“Boss Val wait a bit. Come soon.”
“Ugh!” I ejaculated; and a voice somewhere near whispered, “Silence in the ranks!” The command was needed, for a low murmur was beginning to make itself heard.
All was still again directly after, and the time glided slowly on again, till that which I expected came suddenly; for I heard the trampling of feet behind me in the darkness, and a voice whispered, “Where’s that new recruit Moray?”
“I am here, sir,” I said.
“Quick! the Colonel wants you.”
I left my post, and another man stepped into my place, while I followed the sergeant who had summoned me.
“I say, young fellow,” he said, “you’re in for a bullying. The Colonel’s horribly wild about your false alarm. Are you sure the Doppies were coming on?”
I told him what I had learned, and that I had felt obliged to report it.
“Humph! Yes, of course; but it’s a great pity, when the men wanted rest.”
The next minute I was facing the Colonel in the middle of the pass, where he stood with a group of the officers, about half-way between the two lines of men facing up and down, but lying so close that they were only visible here and there.