* * * * *
They found the others hard at work when they returned. Captain Blaikie was directing operations from the centre of the redoubt.
"I say," he said, as the Engineer sat down beside him, "I'm afraid we're doing a good deal of body-snatching. This place is absolutely full of little wooden crosses."
"Germans," replied the Engineer laconically.
"How long have they been—here?"
"Since October."
"So I should imagine," said Blaikie, with feeling.
"The crosses aren't much guide, either," continued the Engineer. "The deceased are simply all over the place. The best plan is to dig until you come to a blanket. (There are usually two or three to a blanket.) Then tell off a man to flatten down clay over the place at once, and try somewhere else. It is a rotten job, though, however you look at it."
"Have you been here long?" inquired Bobby Little, who had come across the road for a change of air.
"Long enough! But I'm not on duty continuously. I am Box. Cox takes over to-morrow." He rose to his feet and looked at his watch.