half of pavel's machine-guns were firing on fixed lines so that the attackers were

caught in a net stitched in the air with

bullets-they would die if they advanced and they would die if they ran because in
either event they would run right
into the line of fire of the angled machine-gun
mortar bombs and shells dropped among the trapped men--favel was firing his last
ammunition with extravagant
prodigality, staking everything on the coming hurricane The earth shook and
fountained with darkly blossoming trees and
the clouds of smoke and dust were snatched by the wind and blower away A pitifully
thin fire come below, perhaps
there were few to shoot or perhaps those alive were too shattered to care
for five minuts that seemed an eternity the uproar went on and them, suddenly, as
through on command, the line of
attackers broke and ebbed away, leaving a wrack of bodies behind to mark the
highest level of the assault, a bare hundred
yards from the crest of the ridge And as they ran back in panic, so they still
died, hit by rifle bullets, cut in two by the
merderous machine-gun and blown to pieces by the mortar bombs When all was still
again the ground was littered with
the shattared wreckage of what had been men
"Oh, my god" breathed Dawson His face was pale and sicklyand he let out his breath
with a shuddering sigh "They must
have lost a quarter of their men"
caustom stirred "serrurier must have taken over," he said quitly "Rocambean would
never have made a dam-fool
frontal attack like that--not at his stage of the game" He turned and looked back
at the mortar team just behind "These
boys have shot their bolt--they have no ammunition left I don't know if we can
stand another attack"
"there'll be no more attack" said Wyatt with calm certitude "Aa for as the fighting
goes this war is over" He looked down
the slope at the tumbled heaps of corpses "I wish I could have said that half an
hour ago, but it doesn't really make any
difference They'll all die now" He withdrew from the ridge and walked away towords
the foxhole
Down in St Pierre thousand of men will killed in the next few hours because he had
told favel to the appoaching
hurricane, and the guilt weighted heavily upon him But he could not see what else
he couldhave done
And there was somthing else He could not even look after the safty of a single girl
He did not know where julie was--
whether she was dead or alive or captured by Rocombean's men He had not properly
seen her in his preoccupation with
the hurriance,but now he saw her whole, and he found the tears running down his
cheeks--not tears of self-pity, or even
tears for julie, but tears of blind rage at his stupidity and impotant futility
Wyatt was very young for his years
Couston listned to the fire-fight still crackline away to the left "I hope he's
right When favel was faced with a similar
problem he outflanked the position" He jerked hid head towords the distant sound od
battle "If surrier breaks through
along there he'll ome along the ridge rolling up these rebles like a carpet"
"I think Wyatt's right, through," said Dowson "Look out to sea"
The city was lost in a writhing grey mist through which the fires burnet redley,
and the horizon was black streamers of
low cloud fled overhead like wraiths in the blustering wind which had sharply
increased in violence and was already
raising its voice in a devil's yell Lightning flickered briefly over tne sea and a
single drop of rain fell on couston's hamd
He looked up "It does look a bit dirty God help sailors on a night like this"
"God help serrurier and his army," said Dowson, staring down at St Pirrer
Causton looked back to where Wyatt was sitting at the edge of the foxhole "He's
taking it badely--he thinks he's failed He
hasn't yet realized that perfection doesn't exist, the damned young fool but hell
learn that life is a matter of horse-
trading--a bit of bad for a lot of good"
"I hope he never does learn," said Dowson in a low "I learned that lesson and it
never did me any good" He looked
Caustom in the eye and, after a movement, causton looked away
II
Rawsthorne was not a young man and two days of exertion and life in the open had
told on him He could not move fast
over the hilly ground--his lungs had long since lost their elasticity and hid legs
their driving power The breath in his
throat rasped painfully as he tried to keep up a good pace and the muscles of his
thighs ached adominably
But he was in better shape that Mrs Warmington, whom the years of cream cakes and
lack of exercise had softened to a
doughy flesh she panted and floundered brhind him, her too generous carves bouncing
with the effort, and all the time
she moaned her misery in a wailing undertone, an obbligato to the keening of the
rising wind
In spite of her wounds, julie was the fittest of the three Althrough her legs were
stiff and sore because of the bayonet jobs,
her muscles were hard and tough and her breath come evenly as she followed Mrs
Warmington The brisk sets of hard-
played tennis now paid off and she had no difficulty in this rough scramble over
the hills
It was Rawsthorne who had made the plan "It's no use going further west to escape
the army," he said "The ground is low
about St Michel--and we certainly can't stay here because Rocambean might be beaten
back again We'llhave to cut across
the back of his army and go north over the hills--perhaps as for as the Negrito"
"How far is that?" asked Mrs Warmington uneasily
"Not far," said Rawsthorne "We'll have to walk about eight miles before we're
looking into the Negrito Valley"
He did not say that those eight miles were over rough country, nor that the country
would probably be alive with deserters
Because Rawsthorne had doubts about his ability to climb the quarry cliff--and
private, unexpressed doubts about Mrs
Farmington's expertise as a climber--they went down the track towards the main
road, moving stealthing and keeping an
eye open for trouble They did not want to meet the guard who had disappeared in
that direction They lift the track at the
point where they had originally climbed up to the banana plantation, and Julie got
a lump in her throat when she saw
the imprint of Eumenides's shoe still visible in the dust
The plantation seemed deserted, but they went with caution all the same, slipping
through the rows of plants as quietly as
they could Rawsthorne, led them to the hollow where they had dug the foxholes in
the hope of finding a remnant of food
And more inportant, water But there was nothing at all, just four empty holes and a
Utter of cans and bottles
Julie looked at the hole that had been filled in and felt a great sorrow as she
through of the Greek First we dig'en, then
We die in'em Eumenides had fulfilled the prophecy
Hawthorne said, "If it wasn't for the war I would recommend that we stay here"
Hecocked his head on one side "Do you
think the fighting is going or not?"
Julie listened to the Guns and shook her head "It's difficult to say"
"Yes, it is," said Rawsthorne "If Roconbean is defeated again hell be thrown back
through here and we'll be back where we
Started"