d about my discoveries the better for the fastidiously
minded. Suffice it to say that I made my first acquaintance with members
of a British Expeditionary Force which is not mentioned in official
_communiques_.

"Trench pets," said Shorty. Then he told me that they were not all
graybacks. There is a great variety of species, but they all belong to
the same parasitical family, and wage a non-discriminating warfare upon
the soldiery on both sides of No-man's-Land. Germans, British, French,
Belgians alike were their victims.

"You'll soon 'ave plenty," he said reassuringly; "I give you about a week
to get covered with 'em. Now, wot you want to do is this: always 'ave an
extra shirt in yer pack. Don't be a bloomin' ass an' sell it fer a packet
o' fags like I did! An' the next time you writes to England, get some one
to send you out some Keatings"--he displayed a box of grayish-colored
powder. "It won't kill 'em, mind you! They ain't nothin' but fire that'll
kill 'em. But Keatings tykes all the ginger out o' 'em. They ain't near
so lively arter you strafe 'em with this 'ere powder."

I remembered Shorty's advice later when I became a reluctant host to a
prolific colony of graybacks. For nearly six months I was never without a
box of Keatings, and I was never without the need for it.

Barbed wire had a new and terrible significance for me from the first day
which we spent in the trenches. I could more readily understand why there
had been so long a deadlock on the western front. The entanglements in
front of the first line of trenches were from fifteen to twenty yards
wide, the wires being twisted from post to post in such a hopeless jumble
that no man could possibly get through them under fire. The posts were
set firmly in the ground, but there were movable segments, every fifty or
sixty yards, which could be put to one side in case an attack was to be
launched against the German lines.

At certain positions there were what appeared to be openings through the
wire, but these were nothing less than man-traps which have been found
serviceable in case of an enemy attack. In an assault men follow the line
of least resistance when they reach the barbed wire. These apparent
openings are V-shaped, with the open end toward the enemy. The attacking
troops think they see a clear passageway. They rush into the trap, and
when it is filled with struggling men, machine guns are turned upon them,
and, as Shorty said, "You got 'em cold.