every day for the last ten days, and that, in addition to the physical
fatigue, they had suffered the mental fatigue caused by fighting. Their
few hours of halting were generally 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 was crowded
with men whose feet had failed them, and many must have fallen behind,
to be killed or made prisoner. The majority "stuck it" manfully, and
faced every fresh effort with a cool, gruff determination that was
wonderful. This spirit saved the Allies from the first frenzied blow of
Germany, in just the same way that it had saved England from the Armada
and from Napoleon.

The Subaltern realised the value of his men; indeed, he felt a wholesome
trust and faith in them that individual outbursts of bad temper or lack
of discipline could not shake. They occupied, more than they 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 watching and
playing upon their moods. He tried very hard and earnestly to make them
a good officer. He thought that they were the salt of the earth, that
there never had been men like them, nor would be again.

No sooner had a scanty meal been rammed down their throats than they
were paraded once more, and hurried away to the crest of another ridge.
One of the Aisne bridges had been left standing, and apparently the
enemy was across it, and already threatening to envelop their position.
Having reached higher ground they stopped for what was left of the