I got him to show me round
"Jacob's Ladder." We went through "King Street" again, and followed the
trench until we arrived at the place. The formation of this point was
extraordinary.

A stranger coming upon it for the first time would undoubtedly get a
slight shock for, upon turning into a traverse, you come abruptly upon
an open space, as if the trench had been sliced off, leaving an opening
from which you could look down upon our front line trenches, not only
upon them but well in front of them.

I was on the bank of a small valley; leading down from this position
were about twenty-five steps, hence the name "Jacob's Ladder." Our
parapet still followed down, like the handrail of a staircase, only of
course much higher.

The position from a photographic point of view was admirable, and I
doubt whether on any other part of our front such a suitable point could
be found. "Jove!" I said, "this is the ideal place. I will definitely
decide upon it."

"If you look carefully over here you will see the Bosche line quite
plainly. They are about seventy yards away, and at that point we are
going to put a barrage of fire on their second line with our Stokes
guns. We are going to do that from 'Sunken Road,' midway in 'No Man's
Land.' Can you see it there?"

"Yes," I replied; "splendid. As soon as I have got the mine exploding,
and our men going over the parapet and across 'No Man's Land,' I can
immediately--if all's well--swing my camera on to the barrage and film
that. This is a wonderful position."

"It rests entirely with Fritz now. If he does not crump this place you
will be all right, but they are sure to plaster our front trench as soon
as they see us go over."

"Well, I must risk that," I said.

And we turned and retraced our steps to the "White City," where I bade
my companion good night, and returned to film the scene of the General's
speech to his men the following morning.

CHAPTER XII

FILMING UNDER FIRE

The General's Speech to the Fusiliers Before Going Into
Action--Filming the 15-inch Howitzers--A Miniature
Earthquake--"The Day" is Postponed--Keeping Within "The
Limits"--A Surprise Meeting in the Trenches--A Reminder of
Other Days--I Get Into a Tight Corner--And Have An
Unpleasantly Hot Experience--I Interview a Trench
Mortar--Have a Lively Quarter of an Hour--And Then Get Off.

Rain, rain, rain. It was like a dull, dismal December night. Owing to
the tra