them. A fierce
hand-to-hand encounter ensued with victory crowning German arms. What was
left of the French attacking party scurried back to their own lines.

The Germans did not wait for a second attack. German buglers sounded an
advance. Again the Germans swarmed out of their trenches in countless
thousands and rushed the French trenches.

Hal and Chester at this moment found themselves at the front with orders
for respective divisional commanders. They remained as the Germans
charged, sheltered by the huge earthen breastworks.

The fate of the German charge was the same as that of the French a short
while before. Beaten off after a half hour of fierce fighting, the
Germans retired to the shelter of their own lines. The great German guns,
silent while the infantry was engaged, opened up anew on the French
trenches, dropping shells in profusion.

Hal and Chester stood elbow to elbow watching the destructive work of the
giant shells. Of a sudden a shell dropped close to them. Hal uttered a
cry of alarm and made a desperate attempt to drag Chester out of harm's
way. In this he was partly successful and they had dashed forward a few
yards before the shell exploded.

With the fury of the blast, great clouds of earth flew high in the air.
Hal and Chester felt the ground open up beneath them and they gasped for
breath as they were precipitated into what seemed a bottomless pit. How
far they fell they could not tell, but it seemed a long ways; and hardly
had they struck bottom when a shower of earth fell upon them.

Fortunately for them, they were in a section of the trench that was
protected on either side by artificial abuttments of hard dirt and stones
thrown up by the troops and these caught heavy beams and rocks and other
debris that would have showered down upon them and crushed them to death.
A great log, or such it appeared, came down lengthwise and struck the
abuttments on either side of the pit into which the lads had fallen; a
second did likewise and these prevented the shower of rocks and pieces of
big guns from going through. It was all that saved the lads.

Then more earth fell and covered these and the pit was effectually
sealed. Below there was no light, and when Hal and Chester regained their
feet neither could see light above. They groped for each other in the
dark and at last clasped hands.

"Great Scott! What's happened?" gasped Chester. "Where are we?"

"We are in a pit caused by the explosion o