and our guns, and the
heavies behind them, fired harder than ever. Then for an hour until 3
o'clock we got a respite. A couple of pioneers, lent to us by the
colonel, who had shown himself so sympathetic in the matter of the lost
dog, worked stolidly with plane and saw and foot-rule, improving our
gun-pit mess by more expert carpentering than we could hope to
possess. The colonel tore the wrapper of the latest copy of an
automobile journal, posted to him weekly, and devoted himself to an
article on spring-loaded starters. I read a type-written document from
the staff captain that related to the collection, "as opportunity
offers," of two field guns captured from the enemy two days before.

But at 3.35 the situation became electric again. The clear high-pitched
voice of young Beale sounded over the line that by a miracle had not
yet been smashed by shell-fire. "Germans in large numbers are coming
over the ridge south of Tombois Farm," he said.

I got through to the brigade-major, and he instructed me to order our
guns to search back 1000 yards from that portion of our front.

"Don't tell the batteries to 'search back,'" broke in the colonel, who
had heard me telephoning. "It's a confusing expression. Tell them to
'search east,' or 'north-east' in this case."

By a quarter to four the telephone wires were buzzing feverishly. More
S.O.S. rockets had gone up. The enemy had launched a very heavy
counter-attack. Our over-worked gunners left their tea, and tons of
metal screamed through the air. Within an hour Drysdale sent us most
inspiring news.

"The infantry are awfully pleased with our S.O.S. barrage," he said
briskly. "As a matter of fact, that burst you ordered at 3.40 was more
useful still, ... caught the Germans as they came out to attack....
They were stopped about 150 yards from our line.... They had to go back
through our barrage.... It was a great sight.... The dead can be seen
in heaps.... Over twenty Boche ran through our barrage and gave
themselves up."

Drysdale had more good news for us twenty minutes later. Two companies
of a battalion not attacked--they were to the right of the place to
which the enemy advanced--saw what was happening, dashed forward along
a winding communication trench, and seized a position that hitherto
they had found impregnable. They got a hundred prisoners out of the
affair.

Two more S.O.S. calls went up before dinner-time, but a day of
tremendous heavy fighting ended with o