the
French Government and from the many charitable societies. When talking
with them they would tell their stories in a monotonous sort of way,
seldom making any complaint; seeming to think that all these things
were to be endured as a matter of course.

I have read all the available reports on the subject of atrocities and
have no doubt that they are true, but none ever came under my personal
observation.

In the midst of a battle many men do things which would, at other
times, fill them with horror. The excitement of combat seems to breed
a lust for killing and the sight of blood is like a red flag to a
bull. This, unfortunately, is not confined to Germans. One of our
officers who had had a brother killed a few days before deliberately
shot and killed several unarmed prisoners. He was, himself, killed the
same day. On another occasion, a wounded German, lying in a
shell-hole, stabbed and killed one of our wounded and attacked another
only to be beaten at his own game and killed with his own knife. A
soldier of the Royal Fusiliers, at St. Eloi, was detected by his
sergeant in the act of shooting an unarmed prisoner, whereupon the
sergeant immediately shot and killed the soldier. I saw this, myself.

But the deliberate shooting of wounded men and stretcher-bearers has
been, so far as I know, confined to the Hun. On numerous occasions,
some of which are mentioned elsewhere in this story, German snipers
deliberately and in cold blood shot down our helpless wounded and the
men who were endeavoring to succor them.

CHAPTER V

AT CAPTAIN'S POST

The Battle of Loos had opened on the twenty-fifth of September and,
although it was a considerable distance to the south of us, we had
been hearing the continuous rumble of the guns ever since we had come
up to the line. It was the first time we had heard "drum-fire," as the
French call it. It is such an incessant bombardment, with such a large
number of guns, that you can not distinguish any single reports, but
the whole makes a continual "rumble," something like the roll of heavy
thunder in the distance; never slacking, night or day. I have
forgotten just how many days they kept it up, but it was something
like two weeks.

To create a diversion, and prevent the enemy from taking troops from
other parts of the line to strengthen the attacked point, our
artillery, all along the line, was doing its best and our infantry
made feint attacks at several places. We had g