During the night of May 17-18, Captain Delvert, with his company, reaches the entrenchment R¹ by way of the ravine of Les Fontaines. On the way, the commander of the battalion which he is relieving receives him in his quarters and conveys his instructions to him. “He is a tall man,” writes Captain Delvert, “slim, about fifty years of age, his face clean-shaven. This face is lighted up by a pair of fine, intelligent eyes, and his lips pucker up into an ironical smile.” There is a portrait in a few lines. “He receives us,” continues the Captain, “in a charming manner. A conversation is struck up with our battalion commander. “‘We are going to the dyke. Has it been much shelled with heavies?’ “‘Well, well,’ answers the major, very coolly, ‘one of my officers counted in his sector an average of four shells a minute in a whole day.’ “‘And the major? what about his headquarters?’ “‘Still in pretty good condition, but you can’t get out of the place. It opens out on to a ravine which is constantly being shelled.’ “‘And where do these shells fall?’ “‘On the north, west, and east. It is only on the southern side that we don’t get any, except when our 155’s fire short.... (_A pause._) ... And then, you know, you will have _totos_!’ “‘Totos?’ “‘Yes--well, fleas, if you like! Everybody has them.’ “‘We emerge from the major’s quarters and pass into the gallery which leads to the ravine of Les Fontaines. The country becomes more and more dismal and desolate. The trees are already nothing more than stumps. To make matters worse, since we have had a lot of rain, the gallery changes into a canal, with water a foot or more deep.” * * * * * And now the rain of shells begins. What the Captain said is right; it comes from every direction except the south. At last Captain Delvert reaches his post. Every day he draws up his balance-sheet, just as the officer of the watch on a cruiser writes out his log. Here is the record of his days from May 18 to 24. It is a picture of the life our men lead in the Vaux region: _Diary of Captain Delvert_ (_May 18-24_) “_Thursday, May 18._--My trench by the side of the railway commands the ravine of Vaux, which is riddled like a sieve with shell-craters full of water. “That ruin in front, some sixty or eighty yards from the village, is the ‘western house of Vaux’ mentioned in the communiqués. “The village is now nothing more than a mass of crumbling walls, which our 155 mm. guns are constantly battering. “In front of headquarters is Fort Vaux. To the north and east it is surrounded by the Boche trenches.