tly," he said. "Good luck to you. By the
way, take care of Edgar, won't you? Any little attention which you can
show him will be greatly appreciated."

"Who is Edgar?"

"Oh, I thought the Staff Captain would have told you. Edgar is the
swan--the last of his race, I'm afraid, so far as this place is
concerned. He lives on the lake, and usually comes ashore to draw his
rations about lunch-time. He is inclined to be stand-offish on one
side, as he has only one eye; but he is most affable on the other.
Well, now to find our horses!"

As the three officers departed down the backdoor steps, a hesitating
voice followed them--"H'm! Is there any place where one can go--a
cellar, or any old spot of that kind--just in case we are--"

"Bless you, you'll be all right!" was the cheery reply. (The outgoing
Brigade is always excessively cheery.) "But there are dug-outs over
there--in the garden. They haven't been occupied for some months,
so you may find them a bit ratty. You won't require them, though.
Good-night!"

III

_Whizz! Boom! Bang! Crash! Wump_!

"It's just as well," mused the Brigade Major, turning in his sleep
about three o'clock the following morning, "that they warned us about
the deceptive sound of the shelling here. One would almost imagine
that it was quite close.... That last one was heavy stuff: it shook
the whole place!... This is a topping mattress: it would be rotten
having to take to the woods again after getting into really cooshie
quarters at last.... There they go again!" as a renewed tempest of
shells rent the silence of night. "That old battery must be getting it
in the neck!... Hallo, I could have sworn something hit the roof that
time! A loose slate, I expect! Anyhow ..."

The Brigade Major, who had had a very long day, turned over and went
to sleep again.

IV

The next morning, a Sunday, broke bright and clear. Contrary to his
usual habit, the Brigade Major took a stroll in the garden before
breakfast. The first object which caught his eye, as he came down
the back-door steps, was the figure of the Staff Captain, brooding
pensively over a large crater, close to the hedge. The Brigade Major
joined him.

"I wonder if that was there yesterday!" he observed, referring to the
crater.

"Couldn't have been," growled the Staff Captain. "We walked to the
house along this very hedge. No craters then!"

"True!" agreed the Brigade Major amiably. He turned and surveyed the
garden. "That lawn lo