won't be a near thing. It's an absolute black certainty. My fellows
can't carry on as they are another day. Great God, they've had a
fortnight in hell! Find me more men or we buckle up at the next push.'
My temper was coming very near its limits.

'We've raked the country with a small-tooth comb, sir,' said one of the
staff officers. 'And we've raised a scratch pack. Best part of two
thousand. Good men, but most of them know nothing about infantry
fighting. We've put them into platoons, and done our best to give them
some kind of training. There's one thing may cheer you. We've plenty of
machine-guns. There's a machine-gun school near by and we got all the
men who were taking the course and all the plant.'

I don't suppose there was ever such a force put into the field before.
It was a wilder medley than Moussy's camp-followers at First Ypres.
There was every kind of detail in the shape of men returning from
leave, representing most of the regiments in the army. There were the
men from the machine-gun school. There were Corps troops--sappers and
A.S.C., and a handful of Corps cavalry. Above all, there was a batch of
American engineers, fathered by Blenkiron. I inspected them where they
were drilling and liked the look of them. 'Forty-eight hours,' I said
to myself. 'With luck we may just pull it off.'

Then I borrowed a bicycle and went back to the division. But before I
left I had a word with Archie. 'This is one big game of bluff, and it's
you fellows alone that enable us to play it. Tell your people that
everything depends on them. They mustn't stint the planes in this
sector, for if the Boche once suspicions how little he's got before him
the game's up. He's not a fool and he knows that this is the short road
to Amiens, but he imagines we're holding it in strength. If we keep up
the fiction for another two days the thing's done. You say he's pushing
up troops?'

'Yes, and he's sendin' forward his tanks.'

'Well, that'll take time. He's slower now than a week ago and he's got
a deuce of a country to march over. There's still an outside chance we
may win through. You go home and tell the R.F.C. what I've told you.'

He nodded. 'By the way, sir, Pienaar's with the squadron. He would like
to come up and see you.'

'Archie,' I said solemnly, 'be a good chap and do me a favour. If I
think Peter's anywhere near the line I'll go off my head with worry.
This is no place for a man with a bad leg. He should have been i