shaking hand up to his head; withdrew
it, then looked at his fingers which were dripping red.

"Ah weel, lads, Ah've got it noo!" he lamented. "Ah'm sair-r-r-tainly din
fur 'cause Ah dinna feel a theng. Ah on'y wesh Ah could 'a got ane o' the
deevils tae me credit afore this!"

By this time two or three of us had run forward and were wiping his head
and face. There was no evidence of a wound. Then suddenly some one roared
with laughter. The man was covered with the red juice of beets and was
entirely unhurt. He had only been stunned. This is the way Mars jests. His
humour is always mixed with grimness.

We learned that we were to stop at Nesles overnight, and this, coupled
with the fact that we had commenced advancing, put new enthusiasm into us.

Before we arrived there were large vineyards at each side of the road
leading up a hill overlooking a beautiful little town, on the south bank
of the Petit Morin River. We had a few minutes' halt within reach of the
lovely French grapes, which hung most temptingly in clusters, so it was
quite natural that some of the boys who were extremely thirsty and warm
from the scorching sun, should partake of this inviting fruit.

Discipline in the British army is second to none; and we were commanded to
observe it strictly while on the retreat. One of our orders was "not to
pluck fruit," as it came under the category of "Looting." Very soon the
few fellows who had disobeyed that order were rolling on the ground,
holding their stomachs. Later we were told that the grapes on both sides
of the road had been poisoned by the Germans. This was punishment enough
for those who had eaten the fruit, and a lesson that every one of us "took
home."

CHAPTER FIVE

As we--the other scouts and I--advanced, firing details, which had been
left behind under close cover by the Germans, did a good deal of execution
amongst us. The hay-stacks, particularly, gave us a great deal of trouble.
More than once, one of them would be disrupted as though by some sort of
explosion from the inside, and machine guns would begin spraying our
skirmishing lines. So it became an important part of our scouting
operations to search all hay-stacks and farm houses. And continually we
were under what, ordinarily, would be termed heavy fire.

The ground over which we were passing had been the scene of sharp
fighting, earlier. We came across scores of dead Germans and a few French.
In the midst of a field dotted wi