e scene--the
raging hearts of the opposing forces of men engaged in a
death-grapple, the bitter humiliation of the defeated, and the glory
of the victor's triumph. Then the night fell and the darkness was
softly lit by a multitude of stars in a cloudless and almost blue sky.
It seemed to speak most soothingly to the exhausted men of peace,
silence, tranquillity, and the lapping coolness of running streams.
Oh, to be able to get away from this terrific din, this intimate
contact with throngs of fellow-men, these devilish instruments of
death hurtling through the air--away into loneliness and quietude,
only for a little while. But there was no respite. The enemy were
still close at hand. It would be dangerous to succumb to the almost
irresistible inclination to lie down and sleep. There might come at
any moment a counter attack by the enemy. Most of the men, therefore,
had to "stand to arms" through the night.

The wounded had also to be attended to. Some of them, totally
disabled, had lain where they fell, out on the open sandy plain under
the burning sun. They were tortured by thirst. As their comrades in
the reserve lines passed them by they could be heard moaning in pain,
calling for mother or wife, craving for a drink to moisten their
parched mouths. It was forbidden the men to fall out of the lines for
the purpose of succouring the wounded. That is the duty of the
stretcher-bearers, following behind, and to them, the orders are, it
must be left. But the 10th Division were new soldiers, and humanity
had not been quite suppressed by discipline in the ranks. The cry of
stricken comrade was irresistible. "Water; a drop of water for the
Blessed Virgin's sake," they gasped, with mouths open and eyes
starting from their heads, as if startled by the sight of something
dreadful. So the men stopped for a minute to put a water-bottle to the
lips of a mangled friend; and often the murmured thanks stiffened out
into rigidity and silence.

Some of the wounded succeeded in crawling into the rocky gullies.
Others lay in the thickets of scrub. They were sheltered from the
fierce rays of the sun, but were in danger of the equally terrible
fate of death by burning. On every side, throughout the day, fires
were blazing. The dry scrub and bushes were set alight by petrol
bombs. As a line of the Inniskilling Fusiliers were moving forward
behind the Dublins, news was brought to them that there were some
wounded men in an extensive patc