trench. There was one moment of terror when their two land mines went up, and another, when Macdonald shouted “They’re coming, sir,” and he ran back, firing his revolver at grey figures that he fancied were looming through the smoke. One of the wounded men, a Catholic, began to confess his sins as they dragged him along. Once Sergeant Godstone prayed for strength to get them in, and MacTaggart heard himself crying, “Oh, God, let’s get these poor devils in, and give those swine hell, and I don’t care what happens.” Then there was a terrible time when only Godstone and he seemed to be left; he ran down to our line to look for stretcher-bearers, and found two men sitting in a hole.
“Come on, you bloody cowards,” he yelled, “and help us in with the wounded.
“We’re wounded ourselves, Tagg,” said Charles MacRae.
“Oh, it’s all right, Charlie,” he shouted back, “we’ll get them in all right.” But back MacRae and Macdonald came to help them in.
And now at the mouth of our sap were stretcher-bearers to give them a hand, and wire half-cut, easy to get through for whole men, but making the wounded scream with pain; while in the broken hole crouched MacTaggart telling the rest to get in and he would cover their retreat, till suddenly
