climbing the almost overhanging
farther side, he saw long trains of camels pass, and occasionally odd
horsemen. Sometimes machine-gun fire at extreme range disturbed their
placid way, but usually the gunners kept their ammunition for better
purposes.

Their fortnight expired, the Regiment, relieved by the Light Horse,
returned to its previous bivouacs in the hot and stuffy ravine, where,
in sections of four, they settled down to a domestic life, for the
comfort of which they brought into bearing all their ingenuity, the
possibilities of the Indians' larder and mule-feed, the lack of
alertness on the part of the policemen at the depot, and the usual
stock of knowledge acquired in the bush of how to look after oneself.

The bivouac of Mac's section consisted of a platform nearly seven feet
square cut out of a steep clay ridge. So a clay bank formed the back
wall, two clay walls reached about half-way to the awning on either
side, and the front was open, except in the afternoons when an
oil-sheet was hung there to keep out the fierce glare of the sun. The
clay cliff dropped precipitously in front, and facing them in the
opposite cliff were similar bivvies, with the inhabitants of whom Mac
and his cobbers were in the way of exchanging friendly conversation at
odd moments of the night or day.

Perched here on their ledge of clay, the four lived a supremely happy
life when at home. Each took his turn at the cooking, the
firewood-hunting, and the tidying-up. Each had his strong points, and
was permitted to develop them. Bill was hot stuff on curry _a la_
Anzac, whose foundation was the choicest bully, a little water, plenty
of Indian curry powder purchased from the Indians in consideration of
some mouldy Army cigarettes, and a little of everything else, from bran
to marmalade. He shone, too, with his Welsh rarebit and his biscuit
pudding, so that not even Smoky with his "Stew Supreme _a la_ Depot"
could hope to look at him. Friday outran all others in his enthusiasm
for gathering firewood, a rare product of the land in those days, and
no one dared, nor felt inclined, to compete with him. Mac had no rival
when it came to frying, and the preparation of the sweets fell to him
on those few but glorious days when the section was issued with one
fig, two dates or half a dozen currants. The possibilities of the
larder were considerably spun out by barter with the Indians, who had
plenty and to spare of good food, by the