I turned to the General. "I certainly suggest, sir, that ---- should go to hospital; the war is getting on his nerves. He will tell me next that they can fly as well." The General laughed. But quite seriously he told me it was all true. "Then I hope I shall be able to get a good film of them," I said, "especially as this will be the first time they have been used." Finally it was agreed that ----, who was going up to the front line to observe for the division, should act as my guide, and take me up in the morning at three o'clock. "We shall have to start about that time," he said; "it will be possible to go there for quite a good distance over the top of the ridge. It will save trudging through '---- Trench,' and there's sure to be a lot of troops packed in it. In any case it will take us about three-quarters of an hour." "And I want at least an hour to look round and find a suitable spot; so three o'clock will suit me very well." "Hullo!" I said, as I heard the crack of a 5.9 crump burst just outside the dug-out. "Can't Bosche let you alone here?" "No," he said, "he strafes us sometimes. He put quite a lot in here the other day, and one went clean through our cook-house, but no damage was done, beyond spoiling our lunch. If he anticipates our show in the morning, he will be sure to plaster us." At night I watched the effect of the flashes from our guns. They were rattling off at quite a good pace. What a gorgeous night! Dotted all round this skeleton of what was once a wood, but now merely a few sticks of charred tree trunks, and in and out as far as the eye could see, were scores of tiny fires. The flames danced up and down like elves, and crowded round the fires were groups of our boys, laughing and chatting as if there was no such thing as war. Now and then the flash of the big howitzers momentarily lighted up the whole landscape. What a scene! Having seen as much of the war as I have done, and having been practically through the campaign from the very outset, it may surprise you that I had not used myself to such sights. Possibly I ought to have done, but the fact remains that I cannot. These night scenes always appeal to me. Every scene is so different, and looking at everything from the pictorial point of view I wished with all my heart I could have filmed such a wonderful scene. But even had I been able to do so I could not have reproduced the atmosphere, the sound of the guns, the burst of the shells, the glare of the star-shells, the laughter of the men--and some of them were swearing. The impenetrable blackness was accentuated by the dancing flames from the fires. It was a sight to dream about; and almost involuntarily reminded one of a scene from the _Arabian Nights_.