to advance steadily
in spite of the heroic resistance of the French; and it began to appear
that the "Gateway to France" must ere long fall into alien hands.

Day after day the Germans hurled themselves forward in herculean efforts
to break the French lines; and most every day found them fighting a
little nearer to Verdun. In vain the French attempted to stem the
onslaught of the invading forces; the Germans were not to be denied.

On the days when the fiercest of the German assaults were made, it was
learned that the Emperor of Germany had directed the assaults in person.
From the top of a small hill, surrounded by his staff, the Kaiser looked
down upon the battlefield for days at a time, showing no signs of emotion
as his countrymen fell right and left, that the German flag might be
planted a few yards--sometimes only a few feet--farther westward.

While the German losses were something terrible in this continuous
fighting, the French suffered untold hardships. The effect of the great
German shells, which fell within the French lines almost incessantly, was
tremendous. It did not seem that flesh and blood could survive their
deadly effect--and yet the French fought back gamely.

At last the Germans reached a point only three miles and a half from the
city of Verdun itself.

Then began the fiercest of the fighting.

After having been pushed back many miles by the German hordes, the French
now braced suddenly and gave as good as they received. Instead of waiting
for the German attacks, General Petain launched offensives of his own. At
first these broke down easily under the German shells, but as they
continued, the drives began to meet with more and more success. It became
apparent that at this point the advantage usually rested with the
attacking party.

Battles--or what would have been called battles in any other war of
history, but now, in the official reports were merely referred to as
skirmishes--raged for hours at a stretch, some of the most important
continuing for days, first with advantage to one side and then to
the other.

In vain the German Crown Prince hurled his men forward to pierce the
French lines that now separated him from Verdun, less than four
miles away.

While the German guns still continued to shell the city and the
fortifications, there was little they could accomplish now. All walls and
houses in the path of the great guns had crumbled under their terrible
fire days ago; there was n