Of furnishings the interior of the car contained nothing except a
telephone, fixed against one side of it; a pair of field glasses, swung
in a sort of harness; and a strip of tough canvas, looped across halfway
down in it. The operator, when wearied by standing, might sit astride
this canvas saddle, with his legs cramped under him, while he spied out
the land with his eyes, which would then be just above the top of his
wicker nest, and while he spoke over the telephone.
The wires of the telephone escaped through a hole under his feet and ran
to a concealed station at the far side of the field which in turn
communicated with the main exchange at headquarters three miles away;
which in its turn radiated other wires to all quarters of the battle
front. Now the wires were neatly coiled on the ground beside the
basket. A sergeant stood over them to prevent any careless foot from
stepping on the precious strands. He guarded them as jealously as a hen
guards her brood.
The magazine containing retorts of specially prepared gas, for
recharging the envelope when evaporation and leakage had reduced the
volume below the lifting and floating point, was nowhere in sight.
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