went on, and slowly the bobbing and bowing grew +closer. At length, clad in clothes of finest silk, the great man came +before the General and his staff, when in due course with a graceful +sweep of his feathered hat he acknowledged the introduction of Mac as +one of the general staff. In the course of time it was all over. + +Out through the great porch again, out into the air the great people +passed and dispersed. Mac neglected His Serene Highness's Imperial +conveyance and sought a common taxi, went down the khaki lanes and back +to his hotel. There once more he gained a secluded corner, ordered a +drink and unbuttoned the collar of his tunic. + +The Sultan did not forget his guest, Mac. Amidst all his busy life, he +heard, nine months later, that his trooper lay wounded and sick in a +hospital at Alexandria. He despatched an envoy to express his deepest +sympathy, his hopes for better health, and a desire to know the extent +of his wounds. Then, when Mac reached England, the Sultan sent further +messages and inquiries concerning the trooper whom he had honoured at +his table at the Abdin Palace. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MAC DISAPPROVES OF BEING LEFT + +Mac felt fed up. The worst had come to pass. The infantry had gone +away and left them, the mounted men, to sweat and swear in the desert +till the war was over, and Heaven only knew when that would be. He had +been on fatigue to-day for not getting up until an hour after reveille, +and he was in no temper to be trifled with. A foolish non-com. had +taken the fatigue party to the wrong depot, where the O.C., opposed on +principle to a fine body of men wanting for work, saw that they were +not wasted. + +After a morning's work, just as they were about to retire for lunch, +the peppery officer who had been foaming all the morning about his +missing men appeared and claimed them, and refused to dismiss them +before they had done his job as well. In the almost unbearable heat, +the party, rebellious and wrathful, had straggled off to the railway +station, where a heavy afternoon's work loomed before them. Saturday +afternoon too, and no dinner! Work! They didn't think! So they +retreated to a shady café, and, despite the expostulations of the +corporal, lunched upon the one satiating thing the place +contained--beer. + +This did not fit them for an afternoon on a tropical day, so that, when +the zealous officer came at five to view the completed work, he found +only a collection of happy and sleepy warriors pleasantly reclining in +the shade of a tibbin stack. Awful threats fell unheeded upon them, +and the work remained undone. Further refreshed, they meandered +homewards, attempted vainly to maintain a comparatively straight line +while they were dismissed by an amused sergeant-major, and retired to +their lines to prepare for a Cairene evening. + +Mac firmly resolved things had come to a pass when something dire had +to be done. He adjourned to the lines of another regiment, and +consulted, nay, intrigued, with his cobber. The result was that each +one's officer was approached by a trooper, who made clear the vital +necessity of his visiting the site of ancient Memphis and the Tombs of +Sakkara on the morrow. This was in the interests of his archaeological +researches, and he pleaded special leave. One officer only came up to +scratch, which was but a minor difficulty. Other means could be +resorted to for ensuring comparative safety. Military police and some +of the sergeants, especially if friends, were not averse to persuasion. + +So it came to pass that eight o'clock the following morning found them +dodging military policemen and staff officers on a platform of the +Boulak station. They succeeded in ensconcing themselves in the +Alexandria express without much difficulty, the only incidents being +the upsetting of the equilibrium of a native railway official, a guard +or so, and a few porters. Alexandria at eleven. Their first act was +to satisfy their long-standing appetites. Then to the docks they went, +to fulfil, if possible, their mission, which was not archaeological +research, but to follow their infantry to the north. They searched +along the quays to see if any possibility offered of slipping aboard an +outbound transport. Alas, the only vessel there cast off while they, +barred by a hopeless line of sentries, gazed sadly on. They hired a +Greek sailing-boat, to investigate the vessels in harbour, but were +only marooned by him on an American warship. They would know better +next time than to trust a Greek and pay him first. + +Relieved later in the afternoon from this predicament, the troopers +betook themselves once more to the French café, where, enamoured of the +mam'selle, time passed pleasantly. "Café, chocolate, and demoiselles +très bonne Oui." At any rate, if they had missed escaping from Egypt, +there were worse ways than this of spending the day. + +Late at night, tired, piastreless, and with forebodings of the mat, but +happy and careless, they arrived back in Cairo. By devious ways they +reached their camp and their tents; and spread their blankets in the +open, under the stars. There was probably a large dose of fatigue in +store, and a few hours would see the rise of the sun over the +sand-hills to the east, the dawn of another day of heat, dust, flies, +and work. But they had given play to their spirits; and so, with the +philosophy of the average bush-whacker and stockman, they went +contentedly to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +MAC LEAVES FOR ACTIVE SERVICE + +Egypt blistered in the early summer heat; flies increased in myriads; +clouds of locusts darkened the sky; and hot winds blew, scorching and +parching everything. The infantry had vanished to the north, to +perilous adventures in the unknown; and the mounted men were grieved to +the very depths of their souls to be left thus behind to stagnate on +this sun-baked Sahara. The days passed monotonously, with perpetual +grooming and exercising, and the noonday hours spent beneath the palms, +alleged to be shady. + +Cairo was a past delight. Its romance had gone; the weird mystery of +the Oriental city had lost its fascination; and no incense-laden, +music-haunted, brightly-coloured corner remained unexplored. Cairo was +wonderful; but Cairo was filthy. The troopers had tasted of its +delights, and were satiated. + +Grousing was rife in the camp and the troopers were nervy. The +proprietors of the camp picture theatre had offended the fellows, who +showed their displeasure by partially burning the building. One +evening, to break the monotony, some of the men surreptitiously +extracted a couple of casks of unwatered beer from the brigade canteen. +They rolled the barrels some distance across the sand, and proceeded to +enjoy themselves. The excited Greek barmen, early discovering the +loss, turned out the guard. Following the tracks in the sand, they +soon found the merrymakers, routed them, and recovered a little beer. +The guard took their toll, and returned the balance to the outraged +Greeks. A small Armenian general goods shop chose to over-charge, with +the result that the vainly-expostulating merchant found his lean-to +razed to the ground before his eyes. + +Mac himself suffered from a severe overdose of C.B. So did his cobber +Smoky. They had had the awful misfortune to be detected at an early +hour one morning making their way to their lines. It had been sheer +bad luck that had done it. If Smoky had not insisted on appropriating +from the supply depot some "tinned cow" and a few small jars of beef +extract, all would have gone well. Creaking boards had started the +trouble, and a conscientious sentry had put the tin hat on it. Ten +days was the sentence--not that it mattered so much, for C.B. meant +little beyond having to go out without passes by back ways--rather a +nuisance if one were in a hurry for the train. But it was the +conscientious sentry which annoyed them. Why should the fool be so +bally unreasonable as to report? They, the trooper and Smoky, were not +so beastly particular when they did guard. In fact, such occasions +offered unique opportunities for replenishing the private larders of +their respective tents. New Zealand social theory held that one man +was as good as another, so why should not they, as well as the +officers, live upon the fat of the land, or such of it as could be got +at Zeitoun Camp. Those were the days before army discipline was fully +appreciated. + +Other troubles were also theirs. C.B. was indeed a very minor ailment +compared with their piastreless condition. The trip to Alexandria had +absorbed all their available capital, earned and borrowed. Some coon, +also, had stolen the trooper's washing from the line between the tents, +and his wrathful mutterings against the miserable perpetrator of this +horrible crime was awful to hear; but, privately, the trooper was +keeping an eye open for some one else's washing. Both had aches in +their left arms from the M.O.'s latest injection, and altogether they +considered themselves much-abused, long-suffering soldiers. + +Vague rumours floated round, some doubtless originating from that +indispensable apparatus of every camp, the backyard wireless station. +No great reliance could be placed upon such information, but +occasionally statements based on much more stable foundations +circulated. That a troop-train was standing in the siding at Palais de +Koubbeh, and that there were several transports moored in Alexandria, +was absolutely positive proof that the N.Z.M.R. were about to land in +Asia Minor or to be at Constantinople in a week or two. Other proofs +were not lacking--a super-abundance of staff officers in the vicinity, +or confidences from the orderly room clerk. Then came the definite +fact, and the wireless was temporarily idle. + +It was a Wednesday night. The brigadier himself asked the brigade +whether they would volunteer to go to Gallipoli as infantry. + +Well, it was not too good leaving the horses; they would have preferred +going into action with the "prads" but they didn't mind doing anything +to get out of this God-forsaken country and into the real thing. So +all was business; grouses were forgotten and a new day dawned. Each in +his own way set about squaring up his kit, his saddlery and his affairs +generally. + +Mac overhauled his with much care and thoughtful consideration. Into +his base kit went those things which would come in handy in +Constantinople. He had heard it was a cold place in winter-time, so +therein went six complete suits of warm underclothing, and many +superfluous comforts from his thoughtful mother. He knew she had put +much work into many of these small knick-knacks, and valued them +accordingly, though they were of little material benefit in this +flaming spot. In another neat pile he had those articles which were +absolutely essential for Gallipoli; but he was soon faced with the +horrible reality that there was at least three times too much for his +equipment. + +He culled several times, the final combing causing much mental strain +and strong will. Into a barley sack went his saddlery, with a reserve +of many straps, buckles and horse-brushes, all collected at odd +moments. Rifle, revolver, field-glasses, everything underwent a +thorough overhaul. Ammunition was clipped and forced into the leather +pouches of bandoliers, which equipment appeared neither to be meant for +nor accustomed to such practical use. + +Forty-eight hours after the first warning, the last night came. A +subdued murmur arose from the camp. Some busied themselves with final +preparations; some glided silently away from the zone of flickering +candle-light, towards the horse-lines to give a parting pat to their +faithful horses, a sad farewell for many; some joined the cheery crowd +who were making the most of their last moments at the canteen; and +others, less careless and more sober-minded, sought a few moments of +sleep. + +At eleven o'clock they fell in on their last parade in Egypt, though +few regretted that. Nevertheless, when it came to the pinch, it was a +little sad to leave the old camp, where, happily enough, they had +passed six months of sun and sandstorm. A rough crowd they looked, +these amateur infantrymen, overloaded with awkward, extemporized gear. +They stood silent, for thoughts ran deep now that they were at last on +the brink of the real thing, a moment towards which they had looked so +long. The roll was called. Mac mentioned that he had left something, +and slipped away to give the old mare a farewell stroke. Words of +command echoed through the stillness, and soon the whole brigade was +marching, as best it could, down the road towards the station. There +were lusty cheers as they passed the guard tent from those whose turn +had not yet come. The column turned to the left, and gradually the +reverberating tread of heavily-laden men grew fainter in the distance. + +So went the mounted brigade; and as they went to the north, following +their infantry into the unknown, Mac and Smoky forgot their C.B., +forgot their stiff arms and their piastreless condition--they thought +only of the future. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GALLIPOLI AT LAST + +The sun had just risen when the train, a clattering collection of +third-class cars, jangled laboriously over the low elevation on which +Alexandria stands. With a series of nerve-racking spasms, it came to a +halt on the water-front, where lay several large transports absorbing +men, horses and stores. + +With some difficulty and many lurid epithets, the troopers slowly +disengaged themselves from the unhealthy boxes, and gathered in sleepy +groups to await developments, a thing they were in the habit of doing +for long periods at a time. Mac and Smoky availed themselves of the +first opportune moment, when all who mattered were engaged in +calculations and scraps of paper, to disappear in the direction of a +small buffet whence came a tempting rattle of crockery and an aroma of +tea. + +Here, even at this early hour, the good English ladies of Alexandria +were dispensing refreshing tea and cakes to the soldiers. + +Later they filed on board, and were taken, each unit to its own +mess-deck, to deposit their gear. Mac's own troop had just completed +the disintegration of themselves and their kit and the satisfactory +stowage of it, when it was discovered that they were in the wrong part +of the ship. Of course, that sort of thing was only to be expected, +but Smoky was particularly annoyed, as he had succeeded in procuring +the snuggest corner of the place. So, muttering and growling, they +gathered up their goods and chattels, and shoved and groused along +crowded alley-ways. Embarkations and disembarkations always were a +severe trial of the temper. + +They eventually got settled again, and soon divested themselves of +unnecessary clothing and equipment. Then Mac and Smoky deemed it the +most tactful course to seek a secluded corner of the boat deck, not +infested by blustering non-coms, seeking fatigue parties. They +proceeded to go to sleep in the shady security of the lee side of a +life-boat; but, as ill luck would have it, their own sergeant soon +spotted them, and it was useless to pull his leg. + +It was a loading fatigue, of course, and they were sent away along the +water-front to shove trucks about. They eventually selected one and +brought it down alongside their ship. Black, greasy, heavy cooking +apparatus it was, which had to be carried up the steep gangways and +transported to the bowels of the ship. + +During the rest of the day, they mostly slept in quiet corners of the +ship. + +Soon after dark they sailed. The vessel manoeuvred slowly through the +breakwaters, and passed out on the calm waters of the Mediterranean. +The low, blacker line of the Egyptian shore grew less distinct, and the +numerous lights of the port came closer and closer together, faded into +a dim halo and merged at length into the black sweep of the horizon. +So passed Egypt from the sight of many; with the gurgling monotone of +the propeller, they reeled off the knots of water which separated a +past of careless happy-go-lucky days from a future of unfathomable +depth. + +There were no hammocks nor bunks on board the _Grantully Castle_. +Either it was not considered necessary that soldiers should sleep or +else, perhaps, that they were not at all particular. Anyhow there were +worse places than hard decks to sleep on. Mac and Smoky scorned the +fuggy atmosphere of the lower decks, and proceeded to select a breezy +spot on the after boat-deck. They loosened the canvas cover of a +lifeboat, levelled oars and other prominent obstacles, and disposed +their scanty bedding to the best possible advantage on this uneven +ground. The experiment was not altogether an unqualified success and +minor disadvantages made themselves apparent during the passage of the +night. The oars were rigid and uneven, and the breeze and the cold +penetrated from both above and below. Still they stuck it out, and for +the most part slept. + +The following day fled by speedily and uneventfully. All gear was +overhauled and guards were mounted; spare time was passed in gambling. +Those who had money wanted to get rid of it. It was of no more value; +in the future it counted for nothing, so large stakes were won and +lost. Mac refrained from this indulgence, not that he was a +conscientious objector, but, alas, he had no piastres wherewith to +beguile the hours. His last two had been burst in one wild rapture on +indigestible cake at the ship's canteen. + +That night Mac was detailed for ship's guard. His duty it was to stand +at the starboard quarter alongside a life-buoy, which he was to hurl at +any fool of a trooper who unwittingly fell overboard. He was to report +speedily of such affairs as submarines, fires and so forth. + +During the long night watches, he forgot, more or less, all about his +duty, and meditatively regarded the whirling wave as it seethed away +into the darkness. All was silence, except for the mumble, mumble, +mumble of the propellers. They were in the AEgean Archipelago and +islands passed in an unbroken procession of indistinct shadows. Mac's +thoughts were far away, and he was thinking of just such a night off +Pelorus Sound, when a "Wake up, old sport! Time's up!" brought him +suddenly to the present. He found Smoky had made a comfortable +"possie" underneath two lifeboats and was sleeping soundly. He +muttered only a few protesting groans on being shoved into his own +share of the possie; and soon Mac had joined his cobber in the sound +undisturbed slumber of an ordinary trooper. + +The next day passed in much the same manner; but, alas, the night--Mac +and Smoky were blusteringly ejected from their bivvie by an officious +sergeant, who said that the poop boat-deck was holy ground reserved for +machine-gunners and men on guard. So they retired to the upper deck, +and sought a spot whereon to lay their bones; but the ship was very +full, and space limited. In an ill-considered moment they settled down +partly under a seat, where passengers had sat in the palmy days of +peace, and partly in an open gangway. It proved an evil spot. Each +changing guard trod on them, and retreated with awful blasphemy echoing +in their ears. Then it chose to thunder, and rain fell in torrents. +Not only from the skies, but also from the deck above it came in +fountains, until the troopers were wretched in the extreme. There was +no refuge whence to flee. Leaving their oil sheets and blankets meant +only greater damp, so they stuck it out. + +By daylight the rain had lessened, and the troopers, bedraggled and +sleepy, disentangled themselves from the sodden blankets, and set about +getting things in order. Smoky gathered up the wet clothes and +surreptitiously made his way to the engine-room, where he selected a +not too conspicuous steam main on which to hang them. + +It was a damp grey morning. The vessel was steaming very slowly +towards where appeared dimly through the mist a host of vessels of all +descriptions, war-ships, transports, hospital ships and small craft. +Ahead loomed the land, not very high, and indistinct in the rain. + +At last, Gallipoli! The trooper regarded it suspiciously. It looked +miserable, and he felt likewise. After the long, bright months in +Egypt, the damp penetrated his bones, and he hadn't had breakfast. +Anyhow, he supposed it wouldn't be so bad, and went off downstairs for +a wash. + +When Mac and Smoky, having breakfasted, disentangled themselves from +the Bedlam of a troop-deck meal, and gained the upper air, they were in +better humour to regard their surroundings from a philosophical, if not +an appreciative, standpoint. The depressing drizzle had ceased, the +clouds were breaking, and the shore, except for the mist-filled nullahs +and the cloud-wrapped Asiatic hills, showed up more clearly in the +morning light. + +The _Grantully_ had anchored about half a mile from the fort at Seddul +Bahr, which with the castle and the village was shattered and forlorn. +An untidy medley of tents, mules and stores of all description, covered +the seaward slope and the beach to the left. Small craft passed +rapidly to the shore from many French and British transports. Great +men-o'-war, grey and cold, lay without sign of life; destroyers cruised +slowly and meditatively, and pinnaces foamed along in energetic haste. + +The two troopers watched the scene with interest. They were still very +hazy as to the actual degree of the success of the landing, or really +how far across the Peninsula the original force had progressed. The +papers said everything had been wonderfully successful, but Mac was +rather sceptical. At any rate, they were not wasting any time in +pushing the mounted men in as infantry. The future was obscure and +uncertain; but, with a feeling of eerie anticipation, he felt the +freshness of the dawn of a new mysterious life, when men met men in +mortal fight, when the false standards of civilization went to the +devil, and man was man. It was good to be alive; to be one of that +brigade of fine hefty fellows on the edge of the great adventure, when +they would join in the greatest sport on earth. + +From across the misty uplands to the north-east, like the crushing of a +cart over a gravelly road, came the rattle of musketry fire. Then, as +the visibility increased, war-ships manoeuvred into position, and fired +slowly and deliberately at unknown inland targets. Occasionally the +troop-ship shook from the shattering crash of the _Queen Elizabeth's_ +guns. Reflecting was not one of the trooper's habitual occupations; +but undoubtedly these first scenes and sounds of the real thing were +occasions for thought. A bugle-call for parade cut short further +philosophizing, and preparations for disembarkation found him faced +with questions far more worthy of mental effort than un-trooper-like +sentiments concerning what might or what might not occur in the future. +The leading difficulty was, of course, to get twice the permitted +amount of equipment into the kit, and some must be discarded. He had +two blankets, and decided to dispose of the lighter, then, changing +into a clean shirt, he threw away the old one. Everything was finally +reduced to the absolute minimum, and packed as neatly as possible in +the temporary kit. + + * * * * * + +Cape Helles was not the destination of the Mounted Rifle Brigade. In +mid-afternoon the _Grantully_, under slow steam, passed northwards +along the coast thirteen miles, and dropped anchor again in the middle +of another fleet of transports about two miles off Anzac. All traces +of the morning gloom had gone; and, to the troopers, accustomed so long +to the low, barren sand-dunes of Egypt, these high Gallipoli hills and +islands, bathed in the glory of an AEgean evening, brought memories of +other coast-lines, Cook Strait maybe, or the Great Barrier. + +The fellows crowded along the landward rail, and, with or without +glasses, endeavoured to discover battle-signs and the positions of our +men. There were across the steep green hillsides several great scars, +where the scrub was withered and the bare earth showed; but surely our +main line was over that high ridge, for reports stated that the army +corps had penetrated several miles. The artillery was awakening to its +evening activity, field guns could be seen firing, and shells bursting +on high crests. Heavy shells, learned later to be those from the +_Goeben_ in the Dardanelles Channel, shrieked occasionally out of the +unknown, and sent up great geysers of water near a four-funnelled +cruiser to the right. A steady staccato of rifle fire floated faintly +from the heights. + +The evening shadows deepened to darkness; the stars shone brightly, and +against them the land stood in a black, shapeless mass. + +Many lights from the bivouacs on the seaward slope gleamed like a +miniature Wellington across the water. War seemed difficult to +reconcile with so serene and perfect a night. + +Two destroyers came alongside, one on the port, the other on the +starboard. Struggling with their unwieldy equipment, the troopers +filed down the gangways on to them. Mac sat down by the engine-room +manhole and listened to great and wonderful stories from the leading +stoker of dashes up the Narrows, long patrols in winter storms, and +thrilling times during the landing. + +They spun away shorewards. The hills loomed blacker overhead and the +dim staccato of rifle fire became a ceaseless rattle. + +Spent bullets buzzed past and hit the water with a "plop." This was +interesting, and, with a thrill of pleasure, Mac felt at last he was +under hostile fire. For days--indeed, for months--he had been worried +internally by a great doubt. Would he be a funk? He was in a +frightful funk lest he should be one, and to him this was a matter of +great concern, though he mentioned it to no one, not even to Smoky. He +wondered whether his cobber was affected in the same way, but thought +not, as he was so keen to get to the front. So he had felt a little +ashamed. Well, anyhow, now he was entering the danger zone, he +experienced no abdominal sinking, such as one might expect under these +circumstances. His mind was relieved; and, with the full joy of life, +he turned with interest towards the steep hills. + +Bells clanged below and the engines stopped and reversed, and, with a +seething of water, the destroyer lost way. Out of the darkness loomed +several unwieldy lighters, splendidly admiralled by a slip of a middy. +They came alongside and the men swarmed aboard. The lighters moved +lumberingly beachwards. From above, the firing grew loud, and a +falling bullet wounded a man--the first casualty. Men stood silent, or +spoke in subdued murmurs. The whole thing was weird, yet +beautiful--the still glory of the night, the eerie, echoing rattle from +above, and the flickering lights of the bivouacs. + +They grounded at last alongside a stranded barge, crossed it, and, +filing down a plank to the shore, gathered in ragged line along the +beach to await orders. What was expected of them that night, none +knew. A few of the earlier arrivals, not too fully occupied with work +or sleep completely to ignore them, welcomed them warmly, and +immediately launched into long-winded accounts of previous fighting. +With an air of conscious superiority, they gave them hints and advice, +and told vividly of trials, troubles and dangers. All this the +new-comers accepted unchallenged and with deep respect. + +The narrow beach, or those parts of it not occupied by great piles of +stores, or limbers and water-carts, was a seething mass of humanity and +mules. Few of the men spoke, beyond a welcoming "How do, cobber," or a +"Glad you've come, mate." They appeared out of the darkness and passed +into it again with an air of steady practical purpose. Ant-like, they +passed in continual streams from barges to stacks of boxes, whose size +rapidly increased. + +At length the brigade filed off along the stony beach to the left, +halted frequently, while stray bullets passed with a low whirr overhead +and out to sea; and turned finally up a deep ravine to the right. + +On the steep, scrub-covered sides they were ordered to bivouac for the +night. Things were not too comfortable, but that was no cause for +complaint. Mac and Smoky forced themselves under a holly bush, +enveloped themselves in their oil-sheets, and braced their feet against +stems of shrubs to prevent their sliding down the fifty degree slope. +There was no cessation of the firing, and, in this ravine each report +reverberated from one clay cliff to another in ringing, resonant notes. +There were no other signs or sounds of fighting--only this musical din +coming from the starry vault above. + +The trooper thought a terrific battle must be raging, and pitied the +poor fellows in the trenches. He learned later it was just Abdul's +normal method of spending the night when he had the wind up. These +sounds were not disturbing, and soon the cobbers, for the first time, +were asleep under fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MAC JOINS IN THE WAR + +Mac's first morning at Anzac was one of deep interest. He regarded his +surroundings rather more after the fashion of a Cook's tourist than of +a soldier; or, maybe, he more closely resembled a schoolboy at his +first circus. No time was wasted over a scratch breakfast--bully beef +and biscuits were consumed more as a duty than a pleasure. Then, +together with many others of equally inquiring frame of mind, he betook +himself to the crest of the ridge which shut in the ravine on the +north. The scene from there was indeed pleasing--a sapphire sea +meeting a widely sweeping beach, a green, tree-dotted flat, and some +scrub-covered hills, all sparkling with dew and bathed in the clear, +tempered sunshine of an early summer morning. Mac's first impressions +of Turkey left nothing to be desired, and there seemed promise of +excellent bathing. + +He gathered up shrapnel pellets and bits of shell casing, and with the +true instinct of a globe-trotter, thought already of mementoes to take +home. His tourist tendencies, however, soon evaporated, for he was +sent round on a fatigue to the landing, whence he returned a sweating, +blowing trooper, with a handleless, uncovered, paraffin tin of water. +As he stumbled back along the stony beach an enemy battery opened fire +without, it appeared, the Turks having precise knowledge of their +target, or else their observation was inferior. To them, ignorance was +bliss, just as the consistency with which they dropped salvos of four +shells about two hundred yards out to sea, was bliss to Mac. Moreover, +the paint-brush-like splash of the flying fragments demonstrated +exactly what military instructions had been endeavouring to impress +upon him for months concerning the field covered by a bursting shrapnel +shell. + +It had not been a great strain on the intellect of the enemy to deduce +that the appearance of so many interested sightseers on the skyline +indicated the presence of fresh troops in the donga below, and he +consequently set about shelling it. Mac's regiment departed for the +trenches at this juncture, and so missed the excitement. They kept +along the shore for a short distance, then turned to the right, and +started straight up the steep, narrow badly-graded paths towards the +more or less flat summit, where they were to relieve an infantry +battalion. The sun was hot, and the way was steep, not to mention the +weighty burden of equipment. The cool sea drew farther away as they +soared gradually skywards, panting and perspiring. They reached their +trenches at last, pushed themselves along ditches too narrow to take +simultaneously both them and their gear, cast loving epithets at +telephone wires which caught their rifles, and waited interminable +times for the man ahead to move on. Towards midday, after dodging +backwards and forwards, time and again, like a freight train in a +railway yard, they collapsed at last in their appointed positions. + +By evening Mac was thoroughly settled in his new home, and no longer +did he regard his situation as being in the least unique. He reviewed +the field of fire, studied the landscape, rather an extensive and +interesting one; and had a few long-range shots at Turkish trenches. +There was really no call for this, but it was rather amusing to be +potting away, at last, at an enemy position. + +His trench was not an exciting spot, separated, as it was, by a ravine +from the enemy, and being only the protective flank of their own +position. + +The mounted men were soon accustomed to the new life, and in three days +they might have been at it for ever. The days passed in a not +unpleasant routine. The fresh, bright, beautiful dawns were slightly +chilly, the early mornings were far from unpleasant, though the noonday +hours were warm, and afflicted with flies and smells; but, beneath the +shade of outstretched blankets and oil-sheets, the troopers whiled away +the time, sleeping mostly, some writing and some playing cards. There +was no reading material in those days. + +The afternoon hours dragged drowsily past, until, with the lowering +sun, they woke to prepare the evening meal, the largest of the day. +Culinary operations were strictly limited by the short supply of water, +so that meals were usually confined to bully-beef, biscuits, marmalade, +bacon, or Maconochie. Both Colonials and Turks having completed their +evening repast, the cool, clear evenings were spent by the former in +sniping and artillery practice, and by the latter in expending +wastefully large quantities of small arms ammunition against the +opposite parapets. Then, too, the troopers reassumed their clothing, +most of which had been discarded during the day. As the gloaming +deepened, the sniping ceased, but the Turks, ever mindful of the +possibility of an attack, seldom throughout the night slackened their +fire, which rose spasmodically to violent outbursts, probably in +consequence of optical delusions on the part of a nervy follower of +Mohammed, or, maybe, in response to horse-play on the part of the +invaders. A Maori haka was sometimes responsible for the discharge of +many cases of enemy ammunition. + +During the hours of darkness many huddled forms lay in the bottom of +Mac's trench, overlapping and cramped, but, nevertheless, peacefully +sleeping. Here and there stood a sentry, his figure warmly cloaked and +his face periodically lit by the glow from his pipe. Occasionally +bullets hummed threateningly the length of the trench and these Mac +regarded with deep respect, and addressed in words of wrath. The +countless thousands which whistled crosswise over the trench, or else +with a spurt of flame struck the sandy parapet, left him unmoved. The +first half of his sentry-goes passed quickly enough, but the second +dragged a bit, his thoughts being exhausted, and those beastly whirling +enfilading bullets seeming to come more frequently. + +At dawn all stood to, absorbed rum, of the liberally watered variety, +exchanged experiences of the night, and smoked. Then the routine of +the day began again, some dissolved once more into sleep, some remained +on guard, and others went on the long weary journey for water. + +The first week on Walker's Ridge passed fairly uneventfully, and by the +end of it the garrison looked war-worn veterans. Water was very +scarce, and a shave, much less a wash, altogether out of the question. +In a moment of wild extravagance Mac had burst a couple of +tablespoonfuls on cleaning his teeth. Towards the end of this week, +being in support for twenty-four hours, they were able to go down to +the beach for a bathe. Never was bathing so much enjoyed, nor the +sun-bath after it--it was just like old Maoriland again. There was +always the pop-pop-popping on the hills above, the occasional thud of a +spent bullet in the scrub, and the more or less methodical bursting of +shrapnel shells somewhere along the shore; but all these circumstances +had become so much part of the scene that the troopers were seldom +perturbed. Sometimes a Turkish machine-gunner or sniper became a +little too accurate or shrapnel fell a trifle too thickly on the beach +to be comfortable, and were roundly cursed for their attentions. + +On the night of their seventh day ashore, Smoky and Mac communed, and +agreed that campaigning so far had not been particularly trying; that +bully, biscuits, dirty water, and the same trenches were becoming +over-monotonous, and that the time had already come when something +ought to be done. + +Their lust for more excitement was partly appeased that night. Old +Abdul supplied the initiative, and later must have regretted it sorely. + +Shortly after midnight, the usual nocturnal battle-sounds rose in a +swift crescendo of bursting shells and rattling staccato of machine-gun +fire, which echoed in weird music from cliff to cliff and across the +ravines. + +Mac--he was in a support trench--woke with a thrill to this grand din +of battle, speedily assumed his bandolier, water-bottle and revolver, +grasped his rifle, and trundled away up the sap after his disappearing +cobbers. + +They bundled up into the support of the main position, which was being +attacked frontally by wave after wave of the enemy, who came on +bravely, but were being mowed down in hundreds by machine and rifle +fire. The defenders, in their eagerness, went out into the open to get +a better field of fire, and to meet Abdul with the bayonet. Mac had +rotten luck. His troop reinforced a flank position, where, no matter +how strongly they used their wills, no Turk would venture. He waited +and watched. In the gathering light of the dawn he could look more +deeply into the scrub that shrouded vision beyond twenty-five yards, +but nothing of interest revealed itself. He passed up ammunition and +absorbed eagerly all tidings brought from the front line by the +returning wounded. As the sun rose, and the firing, instead of coming +in the wild bursts, the lulls, and the wilder squalls of the earlier +morning, decreased to a steady interchange of shots, Mac realized that +the force of the attack was spent. With a deep sadness in his heart he +emptied the breach of his rifle--the rifle which he had tended with +great care and solicitude in anticipation of such an occasion as this. +He cursed gently and sadly as his troop filed sorrowfully back to their +support trench, where, spitefully shelled with shrapnel, he set about +the preparation of a belated breakfast for his section, two of whom had +retired to possies to sleep, and the other to the beach for water. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A WEARY DAY + +Mac sat in the dust, his back against a bank, with his rifle leaning +slantwise across him, and his equipment hanging awkwardly. Beside him +sat Smoky, and both were melancholy. The sun beat strong in upon them, +and the dust clung thickly to their perspiring bodies. The shady side +of the wide communication trench was exposed to shrapnel, which the +Turks had kept up more or less continually since the failure of their +night attack. Against the opposite bank lay a body, half-covered by a +blanket, and the padre was quietly removing the dead man's +identification disc and the contents of his pockets. His two cobbers +had gone on to the top to dig him a grave, and had both been wounded by +shrapnel. + +Mac and Smoky were sad. It was not the sorrow of grief, nor yet the +thoughts that a speedy end might any time be theirs; but rather they +were touched partly by the sight of the good old padre silently +removing the soiled, time-worn articles from his pockets, small things +which would be so greatly valued and revered by his people away in a +sunny Wairarapa homestead, and partly the vision of a fine strapping, +cheery fellow passing so rapidly from laughter to cold silence. + +Thoughts such as these, deep and sincere as they were, cast but a +passing shadow over their careless, happy natures. Friends of +bush-whacking and shepherding days, camp mates of the past, and casual +cobbers in Cairene escapades day after day went West; and always there +came the momentary sadness, and, maybe, the remark, "Poor old Bill. +They hooked him this morning. He was a good old sport." That was his +requiem and, save for a few stray thoughts in the silent watches of the +night, old Bill went unremembered. + +The Turkish dead lay thick between the lines; but there was no knowing +whether they had finally abandoned the attack. Their shelling +continued, and the rifle fire indicated a nervous temperament. +Consequently the squadron still remained in reserve as near as possible +to the firing line. Mac could see through a sap which ran to the edge +of the precipice the beach and the cool, wonderfully cool-looking +water. The few lucky beggars were splashing there, for practically +every man was up in the firing-line. There were no troops to spare in +those days--the line was but thinly held, and, if the Turks broke +through anywhere, the whole position must be involved in disaster. + +The day dragged slowly on to early afternoon. Then their troop was +stirred into animation and excitement by the information that they and +two other troops were to make a counter-attack "Light as possible, +fifty rounds of ammunition only... First and second trenches ... some +machine guns and a few Turks... Clear them out and come back," were +the orders. + +They filed silently and with set faces to their assembly positions. +They were in for something serious. They had all seen the waves of +advancing Turks in the early morning dissolve away. Mac thought he +didn't mind how soon peace was declared, and felt a bit tired of the +war, but, still, here was their first real, live chance. A heavy +covering fire had been opened all round the Anzac lines, and the enemy +replied with equal force. His troop slipped over the parapet, and lay, +awaiting the word, among the many dead, Turkish and Australasian, of +last night, and of three weeks earlier. Minutes passed slowly, five, +ten, twenty, thirty--what on earth did this mean? The sun blazed +fiercely on the flattened figures, the smell was awful, and the fire +slackened not a bit. Mac had examined his breech a dozen times, +adjusted and readjusted his ammunition to facilitate its easy handling, +and had made certain several times of the firmness of his bayonet. He +had thrown away his bayonet scabbard. It was long and might trip him +up. If he came back he could recover it; if he didn't--it wouldn't +matter. He had heard it said that waiting was the worst time of all, +and he longed to be off, even into that hail of bullets which whizzed +low over his head. + +More minutes marched funereally by, and then he heard in the trench +behind the sound of voices, and an order passed along the line to +clamber back into the trench. Surely there was some mistake, thought +Mac, but no, it was repeated, and they wormed themselves back over the +parapet, gathered hazily that the attack had been deemed inadvisable, +and sauntered tiredly back to their old place in the communication sap. +Talking it over later. Smoky and the Trooper came to the conclusion +that the cancelling of the attack was the best thing that had ever +happened for them. Theirs would have been the fate of the enemy in +their shattered attacks of the previous night, though, having made up +their minds to it, and stood the forty-five minutes' strain of waiting, +it had seemed a bit tough not to be repaid with a whack at the Turks. + +The long hot day drew at length to a close. The setting of the sun +amidst the islands was full of wild beauty. The airy pinnacles of +Samothrace and the wild hills of Imbros, scarred and parched, stood +silhouetted against a glorious background of wonderful colouring, high +tones and low tones, an idealized Turner canvas. Out to the sinking +sun stretched a golden path, while to the right and to the left lay +untroubled leagues of blue. The gloaming slowly enveloped the horizon +to the north and south, the shining path of light broadened and +burnished, as the sun rested a moment, then disappeared, while the +island grew darker against the riot of deep colouring. + +Resting on a clay ledge on the edge of the cliff which rose +precipitously to a height of 600 feet a few hundred yards from the +shore, Mac and Smoky drank in the glory of these rare moments. Both +sides were tired, the Turks weary of the carnage and their failure, and +the invaders of the hot, waterless hours of waiting, but conscious of +their successful defence and increased security. They discussed the +events of the day, the prospect of a swim on the morrow, and, as +always, of the long shandies, the ham and eggs, and the apple pie which +they would have on that great occasion when they returned once more to +New Zealand. Yes, a bush whare was all that Smoky would want for the +rest of his life, a possie where he could eat and drink and sleep just +as much as he wished. He aspired also to brands of tobacco other than +those the Army thought suitable to his taste. These pleasant +anticipations of the future were abruptly cut short by the order, +"Stand to." From Mac's point of view this was quite an unnecessary +proceeding, involving much inconvenience and discomfort, and, in the +early morning hours, loss of valuable sleep. Still, these things had +to be put up with, and "stand to" could be profitably spent cleaning +rifles and other gear. The issue of rum, when not stopped by the +higher command or absorbed by the A.S.C. and quartermasters, was +occasionally a relieving and pleasant interlude about this time. + +"Stand to" ended, they composed themselves to sleep where they were, +which was still in the same communication trench in reserve. The +trench was five feet in width--in favourable spots it may have been +six--and the bottom was deep in dust, which, to a certain extent, +moderated the sharpness of ammunition pouches in the middle of one's +back. From the heaps of piled-up spoil above came irregular avalanches +of dust and dirt, and due care had to be taken to prevent it getting in +one's ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Still, notwithstanding these minor +discomforts, Mac had managed to get about an hour's sleep before +matters became trying. The artillery were immediately responsible for +it all--the artillery, for which, in spare moments from the firing +line, they had dug this communication trench and gun-pits beyond, and +had even dragged the pieces up. Now, at this infernal hour, they chose +to bring their ammunition up. Trains of mules arrived, halted close +alongside where Mac lay huddled against the bank, moved at right angles +across the sap, were relieved of their burdens and departed again, led +by their shadowy Indian muleteers. + +Mac was hardened to being walked on by men, but mules laden with +eighteen-pounder shell...... Badly pinched and deeply angered, he +stuck it for a while. There was nothing to be gained by swearing, for +the mules and the Indians were equally indifferent. More mules were +followed by still more mules, which, as they turned, trampled on him +severely. Heavy hoofs were placed squarely on his shrinking person, +and he had at length to give them best. There was nowhere else to go, +so, leaning against the wall, he awaited brighter moments. Often he +cursed wrathfully, occasionally he smoked. This ruthless violation of +his valuable hours of sleep was a crime he would not readily forgive +the artillery, and he wished their bally guns had been shoved somewhere +else. The mules came and went for hours, occasional suspensions of +their comings and goings only creating in his breast false hopes. + +Towards dawn he slept once more, only to be aroused again for the +purpose of swinging up towards the front line for support. No attack +came, and now, the sun rising above the eastern hills, he and his troop +trailed wearily back to their own bivouacs. His section four discussed +breakfast, the contents and limited possibilities of the larder, the +disappearance of firewood, which had been carried off by some person +during their absence, and the absolute non-existence of water. + +"Breakfast be blowed!" said Mac. He crawled into his niche in the side +of the trench, covered himself in his grey blankets, head included, for +protection from flies, left breakfast worries to the others, and passed +into the deep slumber of the utterly weary. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MAC IS SLEEPY + +Mac's luck was out. He had had practically no sleep the night +previous, or, for that matter, for the two nights before that again, +and he was not going to get any chance to make it up now. A distant +echo of his name from somewhere up the sap brought a swift awakening. +It was an evil omen, portending the worst fatigue. He decided to +follow the lazy course of action, namely, to avoid it if possible. + +"Mac! Where in the devil are you? Mac! Mac!" + +The exhorting voice of the corporal came nearer; but the trooper +decided he was a heavy sleeper and knew, moreover, that his whole form +was well shielded by his grey blanket. As usual though, all this was +futile, and no effort of will could persuade the corporal to pass +unmolested his shrouded form. The blanket was pulled from over his +face, and, with a slap on the thigh and "Come on, Mac!" shouted down to +him, he could hardly, with decency, pretend to be asleep any longer. +He carried the thing to rather too flourishing a finish, awakened +violently with a suspicious suddenness, and blinked rapidly at the +corporal, "Oh! Rations you're after. All right. I'll dodge away down +after them. You might give a feller a chance to sleep though." He +knew well it was about his turn to wander away down the hill for +rations, but a fellow was sorely tempted to put off the evil moment to +the last, when, utterly weary, he was enjoying some rare hours of +settled sleep. + +Mac trudged wearily away down the ridge, at times almost letting his +legs run away with him on the steep paths. At the depot, he persuaded +the water-guard to let him fill his water-bottle, and then, while the +Quarters calculated together, he drowsed in the shade of a bank. For +some time the Quarters chewed the ends of their pencils, studied +note-books and tapped boxes. Then they retired in the direction of a +comfortable service corps dug-out, whence issued spirals of blue smoke +and odours of rum. By and by they emerged, and all struggled into +activity again. Some of the fatigue party had disappeared though, for +they were not often so close to the beach. Still, the Quarter was not +worried, for he knew all would return anon, each to lump his load up +the track. Mac had been too sleepy to wander off for a bathe, though, +as a matter of fact, he had been endeavouring for the last twenty +minutes before the Quarter's return to summon up sufficient energy to +follow his cobbers' example. Still, boxes of biscuits would be their +portion, while, getting in early, he would be able to secure easy +freight, flitches of bacon or the like. + +He shouldered his load and set off homewards. He rested often for the +first half of the journey, but then, pulling himself together, plugged +steadily upwards. Towards the summit, where the track ran up a +razor-back, his progress was hastened by the Turkish artillery on the +"W" Hills. He deposited his bacon at the Quarter's bivvie, and +wandered down the sap to his ledge under the wall. Delving into a +battered biscuit tin, he produced some characterless dried flour tiles, +a tin of bully and a tin of apricot, the choicest of Deakin. His three +cobbers, who were the only other inhabitants of this section of the +sap, had breakfasted, and now lay, like three mummies, on their +respective ledges. This trench was merely the wing of a sector, and +was not directly opposed to an enemy trench. Here it was the privilege +of his section to make its headquarters every third day, when it was +their additional privilege to do the ration and water fatigues, to +furnish sapping and burying parties, sentries and guards, and such +other toilers as might be necessary; while occasionally, with great +luck and better management, an hour or two on the beach might be worked. + +Here, with his back against a traverse, Mac set about his repast. He +devoured half a tin of bully. That was his limit, no matter how hungry +he was, for he was aware by experience of the effects of overmuch +bully. He shied the remainder over the parapet, and promptly set about +his second and last course. The flies were fonder than he of Deakin's +apricot, and he had to be circumspect to dodge them successfully. He +knew too well their other sources of food supply--and was not over keen +on swallowing any, nor of having them beating him for his jam, Deakin's +though it was. With some difficulty he broke the bullet-proof biscuits +into mouthful sizes, grasped the tin of jam between his knees with his +hand over it, and dipping each bit first into the jam, popped it into +his mouth. Mac had good teeth, but, all the same, it took many long +minutes of hard jaw work to get on the outside of a biscuit and a half. +This, he had calculated, was as much dry tack as his daily ration of +dirty water could comfortably counterbalance. + +He then set about putting his domestic affairs in order--tidying up his +kit and his bivvie, overhauling the larder, shaking his dusty blankets +and the like. He surveyed his weather-beaten countenance in a broken +triangle of glass. "What-o, mother, that you should see me now!" and +he winked whimsically at himself. A fortnight's black beard formed a +dark halo round his features, plenty of dust from the heaps of earth +above stuck in his hair, and he was already a bit thinner than in +Egyptian days. At the present moment a pair of ragged shorts, hanging +insecurely about his middle, was his only garment. The rest of his +body was, like his face, tanned and dusty. + +He now performed to the full such toilet as was possible in his present +quarters. He rubbed himself vigorously with a towel, cleaned his teeth +with about two dessert-spoonfuls of water, and brushed his hair. He +gave his rifle a few runs through and a dust, and restored round the +bolt a careful wrapping of cloth. This completed the setting of his +house in order. + +A corporal sang out from up the sap that the troop was to be ready for +the front line at one o'clock, so Mac roughly, but good-naturedly, +tumbled his cobbers off their ledges and admonished them to turn to and +prepare. + +The next half-hour was spent in getting ready, dressing, having some +lunch, which varied not from the earlier repast, and attaching gear. +They looked a shabby mob, with their equipment slung round them and +their clothing adapted to individual taste. As mounted men put in +suddenly to reinforce the foot, their equipment was not all it might +have been for trench warfare; but they had come to work and not to a +beauty show. + +They filed away up the dusty, sun-scorched sap, through narrow +communication trenches, bringing forth disgusted curses from the +dwellers therein, whose cooking and living arrangements were suspended +during their passage; and settled finally in an advanced sap leading +out towards the enemy lines. It was deep and narrow and had no +conveniences either for comfort or fighting. The afternoon drowsed +slowly past, a spell of sapping at the sap-head occasionally breaking +the monotony. + +With sundown, both sides revived for the evening activity, a meal, and +preparations for the night. The Turks, since their heavy but futile +attacks of two nights previous, had not returned into that placidity +which betokened cessation of evil intentions. There was an erratic +nervousness of fire; instructions were that an attack would eventuate +during the night, and that no one was to sleep. + +Just about sunset, word floated up from behind that a white flag was +approaching, but it was some time before it and several attendant Turks +appeared through the scrub about a chain to the right. Too many +accompanied the flag, but nearer approach being severely discouraged +they retired speedily again into the scrub. A few minutes later, the +flag returned, this time direct towards the sap-head, and now the +Colonel, armed with German and Turkish vocabularies, was there to +welcome it. They halted about twenty yards away, and a rather +fruitless conversation followed. The Turks jabbered excitedly a +meaningless chorus, to which the Colonel, full of importance and +dignity, replied with deliberate and forceful phrases of alleged +Turkish and German, fluttering the while through the vocabularies and +prompted and admired on all sides by an audience of officers and men. +The Turks were unimpressed, and gabbled on. Now arrived the right man, +the interpreter--all would be well. But, alas, he was so nervous and +alarmed at being thrust on the parapet that the conversation profited +little by his presence! All that could be impressed upon the +flag-bearers was that they were to return home as speedily as possible, +which course they wisely adopted, and immediately a burst of firing +broke out along both lines. This calmed as rapidly as it had begun, +and the troopers, chuckling over the comical scene of the Colonel +airing his German and Turkish, drank their rum and settled down to the +long vigil. + +A glorious night it was, still and starry, and sound travelled far. +But it was very weary, standing hour after hour waiting for the attack. +From the sap-head came the steady tapping of the picks and occasionally +the sound of muffled voices. Water was very scarce, but the drowsiness +which crept over the trooper was the worst of his troubles. Attack or +no attack, he could not keep awake. Every few seconds he fell asleep, +his knees kinked under him, and he was once more awake. This grew +monotonous, but there was no stopping it. His interest was caught at +times by the jabbering of assembling Turks in the hollow just over the +scrub-covered rise. Searchlight beams had been scouring the hills to +the north, and one was suddenly thrown on no man's land. Batteries +ashore and destroyers opened fire. Shells whirred up from below, +screamed overhead and burst beyond the rise. The jabbering rose into +an impassioned chanting to Allah. The searchlight switched off, the +shells fell less frequently, the Oriental obligato fell away in a +diminuendo of pathetic cries and a staccato of terrified jabbering. +Mac's knees again kinked frequently. + +In his state of alternate consciousness, the minutes dragged wearily, +he lost all count of time, and the whole business merged into a vivid +distorted dream. The drama was repeated, the mutterings of the +assembling Turks, the long-searching beam coming up from the sea, the +sudden tearing and crashing of the artillery, and the agonized howlings +of the enemy. Then came another period of quiet and deep drowsiness. + +There may have been a third enactment, though on this point Mac has +always been hazy. At any rate, in due course came the dawn. The sky +brightened behind the Turkish lines, the searchlights faded away, and +gradually the spasmodic rifle fire of the night fell to occasional +single shots along the line. "Stand to" laboured by on leaden wings. +A single sentry was posted at the sap-head; then, in awkward attitudes +and angles, like the corpses on the ground above, they fell asleep in +the bottom of their sap. