y stationed on the roadside to look out for the major when the
major's special war-whoop broke cheerily through the darkness. "The
opening of the gun-pit faces the wrong way, and we have no protection
from shells--but the tarpaulin will keep any rain out," was the best
word I could find for our new quarters.

It was a moderately calm night. We four officers lay down side by side
with just our valises to soften the ruggedness of the ground. Fitful
flashes in front showed our own guns firing; high-velocity shells,
bursting immediately behind us, made us ponder on the possibility of
casualties before the night was out. But we were dog-tired, and slept
well; and by 7 A.M. the dog no longer snuggled against my feet, and we
were preparing for further departure.

"We come under the --th Divisional Artillery at 7.30, and have to
settle in Lieramont and await orders," explained Major Veasey. "They
don't want our Brigade to push on.... They say that the infantry could
have walked into Epehy without trouble, but they were too fagged. The
latest report is that the Boche is back there again."

Our chief aim when we walked back towards Lieramont was to secure
decent quarters before troops coming up should flood the village. Our
first discovery was a Nissen hut in a dank field on the eastern
outskirts. It wanted a good deal of tidying up, but 'twould serve. We
were ravenous for breakfast, and the cook got his wood-fire going very
quickly. There were tables and chairs to be found, and the dog and I
crossed the road, russet-red with the bricks from broken houses that
had been used to repair it, on a journey of exploration. Built close to
a high hedge was an extra large Nissen hut, painted with the Red Cross
sign. Inside twenty wire beds in tiers; dozens of rolls of German lint
and quantities of cotton-wool littered the floor. Outside, five yards
from the door, lay the body of a British officer. A brown blanket
covered all but his puttees and a pair of neat, well-made brown boots.

Through an opening in the hedge we came upon more Nissen huts. One of
them was divided by a partition, and would do for a mess and for
officers' sleeping quarters. Another large building could accommodate
the men, and I found also a cook-house and an office. I used chalk
freely in "staking-out" our claim, and hurried back to the major in a
fever of fear lest some one else should come before we could install
ourselves.

There were three incidents by which