Leaves from a Field Note-Book | Page 7

'Our Father, which art
in heaven'--I often used to think on it at night in the trenches. Them
nights--they do make you think a lot. It be mortal queer up there--you
veels as if you were on the edge of the world. I used to look up at the
sky and mind me o' them words in the Bible, 'When I conzider the
heavens, the work o' Thy vingers and the stars which Thou hast made,
what is man that Thou art mindful of him?' One do feel oncommon
small in them trenches at night."
"I suppose you've had a hot time up there?"
"Ah that I have. And I zeed some bad things."
"Bad?"
"Cruel, sir, mortal cruel, I be maning. 'Twur dree weeks come
Monday.[6] We wur in an advance near Wypers--'bout as far as 'tis

from our village to Wootton Bassett. My platoon had to take a house.
We knowed 'twould be hot work, and Jacob Scaplehorn and I did shake
hands. 'Jarge,' 'e zed, 'if I be took write to my wife and tell 'er it be the
Lard's will and she be not to grieve.' And I zed, 'So be, Jacob, and you'll
do the same for I.' Our Officer, Capt'n S---- T----, d'you know 'en, sir?
No? 'E com from Devizes way, he wur a grand man, never thinking of
hisself but only of us humble chaps--he said, 'Now for it, lads,' and we
advances in 'stended order. We wur several yards apart, just loike we
was when a section of us recruits wur put through platoon drill, when I
fust jined the Army an' sergeant made us drill with skipping-ropes
a-stretched out so as to get the spaces. And there wur a machine-gun in
that there house--you know how they sputters. It cut down us poor
chaps loike a reaper. Jacob Scaplehorn wur nex' me and I 'eerd 'un say
'O Christ Jesus' as 'e went over like a rabbit and 'e never said no more.
'E wur a good man, wur Scaplehorn"--he added musingly--"and 'e did
good things. And some chaps wur down and dragging their legs as if
they did'n b'long to 'em. I sort o' saw all that wi'out seeing it, in a
manner o' spaking; 'twere only arterwards it did come back to me.
There warn't no time to think. And by the toime we got to thic house
there were only 'bout vifteen on us left. We had to scrouge our way in
through the buttry winder and we 'eerd a girt caddle inside, sort o'
scuffling; 'twere the Germans makin' for the cellar. And our Capt'n
posted some on us at top of cellar steps and led the rest on us up the
stairs to a kind o' tallet where thuck machine-gun was. And what d'ye
think we found, sir?" he said, raising himself on his elbow.
"What?"
"There was a poor girl there--half daft she wur--wi' nothing on but a
man's overcoat. And she rushed out avore us on the landing and began
hammering with her hands against a bedroom door and it wur locked.
We smashed 'en in wi' our rifle-butts, and God's mercy! we found a
poor woman there, her mother seemingly, with her breast all bloody an'
her clothes torn. I could'n mak' out what 'er wur saying but Capt'n 'e
told us as the Germans 'ad ravished her. We used our field-dressings
and tried to make the poor soul comfortable and Capt'n 'e sent a
volunteer back for stretcher-bearers."

"And what about the Germans?" I asked.
"Ah, I be coming to that, zur. Capt'n says, 'Now, men, we're going to
reckon with those devils down below.' And we went downstairs and he
stood at top of cellar-steps, 'twere mortal dark, an' says, 'Come on up
out o' that there.' And they never answered a word, but we could 'ear
'em breathing hard. We did'n know how many there were and the cellar
steps were main narrow, as narrow as th' opening in that tent over there.
So Capt'n 'e says, 'Fetch me some straw, Hunt.' 'Twere a kind o'
farmhouse and I went out into the backside and vetched some. And
Capt'n and us put a lot of it at top of steps and pushed a lot more
vurther down, using our rifles like pitchforks and then 'e blew on his
tinder and set it alight. 'Stand back, men,' he says, 'and be ready for 'em
with the bay'net.' 'Tweren't no manner o' use shooting; 'twere too close
in there and our bullets might ha' ricochayed. We soon 'eerd 'em
a-coughing. There wur a terrible deal o' smoke, and there wur we
a-waiting at top of them stairs for 'em to come up like rats out of a hole.
And two on 'em made