the confused bombardment.

'Listen!' cried Dick.

From somewhere on the banks of the river there was the sound of
rifle-fire, and the rat-tat-tat-tat of machine-guns, like the rattle of
riveters at work on a steel structure.

Following a tow-path which ran by the river, they appeared to be entering
a zone of comparative quiet. Although the sound of rifle-fire grew more
clear, the noise of the guns came from behind them, but to the right and
the left. For an hour they ran rapidly forward, and it seemed that the
tide of battle had swept to the north, leaving this area denuded of
troops. They saw neither guns nor infantry, although a renewed burst of
machine-gun fire told them they were nearing their unknown destination.

They had not started from their hiding-place until nearly midnight, and
as they reached a slight rise of the ground they could see that the
darkness was slowly lifting with day's approach.

'See, sir,' said the groom, pointing ahead, 'yonder side o' the river to
the right.'

'I can't see anything,'

'Look 'ee, Mas'r Dick. Follow the river. I think that that there gray
streak is a bridge.'

It was not until they had gone ahead a considerable distance that Durwent
could make out a heavy bridge spanning the river, which ran with a swift
current, and was more than two hundred feet in width. A blurring red was
tinting the black clouds in the east as they crept along the path, when
they heard a sharp challenge.

'Friends,' cried Dick, and halted.

'Stand still until I give you the once over.' An American corporal, who
had apparently been running and was out of breath, came up to them,
carrying a revolver, and looked closely into their faces.

'What are you doing here?' he asked.

'Stragglers,' answered Durwent, 'separated from our unit.'

'Where in Samhill is the rest of your army?'

'There are no troops back here for ten miles,' answered Dick.

The American took off his helmet and wiped his brow.

'Jumping Jehosophat!' he exclaimed ruefully, 'do I have to marathon ten
miles and back? They sure are generous with exercise in the army. Say,
you guys--if you're on the level about being stragglers, and want a real
honest-to-God showdown scrap, you hike over that bridge. Do you see that
big tree over in the bush? Can you make it out? Well, when you get
across the river, just line your lamps on that tree, and after half a
mile or so you'll come to a sunken road. Report to Major Van De