ready for the harvesters.
"Does he shell much?" continued the colonel.

"Not consistently," replied the other colonel. "I don't think he does
much observed shooting. He's copying our method of sudden bursts of
fire, though."

We inspected two O.P.'s on one side of the wide valley that led towards
the front line, picked up, through binoculars, the chief reference
points in Bocheland, and had a look at two heavily-camouflaged
anti-tank guns that were a feature of the defence in this part of the
front. Myriads of fat overfed flies buzzed in the trenches through
which we passed. Hot and dusty, we came back about 6 P.M., and entered
the chateau kitchen-garden through a hole that had been knocked in the
high, ancient, russet-red brick wall. The sudden scent of box and of
sweet-smelling herbs roused a tingling sense of pleasure and of
recollection. I never failed afterwards to return to the chateau by
that way.

The other colonel came out with us again next morning, although our
batteries were now in possession, and his own officers and men had gone
a long way back. He wanted to show our colonel some observation points
from the O.P. on the other side of the valley.

A certain incident resulted. As we passed A Battery's position we saw
Dumble, the battery captain, looking through the dial-sight of his No.
1 gun, apparently trying to discover whether a black-and-white
signalling-pole, planted fifty yards in front of the gun, was in line
with a piece of hop-pole fifty yards farther on. Both colonels stared
fixedly at the spectacle. "What's become of the aiming-posts?" said the
other colonel, puzzled and stern.

When a gun has fired satisfactorily on a certain target, which is also
a well-defined point on the map, and it is desired to make this
particular line of fire the standard line, or, as it is commonly
called, the zero line, the normal method is to align two aiming-posts
with such accuracy that, no matter what other targets are fired upon,
the gun can always be brought back to its zero line by means of the
aiming-posts. Absolute accuracy being essential, the aiming-posts are
specially designed and are of a settled pattern. Judge of the two
colonels' astonishment then when they perceived Dumble's impromptu
contrivance.

"Have you no aiming-posts?" our colonel asked Dumble sharply.

"No, sir, the other battery would not leave theirs behind. I had
understood it was arranged that we should hand over ours at the waggon