later. Two others came in sight of the last bridge standing on one river
just as the explosive was about to be detonated, and maintain that,
running furiously toward the bridge, they persuaded the engineer in
charge to postpone the fatal moment by brandishing a large loaf, rarest
of all articles on the heels of a retreating army. Another who had been
sent on ahead to find a billet in a château saw a beautiful bathroom,
and was preparing to make use of a priceless opportunity when he found
that the enemy was upon him, and fled in haste. The transport officer,
peering round the corner of a house, saw his beloved transport which he
had gathered and cherished until it was reputed the best in the army,
go up in matchwood and iron splinters. One subaltern, finding himself on
the ground, discovered to his horror that he had a hole in his chest,
but struggled gamely on, now walking, now stealing a ride on a
limber--just catching the last train of all--and finally arriving in
England with no other articles of kit or clothing but a suit of pink
pyjamas and a single eyeglass.

At Meaux the steeples of Paris were in sight; but the hour had struck,
and The Royals at last wheeled to pursue.


III

_At the Nose of the Salient_

The battalion had come through much since then, on the Marne and the
Aisne and the Lys, and in trench warfare from Hooge to Neuve Chapelle.
Here is a picture of a day's fighting from the diary of an eyewitness--a
bald note of facts. It refers to 25th September 1915:--