ual contest with two guns out of action. It was simply magnificent
as a display of real efficient gunnery. There is no doubt the enemy had
intended to make an effort to cross the river at Runovka and that his
artillery had been placed with a view to protecting the passage of his
troops. The young Czech gunnery lieutenant by his stratagem with one
solitary field-piece had made this plan appear impossible to the enemy
commander. Never was deception more complete.

Having felt our right flank and found it too strong, the enemy continued
his movement towards our right rear. He could only do this with safety
by correctly anticipating our strategy. He took our measure to a
military fraction. He saw that, though he offered the most tempting
bait, we made no effort to move forward to snap it up, and doubtless
came to the conclusion that we were chained to our positions by either
dearth of numbers or military incapacity. In the last stage of his
movement his communications stretched for twenty-three miles along our
flank, with three posts of just over one hundred men to protect his
supply trains. If the commander of that force is still alive he probably
has a poor opinion of the ability of his opponents. We were ready to
deal him a death-blow at any moment from the day he occupied Uspenkie
until he crossed the river before Antonovka. He and his column were only
saved by orders from Vladivostok.

For two days no movement was observable in the enemy lines, and it began
to look as though he would or could not take full advantage of his
extremely favourable position.

I had waged an unequal contest with millions of mosquitoes while trying
to sleep in a field telephone hut made of rough branches and marsh
grass. The Czech soldier who acted as operator had helped me as much as
possible, but at last in desperation I got up and walked about until the
wonderful colouring in the East heralded another glorious Siberian
summer day. The bluey-purple pall had given place to a beautiful
orange-tinted yellow such as I had never seen before. The sentry prodded
a sleeping Tommy who had a huge black frog sitting on the highest point
of his damp, dewy blanket, and a bugle glistening by his side. The
sleeper awoke, and after washing his lips at the tank, sounded the
soldiers' clarion call, the "Reveille." Instantly the whole bivouac was
alive, but scarcely had the bugle notes died away when the telephone
buzzer began to give forth a series of shar