ed
slowly in the fifties, and it will move slowly now. We've had a
wonderful delivery but--depend upon it--the price has yet to be
paid!"--IAN H., 1920.]

CHAPTER XXI

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

_3rd October, 1915. Imbros._ Church Parade. Inspected escort, men of the
Howe and Nelson Battalions and a contingent from the 12th and 26th
Australian Infantry. At 12.15 Bailloud, Brulard and Girodon arrived from
Mudros for a last conference. Everything is fixed up. We are going to
help the derelict division of French in every way we can. Bailloud, for
his part, promises to leave them their fair share of guns and trench
mortars. Whenever I see him I know he is one of the best fellows in the
world. We went down and waved farewells from the pier. He was quite
frank. He does not think the Allies have either the vision or the heart
to go through with Gallipoli: he begins to suspect that the big push on
the Western Front is going to yield no laurels: so Salonika hits his
fancy.

Lieutenants Weston and Schemallach of the Australians and Lieutenant
Gellibrand of the Naval Division lunched. A Mr. Unsworth came to talk
over gifts for the Australian troops. He seems a capital chap; full of
go and goodwill to all men.

_4th October, 1915. Imbros._ Vague warnings have taken shape in an
event. A cable from K. telling me to decipher the next message myself. I
have not drafted out an average of fifty telegrams a day for Lord K. for
six months at a stretch without knowing something of his _modus
scribendi_. The Staff were pleasantly excited at the idea that some new
move was in the wind. I knew the new move--or thought I did.

Well, not that: not exactly that; not this time. But the enemies of our
enterprise have got our range to a nicety and have chucked their first
bomb bang into the middle of my camp.

A "flow of unofficial reports from Gallipoli," so K. cables to me, is
pouring into the War Office. These "unofficial reports" are "in much the
same strain" (perhaps they spring from the same source?). "They
adversely criticize the work of the Headquarters Staff and complaints
are made that its members are much out of touch with the troops. The War
Office also doubt whether their present methods are quite satisfactory."
K. therefore suggests "some important changes in your Headquarters
Staff; for instance, if you agreed, Kiggell from home to take
Braithwaite's place with you. Should you, however, decline and desire to
remain as