hen the long, flat rain-clouds appeared one morning over the distant
range of mountains.

"You see them," said Hawk, lighting a "woodbine," and pointing across
the Salt Lake; "that's the first sign of the wet season coming up."

Sure enough in a few days the colonel had orders to shift his ambulance
to "C" Beach, near Lala Baba, as our present position was unfavourable
for the construction of a permanent field hospital, owing to the rise of
water in the wet season.

Soon after this, Hawk was moved to the advanced dressing station on
Chocolate Hill, and I had to remain with my section near the Salt Lake.
Thus we were separated.

"It's to break up our click, too thick together, we bin noticing too
much, we know the workin' o' things too well, must break up the combine,
dangerous to 'ave people about 'oo spot things and keep their jaws
tight. Git rid o' Hawk--see th' ideeah? Very clever, ain't it?
Practically we're the only two 'oo do feel which way the wind blows, an'
that's inconvenient sometimes."

I asked Hawk while he was on Chocolate Hill to note down in his head
the various snipers' posts, and the general positions of the British and
Turkish trenches.

There came a time when I wanted to send him a note. But it was a
dangerous thing to send notes about. They might fall into the hands of
some sniper and give away information.

Therefore I got a bar of yellow soap from our stores, cut it in two,
bored out a small hole in one half, wrapped up my note, put it inside
the soap, clapped the two halves together, stuck them together by
wetting it, and completely concealed the cut by rubbing it with water.

I then asked one of the A.S.C. drivers who was going up with the
ambulance wagon in the morning to give the piece of soap to Hawk.

"He _hasn't_ got any soap," I explained, "and he asked me to send him
a bit. Tell him it's from me, and that I hope he'll find it all
right--it's the best we have!"

Hawk got the soap, guessed there was a reason for sending it, broke it
open and found the note. So a simple boy-scout trick came in useful on
active service.

CHAPTER XXVII. THE DEPARTURE

Now came a period of utter stagnation

It was a deadlock.

We held the bay, the plain of Anafarta, the Salt Lake, the Kislar Dagh
and Kapanja Sirt in a horse-shoe.

The Turks held the heights of Sari Bair, Anafarta village, and the
hills beyond "Jefferson's Post" in a semicircle enclosing us. Nothing
happened. We shell