ome on a furlough.
Now his face was white with agony; his voice grew weaker and weaker and
he died while Jacques and Leon were working over him.

"This is awful," cried Leon fiercely.

"This is war," said Jacques.

High explosive shells were now bursting all along the line; tons of
earth were thrown high into the air and the very ground rocked beneath
their feet. Men hurried from one spot to another trying to find
protection where there was none; oftentimes masses of earth were blown
in on top of them.

"Picks and shovels!" came the cry, and "Stretcher bearers! Stretcher
bearers!" resounded on all sides.

"The rest of those men in the dug-out are dead, Leon," said Jacques
calmly. "We can do nothing for them and the thing for us to do is to
rejoin our company."

"Think of it," exclaimed Leon as they hurried along. "If we'd stayed
in that dug-out two minutes longer we'd been dead now."

"Death comes quickly in war," remarked Jacques. "It hangs by a thread
and you never can tell when it is going to strike you."

They soon reached the spot where their company was located and along
with the rest of those who were off duty were immediately ordered into
the deepest of the shell-proof dug-outs, where they were really quite
safe.

"We're in for it, I guess," remarked Dubois laconically, as Jacques and
Leon entered the dug-out. Earl and Armande were also there.

"Sure we are," exclaimed the latter brightly. "What of it?"

"There'll be a lot of our men killed."

"Not half as many as there will be Boches," said Armande. "Just wait
until they send their infantry out; our machine-guns will make them
wish they were back in their trenches."

"You're an optimist, Armande," said Earl. "Just listen to those shells
up there."

"The Boches will come out about dark," said Armande. "We might just as
well sleep until then."

"Not with that going on," exclaimed Leon. "At least not for me."

An hour later they were all ordered out. Every man had on a mask to
guard against the poisonous gas that the Germans used so frequently
just before they launched their attacks. Oftentimes too they would
shower the opposing trenches with shells, causing irritation and
smarting of the eyes so that the men could not see to shoot. Now and
again they used liquid fire which shot out half a hundred feet from
especially made machines somewhat resembling the nozzle of a hose.

The surprising thing is that the French could withstand