Servants of the Guns

dow of his billet and surveyed the muddy and uninteresting village street with eyes of gloom. His habitual optimism had for once failed him, and his confidence in th

transferred to his old battery if a vacancy occurred, and

down that second lieutenants must not argue with colonels. Pickersdyke had left his commanding officer without betraying

g-out! Thinks he's going to keep me here running his bally colu

choose between Sentiment, which bade him refuse and stay with the battery to whose wellbeing he had devoted seven of the best years of his life, and Ambition, which urged him, as a man of energy and brains, to accept his just reward with a view to further advancement. A

ostly "dug-outs"; close upon 500 men, nearly all reservists; and about 700 horses, many of which are rejections from other and, in a sense, more important units. Its business, as its name indicates, is to supply a division with ammunition, and its duties in this connection are relatively simple. Its wagons transport shells, cartridges, and bullets to the brigade ammunition columns, whence they return empty and begin again. It is obvious that the men engaged upon this w

on, whose members regarded its good name in the way that a son does that of his mother, it seemed little short of criminal that such laxity should be permitted. On taking over a section he "got down to it," as he said, at once, and became forthwith a most unpopular officer. But that, though he knew it well, did not deter him. He made the lives of various sergeants and junior N.C.O.'s unbearable until they began to see that it was wiser "to smarten themselves up a bit" after his suggestion. In a month the difference bet

his own interests were concerned, s

your section; it's quite t

ecognition of his merits. Moreover, for his own ends, he was anxious to imp

. 3 Section now, and I hope

ob, who waited seven years for Rachel and then was tricked into taking Leah. The vision of his four days' leave-long overdue-faded away. He

s in appearance are military virtues not beneath notice. This time the drudgery was even worse, and he was considerably hampered by the touchiness and jealousy of the real section commander, who was a dug-out captain of con

, seized his chance and made Pickersdyke his adjutant. Here was a man, he felt, endowed with an astonishing energy and considerable p

re in a small French village on the lines of communication, miles from the front, out of all touch with his

he early days of the war he had succeeded amazingly where others in his position had certainly failed. His management of affairs "behind the scenes" had been unsurpassed. Never once, from the moment when his unit left Havre till a month later it arrived upon the Aisne, had its men been short of food or its horses of forage. He had replaced deficiencies from some apparently inexhaustible store of "spares"; he had provided the best billets, the safest wa

a battery which consists of almost everything except the guns and their complement of officers and men-practicall

e of all his pride in being an officer, to join the column. There, in the seclusion of his billet, he studied army lists and watched the name of the senior subaltern of the battery creep towards the head of the roll. When that officer was promoted captain there would be a vacancy, and that vacancy would be Pickersdyke's chance. Meanwhile, to fit hi

be transferred was refused. His colonel's attitude astonished him. He had expected recognition of that

and in your way, much as I should

but you cann

stakably plain that

fool as to let you go? I'

"the old troop"; he was obsessed with the idea almost to the exclusion of everything else. He craved for the old faces and the old familiar atmosphere as a dr

tialled. Should he hide all the colonel's clothes and only reveal their whereabouts when the application had been forwarded? Should he steal his whisky (without which it was doubtful if he could exist), put poison in his tea, or write an anonymous letter to headqu

rrison,"

hing can be done quickly, as I suppose Jordan will be promoted very soon." (Jordan was the senior subaltern.) "You kno

ou

icker

eme honesty of soul but no intelligence whatsoever, which fact was of great assistance to him in the perpetration of his more complicated villainies.

us go," announ

cupham, feelingly. "I'm proper f

ote to Captain Lorrison, and brin

de, the day was warm, and he disliked physical exertion. He ret

r Pi

who knows nothing. Besides, we want you to come. The preliminary bombardment is well under way, so there's not

rs e

Lorr

de ammunit

ost considerate mood. He spent a long time trying to think of a reasonable excuse for going to see Lorrison, but he might have saved himself the trouble. Some light-hearted fool had sent up shrapnel i

n, and was in any case not really the fault of the D.A.C. section commander. It was then necessary to find this latter and make it clear to him that he was without doubt t

nctually and eviden

he news?" he

eard none. He had

army as far as I can see. And we've got orders to be ready to move in close support o

ad not done since he was

xed my chances

big 'hows' and a couple of 'pip-squeak' batteries on to us just when we were replenishing. They smashed up several wagons and did a lot of damage.

She

ickersdyke. The latter's f

should think I would. Don't care what the c

some more wagons from the B.A.C. we'

e to his colonel to say that he was staying up for the night (he omitted to say prec

an and come up to the batt

like an escaped convict breathing the air of freedom and making for his h