At last the canal bridge was reached and the bombardment ceased, but instead of being allowed to turn in towards Poussey, they were told to relieve the other two companies in the trenches.

They found the line, and “took over” the trenches without mishap.  Of course, in those days trenches were not built as they were later.  To begin with, the men had no tools, except their “entrenching implements,” so naturally the work could not be very elaborate.  Moreover, the thought that such works would be wanted for longer than a day or two never entered their heads.  Each man dug a shelter for himself, according to his skill, ingenuity and perseverance.  There was little or no attempt at digging a long, consecutive trench.  A series of holes had been dug, that was all.

The monotony of the night was broken by the arrival and distribution of rations.  An hour or so after this had been accomplished the east began to grow grey, and they were soon able to take stock of their surroundings.

The trenches, or rather holes, were dug on the side of the road.  Behind them the ground sloped straight down to the canal.  They could not actually see the enemy trenches; and there was no attempt made by either side to “snipe.”

The first day of trench life—­if such it could be called—­was not a very trying experience.  There was nothing to do except a little improvement of the shelters.  Their only duty was to “wait and see.”  It was not cold, and they had their rations.  The Subaltern dug, and slept, and ate, and then dug again, and thus the day passed.  Indeed, he even began to write a long letter home in his notebook, but he lost the pages almost as soon as they were written.

They were shelled twice during the day, but all one had to do was to lie comfortably in one’s “funk hole” and wait for the “hate” to die down.  After many experiences in the open, without a particle of cover, being shelled in deep holes had few terrors.

“Of course,” he said to himself, “if they get a direct hit on this hole I’m done for, but otherwise I’m pretty safe.”

Nevertheless, in spite of the holes, several men were carried away.

The greatest inconvenience to the place was the stench of decaying horses.  About twenty yards down the hill the horses belonging to a whole Battery had been struck by a shell.  About a dozen of them lay dead where they had been standing.  The story had been told of how one of the Subalterns of the other Company had left his hole, rifle in hand, in the middle of a bombardment, to put the wounded animals out of their agony.  He had succeeded in shooting them all, but on his way back had been struck in the foot with a piece of shell casing.  It was an heroic, kindly act, typical of the brave man who did it.  But it seemed a pity....

It was, of course, impossible to bury the dead animals, and to drag them further away was out of the question in the daylight.  There was nothing else to do but to sit tight and endure in silence.