ustled back to the Post. That 'ouse never was a real
'ealth resort, but today it was suthin' wicked. They must 'ave
suspicioned there was a Post there, an' they kep' on pastin' shells at
us. How they missed us so often, Heaven an' that German gunner only
knows. They couldn't get a direct with solid, but I must admit they
made goodish shootin' wi' shrapnel, an' they've made that 'ouse look
like a second-'and pepper-caster. The F.O. was 'avin' a most unhappy
time with shrapnel an' rifle bullets, but 'e 'ad 'is guns in action, so
'e just 'ad to stick it out an' go on observin', till the wires was cut
again. This time the F.O. sez to look back as far as the wire ran in
the trench, an' if I didn't find the break up to there come back an'
report to 'im. But I found the break in the hedge jus' outside, an'
mended it an' went back, the bullets still zipping down an' me breakin'
all the hands-an'-knees records for the fifty yards. I found the F.O.
'ad reined back a bit from 'is corner an' was busy wi' the bedroom
poker breakin' out a loophole through the bricks of the gable-end wall.
'E came down an' told the Major about it. It was getting too hot, 'e
said, an' the two snipers must 'ave 'im located wi' field-glasses. One
bullet 'ad nearly blinded 'im wi' broken-tile dust, an' another 'ad
tore a hole across the side of 'is "British warm"[3]; so he was goin'
to try observin' through a couple of loopholes. Then 'e went up an'
finished 'is chippin' an' brought the guns into action again. Just in
the middle o' a series I feels a most unholy crash, an' the whole house
rocked on its toe an' heel. The brickdust an' plaster came rattlin'
down, an' when the dust cleared a bit an' I got my sense an' my
eyesight back, I could see a splintered hole in the far corner of my
ceilin'. I made sure the F.O. upstairs was blotted out, 'cos it was
that corner upstairs where 'is loophole was; but next minute 'e sings
out an' asks was I all right. I never felt less all right in my life,
but I told 'im I was still alive, far as knew. I crawled up to see
what 'ad 'appened, an' there was 'im in one corner at 'is peep-'ole,
an' the floor blowed to splinters behind 'im an' a big gap bust in the
gable wall at the other corner. A shell had made a fair hit just about
on 'is one loophole, while he was lookin' thro' the other. "I believe
we'll 'ave to leave this," he sez, "an' move along to our other post.
It's a pity, 'cos I can't see near as we