arduous work of carrying such
tattered sandbags as still contained earth from the second line about
fifteen feet back and piling them up in some sort of a parapet for the
front line. The second line was only half a dozen square holes whose
fine garrisons lay dead within them, except a few who raved in delirium
for water which was not to be had. They and their arms lay prostrate
across each other, many half-buried by flying earth from shells and
bombs.

He finished this work and then responded to an oft-repeated call from
farther along, "Reinforcements for the right. Reinforcements for the
right. Enemy getting round behind!" Here was a shallow bit of a hole
with three or four men, the right flank of this part of the line, while
the cliff edge was only four or five yards distant, and the enemy was
thought to be crawling back and gathering for a heavy assault. Mac set
about improving the trench and forming a small right angle to prevent
enfilade and to protect the flank. The sap had been deeper earlier in
the day, for the first foot he shovelled out consisted of a sticky
muddy mass of blood, soil, ammunition and gear of all sorts. He sifted
it carefully for good ammunition and bombs, and formed the rest into a
parapet with the assistance of sandbags. Sometimes when he was tired
he took a turn at keeping the enemy from becoming too venturesome on
the cliff brink. Queer shapes stood out against the stars, but whether
they were always Turks he could not tell, as from long sleeplessness
and strain his sight was inclined to play him tricks. Anyhow he ran no
risks. Somehow or other the troops farther on the left were constantly
shouting warnings concerning figures passing back to the right, but
these he could not see; while, curiously enough, he could plainly
follow Turkish figures flitting across the sky-line on the left from
the cliff to the small knob which could enfilade the trench from the
left. His rifle jammed from heat and dust. He took two from dead men
and kept them both on the parapet ready for instant action. The others
did much the same sort of thing, helping each other, sticking grimly to
the job and not worrying much, apparently, about their future.

The battle raged on through hour after hour with unabated fierceness;
and the din of it all, the whirring and crashing of the shells, the
furious rattle of musketry, the yells of men and the cries of the
wounded, became almost an unnoticed monotone in