Poor fellows, I did not know it at the time, but the hand of death had dealt with them even more heavily in the wood than it had with us. My position was desperate. I could not retire. My orders were imperative: "You must reach your objective at any cost." I must get there somehow. But even if we got there, how long could I hope to hold out with such a handful of men? Immediate support I must have; I must take risks. I turned to brave Dobson and Wilkinson: "Message to the supports: 'Send me two platoons quickly; position critical.'" Without a moment's hesitation they jumped up and darted off with the message which might save the day. Dobson fell before he had gone two yards; three paces farther on I saw Wilkinson, the pet of the company, turn suddenly round and fall on the ground, clutching at his breast. All hope for the supports was gone. At this moment the bombing section, which by this time had cleared the mystery trench, arrived on the right of the objective; and to my delirious joy, I noticed the Germans in the trench in front of me running away along the trench. It was now, or never! We must charge over that strip of land and finish them with the bayonet. A moment's hesitation and the tables might again be turned, and all would be lost. The trench in front must be taken by assault; it must be done. There were six or seven of us left, and we must do it. I yelled to the men: "Get ready to charge, they are running. Come on! Come on!" I jumped out of the shell-hole, and they followed me. Once again I was mad. I saw nothing, I heard nothing; I wanted to kill! kill! Pf--ung! Oh! My God! I was hit in the head! I was blind! CHAPTER XVIII LEFT ON THE FIELD THE MYSTERY OF DEATH. THE SECRET CODE. TWO TERRIBLE DAYS I was wounded! I was blind! But the moments that followed are clear in my memory. The brain shocked by a blow works quickly and actively in its excited effort to hold its own. I was quite conscious and thinking clearly: I knew what had happened and what would happen; I remembered every detail. My head at the moment was inclined to the right, for I was shouting to the men. Like a flash I remembered that about fifty yards to the left of me there was a "German strong point" still occupied by the Germans. A bullet had entered my left temple; it must have come from a sniper in that strong point. The bullet had passed clean through my head; I thought it had emerged through my right temple. I was mistaken on that point, for I found some days later that it had emerged through the centre of my right eye. I remember distinctly clutching my head and sinking to the ground, and all the time I was thinking "so this is the end--the finish of it all; shot through the head, mine is a fatal wound." Arnold jumped up, and catching me in his arms, helped me back into the shell-hole.