Contemptible""

clock in the evening, and here the Battalion, in it

the thought of having to provide for five large, hungry and nervous officers. She was a horrid old woman-mean, dirty, and if the Captain's word coul

eep, and smiled at the complete luxury of prolonged rest. They did not get up till eight, and having dressed, washed, and even shaved, the

uspected of leanings towards ma

ter on the Colonel came in. It was not an official visit, only to warn them to be ready to mo

e it was that they first heard rumours of the affair off Heligoland, which had become inflated into a tremendous victory for the British Fleet. Apparently half the German Fleet had been sent to the bottom of the sea, and you can imagine the state of enthusiasm that was caused by this news. They felt that, no

as it was light, and the retreat

ssible. Curious as it may seem, the Subaltern had in some way been upset by the previous day's break in the usual marching routine. The heat seemed more

nt of Windsor. The houses which clustered beneath it formed the little town of Coucy-le-Chateau. They camped out in an open field beneath the hill, and by stripping a cou

this day as on the march to La Fère. Soissons was no great distance from Coucy, only some eight or ten miles, and just when they reach

n shutters seem so queer, and there is such a disdain of geometry. But when one gets right into the town, a violent change comes over the scene. The cobbles that were so pleasantly medieval in the distance become, under one's feet, nothing but an ankle-turning plague. The stuccoed w

and substantial structure, and a section of Engineers were preparing to blow it up. Before the hour's halt was over, the inevitable

ontinued the march, this time al

ed abruptly to the left, that is to say, southwards, and the Aisne disappeared in a cleft of the hills. Winding tortuously at the feet of more or less

ose Hell-days was over. Too tired to move, even if the position was

to give to force the knees to keep from doubling under the weight of the body. The hands feel as if they were swelling until the boiling blood would ooze from the finger-tips. The lungs seem too exhausted to expand; the neck too weary to support the heavy head. The shoulders ache under the galling weight of sword and haversack, and every inch of c

enerally occupied by trench digging. They were not having a fifth of the sleep that such a life requires. They were protected neither from the heat of noon nor from the chill of dawn. The food they got was not fresh food, and their equipment weighed ninety pounds! Lesser men would have died; men imbued with a feebler determination would have fainted. As it was, the transport w

had ever done before, the greater part of his thoughts and attention. He made their safety and comfort his first care, and protected them from ridiculous orders and unnecessary fatigue. He found himself wat

of the Aisne bridges had been left standing, and apparently the enemy was across it, and already threatening to envelop their position. Having