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +VARIOUS MISFORTUNES + +Mac, minus most of his clothing, squatted on a heap of rubble, keenly +following through his glasses naval tactics on the sea below. One +favourable point about Anzac was that, if one was bored with everything +else, there was always plenty to look at, especially with a good pair +of glasses. This morning, coming out on to the little flat top behind +his position, he discovered all the shipping in a turmoil. The whole +fleet of twenty or more transports was going helter-skelter for Imbros +harbour, the winches of a few laggards still rattled as they laboured +with their anchors, cruisers patrolled uneasily up and down, +fleet-sweepers moved about nowhere in particular, while destroyers +dashed round in wide circles, leaving behind them trails of heavy black +smoke and foaming white water. Only a couple of white hospital-ships +remained undisturbed. + +"Submarines--damn them!" thought Mac. This was a new and unpleasant +development and not to his liking at all. He descried through the haze +the anchorage at Cape Helles, and noted that the vessels there--among +them a huge four-funnelled Atlantic liner--were also making off. + +Towards evening all transports had disappeared, and cruisers and +destroyers resumed a leisurely patrol. + +That was Saturday. In the early light of next morning, while the +mist-wraiths still clung to the hills and filled the dongas, Mac was +disturbed in his breakfast preparations by the sound of a heavier +cannonade than usual to the south. Going to an observation post he saw +a battleship aground off Gaba Tepe Point. The morning mists had just +revealed her, and now she was emptying her broadsides in rapid +succession up the great valley below Kilid Bahr. Another battleship +was right alongside attempting, apparently, to push her off. White +smoke from many bursting Turkish shells mingled with the heavy black +pall from the discharging broadsides. The bombardment continued for +some time, and Mac at length returned to his neglected breakfast +preparations, his going hastened by the fact that, carelessly exposing +his head, he had attracted the attentions of a sniper. When he looked +later, both men-o'-war were some distance away steaming west. + +He learned afterwards that the _Albion_, in taking up her position on +the southern flank, had grounded in the mist, and that the _Canopus_ +had come to her assistance, attempting, without success, to get her +off. The _Albion_ lightened herself by emptying her magazines through +her broadsides, and was finally towed off. + + * * * * * + +Then came the armistice, a day of interest and amusement, and of grim, +unpleasant work. + +For almost a month, in no man's land, attack after attack had dwindled +away to nothing and there, five days before, Turkish losses had been +especially heavy. The enemy took the initiative in the matter, and +white flag negotiations proceeded on several occasions. Later, a +gorgeously apparelled Turkish staff officer came across and was taken +blindfolded to Headquarters, where an armistice for internment purposes +was agreed upon. Very considerate it was of Abdul to put the +proposition, Mac thought, for the condition of the atmosphere in the +neighbourhood was not conducive to his peace of mind, nor did it +improve his inclination to eat to know that those flies which nothing +could keep out of his food, had come from ----. And his internals +would squirm at the thought. + +A peculiar quietness had marked the passage of the night, and with the +vanishing of the mists a strange silence filled the air. Since the +landing nearly a month back, the continuous music of rifle fire, with +its echoes and re-echoes among the nullahs and cliffs, had scarcely +ever ceased. And now, from opposing parapets, cautious heads began to +appear, Red Cross and Red Crescent flags were brought into the open. +Large burying parties followed, and soon thousands of Cornstalks and +Mussulmans were burying each others' dead. Thousands lined the +parapets, scanning those acres of which they had had before but wily +glances, or had scurried over in the wave of an attack. No one was +going to miss the show. The Cove was deserted, and the Infantryman and +the Service Corps man stood boldly side by side on the parapet. + +Of the work itself little can be said. Mac was on duty in the first +line, and was not allowed to leave it to investigate the secrets of no +man's land, but he knew well enough of the huddled figures lying in +clusters in that green scrub, which hid much. But in parts the scrub +had been worn from the earth by the constant ripping of the bullets. +There, partly shielded by withering branches lay withering bodies, +mostly in strange postures, sometimes one above the other with rusting +rifles, discarded equipment, and odd bits of wire. Often scraps of +torn cloth clung to the jagged stems of shattered shrubs, and all was a +scene of desolation unutterable. + +So numerous were the dead that all day long the burying went on. Some +of the workers, resting from their labours, attempted conversation with +the Turkish parties, but ignorance of each others' language proved a +difficulty. Still they smiled and gesticulated and exchanged +cigarettes. + +Towards the middle of the afternoon, parties finished their work and +returned, no man's land became gradually untenanted, the curious were +satisfied, and melted from the parapets, a sudden heat shower damping +their ardour, and gradually the old scene came back. About four the +white flags with their red emblems disappeared and every one retired +discreetly into his trench. Soon a stray shot rang out, and the +armistice was over. Snipers were at their old dodges, and later in the +evening Mac's section received for some time the attentions of an enemy +mountain gun, which was new to this part of the line. + +The following day brought a tragedy which sank deep into Mac's heart. + +Out on the left flank, near where the _Albion_ had been ashore a few +mornings back, a man-o'-war had always lain since the days of the +landing. There had been some anxiety certainly on account of the +submarine excitement the other day; but now, slow, lazy movements on +the part of the destroyers and the reoccupation of old anchorages by +the cruisers, indicated that naval peace of mind was once more +restored. H.M.S. _Triumph_ had anchored soon after daybreak on the +southern flank. + +Now, at midday, came the shout, "_Triumph's_ been torpedoed." Mac +jumped on his fire-step, and, looking down the trench, saw beyond it +sure enough the poor old _Triumph_ with a heavy list towards him. Some +of the fellows had seen the torpedo strike her right amidships, and a +great column of water rise high in the air and fall on her decks. + +From all directions destroyers, mine-sweepers and pinnaces were +concentrating on the doomed vessel. Two destroyers had run their bows +alongside her hull, and her crew was swarming off. Her decks grew +steeper, but some of the crew seemed to be sticking to their guns to +the last in the after turrets. Mac could not discover whether these +shots were directed against the submarine or whether they were but the +last farewell of the old battleship. Fifteen minutes from the moment +she was struck, her decks lay almost at right angles to the water, then +the movement quickening, she turned bottom upward, only her red keel, +propellers and rudder showing to the troubled troopers who sadly +watched the demise of the famous old ship. A quarter of an hour longer +she floated, sinking lower and lower, then, with an easy motion, she +slid away from sight. For a few minutes a maelstrom of white, surging +water foamed and spurted, then, sadly and slowly, the host of small +craft which had rushed to the rescue made again for their stations. +Destroyers manoeuvred in vain search of the submarine, while +battleships and cruisers in a haze of smoke disappeared beyond the +horizon. Only a few bright tins, some boards, and a patch of oil +marked the spot on the peaceful, azure sea, where, an hour before, a +fine old ship, and fifty of her crew, had gone to their doom. + +The troopers ate their lunch in stony silence. It seemed they had lost +an old friend. + +Still, in going about the afternoon's work, they soon forgot their +sadness. They had been a fortnight in these trenches, and now they +were to be relieved by the Light Horse. It was good getting out after +a fortnight there, but it was a darned nuisance moving. When Mac had +all his gear up, there was not much of himself left in view. Valise, +bandolier, rifle, revolver, glasses, water-bottle, extra ammunition, +cooking utensils, haversack, a stove, the day's rations, a bundle of +fire-wood, and half a dozen odds and ends had to find space about his +person; the Q.M.S., too, usually had something to add to this load. A +heavy summer shower did not improve matters, and made the descent of +the steep clay paths one of speed rather than elegance. Once started +with so heavy a load, it was impossible to pull up. So the descent of +his regiment that afternoon from the plateau above was a weird and +wonderful sight, and resembled nothing more than a mixed avalanche of +perspiring troopers, mud and gear. + +They took up their new abode on a steep northerly slope above the sea. +Instructions were that all habitations were to be made shrapnel proof, +but this was a matter of difficulty on so steep a face. Nightfall +found Mac and his section with an awninged platform, six feet square +and three feet high and partially walled, but far from shrapnel proof +and never likely to be. They were not inclined to meet trouble +half-way, so each disposed his equipment in its rightful spot. The +four partook heartily of a most sociable evening meal, and then +wandered off for a good long bathe in the pleasantly cool water of the +AEgean. + + * * * * * + +The bivouac on the steep slope north of Anzac Cove was hardly the +safest, and domestic life there was not the most unruffled. Just when +five more seconds would have seen the bacon done to a T, the whistle of +the look-out up above would go. That meant that the Turkish battery on +the W Hills had delivered itself of a missile, which might, or might +not, be directed at this bivouac. Then Mac would find himself in a +dilemma. Would he trust to luck that the shell was not for him, and +save the bacon, or would he crouch for safety under the protection +wall? More often the bacon had the benefit of the decision for +meal-time was Abdul's favourite hour for action, and, if Mac took heed +of every warning, the section would never get through its meals. He +knew that the warning whistle gave him seventeen seconds before the +arrival of the shell, and, if he waited for the sound of the discharge, +he had about four seconds left. Still they didn't worry much until, +after a few opening rounds, Abdul's practice got too good and there was +no mistaking his malevolent attentions. Mac, if he were not near his +own bivouac, would dive into the nearest one, irrespective of owner, +and seek its leeward corners. A few seconds of quiet waiting while he +exchanged the time of day with his host; then the burst, the singing +whistle of the fragments, the whirr of the nose-cap, and the +fut--fut--fut as the pieces came to earth. Then, if another whistle +had not sounded, he would thank his host and proceed on his way. + +Often would come the cry of "Stretcher-bearer," and the M.O. would +hurry up the steep slope to some one who had been hit. + +Mac lost his sergeant, a real fine fellow, one morning, while he was +serving out rations. The whole regiment was grieved. For the rest of +the day his body, shrouded in his grey blanket, lay on a stretcher in +his bivouac with as much calm and holy dignity as any royal monarch +lying in state. + +Soon after dusk, for the little cemetery was under direct machine-gun +fire during the day, the regiment gathered, bareheaded and silent, to +bury its comrade. Six of the dead soldier's friends lifted the bier, +and bore it tenderly down the steep slope and over the bridge across +the sap. The regiment followed and gathered round the open grave. + +It was given to few on the Peninsula to be buried thus. Many still lie +where they fell on those Gallipoli hills; some are graced with shallow +graves, scratched hastily under fire, among the torn and tattered +scrub, while others, with fire-bars and blanket and with a few parting +words, have been plunged into the blue AEgean. + +On the little sandy point on the north of Anzac Cove is one small +graveyard, where, when Mac knew it, were fifty or sixty graves. In the +daytime it was shell swept and subject to direct rifle fire, but at +night came shadowy figures which passed to and fro from the beach +bringing neat stones and round boulders for picturesque and permanent +adornment of a cobber's grave. Or maybe there would be some diggers at +work, or a burying-party. + +To-night, in the peaceful calm of that summer evening, when not a +ripple lapped on the stony beach, when the only indication of war was +the music of the firing high above and the occasional whistle of a +spent bullet overhead, the good old padre, in clear, low tones, went +through the sergeant's burial service. The rites were finished, and +the silent troopers moved away into the darkness as quietly as they had +come, while the padre started the service anew among another group of +silent, waiting figures. And so the summer passed over that little +burial-ground. In the daytime, the scorching sun blazed over the crude +crosses and whitened stones, and the shells shrieked by, while in the +dark coolness of the night shadowy figures brought the day's toll +silently and reverently to its resting place. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AN OUTPOST AFFAIR + +Fortunately for the regiment, most of the daylight hours during the +short stay in the present bivouac were spent away on working-parties or +in support to some section of the front line. They usually returned in +the evening to find fresh holes in their oil-sheets and shrapnel +pellets on their floors. Still, they often had a good night's sleep, +and always a fine bathe in the morning. + +While lodged on this slope, Mac and his squadron became involved in an +engagement which kept them fully occupied for three days. One Friday +evening at dusk they moved northwards along the beach to the farthest +outpost. Inland from here about half a mile on a high ridge the Turks +had commenced the formation of an outpost. About nine o'clock this was +attacked and easily captured. Then the squadron commenced digging in, +and, by dawn, with small loss, had dug a fairly satisfactory +semicircular position, facing over ravines, beyond which were higher +hills. + +The Turks were expected to counterattack, but contented themselves by +sniping from all sides, which considerably impeded the work of +consolidation. Mac and his section toiled and sweated all day, and, in +the late afternoon, connected their section of trench with those on the +right and left. Water had run dry, no communication could be had with +the rear, the sun blazed down, with withering heat, and altogether Mac +had known of pleasanter spots to spend a summer's day. In the +afternoon, too, the Turks added shrapnel to their missiles. + +About ten o'clock at night another squadron appeared for their relief, +and Mac, with keen anticipations of a drink, a bathe and a sleep, +speedily stumbled off through the scrub after his cobbers. Their line +of march lay the length of a long ridge through enemy country, and on +this ridge one of the destroyers protecting the flank chose this +inopportune moment to cast her attention and her searchlight. Each +time it caught him in its brilliant glare on the sky-line, Mac crashed +down into the nearest shrub, prickly holly, arbutus or stunted oak, and +cursed lowly to himself till the beam lifted. Progressing +spasmodically when the beam was directed elsewhere, they reached the +outpost, then stumbled wearily back along the beach, ate and bathed and +turned in for a real long sleep. + +They were to have no such luck. They had only just settled down when +word came back that the enemy had closed over the ridge along which +they had returned, and that the squadron in the new outpost was cut +off. The only remaining squadron was sent out at once to their relief, +but, the Turks being in too great strength, it could do nothing. So +Mac's squadron, tired as they were, dodged away out again to another +hard day's work in the blazing sun. It was now daylight, and certain +spots had to be crossed by each man singly at a run, while the close +attention of a Turkish machine-gun at long range lent wings to their +feet. With his head down and his teeth clenched, Mac would bolt +full-speed across these open spaces. Tut--tut--tut would echo from the +hills, then a whinging past his ears or a spurt of dust in too close +proximity, and he would redouble his pace. The shelter of the bank on +the farther side gained, he would turn to laugh at the expressions, +whimsical, serious as death, or thoroughly amused, of his cobbers as +they rapidly paced their hundred yards. + +Arrived in a ravine which cut the ridge, they found the Turks in a +position too strong to be attacked in daylight by so small a force. +Eventually it was decided to await nightfall and strong reinforcements +before attempting to force a passage through the Turkish lines to the +beleaguered garrison of the outpost. They gathered in shady corners of +the dried water-course, and yarned and smoked the long hot hours away. +Shrapnel came screaming across the scrub in the afternoon, but spent +itself harmlessly in desert spots. + +It was decided that the outpost was too isolated a position to hold, +and that, after nightfall, the enemy, who had entrenched, should be +forced back, the besieged with their wounded withdrawn, and a retreat +made to the old position. This was all successfully carried out. Mac +took his fortunes with a covering party on the right flank. He could +follow little of what was taking place up at the outpost itself. There +was a good deal of rifle-fire and bombing, and a certain amount of +shell-fire, whose great white flashes lit up the wild ravine in +fleeting visions of weird beauty. + +At midnight the order for retreat found Mac almost asleep, for he was +very weary from long wakefulness. They passed silently down the +valley, being apparently the last to go. The Turks were following the +retirement, for they were chanting their weird invocations to Allah not +very far distant. + +At the foot of the ravine, near the ruins of a solitary fisherman's +hut, he and half a dozen others were instructed to take up a position +and to stick to it till the last. He expected that, when the Turks +emerged from the dried-up watercourse, there would be some fun, but, +though their cries to Allah floated down the ravine, along with some +indiscriminate firing, they themselves did not choose to come. During +the long wait here, the padre, heedless of danger from spattering +bullets, which flicked fire when they struck the dust, and despite the +dysentery which racked his frame, and the long days and nights without +sleep, went right along the scattered exposed firing line, taking +cheese, biscuits and water to the weary, thirsty troopers. Wherever +they went in action there was their quiet old padre, always working +among the wounded, and, if these lacked, he would join in some other +good work, bringing up water and provisions, or the like. + +The Turks had attacked heavily the summit of a ridge about one hundred +yards to Mac's right, and here he was sent now to bring in wounded, one +of whom three of them were instructed to carry round to Anzac Cove. It +was a long and weary journey, stumbling over scrubby hillocks and then +away along the stony beach. This bad going in the dark was pretty +rough on the wounded man, but, like most in his condition, he stuck it +splendidly, and was deeply grieved he was such a burden to his cobbers. + +At length they reached the dressing-station at the Cove, and placed him +on a table in a room with sandbag walls. Several medical men examined +the wound and spoke technically thereon. The stretcher-party asked +anxiously after his condition, and sought tidings also of cobbers who +had been brought back earlier. Then they set off for the firing-line +once more. + +The third dawn in this outpost affair was now lighting the eastern sky, +beyond the hills where the night's fighting had taken place. Half-way +back near the poppy-patch, one glorious riot of red summer flowers, +they met their regiment returning. They had done their work, the Turks +had ceased attacking and the weary regiment which had been kept busy +the long, hot days in this outpost skirmish had been relieved. The +tired troopers trailed homewards, carelessly tramping the dewy wild +poppy heads on their way. A bathe and a drink, and then a long, long +sleep. + +The three days' skirmish had been an interesting little engagement. +Mac thought that the establishment of an outpost so far beyond the +Anzac territory had been undertaken rather too lightly. The cutting +off of the garrison thirty hours from the time of capture, the relief +of the besieged twenty-four hours later and the subsequent retreat were +actions which had brought many anxious moments, plenty of hard work in +the blazing sun, and the lives of some fine officers and men. The +Turks, too, had suffered many casualties. The only tactical result of +the operation was that the enemy chose to make the outpost of +contention a strong, almost impregnable position, which was captured +three months later only by a ruse and hard fighting. + +Altogether it had been a pleasant scrap in the open, and Mac was not +dissatisfied that he had gone through the experience. Anyhow as, +profoundly and delightfully weary, he lay down on the hard clay floor +of his bivouac, he felt a satisfied contentment with life. + + * * * * * + +It was late that afternoon--Monday--when the troopers awoke and set +about preparing a meal as sumptuous as the limited larder permitted. +Since Friday only odd nibbles of bully and biscuit had passed into +their internals. + +That evening they cursed the Turks in free bush fashion for committing +an act of a kind to which they usually rose superior. Facing the +bivouac on the steep cliff below the disputed outpost, lay two stark +white bodies. The enemy had apparently stripped the dead, of whom +there were nine left in the outpost, and had flung the bodies over the +cliff. The Regiment was infuriated with this treatment of its dead, +and vowed vengeance. Next morning a destroyer, with a few +well-directed shots, blew up the bodies, and gradually the deed was +forgotten. + +Owing to the casualties from shell-fire on this slope, the following +day was spent in moving to a new situation, not so pleasant as the +last, and shut away in a ravine, but safer from shell-fire. Here all +toiled solidly for two days, terracing a steep clay slope and making +new homes. + +And here for some days with the Regiment the normal routine life of the +Gallipoli summer campaign ran smoothly. The days were spent on +road-work or on big communication saps, and at night, more often than +not, there were sapping fatigues in the front firing line, squadron +supports, heavy pieces of artillery to haul to their emplacement, and +the like. + +At most times there was work, but occasionally there were spare hours, +when Mac and Smoky, with their towels and tooth-brushes, would wander +down to the beach for a morning of sea and sun-bathing. They would +remove what few clothes they wore and take to the water. Only a +limited portion of this end of the beach was available for bathing, and +often, when he wasn't too sleepy, Abdul stirred things up too much for +comfort. Still, the practice of the snipers was not particularly good, +and Mac felt comfortably secure as long as he didn't venture out too +far. It was their habit to wash what clothes they were wearing, and to +bake in the sun while they dried. And so, bathing and splashing, +sunning and smoking, sleeping and talking, a morning on the beach +passed pleasantly enough. + +Sometimes the pair wandered off to see a cobber in another part of the +lines, exchange experiences and rumours with him, partake of his +rations and water, and wander homeward through miles of dusty saps, not +forgetting on their way to replenish their water-bottles at the landing +and to acquire there any provisions which might, or might not look as +if they lacked an owner, or, at any rate, the supervision of a +policeman's eye. + +Mails were now arriving occasionally, and never were letters more +warmly welcomed. There would be a buzz of excitement while a mail-bag +was being sorted, and then a strange quiet would hang over the terraces +while every one in his dug-outs eagerly explored his pages. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SUMMER DRAGS ON + +The Anzac troops were now entering on that long, wearisome summer wait, +without action, or even prospect of it, to relieve the monotony, until +such time as strong reinforcements would enable them to make a push for +the Narrows. The days grew hotter and the flies thicker, and disease +began to make itself felt to an undesirable extent. The same old +shelling and the same old rifle-fire went on week after week, varied +only by the constant flutterings at Quinn's, where sometimes Turk, +sometimes Anzac, got the better of the nightly bickerings. Rumours of +victories at Cape Helles came frequently, but confirmation seldom +followed. The fall of Achi Baba took place almost as often as the +assassination of Enver Pasha. And still the Turks remained unmoved on +the slopes of Sari Bair, and though the men of Anzac had the upper hand +in sniping and _moral_ there was not much prospect of getting the enemy +rooted out of those confoundedly fine trenches of his for some time to +come. + +But these things did not greatly depress the fine fellows who clung so +tenaciously to that square mile of crags and cliffs. The great spirit +of cheery optimism, the light-hearted, careless good fellowship, and +the muscle and grit of the invaders looked lightly at all this. +Regiments might dwindle sadly from dysentery and shrapnel, the +water-supply might be short and brackish, the flies might be getting +more persistent; but reinforcements would come some day soon, the +British at Cape Helles would get Achi Baba, and soon all would be well. + +And so, with hard work, dysentery and flies, shelling, sniping and +bombing, cheery philosophy, and castles in the air, sweat, heat and +dirt, the summer days passed slowly by. + +After a fortnight's absence from the front line, officially termed +"resting," but which was spent, as has been described, in outpost +fighting, sapping, road-making and all manner of hard work, the +Regiment returned to Russell's Top. As his Squadron was relegated to a +very comfortable section of the line, where disquieting bombs, shells +and what-not, seldom disturbed him, and where, at times, one could +stretch at full length and sleep, Mac infinitely preferred these +conditions of life to those of the previous fortnight. + +So two weeks here passed placidly enough. When he was in the front +line he smoked, read, wrote, and played cards, or, when particularly +bored, rose up with his rifle and potted at elusive periscopes, +swinging shovels, loop-holes or indiscreet Turks, of whom there were +very, very few, in the Turkish lines. As often as not his little game +would be cut short by the reply of one of their snipers. + +Then the tangled mass of trench and ravine over which his position +looked, Quinn's, Courtenay's, Dead Man's Ridge, and so on, was always +an interesting study. They were for ever scrapping there, and at +nights never for a moment rested. This was the weakest point in the +Anzac lines, and both sides knew it; but lately persistent hard work, +many lives and a great deal of courage were giving the Anzac fellows +the upper hand. Beyond these trenches lay the wide valley bounded on +the farther side by the frowning escarpments of Kilid Bahr +Plateau--strongly entrenched heights which Mac rather hoped it would be +some other person's job to storm when the necessity arose. Across the +valley and up a steep zigzag path climbing the almost overhanging +farther side, he saw long trains of camels pass, and occasionally odd +horsemen. Sometimes machine-gun fire at extreme range disturbed their +placid way, but usually the gunners kept their ammunition for better +purposes. + +Their fortnight expired, the Regiment, relieved by the Light Horse, +returned to its previous bivouacs in the hot and stuffy ravine, where, +in sections of four, they settled down to a domestic life, for the +comfort of which they brought into bearing all their ingenuity, the +possibilities of the Indians' larder and mule-feed, the lack of +alertness on the part of the policemen at the depot, and the usual +stock of knowledge acquired in the bush of how to look after oneself. + +The bivouac of Mac's section consisted of a platform nearly seven feet +square cut out of a steep clay ridge. So a clay bank formed the back +wall, two clay walls reached about half-way to the awning on either +side, and the front was open, except in the afternoons when an +oil-sheet was hung there to keep out the fierce glare of the sun. The +clay cliff dropped precipitously in front, and facing them in the +opposite cliff were similar bivvies, with the inhabitants of whom Mac +and his cobbers were in the way of exchanging friendly conversation at +odd moments of the night or day. + +Perched here on their ledge of clay, the four lived a supremely happy +life when at home. Each took his turn at the cooking, the +firewood-hunting, and the tidying-up. Each had his strong points, and +was permitted to develop them. Bill was hot stuff on curry _a la_ +Anzac, whose foundation was the choicest bully, a little water, plenty +of Indian curry powder purchased from the Indians in consideration of +some mouldy Army cigarettes, and a little of everything else, from bran +to marmalade. He shone, too, with his Welsh rarebit and his biscuit +pudding, so that not even Smoky with his "Stew Supreme _a la_ Depôt" +could hope to look at him. Friday outran all others in his enthusiasm +for gathering firewood, a rare product of the land in those days, and +no one dared, nor felt inclined, to compete with him. Mac had no rival +when it came to frying, and the preparation of the sweets fell to him +on those few but glorious days when the section was issued with one +fig, two dates or half a dozen currants. The possibilities of the +larder were considerably spun out by barter with the Indians, who had +plenty and to spare of good food, by the use of one's wits and by +purchase at exorbitant prices of certain articles from sailors. Still, +despite this high living, the troops grew perceptibly thinner. + +All offensive on Gallipoli was at this time confined to the Cape Helles +front, where the capture of Achi Baba was their immediate object. The +rôle of the Anzac troops was merely to keep the enemy always on the +alert and in fear of an offensive movement from Anzac, and to make +small demonstrations during heavy attacks on the big hill of Achi Baba. +On these occasions Mac would watch eagerly through his glasses the +bursting shells along its crests, and would seek indications of a +British advance, but always in vain. + +Much as the Anzac troops yearned for some activity to break the +monotony, there was little prospect of success of any present push from +there. The regiments were thin; the Turks held strong superior +positions, and possessed more machine-guns than were to Mac's liking. + +The enemy made several night attacks, which brought nothing but +casualties and regrets to the attackers. On one of these occasions +Mac's squadron was in reserve to the Light Horse on Russell's Top, and +were doing their best to sleep on the narrow clay terraces perched +along the cliffs behind it. + +About nine o'clock, heavy, ominous thunder-clouds came rolling silently +in from the west. Lightning played in fitful dashes. Then followed +swirling wind gusts, which stirred up fantastic columns of whirling +dust, roared down the ravines, and raised a surf which grated furiously +on the shingle below. Thunder crashed and bellowed, and the whole +weird fantasy of crag, cliff and cyclonic dust columns was terribly and +wonderfully lit by the vivid and almost continual flashing of the +lightning. + +Not content with the inferno of nature, the enemy chose this mad moment +to add his artillery to the cataclysm, and turned a merry whizz-bang +battery on to the Top. For an hour the racket lasted, and then fell in +gradual diminuendo; and Mac thought of sleep notwithstanding vermin, +dust and shrapnel. It was not to be. A fatigue party was wanted +immediately. A number were told off. Warmly and extensively +apostrophizing the originators of this nocturnal expedition, they +gathered up their rifles, bandoliers and water-bottles and wandered +protestingly off uphill. + +Arrived in the front fire-trench, they were directed to set about +roofing bomb-proof dug-outs, in place of another party which was too +tired to continue. The new arrivals, who had been working hard for +three nights in succession, were righteously indignant, and also +considered themselves too tired to carry on. Only two or three +enthusiasts showed any inclination to work, and these were speedily +discouraged by a further increase of activity on the part of the enemy +artillery. Seventy-five m.m. whizz-bangs shrieked low over the +surface, or burst with shattering crashes which shook down avalanches +of earth on the heads of the troopers as they sat, half-asleep, against +the dug-out walls. Then the machine-guns joined in the din, and +rattled and roared in spiteful bursts, now rising into a furious storm, +now lulling slightly. The bullets whipped and whizzed past, or plopped +into the heaps of debris above. Now that there was sufficient military +reason for laziness on his part, Mac, recognizing, of course, that he +would have worked had it been at all possible, sank with an easy +conscience into somnolence. + +When he awoke it was broad daylight, and the tornado of his last sleepy +moments of consciousness had diminished to the usual spasmodic rifle +reports. He stood up, ruefully rubbed the spots where ammunition +pouches had made dents in his person, stepped over his still sleeping +cobbers and crawled through the rabbit-hole entrance into the +fire-trench. There he blinked like a sleepy owl, more with surprise +than anything else. There were dead Turks all over the show, and in a +sap opposite were dozens of them. This was a sap which had kept Mac +occupied for many nights recently. It was a secret sap, or supposed to +be so as far as the enemy was concerned; and had been constructed with +every care and precaution to that end. Running parallel with the +Turkish front firing-line, thirty yards away, it connected a corner of +the Anzac firing-line with the edge of a cliff a couple of chains to +the left, and thus cut off a big bend in its front line. + +With much satisfaction a Light Horseman gave Mac particulars of the +occurrence: + +"My bloomin' oath, we got 'em fine. We sorter guessed from the blanky +rough-house they were making they was up ter something and got ready to +make 'em welcome. Then with a lot of their blooming Allahin' and +raising a hell of a howl generally, they come over like a blooming mob +of sheep. A big bunch got into that secret sap there. Then we landed +'em a dirty one, and bombed their blanky souls to hell. They didn't +half squeal. Not content with one dose, the silly blanks came on +again, and we had a bloomin' encore. Well, old man, I suppose the poor +devils 'll have sorrowing harems. 'Spose my poor old mater'd drop on +me if she knew I was rejoicin' over the fallen. Anyhow it's what we're +here for, and they oughter keep out of our way if they don't want to +get dinged, eh, cobber?" + +"Anyhow, good luck to the blighters when they reach their bloomin' +heaven," answered Mac. "It's about kai-time. I'm off for some +brekker. Kia Ora, old man." + +And, so saying, he awakened his sleeping cobbers, left them admiring +the night's catch, and trundled off homewards. Passing down the track +he stopped for a moment by a ledge, and gazed with respect and sadness +at half a dozen fine stalwart forms of Light Horsemen, wrapped each in +his grey blanket, who had taken the long trail in the night's encounter. + +The Regiment was getting tired of continually sapping without any +excitement to break the monotony, other than the more or less frequent +arrival of shells in their vicinity, and the attentions of snipers on +the beach. Moreover, the flies increased in their countless millions, +the ground was getting very dirty, the stench in parts was almost +unendurable, and practically every one was more or less affected by +stomach trouble. The troops grew daily thinner, until, had he not +followed their increasing slimness, Mac could hardly have recognized +some of his old friends. With dark olive skins, cadaverous faces and +often a good growth of beard, they were a hard-looking lot. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MAC TAKES A CHANGE + +The behaviour of Mac's stomach was not all that it might have been, +besides which rheumatism began to develop, so he contemplated a short +spell on the Island of Lemnos. It was a place truly to be desired. +There the distant reverberation of the Cape Helles artillery could only +just be heard, one might walk in the open and bathe without having to +worry about snipers or shrapnel, and, moreover, there were ships with +canteens and, perhaps, a good meal. So, one evening, ticketed and +labelled, and with the combined financial assets of his section in his +pocket, he waited for embarkation at the Cove. Many others were there, +about half wounded and the rest medical. + +Night-time at the Cove was always beautiful. The starry brightness +above the blackness of the sea, the steep rising face of the hill, with +the twinkling lights and flickering fires of the bivouacs, the throng +of toilers among the great piles of stores, the mules and water-carts +crunching along the gravel, the wounded waiting embarkation--Mac saw +what might be called the throbbing heart of Anzac. It throbbed, for +the most part, in darkness; but, here and there, caught in the +half-light from lamps among tiered piles of boxes, he had odd glimpses +of the splendid fellows as they went about their work; and he was +thrilled by the grandeur and manhood of it all. + +Hours passed. Then a musical call through a megaphone, "Walking-cases +this way," woke them to attention. They were all embarked on a +lighter, and were towed, first by a pinnace, and then by a minesweeper, +out into the bay, until high above them, aglow with green, red and +yellow lights, reared the steel sides of a hospital-ship. A steam +crane swung each giddily upward, and deposited him on the clean white +deck. + +Mac didn't quite know where he was that night. He accepted a dose of +medicine and some kind words from a medical officer, absorbed a cup of +hot cocoa and a piece of bread and butter--almost forgotten luxuries +and found himself at length in a comfortable bunk with white sheets. +Very faintly from the heights across the water floated sounds of +strife; and Mac, with a sigh of supreme satisfaction, turned over and +went to sleep. + +When he woke in the morning, a white girl--a sister--was standing +beside his bunk. He was shy--he felt so rough. It seemed ages since +he had seen a woman. + +At ten o'clock, the light cases for Lemnos transferred to a +mine-sweeper, and thence to a fleet-sweeper. All the afternoon the +vessel steamed across sunlit seas and in the evening entered Mudros +Harbour, passing through the great fleet that lay there, transatlantic +liners, men-o'-war ancient and modern, hospital-ships, transports and +small craft of every description, to an anchorage on the east of the +harbour. The patients were landed in launches, and made their way, in +a long straggling line of decrepits, to the field hospitals. + +Mac found a resting place in the 1st Australian Stationary Hospital, +and passed a week there. He was relegated to a large marquee, the +sides of which were always rolled up. In the centre stood two tables, +one occupied by medicines and the other by the dishes and food of the +establishment. Stretched on the ground was a large tarpaulin, whereon, +with a blanket apiece, eighty or more _hors de combat_ heroes had their +abode. Everything was as good as could be had in Mudros; but in those +days Mudros lacked almost everything that could be desired. The +water-supply was bad; food, in the Australian hospital was ample, and, +for fare under such conditions, excellent, but in other hospitals it +lacked lamentably. Inhabitants of the latter envied greatly those who, +by good fortune or intrigue, were lodged in the former. + +In the day-time the sun blazed down with fierce heat upon the marquees, +the slightest breath of wind stirred into clouds the many inches of +fine dust which covered the ground, and flies of many breeds were there +in their pernicious millions. Vermin stalked by night; and odd moments +of the day might profitably be spent in reprisals on these bloodthirsty +beasts. Those were the sorry points of the place; but there were also +good. + +Immediately alongside the hospital, though officially out of bounds, +was the village of Mudros East, a quaint place where there was always +some fun to be had. Low stone, tile-roofed houses, with narrow dusty +alleys--where congregated squalid children, mangy dogs, poultry and +evil smells--clustered round a low hill surmounted by a large maternal +Greek church. This latter was tawdry in the extreme, with wonderful +symbolic pictures, icons, candle grease and cheap furniture. Over all, +presided a dumpy, cheery little priest, who, with a beaming smile, +indicated his perpetual readiness to accept small donations. Still, it +had its air of sanctity, and it was pleasant to see there Greek women +praying with deep fervour. Occasionally, too, Mac noted British and +French soldiers upon their knees. + +Near the landing-place stood a street of filthy, hastily erected, +wooden shanties, where the ever-trading Greek offered garden produce, +very, very doubtful eggs and more or less objectionable stuff of other +descriptions. The medium of exchange was varied in the extreme, and +ranged from British, French and Egyptian coins to tins of bully beef, +army jam, badges and the like. + +There were some fine men in the hospital and next to Mac lay Mick. He +was a Light Horseman, and Mac made a cobber of him. + +"Chest's me trouble--touch of t.b. the Doc says. I cough away some of +these nights like a sheep with lung-worm. I feel all right myself; but +ev'ry time I talks about getting a shift on like, ole Doc gets busy +with his water-diviner--'breathe in breathe out'--and then he says, +'Say "Ah-h-h."' Then he thumps away wid his fingers. I reckon I'm +about as chuberculer as a young gum-tree, but the ole Doc he just says +'Carry on for a while longer and then we'll see.'" + +Mick looked as fit as a two-year-old. After his fine figure, the first +feature Mac noticed was a large but unfinished tattoo of the Royal Arms +across the aforementioned unsound chest. Tubercular or not, that chest +spent most of its hours in the fresh air, along with most of the rest +of Mick's body. + +"How d'you come by that bit of landscape, Mick?" + +"Oh!----!----!----!" murmured Mick feelingly. "Me ruddy chest's crook +outside as well as in. That's a ruddy souvenir of a night in Cairo, +that is. Got a bit inked I s'pose. Don't remember too much about it +meself. All I knows was I wakes up in the mornin' with a head like a +sandstorm, no piastres left, and me chest as sore as hell wid this +pretty picture on it--me, a bloomin' Aussie born and bred with the +'b---- 'art gorn Care-o chuum' badge on me manly chest--them wee lads +whose mummies didn't know they was out. I tell yer I wasn't sweet the +rest er that day. Bill, me cobber, 'e comes an' tells me 'e was in +Cairo wid me. I tells 'im 'e needn't tell me that. 'Anyhow, if yer +was,' I says, 'wy didn't yer stop 'em brandin' me? Nice feller you are +to call yerself me cobber?' + +"'Oh,' he says, 'I did me best, but you wasn't havin' any. You +threatens to hit me over the 'ead if I don't go stop shovin' me +opinions in w'ere they wasn't wanted. 'Me skin's me skin,' you says, +'An' I'll do what I b---- well like with it!' Then I tries ter drag +you off, an' we had a bloomin' scuffle outside the show, an' you pushes +me down some steps. I wasn't none too good neither.' + +"'Then we goes in again, an' you starts takin' off yer tunic. You +tells the Gyppie to show you some styles; and between tryin' 'em on so +ter speak, an' one thing and er nother, you gits all yer b---- clothes +off. The Gyppies come to light with some booze--filth it was, I +bet--an' we both has some, an' you pays 'em about twenty piastres fer +it. Then you hooks this Manchester badge and says "Quiis kitir." An' +they was tryin' ter push some rude indecent ones on ter yer, an' +wishin' ter save yer from the worst like I tells yer the Manchester one +was beautiful. An' I says it was what ev'ry patriotic Aussie should +wear. You starts skitin' about Australian loyalty and Australia will +be there an' that sorter thing, an' then says "yer 'll 'ave it." + +"'They gets to work an' all goes well, and when they was just 'alf +finished, the bloomin' picket comes along an' pushes us out. I tries +to get yer dressed but you was thinkin' you knew more about it than I +did, an' you wasn't far wrong. I dunno meself how we got home. +Anyhow, cobber, we both had our pockets gone gently through, for me +feloose is gone as well as yours. I didn't have much, but wot I had's +now somebody else's.' + +"'Yer a b---- fine cobber, you are,' I says, 'Not to have choked 'em +off.' + +"'You've got ter thank me, anyway, fer not letting 'em put somethin' on +yer which yer wouldn't care to let the world or yer missis, when you +have one, gaze at.' + +"An' that's how this lovely work in red and blue decorates me manly +chest. The Doc he always smiles and twinkles his eyes so merry like +when he sounds me chest. I'm thinkin' of havin' it turned inter a +risin' sun. Me troop thinks it is an 'ell of a good joke, an' I reckon +it would be too if it was on some one else's chest. Them b---- +Manchesters!" + +Mac and Mick wandered abroad together occasionally to investigate the +land--Mac more for the pleasure of getting away from the hot dusty +camp, and Mick for the prospects of raising more tolerable refreshment +than luke-warm rusty water from ships' tanks. They wandered to far +villages where the stolid Greek peasant life was not in the least +disturbed by the activity in the harbour nor the distant rumble of +Gallipoli guns--except that eggs and vegetables brought wonderful +money. These villages were out of bounds and they found them empty of +troops except for a solitary mounted policeman in each who could be +easily dodged in the narrow lanes and shady fig-trees. + +At the end of the first week in the field hospital both Mac and Mick +were transferred to a new camp about three miles inland. It was less +afflicted with flies, but there was only sufficient water for drinking +purposes and enough food for about half the three hundred patients. +The only water for washing was to be had occasionally in the early +morning hours at the bottom of a well about a third of a mile away. +About ten minutes of angling with a canvas bucket on the end of a rope +brought Mac about two inches of very muddy water. But on their first +day's ramble Mac and Mick discovered about two miles from the camp a +fine pool of stagnant water. It lay in the bottom of a rocky gorge, a +shallow basin at the foot of what was a small waterfall during the +winter rains. It was swarming with insect life, but, unheeding such +minor details, Mac and Mick soon stripped off their clothes and made +the best of it. Next day they came armed with towels, soap and all the +permanganate of potash their kits could muster. At the worst this +browny-pink pool left them a good deal cleaner and cooler than before, +and the two troopers usually came that way once or twice daily. + +They slept, too, on the open hill-side some distance from the camp, as +it was cooler, cleaner and quieter, and they put in only an occasional +appearance for medicine and a meal. The staff of the camp seemed +concerned with greater things than the presence or otherwise of a +couple of troopers, and Mac and Mick saw no particular obstacle to +their remaining a month or two. Mac had exhausted most of his and the +section's finance in excellent fashion. The harbour was out of bounds, +but in several surreptitious excursions out on to the harbour, with +Mick and one or two others, he had succeeded in getting from ships' +canteens and stores as big a stock of provisions as he could carry with +him on his return journey to Anzac. + +On two men-o'-war they had been splendidly received by the crews, who, +fully appreciating the rottenness of life ashore, did all in their +power to make pleasant the few hours' stay of such odd soldiers as +found their way on board. The bluejackets crowded round the visitors, +all anxious to be their hosts. They took Mac and Mick to a bath-room, +and, while they had a good splash round, prepared a really attractive +meal with extra delicacies bought at the canteen. The wanderers would +make the most of it too. Then, after an hour or so's yarn on the cool, +clean awninged deck, they would take a regretful departure, and would +go over the ship's side laden with good things from the sailors, the +latest newspapers from home, smokable tobacco, and good canteen stores. +They were fine men, the sailors whom Mac came across at Gallipoli, +generous, hospitable fellows when they had the chance, and ready always +to back up their comrades ashore, and to share with them the dangers, +discomfort and disease of life ashore whenever they were called upon. + +Thus, at the end of a fortnight on Lemnos, Mac had collected in the +care of a friend near the landing-place as much as he could carry back. +Mick, too, had followed his example and had collected a case of +provisions for his cobbers up at Anzac. Mick, moreover, was heartily +fed up, he said, of hanging about this mouldy island, and he knew that +he could bluff the M.O. at the new camp that he had had dysentery and +was now all right; and that, if there happened to be any official +papers in the camp, no one would trouble to find them, nor probably +could, if they wanted to. Mac was not so keen to hurry back, but the +fortnight's rest from the line and better food had set him to rights, +and he fell in eventually with Mick's suggestion. They approached an +old M.O., who pushed them through without ever getting suspicious about +Mick, and two hours later in the early afternoon they were bumping over +the open country in a Ford ambulance towards the landing-place. + +The late afternoon was spent in the _Aragon_, down in the depths of a +well-deck, waiting for the fleet-sweeper to take them to Anzac. Mick +was furious because he was not allowed to buy stuff at the ship's +canteen, as it was reserved for those non-fighting staff soldiers who +lived in all the comfort and safety of this beautiful ship. Mick was +loud and exceedingly pointed in his remarks. However, he and Mac +succeeded in penetrating to the depths of the ship, where, with the few +odd coins still in their possession, they managed to bribe the cook to +let them have as much currant bread, buns and sausages as would fill up +all the spare corners in their kit. They ate as much on the spot as +they possibly could, and eventually went on board the sweeper very well +loaded. + +Six hours' steam across the warm night waters brought them again within +earshot of the usual night musketry fire. At one in the morning they +were once more ashore at the Cove, with its tireless throng of men, +mules and limbers. Mac deposited his load in the bivouac of a friend, +and then parted for ever with his good cobber Mick, his casual +companion of a Lemnos fortnight, whose way lay in the opposite +direction. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ANZAC AWAKES + +Mac set off for his Regiment, which was holding the front trenches of +Russell's Top. Knowing it was a hopeless business poking about +trenches among sentries in the dark looking for his unit, he lay down +at the base of the Top, and slept there on the ground till daylight. + +He found his Squadron in the most uncomfortable of trenches, and not +particularly enjoying itself. It was holding the portion of the Top +nearest the enemy, who were between twenty and thirty yards away and +well within range of hand grenades. But two could play at the same +game, and the Turks had a better supply of bombs. + +Two halves of the Squadron took in turn the holding of the front saps +and the main line. The former were narrow, shallow twisting ditches +between piles of loose earth and rotting bodies. Parts were covered in +as bomb-proof shelters, and in places sloping shafts led steeply down +to mine galleries before the enemy's front line. Between those two +series of drab mounds of earth which marked the opposing lines, lay as +terrible an acre as ever was. The hasty burying during the armistice +three months ago had been inadequate, and the saps had cut through many +of the hastily-scratched graves. Since then many men had fallen, to +rot unburied in the sun and to be again and again torn by shells and +bombs and bullets. + +A few shattered sticks were the forlorn remnants of the luxurious +scrub. Wire twined in untidy coils here and there, but there was +nothing to hide the blackened bodies. Sometimes at night low fires +licked among the corpses, apparently started by the Turks by throwing +over their parapet paraffin or petrol, and there would be spasmodic +explosions for an hour or more of the ammunition in the equipment round +the dead forms, sounding like the burning of a Guy Fawkes effigy. + +Mac had never more than swiftly surveyed the scene direct--for there +was a deadly accuracy in the practice of the snipers at twenty yards +range--but viewed its details and the Turkish parapets through a +periscope. These, too, the snipers shattered with annoying frequency, +though the Turks themselves had no rest whatever in the matter of being +sniped at. And in these wretched saps amid a horror of desolation Mac +and his cobbers passed every second twenty-four hours. In the day-time +the sun beat into them with unrelieved violence, and many troopers +squeezed into the bomb-proof shelters and tunnel entrances to seek +shade. There was no where to cook food, and bully beef, biscuits and +water formed the fare. But they had small appetite for anything, as +the stench of the dead and the flies which swarmed left few men hungry. +At one corner hung a blanket. Some time a sapper in his work had come +to a body, and had turned the sap to the right to avoid it, and the +blanket had been tacked up as a screen to the body in the recess. + +One hard case found this recess a shady spot and with more room for his +cramped legs, and declared that it was no worse alongside the several +months old corpse than anywhere else in the saps. In one place the +lower leg and boot of a dead Turk stuck out from the corner of a +trench, and at another a bony hand protruded. Grim humorists shook it +as they passed. + +The warm nights dragged drowsily by. In these trenches the troops were +not supposed to sleep because of the bombs thrown so frequently by the +Turks. If one were awake, they could be easily dodged, but, if a bomb +caught a man asleep, there was little chance of escape. Every second +twenty-four hours were passed in the main firing line, a few yards +farther back than the saps, or close up in reserve. Sometimes, during +these second days, it was possible to get a bathe when on a journey for +rations or water, and a little cooking could be attempted on a ledge in +the side of a communication trench. But altogether everything was most +uncomfortable, and with the cramped life Mac's rheumatism was +returning. There was little sleep too, rarely exceeding two hours a +day as the fortnight passed. Strong enemy reinforcements had been +reported by aerial reconnaissance within easy march of Anzac, and an +attack was expected any night. The Regiments were very much under +strength from disease, and the burden of watching fell heavily on the +remaining men. Mac was disappointed too that, in their present limited +quarters, they could make no use of the provisions he had brought from +Lemnos. + +Relief came at last, without the enemy having made an attack, and the +Mounted Rifles again handed Russell's Top over to the Australian Light +Horse. They thankfully trundled away down the hill with all their gear +to a pleasant bivouac near the sea, and proceeded without delay to make +themselves as clean and as comfortable as could be. Mac went off for +the provisions, and soon the section had a small awninged dug-out in +excellent domestic order. Here, terminated by a stone wall, the main +Anzac left flank met the sea. The trench line here was but thinly +held, as it did not directly oppose Turkish trenches. Beyond it, at +the seaward end of the sharp ridges which ran up to the main broken +mass of Sari Bair, Chanak Bair and Battleship Hill, were No. 1 and No. +2 Outposts, faced by the formidable Turkish outposts on the forbidding +crags above. So, separated by some distance from the enemy, the +regiment proceeded to enjoy itself. + +It was the pleasantest possie Mac had ever found it his privilege to +occupy. The bivvies were roomy and comfortable, the ground was +comparatively clean, and was sufficiently gradual in its rise to +prevent constant avalanches of earth from above. The sea lay at their +door, and the freshwater tanks were near enough to make certain a +regular water supply. Mac and his mates made merry with the provisions +he had secured at Lemnos, and the products of their culinary art knew +no bounds, either in variety or perfection. With an abundance of +firewood and water, with the sea always near to be bathed in, awninged +bivvies and a well-stocked larder, they lived in undreamed-of luxury. +They had hoped for the usual fortnight there; but it was not to be. + +As the long, hot, dusty July days came to a close, the pulse of Anzac +seemed to quicken. Men went about their work with increased energy, +the Cove was busier than ever, and life altogether in that +sun-scorched, sordid spot seemed less burdensome. Staff officers +walked about with unaccustomed briskness, and made unnaturally long +visits to observation points, gazing absorbedly at Turkish terrain. +Visible signs there were that the dormant days of Anzac were drawing to +an end, and that at last the summer lethargy would give place to times +of action. Rumours filled the air. Wild they were, but there was +definite evidence that something was in the wind, and everybody +rejoiced accordingly. There would be a real ding-dong go; and then, +probably, Constantinople. + +It was now obvious that the scheme of operations involved a flank +attack to the north, which, it seemed, from the extensive preparations, +might be the main thrust. Anzac positions were faced immediately by +the frowning outposts of Destroyer Ridge, Table Top, Old No. 3, +Rhododendron and Baeuchop's [Transcriber's note: Beauchop's?] Ridge, +beyond which stretched that maze of broken ridges, which rose sharply +to the main peaks of Sari Bair, Chanak Bair and Kojatemen Tepe, which +commanded the whole width of the Peninsula and the Turkish positions +and lines of communication. Gain them, and Gallipoli would be won. + +On the dark, moonless nights of the 3rd, 4th and 5th of August +transports stole silently to anchor off the Cove, and many battalions +of Kitchener's Army and batteries of Field Artillery came ashore. When +the sun again lifted above the eastern hills, the anchorage was +deserted and the new arrivals hidden from aerial observation beneath +prepared covering. Anzac grew tense in anticipation of a battle royal. + +For the five days spent in this bivouac--the days of the awakening of +Anzac--to Mac and a dozen of his mates fell the duty of guarding the +exit from the main position to the outposts. The exit consisted of a +large barbed-wire gate across a great communication trench, close to +the stone wall on the beach. They did four-hour watches there night +and day, taking a tally of all who came and went, and watching keenly +for spies. During their daylight hours of duty, Mac and Bill sat on +sandbags under the shady wall of the sap. Their bayoneted rifles +leaned against the bank close at hand, while they, scantily clad in the +scorching hours, lazily noted in tattered note-books the particulars of +sweating, dust-covered wayfarers. When they were not busy, they sat +there automatically flicking away the flies, and watching through a gap +in the trench the horde of naked men on the beach. Passing mules often +left Mac and Bill grousing in a cloud of dust. Aussies, Maoris and New +Zealanders stopped now and then for a few minutes' rest beneath their +awning. They would yarn for a while, and the guards would accept from +their freshly-filled cans a drink of cool spring water. When the +relieving guard came, Mac and Bill just stripped off their shorts, and +ran across the stones for a splash in the sea. + +At night they were more alert on guard. Sleepy as Anzac appeared in +the hot sunlight, dark hours shrouded a scene of energy and purpose. +As soon as the evening light had gone, long strings of heavily-laden +mules, with tall Indian muleteers struggling among them, came along the +sap and passed out through the gate. There were pauses, but soon more +mule trains followed, and the earlier ones passed back empty for +further loads. All the time the guard watched carefully lest there +should be strangers attempting to pass through hidden among the mules. +Great piles of bully beef, biscuits, sealed paraffin tins of water and +ammunition grew steadily bigger in hidden spots behind the outposts, +and the troops were light-hearted accordingly. + +Platforms had been cut in hill-sides for the accommodation of troops +away from enemy observation, communication trenches had been widened, +some had been bridged and others had been created silently and swiftly +in a single night. Without orders from officers, the troops +energetically overhauled rifles, ammunition and gear; and private +possessions were looked into, diaries written and letters despatched. +Between the opposing lines warfare continued its accustomed way, and +the normal exchange of bombs, shells and bullets went on, though +Turkish artillery fire was increasing in strength. + +On Thursday, August 5th, the Regiment sorrowfully packed up all +unnecessaries and piled them in the regimental dump. Mac grieved to +part with the unfinished half of the Lemnos provisions, for heaven only +knew when they might see them again, and probably some one else would +thrive on them. + +That night the Regiment moved out through the wire gate, and crowded on +the platforms at the back of No. 1 Outpost, there to remain till the +following evening, when the battle was to open. