but we couldn't see through
them very well and we decided to hang out where we were till morning,
but Fritzie began sending us some high-explosive shrapnel and we
thought we would rather take our chance with the gas, so we stuck our
gas tubes in our mouths, grabbed our noses, and away we went. The
Germans were flinging heavy shells at our silent artillery, but we got
past all right and we stumbled on till we came to our camp at Neuville
St. Vaast. One or two had been gassed a little and had to go to a
dressing-station, but the rest of us had a good feed and we went right
to sleep--we sure were "all in." We only did one more trip into that
part of the line, and then it was very quiet, so to our great joy we
were taken out and given a month's rest.

The next time we went in was at Lens, and here we relieved some British
troops that had been having an awful time. They were holding a place
on the outskirts of Lens known as Cite Ste. Elisabeth, and they told us
some awful tales of what had been taking place. The British had
attacked Lens, but after being practically successful the attacking
party were not able to hold what they had gained. The Germans
surrounded the town, and those that were not killed were taken
prisoner. Now, Lens was merely a mass of ruined houses, but the Huns
had fortified every house and were firmly intrenched. The troops we
relieved were holding what had been German territory, and they had made
fortresses out of the houses that were still standing. They had lost
half their men, and it was marvellous what they had done and the way
they had held out.

The gun position that our two Stokes guns took over was in a big house,
or rather behind it. The basement of this house was propped up with
mine timbers and steel props; this was to sustain the eight feet of
concrete with reinforced steel that had been laid on the first floor.
It made a wonderful protection for our guns and also for ourselves.
The basement contained box spring-beds and real mirrors, and we felt
that we were very swell indeed. We kept most of our ammunition in the
house, where it was always dry, and the way we hammered old Fritz
wasn't slow. We fired from two to three hundred rounds daily and our
carrying parties cussed us for firing so much. When not on the guns we
spent our time in the basement telling yarns and playing cards. We had
a dandy officer; he had only just come out, but he was as keen as
mustard. He insisted o