I
heard the roarin' swoosh of it comin' down I thought we was for it an' a
direck hit was due. But it went well over an' none of the splinters
touched.

'"Steady there, steady," shouts the Left'nant "but keep goin'. They'll
repeat the series if they've any sense." We could hear the blighters
crumpin' away back down the road behind us, an' believe me we kep' goin'
all right. But the Boshe didn't repeat the series; he went on a new game
an' just afore we came to the end o' the straight stretch four crumps
pitched down astride the road ahead of us about two hundred yards. One
hit the edge o' the road an' the others in the fields on both sides an'
one of these was a dud an' didn't burst. But we knew that the fellers
that did go off would make a highly unhealthy circle around an' the
prospect o' being there or thereabouts when the next boo-kay landed
wasn't none too allurin'. The Left'nant yells to come on, an' we came,
oh, take it from me, we came a-humpin'. There was some fancy driving
past them crump holes in the road, but we might have been at Olympia the
way them drivers shaved past at the canter. We was just past the last
spot the four landed when I heard the whistle o' another bunch comin' an'
my hair near lifted my cap off. Them wagons o' ours isn't built for any
speed records but I fancy they covered more ground in the next few
seconds than ever they've done before. But goin' our best, there was no
hope o' clearin' the blast o' the explosions if they explosioned on the
same target, an' we all made ourselves as small as we could on our
horses' backs an' felt we was as big as a barn all the time the rush was
gettin' louder an' louder. Then thud-thud-thud an' crash! three of 'em
dropped blind an' only the one exploded; an' it bein' in the ditch didn't
do any harm beyond sendin' up a spout o' water about a mile high. Three
duds out o' four--if that wasn't a miracle I want to know. But we wasn't
countin' too much on it bein' miracle day an' we kept the wheels goin'
round with the whistle over-'ead an' the crashes behind to discourage any
loiterin' to gather flowers by the way.

'An' when we was well past an' slowed down again I heard the Left'nant
draw a deep breath an' say soft-like ". . . a packet o' Chinese crackers."

'But 'e said something stronger that same night. He'd just crawled back
to the Column wi' his empty wagons leavin' me as orderly at the Battery,
an' me havin' a pressin' message to take