Meantime, the minister continued
to read the service, but the responses were not as hearty as they had
been, and he himself was standing with shoulders hunched up to the back
of his neck, the book pulled up to his nose, and furtively trying to see
through his eyebrows the danger-birds in the blue. In the midst of the
solemn moment an officer, glimpsing some of the men turning their faces
skyward, bellowed, "Damn you, keep those mugs down."
It was our good fortune that none of the messages reached their intended
destination.
CHAPTER VII
SANCTUARY WOODS
(_3rd Battle of Ypres_)
The third battle of Ypres commenced June 2, lasting until June 15, 1916.
Sanctuary Woods was a cluster of trees, comprising about one thousand in
number, and they were the very finest and noblest specimens of their
various types,--oak, elm, ash and beech. They were located just one mile
outside the city in a northwesterly direction. One of our trenches ran
northeast and southwest through the middle of the woods.
The line had been exceptionally quiet for the space of a week.
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