was clipped and forced into the leather
pouches of bandoliers, which equipment appeared neither to be meant for
nor accustomed to such practical use.

Forty-eight hours after the first warning, the last night came. A
subdued murmur arose from the camp. Some busied themselves with final
preparations; some glided silently away from the zone of flickering
candle-light, towards the horse-lines to give a parting pat to their
faithful horses, a sad farewell for many; some joined the cheery crowd
who were making the most of their last moments at the canteen; and
others, less careless and more sober-minded, sought a few moments of
sleep.

At eleven o'clock they fell in on their last parade in Egypt, though
few regretted that. Nevertheless, when it came to the pinch, it was a
little sad to leave the old camp, where, happily enough, they had
passed six months of sun and sandstorm. A rough crowd they looked,
these amateur infantrymen, overloaded with awkward, extemporized gear.
They stood silent, for thoughts ran deep now that they were at last on
the brink of the real thing, a moment towards which they had looked so
long. The roll was called. Mac mentioned that he had left something,
and slipped away to give the old mare a farewell stroke. Words of
command echoed through the stillness, and soon the whole brigade was
marching, as best it could, down the road towards the station. There
were lusty cheers as they passed the guard tent from those whose turn
had not yet come. The column turned to the left, and gradually the
reverberating tread of heavily-laden men grew fainter in the distance.

So went the mounted brigade; and as they went to the north, following
their infantry into the unknown, Mac and Smoky forgot their C.B.,
forgot their stiff arms and their piastreless condition--they thought
only of the future.

CHAPTER XII

GALLIPOLI AT LAST

The sun had just risen when the train, a clattering collection of
third-class cars, jangled laboriously over the low elevation on which
Alexandria stands. With a series of nerve-racking spasms, it came to a
halt on the water-front, where lay several large transports absorbing
men, horses and stores.

With some difficulty and many lurid epithets, the troopers slowly
disengaged themselves from the unhealthy boxes, and gathered in sleepy
groups to await developments, a thing they were in the habit of doing
for long periods at a time. Mac and Smoky availed themselves of