es, then sweep westward, and
on to Tekrit. Fowke reiterated his engagement not to shave or wash till
Tekrit had fallen; and we burned, with reluctant glee, the excellent
wood that Johnny Turk had collected against our coming to Daur. Now in
Mesopotamia wood is far, far more precious than rubies. But this wood
had to be burned, since we were not coming back. So vast and glorious
fires sprang up. And each hero, in his turn lifting a long beam, like a
_phalarica_, hurled it at the blaze. The assembled Trojans cheered,
with admiration or derision, according as each shot fell accurately or
short. In this wise, then, did Sunday evening pass with the 17th Foot.

IX

TEKRIT

We moved off, footsore. Mention of the cold must have become
monotonous. But this night's cold touched a sharper nerve of agony than
any before. Our 'rest' came, by a refinement of cruelty, not
immediately before dawn, but between 2.30 and 4.30 a.m. We were then on
bleak uplands, swept by arctic winds. In Baghdad winter is a time of
frost; and we were far north of Baghdad. No men lay down; very few even
stood still. The majority used the two hours of 'rest' in running to
and fro, and it was with immense thankfulness that we took up our
trudge once more.

This time there was no question of surprise. Morning found us on a vast
plain, set with yellow-berried jujube-bushes and low scrub. Shortly
after 6 a.m. the enemy began shelling our transport, which accordingly
moved out of range. My brigade fell slightly back, in conformity.
Captain McIntyre, in a gloomy mood perhaps due to the freezing night
just finished, prophesied that we should get the 'heavy stuff' and the
'overs' when once the enemy gunners got their nefarious game fairly
going. Everything was bustle. Signallers set up their posts, Head
Quarters were established, caterpillars crawled up with their heavy
guns. Lieutenant-General Cobbe, the First Corps commander, was
controlling operations. Fritz also seemed interested. He came over
twice, very low and very hurriedly, but did no bombing. His second
visit was followed by half a dozen crumps, from the 5.9's, for our
6-inch guns.

This whole campaign had come very suddenly. Corps, I was told, were
ignorant up to almost the day of our starting out from Samarra.
Staff-captains and quartermasters received orders at the eleventh hour
for transport arrangements. The campaign was a _tour de force_,
everything being sacrificed to rations and wate