Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-24

= ! Ao5A CHAPTER XIV.

" ONGs tbefore IL was light there
- was movement in the signalers
T@N@dugodt! Mason busted himself
IL with the fire, while Hammond
fyp0 bye the light of a Pickering
candle made q poor attempt at wash
ing cups which had been left dirty
from the night before. Outside all
was so quiet that it seemed difficult
to believe thereS were any Germans
within miles. 1t was bitterly cold.
The > only sign of the coming dawn
was the gradual paling of the stars.
Mason pushed aside the curtain of
the officers ddgout and touched Stan
hope. on the shoulder. He woke with
seaht--he never slept soundly now
%Hullo." he said; that you, Mason?
What is it?"
"Oh, right" He sat up in his bed
and stretched himself "Damnably
cold in here. You don't get chance
to sleep. Good Lord. I'm tired"
I've made some 'ot tea, sir"
Good! Better wake up the other
officers and take them a cup"
Very good, sir"
AS soon as Mason had returned to
his own dugout Stanhope got slowly
to his feet and began to make ready
for his work. His fingers were so
cold that he fumbled angrily for sew
eral moments with his Shirt-stud His
head was aching like the devil. If
Jerry was going to attack he had
chosen a pretty beastly morning for
1t, and the dugout was so cursedly
lonely now that Osborne's bed was
empty-bloody cold and lonely.
As Stanhope was brushing his hair
in front of the little meal mirror
propped up against a jamtin near the
candle, Trotter came IN from his own
dugout. His face was partly hidden,
by thick white lather.
Wash and brush up, tuppence" he
announced.
"Hullo, up already? Good mani The
others avake?"
Trotter nodded. Then he went
acress to the steps and peered up into
the trench. Sounds quiet enough out
there. But you never knows, do you?"
His face lit up as Mason appeared,
carrying four mugs of tea. That's
the stuff for the troops. A good cup
Of teal"
Mason put one cup down at Stan
hopes elbow. Nice and 'ot, sir. And
I've cut a packet Of sambridges for
each gentleman, sir
Then he went off to the inner dug
out with the other three cups held in
front Of him, and Trotter, still busily
lathertng his face, following behind
him
Trotter was right. 1t was quiet
enough out there. The sky was be-
ginning to turn gray. Very nearly
time for stand to-" Could 1t be pos
Sible that, so few yards away. the Ger
man infantry were crowded in their
trenches, ready to attack: that so few
miles away the German guns, camou-
tagged under branches of graSS-covered
wire netting, or deceptive blotcheS of
paint, were waiting in their thousands
for zero hour" when they would burst
into the greatest uproar the war had
known? Very quiet-eten to the north
by Ypres there was, for once, no noise.
Stanhope turned sharply from the
table. After all, he had plenty of
work to do. He lit a second candle,
and, by its light. ran through the
notes he had jotted down in his mes
sage book.
'Mason!" he called.
Coming. sir" He appeared with a
neat packet wrapped up in newspaper.
Your sambridges, sir. ART bully. beef
and arr sardtne. Sardine on top, sir?"
How delicious. No pate de foie
grss?" .....
mo what, sir?"
mo pate de foie gras?" '...,.'
Mason hesitated before he replied
The captain seemed in a good temper.
mo, sir" he said, the milkman amt
been yet" Then he hurried on-for
you never knew with the captain nova
Yes. Clear up your kitchen q bit,
dress, and join your platoon in the
line"
VERY good, sir"
eff things are going well at IL
O'Clock, come down here and do your
Test TO get some lunch for us. We
shall come down in turn when we get
q chance"
VERY good, sir"
"Runner!" he shouted. A signaler
came in from the servants dugout, and
saluted.
TASK the sergeant-maior to come to
see me-"
every good, sir"
From the inner dugout came the
sound of Trotter's voice, singing
plaintively. There's a long, long trail
a-winding" No chance to work with
odd bird, tool Nothing ever upset
him. Stanhope's scowl disappeared.
He pulled a few coppers from his
pocket, walked across to the entrance
of Trotter's dugout and threw the
money inside. The singing stopped
abruptly.
THANK you kindly, guv'norI" Trot-
Ger called out in his CHEEKY voice.
The sergeant-fnajor had arrived, and
stood at the foot of the steps, stiff, in
Ecrutable, and correct, until Stanhope
spoke to him, when he became human.
He reported that the wiring parties had
Just finished their work, and had made
a very decent job of it, with wire on
each side of the. company's sector. run
ming right down to the support line.
Good Everything quiet?"
tits all right opposite ere, sir. But
the guns ave started 'eavy lombard
ment down south. Not sure If 1t amt
spreading this way, sir"