ke any jokes with the men on duty for fear they should laugh and
give away our position. I made my promise and started with the patrol
officer and his runner. It was a curious sensation wandering off in
the darkness as silently as possible, tripping now and then on bits of
wire and almost slipping into the trenches. We came to the different
shell-holes and whispered conversations were held. The sentries seemed
surprised when I spoke to them, as they could not recognize me in the
darkness. I whispered that I had promised the Colonel not to tell any
funny stories for fear they should laugh, so I merely gave them the
benediction, in return for which spiritual function I got a very warm
handshake. To do outpost duty in a place like that must have been more
interesting than pleasant, for at all times the sentries had to keep
straining their eyes in the darkness to see if a patrol of the enemy
was coming to surprise them. On our return we saw some shells falling
to the right in the shadowy desolation of what was called Bully-beef
Wood.

On another occasion, I was coming out near Feuchy along the railway
triangle when the Germans dropped some gas shells in the cutting. Two
of the men and I were talking together, and we had just time to dive
into Battalion Headquarters and pull down the gas blankets. We put on
our helmets, but not before we had got a dose of the poison. As I sat
there with my throat burning, I was filled with alarm lest I (p. 270)
should lose my voice and be unable in the future to recite my poems.
It was hard enough, as it was, to keep my friends long enough to hear
my verses, but I thought that if I had to spell them out in deaf-and-dumb
language no one would ever have patience to wait till the end.
However, after a few days my throat got better, and my friends were
once again forced to lend me their ears.

The railway triangle was a well-known place, and any men who may have
lived in some of the dugouts along the banks are not likely to forget
it. In the valley there was a large artificial lake in which I had
some of the most pleasant swims I have ever enjoyed, although the
waters were sometimes stirred up by the advent of a shell.

It was part of our strategy to let our men get the impression that we
were going to stay in the trenches before Arras for a long time. We
had several raiding parties with a view to finding out the position
and strength of the enemy, and our C.C.S.'s were well equipped and