One figure
detached itself from the rest and came rushing towards me, by my (p. 157)
side it tripped and fell, then rose again. I could now see it was
Stoner. He put his hands up as if in protest, looked at me vacantly,
and rushed round the corner of the building. I followed him and found
him once more on the ground.
"Much hurt?" I asked, touching him on the shoulder.
"Yes," he muttered, rising slowly, "I got it there," he raised a
finger to his face which was bleeding, "and there," he put his hand
across his chest.
"Well, get into the dug-out," I said, and we hurried round the front
of the building. A pile of fallen masonry lay there and half a dozen
rifles, all the men were gone. We found them in the dug-out, a hole
under the floor heavily beamed, and strong enough to withstand a fair
sized shell. One or two were unconscious and all were bleeding more or
less severely. I found I was the only person who was not struck.
Goliath and Bill got little particles of grit in the face, and they
looked black as chimney sweeps. Bill was cut across the hand, Kore's
arm was bleeding.
"Where's Mervin?"
"He had just gone out," I said, "I was speaking to him, he went (p. 158)
with Lieut. ---- to Marie Redoubt."
I suddenly recollected that I should not have left my place outside,
so I went into my niche again. Had Mervin got clear, I wondered? The
courtyard was deserted, and it was rapidly growing darker, a drizzle
had begun, and the wet ran down my rifle.
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