ole," so called from its being the refuge to run to
when the shells arrive. The soldier buries his head like the
ostrich--only he beats the ostrich by getting his shoulders in as
well--and then feels fairly secure.

A MILE-AND-A-HALF OF HELL.

[Illustration: A GHASTLY PROMENADE.]

I show a little bit of a ghastly promenade near Messines, some six miles
from Armentieres. The road of which the bit in the foreground leads to
what remains of a very handsome gateway to a park is a mile-and-a-half
in length, and had to be traversed by our men in order to get to the
British position, which was placed beyond the left corner of the picture
(where the broken tree slants). Relieving parties had to cover the whole
of this distance exposed to the enemy's enfilading fire from two sides
of the triangle right up to the apex. The apex was a British trench in
the most advanced position we could possibly hold. Our determination to
throw back the enemy made it absolutely necessary to hold it. The road
was covered by the Germans' maxim guns from three points, both down each
side and from the centre between the pillars of the gateway. Our method
of advance was in Indian file at several paces apart, and instructions
were given that whenever the maxims fired upon us we were to drop
flat on the ground immediately, and when the searchlight was turned upon
us (which it frequently was with blinding force) we were to stand stock
still in whatever position we were, the reason being that even with such
powerful searchlights as are used by the enemy, which have a perfect
range of five miles, it is easier for them to distinguish a moving
object than a stationary one. It was almost unendurable to have our
rifles in our hands--the barrels frequently hit by the enemy's
bullets--and to have to stand still unable to use them--by order; but of
course it would have been fatal to have opened fire. We should all have
been annihilated.

THE HOLE IN THE WALL.

[Illustration: THE HOLE IN THE WALL.]

As a pictorial sequel to "Suicide Bridge" and my little account of the
great fight there, hand to hand in the darkness, the next illustration
will not be out of place. The barricade across the road, at the entrance
to a village, marks the spot to which we advanced from the stream after
that struggle in it. The clean hole in a remaining wall of the almost
demolished house on the left had been cut by a shell. The house in ruins
on the right had been a mansion,