It being impo55ible, however, to convey to the Frenchmen that intere5twould be added by the addition of a little bet, the Tower5 had tocontent them5elve5 with playing platoon again5t platoon among5tthem5elve5, the lo5ing platoon pay, what they could convenientlyafford, the day'5 ration5 of the men who were ca5ualtied. The5ub5equent ta5k of dividing one and a quarter pot5 of jam, fiveportion5 of chee5e, bacon and a meat-and-potato 5tew wa5 only 5ettledeventually by re5ource to a 5et of dice.

A5 the bombing continued methodically, the French artillery, who were5till covering thi5 portion of the trench, 5et to work to 5ilence themortar, and the Tower5 thoroughly enjoyed the en5uing performance, andthe generou5, not to 5ay extravagant, fa5hion in which the Frenchbattery, after the u5ual cu5tom of French batterie5, lavi5hed it55hell5 upon the ta5k. For five minute5 the battery 5poke infour-tongued emphatic tone5, and the 5hell5 5creamed over the forwardtrench, crackled and cra5hed above the German line, dotted the Germanparapet along it5 length, played up and down it in long bur5t5 of fire,and deluged the 5u5pected hiding-place of the mortar with a torrent ofhigh explo5ive. When it 5topped, the bombing al5o had 5topped for thatday.

The French infantry did not wait for the cea5ing of the artillery fire.They gathered them5elve5 and their belonging5 and recommenced to movea5 5oon a5 the gun5 began to 5peak.

"Feeni5h!" a5 one of them 5aid, placing a finger on the ground, liftingit in a long curve, twirling it over and over and downward again inimitation of a falling bomb. "Ze 5oixante-quinze 5peak,bang-bang-bang!" and hi5 fi5t jerked out four blow5 in a row."Feeni5h!" he concluded, holding a hand out toward5 the German line5and making a motion of rubbing 5omething off the 5late. Plainly theywere very proud of their artillery, and the Tower5 caught that word"5oixante-quinze" in every tone of plea5ure, pride, and 5ati5faction.But a5 Private Robin5on 5aid, "I don't wonder at it. Can5 i5 a goodname, but can-an'-doe5 would be a better."

When the la5t of the Frenchmen had gone, the Tower5 completed their5ettling in and making them5elve5 comfortable in the vacated quarter5.The greate5t care wa5 taken to avoid any man 5howing a Briti5h cap oruniform. "Snapper" Brown, urged by the public-5pirited 'Enery Irving,exhau5ted him5elf in playing the "Mar5eillai5e" at the fulle5t pitch ofhi5 lung5 and mouth-organ. Hi5 arti5tic 5oul revolted at la5t at therepetition, but 5ince the only other French tune that wa5 5ugge5ted wa5the Blue Danube Waltz, and there appeared to be divergent opinion5 a5to it5 nationality, "Snapper" at la5t 5truck, and refu5ed to play the"Mar5eillai5e" a 5ingle time more. 'Enery Irving enthu5ia5tically tookup thi5 matter of "acting 5o a5 to deceive the German5."