was not commanding the limbs with the instantaneous co-ordination of the
daytime. The sensation that this produced--it is very difficult to give
any definite idea of it--was an impression of physical and mental
incompetence and uncertainty. And all the time every ounce of the body
was crying out to the mind to let it lie down and rest.

That night many men were lost.

* * * * *

It was not until ten o'clock that they arrived at a village where they
found the "cookers" and regimental transport. The Subaltern could not
help admiring the skill which was constantly being shown by the Staff
not only in the strategical dispositions of the retreat, but in
comparatively minute details such as this. The Brigade transport had
been guided and collected to a spot where it could safely be of service
to the battalions. Moreover, when the men arrived they found tea waiting
for them already brewed. Apparently the hour of the men's arrival had
been timed to such a nicety that the meal was just ready for them.
Assuming the truth of Napoleon's maxim about an army marching on its
belly, one can easily see from these pages that if Staff work had in any
way failed, or if the Army Service Corps had broken down, the Great
Retreat would have ended in disaster. It was these faultless
arrangements of the Army Service Corps that served to keep the sorely
tried army at any rate on its legs.

A fire had been lighted, and, grateful for its warmth, the five Officers
of the Company were soon clustering round it, sipping out of their mess
tins filled with strong, sweet tea, without milk but very strongly
flavoured with rum. Soon the worries and painful memories of the day