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +NO. 3, TABLE TOP AND SUVLA BAY + +The Regiment, stretched in close lines on the terraces, slept soundly. +For many days ahead there would be little opportunity of resting, and +for many there would be but one more sleep. They did not rouse till +well after dawn, for there was nothing to do that day but fill in time. +Mac again overhauled all his equipment, paying particular attention to +his rifle, bayonet and ammunition, seeing that everything was +accessible and that all ran smoothly. Then the section rigged a +blanket between piled arms, and sat down in its shade for a game of +cards. That palled after a time, and Mac drew from his knapsack a +book, _The Cloister and the Hearth_, and was soon deep in its pages. +Then came lunch, and in the afternoon orders were read, with inspiring +messages from the Generals, and a few words from the C.O. + +A few aeroplanes burred overhead, the exchange of firing followed its +normal daily course, quieting rather in the heat of midday; but to the +waiting troops the long hours dragged. That wonder of what the future +held, that ominous quiet before the storm, the preparations for +battle--all made the day long. + +At last the sun sank behind the rugged islands in a glorious riot of +colour, the high eastern hill-tops which should be British by dawn +gradually grew black against the appearing stars. The Regiment, +water-bottles filled and in final trim, stood leaning on their rifles. +Occasionally some one gave a hitch to his gear, others talked in +subdued tones, or gazed solemnly out to sea where the black outlines of +Imbros and Samothrace stood against the last glow of departing day. At +this glorious hour there drifted up from the darkness in the ravine +below such a sound as went deep to Mac's heart. Rich in tone, perfect +in key, unmarred by a single jarring note, and to the accompaniment of +battle sounds above, came the music of the soul, and Mac was awed. It +was the chanting of five hundred Maoris and their prayer before this, +their first great trial in modern warfare. Upon the next few hours +depended the reputation of their race. Would they be worthy of the +glorious traditions of their old chiefs? + +Then came the word to move, and the Regiment, in single line, filed +down the slope and into the main sap to the north. It was already full +of troops filing to the attack, but, after many halts and +side-trackings, they reached the exit which led to the ravine. Here, +at the parting of the ways, stood the fine old padre, and, with a "God +bless you, my boy," he shook each by the hand as they passed out to +battle. + +The several troops of Mac's squadron divided for their various +objectives. To his section fell the duty of going up the ravine to cut +enemy communication trenches, leading across it to their strong outpost +on the ridge above on the left. Magazines were empty, and the orders +were that the night's work must be done with the bayonet. The forty +silent figures crept up the sharp stony bottom for a short distance, +and then halted to await the critical moment of the attack. Then, +while they waited, the long white beam from a man-o'-war at sea settled +along the ridge on the left and showed the strong wired entrenchments +of the outpost. Whir-r-r went a shell overhead, and the first shot of +the battle burst in an eruption of black smoke among the Turkish wire. + +More followed in rapid succession; but the first shot had been the +signal for the troop in the defile below to set off at a jog-trot up +its murky, twisty depths. They trotted along for five minutes, +machine-gun bullets from high above sometimes hitting up small spurts +of sand as they doubled round corners. Then, as they suddenly rounded +a sharp ridge, a dozen or so rifles burst on them from fifteen paces +distant. Some men went down in front of Mac, a cloud of dust sprang up +and he stumbled over one of the prone forms. Instantly they were in +among them, the terrified Turks shrieked, a few odd shots rang out, Mac +killed two with his revolver, and then, with bloody bayonets, shadowy +figures emerged from the murky depths of the trench, and passed on to +explore the ground beyond. They pushed up through the thick scrub to +beneath the outpost where a battle now raged, for the purpose of +catching fugitives and preventing reinforcements. But none came, and +the troop sat quietly in the scrub awaiting developments. The sound of +musketry echoed beautifully across the ravines in the clear stillness +of the night. + +The Turks were lighting fires in the stunted pine growth a short +distance ahead, which lit with a red flickering light the overhanging +clay cliffs of Table Top rising sharply at the farther side of the +defile. Then the cold white glare of a searchlight settled on its flat +top, and in a few minutes heavy howitzer, 18-pounder and naval shells, +shrieked overhead and burst, flashing and roaring, on the crest. The +overhanging crag, her summit rent by an inferno of shell fire, her +inaccessible escarpment lit by the lurid glow of scrub fires, and the +fantastic smoke clouds eerily revealed by the searchlight, made +altogether a wild night battle scene of weird glory. + +The bombardment ceased suddenly, the searchlight switched off, and part +of the regiment, who had crawled through the scrub on the more +accessible flank during the shelling, successfully rushed the Top. Mac +and his mates returned to their first scene of action and continued to +guard the communication sap. One or two Turks, who had hidden in the +scrub during the mêlée, gave their presence away, yelled with terror +and fell dead at the first shot. Poor old Joe, who had been severely +wounded by the first fusillade, lay dying, and soon his moans ceased +altogether. Others were dead, and some wounded. + +About three in the morning they went on again to join the rest of the +regiment on Table Top. Struggling up the trench-like bottom of the +ravine, through the inky blackness of the thick scrub, they found +themselves at length in a _cul-de-sac_, with clay cliffs on either +side. The officer went on to reconnoitre, and then, to the great +discomfiture of the forty fellows huddled together in the clay +watercourse, a hundred or so Turks put in an appearance on the brink of +the steep cliff on the left. Babbling excitedly they looked curiously +down on the silent crouching troopers. Trapped, and entirely at the +Turks' mercy, Mac momentarily expected annihilation, and wondered +vaguely why it did not come. Retreat was hopeless, and he counselled +scrambling up the steep bank and attacking them. A tense half hour +passed. Then came a guarded whistle from high up on the right, and he +heard the faint command from his officer, "Climb up to the right." +Quitting the troop, he scrambled up the soft yielding cliff, slid back +to the starting point several times, still puzzled why the Turks on the +opposite brink did not shoot, and at last found his officer near the +top, quite bewildered as to the whereabouts of his men. Mac, exhausted +with his exertions, was sent to report the night's events to the +Colonel, while his officer returned to guide the others up. + +Table Top was a level, scrub-covered plateau, about four chains across, +flanked on the north, west and south by steep cliffs, and on the east +gently sloping up towards the higher hills. Mac found the Colonel on +the far side, answered his questions, heard from him that progress +everywhere had been splendid and that the brigade had disposed of all +its objectives, and then found a few spare moments to view the country +from this high point. + +Dawn was breaking--just the same old beautiful dawn they had so often +watched silhouetting the trenches opposite and the hills beyond, but +now, with the exhilaration of victory thrilling through his body, Mac +stood there with the most glorious dawn of all his days, or of anyone +else's he thought, lighting the eastern sky. + +From the heights of the Table Top, Mac surveyed the scene below him. +To his right as he faced the north, the Table Top was connected by a +series of ridges with the hill summits about a mile away, which the sun +was just topping. To his front the ground fell abruptly in a deep +ravine, beyond which lay ridge after ridge, and beyond again the high +range behind Anafarta, three miles away, all standing out clearly in +sun-topped ridges and shadow, in the refreshing air of early morning. +Out to sea were the two islands, rugged and beautiful as ever, which, +together with the whole glory of the morning, the hills and the sea, +were unconscious and unaffected by the battle of men developing on +those beaches and hills to decide the fate of nations. + +The Anzac shore swept away to the north-west in a splendid curve to +Lala Baba, the point of Suvla Bay; and there, where no vessel floated +at sundown, lay now the strategy of the battle, a great fleet of +transports, warships, lighters, pinnaces and destroyers, encircled +already by a great torpedo-net. Farther out, every detail reflected in +the clear blue water, lay a dozen clean, sweet hospital ships. Already +round the little mound of Lala Baba were gathered small bodies of men, +horses and artillery, and occasionally Turkish shrapnel burst above +them. The warships were sending shells up the Anafarta valley and on +to the Turkish positions behind the great white patch of the Salt Lake. + +Having thoroughly taken in the situation, Mac turned again to business. +Some of the fellows were digging trenches on the enemy side of the +plateau, the medicals were bandaging the wounded, Turkish and New +Zealand, in a sheltered spot in the scrub, and Mac was told off to +disarm and guard several hundred prisoners who were trooping up the +steep slope from the rear. This was the garrison of the old No. 3 +Outpost who had found their retreat cut off by the capture of Table +Top, and were the same Turks who had, earlier in the morning, gazed +down on Mac as he had crouched in the ravine bottom fifteen feet below +them. He decided that they must have been demoralized then, or else he +and his comrades had been no more. + +The prisoners threw down their arms and bandoliers in a pile, and +seemed to feel no regret. They beamed with happiness, offered +cigarettes, biscuits, money and mementoes to their guards, and +embarrassed them by crowding round in an effort to shake their hands. +Eventually they were despatched under escort to the beach, and Mac +seized a few spare moments to watch an attack, half a mile to the +south, which was being made by Light Horsemen from the main position on +Russell's Top. + +Destroyers close in below sent high explosive shell whirring upwards to +burst in a pall of black smoke and dust on the narrow neck between the +Turkish and Australian lines. There was a tornado of machine-gun fire +which reached Mac's ears only as a high-pitched continuous note. The +shelling lasted about ten minutes only, a hopelessly inadequate +preparation, he knew, on such positions. The storm of machine-guns +rose to terrific violence, ripping and roaring. A grey fog of smoke +and dust partially screened the scarred hill-tops, and shielded the +mêlée from his vision, but, knowing those tiers of Turkish trenches as +he did, he was awed with the thought of what must be passing. For +fifteen minutes it lasted in all its fury, then lulled slightly, to +burst forth again for a few minutes only to diminish once more to a +steady burr, which left nothing decided in his mind. What had happened +he did not know, but when he turned his attention there later in the +morning he gathered, from the fact that the machine-guns still rattled +in the same locality as before, that ground had not been gained. + +His Squadron were instructed to make perches in the seaward cliff of +the crag where they would be safe from shrapnel which was now bursting +occasionally in the vicinity. Mac endeavoured to do so, but so steep +was the cliff that he only managed to make a ledge sufficiently wide to +sit on, while his legs dangled over the abyss below, and the sun blazed +on him in undiluted fury. But the greatest discomfort was the steady +fall of a stream of powdered clay from the constructors of perches and +paths higher up. A veranda of Turkish bayonets with Turkish rifles +roofed crossways on them, failed to improve the situation greatly, so +he gave it up as a bad job, and moved to the shade of a fine arbutus +bush on the less steep enemy side of the Top. He preferred shade, +comfort, and clean arms and ammunition, with the risk of Turkish +shrapnel, of which he had no great fear, to the drawbacks of the cliff +face without the risk. + +The Squadron lay in reserve all day, and Mac, from his shady altitude, +revelled in being just so situated with a great battle in progress, +with almost the whole battlefield in view, and him with nothing more to +do than sit there in comfort watching it. He surveyed it all through +his glasses, tracing the present limits of the advance. The high hills +seemed still to be Turkish, for different bodies of white-patched +troops made a rough line some distance below the summit, running down +laterally towards Suvla Bay. Distant ridges lined by the same +white-patched men showed that all the foothills had been taken; but Mac +watched eagerly, though in vain, for the appearance of British troops +on the higher ridges. Chocolate Hill and Osman Oblu Tepe at the inner +end of the Salt Lake, which were the main obstruction to the success of +what seemed to be the plan of attack. He saw only a few Turks on these +hills, and odd ones scurrying about near Anafarta, but never a body of +them, large or small. + +There was a great mass of troops gathered round the small mound of Lala +Baba, on whose top was now a wireless station and a signal mast. There +were horses, artillery, limbers, mobs of men and increasing piles of +stores. From huge four-masted transatlantic liners came lines of seven +or eight crowded boats in tow of a pinnace, and already the same lines +were threading their way back to the hospital ships farther out. But +the troops on shore were scarcely moving. During the whole day only a +few small bodies advanced a short distance, with little opposition it +seemed, at any time. Why did they not make a general advance? Shells +fell occasionally on different sections of the general line, the +diminishing music of the machine-guns floated, almost unnoticed, across +the hot stillness of the midday hours, the freshness of the morning had +given way to the summer glare, softened rather by the blue haze from +fires which here and there crept through the scrub. Men-o'-war, close +inshore, were shrouded in a murky pall from their flashing broadsides, +while their shells tore holes in the village of Anafarta, or sent scrub +and earth flying as they searched enemy ridges or passed to unseen +billets beyond the summits. + +Hospital ships weighed anchor and passed into distance, and destroyers +patrolled unceasingly to guard against submarine attack. + +Up the narrow, twisting sultry bottoms of ravines swarmed confused +trails of sweating men and animals, mules laden with ammunition and +water, with their Punjab muleteers, Sikhs with their mountain pieces, +and fresh troops, British and Purkha, New Zealand, Australian, passing +up to the line. Trickling rearwards, moving when opportunities +offered, went limping the bandaged wounded, the stretcher-cases, +blood-stained and grey, but patient, splendidly patient, the unladen +mules, often waiting long periods for a clear passage, and all the odd +men, messengers, prisoner escorts and others who move up and down the +communications during a battle. + +A few fellows of the Regiment were caught by snipers hidden still in +the scrub behind the advancing line. Otherwise the Table Top was +undisturbed, and the trenches grew deeper. Some went back to bury +those who had fallen in the night encounters. Mac, Bill and Charley +stuck to their shady spot most of the day. In a hollow at their feet +half a dozen dead Turks turned black in the sun. Midday came, and they +consumed the last of the Mudros luxuries; then they cleaned their gear, +slept awhile and awoke at five, expectant of great activity after the +lethargy of the day. + +The Suvla Bay force had at last roused itself, and now steady extended +lines of men were advancing across the dazzling whiteness of the Salt +Lake towards Chocolate Hill and Osman. White puffs of bursting +shrapnel broke here and there above them; but only occasional men fell. +Naval artillery raked the hills in front of them, where no Turk could +be seen. The lines went forward slowly, too slowly, for there seemed +to be little opposition to the advance and no hand-to-hand fighting. +They did not even appear to have reached the base of Chocolate Hill +when deepening shadows made it no longer possible to follow their +progress. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE NIGHT BATTLE ON CHANAK BAIR + +Of the general progress of the battle through the night and indeed +until he was wounded, Mac knew little. He heard but vaguely what was +going on on other portions of the front and could see little, and +gathered only indefinite impressions of happenings elsewhere. + +He passed the second night of the battle in alternately trenching and +resting, when he occasionally had a few moments of sleep. It was very +dark, warm and clear with a glorious showing of stars. The noise of +battle increased and seemed to fill the whole sky and earth as it had +not in the daytime. Star rockets shot skyward from the enemy lines and +burst into dazzling falling lights while the fellows crouched low in +the scrub to escape notice. The flash of the artillery and of the +bursting shells were here, there and everywhere, but mostly along the +ridge tops, and the musketry roared spasmodically in squalls along the +ridges, or drifted down from the high summits. + +At length the stars slowly faded before the eastern glow, and the +hill-tops stood out darker than before. Did dawn find them gained? +Mac waited eagerly for more light; but, when it came, found little to +discover. The summits seemed to be won, but he could find no trace of +the British nearer Anafarta. + +Sunday passed much in the same way as Saturday. The Suvla Bay force +was still hanging about the landing-place, and there was no indication +of a heavy engagement on their front. The New Zealanders had reached +the high ridges of Chanak Bair, but no one knew, if they had progressed +at all, how far they had gone over on the Dardanelles side. Nearly all +the hospital ships had vanished with full cargoes of wounded; but +otherwise the whole scene was little different from that of the +previous day. The hot hours passed slowly, the battle roared on, and +Mac and his mates wondered what might be their next move, for they were +not at present opposed to any direct enemy force. + +In the middle of the afternoon they received orders to prepare to move, +with the exception of one Squadron which was to garrison the positions. +They moved off almost immediately, passing down the steep northern +slope of the plateau and forcing their way through the dense thicket +until they reached the bottom of the hollow. They turned to the right +and jostled their way up through the struggling traffic along the +narrow, suffocating bed of the ravine. There were places where many +fine fellows had been laid low by snipers, places where they hurried, +if possible. There were times when they were jammed between mules and +the banks, and others when they had to wait many minutes for +opportunities of pushing on. After an hour of this sort of thing, they +came practically to the head of the ravine, and pushed into the scrub +on one side to make temporary bivouacs. + +Here all slacked and rested their weary bodies, stretched out full +length under the stunted bushes. Weak, most of them, with dysentery +when the battle started, they had now had two days of it, and with the +heat, the short commons of water, and little sleep, they felt a wee bit +tired, and they made the most of the short hours. + +The cool of evening came again, and with it orders to prepare for +further movements, this time to the firing line in support of their own +men on the summit of the hills above. They made the best possible meal +from the dry rations, dry enough when there was unlimited water, but +quite impossible to more than nibble in these almost waterless days. +Mac did not feel very hungry; but he had room inside his thin frame for +a tankful of water. He had started on Friday evening with a liberally +rum-tinctured bottleful, which had since been restocked with water as +strongly tainted with petrol. For the purpose of the advance, sealed +petrol tins of water had been brought from Alexandria, but the fillers +of the tins seemed to have paid no particular attention as to whether +they had first been emptied of petrol. His bottle was almost +half-empty, and he did not care for the prospect of going up to those +struggling lines without a fresh supply; but, just in time, a mule +train came up with full fantassas, and he got a half-bottle. + +When dusk had almost deepened to darkness they joined the surging +traffic of mules, men and stretchers on the dusty track, and filed +laboriously up the steep hill. The din of battle heightened with the +deepening night. Indian mountain batteries barked furiously behind +them, and the heavier artillery sent shells shrieking up from far +below, to burst somewhere up there where the crest stood silhouetted +against the stars. From above came the incessant roar of bursting +bombs and shells and rattle of musketry. At dawn the summit had been +gained, but just how good or bad our position was Mac had not the +vaguest idea. He had not heard of, nor had he seen any progress, +except the taking of this summit, since Saturday morning, and had no +idea as to whether the battle was progressing favourably or otherwise. +What was expected of them up there to-night none knew. Each carried a +pick or a shovel and two bombs. + +They passed the dressing-stations, perched on either side on the steep +slope, where hundreds of wounded lay, then over a ridge where the track +stopped and out into the pitch black open. The bullets zipped past or +thudded into the ground. The troop lay down while they got their +bearings. A fellow close by Mac gave a yell and was dead. A few +wounded men, limping or crawling back, passed them. Then in extended +order they went forward again, guided by a telephone wire, keeping +touch with difficulty in the scrub and the darkness. Frequently there +would come from the blackness in front of their feet a warning "Keep +clear o' me, cobber, I'm wounded," or groans and the gleam of a white +bandage, and sometimes they stumbled over prone still forms. Slowly +they picked their way forward, making towards the centre of the firing, +which was in a semicircle round them, and the whistling bullets came +from both sides as well as from in front, and the din grew fiercer. +They reached at length a hollow full of wounded, then went slowly up a +slope littered with equipment and dead, and, at last, topping the rise, +they came upon a scene so weird and infernal that Mac instantly stopped +and stared with awe. + +Lit fantastically by flickering flames which were licking slowly +through the scrub was a small ghastly, battle-rent piece of ground, not +one hundred yards in width and rising slightly. Beyond and close on +either side, it was bounded by the starry heavens, and seemed a +strange, detached dreamland where men had gone mad. The Turks lined +the far edge, their ghostly faces appearing and vanishing in the eerie +light, as they poured a point-blank fusillade at the shattered series +of shallow holes where the remnants of the New Zealanders were fighting +gallantly. Sweeping round to the left was the flashing semicircle of +the enemy line, bombs exploded with a lurid glare, their murky pall +drifting slowly back towards Mac. Shells came whirring up from the +black depths behind, and burst beyond the further lip. Above the +rending of the bombs, the rattle and burr of the rifles and +machine-guns and the crash of shells, sometimes sounded faintly men's +voices--the weird "Allah, Allah, Allah" of the enemy in a chanted +cadence, and the fierce half-humorous taunts of the attackers. + +Everywhere lay dead and dying men--mostly the former, Turkish and +British. Equipment and rifles were strewn in the greatest confusion +over the torn earth, and all the time the creeping flames cast weird +lights upon the passing drama. + +"Say, old boy," came a voice from his feet, "you'd better not stand +there too long--it's pretty thick." + +Mac leaned down to the wounded man, and found him one of the Aucklands. +"It's been simply blanky hell up here all day and now I'm just waiting +for them to give me a hand out. You boys have come up none too soon. +Mind you give the devils hell!" + +"You there with the pick," Mac found himself addressed, "get over to +those holes up front there and dig in for all you're blanky well worth." + +"Good luck, matey, Kia Ora," came the parting blessing from the wounded +Aucklander in the scrub. + +So brimming over with good fellowship were the tones, so short, yet so +deeply affectionate that Mac instinctively felt much more lighthearted +as he stumbled across the shattered battlefield to the thin line of +toiling, hard-pressed fighters, close to the rim where the cliff fell +away on the Dardanelles side. He found a line of shallow holes, some a +foot deep, some eighteen inches, aided a little by a few almost useless +sandbags. The cliff brink was six or eight yards away, and under it +lay the enemy--whose spectral figures, popping up and disappearing +rapidly, blazed point blank into the exposed line. A few yards on the +left the Turks poured across from the cliff to a small knob which +protruded into the attackers' line, and upon which they bore down +constantly and bombed furiously. From the ravine below the enemy, came +the constant "Allah, Allah, Allah," of many Turks encouraging +themselves for the attack, and occasional yells when shells or bombs +fell among them. + +Mac knelt on the ground and endeavoured to deepen the hold by steady +picking, while two other men kept a steady fire on the agile heads of +the enemy. But try his best, he was now beginning to feel severely his +decreasing strength and could make but little impression on the trench +on this parched, sun-baked hill-top. Another trooper offered to take +his place, and he went to the less arduous work of carrying such +tattered sandbags as still contained earth from the second line about +fifteen feet back and piling them up in some sort of a parapet for the +front line. The second line was only half a dozen square holes whose +fine garrisons lay dead within them, except a few who raved in delirium +for water which was not to be had. They and their arms lay prostrate +across each other, many half-buried by flying earth from shells and +bombs. + +He finished this work and then responded to an oft-repeated call from +farther along, "Reinforcements for the right. Reinforcements for the +right. Enemy getting round behind!" Here was a shallow bit of a hole +with three or four men, the right flank of this part of the line, while +the cliff edge was only four or five yards distant, and the enemy was +thought to be crawling back and gathering for a heavy assault. Mac set +about improving the trench and forming a small right angle to prevent +enfilade and to protect the flank. The sap had been deeper earlier in +the day, for the first foot he shovelled out consisted of a sticky +muddy mass of blood, soil, ammunition and gear of all sorts. He sifted +it carefully for good ammunition and bombs, and formed the rest into a +parapet with the assistance of sandbags. Sometimes when he was tired +he took a turn at keeping the enemy from becoming too venturesome on +the cliff brink. Queer shapes stood out against the stars, but whether +they were always Turks he could not tell, as from long sleeplessness +and strain his sight was inclined to play him tricks. Anyhow he ran no +risks. Somehow or other the troops farther on the left were constantly +shouting warnings concerning figures passing back to the right, but +these he could not see; while, curiously enough, he could plainly +follow Turkish figures flitting across the sky-line on the left from +the cliff to the small knob which could enfilade the trench from the +left. His rifle jammed from heat and dust. He took two from dead men +and kept them both on the parapet ready for instant action. The others +did much the same sort of thing, helping each other, sticking grimly to +the job and not worrying much, apparently, about their future. + +The battle raged on through hour after hour with unabated fierceness; +and the din of it all, the whirring and crashing of the shells, the +furious rattle of musketry, the yells of men and the cries of the +wounded, became almost an unnoticed monotone in Mac's ears. The Turks +threw bombs steadily, but fortunately only in ones and twos. They were +fairly slow to explode, and, if they landed on the parapet, the troops +crouched in the bottom of the trench, or, if into the trench, they got +out until the explosion and the fumes had cleared away. The enemy was +almost safe from bombing, for grenades which were thrown at him found +no resting-place until far down into the ravine, where their explosion +sounded only as a dull unsatisfactory thud. Sometimes big shells +whirring up from the warships or the heavy land batteries burst short +and caught some of the already too sparse attackers, or brought the +sufferings of the wounded to an end. Mac's line lost men who went +bleeding to the rear. Sometimes their places were taken--more often +they were not. + +He wondered vaguely what would happen, but all were too busy with +affairs of immediate importance, and somehow it did not seem to matter +in the least--the outlook was not bright. The Turkish mound on the +left could enfilade the trench at short range when daylight came, the +enemy was in great force in front and was creeping back to the +rear--already a fire-swept zone impossible to cross. Where was that +great force from Suvla Bay? They had landed three miles away at +midnight on Friday and it was now just before dawn on Monday. + +The night came in time near to its end. He could not describe it as +having gone quickly, nor yet slowly--it had simply passed. Dawn +brought no particular pleasure, only the transition from the unearthly +phantasmagoria of bitter night fighting to the practical fierce +hand-to-hand struggling of day. The paling sky figured the sky-line +and the Turkish heads in definite silhouette, and many of the large +shrubs of the night where Turks might lurk revealed themselves as small +tufts of grass. Vigilance increased. If rifles did not sweep that +crest continually the old Turk would leave his head and shoulders above +the edge long enough to take aim, instead of blazing away rather at +random. + +It was now definitely seen that the Turks had got well round the right +flank during the darkness, in spite of a machine-gun which had been +said to sweep this zone; but of it Mac saw no sign. Some Turks were +creeping through a hollow immediately to the right, and he being the +tallest man at this point directed his attention at the wriggling backs +with some success. One wounded Turk there signalled by waving his +rifle to some of the advanced party, but was soon after lifted by a +mate who ran with him to safety. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +MAC IS WOUNDED + +That August dawn revealed a ghastly scene on this Gallipoli hill-top, +where the tired, outnumbered attackers fought desperately for the +summit of the Peninsula, possession of which would mean victory and the +command of the Straits. It seemed to Mac that decision must come soon, +for this desperate, more or less continual hand-to-hand encounter could +not last much longer. Bad as their position was, it could not be long +now before those many thousands of Imperial troops would be taking the +enemy in flank from the Suvla Bay direction, or at least would be +strongly reinforcing them from the rear. + +And now, even before it was full daylight, the activity along the line, +though it had scarcely seemed possible, grew more violent, and Mac felt +that each side tensely watched the other, expecting every moment a +final, desperate coming to grips. The Turks appeared to be gathering +in great numbers, and were even now on the point of making a +whole-hearted attack. But the British artillery intervened. The +shelling had been increasing steadily, and at this moment several +men-o'-war close inshore opened their broadsides and were joined by all +the field artillery which could be brought to bear, and there broke +along the crest such a tornado of bursting shells as had never been +seen during the whole campaign. + +The battleships were concealed by a thick pall of brown smoke through +which spurted the flashes of their batteries, field guns of all sizes +barked from ravines and ridges; the shells roared and shrieked up +towards the summit, and burst in a continual shattering crash on those +few hundred square yards of deadly battlefield, or passed aimlessly +beyond the ridge and exploded harmlessly far over enemy territory. The +Turks, being mostly under the farther lip of the small plateau, +suffered little from the bombardment except on the knob which protruded +into the line to Mac's left. It was torn constantly by high explosive, +and Turkish bodies were flung high in the air, in whole or in part. +Equipment, earth and sandbags mixed with the sickly, murky green smoke +which drifted in a choking cloud across Mac's line. Rapidly fresh +Turks filled the places of their dead, and they in turn were blasted by +the bombardment. + +But many of the shells were falling short; or may be they were not +falling short, rather it was a position which should never have been +bombarded in this fashion. The artillery was directed upon a hill high +above it, lying between it and the breaking day. On its crest, +separated by only a few yards, were both the defenders and the +attackers. Few of the shells were likely to hit the enemy, for the +majority must either spend themselves in the air beyond the crest or +else fall among our own men on the crest itself; so they fell thickly +along Mac's line, and thus to the danger of an enemy on three sides was +added the tragedy of our own artillery on the fourth. Helpless they +were to shield themselves or to stop this mad destruction. They had +red and yellow flags to mark their positions, and these they waved +violently, but it could be of no avail in the dawn light, the dust and +the smoke. + +What telephone communication there was with the rear, Mac did not know; +but, whether there was any or whether it had been cut by the enemy, no +sign came that the artillery knew where its shells were falling. One +after another those shells burst with a yellow glare and a fountain of +black smoke, sending men, some alive, and many dead, flying upwards; +and when Mac could see again there would be a space in the line where +one, two or more of his troop had taken the long trail. They rained +faster, bursting incessantly on that narrow strip between them and the +edge of the cliff, often falling behind and always odd ones and twos +dropping into the trench itself. Mac felt sick with the fumes and the +horror of it, and sometimes the blast of a shell sent him against the +side of the trench. The helplessness of the position appalled him. +There were fewer and fewer of them left, and there was a growing gap in +the line. Yet there was no means of stopping it; and he longed for the +bombardment to cease. He sniped away at the Turks along the cliffs, +and turned his attention at times to some who had been hunted from the +knob by the shelling. There were only three or four of them left in +this corner and yet there was no slackening of that mad artillery fire. +Then swiftly there was an awful lurid flash close in front of him, on +the level ground almost in his face, and it seemed he had been hit +across the head with a bar of wood, and he could not see. He pressed +his hand to his face and sank slowly to the ground. + +"Old Mac's a goner," he heard the voice of one of his mates say in +those same affectionate, final tones which had followed the +disappearance of comrade after comrade on the left. + +"Poor old fellow," said another. + +"No," muttered Mac. "By God though, I'm blind for life!" He felt the +blood rushing down his face, and he knew it. He sat up, and no one +said anything. He thought for a second or two and decided on a course +of action. "Well, it's no longer any good staying here. I'm off." So +saying, he undid the buckles of his Webb equipment, and struggled out +of all his gear, keeping only the case of his glasses, for he thought +he might as well stick to them. + +He remembered the way to the second line, and crawled along the +shattered trench to the left, feeling his way past the legs of the one +or two men who were left. They paid no attention to him, being too +busy with the enemy to be concerned with other matters. He felt his +way along on his hands and knees, down into holes, over dead bodies, +avoiding wounded, across the open ground, until he came to where he +thought the communication trench ought to be and turned to the left. +There seemed to be little of it remaining. It had never been much of a +thing, and was now blown about and full of wounded and dead. He was +finding himself in difficulties about getting past some wounded men, +when some one came out from the second line and led him in. There his +Captain took his hand and patted him on the back. + +"I'm afraid I've lost my sight, sir," said Mac. + +"I'm afraid so, old boy," replied he. "I'll send a chap back with you." + +One of the boys took charge of him, and Mac stumbled off through the +little piece of trench into the open, across which, from both sides, +the bullets fled whistling and zipping. Jogging awkwardly short +distances over the rough ground, then lying in hollows for brief rests, +they covered at length that exposed slope of about one hundred and +fifty yards which separated the trench from the shallow head of a +ravine, wherein lay hundreds of wounded and dead. The trooper guided +Mac carefully over a space where bodies lay thick, and made him lie +down on a sloping clay bank, took his field dressing from his pocket +and bandaged his head. + +Mac lay there through the whole of that long terrible day, a day of +strange unearthliness, when he seemed to float away into a weird +dreamland and at times into nightmare, and yet it was not a day of +unmixed suffering. The sun glared down pitilessly through the hot +hours, the tormenting flies swarmed in their millions, the dead lay +thick around, already blackening in the heat, the dying raved in +delirium for water which never came, and the battle raged on with +unceasing violence. Lying uncomfortably on a slope, propped against a +dead Turk, he scarcely seemed to feel the burning heat of the sun, the +irritation of the flies, the torturing thirst nor the pain of his +wound, for his spirit lay soothed in a strange restfulness, in the +satisfaction of peace, in a manner like the weary wishing for nothing +but sleep after a day of honest work. For Mac the fight was over; he +had done what had been asked of him, and his spirit, serenely happy in +this knowledge, seemed to rise above earthly discomfort and to concern +itself little with the shattered state of his body, nor yet with the +fact that he was far from out of the wood. Death was all around; and, +had it come to him, he would have had no terror of it, but simply the +resigned acceptance of a happy soul. + +Early in the morning Mac had inquired whether he could not be taken on +to the dressing-station, but learned that it was impossible as the +enemy swept the country between with an impassable hail of bullets. +The lower end of the ravine was in Turkish hands, elsewhere there were +unscalable cliffs, and the only means of getting back was by crossing a +ridge close under the enemy rifles. There was nothing for it but to +await nightfall. + +The ravine was full of wounded. The more lightly injured had drifted +towards the bottom, but those who had not been able to walk lay crowded +close in the shallow head near Mac. Most of them were already dead, +for many had been wounded two nights previously, and few so seriously +injured could stand a second day of such torment. Mac asked sometimes +if there was water, but there was none. Occasionally he inquired how +the battle was going, and if there were any men near to hear him, they +replied only with unassuming grunts. He sat up once for a change of +position and moved away a little from the dead Turk, but the flying +bullets sent him back. He may have been light-headed once or twice, +but this he himself could not tell. Queerly enough, he troubled not at +all about the form his wound had taken. Though he knew with absolute +certainty that he would never see again, he was not worried by the +horrors of a future world of darkness; and found himself in his vague +wanderings of mind deeply pitying those round him, and his heart was +full of grief at their sufferings. + +Gradually a lessening of the heat told of coming evening. A little +water arrived and was distributed in small potions. Mac was conscious +that those who came periodically to the hollow to do for the wounded +all that lay in their power were performing fine actions of +self-sacrifice. It grew cool, and Mac stirred himself to expect aid +from the rear; word had come, too, that a large Imperial force would be +sent up at nightfall to relieve the tattered remnant of the garrison, +who had dwindled to a desperate handful from attack after attack by the +enemy through all the long day, and who were almost light-headed from +fatigue. The hours still dragged on without anything happening, and +Mac almost feared they had been forgotten. At last, shortly after he +had heard a voice say it was eleven o'clock, some one came into the +ravine, and inquired in the dark who were there. Few answered, for, it +seemed to Mac, most of them were too far gone. All those who could +look after themselves had long ago drifted farther down the ravine. + +"Who are you?" sang out Mac. + +"I'm an Auckland stretcher-bearer." + +"Well, if you can show me the way, you can take me back. I can't see, +but I can walk all right." + +"I dunno how I'm goin' to get you out of there. There are too many +wounded round you." + +"Oh, if you show me where to tread I'll be all right. You might as +well take me back. I'm the only one here who can walk," said Mac +appealingly. + +After a little more persuasion, he picked his way over the bodies, and, +Mac, swaying a little, stood up. He forgot to take the case of his +glasses which he had been using as a pillow, though he had remembered +afterwards that the glasses themselves were still on the parapet where +he had been wounded. He picked his steps carefully over the prostrate +forms, and then, grabbing the Ambulance man firmly by the belt, +stumbled after him up the slope. They toiled down the long ridge, +falling frequently into hidden holes in the thick scrub; and all the +time the rifles blazed along the ridges and the bullets zipped past +them in the darkness. They reached the dressing-station, where, from +the sounds which reached his ears, it seemed to him many men were +lying, and a crowd passed constantly to and fro. A medical officer +took Mac in hand, dressed his wound as well as might be--for there was +no water for such purposes--and gave him a drink. Though Mac protested +he could quite well walk, the M.O. insisted on putting him on a +stretcher, giving orders to the bearers to take him without delay to +the hospital life-boats. And so, swaying precariously, he was taken +away down the rough, steep slope, the bearers halting often to regain +their breath. Then, taking not the slightest heed of his mild +protests, they dumped him off the stretcher after they had gone about +half a mile, spread a blanket over him and departed. He lay there +peacefully for an hour or two, and then, becoming thoroughly fed up at +this lack of progress and seeing no point in such delays, called out to +some one he heard near him, to know what possibility there was of a +further move. + +"None, old boy," came the discouraging reply. "Stretchers are just +about finish, and there 're dozens of stretcher-cases lying everywhere. +From the looks of things you might be here for a day or two yet." + +Mac thought for a minute or two and decided to take matters into his +own hands. He heard some one passing along the path. + +"Hullo you! Come over here," he called. + +Some one approached. + +"What's up, cobber?" + +"If you're going to the rear you might as well take me along with you. +I can walk all right. I only want a helping hand. What about it?" + +"Well, I'm a Fifth Reinforcements just landed, an' I dunno where all my +mates are gone." + +"All right. You might as well come along with me." And so saying, Mac +stood up, shed his blanket, and went off with the man who had lost +himself. + +It was broad daylight again, and the Artillery activity was steadily +increasing. They wandered down the dusty bottom of the ravine, Mac +directing the way as best he could. At the bottom of the ravine, near +a battery in furious action, they had to halt for some time owing to a +congestion in the traffic through the big communication saps. Mac +wanted to go along the top, but the other fellow refused flatly as +there were too many bullets flying, and so they had to progress when +opportunity offered through the hot dusty crowded saps. They were +close to the sea by No. 2 Outpost, but the hospital boats had ceased +taking wounded off from there, owing to the heavy rifle fire. Mac +decided to go on to Anzac without delay as, with weakness growing, he +wished to keep going until he reached a hospital-ship. Dragging one +foot after another, he plodded on through the interminable trenches, +though swiftly his strength was going and he had to rest every twenty +yards. + +His companion, taking the wrong turning, led him over an unnecessary +hill, which nearly exhausted his walking powers, but about nine o'clock +they at length reached the Cove and the clearing station. Mac's head +was again dressed, he swallowed with the deepest joy many cups of tea, +bid farewell to his escort, and lay down on some bales of hay to await +the arrival of a hospital-ship, of which there were none at present off +the landing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE END OF MAC'S CAMPAIGNING DAYS + +About midday a hospital-ship anchored off the shore, and some one led +him along the pier to a barge, from which he was transferred to a +mine-sweeper, and at last was swung upwards by a crane on to the deck +of the ship. He was almost the first on board. Kind hands and +affectionate voices welcomed him, and tender hands led him along the +deck to a surgery. The fresh cooling sea air had revived him, and here +at last, with skilled hands and cool lotions easing his aching head, he +felt supremely happy. + +The blood and grime removed from his face, and a neat white bandage +round his head, a sister took him in charge and guided him far down to +a ward low in the ship. She gave him a comfortable bunk, and swiftly +set about spring-cleaning him. She speedily unclothed him by running a +pair of scissors along the sleeves and legs of his blood-clotted +garments, giving him his precious bandages and identification disc +wrapped up in a handkerchief; then sponged him all over in deliciously +cool water, decked him in a shirt, and spread a sheet over him. Next +came a large bowl of hot soup, which Mac lost no time in putting within +his hungry frame, and finally a glass of port. The fine sister chatted +away the while with pleasant little laughs and entertaining +remembrances, as if she had not been working in those steamy holds for +days and nights with scarce a rest. + +Many others were brought into the ward, and it was soon full of +seriously wounded men, Imperial, Australian and New Zealand. M.O.'s +and sisters worked incessantly at the heavy dressings. + +The hours drifted slowly by, for though he had had no sleep for four +days and nights, and little for several nights before that, he did not +sleep, and the passage of time was marked only by the arrival of meals +and the pleasant relief of fresh dressings. He was always hungry from +long under-feeding, and relished everything which came his way. For +him there was no difference between night and day, and he often lost +count of time. There was only one sister in the ward, a splendid +Queensland girl, who toiled for almost all of the twenty-four hours in +the hot, steaming atmosphere, going steadily the round of the heavy +dressings, starting again at the beginning as soon as she came to the +last. + +The ordinary routine work had to be left to the orderlies, and these +men angered Mac so at times that he wished they might be lined up in a +row and shot. Recruited, it seemed, from the lowest order of some +community, they made use of this opportunity, when all senior ranks +were too fully occupied with more immediate work of their own, to loaf, +to rob the wounded sometimes, and to ignore many simple duties which +for many men made all the difference between pain and comfort. Most of +the wounded suffered from dysentery in a more or less acute form, and +frequently seriously wounded men had to struggle out of bed to attend +to the wants of those incapable of moving. Some exceptions there were, +but the casual neglect in Mac's ward made him fume with anger. + +But the sister and the padre were splendid people. The padre came to +the ward to assist the sister with her dressings, and came to Mac to +break gently the news that he would never see again. Mac had no +illusions on this point, and laughed at the padre and his serious, +funereal attitude till he resumed his normal cheery manner, when he and +Mac soon discovered that they had many great friends in common in New +Zealand, for the padre hailed from those parts too. The padre and +sister became great friends of Mac, and in odd moments they sat on his +bunk and yarned away with him, the padre about the Sounds' country +which he and Mac knew so well, about what work Mac might do in future, +and about all sorts of things, and with the sister he arranged some day +to stay on the far back Queensland station. + +The evening of the day he came on board they left Anzac and for some +hours the engines rumbled away, when again there was silence. Mac was +told they were at Mudros alongside the _Aquitania_ putting all light +and medium cases on board that vessel. Then for an indefinite space of +time he again felt the vibration of the engines, and he thought they +must be bound for Alexandria. When the vessel stopped, without having +the vaguest notion how long she had been steaming, he took it for +granted they were at Alexandria, and was rejoicing inwardly. He was +deeply disappointed to hear they were again off Anzac. + +During the day the Turks shelled the vessel, and turned machine-guns on +her. The shells, which Mac could hear bursting as he lay in his bunk, +did no damage, but the machine-gun fire caught one wounded man lying on +deck, made several chips in the deck and holes through the operating +theatre, narrowly missing a medical officer at work on a case and +rattled against the steel sides. The ship moved out to a safer +anchorage. Mac heard in later days that a destroyer had been +carelessly firing from under the lee of the hospital ship. They took +on board that day another thousand cases, again transferred the less +seriously wounded to the _Aquitania_, and returned once more to Anzac. +They left Anzac finally on Friday, called again at Mudros to discharge +the light cases, and set a course for Alexandria, much to Mac's relief. + +One day he was taken on a stretcher to the operating theatre, where he +drifted strangely away from earthly things, and woke again in his bunk. +Once he had a glorious sleep, after an injection of morphia, but +usually he lay awake, tired and restless. There was no one to talk to, +except on those rare but pleasant moments when the good padre and the +ever-cheering sister found a few spare minutes. All those near him +were badly wounded and far too ill to speak. Some died, and, wrapped +in a blanket, disappeared from the ward to join the line of corpses on +an upper deck, waiting the dawning hour and the parting words of the +padre to plunge with firebars at their feet into the blue +Mediterranean. Of what had finally happened on those Gallipoli heights +no one could say definitely, and there were disappointing and +unsatisfactory rumours. About noon one day the vessel passed much +wreckage of shattered boats, oars, sun helmets, lifebelts and so on, +and cruised about for some time looking for survivors, but found none. +It was the scene of the foundering a few hours earlier of the _Royal +Edward_ with many hundred fine fellows. The padre brought what news he +could to Mac, and was seldom unaccompanied by something tempting in the +way of sweets or fruit. + +On Monday about the middle of the morning the vessel tied up at +Alexandria. The heat was almost unbearable, for no breeze stirred in +the hot confines of the dock to send a cooling breath into the stuffy +depths of the ship. Mac had a wild longing to get off the ship, and he +must have become light-headed. He had been told he would be sent +ashore before evening, but it seemed to him hour after hour had passed +and he knew it must be ten o'clock at night. He gave up hope, and said +to the sister when she came near him that he supposed no one would be +sent ashore now until morning. + +"But it's only midday. You'll all go ashore this afternoon." + +"Midday on Monday or Tuesday?" Mac inquired. + +"Monday, of course, you silly old boy." + +Days seemed to pass before the stretcher-bearers commenced removing the +wounded from his ward, but it was only four in the afternoon when he +was put on a stretcher, taken up in a lift and carried down the gangway +across the pier to an ambulance. For those fifty yards through the +fierce sun, an English woman walked beside him holding a parasol over +his head, and he was deeply touched by so thoughtful a kindness. From +what he had seen of the English ladies of Egypt during the terrible +shortage of trained hospital workers, he knew that no words could +describe the magnificence of their actions. The ambulance rattled +away, and he heard again the many noises of an Egyptian street. It was +a dreary journey of nearly an hour, for the springs of the car had long +abandoned their functions, and the jolting over the cobbled roads was +agony to his wounded head. + +He was taken to the 17th General Hospital at Ramleh, and was placed on +a low basket arrangement in a big marquee, with its sides rolled up so +that the least hot of any stray breeze might find its way in. The +floor was the desert sand. It was in these days that the shamefully +inadequate preparations for the wounded were most felt, yet the +sufferers themselves did not complain, and the hospital staffs and the +civilian population of Egypt went to work in that scorching heat to +make the best use of their strength and of the short supply of material +available. So the wounded, knowing that all there were doing their +best uncomplainingly accepted going without dressings when they would +have brought great relief; accepted bad food sometimes, the discomfort +of the wicket beds in the stifling heat of the marquees; and, armed +each with a fly whisk, they made the best of a bad job. The sisters +were magnificent, and, indeed, everybody was. The lightly wounded, +too, did all in their power for those who could not walk. + +Several hours after Mac arrived, he was handed a bowl of rice mixed +with condensed milk, and though it had been made some time, and had +fermented, he was hungry and ate it eagerly. Then a sister dressed his +wound, and soon the marquee was left to itself for the night. For the +first time in several days, in spite of the fact that his head felt +very bad, he went to sleep, and his waking was full of strange, +unutterable horror. He found himself crawling with his hands and knees +on the sand. He was awake, but why was it he could not see? He +crawled round and round, but could find nothing but sand, sand +everywhere, nothing but sand. He felt terribly alone, and he could not +recall the reason of it all, or why he could not see. He called out in +his terror--again--and again--what, he did not know. Then an old +sister seized him. "You poor old boy. What have you crawled out of +the tent for?" And he remembered again where he was. She took him +back to his bed, soothed him as a mother would calm a terrified child. +Mac was trembling like a leaf. + +Tuesday dragged wearily by. He was in low condition, and very, very +tired and his head ached violently. Between the flies, the heat and +the uncomfortable bed, it was not a happy home; but the kindness of the +sisters and the other wounded men who came to him occasionally, went +far towards making it all bearable. There were men worse than he in +that marquee, men in agony and near to death, with torn, septic wounds, +but sticking it out without a word. + +Wednesday brought changes. The padre of the hospital ship had cabled +to his father in London that he was all right, and what hospital he was +going to; and now several people came to see him. Mac told them he +would like to go home as soon as he could be sent, as there could be no +more campaigning for him and the sooner he was home the better. The +M.O. said that a hospital-ship was leaving on the following day and +that he would be sent by it. Mac was put in a ward that afternoon. He +was brought some clothes for the morning, but, being fed up with bed, +unknown to the sister, he donned them straight away and went and sat by +the window. He felt very groggy, but getting up and about bucked him +up tremendously. + +Next morning he took farewell of the sister, and, clad in a Tommy +uniform built for some one many sizes smaller, a pair of heavy boots of +huge calibre, and a Tommy cap perched on top of his bandages, he walked +downstairs with an orderly. But out in the open the sun was too much +for him and laid him low, when he was converted into a stretcher-case, +and swung away on an ambulance much more comfortable than the one which +brought him. Again he was carried across the sun-baked pier, sheltered +from the sun and protected from the flies by one of those splendid +Alexandrian women, and taken down into a comfortable bunk in the +hospital-ship _Dongola_. Mac found in the adjutant of the ship a +friend of bygone days, who placed him in a spare deck cabin, which he +found not at all an unpleasant home for the next ten days. + +He speedily gained strength at sea, and began to enjoy life a bit more. +A fine Australian, who was but slightly wounded, took Mac under his +wing, and with ceaseless care and affection walked with him on deck, +and in a wonderfully unselfish way did many little things to make time +pass quickly for him. A cheery Scottish sister poked her head in +occasionally, and came in the evening to do his dressing. The orderly +who brought Mac's meals, was an earnest, hardworking man, who had +worked once with a missionary among the Eskimos, and who did the work +of several lazy orderlies as well as his own. Late in the evening, as +a special treat, he brought a gramophone up from below deck, stood it +on a chair in the middle of the small cabin, directed the trumpet +straight at Mac's head, and set in motion mournful hymn tunes. It was +tough going for his aching head; but the earnest orderly was so wrapped +up in giving to him what he thought was great pleasure that he had not +the heart to stop him. Mac would silence it for a time by encouraging +dissertations on Eskimo life, or the future of the Gospel in India. An +hour of the gramophone, and it would retire below to end its rasping +for the day. + +Twelve hot hours were passed in the Grand Harbour of Malta, while +thousands of cackling fowls were lowered from the boat deck and sent +ashore for men in hospital. The two following days Mac was almost +entirely deserted, as a heavy sea sent most of the sisters, orderlies +and patients to their bunks. The first night no one came to dress his +head; but the second night a quaint rough stoker put in an appearance, +and, chatting cheerfully the while, made his head more or less +comfortable. No water came for washing, and on two rare occasions a +fleeting orderly left a plate of some sort of food or other. He spent +those two days in bed, and was thankful when they were over. From then +onward the voyage went well, snoozing on deck in a chair, or walking up +and down arm and arm with the Australian. + +At length, in the keen air of an English autumn morning, Mac stood by +the ship's rail as she moved quietly up Southampton Water, to berth in +due course alongside a pier and a hospital train. Mac had dreamed that +it might be so, though he scarcely dared to hope that it would come +true; but the gangway was scarcely down before his father and his +sister were on the deck and had him in their arms. In the middle of +the afternoon the hospital train stopped at a Surrey station; and +before very long he was being undressed, bathed and put to bed. +Presently, the sister, the medical officer, his father and his sister +withdrew quietly from the bright little room, saying that he must go to +sleep after the excitements of the day. And to sleep Mac went, feeling +more comfortable and happy than he had been for many a long day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +HOMEWARD + +The tents sway and flap vigorously as gusts of wind tear through the +camp, carrying clouds of sand across the island. Through the darkness +comes the sound of the lashing of the date palms and the tamarisks as +they swing to the gale. Within a straining, war-worn tent, lit by a +flickering candle, stuck in a grease-streaked bottle, sit several +mounted men of the old Brigade, their faces brown and weather-beaten +from long campaigning in the Sinai Desert and amid Palestine hills. +The gear and stuff scattered casually about the tent tell it is the +abode of an old hand of long service, who worries little about the +frills of base and peace-time armies. And there, too, sprawled +half-way across a camp bed is Mac. They yarn about old times, +Gallipoli days and after, laughing often, though sometimes in +affectionate, quieter tones they speak of a fallen comrade. It is +midnight, the ill-used candle has not many minutes of life to run, and +the desert wind bellows over the camp. + +Three and a half years have passed since Mac found himself in the +comfortable security of an English hospital--far from unpleasant years, +during which the comradeship of his fellow-soldiers, and the kindness +of many friends have fully made good the sight Mac lost on the summit +of Chanak Bair. He has not lost touch with the men of the +Expeditionary Force during their long weary years in France and +Palestine, but has worked among them to the best of his limited powers. +And now this stormy night in March 1919 finds him again with his old +comrades of the Mounted Brigade, who, with a glorious campaign behind +them, are resting for a while on an island on Lake Timsah till a +transport at Suez is ready for them to embark. Mac has visited old +haunts and old friends in Egypt, and to-morrow he, too, goes on board +his ship at Suez, bound for home. Again there will be warm sleepy days +in the Red Sea, with delicate sunsets and cool nights, a few sunny +weeks in the tropics, some heavy weather, no doubt, south of Australia, +and then New Zealand. + +Nearly five years of war, strange adventures and experiences of the +wider world have brought changes in the lives of those whose fate was +not to fall in the field, and have left them a little sadder and, +maybe, a little wiser. Mac's life must be vastly changed from the old +one, and for him there will be no more work with his dogs among the +sheep and cattle, and no more of many of the old things. But he has no +regrets. Least of all does he regret the day which first found him a +trooper of the Mounted Rifles. Others may forget the men who went +away, many never to return; but deep in the hearts of their comrades +will be fully valued those years of campaigning, when they knew the +unselfish sacrifices of comradeship, the careless courage, the humour, +and the affection of man. + +Through these years Mac often thought of that wild winter day in the +bush when he and Charley, looking at the old Boer War pictures, had +resented the fact that they had been too young to join in it, and that +there was no, war for them to go to. Within a year Charley had been +killed, wounded three times in an attack at Cape Helles; and three +months later Mac himself had been incapacitated for life. Their +longing for war had been fulfilled with a vengeance. True, war had +brought them no good; but it had had many grand moments, power to +strengthen character and inspiration towards great thought, art and +unselfishness. Tragedy, crime and disease had also followed in its +train, though, for his part, Mac thought that some good must come of it +all. