"Down—at the enemy in front—at five hundred—fire."
They flopped down in an awkward manner.
"Well! Well!" muttered the general. "Get up! Get up!" All rose in a shamefaced way.
"Now, watch me," and off he went at the double; next he flopped on to the muddy ground. It was mighty quick, but then "Sunny Jim" had done this many times to save his skin. All the while the men marvelled at this wonderful general doing such things when he might have ridden his horse and cursed them in the orthodox way. But they gladly followed his lead; ran, lay down, and opened fire.
[pg 140] "Rapid fire," he yelled above the din. The reply was a feeble thing to a trained ear.
"Oh dear! Oh dear! What the ...? ...." he roared, using the most choice and original adjectives. "It's fifteen rounds a minute I want, and fifteen rounds I'm going to have. Give me your rifle," he yelled to a shivering youth. Lying down, he quickly opened fire, while an aide-de-camp timed his shooting with a watch.
"How many?" he inquired when closing his bolt after firing the last round.
"Just fifteen, sir, to the minute."
"There! And these young scamps take about half an hour. Now, my lads, ready once more."
"Rapid fire!" The response was good, almost perfect.