billet
and the wall-plaster trickled down on to one's valise, making a sound
like soot coming down a chimney.

It was about three o'clock in the morning. I did not look at my watch,
as its luminous facings had faded away months before and I did not
wish to disturb my companions by lighting a match. A sigh or a groan
came from one part of the room or another, showing that our
bombardment was troublesome even to the sleepers, and a rasping noise
occasionally occurred when W----k, my Company Commander, turned round
uneasily on his bed of wood and rabbit-wire.

I plunged farther down into the recesses of my flea-bag, though its
linings had broken down and my feet stuck out at the bottom. Then I
pulled my British Warm over me and muffled my head and ears in it to
escape the regularly-repeated roar of the 9.2. Though the whole house
seemed to be shaking to bits at every minute, the noise was muffled to
a less ear-splitting fury and I gradually sank into a semi-sleep.

About six o'clock I awoke finally, and after an interval the battery
stopped its work. At half-past seven I hauled myself out of my valise
and sallied forth into the courtyard, clad in a British Warm, pyjamas,
and gum-boots, to make my toilet. I blinked as I came into the light
and felt very sleepy. The next moment I was on my hands and knees,
with every nerve of my brain working like a mill-stone. A vicious
"swish" had sounded over my head, and knowing its meaning I had turned
for the nearest door and slipped upon the cobbled stones of the yard.
I picked myself up and fled for that door just as the inevitable
"crash" came. This happened to be the door to the servants' quarters,
and they were vastly amused. We looked out of the window at the
_debris_ which was rising into the air. Two more "crumps" came
whirling over the house, and with shattering explosions lifted more
_debris_ into the air beyond the farther side of the courtyard.
Followed a burst of shrapnel and one more "crump," and the enemy's
retaliation on the 9.2 and its crew had ceased. The latter, however,
had descended into their dug-out, while the gun remained unscathed.
Not so some of our own men.

We were examining the nose-cap of a shell which had hit the wall of
our billet, when a corporal came up, who said hurriedly to W----k,
"Corporal G----'s been killed and four men wounded."

The whole tragedy had happened so swiftly, and this sudden
announcement of the death of one of our best N.C.O.