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of a Trooper, by Clutha N. Mackenzie + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF A TROOPER *** + +***** This file should be named 26548-8.txt or 26548-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/5/4/26548/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +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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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/26548-8.zip b/26548-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0cddac8 --- /dev/null +++ b/26548-8.zip diff --git a/26548.txt b/26548.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af9a290 --- /dev/null +++ b/26548.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5621 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale of a Trooper, by Clutha N. Mackenzie + +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: The Tale of a Trooper + +Author: Clutha N. Mackenzie + +Release Date: September 6, 2008 [EBook #26548] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF A TROOPER *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +ON ACTIVE SERVICE SERIES + + + + + +THE TALE OF A TROOPER + + +BY CLUTHA N. MACKENZIE + +TROOPER, WELLINGTON MOUNTED RIFLES, N.Z.E.F. + + + + +LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD + +NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY + +MCMXXI + + + + +_Printed in Great Britain by Ebenezer Baylis & Son,_ + +_Trinity Works, Worcester._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. + + I MAC BECOMES A TROOPER + II MAC EMBARKS FOR OVERSEAS + III SORROWS AND JOYS IN A TROOPSHIP + IV LAZY SHIPBOARD LIFE + V ASHORE AGAIN + VI DAYS IN THE DESERT + VII MAC GOES TO CAIRO + VIII MAC TOURS IN COMFORT + IX MAC LUNCHES WITH THE SULTAN + X MAC DISAPPROVES OF BEING LEFT + XI MAC LEAVES FOR ACTIVE SERVICE + XII GALLIPOLI AT LAST + XIII MAC JOINS IN THE WAR + XIV A WEARY DAY + XV MAC IS SLEEPY + XVI VARIOUS MISFORTUNES + XVII AN OUTPOST AFFAIR + XVIII SUMMER DRAGS ON + XIX MAC TAKES A CHANGE + XX ANZAC AWAKES + XXI NO. 3, TABLE TOP AND SUVLA BAY + XXII THE NIGHT BATTLE ON CHANAK BAIR + XXIII MAC IS WOUNDED + XXIV THE END OF MAC'S CAMPAIGNING DAYS + XXV HOMEWARD + + + + +THE TALE OF A TROOPER + + +CHAPTER I + +MAC BECOMES A TROOPER + +A winter storm raged across the ridges and tore in violent gusts down +the gullies, carrying great squalls of fleecy snow. The wind swept the +flakes horizontally through the gap where the station track ran an +irregular course through the bush; and, though but a short hour had +passed since the ominous mass of black cloud had swept over the early +morning sky, the ground was already thickly powdered. + +A ramshackle hut stood beside the track where it entered the bush, and +in a rough lean-to, where firewood, tools and saddlery were piled more +or less indiscriminately, two unkempt station ponies, saddled and +bridled, stood in somnolent attitudes. Huddled hens sheltered from the +searching blasts, which swept in eddies of snow, ruffling the feathers +of the hens and driving the tails of the horses between their legs. + +Charley and Mac had come thus far on their way out to have a look at +the stock in the big paddocks higher in the hills, before the +thickening snow had made purposeless their going further. So they had +dropped in to see old George, the rouseabout, and have a yarn with him, +or, if there were no signs of the weather clearing, to consider the +question of work in the wool-shed. + +"Hullo, boys!" mumbled George. "I reckon as thar' ain't no use us +gittin' art jist now. I thinks the fire's the best place ter day. +Squat yerself in that thar cheer, Mac, me boy. Jinny! get some tea," +he roared hospitably through the wall towards the wee kitchen where his +hard-working little wife was making bread for her large family of +children who were away at school. "And I'll give yer a toon on the +grammephone." + +Nothing averse, the two stockmen settled down before the big log fire +in George's den, aromatically smoky from firewood and tobacco, with its +walls papered from odd paperhangers' samples and prints from Victorian +journals, and with domestic odds and ends lying here and there. The +good lady speedily produced the tea and added cakes and scones, while +George brought into action his cheap American machine and its hoary old +records; vague, scratching echoes here in the depths of the bush of the +gay sparkling life of Piccadilly and Leicester Square by night, +laughing theatre crowds and wonderful women--a life worlds away from +George and his rough, but hospitable hearth. He laughed where +sometimes there were jokes, more frequently where there were not, and +the other two laughed good-naturedly in concert, for the machine +scratched so badly that they could not distinguish a word, though +George, remembering them in the freshness of their youth, was blind to +their growing infirmities. If the two laughed heartily, or expressed +in words the good qualities of a record, those, in addition to George's +particular cronies, were given a second or a third run. + +They grew rather tired of this entertainment, and turned their +attention to the domestic bookshelf and the family treasures which +adorned the walls and the mantelpiece. In a glass frame was an army +biscuit of army hardness on which Mrs. George's brother had written a +letter on a distant Christmas Day in South Africa and had posted to +her. They deserted other relics for a large book of Boer War pictures, +whose leaves they turned together, while the old gramophone ran +unfalteringly onwards through its extensive repertoire. + +"Those times must have been great," said Charley. + +"Don't those chaps look as if they're enjoying themselves?" + +"Not half. Cripes! I wish I had been there." + +"Why in the devil didn't that bloomin' war come in our time?" + + * * * * * + +"Not our luck. You know, Mac, if we'd been the same age we're now, +we'd have been there." + +Another month passed on that station, and the two stockmen, alone on +their beats, rode day after day across the wild ranges and down in the +ravines. Along the whole of the east ran a range of mountains, more +than a hundred miles of them, their lower slopes clothed in heavy bush, +and their serrated summits deep in winter snow. Standing in the north, +grand and solitary, was the massive blue-white shape of old Ruapehu, +his fires quenched these many years, and, near him, the active cone of +Ngaruahoe, whose angry, ominous smoke-clouds rained ashes sometimes on +the surrounding country, but more often his wisp of yellowy-white smoke +trailed lazily to leeward, or mounted heavenwards in cumulous shape. +Occasionally, on his rounds, Mac dismounted on the summit of a ridge, +threw the rein over a stump and settled down for a smoke, his back +against a log, his dogs at his feet, a wild ravine below him, then +ridge after ridge, bush-topped or strewn with charred trunks and +rotting stumps, and, away beyond, the two great snow volcanoes. They +were his friends, and, of all times, he loved most these moments spent +in contemplation of those grim reminders of the strength of Nature, of +the untamed fires which burnt beneath and of the smallness of man. He +revelled in the changing colour tones of the rugged ice cliffs, of the +mountain mists and of the rolling deliberate smoke-cloud. Grand, too, +was the space of it all, wonderful the air, and here, high on this +ridge, human selfishness scarce seemed to be of this world. Sometimes, +when he had been out here ready to start mustering at dawn, he had +watched the first glow of coming daylight on the summit of Ruapehu, and +again, at the end of a long summer day when the smoke of many +bush-fires was in the air, he had watched for an hour or more the +delicate lilacs, the greens and blues, reds and golds, the shadows +deepening beneath the buttresses, and the slow melting of the last warm +glow into the cold steely colour of night. + +He knew of no happier life than this of his--dodging along most days on +his station pony with his dogs following; always on the alert to +discover anything amiss with an odd sheep or a cattle-beast; sometimes +working with the sheep in the yards, dipping, crutching and such like, +or going off on jaunts to neighbouring stations or distant townships. +It was a life where there was opportunity for the whole of a man's +skill and wit, and where monotony and loneliness were not. After the +day's work he and Charley took turns in cooking the dinner, while the +other went for the mail. The several-day-old paper lost nothing by its +age. The meal finished, they smoked and read the news, had a game of +cards, perhaps, with some one who had ridden over, and turned into bunk +for sleep that was never sounder. + +Thus dawned the early days of August with Mac and Charley. There had +been Balkan rumblings, which, it hardly seemed possible, could echo in +these distant hills, but speedily the shadow on Europe darkened, and +they rode out to the cross-road to get the mail as soon as the coach +arrived. And then, through the long spun-out wire which connected many +scattered homesteads with the outer world, came the great news--War +with Germany. + +Mac and Charley piled up the great logs that night and sat before the +glowing timber until five in the morning, talking over the +probabilities and the possibilities of the moment. Already the old +station life seemed behind them. What mattered it if the sheep got on +their backs or the cattle broke their silly necks? And of the future +they had a vague apprehension--a terrible sinking that there might not +be a military force required from New Zealand, and, if there was one +formed, it was scarcely likely to reach Europe before the war was over. +That the Dominion would wish to send a force, they never doubted, but +whether England would want it was another question. + +They drew out their military kits from beneath their bunks, emptied +their contents on the floor and investigated them keenly with an +increased interest. They donned the tunics. Charley's body was +shortly garbed as that of a lieutenant of the West Coast Infantry +Regiment, but the rest of his figure was not in keeping with his wild +red hair, his bristly jowls awaiting the week-end shave, his open shirt +and his rough working trousers. Mac was in the Manawatu Mounted +Rifles, but had not risen above the humble, though estimable rank of +trooper, and his tunic fell far short of covering his lengthy arms. +Between bursts of laughter, they chatted away on these eccentricities, +and inspected the rest of the garments with a critical eye, commented +on their fitness for the field, and hung them finally on nails in the +wall. Regretfully they turned into bunk, and sank into sleep too deep +for dreaming. + +The next day Mac came across George at work on a break in a fence. + +"Good mornin', Mac, me boy. How's things? This 'ere slip do be a fair +devil." + +"Oh, stock's all right. What d'you think of what's happening?" + +"Aw, yer mean this 'ere row in Yourope? It's a bit of a business, +ain't it?" George was contemplatively filling his well-seasoned +cherry, and spoke of Europe as a sort of detached planet, and of its +concerns as far from likely to set going eddies in these wild hills. +"I reckon as they'll 'ave a bit of a go. Wot d'you think?" + +"I'm off to it, George, by the first bloomin' boat that goes." + +"Haw! Haw! Haw!" roared the old boy, throwing his head back, and +swaying with the fullness of his mirth. "What an 'ell of a joke." +Mac, too, chuckled as he sat in the saddle. + +"True, dink, George, I'm going." + +"Go on! Yer can't kid me that. Why the bloomin' thing's in Yourope, +an' it'll be all over in a couple o' shakes." + +"Never mind. I'm off. And so's Charley." + +But George was not to be persuaded, and Mac left him still enjoying the +joke. + +That night a distant voice on the telephone said it was probable that +an overseas force would be despatched as soon as possible, and inquired +if they would willingly volunteer. + +"You bet your boots!" Mac shouted down the line. + +"Good," said the voice. "The whole Regiment has so far volunteered." + +Three or four days passed wearily by, for all interest had gone out of +the old life and they were restless for the new. Disturbing rumours +came vaguely from without of an overseas force ready and about to sail, +and Charley and Mac unanimously decided that they were too far from the +centre of things, and that they must proceed closer to civilization +without delay. Finishing the day's work, they went through the +Saturday overhaul and made themselves presentable in public, saddled +the horses, and, in the refreshing spring evening, rode away down the +narrow winding road through glades of bush and lonely valleys to the +railway line. There they stayed at a neighbouring homestead, gathering +round a great, crackling log-fire to talk over the wonderful days ahead. + +Early in the morning they were again on the road for a small country +town where lived Mac's Colonel. Pleasant indeed were those hours, +riding ever over the glorious hills and down in the valleys, and as +they rode along the world seemed a wonderful place. + +The Colonel met Mac's anxious inquiries, as to whether there was any +chance of his getting away, with a cheery laugh. + +"No doubt about it, my boy. You'll be all right." + +But he was not able to relieve Charley's anxiety as to what was taking +place in infantry regiments. He told them of the Advance Guard which +lay at anchor in Port Nicholson awaiting orders to sail at any moment +for an unknown destination, but said it was no use trying to get away +with it, as it was composed only of infantry regiments from the cities. + +It was well towards midnight when they returned, Mac in absolute peace +of mind, but Charley still unsettled. His headquarters were a hundred +miles away, and their sport of a host spent the following day running +them down in his car, so that Charley might have final satisfaction, +and that night, as the car spun homeward hour after hour through the +darkness, there was no marring thought in the minds of the two would-be +campaigners. + +Mac seized two hours' sleep on a sofa, and then crept away into the +night to catch a mail train which, rumbling northwards through the +hills in the small hours, sometimes stopped near here to water. Late +the next afternoon he acquainted his relatives of his intentions, spent +a day or two with them, wished them a cheery farewell, and early the +next Sunday, ere the morning mists in the gullies had fled before the +first rays, he was again riding up the hill to the old homestead. He +slung his civilian clothes into his tin box, cast his eye rather +sorrowfully over his agricultural books as he stowed them away in a +kerosene case, and regarded his bare walls whimsically as he removed +from them his few precious photos and one or two quaint sketches. He +wondered vaguely while he donned his khaki breeches and puttees what +strange lands he might wander in, what queer beds might be his, and +what great adventures he might have ere he would again take that mufti +from the tin trunk. And would this fine old station life ever be his +again? In the evening he rode to neighbouring homesteads to bid +farewell to many whose homes had been his, and whose thoughts would go +with him on his unknown travels. Finally he parted with his dogs. + +The next morning, no longer a stockman, but a soldier of the King, he +turned his back on the station, a home of pleasant memories, and +travelled slowly the long road to the camp. His mare had come straight +from a long spell of grass, and it was late in the afternoon of the +following day before he dismounted finally in his squadron lines. Here +already, in the middle days of August, were several thousand splendid +men--a battalion of infantry, a regiment of mounted rifles, a battery +of artillery, medical corps, engineers, signallers and service corps; +fine men all, accustomed to life in the open, strong of build, active +of movement and infinitely amused with everything around--splendid +comrades with whom to embark on a campaign. + +Mac made his way to his tent, where he was straightway at home with +mates of previous camps and station days. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MAC EMBARKS FOR OVERSEAS + +Six weeks dragged slowly by. A few days after they came into camp, +there were ten great transports ready to take overseas the +Expeditionary Force of 8,500 men, horses, guns, limbers and stores, and +always there had been orders to be ready for instant embarkation and +that the probable date of departure was a week ahead. Constantly that +day was put off, and again put off, delay followed delay, while the men +speculated on the cause, condemned the authorities and blasphemed +generally. The War would be over before they could get anywhere near +the front, and they chafed vainly. The troopships lay in the harbours, +the men were ready in camp, why not embark? + +With the exception of this uneasiness of mind, nothing spoilt the full +enjoyment of the spring days. All day the sun shone bright and strong +from a blue sky, the warmth tempered by pleasant breezes from the sea +or the mountains, and at night the stars stood out brilliantly in the +great dome above. Used to many camps in the past, accustomed also to +cooking and to battling generally for themselves, they were as much at +home as ever they were in the lines of white tents, and for most of +them these were lazy holidays after the hard life of the bush and the +sheep-runs. The army was generous in its supply of food, and much good +butter, jam, meat and bread, which would have been luxuries indeed in +the months to come, went to waste in Awapuni incinerators. And day +after day came cars from towns and farms and stations within two +hundred miles, bringing tuck-box after tuck-box containing the choicest +products of the home larders. + +The red sun, lifting above the eastern hills, found long irregular +lines of horses straggling across dewy fields to water at the rushing +streams of the Manawatu River. On one bare-backed horse of every four +sat a trooper, clad sketchily in shirt and breeches tugged on hastily, +as a sergeant had called the roll. They played the fool as they +passed, laughing and chattering, losing their horses in their madness, +all making thorough nuisances of themselves and all atune with the +fresh glory of the dawn. Usually, during the day, in independent +troops of thirty or forty men, they wandered about the district, among +the pleasant suburban homes of Palmerston, along shady country roads or +up into the hills. They walked or cantered for an hour or so, and +then, selecting a likely-looking homestead, they would unsaddle and +unbridle their mounts and leave them to graze the succulent grass at +the sides of the road, or roll if they wished, while a man was put at +both ends of that stretch of road to prevent their straying. Then the +others would lie in the shade or sun themselves on the bank opposite +the homestead, sleeping, smoking, reading or playing cards. Scarcely +ever did the oracle fail to work. The door of the house would open and +a fair maid appear, anon, a mother and a sister. The first would come +tripping down the path to the soldiers and inquire: + +"Mother says would you like some tea?" + +"Well," they would reply, "it wouldn't be a bad idea, would it? But, I +say, wouldn't it be a lot of trouble?" + +"Oh, not at all." + +And she would skip away back to the house to the innards of which, +mother and sister, regarding the preamble as a mere formality, had +disappeared to get things under way. A brief interval was followed by +the appearance of large trays of cups, the whole of the household +crockery from the drawing-room, breakfast-room and kitchen, with scones +and cakes, and all the luxuries of the storeroom, and, perhaps, apples +from the barn. The good family, as is only in keeping with proper +hospitality, would join in the feast; and the disappearance of two or +three cheery troopers into the house to assist in washing up would end +one of those irresponsible, warm-hearted little scenes which were so +many in those far-away days of August '14. Another hour or so on the +march in the middle afternoon, and they would return to camp, to +"stables" and evening. Palmerston normally was never anything else +than a quiet country town of sober habits and eminent respectability, +but now the echoing emptiness of her streets was gone, the lights shone +brilliantly across the Square, the air was full of the murmur of the +crowd, the tread of heavy boots, the tinkling of spurs and glasses and +the laughter of merry parties. Perspiring waiters and flustered +waitresses fed the hordes in the hotels, while the baths worked +overtime. The road to the camp lay like a searchlight beam across the +landscape--the cloud of never-resting dust lit by the strong headlights +of a thousand taxis which careered along the rough road, careless of +life or of their own future. Happy and weary, the men came streaming +back to camp, entering by the front if before "Lights Out," through the +pine plantations if after. + +At length embarkation orders became concrete and remained so. + +The camp buzzed with excitement, and, when night came, all were busy +getting the gear ready. No one slept, and, in the dark, silent hours +before the dawn, the camp was struck. The neat lines of tents became +merely small bundles and odd poles, while hundreds of figures passed +hither and thither amid blazing fires of straw. In the early light the +Regiment moved away from the pleasant camp of Awapuni, the first of +many such abodes. In the middle of the morning, struggling engines +creaked away with the long lines of horse-trucks and carriages of rowdy +troopers who cheered wildly as they set out at last upon their +adventures. They crawled along the low country of the Manawatu, then +along the rough cliffs above the sea, over the hills, and at length +down the rocky gorge to Wellington. The troops detrained, watered and +fed the horses, hung about for a while, and eventually led the horses +to the wharves. Four great grey transports lay alongside, and the sun +shone down hotly on a scene of seething activity, a crowd of troops +working with the energy of enthusiasm, long strings of horses filing up +huge gangways and disappearing into lines of horse-boxes around the +bulwarks, or swinging aloft singly by cranes to be lowered swiftly into +the black depths of holds. + +Mac led his terrified mare up the steep gangway and down into a hold +where he left her with regret. Mac's squadron was to embark on another +ship, except some men who were to look after the horses. This +transport lay at Lyttleton. So Mac and his cobbers had a few hours' +leave pending the departure of the southward ferry steamer at eight +o'clock, and they, in the meantime, went up the town to have a good +time and to turn out old friends. They did not waste these few short +hours, the streets rang with their enthusiasm, and the departing +steamer took away from the pier a singing, rollicking crowd of happy +warriors. Mac slept soundly on a table, and awoke in the morning to +find the vessel was berthing at Lyttleton. + +Disembarking, they filed round the wharves to where two troopships lay +opposite each other, and embarked again on H.M.N.Z.T. No. 4, the S.S. +_Tahiti_. Mac grabbed what looked about the best bunk in the murky +depths of the 'tween decks which was the Squadron's alloted space, and +wrote his name in several places on the boards. The lucky ones got +breakfast during the forenoon, those who were lazy dodged fatigues and +slept in out-of-the-way corners in the sun, and so Mac and his cobber +Bill might have been found comfortably dozing on a great pile of onions +on the aft boat deck. They found such seclusion most satisfactory on +these turbulent days of movement, except for occasional visits to see +that no blighted trooper was trying to beat a fellow for his "possie" +in the hold. Trains kept rumbling out of the tunnel beneath the great +hills, bringing more troops, horses and stores, and all the afternoon +the gangways were crowded with these coming on board. By four, +embarkation was complete and a throng of people who had massed behind a +barrier to see the last of the troops, flooded on to the wharf. + +Secrecy had been strictly kept as to the time of departure, and so the +public were few to what there might have been. Pretty girls were +wildly enthusiastic and were not particular as to how many troopers +they fondly took farewell of, women smiled and laughed, though there +were often tears in their eyes, and the men were laboriously humorous. +A band played airs which the bandmaster considered suitable to the +occasion, the troops, swarming on the railings and the rigging, sang +lustily snatches of song; and finally, amidst the fortissimo strains of +the National Anthem, a wild holloing from every one, and a bellowing of +fog-horns, the ships drew slowly away from the wharf. They manoeuvred +awkwardly out through the moles, while the throng on shore became but +one black shape beneath a sea of fluttering handkerchiefs. + +That night the two ships steamed slowly to the north. Mac landed +horse-picket, and for four hours he paced a length of the boat-deck up +and down past fifty horses' heads, while the wind howled mournfully in +the rigging and the ship swayed easily to the swell. Morning broke, +with a dull sky, a dull sea and many miserable troopers. Towards +midday they were joined by two vessels from the south with the Otago +troops, and in the middle of the afternoon the whole four hove to in +Cook Strait, awaiting the four transports from Wellington. But +contrary orders came, and so, entering Wellington Harbour, they dropped +anchor towards evening. A gale came down in gusts from the hills +around, bringing furious squalls of rain; and Mac, in heavy oilskins, +again paced the boat-deck. Dawn broke grey and drear, and the troops +were in the depths of depression. It was not the ill weather which +distressed them, but at the eleventh hour, in the middle of the night, +a picket boat had brought unwelcome despatches and now all hope was +gone, all faith lost. "Owing to unforeseen circumstances, the +transports will not at present sail, and orders for disembarkation will +be issued in due course." So ran the death sentence. + +Most of the infantry remained on the transports, but the other branches +of the service mournfully disembarked and trekked to the few more or +less level places amid Wellington's hills, where they pitched camps. +The Wellington Mounteds found a home on Trentham racecourse, and passed +a fortnight there, riding along the valley roads and manoeuvring over +the steep hills. It was not so bad either, for day after day passed +with glorious sunshine and cooling breeze, and the city was in reach by +a weary train. There was a grand review which no one particularly +enjoyed, and Mac least of all, for he had an attack of influenza. All +the long day he rode with a dizzy, aching head; and one of Wellington's +very own tearing gales, which whirled upwards great clouds of yellow +dust, served not at all to cool his heated brow. And when, late at +night, he spread out his straw and lay down, the long day seemed to +have been a vague, bad dream. But the fever had gone when morning +came, which proves that there are more ways than one of curing +influenza. + +He had cut short the career of the same disease at Awapuni Camp when +out on an extensive movement one night near Feilding. His officer had +given him a goodly nip of strong Scotch whisky and had advised him to +remain at the first bivouac, but Mac thought that influenza was as bad +at one place as at another. So he successfully guarded a road all +night, his horse picketed to a fence, and himself in a greatcoat +stretched asleep in the middle of the road. + +Once again, the bright stars long before dawn looked down upon the +bustle of a breaking camp, looked down upon the flaring piles of +burning straw, the collapsing tents and the happy laughing throng of +busy troopers. Early in the dewy morning they clattered out of the +race-course gates and away down the winding road in the valley bottom. +Afternoon found them skirting the harbour beneath the great rocky +escarpments of Wellington's hills, and from here Mac espied a sight +which gladdened his soul and he lost no time in communicating his +discovery to Bill and the others. Across a distant neck of land at the +far side of the harbour, he had seen the tall tapering masts of two +men-of-war, moving rapidly, and two murky streaks of smoke. This +looked like business. + +In an hour two great cruisers rounded the far point, and the boys +welcomed them warmly as a sort of guarantee that there would be no +humbug about this embarkation. Again came the animated scene as they +shipped their horses, again a last night to roam streets, which echoed +with mirth far into the night, and again the crowded piers aflutter +with handkerchiefs, drawing away in the distance. The _Tahiti_ passed +close astern of the two cruisers, the Japanese _Ibuki_ and the British +_Minotaur_, and cheered their crews lustily as they came abeam. The +whole fleet anchored in the stream. All night long the Morse lamps +winked at the mastheads, the ships' lights twinkled on the water in +long twisting lines, and the great glow of a million lamps of the city +lit with fire the waters of the harbour, and the huge hills stood out +black against the sky. + +A day of squalls followed, and dragged slowly by. Why were the anchors +not weighed? Pessimists said they might never leave, and all eagerly +watched the warships for any signs of going to sea--an increasing +volume of smoke from the funnels, activity on the bridge or more than +an ordinary display of signal flags. But there was nothing to bring +lasting satisfaction and the grey day ended with a colourless sunset. +Towards midnight a tender bumped alongside, men shouted in the dark and +packages were dropped with thuds upon the deck above. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +SORROWS AND JOYS IN A TROOPSHIP + +Mac dragged himself regretfully out of his bunk when a mournful +"reveille" had finished echoing along the decks, and went above to see +what might be doing. They were off, or, at least, they soon would be. +Already the cruisers were coming steadily down the harbour, some +transports had weighed, and were awkwardly pulling their heads round to +seaward, others sent clouds of steam rumbling in a deafening roar from +their safety-valves. The cruisers passed, and each transport followed +in her appointed place. + +Everyone neglected the work of the moment in that hour of putting to +sea, and Mac, perched high on the roof of the wireless cabin, watched +it with as much pride and rapture as might an emperor reviewing the +grandest of fleets. In single line-ahead, the fourteen great grey +ships, their smoke trailing away over the port quarter before a fresh +wind, passed down the wild rocky gap of the entrance. The grey seas +rolled in a long swell, grey, flying clouds hid the eastern mountain +tops. The passengers of an in-bound steamer had hurried on deck, clad +lightly against the chill wind, sent a faint cheer to each passing ship. + +Hundreds of people waved vigorously from the western shore, having come +far to see the last of the adventurers, and the garrisons of the forts +looked like silhouetted maniacs above the fortress mounds. They, too, +faded in the distance, and at length the reefs with their white surge, +and Pencarrow Light high on the cliffs above the poor rusty remnants of +a wreck, were far astern. The leading vessels had lifted their bows +westward through the Strait, and each following ship was in turn +changing course. At sea at last, Mac left his perch, and departed +below to his work, a shower-bath and breakfast. + +Later in the morning the weather cleared, the cliffs, the hills and the +snowy mountains were glorious in the sunshine, and the troops basked at +full length on deck while distant points took form far ahead, came on +the beam and passed astern. Once through the Strait, the fleet took up +its regular formation, the ten transports in two lines of five, with +the two large cruisers ahead and the two small ones astern. Late at +night, the Farewell Light passed into the blackness, and when dawn +broke again, grey, chill and wet, no land was visible behind the +reeling stern. + +For five or six days--Mac lost count--the transports rolled and creaked +and swayed up the grey, lumpy swell, lurched over the crests and +plunged away down into the troughs. The spray lifted over the bows and +swept along the decks, the wind howled dismally through the rigging, +and the ship was wet and comfortless. All was grey--the ships, the +sky, the sea and the long trails of smoke fleeing away to leeward. Mac +had found a good job on board, together with Joe of the Canterbury +Squadron and Jock of his own squadron, in charge of the fodder. Both +were from the sheep country and real fine fellows, though Joe had had a +college education, while Jock claimed only to have been dragged up in +the bush. Three times a day, about an hour before their own meals, +they weighed out for the horses the rations of chaff, oats, hay, +linseed and so forth, and issued them to fatigues from the troops, the +service corps and the mounted machine-gunners, who came slipping and +sliding along the deck in heavy gum-boots. + +The second-class dining saloon of peace days had descended to becoming +a fodder room for the horses, and outside its door gathered the boys +clamouring for their loads, laughing and swearing and generally +hindering Mac and his cobbers at their work. Everything had gone like +clockwork in port, but, for the first few days at sea, these practical +sons of the bush and the sheep-stations were for the moment put out of +their stride. Hefty men lay huddled helplessly on their bunks and +others moped about searching for the drier, warmer corners. But the +horses had to be fed, though many of them, too, hung their heads in the +deepest dejection. The men who were not seasick turned to with a will, +and many who were went to work with bold hearts, though feeling too +utterly miserable for description when down below on the stuffy, +reeling horse-decks. + +Mac, in the foolishness of his abandonment, had flung himself at the +first spasm of seasickness on to the top of some of his bales of hay; +the sweet fragrance of the hay aggravated the evil effects of the +rolling, and three days passed like an interminable nightmare. +Sometimes the bales and bags slid about the place with the rolling of +the ship, occasionally he made weak though desperate attempts to help +Joe and Jock who struggled on nobly; but eventually Mac managed to drag +himself and two blankets to the top of the horse-boxes high on the +boat-deck. There lay rows of men like corpses in their blankets, with +pinched white faces peeping out, which smiled pathetically with the +bashfulness of returning spirits. + +All were on their feet again by dawn of the sixth day, and in odd +moments between work peered over the side to catch a glimpse of the low +dim line of the Tasmanian coast. They kept along the land for a few +hours, and then, forming single line-ahead, steamed slowly up the +beautiful sunny waters of the Derwent, with white curving beaches and +bush-clad hills on either side. Five ships berthed at once for fresh +water. In the afternoon the troops were marched through the town, and +the people cheered heartily and hurried in great excitement to see +them, bringing cake and fruit and beer. Some of the boys, keen on +adventure, slipped quietly out of the ranks and down side streets, and +in the evening other hard cases garbed themselves as stokers, walked +boldly past the guard and spent the merriest of evenings in Hobart, to +return, perhaps, to a term of C.B. which the holiday was well worth. +The other five vessels watered in the morning, and by evening the fleet +was again at sea, steaming slowly southwards in a fog towards the +southern point of Tasmania. In Morse code each ship in turn mournfully +wailed her number, and endeavoured to keep station in the thick pall. + +For day after day they swung over the long seas which always sweep +across the Australian Bight, but the troops ran about the ships as if +they had never been anywhere else, and the horses stamped and whinnied +unanimously when the boys stood ready to feed, and looked eagerly for +more than the martinet of a Vet would allow. + +The Vet was a brusque man whose job was to look after the horses and +not to concern himself with the fine points of military lore, +distinctions of rank, or the airs of those officers who thought +themselves not made of ordinary clay. He was impatient with people who +were incompetent or who hindered him in his work. So on the occasions +when Captain O'Grady violated the sanctity of the fodder-room by +stowing there some of his infantry equipment, the Vet would angrily +demand: + +"Mac! What's that blanky stuff doing there? Is that some more of +O'Grady's blanky rubbish?" + +"Yes. He said you said he----" + +"I don't care a blank what he said. Heave his blanky stuff out of +here. O'Grady and his blanky stuff can go to hell. Next time he tries +to bring his rubbish in here you tell him to get to blanky blazes with +it! See?" + +"Righto! I'll do that." + +Mac was not soaked in military etiquette, but he rather hesitated, when +the Captain-Quartermaster brought some gear to stow, to instruct him to +go to blanky hell with his blanky, etc., etc. However, as soon as +Captain O'Grady had disappeared he and Joe shoved his gear out on the +wet deck and the Quartermaster constantly finding it there decided to +seek other havens. + +"I'll teach that blanky infantryman to stow his blanky stuff here," +rumbled the Vet with satisfaction when there were no more signs of +alien goods lumbering the fodder-room. + +The first burial of a member of the force took place one stormy day in +the Australian Bight. He had died the night before on the Ruapehu. In +the middle of the afternoon the whole fleet lay to for ten minutes, the +troops standing to attention on every ship. The vessels rolled heavily +to the rushing silent seas, the troops with grim faces swayed in their +long lines on the careening decks. There was no colour to the scene +but grey. The greyness, the vast space, the haunting notes of the +"Last Post" echoing along the troopdecks, the lonely body deserted on +the wide sea, left a deep impression on those light-hearted +adventurers. Death! And to be buried here in a lonely ocean grave! +Mac wondered how many of these 8,500 men would see New Zealand's shores +again, and how many would lie in foreign lands. But such speculations +did not trouble him for long. "Carry On" sounded briskly, and Mac +returned to his work in the fodder-room. + +Like many others of that light-hearted crew, Mac had really not +embarked upon these adventures on account of the "ruthless violation of +the rights of small nations," with the desire "to crush once and for +all the Prussian military despotism," and so forth. Had he given the +question deep thought he might possibly have welcomed these reasons as +additional charms; though the fact was that he had never worried much +concerning why he had come. War, bloody war, romantic, glorious war +raging in the Old World, and he obeyed the irresistible desire to join +in it. + +The whole atmosphere of the life appealed to him, the uncertainty of +the future, the unknown destination, the company of all the boys, and +the free, fresh life. + +More than a week passed and then one morning against the pale blue of +the dawn sky showed low dim outlines of deeper blue, and towards midday +the fleet entered the wide waters of King George's Sound and cast +anchor with the _Tahiti_ nearest the sea. On the upper reaches of the +Sound lay a great fleet of thirty or forty large vessels--the +Australian fleet. Mac had not previously known that they were to fall +in with them here. For four days they lay at anchor swinging to the +tide, in the entrance, lonely and unvisited, while the eager, +bare-footed, bare-legged and bare-chested men gazed longingly at the +distant port and tried to persuade themselves that the vessel must go +up there for coal and water. Several times the life-boat crews lowered +the boats and raced clumsily with each other; and once the troops +polished and cleaned all the morning for an inspection by the G.O.C. +which never came off. Otherwise they drilled at odd times, groomed, +fed and exercised the horses and basked in the sun. Rumours were +unusually active, and the question of destination was fiercely +argued--South-West Africa, India for garrison duty, or France by the +Cape or Suez. The course the fleet set after leaving the Sound would +partly decide the question. + +The first daylight of Sunday, November 1st--a dawn of rare perfection, +with the spacious Sound unruffled by any stray breeze, the wide blue +heaven unbroken by any cloud--saw that purposeful activity among the +ships which immediately precedes putting to sea. Smoke drifted upwards +from many funnels, some ships were busy clearing their anchors, while +others manoeuvred out of tight corners. First came the men-o'-war, +sweeping majestically past the _Tahiti_ and out to sea. Then, in +single-line-ahead, followed the transports in grand procession past the +_Tahiti's_ bows, whose troops stood on the topmost perches to miss +nothing of the glorious review. Everywhere to the upperworks of each +passing vessel clung the Australians. As each vessel came abreast, +wild, enraptured cheering broke out, and, with all the power of healthy +lungs, with enthusiasm unreserved, with cooees and hakas and scrappy +messages semaphored by the arms, the Australians and New Zealanders met +in a deep friendship which was to last through years of campaigning and +privation. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LAZY SHIPBOARD LIFE + +The _Tahiti_ fell in astern of the long line whose foremost ships were +almost hull down, and left the Sound empty and deserted. When all were +at sea, they took station, the thirty Australian ships in three lines +ahead, with the ten New Zealand transports in two lines astern, their +leading ships stationed between the three rearmost vessels of the +Australian line. The men-o'-war took up positions far ahead on the +horizon and on the flanks. Towards evening a nor'-west course was set, +which the troops generally accepted as sufficient evidence that Colombo +would be the next port of call. + +For some days the fleet swung heavily to a considerable swell from the +west; and Mac watched, from the boat deck, the long line of careering +masts ahead, sliding about like so many drunken matches, spray flying +from the bows, and the foaming wake seething from the labouring screws +of the ship ahead. It amused him to cast his eyes aft along the boat +deck, the full length of which stretched two lines of horse-boxes +facing outwards. + +With an even keel only the noses of the horses showed beyond the +stalls; but, when the vessel rolled heavily to a beam swell, their +heads swung in and out like the cuckoos of cuckoo clocks. One moment, +as the ship lay well over into a trough, Mac could see nothing but a +long line of posts; the next, as she lifted to a sea, out shot those +eighty heads. They trod backwards and forwards in regular step, and +were cursed constantly by the men whose bunks were immediately below +the trampling hoofs. The horses settled down to the life in a +wonderful fashion, and through the splendid attention of the troops +appeared not a whit the worse for the first three weeks at sea. With +the increasing heat and the lack of exercise some of them were growing +a little short-tempered; and men, passing along the front of a line of +boxes, had to be prepared for a horse occasionally making a grab at him. + +Least of all to appreciate the presence of horses in the vessels were +the officers of the ships accustomed to Royal Mails and jolly +passengers. They now appeared in all the immaculate glory of white +ducks; and it almost gave Mac the impression that the horses had taken +a special dislike to them. Either they would frequently be bitten at, +or else when one of them was standing comfortably on deck smoking, a +horse would give a violent sneeze behind him, and he would disappear +into his cabin, muttering wrathfully as he changed into a clean suit. +And the Captain himself was no more pleased when he noticed the way in +which the constant trampling of the horses was wearing ugly tracks in +his best teak decks. + +Every morning and afternoon, when the vessels were not rolling too +heavily, long strips of cocoa-nut matting were laid round the boat deck +and the length of the upper deck; and the horses were led round and +round for a little, though valuable, exercise. Men spread awnings from +the front of the boxes, and watered them steadily from above, so that +the horses might be as cool as possible. All of this was hard, hot +work, to which the men stuck splendidly. Mac, however, had none of it, +for, his turn in the fodder-room being over, he was sent to the bridge +as a signaller. He knew little about the work, but another signaller +was wanted, and he was sent to learn. It was the best of work, clean, +cool and interesting. He did his watches on the bridge, looking down +on everything from that exalted position, swept the fleet constantly +with his glasses, and did what was told him. He peered into the log +book, and closely examined the charts in spare moments when the officer +of the watch was not noticing. He examined everything that was to be +examined, instruments, code books and distant ships, and altogether +thoroughly approved of being a signaller. Often there was work to be +done, in daylight by semaphore arms, or international flag code; and at +night by morse lamps, carefully shaded. Mac fumbled about and fell +over himself at times before he mastered the mysteries of flag +signals--the knots, the halyards and the nautical language. + +"AJP tackline J," the Skipper would roar; and two of the signallers +would fall over each other in a hurried attempt to get it all tied +together. And something usually went wrong--the tackline missed out, +two J's put on by mistake, or an M instead of a J. Once Mac failed to +make fast the two ends, and one hoist of flags went trailing out over +the beam. He let them down into the water, so that the weight might +swing them inboard, while the other signaller struggled manfully with a +hayrake to grapple them; and the Captain cursed and Mac flushed all +over, knowing that every ship in the fleet was grinning at them. + +Two days out from King George's Sound the fleet was joined by two more +transports with Australian troops from Fremantle. A week later H.M.S. +_Minotaur_ passed down the lines between the ships, and soon after +disappeared over the eastern horizon. The fleet had been sailing with +carefully screened lights, and now precautions were to be doubled, no +dynamos to be run, and navigation lights to be further dulled by +several thicknesses of signal flags across the glass. Various small +happenings left the troops with a sort of impression that there might +be something in the wind. When, therefore, early one tropic morning +the three remaining men-o'-war moved nervously from their stations, +rolled great black-brown coils of smoke from their funnels, and nosed +suspiciously out towards the western horizon, like three dogs +seeking a scent, it was evident the day would not be without +interest. Within a few minutes H.M.A.S. _Sydney_ set a definite +course, and with a foaming wake and a trail of heavy smoke, went off at +full speed to the sou'-west. Mac went below for breakfast in the +steamy saloon. Word went round that the _Emden_ was at the bottom of +the business; and men gathered in groups, talking with animation, and +gazing occasionally towards the south-west. Later in the morning the +Japanese cruiser went off in that direction, leaving only H.M.A.S. +_Melbourne_ with the fleet. + +At about eleven the great news came; and great enthusiasm welcomed it. +In the _Tahiti_ it leaked out before it was officially announced; and +the poor signallers were blamed in consequence. At any rate it was +true. About ten thirty the _Sydney_ had reported the _Emden_ beached +and blazing; and that she had gone off in pursuit of another vessel. +The _Maunganui_ had offered to take the _Sydney's_ wounded; but she +replied that there were only twelve casualties, sent her thanks, and +said there was no need. That was all the troops heard of the fight for +some days, though later the _Empress of Russia_ passed on her way to +pick up the many wounded from the wrecked _Emden_. + +Then came the crossing of the Line; and in all ships Father Neptunes +were busy lathering, dosing and abusing unlucky troops who tried to +escape their gentle hands. Crowds of men splashed rowdily about in +great sails of water. But a medical officer unfortunately lost his +life over these proceedings, and a momentary sadness settled over the +fleet. + +The New Zealand section went ahead of the main fleet a day or two +before reaching Colombo in order to proceed with coaling and watering. +Early on a Sunday morning the mist-covered hills of Ceylon took form on +the starboard bow; and, later on, a palm-grown shore and natives in +catamarans. Then the house-tops, the breakwater and the shipping of +Colombo emerged from the luxurious forest and curving shores. About +the middle of the forenoon the New Zealand vessels in two lines of five +were about to enter the harbour, when the _Sydney_ and the _Empress of +Russia_ were signalled coming up astern; and the New Zealand ships lay +to to give way to the men-o'-war. In deep, impressive silence, they +passed down between the lines, while the bluejackets and the troops +stood at rigid attention, salute after salute sounded from each ship in +turn, and ensigns dipped. + +Two days at Colombo passed merrily enough with forty-five shipfuls of +light-hearted troops exploring that Oriental city for the first time; +and at the end of it the Cingalees were left in a dazed condition. +Bazaars, wineshops, native quarters and Gal Face all rang with the +delighted shouts of irresponsible troops making the best of a short +time; and rickshaws were raced against each other with great effect. +Before many hours had passed the Staff announced their disapproval of +such unmilitary conduct, and stopped leave; but the men were not +overawed by the thunder of the heads, and those who could swarmed +ashore from the ships, leave or no leave. At length the vessels went +to the outer anchorage, at a safe distance from Oriental seductions. +Next morning a tug brought from the shore a washed-out collection of +adventurers, and distributed them to their ships. Under way again, the +fleet steered a west-nor'-westerly course for Aden, and the men, none +the worse for a little joy in Colombo, settled again to ship routine. +Six German sailors from the _Emden_ had been placed on board the +_Tahiti_ at Colombo; and from them Mac heard something of the +battle--how the _Sydney_ had surprised them when they had some boats' +crews away destroying the wireless and cable stations at Cocos Islands; +how the _Emden_ had been beached and raked by the _Sydney's_ terrible +broadsides; and the sufferings of the wounded before they were taken +off. Mac was interested to notice through the dome of the officers' +dining saloon, which projected through the bridge deck, that a German +naval officer prisoner drank the King's health along with the rest of +the mess. + +Several days dragged drowsily by in sweet procession. + +Mac was doing the afternoon watch. Between noon and one o'clock the +signallers were usually fairly busy while latitudes and longitudes were +hoisted and the staff disposed of the last of the morning's work. Then +peace reigned for three hours, while the fleet dozed through the hot +afternoon, and Mac could see through his glasses lazy figures stretched +in deck-chairs beneath shady awnings. He leaned over the starboard +light, neglected his lookout, and gazed far down at the swishing water +which ran the ship's length at a lazy ten knots. The fathomless blue +of the midday sea, with the white marblings from the bow wave, never +ceased to draw Mac's gaze. Down in its depths the red jelly-fish went +sailing past, and from there, too, came the terrified flying-fish, +which went winging away out to the beam, glittering in the bright sun. +The rumbling of the ship's engines filled the air with a sleepy +monotone; and Mac was hard put to keep awake. From his cool perch he +looked down on snowy awnings stretching fore and aft, though here and +there through openings he caught glimpses of mens' bare bodies as they +lay sleeping on deck, and of horses' heads hanging low with half-closed +eyes. The other signaller on duty was buried behind the flag-locker, +probably intending that it should be thought that he was busy putting +away the flags used in the last hoists, though that might have been +finished a full hour ago. The officer of the watch took an occasional +turn the length of the bridge, and now and then rang down to the +engine-room for one more or one less revolution per minute; while the +quartermaster periodically put the wheel a few spokes this way or that +to keep the ship in station with the vessel ahead. + +Mac had certainly drifted away to places other than the bridge of a +ship in the Indian Ocean, when he was speedily brought back to the +present by a vigorous poke in his ribs. He turned hurriedly; and the +officer of the watch with perfect clearness conveyed to him by a jerk +of his thumb, and a quizzical expression, that the flagship was making +a general signal. Mac shoved up the answering pennant, roused the +other drowsy signaller, and elicited the information that the New +Zealand ships would anchor 1 1/2 miles S.S.E. of Ras Marshag at 17.50. + +Mac looked ahead and saw the jagged blue outline of land above the +horizon. Towards four o'clock the heads awoke from their siestas, and +the signallers were kept busy. The forms on the decks below also +commenced to stir, whistles sounded, and soon hoses and brooms were +busy cleaning the horse-boxes. Half-naked men were at work with +brushes and combs in the narrow spaces between the animals; and others +poured cooling streams of water about their legs. Feeding time came +with an excited whinnying, snorting and trampling, while the men stood +along the deck in front with a long line of feed boxes. Then there was +a whistle and a chorus of neighing. The men went forward and attached +the boxes. Comparative silence followed, while the horses in deep +content poked their muzzles down into the feed and blew showers of +chaff into the air. For a time the satisfied munching went on quietly; +but at length the horses which had finished first stamped their feet, +and tugged at their halter chains, in attempts to get at their +neighbours' feeds. + +Mac finished his watch, and went below for a salt shower, and after +that the evening meal, which was never much to boast about. He went up +to the bridge again to investigate Aden from the best standpoint. The +evening lights were colouring splendidly the rocky heights of the range +above the port. The anchored fleet spread far across the bay, the +_Tahiti_ being close to the desert shore several miles from the port. +It was an evening of perfect calm. The last glow faded from the +topmost pinnacles, the stars came out with the brightness of the +desert, Morse signals winked from the mastheads, and the mooring lights +cast reflections on the calm water. For a time Mac joined a four for a +rubber or so in the cool night air, and then, collecting his blankets +from below, went away forward to sleep on top of the horse-boxes with +nothing but stars overhead. + +In the early morning, before the fresh charm of the desert dawn had +fled before the tropic day, the fleet weighed anchor, and, with a great +deal of signalling and manoeuvring, took steaming station again. Soon +after midday Perim lay on the starboard, its desolate sands shimmering +in the noon sun, shortly to disappear astern, veiled by the trailing +smoke. It took the fleet five days to steam the length of the Red Sea; +good days too, with cooling northerly breezes to air the stuffy horse +decks, though the chill nights made the signallers shiver on watch. +But, the day before they were due at Suez, the whole peaceful running +of things was upset by wild rumours, and then by definite fact. + +In late weeks it had been generally accepted by every one that England +would be the destination of the Expeditionary Force, and they had +settled comfortably to that point of view, and to the prospect of +having nothing to worry them for three or four more weeks. Turkey, +however, had declared war; and now, they heard, they were disembarking +immediately in Egypt. The troops were undecided whether or not to be +pleased. Most of them had hoped to see the Old Country and their +relatives there. Mac did not care a straw, for he saw no delights in +an English winter camp, and Egypt was said to be a fine interesting +country. Every one set about telling wild tales of Egypt; and +proceeded to walk more rapidly about the ship, collecting and putting +in order shore-going clothes--so that the quiet shipboard life was at +an end. + +In the voyaging days of 1914 the New Zealand troops regarded their +chances of actually joining in the campaign as being regrettably small. +It was clear, they thought in their out-of-the-world way, that the +enemy would be speedily overrun; that the New Zealand troops were only +untrained, untried colonials; that they could therefore expect no more +than garrison duty; and that every available Imperial soldier would be +thrown into the field before the colonial troops were drawn upon. +Consequently there was an uneasy feeling abroad that, should they once +land in Egypt, they would be left there for the duration of the war. + +The New Zealand transports, which had taken the lead, cast anchor in +Suez bay just as the sun was rising over the desert; and Mac gazed +appreciatively at the sweeping bay, the palms, the flat-topped houses, +and the open desert, clear cut in the early light. Suez was not +adapted for the disembarkation of large numbers of men and horses, and +Alexandria was the only harbour with sufficient accommodation. In the +early afternoon the _Tahiti_ entered the Canal; and there were no dull +moments for the next twelve hours. They were surprised to find, at +frequent intervals along the Canal bank, strongly wired entrenchments +occupied by Indian troops, with whom they exchanged cheers as they +passed. At night a moon lit the silent desert in greater beauty; and +Mac slept not a wink as the ship slid quietly past mile after mile of +the queer waterway. At three in the morning, with a clatter of chains +and a good deal of shouting, they moored in Port Said harbour. + +Again there was a day full of interest--bartering with natives, +watching the coolies coaling, cheering Australian transports as they +entered the basin, and examining the mixture of shipping in the port. