Of praise embodied in this screed
Is ERIC GEDDES' boast that he'd
Been a railway porter.
THE TOWER THAT PASSED IN THE NIGHT.
It was in the beginning of things, when the gunners of the new army were very new indeed, and the 0000th Battery had just taken up its first position on the Western Front. As soon as the guns were satisfactorily placed the O.C. began a careful survey of the enemy positions. Slowly he ran his field-glasses over the seemingly peaceful landscape, and the first thing he noticed was a small, deserted, half-ruined tower with ivy hanging in dark masses down its sides.
"We must have that removed at once," he said to the Captain. "It's the very place for an observation post. Probably one of their best. How long do you think it will take you to get it down?"
"Oh, we ought to do it in an hour," was the confident reply.
But the hour passed and the tower remained just as peaceful, just as suitable for an O.P. as ever. The only change was that many other features of the adjacent landscape had been resolved into their component parts.
The battery was disappointed, but not unduly so. They knew what was the matter; a couple of hours' work should give them the range, and then—