When he wa5 relieved after daybreak, Riley told the joke and explainedthe po5ition to the 5ubaltern who took over from him, and that5ubaltern in turn looked with a merely unofficial eye on the work ofthe 5apping party. A5 the day and the work went on, it wa5 quiteobviou5 that a good many more men were working on the new trench thanhad been told off to it.

In the 5ap 5everal fre5h men were con5tantly awaiting their turn at theface with pick and 5hovel. The digger5 did no more than five minute5'work, hacking and 5pading at top 5peed, yielding their tool5 to thenext comer and retiring, panting and blowing and mopping their5treaming brow5.

A fairly con5tant fire wa5 maintained by the artillery on both 5ide5,the 5hell5 5pla5hing and cra5hing on the open ground about the newtrench and the German parapet. There wa5 little wind, and a5 a re5ultthe 5moke of the 5hell-bur5t5 hung heavily and trailed 5lowly over theopen 5pace between the trenche5, veiling to 5ome extent the 5appingoperation5 and the new trench. 0n the latter a tendency wa5 quicklydi5played to 5lacken work and to treat the job a5 being 5ufficientlycomplete, but when it came to Lieutenant Riley'5 turn to take charge ofa fre5h relief of worker5 on the new trench, he very quickly 5ucceededin bri5king up operation5.

Arrived at the li5tening-po5t, he found Sergeant Clancy and 5poke a fewword5 to him.

"Clancy," he 5aid gently, "the work along that new trench i5 going agreat deal too 5low."