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ASHORE AGAIN + +Late in the same afternoon the New Zealand ships put to sea, under +orders to steam individually at slow speed to meet off Alexandria at +dawn. There was not a great deal of settled sleep that night, for all +men were busy packing kit-bags and putting in order shore-going +clothes. The days of decks, bare feet and semi-nakedness were at an +end, and to-morrow would start again the life of boots and puttees, +saddles and tents. Men stood in small groups along the deck, shown +only by the embers of pipes and the occasional glow of a match. They +watched the low line of the Egyptian shore, deep black against a sky +which seemed vaster than usual and more brilliant with stars, and were +exhilarated by the knowledge that they would disembark to-morrow in +that queer old country. The mess room was filled for a while with a +cheery, laughing crowd to hear words of warning from an old soldier +concerning the joys and sorrows of Cairo and a few general instructions +on life in Egypt. + +The ships stood in towards the entrance to the port just as the rising +sun gilded the houses and minarets of Alexandria. Soon the gangway was +dropped for a pilot to come abroad, and shortly with much chattering +that gentleman appeared on the bridge. The Captain gazed on the +apparition with horror, and the signallers, in security behind the flag +locket, were convulsed with mirth. A pale, underfed little Hebrew, +not, apparently, the cleanest specimen of its race, clad in something +like a dressing-gown and a pair of bath slippers, and topped off by a +red tarboosh tilted well back and continuing the contour of its nose, +it looked about as capable of piloting a ship as a waste-paper-basket. +It chattered away cheerfully to every one on the bridge in a strange +lingo, waved its hands alternately here, there and everywhere, and +faced in all directions in the attitudes of ancient mural figures. It +was serenely unheeding of the business in hand, of the fact that four +ships, occupying the narrow fairway ahead, were slowing down, and that +three others were coming rapidly up behind, promising trouble. + +The skipper recovered from his astonishment. + +"Which way?" he said, interrupting a friendly jabber to the third +officer. + +The figure raised its eyebrows, bared its rabbit teeth and, wildly +waving its arms, poured a stream of unintelligible jargon in the +skipper's direction. + +"Shall I stop her?" yelled the skipper. + +A wide, inclusive sweep of the arms was the only reply and the +jabbering increased. + +"To starboard--or port?" inquired the Captain, indicating each with his +arm. + +To both queries the figure energetically nodded assent. + +The Captain flushed with anger. The figure looked crest-fallen. + +Meanwhile the bows were getting dangerously near the stern of the +vessel ahead, while the ship astern was overlapping the port quarter. +Moles threatened destruction on either beam, and quantities of small +Greek sailing vessels were in imminent danger. + +The Captain seized the little fellow by the shoulder and shook him. + +"Damn it, man!" he shouted. "What in hell----!" + +The woebegone figure spread his hands in innocent protestation. Then +the light of a bright idea suffused his countenance. He went to one +side and craned over the rail, gazing first forward and then aft. He +did the same on the other side. He repeated the action on both sides. +Then a wild yell announced a discovery, and, following his gaze, Mac +saw a launch which had appeared from behind one of the vessels ahead. +Shrill shrieks from the figure at length drew its attention and a +fortissimo of jabbering and arm-waving welcomed its nearer approach. A +more business-like person came aboard, who took the vessel in charge, +the while its late pilot muttered unhappily in the background. + +The rest of the manoeuvres went smoothly enough. The only particular +incident which amused Mac was watching a trio of Greek sailors +tormenting a terrified Egyptian by holding him by the legs upside down +over a ship's side, as if intending to drop him into the water. + +It was not Mac's luck to disembark immediately on berthing, for his +squadron were detailed to clean up the ship after all the men and +horses had gone ashore. They stripped themselves of their shore kit, +and with hoses and brooms scrubbed decks for hour after hour. In the +afternoon Mac did a watch by himself on the bridge for any signals +which might be sent. Few came, and it was a sad and lonely bridge +deserted after what seemed years at sea. The evening brought unloading +of the holds and by the light of great arc lamps stores of all sorts +were piled high. It was past midnight before the winches were silent. + +Before four in the morning the few remaining troops were again astir, +and by daybreak were all on the quay with their equipment. The ship on +which were the squadron's horses lay about two miles away, and they set +out for her. Mac was very sick, probably for unwisely sampling Turkish +delight sold him yesterday by an Egyptian at the ship's side. +Unaccustomed boots, a cobbled street and a heavy load did not add to +the pleasures of the march. They reached the other quay, and shivered +for two hours in the chilly Mediterranean breeze until they were sent +on board to unload stores. Hard work set Mac to rights, and the piles +of oats, chaff and hay grew steadily as the forenoon advanced. They +scratched up a meal in the depths of the ship, worked again, and then, +in the middle of the afternoon, unshipped the horses. One by one they +led them up the gangways from the holds, and then, sliding and slipping +on their weak legs, down a steep gangway to the low quay. Once on firm +ground, the horses threw up their heels, bucked and neighed in sheer +delight. But they overestimated their strength and came sprawling to +earth and soon, for lack of breath, quieted down. The squadron led its +horses to a piece of waste sandy ground, removed their covers, and let +them roll to their hearts' content. They were in excellent condition +after so long a voyage in warm seas, and Mac was grateful to the +fellows who had looked after them. His had been a pleasure voyage, but +they had had no such luck. From 5 a.m. till 9 p.m. it had been groom, +clean decks, feed, water and exercise; and then, more often than not, +it was horse-picket for part of the night. The temperature of the +horse-holes had for a long space never fallen below 110 deg. F.; and five +horses had been each man's charge. + + * * * * * + +"Where are we going, d'you know, Bill?" asked Mac. + +"Sure I don't know. Some fellers say it's Cairo. Others say it's a +place called Zeitoun, and God only knows where that is. Anyhow I hope +it's Cairo. Cobber of mine, who'd bin there, told me it was just a bit +of all right. Said it was a reg'lar hot shop." + +"No such luck, Bill," chipped in Jock. "You don't find the heads +sending us anywhere decent like that. Afraid of givin' us too good a +time." + +"Yes. And the dear old wowser boys at home in N.Z. would get up on +their hind legs an' say, 'Is it right that our dear boys should be let +go free in such a dreadful city, what with the awful drink, and +gamblin' and worse than that, dear brethren. No, we will petition the +Minister of Defence to stop the dwedful catastrophe, to put the pubs +outer bounds, an' ter never have any wet canteens in the camps. Oh, +our poor innocent boys!'" + +"Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed Mac. "Anyway, it'll be a bit of a change. +Wonder how long we'll be here?" + +"Gawd only knows," answered Bill. "Mare looks well, Mac. Legs a bit +puffed, that's all." + +They wandered off in due course to water and feed. They rugged the +horses, and at six o'clock entrained them, packing them tightly in the +trucks. The men had a bit of a meal then themselves, bought oranges +from the natives, and settled down in third-class carriages of a filthy +and uncomfortable kind. Each horse truck bore a chalked date of when +it had last been disinfected, but the carriages had no such reassuring +legend. As darkness fell, the train started with a series of crashes, +and clanked unpromisingly away into the gloom. It was a weary journey, +and bitterly cold. Mac could not sleep and watched, by the silver +light of the waning moon, a not displeasing vista of palm trees, crops, +houses and villages which went jogging steadily by. Twice they crossed +great rivers, and the whole carriage bestirred itself to see its first +of what might be the Nile. Then there were many railway junctions and +tall houses and a tram-car or two, and again country. At midnight the +train jolted finally to a halt. They led their horses out into a sandy +square surrounded by houses and palm-trees. Mac noticed that they were +wandering unaware over what apparently were Nile mud bricks set out to +dry in the sun. Some poor native, he thought, would curse the war next +day. + +The column of tired horses and tired men wandered vaguely off to find +the camp, barracks or what-not which should prove to be their +destination. No one knew who it was, where it was or what it was, and +there was no guide. They took a turning to the right, passed a +convent, took other turnings and found nothing but shuttered houses +among trees peacefully asleep in the moonlight. There was no living +thing, and the hollow echo of their own clatter was the only sound. +They were all more or less asleep, and just wandered along, not caring +a hang whether they walked or halted, or stood on their heads. In due +course they passed the same old convent, which, in Mac's sleepy mind, +did not seem to be quite the right thing to be doing, though he did not +mind much. Eventually the column encountered a high iron railing +barring its path--a great iron railing stretching for miles and inside +it a camp. They found troughs and watered the horses, and picketed +them along the railings. There was some one in the camp, and the +squadron was told to stay by its horses till morning. + +It was colder than Mac had ever felt it. A great stillness held +everything, and the moon lit the sleeping camp with a clear soft light. +But it was cold! After the warm tropic weeks, the keen Egyptian winter +night went right to the marrow. Mac tried to bury himself in the sand +by scooping a long hole, lying in it and shovelling the sand back over +him. It was not a success, and there was nothing to do but pace up and +down in a vain endeavour to get warm. Hours passed in a dreamy fashion +until at length Mac's attention was drawn by signs of activity in the +camp. He went there and found some cooks round their dixies and iron +rails in the open just starting a fire. He immediately made friends, +and speedily assisted the fire to become a respectable blaze. Others +came from the squadron and soon the cooks were hospitably handing out +mugs of tea and bread for toast. It was the camp of the Lancashire +Artillery, Mac learned, who had arrived from England a month since. +The sergeant-cook soon joined the great-coated circle round the fire. + +"Yus," he said, with the confidence of a host to whom deference should +be paid, "Yus. Hi 'eard as 'ow them Noo Zealanders wus comin', an' I +says ter meself as 'ow it 'ud be another o' these 'ere lingos we'd 'av +ter try an' parley. An' I think's as 'ow that don't suit us chaps +zactly. But the fust of you fellers I sees this mornin' I says ter 'im +like, 'Goo' mornin,' maate!' An' 'e says ter me 'Goo' mornin,' maate,' +jest the same as meself! We thought as 'ow you'd talk some funny +lingo, I tell yer I did. But yuse jest speak same's us, an' I wus +glad." + +Daylight revealed a scene as inspiring to an untravelled New Zealander +as America to Columbus. Close at hand stood an oriental city of +splendid architecture, the early light touching with romance its +minarets and pillared galleries. Spread before him, and stretching +away into the distance until lost in a soft blue mistiness, lay Cairo, +its forest of minarets, its domes and its square-topped houses. +Beyond, unmistakable in the blue distance, were the old familiar +outlines of the great pyramids. Behind him, the great yellow desert +spread away to the horizon and the rising sun, and was bordered on the +other hand by a forest of palm trees, almost hiding many fine houses +with shady courts and playing fountains. + +The sun soon brought warmth into the troopers' frozen limbs, and they +went to work watering and feeding the horses. Later in the morning +they moved to the site of the camp to be, about a mile away. It was a +wind-smoothed stretch of untouched desert, but speedily horse-lines and +white tents broke its vastness. That night Mac, doing his turn of +horse-picket while the tired camp slept, walked out a little way into +the silver moonlit desert. In the utter stillness, with the cold pure +air, the sands unmarked by any footstep, and the impression of +unlimited space, the desert seemed a new world--a world far away from +the old one. + +But busy days followed, and the desert soon lost its first charm in the +solid practical work of leading the horses across it on foot till they +should be strong enough to be ridden again. It was hot dusty work in +the midday sun, and Mac was thankful when the day came for him to hoist +his lazy bones into the saddle. The camp grew, and became a place of +importance with its great piles of stores, its roads and its rows of +mean speedily-erected shops of Greek, Armenian and Egyptian cheapjacks. +The troops quickly fell in with the life, and set out to make the most +of Egypt and its pleasures. They were there until the end of April, +and in those five months Mac saw most of the country one way or +another, though all his journeyings are not chronicled in the pages to +come. In the course of time he hated the place, and longed with the +rest of the mounted men to pass to new fields and fresh adventures. +But he looks back now on those Egyptian days as the jolliest days there +ever were, and breathes a sigh of sorrow that they can never come again. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +DAYS IN THE DESERT + +Mac felt absolutely dejected, and looked it. His mare, too, appeared +neither happy nor spirited. Except for some nebulous figures, +indistinct in the yellow murk, little else was visible. Mac crouched +scowling in the lee of the mare, who stood with drooping head and +closed eyes, swaying occasionally to the violent buffetings of the +desert storm, and patiently waiting for some move on the part of her +master. The three squadrons and the transport had left camp +independently just after dawn with instructions to bivouac together, at +midday, at a certain spot known to the High Command by the enigmatical +formula "No. 3. Tower, 105 deg.--Virgin's Breasts 45 deg.." + +Mac, who carried the compass, had taken various bearings before the +breaking of the storm, and had now halted where the Major and he +considered angles, bearings, and letters indicated. There was no sign +of the other units. Either they had sagaciously abandoned the +expedition earlier or else they had other opinions regarding the +trysting place. Anyhow, whether they were still wandering about the +infernal desert or not, Mac was firmly convinced that camp was the +place for him. Picking up his rein, he made in the direction of a blur +he knew to be the Major, and told him so. The Major had visions of +pleasant refuge in a Cairene hotel, a good dinner, and a cool bath, +instead of a night trek in the desert as originally intended. So he +agreed, and shrill whistling stirred to life more or less comatose +troopers and horses. + +Steering, nor'-nor'-west, each following close upon the next ahead, +they rode in deep silence. They crossed wave after wave of sand-hills, +monotonous and bewildering. The khamsin blew in hot, sandy spurts, and +lulled; then came again in hotter, more shrivelling bursts "From Hell!" +thought the troopers, one and all. Sand trickled down their necks, and +filtered down to that place where it neither increased the comfort of +their riding nor diminished the ardour of their revilings against the +weather. With fiercer gusts, gravel rose and stung horse and rider, +while the former stumbled frequently over unseen boulders. + +In the latter half of the afternoon they struck the old railway +embankment to Suez, lost it again, but soon found the edge of the +irrigated land and followed it to the camp. Parched, red-eyed, +headachy, and yellow with dust, they made for their lines, watered +their horses, and set about making themselves as comfortable as +circumstances allowed. The happiness of the trooper was not enhanced +when he failed to find a misty blur representing his tent. It had +chosen to give up the unequal contest and had departed down-wind. He +followed, and joined the rest of the tent's company in recovering the +tattered remnants, and towels, and personal property which had strayed +into the domain of the next regiment. + +Camp was not a healthy spot in the khamsin days, Mac decided. Coins to +a piastreless cobber smoothed over a horse-picket difficulty, and he +passed out of the camp by back ways. So, in the village of Helmieh, he +spent the night. Gusts bellowed through the swaying date-palms +overhead, and roared round the courtyard, but his bed was comfortable, +and the house of his good French friends proof against the sand-laden +blasts of the spring storm. He was awakened sufficiently early to +allow of his appearance at roll-call next morning. It was not +according to his nature to rise early from so pleasant a bed, but it +was a matter of discretion. + +Many days were passed in the desert, none worse and many better. Troop +days were all right; squadron days were not bad; regimental days were +tolerable at times; but brigade and divisional manoeuvres were +inventions of the devil. On these latter occasions elusive white +flags, the skeleton enemy, appeared and disappeared. Scouts reported +them here, then there. The mounted men advanced in open order, all +except the front line smothered in a fog of dust. Infantry toiled and +sweated after them. The maligned staff viewed from afar the battle +royal. Thankful men received wounds from galloping umpires, and lay +down peacefully to await rescue by the attentive ambulance. +Chastisements descended from great to lesser dignitaries. Why had not +Colonel Macpherson managed to move his flank-guard three miles in two +minutes? So a field day would pass, each rank being roundly condemned +to everlasting perdition by the rank immediately below it, until the +G.O.C., Egypt, and the British Empire, bore the brunt of the awful +damnings. Bad-tempered and dishevelled, the troops would set off on +their homeward march, the final straw being added to the annoyances of +the infantry by the passage to windward of the mounted rifles. +Shrouded in the dust, they levelled their final, terrible threats +against those who would be home two hours before them. + +Times there were, too, good times, when the troopers would trek across +the Delta to the Barrage du Nil, a pleasant spot where the Nile divides +into its delta streams and canals. Here they would bivouac for the +night beneath shady plantations of lebbak trees in beautiful gardens. +In the daytime they swam their horses in the river. A jolly form of +amusement there was the blanket-tossing of intruding natives, who were +rather prone to contract those things which did not belong to them; and +no method of discouragement was so efficacious. The "Gyppies" were +fleet of foot, but so were the troopers, and to see a lanky southerner +pursuing a victim was good entertainment. Captured at length and +shrieking in abject terror, they would go flying skyward from the +tautened blanket. But, alas, the blankets were of Government +manufacture, and occasionally, upon the victim's meteoric return, would +split in two. Thus many blankets were rent in twain, and thus did many +dusky ones learn that the belongings of the troopers were sacred +property. + +And so Egyptian days passed light-heartedly enough. That was before +the serious times, before they had been involved in the real fierce +thing. And now few of them ride together any longer. Many will ride +no more, and others are scattered over the earth. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MAC GOES TO CAIRO + +The camp lay listless in the glaring heat of high noon. Long rows of +tents gleamed dazzlingly in the sun. Saddlery, horse-rugs, nose-bags +and gear were untidily scattered about. Except for the sleepy figure +of the horse-picket, attempting vainly to keep his lanky person within +the shadow of the feed-trough, there was no one in sight. The horses +needed little attention. With heads low and legs crooked, they dozed +in every attitude of siesta. Within the open tents lay the human +element, more or less replete after the seldom varying meal of sandy +stew and bread. Most of the men slept, stretched full length upon rush +matting on the shady sides of the tents. Some wore trousers, some +shirts and some neither. + +Stretched full length upon his back, his head supported upon his +neighbour's chest, and his eyes idly following the ceaseless procession +of flies round the tent pole, Mac smoked and pondered deeply: was it +worth the fag to go to Cairo? Knowing full well that his last three +weeks' shirts and socks awaited washing, he decidedly dutifully to +remain at home, though possibly he might take the air, and probably the +beer, of Heliopolis in the evening. However, his good intentions were +ruthlessly upset, for at that moment the interior of his desert +domicile was swiftly converted into a swirling tornado of dust and +dirt. Blankets, towels and hay departed upwards, and all was turmoil. +In five seconds the air was calm again, but not so the eight +inhabitants of the canvas home. + +Emerging from repose and a fog of grimy dust, they condemned Egypt and +things Egyptian in no uncertain tones. They had washed and eaten, and +had settled down comfortably for the afternoon, and why had this +confounded blanky cyclone selected their blanky tent to blanky well +empty itself upon! Often during the midday heat, "weary Willies," +swirling spiral columns of sand 1,000 feet high, wandered in slow +procession along the edge of the desert from the north-east, usually +missing the camp, but sometimes crossing it, leaving a narrow trail of +chaos and ill temper. Mac met the situation with admirable dignity and +philosophy. This disturbance decided the Cairo question--he would go. +Still muttering wrathfully, the tent's complement sought their +individual towels and gravitated independently and sorrowfully towards +the shower-baths. + +Three-quarters of an hour later found Mac, suitably adorned, sitting on +a bench at Helmeih Station having his boots and bandolier polished by +four jabbering, disreputable "Gyppie" youngsters, who swore glibly the +while the most lurid English oaths. Incidentally, they often +terminated an exceptionally fluent flow with "Eh, Mistah Mickkenzie?" +the usual mode of native address to New Zealanders after the High +Commissioner's visit, which sometimes ruffled Mac's dignity, but more +often amused him. His toilet was cut short by the arrival of the +train, so, seizing bandolier and spurs and dropping a few coins, he +jumped into a second-class compartment with but one boot clean of +desert sand. Rattling through Palais de Koubbeh and Demerdache, he +considered what he might do with himself now he had quitted camp. +Money was not so plentiful as in those palmy days when they had set +foot in this Orient land with two months' pay behind them. "Special +prices," too, were quoted for these men from the south. However, it +was a lot of trouble to think on such an afternoon; he would decide it +later. At any rate a shave was felt to be the most overpowering +necessity, though, really, the desert did make one thirsty! A shave +would be the second item. + +In a small inferior cafe near the Boulak Station, he discovered Jock, +an artilleryman he knew, and together they satisfied their thirst; +neither had formed any plan for the afternoon, so both welcomed the +idea of spending it in company. They adjourned to the barber's. +Shaving in Sahara sand appealed not to Mac's heart, and, failing visits +to Cairo, mornings found him in an evil mood with a painful task before +him. + +Shaving over, and Mac's other boot cleaned, a little sight-seeing was +suggested as a modest and inexpensive way of passing the afternoon. +The Pyramids were stale, besides being a dickens of a distance off. +The gunner voted for the Citadel, and Mac didn't mind, though he had +been there once already. They made their way towards a gharry stand, +and, spurning clamouring drivers from their path, comfortably seated +themselves in the one which appeared to sport the best pair of Arab +horses. Their feet supported upon the opposite seat, blue wisps of the +best Egyptian tobacco smoke trailing over the hood behind, they set +off. Scanning the Oriental life surging round them, criticizing Arab +methods of dressing sheep, amused by the scribes and +money-changers--dirty though prosperous-looking sharpers--and so on and +so forth, they passed slowly down the long Sharia-Mahommed Ali, between +the frowning walls of two great Mosques, where the cannon balls of +Napoleon are still fast in the stone, and then up the sharp incline +into the Citadel itself. + +Leaving the Arab driver in a paroxysm of tears because he had received +only one-third more than his lawful fare, Jock and Mac passed by the +sentries, through the cavernous mouth of the main gate into the inner +precincts of the Citadel. How powerful a fortress in days gone by it +must have been, they thought, but how short lived and unavailing it +would prove before modern artillery. They came to a halt before the +great Mosque of Mahommed Ali, and the fine, tapering minarets met with +their deepest approval. At the entrance they assumed the apologetic +sandals and were taken in hand by an obtrusive dragoman, who, besides +impressing them with his own importance, related with small +appreciation of truth fabulous facts concerning the edifice. They duly +noted his salient pronouncements, rewarded him with a few piastres and +"imshi yallah'ed" in duet when he demanded more. Then, in the late +afternoon sunlight, they stood on the edge of the cliff without. There +they talked of many things while looking out over that weird, +mysterious city, over its forests of graceful minarets, towards the +green delta beyond; across the Nile to the west where the Pyramids of +Gizeh stood silhouetted against the setting sun, and down into the +gloom in the valley to the east, where, silent and deserted, lay the +City of the Dead. + +Stirred into activity once more by feelings of emptiness and thoughts +of their weekly square meal, they turned their backs upon the glory of +the Egyptian evening and wandered down to the depths again. They +jostled their way through the throng, human and animal, which made +progress difficult and the atmosphere strong. Spotting a couple of +donkeys in the charge of one Arab donkey boy, they schemed with each +other with a view to his undoing. + +"Very gude, Noo Zealand," said the dusky one when approached. "Gib it +twenty piastres for stashion." + +"All right, ole sport. You'll get it at t'other end, and make your +blanky bone-bags go. Savvy?" + +They proceeded fairly satisfactorily at first, Ahmed only having to be +occasionally reprimanded for not producing sufficient speed on the part +of his donks. Then, while the Arab was in front of Mac, vainly +endeavouring to persuade Jock's mount to proceed less swiftly, Mac +quietly took a turning to the left. The Arab went twenty-five yards +farther before he missed him. In violent excitement he tore after him +and besought him to stop. + +"All right, you black diamond," said Mac cheerfully, and remained +standing in the street. + +The Arab, his fears at rest, chased the other soldier, but as soon as +the native had disappeared round the corner, Mac moved on again. The +same thing happened in the case of the gunner, who halted immediately +the Arab arrived. The latter wanted to lead the donkey in the +direction of the trooper, but the gunner was obstinate and insisted +that his was the correct way. In a frame of mind too horrible to +contemplate, the Arab disappeared once more in pursuit of the trooper, +only to find he had entirely evaporated. In the throes of the greatest +dilemma of his life he returned, to learn that the worst had come to +pass and the gunner and his donkey also were gone from his sight. + +"Allah! Oh, Allah!" he wailed, and, burying his head in his long blue +skirts, he dissolved into tears. + +By devious ways Mac and Jock journeyed onwards, until, happy and +laughing at having for once done a nigger in the eye, they rejoined at +the Obelisk Restaurant, where they turned their borrowed steeds adrift. +Coming weekly as it did, dinner in Cairo was an affair of some length, +and, between shandies and cigarettes, it was already late when it was +_mafeesh_. They strolled along the streets and were about to drop into +the Cafe Egyptien, when they espied a fellow-countryman struggling with +a donkey. They went to his assistance, to discover that the donk-man +was, quite unnecessarily, attempting to stop a bottle of beer being +poured down the donk's throat. This promised sport, so Jock quickly +procured four more bottles of cheap beer and they joined the third +soldier in his estimable effort. Abdul had secured an assistant +against this vile outrage to his animal, but he was temporarily put out +of action by having the reins made fast round his lower extremities. + +The donk rapidly absorbed three bottles, while the distracted "Gyppies" +tugged and wailed, "No gude! No gude! Finish Noo Zealand!" to which +the only reply was "Imshi Yallah, you black devils." At this stage the +little beast, an animal of rather miserable dimensions, with a large, +rotund centrepiece, escaped and wobbled ridiculously down the street. +He was recaptured, drenched with two more bottles, and let loose to +wander wherever his tottery legs would carry him. The donk swayed and +stumbled, his ears cocked at all angles, and his expression happy and +foolish. The gathered soldiers laughed till their sides were sore, and +when tired of this fun they let the Arabs take away, as best they +could, their ill-used, though happy, ass. + +The hour had grown late. To the station the trooper and the gunner +wended their way. A short sleep in the train, a tired walk campwards +in the clear coolness of the Egyptian night, and to bed on the open +sand beneath a starry vault. "Lights out" sounded clearly in their +camp, and echoed more beautifully and faintly from other camps along +the desert's edge. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +MAC TOURS IN COMFORT + +Mac sighed appreciatively. If Egypt was to be seen, this was +undoubtedly the way to see it. On the whole it had been an exceedingly +profitable little bit of diplomacy, coupled with good luck, that had +attached him to a party of distinguished people, whose privilege it was +to be shown Egypt as the Government chose to show it. He lay +comfortably in his bed smoking. Travelling in this manner appealed to +him. His first tastes of Egyptian railway travelling, in dirty, +clanking boxes, which required disinfecting, had not been pleasant. +Now, from the darkened cabin of a saloon car on the Cairo-Luxor express +de luxe, he watched the fleeting vista of moonlit palms, sleeping +villages, and silhouetted hills. + +He had left New Zealand some six months before with the intention of +slaying Germans, not of touring in luxury in Egypt, but he was not +averse to these interim enjoyments. The war could wait, and anyhow at +that particular moment it was hardly showing any inclination of +stopping, and neither was Zeitoun Camp a place of unmixed blessings. +Arrived at this state of mental satisfaction, he threw the remnants of +his cigarette out of the window and went to sleep. + +When he awoke, they were rattling over a Nile bridge, and the sun shone +full in upon him. The early morning scene of industrious blue-robed +fellaheen at work in the green fields, the graceful palms, desert +hills, and blue sky thrilled the one artistic fibre which had strayed +into his soul. He shaved at leisure, bathed luxuriously, dressed, and +met the other four members of the party in the saloon for breakfast. +Towards the end of the meal they steamed into Luxor, where once stood +the ancient and wonderful Theban capital. + +Here many days were passed, investigating tombs and temples of all +shapes and sizes; great and wonderful hieroglyphics were explained, +though these left the trooper cold. They rode on donkeys deep into the +deserts, followed by Sudanese guards on fine Arab steeds. + +From Luxor they duly departed in the direction of Assuan. The direct +distance was not over-long, but the day was blazing hot, the railway +was badly constructed, and the sand filtered steadily into the cars. +It was a comic-opera railway, this narrow-gauge line. The contract for +its construction was let at an exceedingly profitable rate per mile to +a French company. More miles meant more money, so naturally they spun +the thing out and consequently for no apparent reason, the line zigzags +across perfectly level stretches of desert. + +Assuan at last. Great nabobs bowed; Mac saluted. The honoured guests +would take the State gharries to their hotel? No? Walk! Impossible! +Great people did not walk. It took much gentle persuasion to convey to +the Mahmoudieh--the Governor of the Province--that the guests wished to +take exercise, now that the cool of the evening was come. His +Excellency was a gentleman of portly proportions, who, at some other +period, may have walked. Despite his dimensions, he was agile and +graceful in his sweeping salaams; when he spoke he emphasized every +word with an appropriate sweep of the arm, and his eyebrows arched and +his eyes bulged in superlative, ecstatic moments. The tassel of his +tarboosh, a little red inverted flowerpot capping the summit, gyrated +violently in moments of excitement. Altogether he was a mighty person. +Perceiving this, the five great ones from the far south paid court to +him, addressed him "Your Excellency this" and "Your Excellency that"; +and paid tribute to his lands, to his people, and his province, and +expressed a desire to see his wives. The Mahmoudieh visibly swelled +with pleasure. + +Assuan was duly investigated. Much like Luxor, it consisted of a +terrace along the river-bank, of hotels, some clean and comfortable, +some Greek; foreign consulates and banks. Gardens, shaded by palms and +lebbak-trees, made this portion of the town quite habitable. Behind, +on the rising sand-dunes, lay the crowded, stifling mass of native +dwellings, to visit which one's heart must be strong. Bazaars might be +artistic and unique, but as their quaintness and picturesqueness +increased so also did the odours of garlic, the uncleanliness, and the +flies in their myriads. + +Time passed pleasantly in Assuan, though at length Mac thought they had +about exhausted most of its possibilities. There were mosques, temples +and bazaars; there was a wild race of desert Bisharin, whose living was +precarious in those days of war, since they had existed by dancing +weird, wild dances for the enlightenment of tourists; there was a +museum, rather a mouldy place like their kind, where were relics of +ages untold, and, much to Mac's amusement, a mummified sheep. He +thought the New Zealand method of freezing much more practicable. + +At length, one morning, ere the mist wraiths had vanished, they crawled +slowly southwards across the rich golden sand of the lower Sudanese +desert. It was pleasantly bracing and clear in the early desert +morning, and Mac felt light-hearted and happy, as he gazed across the +distant featureless dunes of sand. Successfully accomplishing a +non-stop run of twenty miles in an hour and a half, they arrived at +Shellal, a village of a few mud huts and a station, a jetty with a +steamer or two, which took travellers farther to the south, to Wadi +Haifa and Khartoum. About the place itself there was little of +interest; it was a one-horse show with a few Arabs, Bedouins and +Sudanese, many flea-bitten mongrels and clouds of flies. But this +island-studded expanse of water was the great Assuan Dam. The gates +had been closed at this season for about a month, and the rising tide +had just reached the floor of the beautiful Temple of Isis, which +stood, half a mile away, perfectly reflected in the calm waters. They +wheezed away over to it in a steam pinnace, got temporarily snagged on +the top of a stray pillar, and eventually disembarked from their +hissing, modern contraption at the very portals, where oft times +Cleopatra and her suite were wont to enter from their state barges. +Mac's rather hazy notions of that lady wrapped her in a halo of +romance, and now he walked the lovely aisles which she had trod. Was +it, he thought, worth while gradually to spoil this wonderful building +for the sake of lucre from twentieth century Egypt? + +From the old they went to the new, landing at the eastern end of the +great granite wall that bars the Nile at the head of the foaming first +cataract. Natives pushed them in trollies along the top of the mile +wall. Water roared in great white jets through the sluices, tempering +the blistering heat of the midday hours. It was a wonderful work, this +dam, a great peaceful desert lake above and a turbulent flood below. +They descended by a flight of locks to the quieter water, and steamed +ten or fifteen miles down stream between many islands of red granite, +smoothly polished by the rushing waters of countless centuries. Back +again at Assuan, they embarked on a luxurious river steamer, the +_Sakkara_, and immediately cast off, for down river. + +This method of seeing the country took a lot of beating, meditated Mac, +as he lounged back in a low chair on the cool deck, with his sleeves +rolled up, smoking a cigar. The life of the Nile river-bank was deeply +interesting, with a slightly varying background of green fields of +berseem, stately palms and rocky desert hills. How cool the palms +looked, but he knew from experience that the degree of shade ascribed +to them in romantic novels didn't exist in real life. Lulled by the +steady reverberations of the paddle-wheels, conscious internally of a +satisfying lunch and good wine, he fell asleep. When he awoke, they +were manoeuvring carefully up to the bank, and black sailors in Jack +Tar uniform quickly extemporized a landing out of planks. + +Drawn up on top of the bank, brightly polished and perspiring, stood a +line of dusky soldiers, presenting arms. At the end of the gang-plank, +his portliness exceeded only by his stateliness, was the great +potentate His Excellency the Mahmoudieh of Assuan. With sweeping +obeisances, he greeted each one in a manner only befitting those who +held his provinces in such deep respect. His demeanour demanded rather +a setting of pillared palace and crimson velvet than a background of +castor-oil bushes and sugar-cane. But he did things properly, did the +Mahmoudieh, showed them Kom Ombo Temple, with all the dignity of the +proprietor, took them to his sugar-mills in his best donkey-drawn +tram-car, and offered them almost everything in his dominions. +Finally, when they re-embarked farther down stream, they warmly bade +farewell to the old boy, told him emphatically of the unapproachability +of his Province, and bowed and waved handkerchiefs until beyond a bend +in the river they lost sight of his memorable shape. + +That night the steamer lay moored to the bank near the native town of +Edfu. The skipper was considerably concerned, as he explained with +violent gesticulations, at the possibility of being stranded on the +morrow, as the season of low Nile was at hand. To Mac a day or two in +the middle of the river was a matter of little moment. The quarters +were comfortable, and Zeitoun Camp was no place towards which to hurry. +So, unmoved by the skipper's anxieties, he retired to the lower deck, +and praised the engines to the Sudanese engineer until that gentleman +beamed with pride and his teeth glistened white in the dusk. + +In the early hours soon after dawn, they went on donkeys to the Temple +of Edfu. The morning was mysterious and foreboding. Over the whole +country a weird silence reigned and wrapped the towering walls of the +ancient temple in eeriness; there were no clouds, but the sun was like +a great red moon, and all the landscape enveloped in an orange gloom. +They rode in silence, awed strangely by Nature's will. Animals were +restive and gloomy too. They returned to breakfast aboard when the +steamer cast off, and proceeded down river. Soon a hot breath of wind +came from the south, on which great columns of sand swept over the +desert. The gale increased, puffs blew as from a fiery furnace; the +sun became obscured altogether, and soon also the river banks. Bored +by the gloom of his fellow-voyagers and depressed, Mac betook himself +to his state-room, and went to sleep. He woke for lunch, went once +more to sleep, awoke again in the evening when Luxor was reached, and +hastened through the squalid streets to board the saloon car for Cairo. +Even in the gale and the fog of sand the skipper had not managed to +find a convenient mud-bank on which to ground his steamer, and Mac told +him he didn't think he was much of a sport. + +He had enjoyed Upper Egypt, especially journeying in so comfortable a +manner, but, after all, it wouldn't be bad fun seeing the boys again, +even if they were at Zeitoun Camp. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MAC LUNCHES WITH THE SULTAN + +In the glaring heat of the Egyptian high-noon hours a car drew up +outside the large hotel in the Sharia Kamel and a more or less soiled +and weather-beaten trooper alighted. He made his way up the steps, +across the shady terrace and into the dim cool depths of the pillared +hall. He had been to an excessively sandy inspection that morning +somewhere in the Sahara, and now his mien betokened appreciative +anticipation of a refresher to his dusty throat. After that a wash +would go rather well, perhaps a cigarette, and then lunch. But, alas, +no such luck! Apparently something out of the ordinary was afoot. +Even the dignity of the heavy-weight, superior, self-satisfied, alleged +Swiss _maitre d'hotel_ was for the moment disturbed. Native s'fragis, +neglecting their work, were voluble, gesticulatory, but quite +unintelligible. + +Finally, Mac was led to understand that His Serene Highness the Sultan, +learning of his presence at the hotel, had made known the Imperial wish +that he desired to honour the trooper by entertaining him to lunch. +However, there had been grave difficulties in putting the whole affair +in order. Mac had left early for the desert inspection, and several +envoys, calling in regular succession, had been unable to learn his +Christian name. Moreover, it had been deemed necessary to obtain the +assurance of the General Officer Commanding in Egypt that it would be +quite in order to invite a trooper to the palace of His Serene +Highness. But those small difficulties were duly overcome, and now, +twenty minutes before the appointed hour, an extremely gorgeous and +majestic person presented Mac with the Serene invitation. + +Now, he had considered it an extravagance to arise sufficiently early +to permit of his being shaved before the parade. Also his garments, +which had wallowed in the mud of Takapau Camp many months ago, were +constructed for a person of smaller dimensions, and his generous +Government had not taken into consideration such occasions as Sultans' +luncheon parties, when designing the uniform. These were small matters +in his mind, and if the Sultan's Imperial wish was to be granted he +should have the trooper, beard, uniform and all. So, with the +immediate dust of the desert removed and with a borrowed but ancient +shako upon his head, he was salaamed down the steps again with unusual +pomp and flourish. + +The Royal equipage conveyed him with much dignity down the long Sharia +Abdin and across the great open square to the palace entrance. As he +entered he acknowledged the salute of the gaudy guard in just that +off-hand manner befitting a bush-country shepherd. He was much bowed +into a great room where there was an epidemic of liveried darkies, a +grand chamberlain or so and a few Cabinet Ministers. In common with +the rest, he was subjected to a thorough spring-cleaning with feather +dusters. Before imperturbable and mighty chamberlains, up to his +ankles in crimson carpet and generally struck with the magnificence of +his surroundings, Mac for a moment lost his nerve, but speedily +recovering himself, informed a tarbooshed individual that it was a fine +day. Unfortunately this conversation did not prove fruitful, for, +besides the fact that the subject of the weather in Egypt is a quickly +exhausted topic, the gentleman to whom the remark had been addressed +soon made it evident that he failed to comprehend. However, the +trooper soon unearthed a magnificently emblazoned official from the +Sudan, who happened to be English, and struck up an acquaintance with +him. + +A nervous plucking of garments on the part of some of the company +indicated that the prelude was near an end. Slowly the assembly was +ushered from the room, along a hall, up a wonderful staircase, and at +last into the august presence of His Serene Highness. Mac took note of +the contortions through which his predecessors passed, made his bow and +shook hands with becoming dignity, muttered once more that the day was +fine, and backed across the room. All stood round the chamber, and +talked about nothing to no one. Others entered and did their +gymnastics, until the room contained the whole Cabinet, all portly +persons in tarbooshes, the afore-mentioned Sudan gentleman, and a few +British people, one in khaki. Now came the real thing. All in order, +according to their great greatness or their lesser greatness, filed +from the room, Mac bringing up the rear. The dining-room was an +apartment of a gorgeousness, the like of which he had not seen before. +He was accorded the gentleman from the Sudan on one side, and a Cabinet +Minister with an unpronounceable name on the other. The table was oval +and loaded with a munificence of delicacies on dishes of gold and +silver and a riot of strange exotic flowers. + +The epidemic of servants in post-impressionist attire had spread to the +dining-hall. Savoury dishes of rare and exceeding excellence appeared +and disappeared in rapid procession. Dusky men switched one dish +silently away before Mac had half tasted its delights and promptly +replaced it by another. Breakfast was some distance in the rear and +this food of kings was more to his palate than sand stew "_a la_ +Zeitun," and the wine stood high in comparison to the watered beer of +Ind, Coope. So all went well. The gentleman from the Sudan talked of +many things, and Mac told him nearly all about God's own country. The +Cabinet Minister chipped in occasionally, but scarcely seemed to +comprehend the vastness of a sheep station with 200,000 sheep and only +a score of shepherds to tend them. + +Coffee came, cigars followed, and the trooper made hay while the sun +shone. + +Eventually a retreat was made to the ante-room. The haze of tobacco +smoke filled the place, and those who had a language in common spoke +cordially one to the other. At length a thrill ran instinctively, it +seemed, through the company, and all became severely courtly once more. +Chamberlains took up their accustomed places, people said formal things +to each other; obeisances were indulged in, hands shaken, courteous +remarks made, and thus the company gradually evaporated. Mac's turn +came. Before His Serene Highness he successfully accomplished his +sweeping earthward curves, thanked the Sultan for his kindness, but, +unaccustomed to the retrograde manner of leaving a room backwards, he +unfortunately found that the door was in the wrong place, and met the +wall with a resounding thwack. However, it was all in the game, even +though he did not think much of this method of quitting a room. So, +leaving by the normal mode, he was soon back in the old spring-cleaning +room, being salaamed, his hat and appurtenances being returned to him +with the usual Oriental ceremony. + +Mac was not quite certain of the rest of the programme and was somewhat +surprised to find that the next act was the meeting at the station of +the New High Commissioner for Egypt. However, why not? It was all +very interesting and there was one of the Sultan's cars waiting. So, +waving a return salute to the Sudanese guard, as it presented arms, he +embarked upon this next little jaunt. + +Away through the sun-baked Abdin Square again, back along the Sharia +and past the Ezbekieh, he was soon passing down the narrow lane between +throngs of garlic-scented humanity. At the great iron gates of the +Boulak Station, the car with the trooper, solitary and dignified +within, entered the avenue of Sphinx-like dragoons, well polished and +groomed. This led to a square lined with infantry. In the centre on +one side was the Royal door thrown wide, towards which stretched a +broad ribbon of crimson carpet. The car came to a standstill. Nothing +daunted, the trooper descended in solitary state. An unearthly silence +held the throng and to Mac the carpet seemed interminable, but at last +it ended, and, passing through the cavernous, gloomy opening, he was +soon swallowed up in a great crowd of mighty dignitaries. Acres of the +same crimson carpet covered the platform, its far limits bordered by +khaki soldiers. On it moved a kaleidoscopic gallery of tarbooshes, red +tabs and top hats. Never before had top hats been used officially in +Egypt, and, resurrected from long neglect, were mostly relics of a past +decade. Mac thought they were about as suitable for the climate as a +cellular shirt in the Antarctic. Most of the company looked rather +bored, and he could find no one to speak to, for all were apparently +inwardly dwelling too much upon costume and coming formalities. The +train was late. They grew still more bored. At last, hideously +decorated with flags and shrubbery, it rattled in, hissing and +steaming. From a saloon carriage stepped the new arrival, garbed in +court apparel. Taken in charge by some great officials, he was being +introduced to all and sundry. Mac rather wondered under what high +title, he, a mere private, might be introduced. Among all the mighty +men there, the only one he knew was his Army Corps Commander; so, +placing himself at that gentleman's back, he awaited events. Slowly +the lengthy procedure went on, and slowly the bobbing and bowing grew +closer. At length, clad in clothes of finest silk, the great man came +before the General and his staff, when in due course with a graceful +sweep of his feathered hat he acknowledged the introduction of Mac as +one of the general staff. In the course of time it was all over. + +Out through the great porch again, out into the air the great people +passed and dispersed. Mac neglected His Serene Highness's Imperial +conveyance and sought a common taxi, went down the khaki lanes and back +to his hotel. There once more he gained a secluded corner, ordered a +drink and unbuttoned the collar of his tunic. + +The Sultan did not forget his guest, Mac. Amidst all his busy life, he +heard, nine months later, that his trooper lay wounded and sick in a +hospital at Alexandria. He despatched an envoy to express his deepest +sympathy, his hopes for better health, and a desire to know the extent +of his wounds. Then, when Mac reached England, the Sultan sent further +messages and inquiries concerning the trooper whom he had honoured at +his table at the Abdin Palace. