s. And he had
to get three men with fixed bayonets to help him. He did his best to
make it generally understood that any one who came out of his house and
made a noise would be summarily disposed of. Any sounds of confusion
would inevitably have drawn the fatal attentions of the enemy.

He then made a hurried survey of the roads leading out of the village,
placed sentry groups at various places of advantage, and established the
picket in the centre of the village in a large barn. This done, he sent
the cyclist orderly to try and get into touch with the village on the
right, which, he had been told, was to be occupied by a platoon from
another regiment. The cyclist returned to report that the village was
deserted by the French, and that there was no sign of the Blankshires.
Evidently the O.C. Platoon had not been so fortunate in finding his way
in the dark.

Dawn broke, and the expected order to retire did not come. The men slept
on, intent on snatching as many moments of precious sleep as possible.

Still no orders came. At about eight o'clock the Subaltern finally
awoke, and went the rounds of his groups. There was nothing to report,
all had been quiet.

When he got back he found that the men had collected quite a good number
of eggs from abandoned farmyards, had lighted a fire, and were busy
making a sort of stew out of bully beef and swedes, and (he strongly
suspected) a stolen chicken. As no orders came still, when he had
finished his breakfast, he lay down in the shade of an apple tree and
continued his sleep. He woke up later, at about midday, and ate the
remainder of his rations, and then fell asleep once more.

* * * * *

He was awakened by the Major. It was about four o'clock, and the
remainder of the Brigade was already on the move. The posts guarding the
roads were hastily drawn in, and his Platoon took its place in the
Company as the Battalion marched by.

He felt extremely pleased with the whole adventure of Villiers. It was
the first and only time that he had had a completely detached command.
He had felt the intoxication of undisputed authority; there had been a
subtle pleasure in the thought that, as far as help or supervision were
concerned, he was absolutely alone and that the responsibility for
anything that might happen hung exclusively on his shoulders. The whole
day had seemed like a Sunday to him--the first real Sunday since ages
and ages ago he had left Engl