splay of
considerable force.

Also pigs; for half a dozen great raw-boned pink and dirty swine
rootled about in the woods near by for sustenance. They were, however,
shy, and did not seek the shelter of the chateau. Stray cattle there
were too; but neither these nor the pigs paid any attention to the
shells which fell near them with impartial regularity, but did them,
as far as I could see, no damage whatever.

There was a stable a couple of hundred yards in rear of the house, and
here at first we put what horses there were in the neighbourhood.
Having Squeaky and Silver there one night--I forget why, but I know
they were there--I put them into a couple of loose-boxes. Silver went
in all right, but Squeaky, generally a most sensible mare, shivered
and sweated with terror, had almost to be forced in, and refused to
feed when there. So I let her out again, and picketed her outside. Two
nights after, a doctor's horse which was in there was all but killed,
for a shrapnel burst through the window and drove fourteen bullets
into his head and neck. They wanted leave to kill the poor beast, but
I refused permission, as he was not hit in any vital spot, and he
recovered, more or less, in a few days.

As mentioned above, this stable was marked in black on the map, whilst
the chateau--a far bigger building, of course--was hardly indicated. I
take it that this accounted for our comparative immunity, for the
stable was shelled (and hit) with great regularity, whilst the chateau
was hardly ever touched. We had, however, a couple of small H.E. shell
through the eastern end whilst we were in the western; one of these
bored clean through the wall of a room where there was a big cupboard
against it on the far side and exploded forthwith. But the cupboard
was not even scratched; it was blown into the middle of the room and a
table or two upset, but, strange to relate, nothing serious in the way
of damage was done.[20] On another occasion, however, a few shrapnel
exploded just outside the kitchen window. At the sound of the first we
all bolted to the other side of the house, and called to the servants
to do the same. They came out; but Brown, our excellent cook, who had
come out in his shirt-sleeves, must needs go back, without orders, to
fetch his coat: for which he promptly received a jagged piece of shell
in his left arm, which put a stop, alas, to his cooking for good and
all, as far as we were concerned, for he was sent away, and,