"Me?" said Richards. "Oh, yes, of course. Send him down in a minute, but give me time to finish the soup first."
He warmed his fingers round the steaming mug.
"Well, Denis," he went on. "How did you like the front trenches?"
"Fine. Best lot I've seen. Top-hole duck-boards, good dug-outs, quiet bit of line. Couldn't be better, except for the cold. Shaw here was most impressed, and said he'd like to have shown his mother round them."
Second-Lieutenant Shaw grinned.
"Well, she gets the wind up rather, you see," he explained. "I think she imagines the front line with a perpetual barrage playing on it like a garden hose. I must say I didn't expect to see it quite so peaceful myself. Or so clean and tidy."
"Ah, that's the frost. I tell you, we've been grousing enough lately about being here for the hardest frost within memory, but you've got to remember that it does keep the water frozen up in the trench walls. Let's pray the frost doesn't break while we're in the line."
Allen looked suddenly grave.
"I did notice a trickle of water here and there to-day," he said. "Dickie, I'm afraid we're in for a thaw. We shall be wading up in gum-boots in two days, you'll see. Here comes Higgins."
A nondescript private, with a straggling mustache and a pair of round, childish blue eyes, came into the light and saluted.