rsonally, and I
concluded that it had been a pretty good fight. A scratch force, half
of it dog-tired and half of it untrained, had held up at least a couple
of fresh divisions ... But we couldn't do it again, and there were
still some hours before us of desperate peril. When had the Corps said
that the French would arrive? ... I was on the point of shouting for
Hamilton to get Wake to ring up Corps Headquarters, when I remembered
that Wake was dead. I had liked him and greatly admired him, but the
recollection gave me scarcely a pang. We were all dying, and he had
only gone on a stage ahead.

There was no morning strafe, such as had been our usual fortune in the
past week. I went out-of-doors and found a noiseless world under the
lowering sky. The rain had stopped falling, the wind of dawn had
lessened, and I feared that the storm would be delayed. I wanted it at
once to help us through the next hours of tension. Was it in six hours
that the French were coming? No, it must be four. It couldn't be more
than four, unless somebody had made an infernal muddle. I wondered why
everything was so quiet. It would be breakfast time on both sides, but
there seemed no stir of man's presence in that ugly strip half a mile
off. Only far back in the German hinterland I seemed to hear the rumour
of traffic.

An unslept and unshaven figure stood beside me which revealed itself as
Archie Roylance.

'Been up all night,' he said cheerfully, lighting a cigarette. 'No, I
haven't had breakfast. The skipper thought we'd better get another
anti-aircraft battery up this way, and I was superintendin' the job.
He's afraid of the Hun gettin' over your lines and spying out the
nakedness of the land. For, you know, we're uncommon naked, sir. Also,'
and Archie's face became grave, 'the Hun's pourin' divisions down on
this sector. As I judge, he's blowin' up for a thunderin' big drive on
both sides of the river. Our lads yesterday said all the country back
of Peronne was lousy with new troops. And he's gettin' his big guns
forward, too. You haven't been troubled with them yet, but he has got
the roads mended and the devil of a lot of new light railways, and any
moment we'll have the five-point-nines sayin' Good-mornin' ... Pray
Heaven you get relieved in time, sir. I take it there's not much risk
of another push this mornin'?'

'I don't think so. The Boche took a nasty knock yesterday, and he must
fancy we're pretty strong after that counter-atta