regiment or battalion knows. The men were
razor-keen for action, but that very keenness might lead them into a
rashness, a foolhardiness, which would precipitate action. The Colonel
believed they would stand and fight to the last gasp and die to the
last man rather than yield a yard of their trench. He believed that of
them even as he believed it of himself--but he did not know it of them
any more than he knew it of himself. Men, apparently every bit as good
as him, had before now developed some 'white streak,' some folly, some
stupidity, in the stress and strain of action. Other regiments,
apparently as sound as his, had in the records of history failed or
broken in a crisis. He and his were new and untried, and military
commanders for innumerable ages had doubted and mistrusted new and
untried troops.

Well . . . he had done his best, and at least the next twenty-four
hours should show him how good or how bad that best had been. But
meantime let no one blame him for his anxiety or nervousness.

And meantime the 7th Asterisks, serenely unaware of their Commanding
Officer's worry and doubt--and to be fair to them and to him it must be
stated that they would have flouted scornfully any suggestion that he
had held them--joyfully set about the impossible task of making
themselves comfortable, and the congenial one of making the enemy
extremely uncomfortable. The sentries were duly posted, and spent an
entirely unnecessary proportion of their time peering over the parapet.

There were more Verey pistol lights burnt during the night than would
have sufficed a trench-hardened battalion for a month, and the Germans
opposite, having in hand a little job of adding to their barbed-wire
defences, were puzzled and rather annoyed by the unwonted display of
fireworks. They foolishly vented their annoyance by letting off a few
rounds of rapid fire at the opposition, and the 7th Asterisks eagerly
accepted the challenge, manned their parapets and proceeded to pour a
perfect hurricane of fire back to the challengers. The Germans, with
the exception of about a dozen picked sharp-shooting snipers, ceased to
fire and took careful cover.

The snipers, daring the Asterisks' three minutes of activity, succeeded
in scoring seven hits, and the Asterisks found themselves in possession
of a casualty list of one killed and six wounded before the Company and
platoon commanders had managed to stop the shooting and get the men
down under