The bather cut off from his garments is a world-wide joke.

The German battery, having got the exact range, were having a systematic, Teutonic afternoon's enjoyment.

But from another point of view the situation was desperate.

There were these poor fellows, hordes of them, in nature's inadequate protection against the weather, shivering in the cold, with the nearest spare rag of clothing some miles away.

Boyce got them together, paraded them instantly under the shell fire, and led them at a rush into the blazing building to salve stores.