trenches and barb-wire. In turn, these are covered by artillery
positions in the woods and on every height. Even were a fort destroyed,
to occupy it the enemy must pass over a terrain, every foot of which is
under fire. As the defense of Verdun has been arranged, each of the
forts is but a rallying-point--a base. The actual combat that will
decide the struggle will be fought in the open.

Last month I was invited to one of the Verdun forts. It now lies in the
very path of the drive, and to describe it would be improper. But the
approaches to it are now what every German knows. They were more
impressive even than the fort. The "glacis" of the fort stretched for a
mile, and as we walked in the direction of the German trenches there was
not a moment when from every side French guns could not have blown us
into fragments. They were mounted on the spurs of the hills, sunk in
pits, ambushed in the thick pine woods. Every step forward was made
cautiously between trenches, or through mazes of barb-wire and iron
hurdles with bayonet-like spikes. Even walking leisurely you had to
watch your step. Pits opened suddenly at your feet, and strands of
barbed-wire caught at your clothing. Whichever way you looked trenches
flanked you. They were dug at every angle, and were not farther than
fifty yards apart.

On one side, a half mile distant, was a hill heavily wooded. At regular
intervals the trees had been cut down and uprooted and, like a
wood-road, a cleared space showed. These were the nests of the
"seventy-fives." They could sweep the approaches to the fort as a
fire-hose flushes a gutter. That a human being should be ordered to
advance against such pitfalls and obstructions, and under the fire from
the trenches and batteries, seemed sheer murder. Not even a cat with
nine lives could survive.

[Illustration: A valley in Argonne showing a forest destroyed by
shells.

Owing to the attack on the Verdun sector, it is again under fire.]

The German papers tell that before the drive upon Verdun was launched
the German Emperor reproduced the attack in miniature. The whereabouts
and approaches to the positions they were to take were explained to the
men. Their officers were rehearsed in the part each was to play. But no
rehearsal would teach a man to avoid the pitfalls that surround Verdun.
The open places are as treacherous as quicksands, the forests that seem
to him to offer shelter are a succession of traps. And if he capture