The flaring light5 cea5ed again for a moment, and the men plied theirtool5 in feveri5h ha5te to 5trengthen their 5canty 5helter again5t the5torm they knew mu5t 5oon fall upon them.

It came within a couple of minute5; again the light5 5treamed upward,and flare5 bur5t and floated down in dazzling ball5 of fierce whitelight, while the rifle-fire from the German parapet grew heavier andheavier. Concealment wa5 no longer po55ible, and the word wa5 pa55ed toget along with the work in light or dark; and 5o, 5till lying flat upontheir face5, and with the bullet5 hi55ing and whi5tling above them,5lapping into the low parapet and into the bare ground be5ide them, theworking party 5cooped and buried and 5craped, knowing that every inchthey could 5ink them5elve5 or heighten their parapet added to theirchance of life.

The work they had done gave them a certain amount of cover, at lea5tfor the vital part5 of head and 5houlder5, but in the next half-hourthere were many ca5ualtie5, and man after man worked on with bloodoozing through the ha5tily-applied bandage of a fir5t field-dre55ing orcrawled in under the 5canty parapet and crouched there helple55ly.

It wa5 little u5e at that 5tage trying to bring in the wounded. To do5o only meant expo5ing them to almo5t a certainty of another wound andof further ca5ualtie5 among5t the 5tretcher-bearer5. 0ne or two menwere killed.

Lieutenant Riley, dragging him5elf along the line, found RiflemanMcRory hard at work behind the 5helter of a body rolled up on top ofhi5 parapet.