a letter from you this mail; however, it
has not arrived, worse luck! Last night, while talking with the
General, a bullet struck near his head, glancing off a brick wall. You
should have seen him jump! My nerves have grown stronger, as I've had
a good baptism of them when going about. Our trenches were awful.
Yesterday I went round them all, and found everything more or less
right. Only my leggings were absolutely plastered above my knees with
mud. I think I've hit on a good way, if original, of getting ahead of
the mud now, by putting my feet into a bag as soon as I come into my
dug-out. This is then drawn up nearly to my waist, and collects any
mud that falls off, and saves the place. As one does not walk about
in it, only crawls, the bag is better than you would have thought! It
is turning cold again, and I suppose we shall have a bad night of it.
Yesterday evening we discovered a fast machine gun had been brought up
against us, so this afternoon I have been amusing myself and one of
our batteries by shelling it, but with what result I cannot say. Great
stories of Russian doings on the East of Prussia still come to us.
About two months more should, I think, give Germany as much as she can
do, with her few remaining soldiers, and they must run down fast in
numbers. A man looked into one of my loopholes during the night, and
told my men that he was an Engineer mending our wire, and the silly
fellows thoroughly believed him. I am _certain_ he was a German.

IN TRENCHES.
_November 27th, 1914._

I received your letter to-day of November 18th, also your mother's of
the 21st, for which many thanks. Last night I was up at 1 a.m., turned
out by heavy firing. Fortunately, after a time it died away, as I
could not get my guns to work! I heard that the Rifle Brigade also
tried the white sheet manoeuvre with an officer and 8 men lately, but
they tell me the officer is missing. One of mine has been at the
enemy's lines during the last two nights; I hope he will be all right.
We made no fuss, only just lay and watched them, and heard them
chattering and sitting round little fires in the trenches. A bullet
came through the ruin which I was in close beside me, but as dozens
are flying over and around one all the time, it merely attracted my
attention by the fact that it passed through two brick walls and went
on its way. This pointed German