It is always best to get information for nothing. A good way to do this is to make the enemy talk; and you may be able to make him talk back if you send over a particular sort of talk to him. So a message was thrown over into our lines, "Take care"; and "You offal dogs must bleed for France." This effort did not fetch any incriminating reply; and so, on a later night, a lantern was flashed over the parapet, "Australian, go home," it winked. "Go in the morning--you will be dead in the evening; we are good." Later again appeared a notice-board, "Advance Australia fair--if you can." Indeed, Fritz became quite talkative, and put up a notice-board, "English defeat at sea--seven cruisers sunk, one damaged, eleven other craft sunk. Hip! Hip! Hurrah!" This did draw at last some of the men in the front line, and they slipped over the parapet a placard giving a British account of the losses in the North Sea fight. The putting up of notices is an irregular proceeding, and this placard had to be withdrawn at once, even before the Germans could properly read it. The result was an immediate message posted on the German trenches, "Once more would you let us see the message?" Still there was no sign from our trenches. So another plaintive request appeared on the German parapet, "We beg of you to show again the table of the fleet." But they were Saxons. Clearly they did not believe all that their Prussian brother told them about his naval victory. Another day they hoisted a surreptitious request, "Shoot high--peace will be declared June 15." They evidently had their gossip in the German trenches just as we have it in ours--and as we had it in Sydney and Melbourne--absurd rumours which run all round the line for a week, and which no amount of experience prevents some people from believing. "After all, these 'furphies' make life worth living in the trenches," as one of our men said to me the other day. All the Germans, in a certain part of the line opposite, now firmly believe that the war is going to end on August 17th. But this is merely the gossip of the German trenches telegraphed across No Man's Land. I do not know how far the divisional Staff Officer satisfied himself as the result of all his messages, but he did not satisfy the gentleman with the big index. "There is one way to find out who is there," the Big Man said, "and that is always the same--to go there and bring some of them back." And so twice in the next three weeks the German artillery fired about L30,000 worth of shells, and a party of picked men stole across the open, and in spite of a certain loss on one occasion they took back a few prisoners. And the query went out of the index. It would be quite easy to present to the German for a penny the facts which it cost him L60,000 and good men's lives to obtain. When you know this, you can understand why the casualties reported in the papers do not any longer state the units of the men who have suffered them. CHAPTER XI