spiracy? Can't I be in it too?" said a strange voice
that made Harry Hawke jump round, ready to salute, but his hand dropped
to his side again, for it was only an Australian corporal, who had come
along the trench behind him unnoticed.

"Why, Dan, old fellow! Where on earth have you sprung from?" cried
Dennis, emerging from his burrow and seizing the outstretched hand as
though he never meant to let it go again.

"It isn't a long story, Dennis," laughed the corporal, who was a
broad-shouldered young fellow a year or two the boy's senior. "They've
just moved our crowd in behind the brigade on your right, and the first
person I set eyes on was Uncle Arthur, who happens to know our old man.
So, as we are in the reserve trenches and nothing doing, I asked leave
to come over here to see you, and got it too. Uncle told me you had only
just arrived. How long have you been here?"

"Forty-eight hours," said Dennis. "Come and see my quarters."

His cousin ducked his head and followed him down the three steps that
led into the dug-out.

"'Will you walk into my parlour, said the spider to the fly,'" murmured
Dan Dunn.

"Quite so," laughed Dennis. "But we haven't room for even a spider's
web, though the rats are an infernal nuisance."

"There are worse things in this world than rats," said his cousin,
looking round at the little square cave excavated months before by the
Germans in the chalky soil, and seating himself on one of the two cots.
"Who's your room-mate?"

"My brother Bob. He's our platoon commander, you know. He'll be in
presently for tea. But, I say, isn't this just ripping?"

"It's certainly better than Gallipoli," said Dunn with a quiet,
retrospective smile. "Gad, Dennis, that was an awful hash up!" And he
blew a cloud of tobacco smoke to circle upwards among the shelves and
lockers, where all sorts of things were stowed away.

"Beg pardon, sir," said Private Hawke, thrusting his head in at the
door. "You didn't answer this gentleman's question. Does he want to come
with us to-night?"

"Oh, yes--did you mean that, Dan? It's like this," explained Dennis.
"The Boches have been putting up some fresh wire over yonder, and they
want to know at D.H.Q. whether it's permanent or temporary. I rather
fancy there's a bit of a raid on the cards, and I'm going out to
reconnoitre."

"Do I mean it!" laughed his cousin. "As long as I report myself at
sun-up it's all right."

"Very well, Hawke, my cousin will go with u