ed up; Fritz evidently thought it was barely
possible we might have a chance to use them again. We reached our old
telephonist's hut on the hill, looked around for Lieutenant Matthews,
but he wasn't there; he had been wounded and taken prisoner.

We established lines of communication at once, to hold the Germans back
while we built up our own front. Our men were now coming back from their
trip and our batteries put up one of the fiercest barrages I have ever
witnessed to protect them on their return.

CHAPTER VIII

A BATH UNDER DIFFICULTIES

Over near Hooge was a large naval gun of high velocity and long range,
mounted on an armored train. The particular purpose of this nautical
monster was to shoot up objects at short notice, such as a body of
moving troops, a battery on the road, a train of ammunition wagons. It
was concealed in a tunnel made for its specific use, and when it would
discharge its missives of destruction it would first project itself from
the tunnel, send the message, and then shoot back inside.

It was at this time paying particular attention to the Square in
Poperinghe,--the little station and the hospital there,--and it had
become such a diabolical nuisance that it was determined to resort to
heroic measures to "get it." A monster balloon was enlisted in the work
and the mission of the floating bag was to direct the correspondence of
one of our 9.2 naval guns, which was operating on a short railroad built
by the Canadian Pacific Railway. This railroad, I may add, has been
doing mostly all the track laying and railroad operating for the
Canadian forces in Flanders. It was a matter of amazement for the
natives to see how quickly a railroad could be placed and operated, and
even the soldiers who were all more or less familiar with the workings
of this magnificent system in Canada, were astonished at the speed with
which the new machine, especially built by the Company for army
purposes, would throw down the rails, fasten them--presto! a railroad to
order.

[Illustration: Victorious, But Dead Tired]

It was resolved that the first work of the balloon should be devoted to
putting this German naval gun out of action. In this section at this
time the German balloons were thick in the air, and this gave them good
control of the Ypres salient. We dared not attempt the experiment there
for a long time, but it was finally determined to launch this one, and
it was brought up one evening, with its