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MAC DISAPPROVES OF BEING LEFT + +Mac felt fed up. The worst had come to pass. The infantry had gone +away and left them, the mounted men, to sweat and swear in the desert +till the war was over, and Heaven only knew when that would be. He had +been on fatigue to-day for not getting up until an hour after reveille, +and he was in no temper to be trifled with. A foolish non-com. had +taken the fatigue party to the wrong depot, where the O.C., opposed on +principle to a fine body of men wanting for work, saw that they were +not wasted. + +After a morning's work, just as they were about to retire for lunch, +the peppery officer who had been foaming all the morning about his +missing men appeared and claimed them, and refused to dismiss them +before they had done his job as well. In the almost unbearable heat, +the party, rebellious and wrathful, had straggled off to the railway +station, where a heavy afternoon's work loomed before them. Saturday +afternoon too, and no dinner! Work! They didn't think! So they +retreated to a shady cafe, and, despite the expostulations of the +corporal, lunched upon the one satiating thing the place +contained--beer. + +This did not fit them for an afternoon on a tropical day, so that, when +the zealous officer came at five to view the completed work, he found +only a collection of happy and sleepy warriors pleasantly reclining in +the shade of a tibbin stack. Awful threats fell unheeded upon them, +and the work remained undone. Further refreshed, they meandered +homewards, attempted vainly to maintain a comparatively straight line +while they were dismissed by an amused sergeant-major, and retired to +their lines to prepare for a Cairene evening. + +Mac firmly resolved things had come to a pass when something dire had +to be done. He adjourned to the lines of another regiment, and +consulted, nay, intrigued, with his cobber. The result was that each +one's officer was approached by a trooper, who made clear the vital +necessity of his visiting the site of ancient Memphis and the Tombs of +Sakkara on the morrow. This was in the interests of his archaeological +researches, and he pleaded special leave. One officer only came up to +scratch, which was but a minor difficulty. Other means could be +resorted to for ensuring comparative safety. Military police and some +of the sergeants, especially if friends, were not averse to persuasion. + +So it came to pass that eight o'clock the following morning found them +dodging military policemen and staff officers on a platform of the +Boulak station. They succeeded in ensconcing themselves in the +Alexandria express without much difficulty, the only incidents being +the upsetting of the equilibrium of a native railway official, a guard +or so, and a few porters. Alexandria at eleven. Their first act was +to satisfy their long-standing appetites. Then to the docks they went, +to fulfil, if possible, their mission, which was not archaeological +research, but to follow their infantry to the north. They searched +along the quays to see if any possibility offered of slipping aboard an +outbound transport. Alas, the only vessel there cast off while they, +barred by a hopeless line of sentries, gazed sadly on. They hired a +Greek sailing-boat, to investigate the vessels in harbour, but were +only marooned by him on an American warship. They would know better +next time than to trust a Greek and pay him first. + +Relieved later in the afternoon from this predicament, the troopers +betook themselves once more to the French cafe, where, enamoured of the +mam'selle, time passed pleasantly. "Cafe, chocolate, and demoiselles +tres bonne Oui." At any rate, if they had missed escaping from Egypt, +there were worse ways than this of spending the day. + +Late at night, tired, piastreless, and with forebodings of the mat, but +happy and careless, they arrived back in Cairo. By devious ways they +reached their camp and their tents; and spread their blankets in the +open, under the stars. There was probably a large dose of fatigue in +store, and a few hours would see the rise of the sun over the +sand-hills to the east, the dawn of another day of heat, dust, flies, +and work. But they had given play to their spirits; and so, with the +philosophy of the average bush-whacker and stockman, they went +contentedly to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +MAC LEAVES FOR ACTIVE SERVICE + +Egypt blistered in the early summer heat; flies increased in myriads; +clouds of locusts darkened the sky; and hot winds blew, scorching and +parching everything. The infantry had vanished to the north, to +perilous adventures in the unknown; and the mounted men were grieved to +the very depths of their souls to be left thus behind to stagnate on +this sun-baked Sahara. The days passed monotonously, with perpetual +grooming and exercising, and the noonday hours spent beneath the palms, +alleged to be shady. + +Cairo was a past delight. Its romance had gone; the weird mystery of +the Oriental city had lost its fascination; and no incense-laden, +music-haunted, brightly-coloured corner remained unexplored. Cairo was +wonderful; but Cairo was filthy. The troopers had tasted of its +delights, and were satiated. + +Grousing was rife in the camp and the troopers were nervy. The +proprietors of the camp picture theatre had offended the fellows, who +showed their displeasure by partially burning the building. One +evening, to break the monotony, some of the men surreptitiously +extracted a couple of casks of unwatered beer from the brigade canteen. +They rolled the barrels some distance across the sand, and proceeded to +enjoy themselves. The excited Greek barmen, early discovering the +loss, turned out the guard. Following the tracks in the sand, they +soon found the merrymakers, routed them, and recovered a little beer. +The guard took their toll, and returned the balance to the outraged +Greeks. A small Armenian general goods shop chose to over-charge, with +the result that the vainly-expostulating merchant found his lean-to +razed to the ground before his eyes. + +Mac himself suffered from a severe overdose of C.B. So did his cobber +Smoky. They had had the awful misfortune to be detected at an early +hour one morning making their way to their lines. It had been sheer +bad luck that had done it. If Smoky had not insisted on appropriating +from the supply depot some "tinned cow" and a few small jars of beef +extract, all would have gone well. Creaking boards had started the +trouble, and a conscientious sentry had put the tin hat on it. Ten +days was the sentence--not that it mattered so much, for C.B. meant +little beyond having to go out without passes by back ways--rather a +nuisance if one were in a hurry for the train. But it was the +conscientious sentry which annoyed them. Why should the fool be so +bally unreasonable as to report? They, the trooper and Smoky, were not +so beastly particular when they did guard. In fact, such occasions +offered unique opportunities for replenishing the private larders of +their respective tents. New Zealand social theory held that one man +was as good as another, so why should not they, as well as the +officers, live upon the fat of the land, or such of it as could be got +at Zeitoun Camp. Those were the days before army discipline was fully +appreciated. + +Other troubles were also theirs. C.B. was indeed a very minor ailment +compared with their piastreless condition. The trip to Alexandria had +absorbed all their available capital, earned and borrowed. Some coon, +also, had stolen the trooper's washing from the line between the tents, +and his wrathful mutterings against the miserable perpetrator of this +horrible crime was awful to hear; but, privately, the trooper was +keeping an eye open for some one else's washing. Both had aches in +their left arms from the M.O.'s latest injection, and altogether they +considered themselves much-abused, long-suffering soldiers. + +Vague rumours floated round, some doubtless originating from that +indispensable apparatus of every camp, the backyard wireless station. +No great reliance could be placed upon such information, but +occasionally statements based on much more stable foundations +circulated. That a troop-train was standing in the siding at Palais de +Koubbeh, and that there were several transports moored in Alexandria, +was absolutely positive proof that the N.Z.M.R. were about to land in +Asia Minor or to be at Constantinople in a week or two. Other proofs +were not lacking--a super-abundance of staff officers in the vicinity, +or confidences from the orderly room clerk. Then came the definite +fact, and the wireless was temporarily idle. + +It was a Wednesday night. The brigadier himself asked the brigade +whether they would volunteer to go to Gallipoli as infantry. + +Well, it was not too good leaving the horses; they would have preferred +going into action with the "prads" but they didn't mind doing anything +to get out of this God-forsaken country and into the real thing. So +all was business; grouses were forgotten and a new day dawned. Each in +his own way set about squaring up his kit, his saddlery and his affairs +generally. + +Mac overhauled his with much care and thoughtful consideration. Into +his base kit went those things which would come in handy in +Constantinople. He had heard it was a cold place in winter-time, so +therein went six complete suits of warm underclothing, and many +superfluous comforts from his thoughtful mother. He knew she had put +much work into many of these small knick-knacks, and valued them +accordingly, though they were of little material benefit in this +flaming spot. In another neat pile he had those articles which were +absolutely essential for Gallipoli; but he was soon faced with the +horrible reality that there was at least three times too much for his +equipment. + +He culled several times, the final combing causing much mental strain +and strong will. Into a barley sack went his saddlery, with a reserve +of many straps, buckles and horse-brushes, all collected at odd +moments. Rifle, revolver, field-glasses, everything underwent a +thorough overhaul. Ammunition was clipped and forced into the leather +pouches of bandoliers, which equipment appeared neither to be meant for +nor accustomed to such practical use. + +Forty-eight hours after the first warning, the last night came. A +subdued murmur arose from the camp. Some busied themselves with final +preparations; some glided silently away from the zone of flickering +candle-light, towards the horse-lines to give a parting pat to their +faithful horses, a sad farewell for many; some joined the cheery crowd +who were making the most of their last moments at the canteen; and +others, less careless and more sober-minded, sought a few moments of +sleep. + +At eleven o'clock they fell in on their last parade in Egypt, though +few regretted that. Nevertheless, when it came to the pinch, it was a +little sad to leave the old camp, where, happily enough, they had +passed six months of sun and sandstorm. A rough crowd they looked, +these amateur infantrymen, overloaded with awkward, extemporized gear. +They stood silent, for thoughts ran deep now that they were at last on +the brink of the real thing, a moment towards which they had looked so +long. The roll was called. Mac mentioned that he had left something, +and slipped away to give the old mare a farewell stroke. Words of +command echoed through the stillness, and soon the whole brigade was +marching, as best it could, down the road towards the station. There +were lusty cheers as they passed the guard tent from those whose turn +had not yet come. The column turned to the left, and gradually the +reverberating tread of heavily-laden men grew fainter in the distance. + +So went the mounted brigade; and as they went to the north, following +their infantry into the unknown, Mac and Smoky forgot their C.B., +forgot their stiff arms and their piastreless condition--they thought +only of the future. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GALLIPOLI AT LAST + +The sun had just risen when the train, a clattering collection of +third-class cars, jangled laboriously over the low elevation on which +Alexandria stands. With a series of nerve-racking spasms, it came to a +halt on the water-front, where lay several large transports absorbing +men, horses and stores. + +With some difficulty and many lurid epithets, the troopers slowly +disengaged themselves from the unhealthy boxes, and gathered in sleepy +groups to await developments, a thing they were in the habit of doing +for long periods at a time. Mac and Smoky availed themselves of the +first opportune moment, when all who mattered were engaged in +calculations and scraps of paper, to disappear in the direction of a +small buffet whence came a tempting rattle of crockery and an aroma of +tea. + +Here, even at this early hour, the good English ladies of Alexandria +were dispensing refreshing tea and cakes to the soldiers. + +Later they filed on board, and were taken, each unit to its own +mess-deck, to deposit their gear. Mac's own troop had just completed +the disintegration of themselves and their kit and the satisfactory +stowage of it, when it was discovered that they were in the wrong part +of the ship. Of course, that sort of thing was only to be expected, +but Smoky was particularly annoyed, as he had succeeded in procuring +the snuggest corner of the place. So, muttering and growling, they +gathered up their goods and chattels, and shoved and groused along +crowded alley-ways. Embarkations and disembarkations always were a +severe trial of the temper. + +They eventually got settled again, and soon divested themselves of +unnecessary clothing and equipment. Then Mac and Smoky deemed it the +most tactful course to seek a secluded corner of the boat deck, not +infested by blustering non-coms, seeking fatigue parties. They +proceeded to go to sleep in the shady security of the lee side of a +life-boat; but, as ill luck would have it, their own sergeant soon +spotted them, and it was useless to pull his leg. + +It was a loading fatigue, of course, and they were sent away along the +water-front to shove trucks about. They eventually selected one and +brought it down alongside their ship. Black, greasy, heavy cooking +apparatus it was, which had to be carried up the steep gangways and +transported to the bowels of the ship. + +During the rest of the day, they mostly slept in quiet corners of the +ship. + +Soon after dark they sailed. The vessel manoeuvred slowly through the +breakwaters, and passed out on the calm waters of the Mediterranean. +The low, blacker line of the Egyptian shore grew less distinct, and the +numerous lights of the port came closer and closer together, faded into +a dim halo and merged at length into the black sweep of the horizon. +So passed Egypt from the sight of many; with the gurgling monotone of +the propeller, they reeled off the knots of water which separated a +past of careless happy-go-lucky days from a future of unfathomable +depth. + +There were no hammocks nor bunks on board the _Grantully Castle_. +Either it was not considered necessary that soldiers should sleep or +else, perhaps, that they were not at all particular. Anyhow there were +worse places than hard decks to sleep on. Mac and Smoky scorned the +fuggy atmosphere of the lower decks, and proceeded to select a breezy +spot on the after boat-deck. They loosened the canvas cover of a +lifeboat, levelled oars and other prominent obstacles, and disposed +their scanty bedding to the best possible advantage on this uneven +ground. The experiment was not altogether an unqualified success and +minor disadvantages made themselves apparent during the passage of the +night. The oars were rigid and uneven, and the breeze and the cold +penetrated from both above and below. Still they stuck it out, and for +the most part slept. + +The following day fled by speedily and uneventfully. All gear was +overhauled and guards were mounted; spare time was passed in gambling. +Those who had money wanted to get rid of it. It was of no more value; +in the future it counted for nothing, so large stakes were won and +lost. Mac refrained from this indulgence, not that he was a +conscientious objector, but, alas, he had no piastres wherewith to +beguile the hours. His last two had been burst in one wild rapture on +indigestible cake at the ship's canteen. + +That night Mac was detailed for ship's guard. His duty it was to stand +at the starboard quarter alongside a life-buoy, which he was to hurl at +any fool of a trooper who unwittingly fell overboard. He was to report +speedily of such affairs as submarines, fires and so forth. + +During the long night watches, he forgot, more or less, all about his +duty, and meditatively regarded the whirling wave as it seethed away +into the darkness. All was silence, except for the mumble, mumble, +mumble of the propellers. They were in the AEgean Archipelago and +islands passed in an unbroken procession of indistinct shadows. Mac's +thoughts were far away, and he was thinking of just such a night off +Pelorus Sound, when a "Wake up, old sport! Time's up!" brought him +suddenly to the present. He found Smoky had made a comfortable +"possie" underneath two lifeboats and was sleeping soundly. He +muttered only a few protesting groans on being shoved into his own +share of the possie; and soon Mac had joined his cobber in the sound +undisturbed slumber of an ordinary trooper. + +The next day passed in much the same manner; but, alas, the night--Mac +and Smoky were blusteringly ejected from their bivvie by an officious +sergeant, who said that the poop boat-deck was holy ground reserved for +machine-gunners and men on guard. So they retired to the upper deck, +and sought a spot whereon to lay their bones; but the ship was very +full, and space limited. In an ill-considered moment they settled down +partly under a seat, where passengers had sat in the palmy days of +peace, and partly in an open gangway. It proved an evil spot. Each +changing guard trod on them, and retreated with awful blasphemy echoing +in their ears. Then it chose to thunder, and rain fell in torrents. +Not only from the skies, but also from the deck above it came in +fountains, until the troopers were wretched in the extreme. There was +no refuge whence to flee. Leaving their oil sheets and blankets meant +only greater damp, so they stuck it out. + +By daylight the rain had lessened, and the troopers, bedraggled and +sleepy, disentangled themselves from the sodden blankets, and set about +getting things in order. Smoky gathered up the wet clothes and +surreptitiously made his way to the engine-room, where he selected a +not too conspicuous steam main on which to hang them. + +It was a damp grey morning. The vessel was steaming very slowly +towards where appeared dimly through the mist a host of vessels of all +descriptions, war-ships, transports, hospital ships and small craft. +Ahead loomed the land, not very high, and indistinct in the rain. + +At last, Gallipoli! The trooper regarded it suspiciously. It looked +miserable, and he felt likewise. After the long, bright months in +Egypt, the damp penetrated his bones, and he hadn't had breakfast. +Anyhow, he supposed it wouldn't be so bad, and went off downstairs for +a wash. + +When Mac and Smoky, having breakfasted, disentangled themselves from +the Bedlam of a troop-deck meal, and gained the upper air, they were in +better humour to regard their surroundings from a philosophical, if not +an appreciative, standpoint. The depressing drizzle had ceased, the +clouds were breaking, and the shore, except for the mist-filled nullahs +and the cloud-wrapped Asiatic hills, showed up more clearly in the +morning light. + +The _Grantully_ had anchored about half a mile from the fort at Seddul +Bahr, which with the castle and the village was shattered and forlorn. +An untidy medley of tents, mules and stores of all description, covered +the seaward slope and the beach to the left. Small craft passed +rapidly to the shore from many French and British transports. Great +men-o'-war, grey and cold, lay without sign of life; destroyers cruised +slowly and meditatively, and pinnaces foamed along in energetic haste. + +The two troopers watched the scene with interest. They were still very +hazy as to the actual degree of the success of the landing, or really +how far across the Peninsula the original force had progressed. The +papers said everything had been wonderfully successful, but Mac was +rather sceptical. At any rate, they were not wasting any time in +pushing the mounted men in as infantry. The future was obscure and +uncertain; but, with a feeling of eerie anticipation, he felt the +freshness of the dawn of a new mysterious life, when men met men in +mortal fight, when the false standards of civilization went to the +devil, and man was man. It was good to be alive; to be one of that +brigade of fine hefty fellows on the edge of the great adventure, when +they would join in the greatest sport on earth. + +From across the misty uplands to the north-east, like the crushing of a +cart over a gravelly road, came the rattle of musketry fire. Then, as +the visibility increased, war-ships manoeuvred into position, and fired +slowly and deliberately at unknown inland targets. Occasionally the +troop-ship shook from the shattering crash of the _Queen Elizabeth's_ +guns. Reflecting was not one of the trooper's habitual occupations; +but undoubtedly these first scenes and sounds of the real thing were +occasions for thought. A bugle-call for parade cut short further +philosophizing, and preparations for disembarkation found him faced +with questions far more worthy of mental effort than un-trooper-like +sentiments concerning what might or what might not occur in the future. +The leading difficulty was, of course, to get twice the permitted +amount of equipment into the kit, and some must be discarded. He had +two blankets, and decided to dispose of the lighter, then, changing +into a clean shirt, he threw away the old one. Everything was finally +reduced to the absolute minimum, and packed as neatly as possible in +the temporary kit. + + * * * * * + +Cape Helles was not the destination of the Mounted Rifle Brigade. In +mid-afternoon the _Grantully_, under slow steam, passed northwards +along the coast thirteen miles, and dropped anchor again in the middle +of another fleet of transports about two miles off Anzac. All traces +of the morning gloom had gone; and, to the troopers, accustomed so long +to the low, barren sand-dunes of Egypt, these high Gallipoli hills and +islands, bathed in the glory of an AEgean evening, brought memories of +other coast-lines, Cook Strait maybe, or the Great Barrier. + +The fellows crowded along the landward rail, and, with or without +glasses, endeavoured to discover battle-signs and the positions of our +men. There were across the steep green hillsides several great scars, +where the scrub was withered and the bare earth showed; but surely our +main line was over that high ridge, for reports stated that the army +corps had penetrated several miles. The artillery was awakening to its +evening activity, field guns could be seen firing, and shells bursting +on high crests. Heavy shells, learned later to be those from the +_Goeben_ in the Dardanelles Channel, shrieked occasionally out of the +unknown, and sent up great geysers of water near a four-funnelled +cruiser to the right. A steady staccato of rifle fire floated faintly +from the heights. + +The evening shadows deepened to darkness; the stars shone brightly, and +against them the land stood in a black, shapeless mass. + +Many lights from the bivouacs on the seaward slope gleamed like a +miniature Wellington across the water. War seemed difficult to +reconcile with so serene and perfect a night. + +Two destroyers came alongside, one on the port, the other on the +starboard. Struggling with their unwieldy equipment, the troopers +filed down the gangways on to them. Mac sat down by the engine-room +manhole and listened to great and wonderful stories from the leading +stoker of dashes up the Narrows, long patrols in winter storms, and +thrilling times during the landing. + +They spun away shorewards. The hills loomed blacker overhead and the +dim staccato of rifle fire became a ceaseless rattle. + +Spent bullets buzzed past and hit the water with a "plop." This was +interesting, and, with a thrill of pleasure, Mac felt at last he was +under hostile fire. For days--indeed, for months--he had been worried +internally by a great doubt. Would he be a funk? He was in a +frightful funk lest he should be one, and to him this was a matter of +great concern, though he mentioned it to no one, not even to Smoky. He +wondered whether his cobber was affected in the same way, but thought +not, as he was so keen to get to the front. So he had felt a little +ashamed. Well, anyhow, now he was entering the danger zone, he +experienced no abdominal sinking, such as one might expect under these +circumstances. His mind was relieved; and, with the full joy of life, +he turned with interest towards the steep hills. + +Bells clanged below and the engines stopped and reversed, and, with a +seething of water, the destroyer lost way. Out of the darkness loomed +several unwieldy lighters, splendidly admiralled by a slip of a middy. +They came alongside and the men swarmed aboard. The lighters moved +lumberingly beachwards. From above, the firing grew loud, and a +falling bullet wounded a man--the first casualty. Men stood silent, or +spoke in subdued murmurs. The whole thing was weird, yet +beautiful--the still glory of the night, the eerie, echoing rattle from +above, and the flickering lights of the bivouacs. + +They grounded at last alongside a stranded barge, crossed it, and, +filing down a plank to the shore, gathered in ragged line along the +beach to await orders. What was expected of them that night, none +knew. A few of the earlier arrivals, not too fully occupied with work +or sleep completely to ignore them, welcomed them warmly, and +immediately launched into long-winded accounts of previous fighting. +With an air of conscious superiority, they gave them hints and advice, +and told vividly of trials, troubles and dangers. All this the +new-comers accepted unchallenged and with deep respect. + +The narrow beach, or those parts of it not occupied by great piles of +stores, or limbers and water-carts, was a seething mass of humanity and +mules. Few of the men spoke, beyond a welcoming "How do, cobber," or a +"Glad you've come, mate." They appeared out of the darkness and passed +into it again with an air of steady practical purpose. Ant-like, they +passed in continual streams from barges to stacks of boxes, whose size +rapidly increased. + +At length the brigade filed off along the stony beach to the left, +halted frequently, while stray bullets passed with a low whirr overhead +and out to sea; and turned finally up a deep ravine to the right. + +On the steep, scrub-covered sides they were ordered to bivouac for the +night. Things were not too comfortable, but that was no cause for +complaint. Mac and Smoky forced themselves under a holly bush, +enveloped themselves in their oil-sheets, and braced their feet against +stems of shrubs to prevent their sliding down the fifty degree slope. +There was no cessation of the firing, and, in this ravine each report +reverberated from one clay cliff to another in ringing, resonant notes. +There were no other signs or sounds of fighting--only this musical din +coming from the starry vault above. + +The trooper thought a terrific battle must be raging, and pitied the +poor fellows in the trenches. He learned later it was just Abdul's +normal method of spending the night when he had the wind up. These +sounds were not disturbing, and soon the cobbers, for the first time, +were asleep under fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +MAC JOINS IN THE WAR + +Mac's first morning at Anzac was one of deep interest. He regarded his +surroundings rather more after the fashion of a Cook's tourist than of +a soldier; or, maybe, he more closely resembled a schoolboy at his +first circus. No time was wasted over a scratch breakfast--bully beef +and biscuits were consumed more as a duty than a pleasure. Then, +together with many others of equally inquiring frame of mind, he betook +himself to the crest of the ridge which shut in the ravine on the +north. The scene from there was indeed pleasing--a sapphire sea +meeting a widely sweeping beach, a green, tree-dotted flat, and some +scrub-covered hills, all sparkling with dew and bathed in the clear, +tempered sunshine of an early summer morning. Mac's first impressions +of Turkey left nothing to be desired, and there seemed promise of +excellent bathing. + +He gathered up shrapnel pellets and bits of shell casing, and with the +true instinct of a globe-trotter, thought already of mementoes to take +home. His tourist tendencies, however, soon evaporated, for he was +sent round on a fatigue to the landing, whence he returned a sweating, +blowing trooper, with a handleless, uncovered, paraffin tin of water. +As he stumbled back along the stony beach an enemy battery opened fire +without, it appeared, the Turks having precise knowledge of their +target, or else their observation was inferior. To them, ignorance was +bliss, just as the consistency with which they dropped salvos of four +shells about two hundred yards out to sea, was bliss to Mac. Moreover, +the paint-brush-like splash of the flying fragments demonstrated +exactly what military instructions had been endeavouring to impress +upon him for months concerning the field covered by a bursting shrapnel +shell. + +It had not been a great strain on the intellect of the enemy to deduce +that the appearance of so many interested sightseers on the skyline +indicated the presence of fresh troops in the donga below, and he +consequently set about shelling it. Mac's regiment departed for the +trenches at this juncture, and so missed the excitement. They kept +along the shore for a short distance, then turned to the right, and +started straight up the steep, narrow badly-graded paths towards the +more or less flat summit, where they were to relieve an infantry +battalion. The sun was hot, and the way was steep, not to mention the +weighty burden of equipment. The cool sea drew farther away as they +soared gradually skywards, panting and perspiring. They reached their +trenches at last, pushed themselves along ditches too narrow to take +simultaneously both them and their gear, cast loving epithets at +telephone wires which caught their rifles, and waited interminable +times for the man ahead to move on. Towards midday, after dodging +backwards and forwards, time and again, like a freight train in a +railway yard, they collapsed at last in their appointed positions. + +By evening Mac was thoroughly settled in his new home, and no longer +did he regard his situation as being in the least unique. He reviewed +the field of fire, studied the landscape, rather an extensive and +interesting one; and had a few long-range shots at Turkish trenches. +There was really no call for this, but it was rather amusing to be +potting away, at last, at an enemy position. + +His trench was not an exciting spot, separated, as it was, by a ravine +from the enemy, and being only the protective flank of their own +position. + +The mounted men were soon accustomed to the new life, and in three days +they might have been at it for ever. The days passed in a not +unpleasant routine. The fresh, bright, beautiful dawns were slightly +chilly, the early mornings were far from unpleasant, though the noonday +hours were warm, and afflicted with flies and smells; but, beneath the +shade of outstretched blankets and oil-sheets, the troopers whiled away +the time, sleeping mostly, some writing and some playing cards. There +was no reading material in those days. + +The afternoon hours dragged drowsily past, until, with the lowering +sun, they woke to prepare the evening meal, the largest of the day. +Culinary operations were strictly limited by the short supply of water, +so that meals were usually confined to bully-beef, biscuits, marmalade, +bacon, or Maconochie. Both Colonials and Turks having completed their +evening repast, the cool, clear evenings were spent by the former in +sniping and artillery practice, and by the latter in expending +wastefully large quantities of small arms ammunition against the +opposite parapets. Then, too, the troopers reassumed their clothing, +most of which had been discarded during the day. As the gloaming +deepened, the sniping ceased, but the Turks, ever mindful of the +possibility of an attack, seldom throughout the night slackened their +fire, which rose spasmodically to violent outbursts, probably in +consequence of optical delusions on the part of a nervy follower of +Mohammed, or, maybe, in response to horse-play on the part of the +invaders. A Maori haka was sometimes responsible for the discharge of +many cases of enemy ammunition. + +During the hours of darkness many huddled forms lay in the bottom of +Mac's trench, overlapping and cramped, but, nevertheless, peacefully +sleeping. Here and there stood a sentry, his figure warmly cloaked and +his face periodically lit by the glow from his pipe. Occasionally +bullets hummed threateningly the length of the trench and these Mac +regarded with deep respect, and addressed in words of wrath. The +countless thousands which whistled crosswise over the trench, or else +with a spurt of flame struck the sandy parapet, left him unmoved. The +first half of his sentry-goes passed quickly enough, but the second +dragged a bit, his thoughts being exhausted, and those beastly whirling +enfilading bullets seeming to come more frequently. + +At dawn all stood to, absorbed rum, of the liberally watered variety, +exchanged experiences of the night, and smoked. Then the routine of +the day began again, some dissolved once more into sleep, some remained +on guard, and others went on the long weary journey for water. + +The first week on Walker's Ridge passed fairly uneventfully, and by the +end of it the garrison looked war-worn veterans. Water was very +scarce, and a shave, much less a wash, altogether out of the question. +In a moment of wild extravagance Mac had burst a couple of +tablespoonfuls on cleaning his teeth. Towards the end of this week, +being in support for twenty-four hours, they were able to go down to +the beach for a bathe. Never was bathing so much enjoyed, nor the +sun-bath after it--it was just like old Maoriland again. There was +always the pop-pop-popping on the hills above, the occasional thud of a +spent bullet in the scrub, and the more or less methodical bursting of +shrapnel shells somewhere along the shore; but all these circumstances +had become so much part of the scene that the troopers were seldom +perturbed. Sometimes a Turkish machine-gunner or sniper became a +little too accurate or shrapnel fell a trifle too thickly on the beach +to be comfortable, and were roundly cursed for their attentions. + +On the night of their seventh day ashore, Smoky and Mac communed, and +agreed that campaigning so far had not been particularly trying; that +bully, biscuits, dirty water, and the same trenches were becoming +over-monotonous, and that the time had already come when something +ought to be done. + +Their lust for more excitement was partly appeased that night. Old +Abdul supplied the initiative, and later must have regretted it sorely. + +Shortly after midnight, the usual nocturnal battle-sounds rose in a +swift crescendo of bursting shells and rattling staccato of machine-gun +fire, which echoed in weird music from cliff to cliff and across the +ravines. + +Mac--he was in a support trench--woke with a thrill to this grand din +of battle, speedily assumed his bandolier, water-bottle and revolver, +grasped his rifle, and trundled away up the sap after his disappearing +cobbers. + +They bundled up into the support of the main position, which was being +attacked frontally by wave after wave of the enemy, who came on +bravely, but were being mowed down in hundreds by machine and rifle +fire. The defenders, in their eagerness, went out into the open to get +a better field of fire, and to meet Abdul with the bayonet. Mac had +rotten luck. His troop reinforced a flank position, where, no matter +how strongly they used their wills, no Turk would venture. He waited +and watched. In the gathering light of the dawn he could look more +deeply into the scrub that shrouded vision beyond twenty-five yards, +but nothing of interest revealed itself. He passed up ammunition and +absorbed eagerly all tidings brought from the front line by the +returning wounded. As the sun rose, and the firing, instead of coming +in the wild bursts, the lulls, and the wilder squalls of the earlier +morning, decreased to a steady interchange of shots, Mac realized that +the force of the attack was spent. With a deep sadness in his heart he +emptied the breach of his rifle--the rifle which he had tended with +great care and solicitude in anticipation of such an occasion as this. +He cursed gently and sadly as his troop filed sorrowfully back to their +support trench, where, spitefully shelled with shrapnel, he set about +the preparation of a belated breakfast for his section, two of whom had +retired to possies to sleep, and the other to the beach for water. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A WEARY DAY + +Mac sat in the dust, his back against a bank, with his rifle leaning +slantwise across him, and his equipment hanging awkwardly. Beside him +sat Smoky, and both were melancholy. The sun beat strong in upon them, +and the dust clung thickly to their perspiring bodies. The shady side +of the wide communication trench was exposed to shrapnel, which the +Turks had kept up more or less continually since the failure of their +night attack. Against the opposite bank lay a body, half-covered by a +blanket, and the padre was quietly removing the dead man's +identification disc and the contents of his pockets. His two cobbers +had gone on to the top to dig him a grave, and had both been wounded by +shrapnel. + +Mac and Smoky were sad. It was not the sorrow of grief, nor yet the +thoughts that a speedy end might any time be theirs; but rather they +were touched partly by the sight of the good old padre silently +removing the soiled, time-worn articles from his pockets, small things +which would be so greatly valued and revered by his people away in a +sunny Wairarapa homestead, and partly the vision of a fine strapping, +cheery fellow passing so rapidly from laughter to cold silence. + +Thoughts such as these, deep and sincere as they were, cast but a +passing shadow over their careless, happy natures. Friends of +bush-whacking and shepherding days, camp mates of the past, and casual +cobbers in Cairene escapades day after day went West; and always there +came the momentary sadness, and, maybe, the remark, "Poor old Bill. +They hooked him this morning. He was a good old sport." That was his +requiem and, save for a few stray thoughts in the silent watches of the +night, old Bill went unremembered. + +The Turkish dead lay thick between the lines; but there was no knowing +whether they had finally abandoned the attack. Their shelling +continued, and the rifle fire indicated a nervous temperament. +Consequently the squadron still remained in reserve as near as possible +to the firing line. Mac could see through a sap which ran to the edge +of the precipice the beach and the cool, wonderfully cool-looking +water. The few lucky beggars were splashing there, for practically +every man was up in the firing-line. There were no troops to spare in +those days--the line was but thinly held, and, if the Turks broke +through anywhere, the whole position must be involved in disaster. + +The day dragged slowly on to early afternoon. Then their troop was +stirred into animation and excitement by the information that they and +two other troops were to make a counter-attack "Light as possible, +fifty rounds of ammunition only... First and second trenches ... some +machine guns and a few Turks... Clear them out and come back," were +the orders. + +They filed silently and with set faces to their assembly positions. +They were in for something serious. They had all seen the waves of +advancing Turks in the early morning dissolve away. Mac thought he +didn't mind how soon peace was declared, and felt a bit tired of the +war, but, still, here was their first real, live chance. A heavy +covering fire had been opened all round the Anzac lines, and the enemy +replied with equal force. His troop slipped over the parapet, and lay, +awaiting the word, among the many dead, Turkish and Australasian, of +last night, and of three weeks earlier. Minutes passed slowly, five, +ten, twenty, thirty--what on earth did this mean? The sun blazed +fiercely on the flattened figures, the smell was awful, and the fire +slackened not a bit. Mac had examined his breech a dozen times, +adjusted and readjusted his ammunition to facilitate its easy handling, +and had made certain several times of the firmness of his bayonet. He +had thrown away his bayonet scabbard. It was long and might trip him +up. If he came back he could recover it; if he didn't--it wouldn't +matter. He had heard it said that waiting was the worst time of all, +and he longed to be off, even into that hail of bullets which whizzed +low over his head. + +More minutes marched funereally by, and then he heard in the trench +behind the sound of voices, and an order passed along the line to +clamber back into the trench. Surely there was some mistake, thought +Mac, but no, it was repeated, and they wormed themselves back over the +parapet, gathered hazily that the attack had been deemed inadvisable, +and sauntered tiredly back to their old place in the communication sap. +Talking it over later. Smoky and the Trooper came to the conclusion +that the cancelling of the attack was the best thing that had ever +happened for them. Theirs would have been the fate of the enemy in +their shattered attacks of the previous night, though, having made up +their minds to it, and stood the forty-five minutes' strain of waiting, +it had seemed a bit tough not to be repaid with a whack at the Turks. + +The long hot day drew at length to a close. The setting of the sun +amidst the islands was full of wild beauty. The airy pinnacles of +Samothrace and the wild hills of Imbros, scarred and parched, stood +silhouetted against a glorious background of wonderful colouring, high +tones and low tones, an idealized Turner canvas. Out to the sinking +sun stretched a golden path, while to the right and to the left lay +untroubled leagues of blue. The gloaming slowly enveloped the horizon +to the north and south, the shining path of light broadened and +burnished, as the sun rested a moment, then disappeared, while the +island grew darker against the riot of deep colouring. + +Resting on a clay ledge on the edge of the cliff which rose +precipitously to a height of 600 feet a few hundred yards from the +shore, Mac and Smoky drank in the glory of these rare moments. Both +sides were tired, the Turks weary of the carnage and their failure, and +the invaders of the hot, waterless hours of waiting, but conscious of +their successful defence and increased security. They discussed the +events of the day, the prospect of a swim on the morrow, and, as +always, of the long shandies, the ham and eggs, and the apple pie which +they would have on that great occasion when they returned once more to +New Zealand. Yes, a bush whare was all that Smoky would want for the +rest of his life, a possie where he could eat and drink and sleep just +as much as he wished. He aspired also to brands of tobacco other than +those the Army thought suitable to his taste. These pleasant +anticipations of the future were abruptly cut short by the order, +"Stand to." From Mac's point of view this was quite an unnecessary +proceeding, involving much inconvenience and discomfort, and, in the +early morning hours, loss of valuable sleep. Still, these things had +to be put up with, and "stand to" could be profitably spent cleaning +rifles and other gear. The issue of rum, when not stopped by the +higher command or absorbed by the A.S.C. and quartermasters, was +occasionally a relieving and pleasant interlude about this time. + +"Stand to" ended, they composed themselves to sleep where they were, +which was still in the same communication trench in reserve. The +trench was five feet in width--in favourable spots it may have been +six--and the bottom was deep in dust, which, to a certain extent, +moderated the sharpness of ammunition pouches in the middle of one's +back. From the heaps of piled-up spoil above came irregular avalanches +of dust and dirt, and due care had to be taken to prevent it getting in +one's ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Still, notwithstanding these minor +discomforts, Mac had managed to get about an hour's sleep before +matters became trying. The artillery were immediately responsible for +it all--the artillery, for which, in spare moments from the firing +line, they had dug this communication trench and gun-pits beyond, and +had even dragged the pieces up. Now, at this infernal hour, they chose +to bring their ammunition up. Trains of mules arrived, halted close +alongside where Mac lay huddled against the bank, moved at right angles +across the sap, were relieved of their burdens and departed again, led +by their shadowy Indian muleteers. + +Mac was hardened to being walked on by men, but mules laden with +eighteen-pounder shell...... Badly pinched and deeply angered, he +stuck it for a while. There was nothing to be gained by swearing, for +the mules and the Indians were equally indifferent. More mules were +followed by still more mules, which, as they turned, trampled on him +severely. Heavy hoofs were placed squarely on his shrinking person, +and he had at length to give them best. There was nowhere else to go, +so, leaning against the wall, he awaited brighter moments. Often he +cursed wrathfully, occasionally he smoked. This ruthless violation of +his valuable hours of sleep was a crime he would not readily forgive +the artillery, and he wished their bally guns had been shoved somewhere +else. The mules came and went for hours, occasional suspensions of +their comings and goings only creating in his breast false hopes. + +Towards dawn he slept once more, only to be aroused again for the +purpose of swinging up towards the front line for support. No attack +came, and now, the sun rising above the eastern hills, he and his troop +trailed wearily back to their own bivouacs. His section four discussed +breakfast, the contents and limited possibilities of the larder, the +disappearance of firewood, which had been carried off by some person +during their absence, and the absolute non-existence of water. + +"Breakfast be blowed!" said Mac. He crawled into his niche in the side +of the trench, covered himself in his grey blankets, head included, for +protection from flies, left breakfast worries to the others, and passed +into the deep slumber of the utterly weary. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MAC IS SLEEPY + +Mac's luck was out. He had had practically no sleep the night +previous, or, for that matter, for the two nights before that again, +and he was not going to get any chance to make it up now. A distant +echo of his name from somewhere up the sap brought a swift awakening. +It was an evil omen, portending the worst fatigue. He decided to +follow the lazy course of action, namely, to avoid it if possible. + +"Mac! Where in the devil are you? Mac! Mac!" + +The exhorting voice of the corporal came nearer; but the trooper +decided he was a heavy sleeper and knew, moreover, that his whole form +was well shielded by his grey blanket. As usual though, all this was +futile, and no effort of will could persuade the corporal to pass +unmolested his shrouded form. The blanket was pulled from over his +face, and, with a slap on the thigh and "Come on, Mac!" shouted down to +him, he could hardly, with decency, pretend to be asleep any longer. +He carried the thing to rather too flourishing a finish, awakened +violently with a suspicious suddenness, and blinked rapidly at the +corporal, "Oh! Rations you're after. All right. I'll dodge away down +after them. You might give a feller a chance to sleep though." He +knew well it was about his turn to wander away down the hill for +rations, but a fellow was sorely tempted to put off the evil moment to +the last, when, utterly weary, he was enjoying some rare hours of +settled sleep. + +Mac trudged wearily away down the ridge, at times almost letting his +legs run away with him on the steep paths. At the depot, he persuaded +the water-guard to let him fill his water-bottle, and then, while the +Quarters calculated together, he drowsed in the shade of a bank. For +some time the Quarters chewed the ends of their pencils, studied +note-books and tapped boxes. Then they retired in the direction of a +comfortable service corps dug-out, whence issued spirals of blue smoke +and odours of rum. By and by they emerged, and all struggled into +activity again. Some of the fatigue party had disappeared though, for +they were not often so close to the beach. Still, the Quarter was not +worried, for he knew all would return anon, each to lump his load up +the track. Mac had been too sleepy to wander off for a bathe, though, +as a matter of fact, he had been endeavouring for the last twenty +minutes before the Quarter's return to summon up sufficient energy to +follow his cobbers' example. Still, boxes of biscuits would be their +portion, while, getting in early, he would be able to secure easy +freight, flitches of bacon or the like. + +He shouldered his load and set off homewards. He rested often for the +first half of the journey, but then, pulling himself together, plugged +steadily upwards. Towards the summit, where the track ran up a +razor-back, his progress was hastened by the Turkish artillery on the +"W" Hills. He deposited his bacon at the Quarter's bivvie, and +wandered down the sap to his ledge under the wall. Delving into a +battered biscuit tin, he produced some characterless dried flour tiles, +a tin of bully and a tin of apricot, the choicest of Deakin. His three +cobbers, who were the only other inhabitants of this section of the +sap, had breakfasted, and now lay, like three mummies, on their +respective ledges. This trench was merely the wing of a sector, and +was not directly opposed to an enemy trench. Here it was the privilege +of his section to make its headquarters every third day, when it was +their additional privilege to do the ration and water fatigues, to +furnish sapping and burying parties, sentries and guards, and such +other toilers as might be necessary; while occasionally, with great +luck and better management, an hour or two on the beach might be worked. + +Here, with his back against a traverse, Mac set about his repast. He +devoured half a tin of bully. That was his limit, no matter how hungry +he was, for he was aware by experience of the effects of overmuch +bully. He shied the remainder over the parapet, and promptly set about +his second and last course. The flies were fonder than he of Deakin's +apricot, and he had to be circumspect to dodge them successfully. He +knew too well their other sources of food supply--and was not over keen +on swallowing any, nor of having them beating him for his jam, Deakin's +though it was. With some difficulty he broke the bullet-proof biscuits +into mouthful sizes, grasped the tin of jam between his knees with his +hand over it, and dipping each bit first into the jam, popped it into +his mouth. Mac had good teeth, but, all the same, it took many long +minutes of hard jaw work to get on the outside of a biscuit and a half. +This, he had calculated, was as much dry tack as his daily ration of +dirty water could comfortably counterbalance. + +He then set about putting his domestic affairs in order--tidying up his +kit and his bivvie, overhauling the larder, shaking his dusty blankets +and the like. He surveyed his weather-beaten countenance in a broken +triangle of glass. "What-o, mother, that you should see me now!" and +he winked whimsically at himself. A fortnight's black beard formed a +dark halo round his features, plenty of dust from the heaps of earth +above stuck in his hair, and he was already a bit thinner than in +Egyptian days. At the present moment a pair of ragged shorts, hanging +insecurely about his middle, was his only garment. The rest of his +body was, like his face, tanned and dusty. + +He now performed to the full such toilet as was possible in his present +quarters. He rubbed himself vigorously with a towel, cleaned his teeth +with about two dessert-spoonfuls of water, and brushed his hair. He +gave his rifle a few runs through and a dust, and restored round the +bolt a careful wrapping of cloth. This completed the setting of his +house in order. + +A corporal sang out from up the sap that the troop was to be ready for +the front line at one o'clock, so Mac roughly, but good-naturedly, +tumbled his cobbers off their ledges and admonished them to turn to and +prepare. + +The next half-hour was spent in getting ready, dressing, having some +lunch, which varied not from the earlier repast, and attaching gear. +They looked a shabby mob, with their equipment slung round them and +their clothing adapted to individual taste. As mounted men put in +suddenly to reinforce the foot, their equipment was not all it might +have been for trench warfare; but they had come to work and not to a +beauty show. + +They filed away up the dusty, sun-scorched sap, through narrow +communication trenches, bringing forth disgusted curses from the +dwellers therein, whose cooking and living arrangements were suspended +during their passage; and settled finally in an advanced sap leading +out towards the enemy lines. It was deep and narrow and had no +conveniences either for comfort or fighting. The afternoon drowsed +slowly past, a spell of sapping at the sap-head occasionally breaking +the monotony. + +With sundown, both sides revived for the evening activity, a meal, and +preparations for the night. The Turks, since their heavy but futile +attacks of two nights previous, had not returned into that placidity +which betokened cessation of evil intentions. There was an erratic +nervousness of fire; instructions were that an attack would eventuate +during the night, and that no one was to sleep. + +Just about sunset, word floated up from behind that a white flag was +approaching, but it was some time before it and several attendant Turks +appeared through the scrub about a chain to the right. Too many +accompanied the flag, but nearer approach being severely discouraged +they retired speedily again into the scrub. A few minutes later, the +flag returned, this time direct towards the sap-head, and now the +Colonel, armed with German and Turkish vocabularies, was there to +welcome it. They halted about twenty yards away, and a rather +fruitless conversation followed. The Turks jabbered excitedly a +meaningless chorus, to which the Colonel, full of importance and +dignity, replied with deliberate and forceful phrases of alleged +Turkish and German, fluttering the while through the vocabularies and +prompted and admired on all sides by an audience of officers and men. +The Turks were unimpressed, and gabbled on. Now arrived the right man, +the interpreter--all would be well. But, alas, he was so nervous and +alarmed at being thrust on the parapet that the conversation profited +little by his presence! All that could be impressed upon the +flag-bearers was that they were to return home as speedily as possible, +which course they wisely adopted, and immediately a burst of firing +broke out along both lines. This calmed as rapidly as it had begun, +and the troopers, chuckling over the comical scene of the Colonel +airing his German and Turkish, drank their rum and settled down to the +long vigil. + +A glorious night it was, still and starry, and sound travelled far. +But it was very weary, standing hour after hour waiting for the attack. +From the sap-head came the steady tapping of the picks and occasionally +the sound of muffled voices. Water was very scarce, but the drowsiness +which crept over the trooper was the worst of his troubles. Attack or +no attack, he could not keep awake. Every few seconds he fell asleep, +his knees kinked under him, and he was once more awake. This grew +monotonous, but there was no stopping it. His interest was caught at +times by the jabbering of assembling Turks in the hollow just over the +scrub-covered rise. Searchlight beams had been scouring the hills to +the north, and one was suddenly thrown on no man's land. Batteries +ashore and destroyers opened fire. Shells whirred up from below, +screamed overhead and burst beyond the rise. The jabbering rose into +an impassioned chanting to Allah. The searchlight switched off, the +shells fell less frequently, the Oriental obligato fell away in a +diminuendo of pathetic cries and a staccato of terrified jabbering. +Mac's knees again kinked frequently. + +In his state of alternate consciousness, the minutes dragged wearily, +he lost all count of time, and the whole business merged into a vivid +distorted dream. The drama was repeated, the mutterings of the +assembling Turks, the long-searching beam coming up from the sea, the +sudden tearing and crashing of the artillery, and the agonized howlings +of the enemy. Then came another period of quiet and deep drowsiness. + +There may have been a third enactment, though on this point Mac has +always been hazy. At any rate, in due course came the dawn. The sky +brightened behind the Turkish lines, the searchlights faded away, and +gradually the spasmodic rifle fire of the night fell to occasional +single shots along the line. "Stand to" laboured by on leaden wings. +A single sentry was posted at the sap-head; then, in awkward attitudes +and angles, like the corpses on the ground above, they fell asleep in +the bottom of their sap. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +VARIOUS MISFORTUNES + +Mac, minus most of his clothing, squatted on a heap of rubble, keenly +following through his glasses naval tactics on the sea below. One +favourable point about Anzac was that, if one was bored with everything +else, there was always plenty to look at, especially with a good pair +of glasses. This morning, coming out on to the little flat top behind +his position, he discovered all the shipping in a turmoil. The whole +fleet of twenty or more transports was going helter-skelter for Imbros +harbour, the winches of a few laggards still rattled as they laboured +with their anchors, cruisers patrolled uneasily up and down, +fleet-sweepers moved about nowhere in particular, while destroyers +dashed round in wide circles, leaving behind them trails of heavy black +smoke and foaming white water. Only a couple of white hospital-ships +remained undisturbed. + +"Submarines--damn them!" thought Mac. This was a new and unpleasant +development and not to his liking at all. He descried through the haze +the anchorage at Cape Helles, and noted that the vessels there--among +them a huge four-funnelled Atlantic liner--were also making off. + +Towards evening all transports had disappeared, and cruisers and +destroyers resumed a leisurely patrol. + +That was Saturday. In the early light of next morning, while the +mist-wraiths still clung to the hills and filled the dongas, Mac was +disturbed in his breakfast preparations by the sound of a heavier +cannonade than usual to the south. Going to an observation post he saw +a battleship aground off Gaba Tepe Point. The morning mists had just +revealed her, and now she was emptying her broadsides in rapid +succession up the great valley below Kilid Bahr. Another battleship +was right alongside attempting, apparently, to push her off. White +smoke from many bursting Turkish shells mingled with the heavy black +pall from the discharging broadsides. The bombardment continued for +some time, and Mac at length returned to his neglected breakfast +preparations, his going hastened by the fact that, carelessly exposing +his head, he had attracted the attentions of a sniper. When he looked +later, both men-o'-war were some distance away steaming west. + +He learned afterwards that the _Albion_, in taking up her position on +the southern flank, had grounded in the mist, and that the _Canopus_ +had come to her assistance, attempting, without success, to get her +off. The _Albion_ lightened herself by emptying her magazines through +her broadsides, and was finally towed off. + + * * * * * + +Then came the armistice, a day of interest and amusement, and of grim, +unpleasant work. + +For almost a month, in no man's land, attack after attack had dwindled +away to nothing and there, five days before, Turkish losses had been +especially heavy. The enemy took the initiative in the matter, and +white flag negotiations proceeded on several occasions. Later, a +gorgeously apparelled Turkish staff officer came across and was taken +blindfolded to Headquarters, where an armistice for internment purposes +was agreed upon. Very considerate it was of Abdul to put the +proposition, Mac thought, for the condition of the atmosphere in the +neighbourhood was not conducive to his peace of mind, nor did it +improve his inclination to eat to know that those flies which nothing +could keep out of his food, had come from ----. And his internals +would squirm at the thought. + +A peculiar quietness had marked the passage of the night, and with the +vanishing of the mists a strange silence filled the air. Since the +landing nearly a month back, the continuous music of rifle fire, with +its echoes and re-echoes among the nullahs and cliffs, had scarcely +ever ceased. And now, from opposing parapets, cautious heads began to +appear, Red Cross and Red Crescent flags were brought into the open. +Large burying parties followed, and soon thousands of Cornstalks and +Mussulmans were burying each others' dead. Thousands lined the +parapets, scanning those acres of which they had had before but wily +glances, or had scurried over in the wave of an attack. No one was +going to miss the show. The Cove was deserted, and the Infantryman and +the Service Corps man stood boldly side by side on the parapet. + +Of the work itself little can be said. Mac was on duty in the first +line, and was not allowed to leave it to investigate the secrets of no +man's land, but he knew well enough of the huddled figures lying in +clusters in that green scrub, which hid much. But in parts the scrub +had been worn from the earth by the constant ripping of the bullets. +There, partly shielded by withering branches lay withering bodies, +mostly in strange postures, sometimes one above the other with rusting +rifles, discarded equipment, and odd bits of wire. Often scraps of +torn cloth clung to the jagged stems of shattered shrubs, and all was a +scene of desolation unutterable. + +So numerous were the dead that all day long the burying went on. Some +of the workers, resting from their labours, attempted conversation with +the Turkish parties, but ignorance of each others' language proved a +difficulty. Still they smiled and gesticulated and exchanged +cigarettes. + +Towards the middle of the afternoon, parties finished their work and +returned, no man's land became gradually untenanted, the curious were +satisfied, and melted from the parapets, a sudden heat shower damping +their ardour, and gradually the old scene came back. About four the +white flags with their red emblems disappeared and every one retired +discreetly into his trench. Soon a stray shot rang out, and the +armistice was over. Snipers were at their old dodges, and later in the +evening Mac's section received for some time the attentions of an enemy +mountain gun, which was new to this part of the line. + +The following day brought a tragedy which sank deep into Mac's heart. + +Out on the left flank, near where the _Albion_ had been ashore a few +mornings back, a man-o'-war had always lain since the days of the +landing. There had been some anxiety certainly on account of the +submarine excitement the other day; but now, slow, lazy movements on +the part of the destroyers and the reoccupation of old anchorages by +the cruisers, indicated that naval peace of mind was once more +restored. H.M.S. _Triumph_ had anchored soon after daybreak on the +southern flank. + +Now, at midday, came the shout, "_Triumph's_ been torpedoed." Mac +jumped on his fire-step, and, looking down the trench, saw beyond it +sure enough the poor old _Triumph_ with a heavy list towards him. Some +of the fellows had seen the torpedo strike her right amidships, and a +great column of water rise high in the air and fall on her decks. + +From all directions destroyers, mine-sweepers and pinnaces were +concentrating on the doomed vessel. Two destroyers had run their bows +alongside her hull, and her crew was swarming off. Her decks grew +steeper, but some of the crew seemed to be sticking to their guns to +the last in the after turrets. Mac could not discover whether these +shots were directed against the submarine or whether they were but the +last farewell of the old battleship. Fifteen minutes from the moment +she was struck, her decks lay almost at right angles to the water, then +the movement quickening, she turned bottom upward, only her red keel, +propellers and rudder showing to the troubled troopers who sadly +watched the demise of the famous old ship. A quarter of an hour longer +she floated, sinking lower and lower, then, with an easy motion, she +slid away from sight. For a few minutes a maelstrom of white, surging +water foamed and spurted, then, sadly and slowly, the host of small +craft which had rushed to the rescue made again for their stations. +Destroyers manoeuvred in vain search of the submarine, while +battleships and cruisers in a haze of smoke disappeared beyond the +horizon. Only a few bright tins, some boards, and a patch of oil +marked the spot on the peaceful, azure sea, where, an hour before, a +fine old ship, and fifty of her crew, had gone to their doom. + +The troopers ate their lunch in stony silence. It seemed they had lost +an old friend. + +Still, in going about the afternoon's work, they soon forgot their +sadness. They had been a fortnight in these trenches, and now they +were to be relieved by the Light Horse. It was good getting out after +a fortnight there, but it was a darned nuisance moving. When Mac had +all his gear up, there was not much of himself left in view. Valise, +bandolier, rifle, revolver, glasses, water-bottle, extra ammunition, +cooking utensils, haversack, a stove, the day's rations, a bundle of +fire-wood, and half a dozen odds and ends had to find space about his +person; the Q.M.S., too, usually had something to add to this load. A +heavy summer shower did not improve matters, and made the descent of +the steep clay paths one of speed rather than elegance. Once started +with so heavy a load, it was impossible to pull up. So the descent of +his regiment that afternoon from the plateau above was a weird and +wonderful sight, and resembled nothing more than a mixed avalanche of +perspiring troopers, mud and gear. + +They took up their new abode on a steep northerly slope above the sea. +Instructions were that all habitations were to be made shrapnel proof, +but this was a matter of difficulty on so steep a face. Nightfall +found Mac and his section with an awninged platform, six feet square +and three feet high and partially walled, but far from shrapnel proof +and never likely to be. They were not inclined to meet trouble +half-way, so each disposed his equipment in its rightful spot. The +four partook heartily of a most sociable evening meal, and then +wandered off for a good long bathe in the pleasantly cool water of the +AEgean. + + * * * * * + +The bivouac on the steep slope north of Anzac Cove was hardly the +safest, and domestic life there was not the most unruffled. Just when +five more seconds would have seen the bacon done to a T, the whistle of +the look-out up above would go. That meant that the Turkish battery on +the W Hills had delivered itself of a missile, which might, or might +not, be directed at this bivouac. Then Mac would find himself in a +dilemma. Would he trust to luck that the shell was not for him, and +save the bacon, or would he crouch for safety under the protection +wall? More often the bacon had the benefit of the decision for +meal-time was Abdul's favourite hour for action, and, if Mac took heed +of every warning, the section would never get through its meals. He +knew that the warning whistle gave him seventeen seconds before the +arrival of the shell, and, if he waited for the sound of the discharge, +he had about four seconds left. Still they didn't worry much until, +after a few opening rounds, Abdul's practice got too good and there was +no mistaking his malevolent attentions. Mac, if he were not near his +own bivouac, would dive into the nearest one, irrespective of owner, +and seek its leeward corners. A few seconds of quiet waiting while he +exchanged the time of day with his host; then the burst, the singing +whistle of the fragments, the whirr of the nose-cap, and the +fut--fut--fut as the pieces came to earth. Then, if another whistle +had not sounded, he would thank his host and proceed on his way. + +Often would come the cry of "Stretcher-bearer," and the M.O. would +hurry up the steep slope to some one who had been hit. + +Mac lost his sergeant, a real fine fellow, one morning, while he was +serving out rations. The whole regiment was grieved. For the rest of +the day his body, shrouded in his grey blanket, lay on a stretcher in +his bivouac with as much calm and holy dignity as any royal monarch +lying in state. + +Soon after dusk, for the little cemetery was under direct machine-gun +fire during the day, the regiment gathered, bareheaded and silent, to +bury its comrade. Six of the dead soldier's friends lifted the bier, +and bore it tenderly down the steep slope and over the bridge across +the sap. The regiment followed and gathered round the open grave. + +It was given to few on the Peninsula to be buried thus. Many still lie +where they fell on those Gallipoli hills; some are graced with shallow +graves, scratched hastily under fire, among the torn and tattered +scrub, while others, with fire-bars and blanket and with a few parting +words, have been plunged into the blue AEgean. + +On the little sandy point on the north of Anzac Cove is one small +graveyard, where, when Mac knew it, were fifty or sixty graves. In the +daytime it was shell swept and subject to direct rifle fire, but at +night came shadowy figures which passed to and fro from the beach +bringing neat stones and round boulders for picturesque and permanent +adornment of a cobber's grave. Or maybe there would be some diggers at +work, or a burying-party. + +To-night, in the peaceful calm of that summer evening, when not a +ripple lapped on the stony beach, when the only indication of war was +the music of the firing high above and the occasional whistle of a +spent bullet overhead, the good old padre, in clear, low tones, went +through the sergeant's burial service. The rites were finished, and +the silent troopers moved away into the darkness as quietly as they had +come, while the padre started the service anew among another group of +silent, waiting figures. And so the summer passed over that little +burial-ground. In the daytime, the scorching sun blazed over the crude +crosses and whitened stones, and the shells shrieked by, while in the +dark coolness of the night shadowy figures brought the day's toll +silently and reverently to its resting place. