had been killed--and now the deep sides of the trench were holding it
upright.

I trudged away towards the beach and lay down to sleep at last among
the other men of the ambulance, who were lying scattered about behind
tufts of bush or against ledges of rock.

When weighed down with sleep any bed will serve.

And this was the end of our first day's work on the field.




CHAPTER XIV


THE SNIPER OF THE PEAR-TREE GULLY


We used to start long before daylight, when the heavy gloom of early
morning swept mountain, sea and sand in an indistinct haze; when the
cobwebs hung thick from thorn to thorn like fairy cats'-cradles all
dripping and beaded with those heavy dews. The guard would wake us up
about 3.30 A.M. We were asleep anywhere, lying about under rocks and
in sandy dells, sleeping on our haversacks and water-bottles, and our
pith helmets near by. We got an issue of biscuit and jam, or biscuit
and bully-beef, to take with us, and each one carried his iron rations
in a little bag at his side.