A flashing star suddenly seemed to envelop the aeroplane.

“Got ‘im that time—­bloody good shot—­’e’s comin’ down, look, look, ’e’s comin’ down!  Look, ’e’s all in flames!”

But the aeroplane sped on, growing smaller and smaller.  Then the white beam swung back and was extinguished, while the guns ceased firing.

“Fine lot o’ gunners we got—­couldn’t ’it a Zep ’alf a yard orf!  They ain’t worth the grub they get!”

We returned to our marquee and sat down on our kits.  My friend Private Black came in after us, smiling ruefully.  I asked him what was the matter.

“I was playing the piano in the Sergeants’ Mess when the first one dropped.  We all jumped up together and rushed out.  Then the second one burst and I lost my head and didn’t know where I was going.  I darted to and fro, tripping over tent-ropes and dashing up against revetments.  I never had the wind up so much in all my life.  I couldn’t get my breath, there was a kind of weight on my stomach and a tightness round my chest and throat, and my knees kept on giving way all the time.  The third one burst and I fell down and crawled under some ropes and lay flat against some sand-bags, trembling all over and feeling as though I was going to choke.  I waited for a long time, but nothing happened, so I got up and looked round.  Lucky escape for us!  There’s a terrific hole by the Red Cross and another one behind the bath-house.  The third’s in the next field.  Only two men hit.  O’Neil’s got it in the elbow—­he’s all right for Blighty.  Poor old Hartog’s badly hurt—­a frightful gash in the thigh with the piece still in it.  I hope he won’t have to lose his leg.  Christ, I’m glad it’s all over—­I wouldn’t like to go through that again.”

There was silence for a while, but soon the silence was broken by the distant muttering of anti-aircraft fire.

“Jesus Christ Almighty—­’e’s comin’ again—­O God, why can’t ’e leave us alone.”

We stood outside the marquee and anxiously watched the horizon.  We heard a faint humming noise.  It grew louder and louder until it became a deep, droning buzz that rose and fell in regular pulsation.  Then boom—­boom—­boom—­three times the sullen roar of distant explosions sounded.  Then there came the familiar rushing, whistling noise of a descending bomb.  We flung ourselves down in the wet grass.  I felt every muscle in my body contract as though I were trying to make myself as small as a pin point in expectation of the terrible moment.  There was a dull thud close by and I felt the earth vibrate.  The bomb had fallen a few yards away, but had merely buried itself in the earth without exploding.