bulging eyes faded and dropped.
'Gentlemen.' Buller spoke heavily. 'We have had a most trying day,
and for all of us there is still work to do. ' He glanced at his ADC.
'Clery, will you be kind enough to propose the Queen?
Alone, Garry limped from the huge marquee mess tent. The smaller
tents, lit internally, were a vast field of luminous cones, and above
them the night was black satin sown with silver stars.
The wine that Garry had drunk during dinner hummed in his head so that
he did not notice the dejected silence that smothered the encampment as
he picked his way through it.
As Garry entered his headquarters a man stood up from the camp chair
beside his desk. In the light of the lantern his features were gaunt,
and weariness showed in every line of his body.
'Good evening, sir.'
'You've come to make your report?'
'I have, sir. For what it's worth.
'Tell me, Curtis-how many casualties?' There was an eagerness behind
the question which Tim found ghoulish. Speculatively he examined
Garry's face before replying.
'We suffered heavily, out of a strength of twenty we had four dead two
Missing and five wounded. 'Have you made out a list?
'Not yet.'
'Well, tell me. Who were they?' 'Killed were Booth, Amery.
No longer could Garry hold his impatience, he blurted out suddenly:
'What about that sergeant?'
'You mean Courtney?'
'Yes. Yes.' And now with his impatience was mingled a dread that made
his stomach feel hollow.
'Wounded, sir.
And Garry felt a lift of relief so intense that he must close his eyes
and suck in his breath to ride it up.
Sean was still alive I Thank God Thank Godfor that
'Where is he now?'
'They've got him down at the railhead hospital. He's being sent out
with the first batch of badly wounded.'
'Badly?' Garry's relief changed quickly to concern, and he demanded
harshly,
'How badly? How badly?'
'That's all they told me. I went down to the hospital but they
wouldn't allow me to see him.
Garry sank into his chair and instinctively reached for the drawer
before he checked himself.
'Very well, Curtis. You may go.'
'The rest of my report, sir?'
'Tomorrow. Leave it till tomorrow.
With the liquor glowing hotly in his belly, Garry set off through the
night towards the hospital. It did not matter now that he had planned
and hoped that Sean would die. He no longer reasoned, but hurried
through the sprawling camp, driven by his desperate need.
