almost over the spot now.
Jacques set his jaw firmly and steeled himself to do his duty. It was
for France he told himself. He had selected with his eye a spot which
he had determined to be one hundred feet distant; when the Germans
reached it he would throw the switch.

A few paces more and they would be over the mine field. On they came.
The first rank had now reached the spot, but still Jacques waited.
They were so near to him now that he could hear the hoarse shouts of
the officers urging their men forward. The second line stepped upon
the ground underneath which the mines were laid. Jacques threw the
switch.

An infernal fountain seemed to shoot up in the midst of the mass of men
in gray. A deafening explosion shook the ground and the air was filled
with a great whirl of smoke. Men and parts of men flew high into the
air as if they had been shot from the crater of some huge volcano.

Spellbound Jacques gazed upon the scene of awful destruction. As the
smoke cleared away he saw the ground littered with the dead and dying.
Those that still remained standing seemed bewildered. In vain their
officers tried to rally them; pleadings and threats alike were of no
avail. Their nerves were shattered and they turned and fled.

The attack was stopped. Jacques forgot the slaughter and remembered
only that the French positions had been saved. He turned and began to
crawl back towards his own lines. He had gone only a short distance,
however, when he heard a shout. Glancing up he spied the French
infantry climbing out of their trenches. Evidently they were not
content with merely having stopped the German charge; they were
determined to follow up their advantage with a gain on their own
account.

With a wild yell they dashed forward. Rifles in hand and the long
wicked-looking bayonets gleaming they rushed ahead. The Germans were
demoralized and now was the time to strike. One glance told Jacques
what was taking place and he did not hesitate an instant as to what
course to pursue. With one bound he joined his comrades and a moment
later was making for the opposing trenches as fast as any one of them.

Across the shell-swept field they raced. The ground was covered with
the dead and dying, but no one hesitated. Great holes had been dug out
of the earth by the giant shells; consequently the footing was
dangerous and more than one man came to grief from this cause.

The German reserves and artillery were