Driver, 'you might
apply to be sent to England where the war's ragin' an' the Zeppelins is
killin' wimmin an' window-panes.'

'Talkin' o' transferring to the trenches,' said the Bombardier putting
down his empty mess-tin and producing his pipe. 'Reminds me o' a
Left'nant we 'ad join us a month or two back. It was the time you chaps
was away attached to that other Division, so you didn't know 'im. 'E'd
bin with a Battery right through, but 'e got a leave an' when 'e come
back from England 'e was sent to us. 'Is batman[1] tole me 'e was a bit
upset at first about bein' cut adrift from 'is pals in the Battery but 'e
perked up an' reckoned 'e was goin' to 'ave things nice an' cushy for a
bit. An' 'e as much as says so himself to me the first time 'e was
takin' ammunition up an' I was along with 'im. I'd been doin' orderly at
the Battery an' brought down the requisition for so many rounds, an' it
bein' the Left'nant's first trip up, an' not knowin' the road 'e 'as me
up in front with 'im to show the way. It was an unusual fine mornin' I
remember, 'avin' stopped rainin' for almost an hour, an' just as we
started somethin' that might 'ave been a sun tried 'is 'ardest to shine.
Soon as we was on the road the Left'nant gives the word to march at ease,
an' lights up a cig'rette 'imself.

'"Great mornin' ain't it, Bombardier?" 'e sez. "Not more'n a foot or two
o' mud on the roads, an' the temperature almost above freezin'-point.
I'm just about beginnin' to like this job on the Am. Col. 'Ave you bin
with a Battery out 'ere?"

'I tole 'im yes an' came to the Column after bein' slightly wounded.

'"Well," 'e sez, "you knows 'ow much better off you are 'ere. You don't
'ave no standin' to the gun 'arf the night in the rain, an' live all the
rest o' the nights an' all the days in a dirty, muddy, stuffy funk-'ole.
That's the one thing I'm most glad to be out of," 'e sez. "Livin' under
the ground, like a rabbit in a burrow with every chance of 'avin' 'is
'ead blowed off if 'e looks up over the edge. I've 'ad enough o'
dug-outs an' observin' from the trenches, an' Coal-Box dodgin' to last me
a bit, an' it's a pleasant change to be ridin' a decent 'orse on a most
indecent apology for a road, an' not a Jack Johnson in sight, even if
they are in 'earing."

''E made several more remarks like that durin' the mornin', an' of course
I agreed with 'im. I mostly does agree with an officer an' most especial
a young 'un. If you don