One evening, while we were occupied in the usual way in the trenches, a number of us stood talking together; several shells fell in the works, and we were on the alert a good deal in order to escape from them. A shell on a fine night at a distance is a pretty sight enough, but I, for one, never liked too near a view of it. We were on this night kept tolerably busy in avoiding those that fell amongst us; one, however, took us by surprise, and before we could escape, fell in the middle of the trench; every one made the best of his way to the nearest _traverse_, and the confusion was much increased by some of the sappers passing at the moment with a parcel of gabions on their backs. Colonel Trench of the 74th, in getting away, ran against one of these men, and not only threw him down, but fell headlong over him, and sticking fast in one of the gabions was unable to move. As soon as the shell exploded, we all sallied forth from our respective nooks, and relieved Colonel Trench from his awkward position. “Well,” said Colonel King, of the 5th, “I often saw a _gabion_ in a _trench_, but this is the first time I ever saw a _Trench_ in a _gabion_.” Considering the time and place the pun was not a bad one, and made us all laugh heartily, in which Colonel Trench good-humouredly joined. Not long after this a round shot carried away the arm of a soldier of the 94th. Dr. O‘Reily of my corps, happening to be the nearest medical man, was awoke out of a sound sleep by his orderly sergeant, and having examined the stump, amputated the fractured part. O‘Reily was one of the most eccentric, and at the same time one of the pleasantest fellows in the world. He delighted in saying extraordinary things in extraordinary places, and it was amusing to those who knew him well to see his countenance after saying something out of the common way before a stranger. In the present instance, after having wrapped his boat-cloak about him, and settled himself in the same position he had been in before he performed the operation on the 94th man, he, with the most profound gravity of manner, asked the sergeant if he recollected the state in which he had found him? “Indeed, sir,” replied the orderly with a broad grin, “your honour was fast asleep, _snorin'_ mighty loud.”—“Well then, sir, if you return here in five minutes, in all human probability you will find me in precisely the same situation,” and he immediately fell asleep, or feigned to do so. On the evening of the 5th I was sent in advance with a covering party of forty men; we were placed some distance in front of the works, and as usual received directions to beware of a surprise. Our batteries were all armed, and a sortie from the garrison was not improbable; the night was unusually dark, and except an occasional shell from our mortars, the striking of the clocks in the town, or the challenge of the French sentinels along the battlements of the castle, everything was still.