'Oh, what rot!' he said wearily--'what rot!'
After that his strength ebbed visibly through the morning.
Chicksands, who must return to town in the afternoon, sat with him,
Pamela and Elizabeth opposite--Alice and Margaret not far away. The
two doctors watched their patient, and Martin whispered to Aubrey
Mannering, who had come down by a night train, that the struggle for
life could not last much longer.
Presently about one o'clock, Aubrey, who had been called out of the
room, came back and whispered something to Chicksands, who at once
went away. Elizabeth, looking up, saw agitation and expectancy in
the Major's look. But he said nothing.
In a few minutes Chicksands reappeared. He went straight to Desmond,
and knelt down by him.
'Desmond!' he said in a clear voice, 'the offensive's begun. The
Chief in my room at the War Office has just been telephoning me. It
began at eight this morning--on a front of fifty miles. Can you hear
me?' The boy opened his eyes--straining them on Arthur.
'It's begun!' he said eagerly--'begun! What have they done?'
'The bombardment opened at dawn--about five--the German infantry
attacked about eight.
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