In the Trenches 159 



ment connected with relieving the firing line. Un- 

 der the intense heat, crowded down in cramped 

 attitudes in the rank, newly dug, poisonous soil of 

 the trenches, the men needed to be relieved every 

 six hours or so. Accordingly, in the late morning, 

 and again in the afternoon, I arranged for their re- 

 lease. On each occasion I waited until there was a 

 lull in the firing and then started a sudden rush by 

 the relieving party, who tumbled into the trenches 

 every which way. The movement resulted on each 

 occasion in a terrific outburst of fire from the Span- 

 ish lines, which proved quite harmless; and as it 

 gradually died away the men who had been re- 

 lieved got out as best they could. Fortunately, 

 by the next day I was able to abandon this primitive, 

 though thrilling and wholly novel, military method 

 of relief. 



When the hardtack came up that afternoon I felt 

 much sympathy for the hungry unfortunates in the 

 trenches and hated to condemn them to six hours 

 more without food ; but I did not know how to get 

 food in to them. Little McGinty, the bronco buster, 

 volunteered to make the attempt, and I gave him per- 

 mission. He simply took a case of hardtack in his 

 arms and darted toward the trenches. The dis- 

 tance was but short, and though there was an out- 

 burst of fire, he was actually missed. One bullet, 

 however, passed through the case of hardtack just 



