right and left. At each
emplacement there was a range chart giving the ranges to all parts of the
enemy's trenches, and to every prominent object both in front of and
behind them, within its field of fire. When not in use the gun was kept
mounted and ready for action in the battle position.

"But remember this," said Shorty, "you never fires from your battle
position except in case of attack. W'en you goes out at night to 'ave a
little go at Fritzie, you always tykes yer gun sommers else. If you
don't, you'll 'ave Minnie an' Busy Bertha an' all the rest o' the Krupp
childern comin' over to see w'ere you live."

This was a wise precaution, as we were soon to learn from experience.
Machine guns are objects of special interest to the artillery, and the
locality from which they are fired becomes very unhealthy for some little
time thereafter.

We stopped for a moment at "The Mud Larks' Hairdressing Parlor," a very
important institution if one might judge by its patronage. It was housed
in a recess in the wall of the traveling trench, and was open to the sky.
There I saw the latest fashion in "oversea" hair cuts. The victims sat on
a ration box while the barber mowed great swaths through tangled thatch
with a pair of close-cutting clippers. But instead of making a complete
job of it, a thick fringe of hair which resembled a misplaced scalping
tuft was left for decorative purposes, just above the forehead. The
effect was so grotesque that I had to invent an excuse for laughing. It
was a lame one, I fear, for Shorty looked at me warningly. When we had
gone on a little way he said:--

"Ain't it a proper beauty parlor? But you got to be careful about
larfin'. Some o' the blokes thinks that 'edge-row is a regular ornament."

I had supposed that a daily shave was out of the question on the
firing-line; but the British Tommy is nothing if not resourceful.
Although water is scarce and fuel even more so, the self-respecting
soldier easily surmounts difficulties, and the Gloucesters were all nice
in matters pertaining to the toilet. Instead of draining their canteens
of tea, they saved a few drops for shaving purposes.

"It's a bit sticky," said Shorty, "but it's 'ot, an' not 'arf bad w'en
you gets used to it. Now, another thing you don't want to ferget is this:
W'en yer movin' up fer yer week in the first line, always bring a bundle
o' firewood with you. They ain't so much as a match-stick left in the
trenches. Then you wants t