"Now then, Matvevna, dear old lady, don't let me down!" he was saying as he moved from the gun, when a strange, unfamiliar voice called above his head: "Captain Tushin! Captain!" Tushin turned round in dismay.

It was the staff officer who had turned him out of the booth at Grunth.

He was shouting in a gasping voice: "Are you mad? You have twice been ordered to retreat, and you..." "Why are they down on me?" thought Tushin, looking in alarm at his superior.

"I... don't$JMR" he muttered, holding up two fingers to his cap.

"I..." But the staff officer did not finish what he wanted to say.