ext war I'm
goin' to be a general or a Navy bloke. Them's the safe jobs. These
ole Turks have a spite at me. Think I'm a sort o' runnin' man."

"Let them come!" Paddy exclaimed. "We'd bate the life out of thim.
Teach thim manners, the dirty blaggards!"

"Don't be too cocky about that. We're only hanging on the edge of this
cliff by the skin of our teeth. The German Staff say they'll push us
into the sea, and you bet they'll have a good try."

"It's a soft snap, if they come. They can't beat us," interjected
Bill, who had all the self-assurance of the Australian born.

"That's where our boys always err," answered Claud. "They
underestimate the power of the enemy. That isn't the thing in war.
It's all very well to be confident, but it's equally important to be
prepared to the last cartridge and bomb. Pluck's a very good thing,
but pluck without brains is as useless as an engine without coal. If
these Turks make a big show, they'll give us a run for our money. Now
I'm going to sleep."

Claud wrapped himself in his coat for a snooze. The others followed
suit, little dreaming what the dawn would bring. While they slept,
secure in their innocence of things, the General and Chief of Staff sat
keen and anxious in their dug-outs; for the dawn was the time stated
for the attack. Everything was prepared; still, they had all that
mental worry which only an officer knows. They smoked and talked--and
talked. While they passed these anxious hours their subordinate
commanders were quietly filling up the reserve trenches with supporting
troops. The gunners, too, were busy checking ranges and noting down
the approximate position of the magazines and other stores as supplied
by the map of Tony Brown. The doctors were also alive. They were
clearing out the field hospitals preparatory to the gruesome slaughter
ahead. Out at sea a flotilla of gunboats and destroyers had quietly
arrived and were circling round, waiting for the coming fray.
Everything had been thought of; everything was ready.

"It's getting light, sir," said the chief, looking out of his dug-out
about 3.30 A.M.

"Very well; 'phone the brigadiers. Tell them to be prepared for the
bombardment in accordance with our pow-wow of yesterday."

"Very good, sir." The 'phone transmitted the order and the chief sat
down again.

Boom! echoed a gun in the Turkish line. A shell crashed right over the
General's dug-out. Tony Brown's information was right.