was lying.

Then to my horror some of them began to ascend my stronghold.

I at once stood up and made no further efforts at concealment, but got
out my sketch book and started to make a drawing of "Dawn Among the
Mountains." I was very soon noticed, and one or two officers walked
over to me and entered into conversation, evidently anxious to find
out who I was and what was my business there.

My motto is that a smile and a stick will carry you through any
difficulty; the stick was obviously not politic on this occasion; I
therefore put on a double extra smile and showed them my sketch book,
explaining that the one ambition of my life was to make a drawing of
the Wolf's Tooth by sunrise.

They expressed a respectful interest, and then explained that their
object in being there was to make an attack from the Wolf's Tooth on
the neighbouring mountain, provided that the enemy were actually in
possession of it. I on my part showed a mild but tactful interest in
their proceedings.

The less interest I showed, the more keen they seemed to be to explain
matters to me, until eventually I had the whole of their scheme
exposed before me, illustrated by their own sketch maps of the
district, which were far more detailed and complete than anything of
the kind I had seen before.

In a short time we were on the best of terms; they had coffee going
which they shared with me, while I distributed my cigarettes and
chocolates amongst them. They expressed surprise at my having climbed
up there at that early hour, but were quite satisfied when I explained
that I came from Wales, and at once jumped to the conclusion that I
was a Highlander, and asked whether I wore a kilt when I was at home.

In the middle of our exchange of civilities the alarm was given that
the enemy was in sight, and presently we saw through our glasses long
strings of men coming from all directions towards us over the snows.
Between us and the enemy lay a vast and deep ravine with almost
perpendicular sides, traversed here and there by zig-zagging goat
tracks.

Officers were called together, the tactics of the fight were described
to them, and in a few minutes the battalion and company commanders
were scattered about studying with their glasses the opposite
mountain, each, as they explained to me at the time, picking out for
himself and for his men a line for ascending to the attack.

Then the word was given for the advance, and the infantry went off in
lo