"Yes, sir."
"Find out where the sergeant-major is and ask him if to-morrow's rations have come in yet."
"Where is the sergeant-major?" I asked.
"I'm not sure where he stays," said the adjutant. "Enquire at the Keep."
The trench was wet and slobbery, every hole was a pitfall to trap the unwary; boulders and sandbags which had fallen in waited to trip the careless foot. I met a party of soldiers, a corporal at their head.
"This the way to the firing line?" he asked.
"You're coming from it!" I told him.
"That's done it!" he muttered. "We've gone astray, there's some fun up there!"
"A mine blown up?" I asked.
"'Twas a blow up," was the answer. "It almost deafened us, someone must have copped it. What's the way back?"