llows, these
sappers! They have wired almost our whole front already. I wish they
had had time to do it on our left as well."

Within the next few hours all defensive preparations possible in the
time had been completed; and our attendant angels, most effectively
disguised as Royal Engineers, had flitted away, leaving us to wait for
Monday morning--and Brother Bosche.

With the dawn, our eyes, which had known no sleep since Friday night,
peered rheumily out over the whitening landscape.

To our front the ground stretched smooth and level for two hundred
yards, then fell gently away, leaving a clearly denned skyline. Beyond
the skyline rose houses, of which we could descry only the roofs and
upper windows.

"That must be either Haisnes or Douvrin," said Major Kemp. "We are
much farther to the left than we were yesterday. By the way, _was_ it
yesterday?"

"The day before yesterday, sir," the ever-ready Waddell informed him.

"Never mind; to-day's the day, anyhow. And it's going to be a busy
day, too. The fact is, we are in a tight place, and all through doing
too well. We have again penetrated so much farther forward than any
one else in our neighbourhood that we _may_ have to fall back a bit.
But I hope not. We have a big stake, Waddell. If we can hold on to
this position until the others make good upon our right and left, we
shall have reclaimed a clear two miles of the soil of France, my son."
The Major swept the horizon with his glasses. "Let me see: that is
probably Hulluch away on our right front: the Loos towers must be in
line with us on our extreme right, but we can't see them for those
hillocks. There is our old friend Fosse Eight towering over us on our
left rear. I don't know anything about the ground on our absolute
left, but so long as that flathead regiment hold on to their trench,
we can't go far wrong. Waddell, I don't like those cottages on our
left front. They block the view, and also spell machine-guns. I see
one or two very suggestive loopholes in those red-tiled roofs. Go and
draw Ayling's attention to them. A little preliminary _strafing_ will
do them no harm."

Five minutes later one of Ayling's machine-guns spoke out, and
a cascade of tiles came sliding down the roofs of the offending
cottages.

"That will tickle them up, if they have any guns set up on those
rafters," observed the Major, with ghoulish satisfaction. "I wonder
if Brer Bosche is going to attack. I hope he does. There is o