t. The day
before my doctor had been taken ill with influenza, and though I
asked for another, none could be sent, and there I was with the dead
man in the trench and another wounded, and no one to attend to them.
However, by dint of sitting up all night, going round the front
trenches, etc., I managed to get things more or less right, but was
not sorry when day broke without an attack, for if a strong one is
made here, we are sure to be broken through. Well, now you would like
to hear what sort of place I am in. Imagine a hole in the ground
thatched over with mud and broken planks. It is 3 feet deep, and
raised just sufficiently for me to sit on the ground without touching
my head against the roof. I have some looted straw on the clay, and
here I sit and shiver, with my greatcoat and a blanket and mud up to
my eyes. From this charming spot I try, with the assistance of many
orderlies, to get orders to various companies, sometimes
unsuccessfully, for the men lose themselves in a surprising manner
when sent on messages. Each time I go forward to the front trenches I
have to wade through mud bent double in a little narrow ditch which
catches me on either side. We have been told that we are to remain for
only forty-eight hours in this place, but it may turn out to be a
fortnight for all I know! At present I am using a couple of batteries
against the trenches that the Germans are working in on my right. A
few men are firing at us from these, but we have hardly fired a shot
ourselves, as we are waiting for the enemy to advance, if so inclined.
A tremendous bombardment goes on about 10 miles east of us, the
heaviest I have heard yet. I nearly went to sleep over this letter, so
will stop now, and write more when I have time....

IN TRENCHES.
_February 18th, 1915._

You ask about H---- having a pony; I think he had better get thorough
confidence in the donkey first, and learn to go by himself. The reason
is plain to anyone who goes in for horses much. A donkey, though it
kicks a good deal, generally has its hind feet unshod, and in any case
does not kick hard enough to more than hurt a little. A pony, on the
contrary, is very liable to throw one off and then kick one's skull
in. I remember my brother H---- being knocked off and kicked by a
mare. A little nearer, and he would never have moved again. Therefore
I think it would be wiser