w minutes on the road, sir?" I responded quickly;
"Laneridge is likely to come back and try to catch you.... Of course he
doesn't know where our headquarters will be."

For answer the colonel stood in the centre of the road and shouted with
studied clearness--"Laneridge!... Laneridge!"

We tried a joint call, and repeated it; but there was no sound of
returning hoofs.

One curious result followed. An infantry soldier, who had passed us,
came back and, in a north-country accent, asked, "Beg pardon, sir, but
did you call me?--my name's Laneridge, sir."

"No," said the colonel, "I was calling my groom."

The man passed on. "That's a really striking coincidence," remarked the
colonel. "Laneridge is not a common name."

After waiting five minutes we continued our walk, and crossing a valley
dotted with abandoned gun-pits and shallow dug-outs, came to a
shrub-covered bank from which a battery was pulling out its guns.

"Our headquarters will be here," said the colonel succinctly. "Hubbard
has been sorting things out. There are dug-outs along the bank, and I
expect we shall find something in the trench down there."

Hubbard had indeed found a place for the mess in the trench, while he
pointed to a cubby-hole in the bank that would do for the colonel, and
to another shelter, a yard high from roof to floor, in which he and I
could lie down. The telephone lines to the batteries and to Div. Art.
were laid. He was ready for the battle.

Zero hour was at 5.20 A.M. The battery commanders had received the
operation orders during the afternoon. I reported our arrival to the
brigade-major; and not worrying much about some hostile 'planes that
seemed to be dropping bombs in the neighbourhood of the front line, we
turned in.

At 1.30 A.M. the telephone near my head buzzed. I heard the colonel
say, "Are you troubled by gas?"

"Haven't noticed any, sir."

"You had better have your box-respirator ready. It seems to be coming
in a cloud down the valley."

I dozed off again, but half an hour later the uneasy movements of
"Ernest" roused me. I sneezed several times, and felt a burning in the
throat. This was undoubtedly gas. Hubbard I found to be a heavy
sleeper, but by punching hard enough I made him open his eyes, and we
put on our box-respirators. It was half an hour before the gas sergeant
reported that the air had cleared. We slept once more. Half an hour
before zero time the gas rattle sounded again, and indeed we were
we