ry, because
the trenches wind about so, but follow this trench as it curves to the
right, and when you come to an old British dug-out blown right in, go
due north across country; then you'll come to the railway," he said.

We thanked him, plodded on, reached a point on the railway quite half a
mile beyond the spot we wanted, and then out of the darkness heard the
voice of Henry of C Battery. We drew near, and found him in the mood of
a man ready to fight the whole world. "Dam fools," he grumbled:
"there's a sergeant of A Battery who's taken a wrong turning and gone
into the blue, and half a dozen of my waggons have followed him.... And
B Battery have a waggon tipped over on the railway line, just where we
all cross, and that's holding everything else up."

As we could be of no assistance to the distressful Henry we continued
our own search, and, by hailing all within call, eventually reached our
trench, where we found the colonel, always in good mood when something
practical wanted doing, superintending Headquarters' occupation of the
place. "Major Mallaby-Kelby, the doctor, the adjutant, and myself can
fix up under here," he said, pointing to a large tarpaulin fastened
across the trench. "The signallers have got the mined dug-out round the
corner, and you," he went on, referring to me, "had better start fixing
Wilde and yourself up. We'll make that gun-pit with the camouflaged
roofing into a mess to-morrow."

With the aid of the servants I gathered six long two-inch planks, and
placed them across the part of the trench that seemed best protected
from enemy shells. A spare trench cover pulled full stretch on top of
these planks lent additional immunity from rain. A little shovelling to
level the bottom of the trench, and Wilde's servant and mine laid out
our valises. A heap of German wicker ammunition-carriers, sorted out on
the ground, served as a rough kind of mattress for the colonel. The
doctor had fastened upon a spare stretcher. In half an hour we were all
seeking sleep.

Zero hour was at 1 A.M., a most unusual time for the infantry to launch
an attack. But this would increase the element of surprise, and the
state of the moon favoured the enterprise. When hundreds of guns
started their thunder I got up to see, and found the doctor on the top
of the trench also. Bursts of flame leapt up all around, and for miles
to right and left of us. The noise was deafening. When one has viewed
scores of modern artillery ba