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By this policy the evening's work was completed in two-thirds of the time it would otherwise have taken, and my disregard of proverbial maxims probably saved the Battalion many casualties. Since our last tour in the line real winter conditions had set in. Shell-holes and trenches everywhere filled with water till choice of movement was confined to a few duckboard tracks.
Mud and water, upon which floated an interesting conglomeration of filthy rubbish, flowed saucily around your ankles, sometimes your knees, and when you fell off a high duckboard, your neck. The humour of it afterwards! The acute misery and suffering of those long, long nights standing in water; cold, hungry and weary.
I let it sink back again and then freed it with a twist of the ankle. I could not see the duckboard in the dense gloom. I walked along it carefully, feeling the edge from time to time. I heard a rapid step behind me another man was going to wash; he must have grown accustomed to the darkness, for he walked along without hesitation. He slowed down as he approached me.
At some 'posts' there was nothing better to sit on than the muddy 'fire-step' or at best half a duckboard or an old bomb box. Despite continuous efforts to keep one dry place to stand, the floor was several inches deep in water and mud. Movement in any direction, save for a few yards to the flanks if the mud had been cleared away or dammed up, in daylight was impossible. No visitors came by day.
For four miles the path lay along a single duckboard track, capsized or slanting in many places, and the newly-made Nab Road, to which it led, was hardly better. A number of men fell from exhaustion, while others, their boots having worn completely through before entering the trenches, were in no state to compete with such a distance.
I folded my arms across my chest and found a little protection from the gusts that seemed to pierce me. My left foot had sunk deeply into the slush. I pawed the mud with my right in order to find the duckboard. I touched the edge and stepped firmly upon it. With an effort I dragged the other foot from the slush. It came out with a loud, sucking squelch, but I felt it was leaving my boot behind.
I don't suppose any Fritzes will come along I'll just peep through the holes from time to time so as to make sure. I stamped on the duckboard and kicked the sides of the trench and jerked my rifle up and down just to keep myself awake.
Five years ago, when he was sitting on the steps of the Denver State House and knew that nothing unexpected could ever happen to him... suppose he could have seen, in a flash, where he would be today? He cast a long look at the reddening, lengthening landscape, and dropped down on the duckboard. Claude made his way back to the dugout into which he and Gerhardt had thrown their effects last night.
The camp had been empty for some months and was in a bad condition, so that a great deal had to be done to make the huts habitable. Beds and tables had to be constructed, cook houses established and ovens built. Duckboard tracks had to be laid as the ground was muddy. In this work the men were assisted by some German prisoners who worked very well and thoroughly.
"He'll join us later. I don't mind the rats half so much as I do Barclay Owens. What a sight he would be with his clothes off! Turn in; I'll go the rounds." Gerhardt splashed out along the submerged duckboard. Claude took off his shoes and cooled his feet in the muddy water.
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