, M.C., R.F.A.
AUDIENCE AND INTERLOCUTORS.
Lieut. John Polkinghorne. R.F.A., of the Battery.
Sec. Lieut. Samuel Barham, M.C. R.F.A., of the Battery.
Sec. Lieut. Percy Yarrell-Smith. R.F.A., of the Battery
Sec Lieut. Noel Williams, R.F.A., attached for instruction.
But military duties usually restricted the audience to two at a time,
though there were three on the night when Barham (Sammy) set his C.O.
going with a paragraph from an old newspaper. The captain--one
McInnes, promoted from the ranks--attended one stance only. He dwelt
down at the wagon-lines along with the Veterinary Officer, and
brought up the ammunition most nights, vanishing back in the small
hours like a ghost before cock-crow.
The battery lay somewhat wide to the right of its fellows in the
brigade; in a saucer-shaped hollow on the hill-side, well screened
with scrub. Roughly it curved back from the straight lip overlooking
the slope, in a three-fifths segment of a circle; and the officers'
mess made a short arc in it, some way in rear of the guns.
You descended, by steps, cut in the soil and well pounded, into a
dwelling rather commodious than large: for Otway--who knew about
yachts--had taken a fancy to construct it nautical-wise, with lockers
that served for seats at a narrow saloon table, sleeping bunks
excavated along the sides, and air-holes like cabin top-lights,
cunningly curtained by night, under the shell-proof cover.
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