Bion and Asser were moving uneasily in their sleep as the declining sun began to touch the tops of the trees. Finally Bion woke up with a start and woke his companion.

‘Time we were getting moving, old boy. It's just about a quarter to six. Better see that all the tanks get started up, because we ought to be on the road. As you know, our section have to be the first over the bridge. I don't know about you’, he added, ‘but I can't say I feel I've had much of a rest. I always hate this sleep before action; one gets the most appalling dreams, and then when you wake up you don't know whether it wouldn't have been better to go on sleeping. The dreams are so much nicer than the actual reality we have to face now.‘

‘Just what I was thinking, sir’ said Asser laughing. ‘I had a most foul dream, but I must say I feel much happier awake than to go on sleeping with that. Blue trains – that's what I was dreaming about.‘