allows enough space for the sniper to see through, and, with the aid of
the periscope, held usually by a comrade at his side, he is able to get
the sight for his firing.


A TRAVERSE.

[Illustration: A TRAVERSE.]

Here is a "traverse" in a trench. The sergeant is reading the orders of
the day to one of his men. This was a very damp corner--on the top of
the dug-out to the left tunics were hanging to dry in the early morning
air. The soldier still has on his sleeping cap (like the figure in the
last picture); his mess-tin is by his side, and his rifle, encased in a
waterproof cover. He is sitting on the firing platform, and the depth of
the trench is noticeable, showing how low the men are in the ground. The
sandbags shown it took us four hours one night to place in position. As
fast as we put them up they were shot down again by the enemy's maxim
fire. We were all so tired and sleepy that, working on automatically, we
hardly knew whether we were putting the mud in the sandbags or outside
them.

It was not only the dampness and the incessant maxim fire we had to
contend with here, but an army of insects, which jumped about us in
battalions, and saw to it we were never lonely. A Cockney member of our
company, after catching a particularly active jumper, called out: "Now
then, you blighter, where is your respirator?"

The enemy were only thirty yards away, and we could often hear them
shouting at us and would answer back. Many of our men were hit by