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AN OUTPOST AFFAIR + +Fortunately for the regiment, most of the daylight hours during the +short stay in the present bivouac were spent away on working-parties or +in support to some section of the front line. They usually returned in +the evening to find fresh holes in their oil-sheets and shrapnel +pellets on their floors. Still, they often had a good night's sleep, +and always a fine bathe in the morning. + +While lodged on this slope, Mac and his squadron became involved in an +engagement which kept them fully occupied for three days. One Friday +evening at dusk they moved northwards along the beach to the farthest +outpost. Inland from here about half a mile on a high ridge the Turks +had commenced the formation of an outpost. About nine o'clock this was +attacked and easily captured. Then the squadron commenced digging in, +and, by dawn, with small loss, had dug a fairly satisfactory +semicircular position, facing over ravines, beyond which were higher +hills. + +The Turks were expected to counterattack, but contented themselves by +sniping from all sides, which considerably impeded the work of +consolidation. Mac and his section toiled and sweated all day, and, in +the late afternoon, connected their section of trench with those on the +right and left. Water had run dry, no communication could be had with +the rear, the sun blazed down, with withering heat, and altogether Mac +had known of pleasanter spots to spend a summer's day. In the +afternoon, too, the Turks added shrapnel to their missiles. + +About ten o'clock at night another squadron appeared for their relief, +and Mac, with keen anticipations of a drink, a bathe and a sleep, +speedily stumbled off through the scrub after his cobbers. Their line +of march lay the length of a long ridge through enemy country, and on +this ridge one of the destroyers protecting the flank chose this +inopportune moment to cast her attention and her searchlight. Each +time it caught him in its brilliant glare on the sky-line, Mac crashed +down into the nearest shrub, prickly holly, arbutus or stunted oak, and +cursed lowly to himself till the beam lifted. Progressing +spasmodically when the beam was directed elsewhere, they reached the +outpost, then stumbled wearily back along the beach, ate and bathed and +turned in for a real long sleep. + +They were to have no such luck. They had only just settled down when +word came back that the enemy had closed over the ridge along which +they had returned, and that the squadron in the new outpost was cut +off. The only remaining squadron was sent out at once to their relief, +but, the Turks being in too great strength, it could do nothing. So +Mac's squadron, tired as they were, dodged away out again to another +hard day's work in the blazing sun. It was now daylight, and certain +spots had to be crossed by each man singly at a run, while the close +attention of a Turkish machine-gun at long range lent wings to their +feet. With his head down and his teeth clenched, Mac would bolt +full-speed across these open spaces. Tut--tut--tut would echo from the +hills, then a whinging past his ears or a spurt of dust in too close +proximity, and he would redouble his pace. The shelter of the bank on +the farther side gained, he would turn to laugh at the expressions, +whimsical, serious as death, or thoroughly amused, of his cobbers as +they rapidly paced their hundred yards. + +Arrived in a ravine which cut the ridge, they found the Turks in a +position too strong to be attacked in daylight by so small a force. +Eventually it was decided to await nightfall and strong reinforcements +before attempting to force a passage through the Turkish lines to the +beleaguered garrison of the outpost. They gathered in shady corners of +the dried water-course, and yarned and smoked the long hot hours away. +Shrapnel came screaming across the scrub in the afternoon, but spent +itself harmlessly in desert spots. + +It was decided that the outpost was too isolated a position to hold, +and that, after nightfall, the enemy, who had entrenched, should be +forced back, the besieged with their wounded withdrawn, and a retreat +made to the old position. This was all successfully carried out. Mac +took his fortunes with a covering party on the right flank. He could +follow little of what was taking place up at the outpost itself. There +was a good deal of rifle-fire and bombing, and a certain amount of +shell-fire, whose great white flashes lit up the wild ravine in +fleeting visions of weird beauty. + +At midnight the order for retreat found Mac almost asleep, for he was +very weary from long wakefulness. They passed silently down the +valley, being apparently the last to go. The Turks were following the +retirement, for they were chanting their weird invocations to Allah not +very far distant. + +At the foot of the ravine, near the ruins of a solitary fisherman's +hut, he and half a dozen others were instructed to take up a position +and to stick to it till the last. He expected that, when the Turks +emerged from the dried-up watercourse, there would be some fun, but, +though their cries to Allah floated down the ravine, along with some +indiscriminate firing, they themselves did not choose to come. During +the long wait here, the padre, heedless of danger from spattering +bullets, which flicked fire when they struck the dust, and despite the +dysentery which racked his frame, and the long days and nights without +sleep, went right along the scattered exposed firing line, taking +cheese, biscuits and water to the weary, thirsty troopers. Wherever +they went in action there was their quiet old padre, always working +among the wounded, and, if these lacked, he would join in some other +good work, bringing up water and provisions, or the like. + +The Turks had attacked heavily the summit of a ridge about one hundred +yards to Mac's right, and here he was sent now to bring in wounded, one +of whom three of them were instructed to carry round to Anzac Cove. It +was a long and weary journey, stumbling over scrubby hillocks and then +away along the stony beach. This bad going in the dark was pretty +rough on the wounded man, but, like most in his condition, he stuck it +splendidly, and was deeply grieved he was such a burden to his cobbers. + +At length they reached the dressing-station at the Cove, and placed him +on a table in a room with sandbag walls. Several medical men examined +the wound and spoke technically thereon. The stretcher-party asked +anxiously after his condition, and sought tidings also of cobbers who +had been brought back earlier. Then they set off for the firing-line +once more. + +The third dawn in this outpost affair was now lighting the eastern sky, +beyond the hills where the night's fighting had taken place. Half-way +back near the poppy-patch, one glorious riot of red summer flowers, +they met their regiment returning. They had done their work, the Turks +had ceased attacking and the weary regiment which had been kept busy +the long, hot days in this outpost skirmish had been relieved. The +tired troopers trailed homewards, carelessly tramping the dewy wild +poppy heads on their way. A bathe and a drink, and then a long, long +sleep. + +The three days' skirmish had been an interesting little engagement. +Mac thought that the establishment of an outpost so far beyond the +Anzac territory had been undertaken rather too lightly. The cutting +off of the garrison thirty hours from the time of capture, the relief +of the besieged twenty-four hours later and the subsequent retreat were +actions which had brought many anxious moments, plenty of hard work in +the blazing sun, and the lives of some fine officers and men. The +Turks, too, had suffered many casualties. The only tactical result of +the operation was that the enemy chose to make the outpost of +contention a strong, almost impregnable position, which was captured +three months later only by a ruse and hard fighting. + +Altogether it had been a pleasant scrap in the open, and Mac was not +dissatisfied that he had gone through the experience. Anyhow as, +profoundly and delightfully weary, he lay down on the hard clay floor +of his bivouac, he felt a satisfied contentment with life. + + * * * * * + +It was late that afternoon--Monday--when the troopers awoke and set +about preparing a meal as sumptuous as the limited larder permitted. +Since Friday only odd nibbles of bully and biscuit had passed into +their internals. + +That evening they cursed the Turks in free bush fashion for committing +an act of a kind to which they usually rose superior. Facing the +bivouac on the steep cliff below the disputed outpost, lay two stark +white bodies. The enemy had apparently stripped the dead, of whom +there were nine left in the outpost, and had flung the bodies over the +cliff. The Regiment was infuriated with this treatment of its dead, +and vowed vengeance. Next morning a destroyer, with a few +well-directed shots, blew up the bodies, and gradually the deed was +forgotten. + +Owing to the casualties from shell-fire on this slope, the following +day was spent in moving to a new situation, not so pleasant as the +last, and shut away in a ravine, but safer from shell-fire. Here all +toiled solidly for two days, terracing a steep clay slope and making +new homes. + +And here for some days with the Regiment the normal routine life of the +Gallipoli summer campaign ran smoothly. The days were spent on +road-work or on big communication saps, and at night, more often than +not, there were sapping fatigues in the front firing line, squadron +supports, heavy pieces of artillery to haul to their emplacement, and +the like. + +At most times there was work, but occasionally there were spare hours, +when Mac and Smoky, with their towels and tooth-brushes, would wander +down to the beach for a morning of sea and sun-bathing. They would +remove what few clothes they wore and take to the water. Only a +limited portion of this end of the beach was available for bathing, and +often, when he wasn't too sleepy, Abdul stirred things up too much for +comfort. Still, the practice of the snipers was not particularly good, +and Mac felt comfortably secure as long as he didn't venture out too +far. It was their habit to wash what clothes they were wearing, and to +bake in the sun while they dried. And so, bathing and splashing, +sunning and smoking, sleeping and talking, a morning on the beach +passed pleasantly enough. + +Sometimes the pair wandered off to see a cobber in another part of the +lines, exchange experiences and rumours with him, partake of his +rations and water, and wander homeward through miles of dusty saps, not +forgetting on their way to replenish their water-bottles at the landing +and to acquire there any provisions which might, or might not look as +if they lacked an owner, or, at any rate, the supervision of a +policeman's eye. + +Mails were now arriving occasionally, and never were letters more +warmly welcomed. There would be a buzz of excitement while a mail-bag +was being sorted, and then a strange quiet would hang over the terraces +while every one in his dug-outs eagerly explored his pages. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SUMMER DRAGS ON + +The Anzac troops were now entering on that long, wearisome summer wait, +without action, or even prospect of it, to relieve the monotony, until +such time as strong reinforcements would enable them to make a push for +the Narrows. The days grew hotter and the flies thicker, and disease +began to make itself felt to an undesirable extent. The same old +shelling and the same old rifle-fire went on week after week, varied +only by the constant flutterings at Quinn's, where sometimes Turk, +sometimes Anzac, got the better of the nightly bickerings. Rumours of +victories at Cape Helles came frequently, but confirmation seldom +followed. The fall of Achi Baba took place almost as often as the +assassination of Enver Pasha. And still the Turks remained unmoved on +the slopes of Sari Bair, and though the men of Anzac had the upper hand +in sniping and _moral_ there was not much prospect of getting the enemy +rooted out of those confoundedly fine trenches of his for some time to +come. + +But these things did not greatly depress the fine fellows who clung so +tenaciously to that square mile of crags and cliffs. The great spirit +of cheery optimism, the light-hearted, careless good fellowship, and +the muscle and grit of the invaders looked lightly at all this. +Regiments might dwindle sadly from dysentery and shrapnel, the +water-supply might be short and brackish, the flies might be getting +more persistent; but reinforcements would come some day soon, the +British at Cape Helles would get Achi Baba, and soon all would be well. + +And so, with hard work, dysentery and flies, shelling, sniping and +bombing, cheery philosophy, and castles in the air, sweat, heat and +dirt, the summer days passed slowly by. + +After a fortnight's absence from the front line, officially termed +"resting," but which was spent, as has been described, in outpost +fighting, sapping, road-making and all manner of hard work, the +Regiment returned to Russell's Top. As his Squadron was relegated to a +very comfortable section of the line, where disquieting bombs, shells +and what-not, seldom disturbed him, and where, at times, one could +stretch at full length and sleep, Mac infinitely preferred these +conditions of life to those of the previous fortnight. + +So two weeks here passed placidly enough. When he was in the front +line he smoked, read, wrote, and played cards, or, when particularly +bored, rose up with his rifle and potted at elusive periscopes, +swinging shovels, loop-holes or indiscreet Turks, of whom there were +very, very few, in the Turkish lines. As often as not his little game +would be cut short by the reply of one of their snipers. + +Then the tangled mass of trench and ravine over which his position +looked, Quinn's, Courtenay's, Dead Man's Ridge, and so on, was always +an interesting study. They were for ever scrapping there, and at +nights never for a moment rested. This was the weakest point in the +Anzac lines, and both sides knew it; but lately persistent hard work, +many lives and a great deal of courage were giving the Anzac fellows +the upper hand. Beyond these trenches lay the wide valley bounded on +the farther side by the frowning escarpments of Kilid Bahr +Plateau--strongly entrenched heights which Mac rather hoped it would be +some other person's job to storm when the necessity arose. Across the +valley and up a steep zigzag path climbing the almost overhanging +farther side, he saw long trains of camels pass, and occasionally odd +horsemen. Sometimes machine-gun fire at extreme range disturbed their +placid way, but usually the gunners kept their ammunition for better +purposes. + +Their fortnight expired, the Regiment, relieved by the Light Horse, +returned to its previous bivouacs in the hot and stuffy ravine, where, +in sections of four, they settled down to a domestic life, for the +comfort of which they brought into bearing all their ingenuity, the +possibilities of the Indians' larder and mule-feed, the lack of +alertness on the part of the policemen at the depot, and the usual +stock of knowledge acquired in the bush of how to look after oneself. + +The bivouac of Mac's section consisted of a platform nearly seven feet +square cut out of a steep clay ridge. So a clay bank formed the back +wall, two clay walls reached about half-way to the awning on either +side, and the front was open, except in the afternoons when an +oil-sheet was hung there to keep out the fierce glare of the sun. The +clay cliff dropped precipitously in front, and facing them in the +opposite cliff were similar bivvies, with the inhabitants of whom Mac +and his cobbers were in the way of exchanging friendly conversation at +odd moments of the night or day. + +Perched here on their ledge of clay, the four lived a supremely happy +life when at home. Each took his turn at the cooking, the +firewood-hunting, and the tidying-up. Each had his strong points, and +was permitted to develop them. Bill was hot stuff on curry _a la_ +Anzac, whose foundation was the choicest bully, a little water, plenty +of Indian curry powder purchased from the Indians in consideration of +some mouldy Army cigarettes, and a little of everything else, from bran +to marmalade. He shone, too, with his Welsh rarebit and his biscuit +pudding, so that not even Smoky with his "Stew Supreme _a la_ Depot" +could hope to look at him. Friday outran all others in his enthusiasm +for gathering firewood, a rare product of the land in those days, and +no one dared, nor felt inclined, to compete with him. Mac had no rival +when it came to frying, and the preparation of the sweets fell to him +on those few but glorious days when the section was issued with one +fig, two dates or half a dozen currants. The possibilities of the +larder were considerably spun out by barter with the Indians, who had +plenty and to spare of good food, by the use of one's wits and by +purchase at exorbitant prices of certain articles from sailors. Still, +despite this high living, the troops grew perceptibly thinner. + +All offensive on Gallipoli was at this time confined to the Cape Helles +front, where the capture of Achi Baba was their immediate object. The +role of the Anzac troops was merely to keep the enemy always on the +alert and in fear of an offensive movement from Anzac, and to make +small demonstrations during heavy attacks on the big hill of Achi Baba. +On these occasions Mac would watch eagerly through his glasses the +bursting shells along its crests, and would seek indications of a +British advance, but always in vain. + +Much as the Anzac troops yearned for some activity to break the +monotony, there was little prospect of success of any present push from +there. The regiments were thin; the Turks held strong superior +positions, and possessed more machine-guns than were to Mac's liking. + +The enemy made several night attacks, which brought nothing but +casualties and regrets to the attackers. On one of these occasions +Mac's squadron was in reserve to the Light Horse on Russell's Top, and +were doing their best to sleep on the narrow clay terraces perched +along the cliffs behind it. + +About nine o'clock, heavy, ominous thunder-clouds came rolling silently +in from the west. Lightning played in fitful dashes. Then followed +swirling wind gusts, which stirred up fantastic columns of whirling +dust, roared down the ravines, and raised a surf which grated furiously +on the shingle below. Thunder crashed and bellowed, and the whole +weird fantasy of crag, cliff and cyclonic dust columns was terribly and +wonderfully lit by the vivid and almost continual flashing of the +lightning. + +Not content with the inferno of nature, the enemy chose this mad moment +to add his artillery to the cataclysm, and turned a merry whizz-bang +battery on to the Top. For an hour the racket lasted, and then fell in +gradual diminuendo; and Mac thought of sleep notwithstanding vermin, +dust and shrapnel. It was not to be. A fatigue party was wanted +immediately. A number were told off. Warmly and extensively +apostrophizing the originators of this nocturnal expedition, they +gathered up their rifles, bandoliers and water-bottles and wandered +protestingly off uphill. + +Arrived in the front fire-trench, they were directed to set about +roofing bomb-proof dug-outs, in place of another party which was too +tired to continue. The new arrivals, who had been working hard for +three nights in succession, were righteously indignant, and also +considered themselves too tired to carry on. Only two or three +enthusiasts showed any inclination to work, and these were speedily +discouraged by a further increase of activity on the part of the enemy +artillery. Seventy-five m.m. whizz-bangs shrieked low over the +surface, or burst with shattering crashes which shook down avalanches +of earth on the heads of the troopers as they sat, half-asleep, against +the dug-out walls. Then the machine-guns joined in the din, and +rattled and roared in spiteful bursts, now rising into a furious storm, +now lulling slightly. The bullets whipped and whizzed past, or plopped +into the heaps of debris above. Now that there was sufficient military +reason for laziness on his part, Mac, recognizing, of course, that he +would have worked had it been at all possible, sank with an easy +conscience into somnolence. + +When he awoke it was broad daylight, and the tornado of his last sleepy +moments of consciousness had diminished to the usual spasmodic rifle +reports. He stood up, ruefully rubbed the spots where ammunition +pouches had made dents in his person, stepped over his still sleeping +cobbers and crawled through the rabbit-hole entrance into the +fire-trench. There he blinked like a sleepy owl, more with surprise +than anything else. There were dead Turks all over the show, and in a +sap opposite were dozens of them. This was a sap which had kept Mac +occupied for many nights recently. It was a secret sap, or supposed to +be so as far as the enemy was concerned; and had been constructed with +every care and precaution to that end. Running parallel with the +Turkish front firing-line, thirty yards away, it connected a corner of +the Anzac firing-line with the edge of a cliff a couple of chains to +the left, and thus cut off a big bend in its front line. + +With much satisfaction a Light Horseman gave Mac particulars of the +occurrence: + +"My bloomin' oath, we got 'em fine. We sorter guessed from the blanky +rough-house they were making they was up ter something and got ready to +make 'em welcome. Then with a lot of their blooming Allahin' and +raising a hell of a howl generally, they come over like a blooming mob +of sheep. A big bunch got into that secret sap there. Then we landed +'em a dirty one, and bombed their blanky souls to hell. They didn't +half squeal. Not content with one dose, the silly blanks came on +again, and we had a bloomin' encore. Well, old man, I suppose the poor +devils 'll have sorrowing harems. 'Spose my poor old mater'd drop on +me if she knew I was rejoicin' over the fallen. Anyhow it's what we're +here for, and they oughter keep out of our way if they don't want to +get dinged, eh, cobber?" + +"Anyhow, good luck to the blighters when they reach their bloomin' +heaven," answered Mac. "It's about kai-time. I'm off for some +brekker. Kia Ora, old man." + +And, so saying, he awakened his sleeping cobbers, left them admiring +the night's catch, and trundled off homewards. Passing down the track +he stopped for a moment by a ledge, and gazed with respect and sadness +at half a dozen fine stalwart forms of Light Horsemen, wrapped each in +his grey blanket, who had taken the long trail in the night's encounter. + +The Regiment was getting tired of continually sapping without any +excitement to break the monotony, other than the more or less frequent +arrival of shells in their vicinity, and the attentions of snipers on +the beach. Moreover, the flies increased in their countless millions, +the ground was getting very dirty, the stench in parts was almost +unendurable, and practically every one was more or less affected by +stomach trouble. The troops grew daily thinner, until, had he not +followed their increasing slimness, Mac could hardly have recognized +some of his old friends. With dark olive skins, cadaverous faces and +often a good growth of beard, they were a hard-looking lot. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +MAC TAKES A CHANGE + +The behaviour of Mac's stomach was not all that it might have been, +besides which rheumatism began to develop, so he contemplated a short +spell on the Island of Lemnos. It was a place truly to be desired. +There the distant reverberation of the Cape Helles artillery could only +just be heard, one might walk in the open and bathe without having to +worry about snipers or shrapnel, and, moreover, there were ships with +canteens and, perhaps, a good meal. So, one evening, ticketed and +labelled, and with the combined financial assets of his section in his +pocket, he waited for embarkation at the Cove. Many others were there, +about half wounded and the rest medical. + +Night-time at the Cove was always beautiful. The starry brightness +above the blackness of the sea, the steep rising face of the hill, with +the twinkling lights and flickering fires of the bivouacs, the throng +of toilers among the great piles of stores, the mules and water-carts +crunching along the gravel, the wounded waiting embarkation--Mac saw +what might be called the throbbing heart of Anzac. It throbbed, for +the most part, in darkness; but, here and there, caught in the +half-light from lamps among tiered piles of boxes, he had odd glimpses +of the splendid fellows as they went about their work; and he was +thrilled by the grandeur and manhood of it all. + +Hours passed. Then a musical call through a megaphone, "Walking-cases +this way," woke them to attention. They were all embarked on a +lighter, and were towed, first by a pinnace, and then by a minesweeper, +out into the bay, until high above them, aglow with green, red and +yellow lights, reared the steel sides of a hospital-ship. A steam +crane swung each giddily upward, and deposited him on the clean white +deck. + +Mac didn't quite know where he was that night. He accepted a dose of +medicine and some kind words from a medical officer, absorbed a cup of +hot cocoa and a piece of bread and butter--almost forgotten luxuries +and found himself at length in a comfortable bunk with white sheets. +Very faintly from the heights across the water floated sounds of +strife; and Mac, with a sigh of supreme satisfaction, turned over and +went to sleep. + +When he woke in the morning, a white girl--a sister--was standing +beside his bunk. He was shy--he felt so rough. It seemed ages since +he had seen a woman. + +At ten o'clock, the light cases for Lemnos transferred to a +mine-sweeper, and thence to a fleet-sweeper. All the afternoon the +vessel steamed across sunlit seas and in the evening entered Mudros +Harbour, passing through the great fleet that lay there, transatlantic +liners, men-o'-war ancient and modern, hospital-ships, transports and +small craft of every description, to an anchorage on the east of the +harbour. The patients were landed in launches, and made their way, in +a long straggling line of decrepits, to the field hospitals. + +Mac found a resting place in the 1st Australian Stationary Hospital, +and passed a week there. He was relegated to a large marquee, the +sides of which were always rolled up. In the centre stood two tables, +one occupied by medicines and the other by the dishes and food of the +establishment. Stretched on the ground was a large tarpaulin, whereon, +with a blanket apiece, eighty or more _hors de combat_ heroes had their +abode. Everything was as good as could be had in Mudros; but in those +days Mudros lacked almost everything that could be desired. The +water-supply was bad; food, in the Australian hospital was ample, and, +for fare under such conditions, excellent, but in other hospitals it +lacked lamentably. Inhabitants of the latter envied greatly those who, +by good fortune or intrigue, were lodged in the former. + +In the day-time the sun blazed down with fierce heat upon the marquees, +the slightest breath of wind stirred into clouds the many inches of +fine dust which covered the ground, and flies of many breeds were there +in their pernicious millions. Vermin stalked by night; and odd moments +of the day might profitably be spent in reprisals on these bloodthirsty +beasts. Those were the sorry points of the place; but there were also +good. + +Immediately alongside the hospital, though officially out of bounds, +was the village of Mudros East, a quaint place where there was always +some fun to be had. Low stone, tile-roofed houses, with narrow dusty +alleys--where congregated squalid children, mangy dogs, poultry and +evil smells--clustered round a low hill surmounted by a large maternal +Greek church. This latter was tawdry in the extreme, with wonderful +symbolic pictures, icons, candle grease and cheap furniture. Over all, +presided a dumpy, cheery little priest, who, with a beaming smile, +indicated his perpetual readiness to accept small donations. Still, it +had its air of sanctity, and it was pleasant to see there Greek women +praying with deep fervour. Occasionally, too, Mac noted British and +French soldiers upon their knees. + +Near the landing-place stood a street of filthy, hastily erected, +wooden shanties, where the ever-trading Greek offered garden produce, +very, very doubtful eggs and more or less objectionable stuff of other +descriptions. The medium of exchange was varied in the extreme, and +ranged from British, French and Egyptian coins to tins of bully beef, +army jam, badges and the like. + +There were some fine men in the hospital and next to Mac lay Mick. He +was a Light Horseman, and Mac made a cobber of him. + +"Chest's me trouble--touch of t.b. the Doc says. I cough away some of +these nights like a sheep with lung-worm. I feel all right myself; but +ev'ry time I talks about getting a shift on like, ole Doc gets busy +with his water-diviner--'breathe in breathe out'--and then he says, +'Say "Ah-h-h."' Then he thumps away wid his fingers. I reckon I'm +about as chuberculer as a young gum-tree, but the ole Doc he just says +'Carry on for a while longer and then we'll see.'" + +Mick looked as fit as a two-year-old. After his fine figure, the first +feature Mac noticed was a large but unfinished tattoo of the Royal Arms +across the aforementioned unsound chest. Tubercular or not, that chest +spent most of its hours in the fresh air, along with most of the rest +of Mick's body. + +"How d'you come by that bit of landscape, Mick?" + +"Oh!----!----!----!" murmured Mick feelingly. "Me ruddy chest's crook +outside as well as in. That's a ruddy souvenir of a night in Cairo, +that is. Got a bit inked I s'pose. Don't remember too much about it +meself. All I knows was I wakes up in the mornin' with a head like a +sandstorm, no piastres left, and me chest as sore as hell wid this +pretty picture on it--me, a bloomin' Aussie born and bred with the +'b---- 'art gorn Care-o chuum' badge on me manly chest--them wee lads +whose mummies didn't know they was out. I tell yer I wasn't sweet the +rest er that day. Bill, me cobber, 'e comes an' tells me 'e was in +Cairo wid me. I tells 'im 'e needn't tell me that. 'Anyhow, if yer +was,' I says, 'wy didn't yer stop 'em brandin' me? Nice feller you are +to call yerself me cobber?' + +"'Oh,' he says, 'I did me best, but you wasn't havin' any. You +threatens to hit me over the 'ead if I don't go stop shovin' me +opinions in w'ere they wasn't wanted. 'Me skin's me skin,' you says, +'An' I'll do what I b---- well like with it!' Then I tries ter drag +you off, an' we had a bloomin' scuffle outside the show, an' you pushes +me down some steps. I wasn't none too good neither.' + +"'Then we goes in again, an' you starts takin' off yer tunic. You +tells the Gyppie to show you some styles; and between tryin' 'em on so +ter speak, an' one thing and er nother, you gits all yer b---- clothes +off. The Gyppies come to light with some booze--filth it was, I +bet--an' we both has some, an' you pays 'em about twenty piastres fer +it. Then you hooks this Manchester badge and says "Quiis kitir." An' +they was tryin' ter push some rude indecent ones on ter yer, an' +wishin' ter save yer from the worst like I tells yer the Manchester one +was beautiful. An' I says it was what ev'ry patriotic Aussie should +wear. You starts skitin' about Australian loyalty and Australia will +be there an' that sorter thing, an' then says "yer 'll 'ave it." + +"'They gets to work an' all goes well, and when they was just 'alf +finished, the bloomin' picket comes along an' pushes us out. I tries +to get yer dressed but you was thinkin' you knew more about it than I +did, an' you wasn't far wrong. I dunno meself how we got home. +Anyhow, cobber, we both had our pockets gone gently through, for me +feloose is gone as well as yours. I didn't have much, but wot I had's +now somebody else's.' + +"'Yer a b---- fine cobber, you are,' I says, 'Not to have choked 'em +off.' + +"'You've got ter thank me, anyway, fer not letting 'em put somethin' on +yer which yer wouldn't care to let the world or yer missis, when you +have one, gaze at.' + +"An' that's how this lovely work in red and blue decorates me manly +chest. The Doc he always smiles and twinkles his eyes so merry like +when he sounds me chest. I'm thinkin' of havin' it turned inter a +risin' sun. Me troop thinks it is an 'ell of a good joke, an' I reckon +it would be too if it was on some one else's chest. Them b---- +Manchesters!" + +Mac and Mick wandered abroad together occasionally to investigate the +land--Mac more for the pleasure of getting away from the hot dusty +camp, and Mick for the prospects of raising more tolerable refreshment +than luke-warm rusty water from ships' tanks. They wandered to far +villages where the stolid Greek peasant life was not in the least +disturbed by the activity in the harbour nor the distant rumble of +Gallipoli guns--except that eggs and vegetables brought wonderful +money. These villages were out of bounds and they found them empty of +troops except for a solitary mounted policeman in each who could be +easily dodged in the narrow lanes and shady fig-trees. + +At the end of the first week in the field hospital both Mac and Mick +were transferred to a new camp about three miles inland. It was less +afflicted with flies, but there was only sufficient water for drinking +purposes and enough food for about half the three hundred patients. +The only water for washing was to be had occasionally in the early +morning hours at the bottom of a well about a third of a mile away. +About ten minutes of angling with a canvas bucket on the end of a rope +brought Mac about two inches of very muddy water. But on their first +day's ramble Mac and Mick discovered about two miles from the camp a +fine pool of stagnant water. It lay in the bottom of a rocky gorge, a +shallow basin at the foot of what was a small waterfall during the +winter rains. It was swarming with insect life, but, unheeding such +minor details, Mac and Mick soon stripped off their clothes and made +the best of it. Next day they came armed with towels, soap and all the +permanganate of potash their kits could muster. At the worst this +browny-pink pool left them a good deal cleaner and cooler than before, +and the two troopers usually came that way once or twice daily. + +They slept, too, on the open hill-side some distance from the camp, as +it was cooler, cleaner and quieter, and they put in only an occasional +appearance for medicine and a meal. The staff of the camp seemed +concerned with greater things than the presence or otherwise of a +couple of troopers, and Mac and Mick saw no particular obstacle to +their remaining a month or two. Mac had exhausted most of his and the +section's finance in excellent fashion. The harbour was out of bounds, +but in several surreptitious excursions out on to the harbour, with +Mick and one or two others, he had succeeded in getting from ships' +canteens and stores as big a stock of provisions as he could carry with +him on his return journey to Anzac. + +On two men-o'-war they had been splendidly received by the crews, who, +fully appreciating the rottenness of life ashore, did all in their +power to make pleasant the few hours' stay of such odd soldiers as +found their way on board. The bluejackets crowded round the visitors, +all anxious to be their hosts. They took Mac and Mick to a bath-room, +and, while they had a good splash round, prepared a really attractive +meal with extra delicacies bought at the canteen. The wanderers would +make the most of it too. Then, after an hour or so's yarn on the cool, +clean awninged deck, they would take a regretful departure, and would +go over the ship's side laden with good things from the sailors, the +latest newspapers from home, smokable tobacco, and good canteen stores. +They were fine men, the sailors whom Mac came across at Gallipoli, +generous, hospitable fellows when they had the chance, and ready always +to back up their comrades ashore, and to share with them the dangers, +discomfort and disease of life ashore whenever they were called upon. + +Thus, at the end of a fortnight on Lemnos, Mac had collected in the +care of a friend near the landing-place as much as he could carry back. +Mick, too, had followed his example and had collected a case of +provisions for his cobbers up at Anzac. Mick, moreover, was heartily +fed up, he said, of hanging about this mouldy island, and he knew that +he could bluff the M.O. at the new camp that he had had dysentery and +was now all right; and that, if there happened to be any official +papers in the camp, no one would trouble to find them, nor probably +could, if they wanted to. Mac was not so keen to hurry back, but the +fortnight's rest from the line and better food had set him to rights, +and he fell in eventually with Mick's suggestion. They approached an +old M.O., who pushed them through without ever getting suspicious about +Mick, and two hours later in the early afternoon they were bumping over +the open country in a Ford ambulance towards the landing-place. + +The late afternoon was spent in the _Aragon_, down in the depths of a +well-deck, waiting for the fleet-sweeper to take them to Anzac. Mick +was furious because he was not allowed to buy stuff at the ship's +canteen, as it was reserved for those non-fighting staff soldiers who +lived in all the comfort and safety of this beautiful ship. Mick was +loud and exceedingly pointed in his remarks. However, he and Mac +succeeded in penetrating to the depths of the ship, where, with the few +odd coins still in their possession, they managed to bribe the cook to +let them have as much currant bread, buns and sausages as would fill up +all the spare corners in their kit. They ate as much on the spot as +they possibly could, and eventually went on board the sweeper very well +loaded. + +Six hours' steam across the warm night waters brought them again within +earshot of the usual night musketry fire. At one in the morning they +were once more ashore at the Cove, with its tireless throng of men, +mules and limbers. Mac deposited his load in the bivouac of a friend, +and then parted for ever with his good cobber Mick, his casual +companion of a Lemnos fortnight, whose way lay in the opposite +direction. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ANZAC AWAKES + +Mac set off for his Regiment, which was holding the front trenches of +Russell's Top. Knowing it was a hopeless business poking about +trenches among sentries in the dark looking for his unit, he lay down +at the base of the Top, and slept there on the ground till daylight. + +He found his Squadron in the most uncomfortable of trenches, and not +particularly enjoying itself. It was holding the portion of the Top +nearest the enemy, who were between twenty and thirty yards away and +well within range of hand grenades. But two could play at the same +game, and the Turks had a better supply of bombs. + +Two halves of the Squadron took in turn the holding of the front saps +and the main line. The former were narrow, shallow twisting ditches +between piles of loose earth and rotting bodies. Parts were covered in +as bomb-proof shelters, and in places sloping shafts led steeply down +to mine galleries before the enemy's front line. Between those two +series of drab mounds of earth which marked the opposing lines, lay as +terrible an acre as ever was. The hasty burying during the armistice +three months ago had been inadequate, and the saps had cut through many +of the hastily-scratched graves. Since then many men had fallen, to +rot unburied in the sun and to be again and again torn by shells and +bombs and bullets. + +A few shattered sticks were the forlorn remnants of the luxurious +scrub. Wire twined in untidy coils here and there, but there was +nothing to hide the blackened bodies. Sometimes at night low fires +licked among the corpses, apparently started by the Turks by throwing +over their parapet paraffin or petrol, and there would be spasmodic +explosions for an hour or more of the ammunition in the equipment round +the dead forms, sounding like the burning of a Guy Fawkes effigy. + +Mac had never more than swiftly surveyed the scene direct--for there +was a deadly accuracy in the practice of the snipers at twenty yards +range--but viewed its details and the Turkish parapets through a +periscope. These, too, the snipers shattered with annoying frequency, +though the Turks themselves had no rest whatever in the matter of being +sniped at. And in these wretched saps amid a horror of desolation Mac +and his cobbers passed every second twenty-four hours. In the day-time +the sun beat into them with unrelieved violence, and many troopers +squeezed into the bomb-proof shelters and tunnel entrances to seek +shade. There was no where to cook food, and bully beef, biscuits and +water formed the fare. But they had small appetite for anything, as +the stench of the dead and the flies which swarmed left few men hungry. +At one corner hung a blanket. Some time a sapper in his work had come +to a body, and had turned the sap to the right to avoid it, and the +blanket had been tacked up as a screen to the body in the recess. + +One hard case found this recess a shady spot and with more room for his +cramped legs, and declared that it was no worse alongside the several +months old corpse than anywhere else in the saps. In one place the +lower leg and boot of a dead Turk stuck out from the corner of a +trench, and at another a bony hand protruded. Grim humorists shook it +as they passed. + +The warm nights dragged drowsily by. In these trenches the troops were +not supposed to sleep because of the bombs thrown so frequently by the +Turks. If one were awake, they could be easily dodged, but, if a bomb +caught a man asleep, there was little chance of escape. Every second +twenty-four hours were passed in the main firing line, a few yards +farther back than the saps, or close up in reserve. Sometimes, during +these second days, it was possible to get a bathe when on a journey for +rations or water, and a little cooking could be attempted on a ledge in +the side of a communication trench. But altogether everything was most +uncomfortable, and with the cramped life Mac's rheumatism was +returning. There was little sleep too, rarely exceeding two hours a +day as the fortnight passed. Strong enemy reinforcements had been +reported by aerial reconnaissance within easy march of Anzac, and an +attack was expected any night. The Regiments were very much under +strength from disease, and the burden of watching fell heavily on the +remaining men. Mac was disappointed too that, in their present limited +quarters, they could make no use of the provisions he had brought from +Lemnos. + +Relief came at last, without the enemy having made an attack, and the +Mounted Rifles again handed Russell's Top over to the Australian Light +Horse. They thankfully trundled away down the hill with all their gear +to a pleasant bivouac near the sea, and proceeded without delay to make +themselves as clean and as comfortable as could be. Mac went off for +the provisions, and soon the section had a small awninged dug-out in +excellent domestic order. Here, terminated by a stone wall, the main +Anzac left flank met the sea. The trench line here was but thinly +held, as it did not directly oppose Turkish trenches. Beyond it, at +the seaward end of the sharp ridges which ran up to the main broken +mass of Sari Bair, Chanak Bair and Battleship Hill, were No. 1 and No. +2 Outposts, faced by the formidable Turkish outposts on the forbidding +crags above. So, separated by some distance from the enemy, the +regiment proceeded to enjoy itself. + +It was the pleasantest possie Mac had ever found it his privilege to +occupy. The bivvies were roomy and comfortable, the ground was +comparatively clean, and was sufficiently gradual in its rise to +prevent constant avalanches of earth from above. The sea lay at their +door, and the freshwater tanks were near enough to make certain a +regular water supply. Mac and his mates made merry with the provisions +he had secured at Lemnos, and the products of their culinary art knew +no bounds, either in variety or perfection. With an abundance of +firewood and water, with the sea always near to be bathed in, awninged +bivvies and a well-stocked larder, they lived in undreamed-of luxury. +They had hoped for the usual fortnight there; but it was not to be. + +As the long, hot, dusty July days came to a close, the pulse of Anzac +seemed to quicken. Men went about their work with increased energy, +the Cove was busier than ever, and life altogether in that +sun-scorched, sordid spot seemed less burdensome. Staff officers +walked about with unaccustomed briskness, and made unnaturally long +visits to observation points, gazing absorbedly at Turkish terrain. +Visible signs there were that the dormant days of Anzac were drawing to +an end, and that at last the summer lethargy would give place to times +of action. Rumours filled the air. Wild they were, but there was +definite evidence that something was in the wind, and everybody +rejoiced accordingly. There would be a real ding-dong go; and then, +probably, Constantinople. + +It was now obvious that the scheme of operations involved a flank +attack to the north, which, it seemed, from the extensive preparations, +might be the main thrust. Anzac positions were faced immediately by +the frowning outposts of Destroyer Ridge, Table Top, Old No. 3, +Rhododendron and Baeuchop's [Transcriber's note: Beauchop's?] Ridge, +beyond which stretched that maze of broken ridges, which rose sharply +to the main peaks of Sari Bair, Chanak Bair and Kojatemen Tepe, which +commanded the whole width of the Peninsula and the Turkish positions +and lines of communication. Gain them, and Gallipoli would be won. + +On the dark, moonless nights of the 3rd, 4th and 5th of August +transports stole silently to anchor off the Cove, and many battalions +of Kitchener's Army and batteries of Field Artillery came ashore. When +the sun again lifted above the eastern hills, the anchorage was +deserted and the new arrivals hidden from aerial observation beneath +prepared covering. Anzac grew tense in anticipation of a battle royal. + +For the five days spent in this bivouac--the days of the awakening of +Anzac--to Mac and a dozen of his mates fell the duty of guarding the +exit from the main position to the outposts. The exit consisted of a +large barbed-wire gate across a great communication trench, close to +the stone wall on the beach. They did four-hour watches there night +and day, taking a tally of all who came and went, and watching keenly +for spies. During their daylight hours of duty, Mac and Bill sat on +sandbags under the shady wall of the sap. Their bayoneted rifles +leaned against the bank close at hand, while they, scantily clad in the +scorching hours, lazily noted in tattered note-books the particulars of +sweating, dust-covered wayfarers. When they were not busy, they sat +there automatically flicking away the flies, and watching through a gap +in the trench the horde of naked men on the beach. Passing mules often +left Mac and Bill grousing in a cloud of dust. Aussies, Maoris and New +Zealanders stopped now and then for a few minutes' rest beneath their +awning. They would yarn for a while, and the guards would accept from +their freshly-filled cans a drink of cool spring water. When the +relieving guard came, Mac and Bill just stripped off their shorts, and +ran across the stones for a splash in the sea. + +At night they were more alert on guard. Sleepy as Anzac appeared in +the hot sunlight, dark hours shrouded a scene of energy and purpose. +As soon as the evening light had gone, long strings of heavily-laden +mules, with tall Indian muleteers struggling among them, came along the +sap and passed out through the gate. There were pauses, but soon more +mule trains followed, and the earlier ones passed back empty for +further loads. All the time the guard watched carefully lest there +should be strangers attempting to pass through hidden among the mules. +Great piles of bully beef, biscuits, sealed paraffin tins of water and +ammunition grew steadily bigger in hidden spots behind the outposts, +and the troops were light-hearted accordingly. + +Platforms had been cut in hill-sides for the accommodation of troops +away from enemy observation, communication trenches had been widened, +some had been bridged and others had been created silently and swiftly +in a single night. Without orders from officers, the troops +energetically overhauled rifles, ammunition and gear; and private +possessions were looked into, diaries written and letters despatched. +Between the opposing lines warfare continued its accustomed way, and +the normal exchange of bombs, shells and bullets went on, though +Turkish artillery fire was increasing in strength. + +On Thursday, August 5th, the Regiment sorrowfully packed up all +unnecessaries and piled them in the regimental dump. Mac grieved to +part with the unfinished half of the Lemnos provisions, for heaven only +knew when they might see them again, and probably some one else would +thrive on them. + +That night the Regiment moved out through the wire gate, and crowded on +the platforms at the back of No. 1 Outpost, there to remain till the +following evening, when the battle was to open. