December 1854
"The latest reinforcements are arriving now." As always, Elliot was first with the news, greeting Jack as he staggered out of the trenches. After spending five days out of seven in the front, Jack was as haggard and exhausted as his men, with frost rimming his incipient beard and mud caking him from feet to shoulders.
"Stand to attention, men," Jack said quietly. "Look like British soldiers." As the newcomers marched into camp, Jack"s men filed up behind him. He inspected them: O"Neill had lost about three stone in weight, so he was as gaunt-faced and skeletal as the rest; Thorpe with his saturnine face and lowering expression looked fit to drop, although Jack knew he would continue until he died. Fletcher was pensive; his mouth drooped open with fatigue. Looking like a dis
