three strenuous nights and
days of marching, of fighting, of suffering under heavy shell-fire, of
insufficient and broken sleep, of irregular and unpalatable rations, of
short commons of water, of nerve-stretching excitement and suspense,
all the inevitable discomforts and hardships that in the best organised
of armies must be the part of any hard-fought action. The Regiment had
suffered cruelly, and their casualties had totalled some sixty per
cent. of the strength. And now they were coming back, jaded and worn,
filthily grimed and dirty, unshaven, unwashed, footsore, and limping,
but still in good heart and able to see a subject for jests and
laughter in the sprawling fall of one of their number plunging hastily
to shelter from the unexpected rush and crash of a shell, in the sultry
stream of remarks from an exasperated private when he discovered a
bullet-pierced water-bottle and the loss of his last precious drops of
water.

The men were trickling out in slow, thin streams along communication
and support trenches, behind broken buildings and walls and barricades,
under any cover that screened them from the watchful eyes of the enemy
observers perched high in trees and buildings and everywhere they could
obtain a good look-out over our lines.

In the minds of the men the thoughts of almost all ran in the same
grooves--first and most strongly, because perhaps the oftenest framed
in speech, that it was hot--this hot and that hot, hot as so-and-so or
such-and-such, according to the annoyance or wit of the speaker;
second, and much less clearly defined, a dull satisfaction that they
had done their share, and done it well, and that now they were on their
way out to all the luxury of plenty of food and sleep, water to drink,
water and soap to wash with; third, and increasing in proportion as
they got farther from the forward line and the chance of being hit, a
great anxiety to reach the rear in safety. The fear of being hit by
shell or bullet was a hundred-fold greater than it had been during
their part in the action, when the risk was easily a hundred times
greater, and more sympathy was expended over one man 'casualtied'
coming out than over a score of those killed in the actual fight. It
seemed such hard lines, after going through all they had gone through
and escaping it scot free, that a man should be caught just when it was
all over and he was on the verge of a more or less prolonged spell
outside the urgent dan