held in one place. There we found Mac, his head split in two
as though it had been done with an axe. Gardner's head was blown
completely off, and his body was so terribly mangled that we did not know
until later who he was. Preston was lying on his back with a great
jagged, blood-stained hole through his tunic. Bert Powel was so badly
hurt that we exhausted our supply of field dressings in bandaging him. We
found little Charlie Harrison lying close to the side of the wall, gazing
at his crushed foot with a look of incredulity and horror pitiful to see.
One of the men gave him first aid with all the deftness and tenderness of
a woman.

The rest of us dug hurriedly into a great heap of earth at the other end
of the shelter. We quickly uncovered Walter, a lad who had kept us
laughing at his drollery on many a rainy night. The earth had been heaped
loosely on him and he was still conscious.

"Good old boys," he said weakly; "I was about done for."

In our haste we dislodged another heap of earth which completely buried
him again, and it seemed a lifetime before we were able to remove it. I
have never seen a finer display of pure grit than Walter's.

"Easy now!" he said. "Can't feel anything below me waist. I think I'm
'urt down there."

We worked as swiftly and as carefully as we could. We knew that he was
badly wounded, for the earth was soaked with blood; but when we saw, we
turned away sick with horror. Fortunately, he lost consciousness while we
were trying to disentangle him from the fallen timbers, and he died on
the way to the field dressing-station. Of the seven lads in the dugout,
three were killed outright, three died within half an hour, and one
escaped with a crushed foot which had to be amputated at the field
hospital.

What had happened to our little group was happening to others along the
entire line. Americans may have read of the bombardment which took place
that autumn morning. The dispatches, I believe, described it with the
usual official brevity, giving all the information really necessary from
the point of view of the general public.

"Along the Loos-La Bassee sector there was a lively artillery action. We
demolished some earthworks in the vicinity of Hulluch. Some of our
trenches near Hill 70 were damaged."

"Damaged!" It was a guarded admission. Our line was a shambles of loose
earth and splintered logs. At some places it was difficult to see just
where the trench had been. Had the Germans l