in
excess of the allotted thirty-five pounds which is carried on the
battalion transport wagons.

On this epoch-marking day, even the officers' servants were punctual.
When the order, "Packs on! Fall in!" was given, not a man was missing.
Every one was in harness, standing silently, expectantly, in his place.

"Charge magazines!"

The bolts clicked open with the sound of one as we loaded our rifles with
ball ammunition. Five long shiny cartridges were slipped down the charger
guide into the magazine, and the cut-off closed.

"Move off in column of route, 'A' company leading!"

We swung into the country road in the gathering twilight, and turned
sharply to our left at the crossroad where the signboard read, "To the
Firing-Line. For the Use of the Military Only."

Coming into the trenches for the first time when the deadlock along the
western front had become seemingly unbreakable, we reaped the benefit of
the experience of the gallant little remnant of the first British
Expeditionary Force. After the retreat from Mons, they had dug themselves
in and were holding tenaciously on, awaiting the long-heralded arrival of
Kitchener's Mob. As the units of the new armies arrived in France, they
were sent into the trenches for twenty-four hours' instruction in trench
warfare, with a battalion of regulars. This one-day course in trench
fighting is preliminary to fitting new troops into their own particular
sectors along the front. The facetious subalterns called it "The
Parapet-etic School." Months later, we ourselves became members of the
faculty, but on this first occasion we were marching up as the meekest of
undergraduates.

It was quite dark when we entered the desolate belt of country known as
the "fire zone." Pipes and cigarettes were put out and talking ceased. We
extended to groups of platoons in fours, at one hundred paces interval,
each platoon keeping in touch with the one in front by means of
connecting files. We passed rows of ruined cottages where only the scent
of the roses in neglected little front gardens reminded one of the
home-loving people who had lived there in happier days. Dim lights
streamed through chinks and crannies in the walls. Now and then blanket
coverings would be lifted from apertures that had been windows or doors,
and we would see bright fires blazing in the middle of brick kitchen
floors, and groups of men sitting about them luxuriously sipping tea from
steaming canteens. They were laug