ntion to implicate any of those brave boys who
sought to give us merely the innocent pleasure of visiting the strip of
land between the two armies I shall draw a veil over our excursion
through the trenches that night, where we were met everywhere with
acclaim and gratitude, and finally assisted out of the trenches by means
of a ladder. As it was quite dark the grenades in the basket entirely
escaped notice, and we found ourselves at last headed toward the German
lines, and fully armed, though looking, as Mr. Burton observed, like a
picnic party.

He persisted in making humorous sallies such as: "Did any one remember
the pepper and salt?" and "I hope somebody brought pickles. What's a
picnic without pickles?"

I regret to say that we were fired on by some of our own soldiers who
didn't understand the situation, shortly after this, and that the bottle
of blackberry cordial which I was carrying was broken to fragments.

"If they hit this market basket there'll be a little excitement," Mr.
Burton said. He then stopped and said that a joke was a joke, but there
was such a thing as carrying it too far, and that we'd better look for a
helmet or two and then go back.

"The Germans are just on the other side of that wood," he whispered;
"and they don't know a joke when they see one."

"I thought, Mr. Burton, you promised to take Hilda a German officer,"
Tish said scornfully.

"I did," he agreed. "I did indeed. But now I think of it, I didn't
promise her a live one. The more I consider the matter the more I am
sure that no stipulation was made as to the conditions of delivery.
I----"

But when he saw Tish continuing to advance he became very serious, and
even suggested that if we would only go back he would himself advance as
far as possible and endeavor to reach V----.

Just what Tish's reply would have been I do not know, as at that moment
Aggie stumbled and fell into a deep shell hole full of water. We heard
the splash and waited for her voice, as we were uncertain of her exact
position.

But what was our surprise on hearing a deep masculine voice say: "Hands
up, you dirty swine!"

"Let go of me," came in piteous accents from Aggie.

There was then complete silence, until the other voice said: "Well, I'll
be damned!" It then said: "Bill, Bill!"

"Here," said still another voice, a short distance away, in a sort of
loud whisper.

"There's a mermaid in my pool," said the first voice. "Did you draw
anything?"