78 Pages - The Black Vault

tinual spurt of dust as they smacked into it. All wecould do was to fire by sound at various likely busheson the riverbank, and this we did with the greatestpossible diligence, but no visible results.In about a quarter of an hour, we had had five menshot through the head, the most exposed part. Themere raising of a head to fire seemed to be absolutelyfatal, as it had on a former occasion when we wereattempting to fire at close range over a parapetagainst’the enemy concealed. I saw two poor fellowstrying to build up a pitiful little kind of house of cardswith stones and pieces of ant-hill through which tofire. This was as conspicuous as a chimney-pot ontop of the parapet, and was at once shot to powderbefore they had even used it, but not before it hadsuggested to me the remedy for this state of affairs.Of course, we wanted in such a case “head cover”and “loopholes.” As usual, I was wise after the event,for we had no chance of making them then, even hadwe not been otherwise busy. Suddenly the noise offiring became much more intense, but with the smackof the bullets striking the earth all round quite closeit was not easy to tell from which direction this freshfiring came. At the same time the men seemed to bedropping much oftener, and I was impressing themwith the necessity of keeping up a brisker fire to thefront, when I noticed a bullet hit our side of the parapet.It then became clear, the enemy must evidentlyhave got into the donga behind us (to which I hadpaid no attention, as it was to the rear), and wereshooting us in the back as we stood up to our parapet,This, I thought, must be what is called being “takenin reverse, ” and it was.41