newspaper accounts of German
strategic documents captured by us in some of our advances.

"Tear them up and put them on the fire. We won't destroy this
map"--pointing to a neat and graphic piece of coloured draughtsmanship
showing infantry and artillery dispositions--"until we have to."

I got to work, and the fire crackled joyously. "Don't say we shall have
to leave these to the Hun, doctor!" I said in shocked tones, picking up
four copies of his adored 'Saturday Evening Post.'

The doctor smiled vaguely, but answered nothing.

Hostile shelling had ceased in our neighbourhood. The sound our ears
waited for was the "putt--puttr--putt" of machine-guns, always the
indication of a near infantry attack. I went out and made sure that the
look-outs at both ends of the quarry were doing their work, and found
our little Headquarters army, twenty-five men all told, quiet and
steady, and ready for the moment, should it come.

Half an hour slipped by. We spoke on the telephone to D Battery, who
were on high ground. No, they could see no wave of German infantry
approaching; but Bullivant, B Battery's major, who for the time being
was commanding C Battery's rear uncaptured guns as well as his own rear
and forward 18-pounders, said Huns were coming up _en masse_ from the
south-west. "My guns are firing at them, and A's forward guns are
shootin' as well," he went on. "No! I have seen nothing of our
infantry, but observation is still bad; pockets of mist still about.
About Bliss" (the signalling officer who had gone out in the morning
and not returned). "Oh! he stayed some time at our forward position and
then said he was going to get over to A Battery to see why they were
cut off from communication. A lot of 4.2's were coming over at the
time, and there were snipers about. He had to duck three or four times
on the way and then disappeared from view."

Dumble, captain of A Battery, who had come up from the waggon line,
dropped in and hurried off, saying he was going forward to see if he
could get anywhere near the Battery.

3 P.M.: No further developments. "I'm going over to see General ----,"
announced the colonel, naming the brigadier-general commanding the
Infantry Brigade we were covering.

Five minutes later the adjutant of an infantry battalion on our left
rang through and told me that large numbers of Germans were over the
crest and advancing towards what the map showed me was our A Battery's
forward positions. I put A