"So there were," said Hedley, "but there was only one upright when I arrived on the scene."
"What about the others, then? Come, Burton!"
"They weren't far away. The fact is, I knocked 'em down, if you must have it."
"Both at once? Right, left--that way?"
"No, one after the other. You see, the captain gave me an opening, and I took it, that's all."
The company were not satisfied with this far from lucid explanation, and pressed Burton with questions until the details were dragged out of him. He had to endure a flood of congratulations, until a diversion by Captain Adams, who had been meditating a tit-for-tat for Burton's "chipping" on the occasion of his visit to the battery, brought welcome relief.
"Well," said the captain, slowly unfolding a copy of the Times, "Burton has been gassing a good deal, but what does it all amount to? The official account won't shock his modesty. Listen! 'Last night we captured certain elements of the enemy's first and second lines of trenches in the neighbourhood of ----, and are now consolidating our gains!'"
THE END
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