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +NO. 3, TABLE TOP AND SUVLA BAY + +The Regiment, stretched in close lines on the terraces, slept soundly. +For many days ahead there would be little opportunity of resting, and +for many there would be but one more sleep. They did not rouse till +well after dawn, for there was nothing to do that day but fill in time. +Mac again overhauled all his equipment, paying particular attention to +his rifle, bayonet and ammunition, seeing that everything was +accessible and that all ran smoothly. Then the section rigged a +blanket between piled arms, and sat down in its shade for a game of +cards. That palled after a time, and Mac drew from his knapsack a +book, _The Cloister and the Hearth_, and was soon deep in its pages. +Then came lunch, and in the afternoon orders were read, with inspiring +messages from the Generals, and a few words from the C.O. + +A few aeroplanes burred overhead, the exchange of firing followed its +normal daily course, quieting rather in the heat of midday; but to the +waiting troops the long hours dragged. That wonder of what the future +held, that ominous quiet before the storm, the preparations for +battle--all made the day long. + +At last the sun sank behind the rugged islands in a glorious riot of +colour, the high eastern hill-tops which should be British by dawn +gradually grew black against the appearing stars. The Regiment, +water-bottles filled and in final trim, stood leaning on their rifles. +Occasionally some one gave a hitch to his gear, others talked in +subdued tones, or gazed solemnly out to sea where the black outlines of +Imbros and Samothrace stood against the last glow of departing day. At +this glorious hour there drifted up from the darkness in the ravine +below such a sound as went deep to Mac's heart. Rich in tone, perfect +in key, unmarred by a single jarring note, and to the accompaniment of +battle sounds above, came the music of the soul, and Mac was awed. It +was the chanting of five hundred Maoris and their prayer before this, +their first great trial in modern warfare. Upon the next few hours +depended the reputation of their race. Would they be worthy of the +glorious traditions of their old chiefs? + +Then came the word to move, and the Regiment, in single line, filed +down the slope and into the main sap to the north. It was already full +of troops filing to the attack, but, after many halts and +side-trackings, they reached the exit which led to the ravine. Here, +at the parting of the ways, stood the fine old padre, and, with a "God +bless you, my boy," he shook each by the hand as they passed out to +battle. + +The several troops of Mac's squadron divided for their various +objectives. To his section fell the duty of going up the ravine to cut +enemy communication trenches, leading across it to their strong outpost +on the ridge above on the left. Magazines were empty, and the orders +were that the night's work must be done with the bayonet. The forty +silent figures crept up the sharp stony bottom for a short distance, +and then halted to await the critical moment of the attack. Then, +while they waited, the long white beam from a man-o'-war at sea settled +along the ridge on the left and showed the strong wired entrenchments +of the outpost. Whir-r-r went a shell overhead, and the first shot of +the battle burst in an eruption of black smoke among the Turkish wire. + +More followed in rapid succession; but the first shot had been the +signal for the troop in the defile below to set off at a jog-trot up +its murky, twisty depths. They trotted along for five minutes, +machine-gun bullets from high above sometimes hitting up small spurts +of sand as they doubled round corners. Then, as they suddenly rounded +a sharp ridge, a dozen or so rifles burst on them from fifteen paces +distant. Some men went down in front of Mac, a cloud of dust sprang up +and he stumbled over one of the prone forms. Instantly they were in +among them, the terrified Turks shrieked, a few odd shots rang out, Mac +killed two with his revolver, and then, with bloody bayonets, shadowy +figures emerged from the murky depths of the trench, and passed on to +explore the ground beyond. They pushed up through the thick scrub to +beneath the outpost where a battle now raged, for the purpose of +catching fugitives and preventing reinforcements. But none came, and +the troop sat quietly in the scrub awaiting developments. The sound of +musketry echoed beautifully across the ravines in the clear stillness +of the night. + +The Turks were lighting fires in the stunted pine growth a short +distance ahead, which lit with a red flickering light the overhanging +clay cliffs of Table Top rising sharply at the farther side of the +defile. Then the cold white glare of a searchlight settled on its flat +top, and in a few minutes heavy howitzer, 18-pounder and naval shells, +shrieked overhead and burst, flashing and roaring, on the crest. The +overhanging crag, her summit rent by an inferno of shell fire, her +inaccessible escarpment lit by the lurid glow of scrub fires, and the +fantastic smoke clouds eerily revealed by the searchlight, made +altogether a wild night battle scene of weird glory. + +The bombardment ceased suddenly, the searchlight switched off, and part +of the regiment, who had crawled through the scrub on the more +accessible flank during the shelling, successfully rushed the Top. Mac +and his mates returned to their first scene of action and continued to +guard the communication sap. One or two Turks, who had hidden in the +scrub during the melee, gave their presence away, yelled with terror +and fell dead at the first shot. Poor old Joe, who had been severely +wounded by the first fusillade, lay dying, and soon his moans ceased +altogether. Others were dead, and some wounded. + +About three in the morning they went on again to join the rest of the +regiment on Table Top. Struggling up the trench-like bottom of the +ravine, through the inky blackness of the thick scrub, they found +themselves at length in a _cul-de-sac_, with clay cliffs on either +side. The officer went on to reconnoitre, and then, to the great +discomfiture of the forty fellows huddled together in the clay +watercourse, a hundred or so Turks put in an appearance on the brink of +the steep cliff on the left. Babbling excitedly they looked curiously +down on the silent crouching troopers. Trapped, and entirely at the +Turks' mercy, Mac momentarily expected annihilation, and wondered +vaguely why it did not come. Retreat was hopeless, and he counselled +scrambling up the steep bank and attacking them. A tense half hour +passed. Then came a guarded whistle from high up on the right, and he +heard the faint command from his officer, "Climb up to the right." +Quitting the troop, he scrambled up the soft yielding cliff, slid back +to the starting point several times, still puzzled why the Turks on the +opposite brink did not shoot, and at last found his officer near the +top, quite bewildered as to the whereabouts of his men. Mac, exhausted +with his exertions, was sent to report the night's events to the +Colonel, while his officer returned to guide the others up. + +Table Top was a level, scrub-covered plateau, about four chains across, +flanked on the north, west and south by steep cliffs, and on the east +gently sloping up towards the higher hills. Mac found the Colonel on +the far side, answered his questions, heard from him that progress +everywhere had been splendid and that the brigade had disposed of all +its objectives, and then found a few spare moments to view the country +from this high point. + +Dawn was breaking--just the same old beautiful dawn they had so often +watched silhouetting the trenches opposite and the hills beyond, but +now, with the exhilaration of victory thrilling through his body, Mac +stood there with the most glorious dawn of all his days, or of anyone +else's he thought, lighting the eastern sky. + +From the heights of the Table Top, Mac surveyed the scene below him. +To his right as he faced the north, the Table Top was connected by a +series of ridges with the hill summits about a mile away, which the sun +was just topping. To his front the ground fell abruptly in a deep +ravine, beyond which lay ridge after ridge, and beyond again the high +range behind Anafarta, three miles away, all standing out clearly in +sun-topped ridges and shadow, in the refreshing air of early morning. +Out to sea were the two islands, rugged and beautiful as ever, which, +together with the whole glory of the morning, the hills and the sea, +were unconscious and unaffected by the battle of men developing on +those beaches and hills to decide the fate of nations. + +The Anzac shore swept away to the north-west in a splendid curve to +Lala Baba, the point of Suvla Bay; and there, where no vessel floated +at sundown, lay now the strategy of the battle, a great fleet of +transports, warships, lighters, pinnaces and destroyers, encircled +already by a great torpedo-net. Farther out, every detail reflected in +the clear blue water, lay a dozen clean, sweet hospital ships. Already +round the little mound of Lala Baba were gathered small bodies of men, +horses and artillery, and occasionally Turkish shrapnel burst above +them. The warships were sending shells up the Anafarta valley and on +to the Turkish positions behind the great white patch of the Salt Lake. + +Having thoroughly taken in the situation, Mac turned again to business. +Some of the fellows were digging trenches on the enemy side of the +plateau, the medicals were bandaging the wounded, Turkish and New +Zealand, in a sheltered spot in the scrub, and Mac was told off to +disarm and guard several hundred prisoners who were trooping up the +steep slope from the rear. This was the garrison of the old No. 3 +Outpost who had found their retreat cut off by the capture of Table +Top, and were the same Turks who had, earlier in the morning, gazed +down on Mac as he had crouched in the ravine bottom fifteen feet below +them. He decided that they must have been demoralized then, or else he +and his comrades had been no more. + +The prisoners threw down their arms and bandoliers in a pile, and +seemed to feel no regret. They beamed with happiness, offered +cigarettes, biscuits, money and mementoes to their guards, and +embarrassed them by crowding round in an effort to shake their hands. +Eventually they were despatched under escort to the beach, and Mac +seized a few spare moments to watch an attack, half a mile to the +south, which was being made by Light Horsemen from the main position on +Russell's Top. + +Destroyers close in below sent high explosive shell whirring upwards to +burst in a pall of black smoke and dust on the narrow neck between the +Turkish and Australian lines. There was a tornado of machine-gun fire +which reached Mac's ears only as a high-pitched continuous note. The +shelling lasted about ten minutes only, a hopelessly inadequate +preparation, he knew, on such positions. The storm of machine-guns +rose to terrific violence, ripping and roaring. A grey fog of smoke +and dust partially screened the scarred hill-tops, and shielded the +melee from his vision, but, knowing those tiers of Turkish trenches as +he did, he was awed with the thought of what must be passing. For +fifteen minutes it lasted in all its fury, then lulled slightly, to +burst forth again for a few minutes only to diminish once more to a +steady burr, which left nothing decided in his mind. What had happened +he did not know, but when he turned his attention there later in the +morning he gathered, from the fact that the machine-guns still rattled +in the same locality as before, that ground had not been gained. + +His Squadron were instructed to make perches in the seaward cliff of +the crag where they would be safe from shrapnel which was now bursting +occasionally in the vicinity. Mac endeavoured to do so, but so steep +was the cliff that he only managed to make a ledge sufficiently wide to +sit on, while his legs dangled over the abyss below, and the sun blazed +on him in undiluted fury. But the greatest discomfort was the steady +fall of a stream of powdered clay from the constructors of perches and +paths higher up. A veranda of Turkish bayonets with Turkish rifles +roofed crossways on them, failed to improve the situation greatly, so +he gave it up as a bad job, and moved to the shade of a fine arbutus +bush on the less steep enemy side of the Top. He preferred shade, +comfort, and clean arms and ammunition, with the risk of Turkish +shrapnel, of which he had no great fear, to the drawbacks of the cliff +face without the risk. + +The Squadron lay in reserve all day, and Mac, from his shady altitude, +revelled in being just so situated with a great battle in progress, +with almost the whole battlefield in view, and him with nothing more to +do than sit there in comfort watching it. He surveyed it all through +his glasses, tracing the present limits of the advance. The high hills +seemed still to be Turkish, for different bodies of white-patched +troops made a rough line some distance below the summit, running down +laterally towards Suvla Bay. Distant ridges lined by the same +white-patched men showed that all the foothills had been taken; but Mac +watched eagerly, though in vain, for the appearance of British troops +on the higher ridges. Chocolate Hill and Osman Oblu Tepe at the inner +end of the Salt Lake, which were the main obstruction to the success of +what seemed to be the plan of attack. He saw only a few Turks on these +hills, and odd ones scurrying about near Anafarta, but never a body of +them, large or small. + +There was a great mass of troops gathered round the small mound of Lala +Baba, on whose top was now a wireless station and a signal mast. There +were horses, artillery, limbers, mobs of men and increasing piles of +stores. From huge four-masted transatlantic liners came lines of seven +or eight crowded boats in tow of a pinnace, and already the same lines +were threading their way back to the hospital ships farther out. But +the troops on shore were scarcely moving. During the whole day only a +few small bodies advanced a short distance, with little opposition it +seemed, at any time. Why did they not make a general advance? Shells +fell occasionally on different sections of the general line, the +diminishing music of the machine-guns floated, almost unnoticed, across +the hot stillness of the midday hours, the freshness of the morning had +given way to the summer glare, softened rather by the blue haze from +fires which here and there crept through the scrub. Men-o'-war, close +inshore, were shrouded in a murky pall from their flashing broadsides, +while their shells tore holes in the village of Anafarta, or sent scrub +and earth flying as they searched enemy ridges or passed to unseen +billets beyond the summits. + +Hospital ships weighed anchor and passed into distance, and destroyers +patrolled unceasingly to guard against submarine attack. + +Up the narrow, twisting sultry bottoms of ravines swarmed confused +trails of sweating men and animals, mules laden with ammunition and +water, with their Punjab muleteers, Sikhs with their mountain pieces, +and fresh troops, British and Purkha, New Zealand, Australian, passing +up to the line. Trickling rearwards, moving when opportunities +offered, went limping the bandaged wounded, the stretcher-cases, +blood-stained and grey, but patient, splendidly patient, the unladen +mules, often waiting long periods for a clear passage, and all the odd +men, messengers, prisoner escorts and others who move up and down the +communications during a battle. + +A few fellows of the Regiment were caught by snipers hidden still in +the scrub behind the advancing line. Otherwise the Table Top was +undisturbed, and the trenches grew deeper. Some went back to bury +those who had fallen in the night encounters. Mac, Bill and Charley +stuck to their shady spot most of the day. In a hollow at their feet +half a dozen dead Turks turned black in the sun. Midday came, and they +consumed the last of the Mudros luxuries; then they cleaned their gear, +slept awhile and awoke at five, expectant of great activity after the +lethargy of the day. + +The Suvla Bay force had at last roused itself, and now steady extended +lines of men were advancing across the dazzling whiteness of the Salt +Lake towards Chocolate Hill and Osman. White puffs of bursting +shrapnel broke here and there above them; but only occasional men fell. +Naval artillery raked the hills in front of them, where no Turk could +be seen. The lines went forward slowly, too slowly, for there seemed +to be little opposition to the advance and no hand-to-hand fighting. +They did not even appear to have reached the base of Chocolate Hill +when deepening shadows made it no longer possible to follow their +progress. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE NIGHT BATTLE ON CHANAK BAIR + +Of the general progress of the battle through the night and indeed +until he was wounded, Mac knew little. He heard but vaguely what was +going on on other portions of the front and could see little, and +gathered only indefinite impressions of happenings elsewhere. + +He passed the second night of the battle in alternately trenching and +resting, when he occasionally had a few moments of sleep. It was very +dark, warm and clear with a glorious showing of stars. The noise of +battle increased and seemed to fill the whole sky and earth as it had +not in the daytime. Star rockets shot skyward from the enemy lines and +burst into dazzling falling lights while the fellows crouched low in +the scrub to escape notice. The flash of the artillery and of the +bursting shells were here, there and everywhere, but mostly along the +ridge tops, and the musketry roared spasmodically in squalls along the +ridges, or drifted down from the high summits. + +At length the stars slowly faded before the eastern glow, and the +hill-tops stood out darker than before. Did dawn find them gained? +Mac waited eagerly for more light; but, when it came, found little to +discover. The summits seemed to be won, but he could find no trace of +the British nearer Anafarta. + +Sunday passed much in the same way as Saturday. The Suvla Bay force +was still hanging about the landing-place, and there was no indication +of a heavy engagement on their front. The New Zealanders had reached +the high ridges of Chanak Bair, but no one knew, if they had progressed +at all, how far they had gone over on the Dardanelles side. Nearly all +the hospital ships had vanished with full cargoes of wounded; but +otherwise the whole scene was little different from that of the +previous day. The hot hours passed slowly, the battle roared on, and +Mac and his mates wondered what might be their next move, for they were +not at present opposed to any direct enemy force. + +In the middle of the afternoon they received orders to prepare to move, +with the exception of one Squadron which was to garrison the positions. +They moved off almost immediately, passing down the steep northern +slope of the plateau and forcing their way through the dense thicket +until they reached the bottom of the hollow. They turned to the right +and jostled their way up through the struggling traffic along the +narrow, suffocating bed of the ravine. There were places where many +fine fellows had been laid low by snipers, places where they hurried, +if possible. There were times when they were jammed between mules and +the banks, and others when they had to wait many minutes for +opportunities of pushing on. After an hour of this sort of thing, they +came practically to the head of the ravine, and pushed into the scrub +on one side to make temporary bivouacs. + +Here all slacked and rested their weary bodies, stretched out full +length under the stunted bushes. Weak, most of them, with dysentery +when the battle started, they had now had two days of it, and with the +heat, the short commons of water, and little sleep, they felt a wee bit +tired, and they made the most of the short hours. + +The cool of evening came again, and with it orders to prepare for +further movements, this time to the firing line in support of their own +men on the summit of the hills above. They made the best possible meal +from the dry rations, dry enough when there was unlimited water, but +quite impossible to more than nibble in these almost waterless days. +Mac did not feel very hungry; but he had room inside his thin frame for +a tankful of water. He had started on Friday evening with a liberally +rum-tinctured bottleful, which had since been restocked with water as +strongly tainted with petrol. For the purpose of the advance, sealed +petrol tins of water had been brought from Alexandria, but the fillers +of the tins seemed to have paid no particular attention as to whether +they had first been emptied of petrol. His bottle was almost +half-empty, and he did not care for the prospect of going up to those +struggling lines without a fresh supply; but, just in time, a mule +train came up with full fantassas, and he got a half-bottle. + +When dusk had almost deepened to darkness they joined the surging +traffic of mules, men and stretchers on the dusty track, and filed +laboriously up the steep hill. The din of battle heightened with the +deepening night. Indian mountain batteries barked furiously behind +them, and the heavier artillery sent shells shrieking up from far +below, to burst somewhere up there where the crest stood silhouetted +against the stars. From above came the incessant roar of bursting +bombs and shells and rattle of musketry. At dawn the summit had been +gained, but just how good or bad our position was Mac had not the +vaguest idea. He had not heard of, nor had he seen any progress, +except the taking of this summit, since Saturday morning, and had no +idea as to whether the battle was progressing favourably or otherwise. +What was expected of them up there to-night none knew. Each carried a +pick or a shovel and two bombs. + +They passed the dressing-stations, perched on either side on the steep +slope, where hundreds of wounded lay, then over a ridge where the track +stopped and out into the pitch black open. The bullets zipped past or +thudded into the ground. The troop lay down while they got their +bearings. A fellow close by Mac gave a yell and was dead. A few +wounded men, limping or crawling back, passed them. Then in extended +order they went forward again, guided by a telephone wire, keeping +touch with difficulty in the scrub and the darkness. Frequently there +would come from the blackness in front of their feet a warning "Keep +clear o' me, cobber, I'm wounded," or groans and the gleam of a white +bandage, and sometimes they stumbled over prone still forms. Slowly +they picked their way forward, making towards the centre of the firing, +which was in a semicircle round them, and the whistling bullets came +from both sides as well as from in front, and the din grew fiercer. +They reached at length a hollow full of wounded, then went slowly up a +slope littered with equipment and dead, and, at last, topping the rise, +they came upon a scene so weird and infernal that Mac instantly stopped +and stared with awe. + +Lit fantastically by flickering flames which were licking slowly +through the scrub was a small ghastly, battle-rent piece of ground, not +one hundred yards in width and rising slightly. Beyond and close on +either side, it was bounded by the starry heavens, and seemed a +strange, detached dreamland where men had gone mad. The Turks lined +the far edge, their ghostly faces appearing and vanishing in the eerie +light, as they poured a point-blank fusillade at the shattered series +of shallow holes where the remnants of the New Zealanders were fighting +gallantly. Sweeping round to the left was the flashing semicircle of +the enemy line, bombs exploded with a lurid glare, their murky pall +drifting slowly back towards Mac. Shells came whirring up from the +black depths behind, and burst beyond the further lip. Above the +rending of the bombs, the rattle and burr of the rifles and +machine-guns and the crash of shells, sometimes sounded faintly men's +voices--the weird "Allah, Allah, Allah" of the enemy in a chanted +cadence, and the fierce half-humorous taunts of the attackers. + +Everywhere lay dead and dying men--mostly the former, Turkish and +British. Equipment and rifles were strewn in the greatest confusion +over the torn earth, and all the time the creeping flames cast weird +lights upon the passing drama. + +"Say, old boy," came a voice from his feet, "you'd better not stand +there too long--it's pretty thick." + +Mac leaned down to the wounded man, and found him one of the Aucklands. +"It's been simply blanky hell up here all day and now I'm just waiting +for them to give me a hand out. You boys have come up none too soon. +Mind you give the devils hell!" + +"You there with the pick," Mac found himself addressed, "get over to +those holes up front there and dig in for all you're blanky well worth." + +"Good luck, matey, Kia Ora," came the parting blessing from the wounded +Aucklander in the scrub. + +So brimming over with good fellowship were the tones, so short, yet so +deeply affectionate that Mac instinctively felt much more lighthearted +as he stumbled across the shattered battlefield to the thin line of +toiling, hard-pressed fighters, close to the rim where the cliff fell +away on the Dardanelles side. He found a line of shallow holes, some a +foot deep, some eighteen inches, aided a little by a few almost useless +sandbags. The cliff brink was six or eight yards away, and under it +lay the enemy--whose spectral figures, popping up and disappearing +rapidly, blazed point blank into the exposed line. A few yards on the +left the Turks poured across from the cliff to a small knob which +protruded into the attackers' line, and upon which they bore down +constantly and bombed furiously. From the ravine below the enemy, came +the constant "Allah, Allah, Allah," of many Turks encouraging +themselves for the attack, and occasional yells when shells or bombs +fell among them. + +Mac knelt on the ground and endeavoured to deepen the hold by steady +picking, while two other men kept a steady fire on the agile heads of +the enemy. But try his best, he was now beginning to feel severely his +decreasing strength and could make but little impression on the trench +on this parched, sun-baked hill-top. Another trooper offered to take +his place, and he went to the less arduous work of carrying such +tattered sandbags as still contained earth from the second line about +fifteen feet back and piling them up in some sort of a parapet for the +front line. The second line was only half a dozen square holes whose +fine garrisons lay dead within them, except a few who raved in delirium +for water which was not to be had. They and their arms lay prostrate +across each other, many half-buried by flying earth from shells and +bombs. + +He finished this work and then responded to an oft-repeated call from +farther along, "Reinforcements for the right. Reinforcements for the +right. Enemy getting round behind!" Here was a shallow bit of a hole +with three or four men, the right flank of this part of the line, while +the cliff edge was only four or five yards distant, and the enemy was +thought to be crawling back and gathering for a heavy assault. Mac set +about improving the trench and forming a small right angle to prevent +enfilade and to protect the flank. The sap had been deeper earlier in +the day, for the first foot he shovelled out consisted of a sticky +muddy mass of blood, soil, ammunition and gear of all sorts. He sifted +it carefully for good ammunition and bombs, and formed the rest into a +parapet with the assistance of sandbags. Sometimes when he was tired +he took a turn at keeping the enemy from becoming too venturesome on +the cliff brink. Queer shapes stood out against the stars, but whether +they were always Turks he could not tell, as from long sleeplessness +and strain his sight was inclined to play him tricks. Anyhow he ran no +risks. Somehow or other the troops farther on the left were constantly +shouting warnings concerning figures passing back to the right, but +these he could not see; while, curiously enough, he could plainly +follow Turkish figures flitting across the sky-line on the left from +the cliff to the small knob which could enfilade the trench from the +left. His rifle jammed from heat and dust. He took two from dead men +and kept them both on the parapet ready for instant action. The others +did much the same sort of thing, helping each other, sticking grimly to +the job and not worrying much, apparently, about their future. + +The battle raged on through hour after hour with unabated fierceness; +and the din of it all, the whirring and crashing of the shells, the +furious rattle of musketry, the yells of men and the cries of the +wounded, became almost an unnoticed monotone in Mac's ears. The Turks +threw bombs steadily, but fortunately only in ones and twos. They were +fairly slow to explode, and, if they landed on the parapet, the troops +crouched in the bottom of the trench, or, if into the trench, they got +out until the explosion and the fumes had cleared away. The enemy was +almost safe from bombing, for grenades which were thrown at him found +no resting-place until far down into the ravine, where their explosion +sounded only as a dull unsatisfactory thud. Sometimes big shells +whirring up from the warships or the heavy land batteries burst short +and caught some of the already too sparse attackers, or brought the +sufferings of the wounded to an end. Mac's line lost men who went +bleeding to the rear. Sometimes their places were taken--more often +they were not. + +He wondered vaguely what would happen, but all were too busy with +affairs of immediate importance, and somehow it did not seem to matter +in the least--the outlook was not bright. The Turkish mound on the +left could enfilade the trench at short range when daylight came, the +enemy was in great force in front and was creeping back to the +rear--already a fire-swept zone impossible to cross. Where was that +great force from Suvla Bay? They had landed three miles away at +midnight on Friday and it was now just before dawn on Monday. + +The night came in time near to its end. He could not describe it as +having gone quickly, nor yet slowly--it had simply passed. Dawn +brought no particular pleasure, only the transition from the unearthly +phantasmagoria of bitter night fighting to the practical fierce +hand-to-hand struggling of day. The paling sky figured the sky-line +and the Turkish heads in definite silhouette, and many of the large +shrubs of the night where Turks might lurk revealed themselves as small +tufts of grass. Vigilance increased. If rifles did not sweep that +crest continually the old Turk would leave his head and shoulders above +the edge long enough to take aim, instead of blazing away rather at +random. + +It was now definitely seen that the Turks had got well round the right +flank during the darkness, in spite of a machine-gun which had been +said to sweep this zone; but of it Mac saw no sign. Some Turks were +creeping through a hollow immediately to the right, and he being the +tallest man at this point directed his attention at the wriggling backs +with some success. One wounded Turk there signalled by waving his +rifle to some of the advanced party, but was soon after lifted by a +mate who ran with him to safety. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +MAC IS WOUNDED + +That August dawn revealed a ghastly scene on this Gallipoli hill-top, +where the tired, outnumbered attackers fought desperately for the +summit of the Peninsula, possession of which would mean victory and the +command of the Straits. It seemed to Mac that decision must come soon, +for this desperate, more or less continual hand-to-hand encounter could +not last much longer. Bad as their position was, it could not be long +now before those many thousands of Imperial troops would be taking the +enemy in flank from the Suvla Bay direction, or at least would be +strongly reinforcing them from the rear. + +And now, even before it was full daylight, the activity along the line, +though it had scarcely seemed possible, grew more violent, and Mac felt +that each side tensely watched the other, expecting every moment a +final, desperate coming to grips. The Turks appeared to be gathering +in great numbers, and were even now on the point of making a +whole-hearted attack. But the British artillery intervened. The +shelling had been increasing steadily, and at this moment several +men-o'-war close inshore opened their broadsides and were joined by all +the field artillery which could be brought to bear, and there broke +along the crest such a tornado of bursting shells as had never been +seen during the whole campaign. + +The battleships were concealed by a thick pall of brown smoke through +which spurted the flashes of their batteries, field guns of all sizes +barked from ravines and ridges; the shells roared and shrieked up +towards the summit, and burst in a continual shattering crash on those +few hundred square yards of deadly battlefield, or passed aimlessly +beyond the ridge and exploded harmlessly far over enemy territory. The +Turks, being mostly under the farther lip of the small plateau, +suffered little from the bombardment except on the knob which protruded +into the line to Mac's left. It was torn constantly by high explosive, +and Turkish bodies were flung high in the air, in whole or in part. +Equipment, earth and sandbags mixed with the sickly, murky green smoke +which drifted in a choking cloud across Mac's line. Rapidly fresh +Turks filled the places of their dead, and they in turn were blasted by +the bombardment. + +But many of the shells were falling short; or may be they were not +falling short, rather it was a position which should never have been +bombarded in this fashion. The artillery was directed upon a hill high +above it, lying between it and the breaking day. On its crest, +separated by only a few yards, were both the defenders and the +attackers. Few of the shells were likely to hit the enemy, for the +majority must either spend themselves in the air beyond the crest or +else fall among our own men on the crest itself; so they fell thickly +along Mac's line, and thus to the danger of an enemy on three sides was +added the tragedy of our own artillery on the fourth. Helpless they +were to shield themselves or to stop this mad destruction. They had +red and yellow flags to mark their positions, and these they waved +violently, but it could be of no avail in the dawn light, the dust and +the smoke. + +What telephone communication there was with the rear, Mac did not know; +but, whether there was any or whether it had been cut by the enemy, no +sign came that the artillery knew where its shells were falling. One +after another those shells burst with a yellow glare and a fountain of +black smoke, sending men, some alive, and many dead, flying upwards; +and when Mac could see again there would be a space in the line where +one, two or more of his troop had taken the long trail. They rained +faster, bursting incessantly on that narrow strip between them and the +edge of the cliff, often falling behind and always odd ones and twos +dropping into the trench itself. Mac felt sick with the fumes and the +horror of it, and sometimes the blast of a shell sent him against the +side of the trench. The helplessness of the position appalled him. +There were fewer and fewer of them left, and there was a growing gap in +the line. Yet there was no means of stopping it; and he longed for the +bombardment to cease. He sniped away at the Turks along the cliffs, +and turned his attention at times to some who had been hunted from the +knob by the shelling. There were only three or four of them left in +this corner and yet there was no slackening of that mad artillery fire. +Then swiftly there was an awful lurid flash close in front of him, on +the level ground almost in his face, and it seemed he had been hit +across the head with a bar of wood, and he could not see. He pressed +his hand to his face and sank slowly to the ground. + +"Old Mac's a goner," he heard the voice of one of his mates say in +those same affectionate, final tones which had followed the +disappearance of comrade after comrade on the left. + +"Poor old fellow," said another. + +"No," muttered Mac. "By God though, I'm blind for life!" He felt the +blood rushing down his face, and he knew it. He sat up, and no one +said anything. He thought for a second or two and decided on a course +of action. "Well, it's no longer any good staying here. I'm off." So +saying, he undid the buckles of his Webb equipment, and struggled out +of all his gear, keeping only the case of his glasses, for he thought +he might as well stick to them. + +He remembered the way to the second line, and crawled along the +shattered trench to the left, feeling his way past the legs of the one +or two men who were left. They paid no attention to him, being too +busy with the enemy to be concerned with other matters. He felt his +way along on his hands and knees, down into holes, over dead bodies, +avoiding wounded, across the open ground, until he came to where he +thought the communication trench ought to be and turned to the left. +There seemed to be little of it remaining. It had never been much of a +thing, and was now blown about and full of wounded and dead. He was +finding himself in difficulties about getting past some wounded men, +when some one came out from the second line and led him in. There his +Captain took his hand and patted him on the back. + +"I'm afraid I've lost my sight, sir," said Mac. + +"I'm afraid so, old boy," replied he. "I'll send a chap back with you." + +One of the boys took charge of him, and Mac stumbled off through the +little piece of trench into the open, across which, from both sides, +the bullets fled whistling and zipping. Jogging awkwardly short +distances over the rough ground, then lying in hollows for brief rests, +they covered at length that exposed slope of about one hundred and +fifty yards which separated the trench from the shallow head of a +ravine, wherein lay hundreds of wounded and dead. The trooper guided +Mac carefully over a space where bodies lay thick, and made him lie +down on a sloping clay bank, took his field dressing from his pocket +and bandaged his head. + +Mac lay there through the whole of that long terrible day, a day of +strange unearthliness, when he seemed to float away into a weird +dreamland and at times into nightmare, and yet it was not a day of +unmixed suffering. The sun glared down pitilessly through the hot +hours, the tormenting flies swarmed in their millions, the dead lay +thick around, already blackening in the heat, the dying raved in +delirium for water which never came, and the battle raged on with +unceasing violence. Lying uncomfortably on a slope, propped against a +dead Turk, he scarcely seemed to feel the burning heat of the sun, the +irritation of the flies, the torturing thirst nor the pain of his +wound, for his spirit lay soothed in a strange restfulness, in the +satisfaction of peace, in a manner like the weary wishing for nothing +but sleep after a day of honest work. For Mac the fight was over; he +had done what had been asked of him, and his spirit, serenely happy in +this knowledge, seemed to rise above earthly discomfort and to concern +itself little with the shattered state of his body, nor yet with the +fact that he was far from out of the wood. Death was all around; and, +had it come to him, he would have had no terror of it, but simply the +resigned acceptance of a happy soul. + +Early in the morning Mac had inquired whether he could not be taken on +to the dressing-station, but learned that it was impossible as the +enemy swept the country between with an impassable hail of bullets. +The lower end of the ravine was in Turkish hands, elsewhere there were +unscalable cliffs, and the only means of getting back was by crossing a +ridge close under the enemy rifles. There was nothing for it but to +await nightfall. + +The ravine was full of wounded. The more lightly injured had drifted +towards the bottom, but those who had not been able to walk lay crowded +close in the shallow head near Mac. Most of them were already dead, +for many had been wounded two nights previously, and few so seriously +injured could stand a second day of such torment. Mac asked sometimes +if there was water, but there was none. Occasionally he inquired how +the battle was going, and if there were any men near to hear him, they +replied only with unassuming grunts. He sat up once for a change of +position and moved away a little from the dead Turk, but the flying +bullets sent him back. He may have been light-headed once or twice, +but this he himself could not tell. Queerly enough, he troubled not at +all about the form his wound had taken. Though he knew with absolute +certainty that he would never see again, he was not worried by the +horrors of a future world of darkness; and found himself in his vague +wanderings of mind deeply pitying those round him, and his heart was +full of grief at their sufferings. + +Gradually a lessening of the heat told of coming evening. A little +water arrived and was distributed in small potions. Mac was conscious +that those who came periodically to the hollow to do for the wounded +all that lay in their power were performing fine actions of +self-sacrifice. It grew cool, and Mac stirred himself to expect aid +from the rear; word had come, too, that a large Imperial force would be +sent up at nightfall to relieve the tattered remnant of the garrison, +who had dwindled to a desperate handful from attack after attack by the +enemy through all the long day, and who were almost light-headed from +fatigue. The hours still dragged on without anything happening, and +Mac almost feared they had been forgotten. At last, shortly after he +had heard a voice say it was eleven o'clock, some one came into the +ravine, and inquired in the dark who were there. Few answered, for, it +seemed to Mac, most of them were too far gone. All those who could +look after themselves had long ago drifted farther down the ravine. + +"Who are you?" sang out Mac. + +"I'm an Auckland stretcher-bearer." + +"Well, if you can show me the way, you can take me back. I can't see, +but I can walk all right." + +"I dunno how I'm goin' to get you out of there. There are too many +wounded round you." + +"Oh, if you show me where to tread I'll be all right. You might as +well take me back. I'm the only one here who can walk," said Mac +appealingly. + +After a little more persuasion, he picked his way over the bodies, and, +Mac, swaying a little, stood up. He forgot to take the case of his +glasses which he had been using as a pillow, though he had remembered +afterwards that the glasses themselves were still on the parapet where +he had been wounded. He picked his steps carefully over the prostrate +forms, and then, grabbing the Ambulance man firmly by the belt, +stumbled after him up the slope. They toiled down the long ridge, +falling frequently into hidden holes in the thick scrub; and all the +time the rifles blazed along the ridges and the bullets zipped past +them in the darkness. They reached the dressing-station, where, from +the sounds which reached his ears, it seemed to him many men were +lying, and a crowd passed constantly to and fro. A medical officer +took Mac in hand, dressed his wound as well as might be--for there was +no water for such purposes--and gave him a drink. Though Mac protested +he could quite well walk, the M.O. insisted on putting him on a +stretcher, giving orders to the bearers to take him without delay to +the hospital life-boats. And so, swaying precariously, he was taken +away down the rough, steep slope, the bearers halting often to regain +their breath. Then, taking not the slightest heed of his mild +protests, they dumped him off the stretcher after they had gone about +half a mile, spread a blanket over him and departed. He lay there +peacefully for an hour or two, and then, becoming thoroughly fed up at +this lack of progress and seeing no point in such delays, called out to +some one he heard near him, to know what possibility there was of a +further move. + +"None, old boy," came the discouraging reply. "Stretchers are just +about finish, and there 're dozens of stretcher-cases lying everywhere. +From the looks of things you might be here for a day or two yet." + +Mac thought for a minute or two and decided to take matters into his +own hands. He heard some one passing along the path. + +"Hullo you! Come over here," he called. + +Some one approached. + +"What's up, cobber?" + +"If you're going to the rear you might as well take me along with you. +I can walk all right. I only want a helping hand. What about it?" + +"Well, I'm a Fifth Reinforcements just landed, an' I dunno where all my +mates are gone." + +"All right. You might as well come along with me." And so saying, Mac +stood up, shed his blanket, and went off with the man who had lost +himself. + +It was broad daylight again, and the Artillery activity was steadily +increasing. They wandered down the dusty bottom of the ravine, Mac +directing the way as best he could. At the bottom of the ravine, near +a battery in furious action, they had to halt for some time owing to a +congestion in the traffic through the big communication saps. Mac +wanted to go along the top, but the other fellow refused flatly as +there were too many bullets flying, and so they had to progress when +opportunity offered through the hot dusty crowded saps. They were +close to the sea by No. 2 Outpost, but the hospital boats had ceased +taking wounded off from there, owing to the heavy rifle fire. Mac +decided to go on to Anzac without delay as, with weakness growing, he +wished to keep going until he reached a hospital-ship. Dragging one +foot after another, he plodded on through the interminable trenches, +though swiftly his strength was going and he had to rest every twenty +yards. + +His companion, taking the wrong turning, led him over an unnecessary +hill, which nearly exhausted his walking powers, but about nine o'clock +they at length reached the Cove and the clearing station. Mac's head +was again dressed, he swallowed with the deepest joy many cups of tea, +bid farewell to his escort, and lay down on some bales of hay to await +the arrival of a hospital-ship, of which there were none at present off +the landing. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE END OF MAC'S CAMPAIGNING DAYS + +About midday a hospital-ship anchored off the shore, and some one led +him along the pier to a barge, from which he was transferred to a +mine-sweeper, and at last was swung upwards by a crane on to the deck +of the ship. He was almost the first on board. Kind hands and +affectionate voices welcomed him, and tender hands led him along the +deck to a surgery. The fresh cooling sea air had revived him, and here +at last, with skilled hands and cool lotions easing his aching head, he +felt supremely happy. + +The blood and grime removed from his face, and a neat white bandage +round his head, a sister took him in charge and guided him far down to +a ward low in the ship. She gave him a comfortable bunk, and swiftly +set about spring-cleaning him. She speedily unclothed him by running a +pair of scissors along the sleeves and legs of his blood-clotted +garments, giving him his precious bandages and identification disc +wrapped up in a handkerchief; then sponged him all over in deliciously +cool water, decked him in a shirt, and spread a sheet over him. Next +came a large bowl of hot soup, which Mac lost no time in putting within +his hungry frame, and finally a glass of port. The fine sister chatted +away the while with pleasant little laughs and entertaining +remembrances, as if she had not been working in those steamy holds for +days and nights with scarce a rest. + +Many others were brought into the ward, and it was soon full of +seriously wounded men, Imperial, Australian and New Zealand. M.O.'s +and sisters worked incessantly at the heavy dressings. + +The hours drifted slowly by, for though he had had no sleep for four +days and nights, and little for several nights before that, he did not +sleep, and the passage of time was marked only by the arrival of meals +and the pleasant relief of fresh dressings. He was always hungry from +long under-feeding, and relished everything which came his way. For +him there was no difference between night and day, and he often lost +count of time. There was only one sister in the ward, a splendid +Queensland girl, who toiled for almost all of the twenty-four hours in +the hot, steaming atmosphere, going steadily the round of the heavy +dressings, starting again at the beginning as soon as she came to the +last. + +The ordinary routine work had to be left to the orderlies, and these +men angered Mac so at times that he wished they might be lined up in a +row and shot. Recruited, it seemed, from the lowest order of some +community, they made use of this opportunity, when all senior ranks +were too fully occupied with more immediate work of their own, to loaf, +to rob the wounded sometimes, and to ignore many simple duties which +for many men made all the difference between pain and comfort. Most of +the wounded suffered from dysentery in a more or less acute form, and +frequently seriously wounded men had to struggle out of bed to attend +to the wants of those incapable of moving. Some exceptions there were, +but the casual neglect in Mac's ward made him fume with anger. + +But the sister and the padre were splendid people. The padre came to +the ward to assist the sister with her dressings, and came to Mac to +break gently the news that he would never see again. Mac had no +illusions on this point, and laughed at the padre and his serious, +funereal attitude till he resumed his normal cheery manner, when he and +Mac soon discovered that they had many great friends in common in New +Zealand, for the padre hailed from those parts too. The padre and +sister became great friends of Mac, and in odd moments they sat on his +bunk and yarned away with him, the padre about the Sounds' country +which he and Mac knew so well, about what work Mac might do in future, +and about all sorts of things, and with the sister he arranged some day +to stay on the far back Queensland station. + +The evening of the day he came on board they left Anzac and for some +hours the engines rumbled away, when again there was silence. Mac was +told they were at Mudros alongside the _Aquitania_ putting all light +and medium cases on board that vessel. Then for an indefinite space of +time he again felt the vibration of the engines, and he thought they +must be bound for Alexandria. When the vessel stopped, without having +the vaguest notion how long she had been steaming, he took it for +granted they were at Alexandria, and was rejoicing inwardly. He was +deeply disappointed to hear they were again off Anzac. + +During the day the Turks shelled the vessel, and turned machine-guns on +her. The shells, which Mac could hear bursting as he lay in his bunk, +did no damage, but the machine-gun fire caught one wounded man lying on +deck, made several chips in the deck and holes through the operating +theatre, narrowly missing a medical officer at work on a case and +rattled against the steel sides. The ship moved out to a safer +anchorage. Mac heard in later days that a destroyer had been +carelessly firing from under the lee of the hospital ship. They took +on board that day another thousand cases, again transferred the less +seriously wounded to the _Aquitania_, and returned once more to Anzac. +They left Anzac finally on Friday, called again at Mudros to discharge +the light cases, and set a course for Alexandria, much to Mac's relief. + +One day he was taken on a stretcher to the operating theatre, where he +drifted strangely away from earthly things, and woke again in his bunk. +Once he had a glorious sleep, after an injection of morphia, but +usually he lay awake, tired and restless. There was no one to talk to, +except on those rare but pleasant moments when the good padre and the +ever-cheering sister found a few spare minutes. All those near him +were badly wounded and far too ill to speak. Some died, and, wrapped +in a blanket, disappeared from the ward to join the line of corpses on +an upper deck, waiting the dawning hour and the parting words of the +padre to plunge with firebars at their feet into the blue +Mediterranean. Of what had finally happened on those Gallipoli heights +no one could say definitely, and there were disappointing and +unsatisfactory rumours. About noon one day the vessel passed much +wreckage of shattered boats, oars, sun helmets, lifebelts and so on, +and cruised about for some time looking for survivors, but found none. +It was the scene of the foundering a few hours earlier of the _Royal +Edward_ with many hundred fine fellows. The padre brought what news he +could to Mac, and was seldom unaccompanied by something tempting in the +way of sweets or fruit. + +On Monday about the middle of the morning the vessel tied up at +Alexandria. The heat was almost unbearable, for no breeze stirred in +the hot confines of the dock to send a cooling breath into the stuffy +depths of the ship. Mac had a wild longing to get off the ship, and he +must have become light-headed. He had been told he would be sent +ashore before evening, but it seemed to him hour after hour had passed +and he knew it must be ten o'clock at night. He gave up hope, and said +to the sister when she came near him that he supposed no one would be +sent ashore now until morning. + +"But it's only midday. You'll all go ashore this afternoon." + +"Midday on Monday or Tuesday?" Mac inquired. + +"Monday, of course, you silly old boy." + +Days seemed to pass before the stretcher-bearers commenced removing the +wounded from his ward, but it was only four in the afternoon when he +was put on a stretcher, taken up in a lift and carried down the gangway +across the pier to an ambulance. For those fifty yards through the +fierce sun, an English woman walked beside him holding a parasol over +his head, and he was deeply touched by so thoughtful a kindness. From +what he had seen of the English ladies of Egypt during the terrible +shortage of trained hospital workers, he knew that no words could +describe the magnificence of their actions. The ambulance rattled +away, and he heard again the many noises of an Egyptian street. It was +a dreary journey of nearly an hour, for the springs of the car had long +abandoned their functions, and the jolting over the cobbled roads was +agony to his wounded head. + +He was taken to the 17th General Hospital at Ramleh, and was placed on +a low basket arrangement in a big marquee, with its sides rolled up so +that the least hot of any stray breeze might find its way in. The +floor was the desert sand. It was in these days that the shamefully +inadequate preparations for the wounded were most felt, yet the +sufferers themselves did not complain, and the hospital staffs and the +civilian population of Egypt went to work in that scorching heat to +make the best use of their strength and of the short supply of material +available. So the wounded, knowing that all there were doing their +best uncomplainingly accepted going without dressings when they would +have brought great relief; accepted bad food sometimes, the discomfort +of the wicket beds in the stifling heat of the marquees; and, armed +each with a fly whisk, they made the best of a bad job. The sisters +were magnificent, and, indeed, everybody was. The lightly wounded, +too, did all in their power for those who could not walk. + +Several hours after Mac arrived, he was handed a bowl of rice mixed +with condensed milk, and though it had been made some time, and had +fermented, he was hungry and ate it eagerly. Then a sister dressed his +wound, and soon the marquee was left to itself for the night. For the +first time in several days, in spite of the fact that his head felt +very bad, he went to sleep, and his waking was full of strange, +unutterable horror. He found himself crawling with his hands and knees +on the sand. He was awake, but why was it he could not see? He +crawled round and round, but could find nothing but sand, sand +everywhere, nothing but sand. He felt terribly alone, and he could not +recall the reason of it all, or why he could not see. He called out in +his terror--again--and again--what, he did not know. Then an old +sister seized him. "You poor old boy. What have you crawled out of +the tent for?" And he remembered again where he was. She took him +back to his bed, soothed him as a mother would calm a terrified child. +Mac was trembling like a leaf. + +Tuesday dragged wearily by. He was in low condition, and very, very +tired and his head ached violently. Between the flies, the heat and +the uncomfortable bed, it was not a happy home; but the kindness of the +sisters and the other wounded men who came to him occasionally, went +far towards making it all bearable. There were men worse than he in +that marquee, men in agony and near to death, with torn, septic wounds, +but sticking it out without a word. + +Wednesday brought changes. The padre of the hospital ship had cabled +to his father in London that he was all right, and what hospital he was +going to; and now several people came to see him. Mac told them he +would like to go home as soon as he could be sent, as there could be no +more campaigning for him and the sooner he was home the better. The +M.O. said that a hospital-ship was leaving on the following day and +that he would be sent by it. Mac was put in a ward that afternoon. He +was brought some clothes for the morning, but, being fed up with bed, +unknown to the sister, he donned them straight away and went and sat by +the window. He felt very groggy, but getting up and about bucked him +up tremendously. + +Next morning he took farewell of the sister, and, clad in a Tommy +uniform built for some one many sizes smaller, a pair of heavy boots of +huge calibre, and a Tommy cap perched on top of his bandages, he walked +downstairs with an orderly. But out in the open the sun was too much +for him and laid him low, when he was converted into a stretcher-case, +and swung away on an ambulance much more comfortable than the one which +brought him. Again he was carried across the sun-baked pier, sheltered +from the sun and protected from the flies by one of those splendid +Alexandrian women, and taken down into a comfortable bunk in the +hospital-ship _Dongola_. Mac found in the adjutant of the ship a +friend of bygone days, who placed him in a spare deck cabin, which he +found not at all an unpleasant home for the next ten days. + +He speedily gained strength at sea, and began to enjoy life a bit more. +A fine Australian, who was but slightly wounded, took Mac under his +wing, and with ceaseless care and affection walked with him on deck, +and in a wonderfully unselfish way did many little things to make time +pass quickly for him. A cheery Scottish sister poked her head in +occasionally, and came in the evening to do his dressing. The orderly +who brought Mac's meals, was an earnest, hardworking man, who had +worked once with a missionary among the Eskimos, and who did the work +of several lazy orderlies as well as his own. Late in the evening, as +a special treat, he brought a gramophone up from below deck, stood it +on a chair in the middle of the small cabin, directed the trumpet +straight at Mac's head, and set in motion mournful hymn tunes. It was +tough going for his aching head; but the earnest orderly was so wrapped +up in giving to him what he thought was great pleasure that he had not +the heart to stop him. Mac would silence it for a time by encouraging +dissertations on Eskimo life, or the future of the Gospel in India. An +hour of the gramophone, and it would retire below to end its rasping +for the day. + +Twelve hot hours were passed in the Grand Harbour of Malta, while +thousands of cackling fowls were lowered from the boat deck and sent +ashore for men in hospital. The two following days Mac was almost +entirely deserted, as a heavy sea sent most of the sisters, orderlies +and patients to their bunks. The first night no one came to dress his +head; but the second night a quaint rough stoker put in an appearance, +and, chatting cheerfully the while, made his head more or less +comfortable. No water came for washing, and on two rare occasions a +fleeting orderly left a plate of some sort of food or other. He spent +those two days in bed, and was thankful when they were over. From then +onward the voyage went well, snoozing on deck in a chair, or walking up +and down arm and arm with the Australian. + +At length, in the keen air of an English autumn morning, Mac stood by +the ship's rail as she moved quietly up Southampton Water, to berth in +due course alongside a pier and a hospital train. Mac had dreamed that +it might be so, though he scarcely dared to hope that it would come +true; but the gangway was scarcely down before his father and his +sister were on the deck and had him in their arms. In the middle of +the afternoon the hospital train stopped at a Surrey station; and +before very long he was being undressed, bathed and put to bed. +Presently, the sister, the medical officer, his father and his sister +withdrew quietly from the bright little room, saying that he must go to +sleep after the excitements of the day. And to sleep Mac went, feeling +more comfortable and happy than he had been for many a long day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +HOMEWARD + +The tents sway and flap vigorously as gusts of wind tear through the +camp, carrying clouds of sand across the island. Through the darkness +comes the sound of the lashing of the date palms and the tamarisks as +they swing to the gale. Within a straining, war-worn tent, lit by a +flickering candle, stuck in a grease-streaked bottle, sit several +mounted men of the old Brigade, their faces brown and weather-beaten +from long campaigning in the Sinai Desert and amid Palestine hills. +The gear and stuff scattered casually about the tent tell it is the +abode of an old hand of long service, who worries little about the +frills of base and peace-time armies. And there, too, sprawled +half-way across a camp bed is Mac. They yarn about old times, +Gallipoli days and after, laughing often, though sometimes in +affectionate, quieter tones they speak of a fallen comrade. It is +midnight, the ill-used candle has not many minutes of life to run, and +the desert wind bellows over the camp. + +Three and a half years have passed since Mac found himself in the +comfortable security of an English hospital--far from unpleasant years, +during which the comradeship of his fellow-soldiers, and the kindness +of many friends have fully made good the sight Mac lost on the summit +of Chanak Bair. He has not lost touch with the men of the +Expeditionary Force during their long weary years in France and +Palestine, but has worked among them to the best of his limited powers. +And now this stormy night in March 1919 finds him again with his old +comrades of the Mounted Brigade, who, with a glorious campaign behind +them, are resting for a while on an island on Lake Timsah till a +transport at Suez is ready for them to embark. Mac has visited old +haunts and old friends in Egypt, and to-morrow he, too, goes on board +his ship at Suez, bound for home. Again there will be warm sleepy days +in the Red Sea, with delicate sunsets and cool nights, a few sunny +weeks in the tropics, some heavy weather, no doubt, south of Australia, +and then New Zealand. + +Nearly five years of war, strange adventures and experiences of the +wider world have brought changes in the lives of those whose fate was +not to fall in the field, and have left them a little sadder and, +maybe, a little wiser. Mac's life must be vastly changed from the old +one, and for him there will be no more work with his dogs among the +sheep and cattle, and no more of many of the old things. But he has no +regrets. Least of all does he regret the day which first found him a +trooper of the Mounted Rifles. Others may forget the men who went +away, many never to return; but deep in the hearts of their comrades +will be fully valued those years of campaigning, when they knew the +unselfish sacrifices of comradeship, the careless courage, the humour, +and the affection of man. + +Through these years Mac often thought of that wild winter day in the +bush when he and Charley, looking at the old Boer War pictures, had +resented the fact that they had been too young to join in it, and that +there was no, war for them to go to. Within a year Charley had been +killed, wounded three times in an attack at Cape Helles; and three +months later Mac himself had been incapacitated for life. Their +longing for war had been fulfilled with a vengeance. True, war had +brought them no good; but it had had many grand moments, power to +strengthen character and inspiration towards great thought, art and +unselfishness. Tragedy, crime and disease had also followed in its +train, though, for his part, Mac thought that some good must come of it +all. + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of a Trooper, by Clutha N. Mackenzie + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF A TROOPER *** + +***** This file should be named 26548.txt or 26548.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/5/4/26548/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +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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