"Then my luck's gone," returned Hilda.
"But mine hasn't," he answered.
"Let us go up the road this morning," suggested Mrs. Bracher, next day, "and see how the new men are getting on."
There was a line of trenches to the north, where reinforcements had just come in, all their old friends having been ordered back to Furnes for a rest.
"How loud the shells are, this morning," said Hilda. There were whole days when she did not notice them, so accustomed the senses grow to a repetition.
"Yes, they're giving us special treatment just now," replied Mrs. Bracher; "it's that six-inch gun over behind the farm-house, trying out these new men. They're gradually getting ready to come across. It will only be a few days now."
They walked up the road a hundred yards, and came on a knot of soldiers stooping low behind the roadside bank.
"What are those men looking at?" exclaimed Mrs. Bracher sharply.
"Some poor fellow. Probably work for us," returned Hilda.