"I don't want no V.C.," she exclaimed at last, between her sobs. "I want
my Jim!"




A Miracle


Sam Ineson and Jerry Coggill were seasoned soldiers long before the
Palestine campaign began. They had spent two winters in the trenches of
France and Flanders, and when the news reached them that their battalion
had been chosen to reinforce General Allenby's army in Egypt, they took
it as a compliment. Pestilence, murder, and sudden death might be in
store for them, but they would at any rate escape trench warfare, with
all its attendant horrors and discomforts. Their comrades at divisional
head-quarters gave them a good send-off. "Remember us to Pharaoh," they
said, "and you can send us a few mummies for Christmas; they'll do for
mascots."

The two soldiers, who were Yorkshire farmers' sons, and knew every inch
of the Craven country, from Malham Cove to Kilnsey Crag, had joined the
Egyptian army just as it was preparing to cross the desert on its way to
the Holy Land. They had taken part in the great victory at Beersheba,
and then, driving the Turks before them over the mountains of Judea, had
finally stormed the fortifications of Hebron. Elated by their success,
their hope was that their battalion would be allowed to press forward at
once so that they might spend Christmas Day in Jerusalem. In this they
were disappointed. Other battalions were chosen for this proud
undertaking, and when General Allenby entered the Holy City in triumph