Still this gun kept hurling its lead against the advancing Diggers, cutting great gaps in their ranks. For a full hour it kept up its murderous fire, staying the Australians and causing them to halt. In vain they streaked out to the left or right, wormed their way along folds in the ground or took cover in natural hollows and advanced from there when the fire ceased for a space. But the moment a head showed or a khaki clad body came into view the gun found voice and swept its missiles of death across the field.
Suddenly it became silent. The advance was resumed and the gun was located. Here was found a solitary German lying dead beside his weapon with a bullet wound in his head.
"A brave man!" said the Australians, looking at the dead man who alone and unaided held up their advance for an hour. "We'll bury him!"
And there and then in the emplacement which he had guarded till death they buried the German soldier and on the cross over the man is written "Erected by the —— in admiration of a soldier."
The officer who conducted our party spoke of another grave which is near the same place, and which bears on the headstone:
"Here lie two Huns who met a Digger."
And near it, in terse and forcible language is inscribed on a second headstone:
"Here lies the Digger."
Whether this is true or not is impossible to say. The officer who told me of it merely got the story of the affair from some other man who had not seen the headstones, but who heard of them from a mate. In this way is rumour carried from mouth to mouth on the field of battle. But if the story is true, it shows the grim humour which is the soldier's; if not true, it shows the same humour as it takes form in the imagination and makes itself manifest in dug-out drollery and war mentality.