ch of muddy plough before their
trench, and the tangle of barbed wire beyond.

'How many men d'you suppose would get there?' he asked.

'Some would,' said the youngster eagerly, 'and anything would be better
than sticking here and getting pounded to pieces.'

'We'll see,' said the major moving off. 'They may ask us to try it
presently. And if not we'll pull through, I dare say. See that the
men keep down, and keep down yourself, Grant. Watch out for a rush
through. This may be a preparation for something of the sort.'

He moved along, and the lad flattened himself again against the side of
the wet trench.

A word from a man near him turned him round. '. . . a 'tillery
Observin' Officer comin'. P'raps our guns are goin' for 'em at last.'

The gunner officer stumbled along the trench towards them. Behind him
came his signaller, a coil of wire and a portable telephone in a
leather case slung over his shoulder. No. 2 Platoon watched their
approach with eager anticipation, and strained ears and attention to
catch the conversation that passed between their officer and the
artilleryman. And a thrill of disappointment pulsed down the line at
the gunner's answer to the first question put to him. 'No,' he said,
'I have orders not to fire unless they come out of the trenches to
attack. We'll give 'em gyp if they try it. My guns are laid on their
front trench and I can sweep the whole of this front with shrapnel.'

'But why not shut up their guns and put a stop to this?' asked the
officer, and his platoon fervently echoed the question in their hearts.

'Not my pidgin,' said the gunner, cautiously peering through the
field-glasses he levelled through a convenient loophole. 'That's the
Heavies' job. I'm Field, and my guns are too light to say much to
these fellows. Look out!' and he stooped low in the trench as the
rising rush of sound told of a shell coming down near them.

'That's about an eight-inch,' he said, after the shell had fallen with
a crash behind them, a spout of earth and mud leaping up and spattering
down over them and fragments singing and whizzing overhead. 'Just tap
in on the wire, Jackson, and raise the Battery.'

The telephonist opened his case and lifted out his instrument, groped
along the trench wall a few yards and found his wire, joined up to his
instruments, dashed off a series of dots and dashes on the 'buzzer,'
and spoke into his mouthpiece. No. 2 Platoon watched in fascinated