he
mud and pools of water so universal, that it was really quite a
physical effort to get through at all.

About this time--the 17th--the Germans in our immediate front appeared
to have retired a bit, but they certainly had not gone far, for our
scouts on pushing on for 50 yards or so were greeted with a heavy
fire, so we were unable to get on as much as we wanted. But though the
rifle-bullets were rarer for a day or two, shells certainly were not,
and continued with the utmost regularity.

On the evening of the 17th, by the way, the enemy, annoyed perhaps at
our scouts pushing on, made what was probably meant to be a
counter-attack. It was not made in much strength, and we repelled it
with ease. But it appeared to us at the chateau to be more serious
than it was, for a messenger from the trenches arrived with the
information that the Bedfords were being very severely pressed, and
the Cheshires had had very heavy losses, and could not hold their
trenches for more than ten minutes unless they were supported at
once. I had no supports to send them. A message to Griffith by
telephone for confirmation of this alarm produced no result, for the
wires were, of course, broken at that critical moment. So I wired to
General Wing asking him to send me some supports if he could, and got
200 Royal Fusiliers shortly afterwards. But I did not use them, for
the news of the messenger--who protested that he had been sent with a
verbal message (not likely) by an officer whose name he did not
know--turned out to be grossly exaggerated, and by the time the
Fusiliers arrived the fighting was over. I never could trace whether
any officer was responsible for the original message: I believe not.
Anyhow, there was trouble for the messenger.

On the 18th and 19th we had comparatively quiet days--except for
nervousness about our left flank, where certain troops who had joined
the 9th Brigade were very heavily shelled and lost one or two of their
trenches. They managed, indeed, to get most of the lost ground back,
but I was not entirely happy about it, for the ground between us and
them was extremely difficult and could not be properly covered by
either of us. There was a pond hereabouts, with a little island on it
with a summer-house; and we found, on extending our left to take it
over, that there must have been a German sniper there for several
nights, for many empty Mauser cartridge-cases were found in the
summer-house, and a very dicky punt