They were potted at without a chance of returning the enemy fire.
But they stuck it out finely, and already all the wounded had been taken
off, while reinforcements had reached the upper trench, sufficient in
number to make up for the first losses.
'What's the colonel waiting for?' asked Dave. 'Why don't we go on up and
smoke out those blighted snipers?'
'It's ammunition, I fancy. And there's a couple of maxims coming up. We
shall need those if we have to dig ourselves in under fire.'
'More digging--oh, Christmas!' growled Dave. 'I didn't come here to dig. I
could do that in my old dad's garden at home.'
Ken chuckled. 'You'll find the spade'll do as much to win this war as the
guns and rifles. There's heaps of trenching in store for us, I can tell
you.'
There was some delay about the maxims, and time went on without any order
to move. The men began to grumble. It was hard indeed to lie and watch
their comrades below being picked off, one after another, by these
abominable sharpshooters, without a chance of hitting back.
Pages:
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83