ey are made up, till
wanted; the present ones will wear out with a rush from being worn
night and day, and from having been badly washed and scorched when
drying, so they may be wanted in a hurry. Whilst waiting about here
this morning, I amused myself by looking for shell holes round our
ruins. So far as I can see, they are everywhere, like the holes in a
sponge for numbers. My artillery is just going to blow up a house
where the enemy hid a machine gun last night, and which opened on us
during the night and thought we did not know! I also have another R.A.
officer throwing tins full of gun cotton and nails into the German
trenches at this very moment. A nice Christian occupation, truly! I
ought to know in a few days if there is any chance of second leave or
not.

LETTERS OF MARCH, 1915.

IN TRENCHES.
_March 1st, 1915._

I enclose you a letter from one of my old Generals, Sir John Keir. I
wrote to congratulate him on receiving the "K" to his C.B., which I
helped to win him at Boshbult, S. Africa, 1902. Do not trouble to send
it back again. They have no children, and I have never met Lady Keir
so far, but if I get back to England no doubt I shall, though his
division is in Cork at present. Yesterday we were once more under
heavy fire. One shell exploded beside two men who were trying to make
some tea. I am sure the poor fellows, without thinking, gave away
their position by having too large a fire. Anyway, this shell burnt
everything round them, including the flaps of a barn door standing
upright, with nothing inflammable near, but the doors were in a blaze
in a moment, and also their clothes. One man had 18 holes in him; the
other was dreadfully scorched and hurt. I gave him morphia tablets,
but I'm afraid they did not do him much good; it was a mercy that the
doctor arrived soon to give him a proper hypodermic injection. In one
place we found a piece of shell about the size of a half lb. iron
weight which had forced its way right through, and was just under the
skin on the other side. We got that out, but he died shortly after.
They shelled us again during the night, the brutes; however, we did
not bother our heads much about that, and I had a very good night's
rest from 10 o'clock until four a.m. After all, it was not
G----S----'s husband that I met the other day. He turned out to be
Capt. Sherlock of a Militia