rough the line and pushed his way almost to the banks of the
river, had been driven back and the line straightened out, without, as
far as the Subaltern could see, any loss whatever.

They were not allowed to follow up this easy success, and consequently
the enemy was still left in possession of a small salient. The
Subaltern's own Company was then sent to prolong the right of the
Battalion, and to get in touch with the "people" on the right.

This was eventually done; the "people" proving to be a regiment of
cavalry, employed as infantry.

In this particular part of the line the situation was, to say the least
of it, a little muddled. The cavalry did not seem to be altogether at
home in their new role. Their trenches seemed too small and detached.
The front was covered with copses, which were continually changing
hands. The whole line seemed to be dangerously weak, and the facilities
for communication too precarious. The Subaltern regarded the whole
affair as a sort of nightmare, and prayed fervently that they would not
be made to stop permanently in that quarter.

It appeared that they had been told off to hold in check the side of the
salient. They took up their position along the edge of a wood, three or
four yards in it.

"We'll be shelled in about twenty minutes, so dig all you know," said
the Captain.

How they dug can be easily understood. They had only their entrenching
implements, but in ten minutes most of them had very fair "lying down"
cover. Ten minutes was all they were allowed. There was no artillery
fire by the end of that time, but the bullets began to whizz past, or
flatten themselves in the tree trunks. It was rather hard to see
precisely what was happening. Black dots emerged from the wood, and
quickly flitted back again. The enemy seemed rather half-hearted.

When the attack, if attack it could really be called, had subsided, a
Sergeant got up from somewhere down the line, and continued work on his
hole. There was a whizz overhead, and he dropped back abruptly. The
Subaltern thought that he had realised the danger and had naturally
bobbed down for safety, but word was passed up "to keep down, as
Sergeant Simkins had been shot dead--through the heart." He never
uttered a sound, and must have met his death instantly.

Work was continued, but with the utmost caution. Meanwhile the afternoon
was drawing rapidly to a close, and the prospect of holding such a
position appalled the Subaltern when