I ran out in the street and saw their shells falling all over the edge of the village.

They were only a quarter of an hour behind us.

I yelled for Cecil who was helping the looted cook pack up her own things and anyone else's she could find in a sheet.

I gathered up a dog and a kitten Cecil wanted and left a note for the next English officer who occupied my room with the inscription "I'd leave my happy home for you." We then put the cook, the kitten, the dog and Cecil in the cart and I got on the horse and we let out for Kronstad at a gallop.

We raced the thirty miles in five hours without one halt.