he case proved to be nine only, and those nine lost again, the
message was allowed to stand, the authorities hoping against hope that
the guns would walk back into our possession. And Fortune was very good
to them. Those guns, indeed, came not back; but, as darkness fell, two
burning barges, as already mentioned, floated down the river. One was
exploding, like a magazine on fire. This contained ammunition. The
other barge, when pulled to shore, was found to contain fourteen
field-guns, the number specified to Corps--old guns, but serviceable.
Johnny, despairing of getting these away, had set fire to the barge to
sink them. So the original message stood, and our loss could be glossed
over. And the wastefulness of sinking quite good guns was avoided.

The night was sleepless, bitterly cold. Dobson and I kept a watch for
Arabs. I sat beside a dead man, and shared his oil-sheet. A few more
wounded came in after midnight, among them Sergeant Tivey. All night
long wounded Turks crawled the battlefields and cried in the cold. But
I heard none of them, for there were groans much nearer. Our unwounded
prisoners were crowded into a nulla. Among them was the Turkish
Artillery Brigade Commander, who knew some English and kept insisting
on a hearing from time to time. But all he ever said was, 'Yes,
gentlemen, you have got my guns, but, what is far worse, you have got
me.' Had we cared, we might have cheered him with the information that
we had not got his guns, but only himself. Yet, considering the
relative value, in his eyes, of himself and these, such information
would hardly have consoled him.

In this battle occurred a case of a man being 'fey.' An officer gave
his kit and money to his batman, for distribution to his platoon, the
previous night. As he went into action a friend exchanged greetings. He
replied, 'Yes, but I'm afraid I'm not coming back to-day.' No one saw
him fall, but he was found dead in the mounds, with several wounds.

The east was reddening when I saw Haughton, Staff-Captain of the 19th
Brigade, on the hillock above the aid-post. This Brigade H.Q. were my
best friends in the division. I begged a mug of tea from him, so we
went along together. I found General Peebles and Brigade-Major
Thornhill, and they gave me an excellent breakfast.

The 28th Brigade moved on, following the 21st Brigade, who occupied
Samarra. But the wounded remained. Shortly after dawn the medical folk,
in fulfilment of their promise,