ight behind them
with wire and one telephone. The reports from that wire are relayed here
and we will also be kept informed by runners. The whole party has thirty
minutes in which to crawl forward and place explosives under the wire.
They will have things in readiness by 2:30 and then the show begins."

Five minutes before the hour, I stepped out of the dugout and looked at
the silent sky toward the front. Not even a star shell disturbed the
blue black starlight. The guns were quiet. Five minutes more and all
this was to change into an inferno of sound and light, flash and crash.
There is always that minute of uncertainty before the raiding hour when
the tensity of the situation becomes almost painful. Has the enemy
happened to become aware of the plans? Have our men been deprived of the
needed element of surprise? But for the thousands of metres behind us,
we know that in black battery pits anxious crews are standing beside
their loaded pieces waiting to greet the tick of 2:30 with the jerk of
the lanyard.

Suddenly the earth trembles. Through the dugout window facing back from
the lines, I see the night sky burst livid with light. A second later
and the crash reaches our ears. It is deafening. Now we hear the whine
of shells as they burn the air overhead. The telephone bell rings.

"Yes, this is Boston," the Adjutant speaks into the receiver. We listen
breathlessly. Has something gone wrong at the last minute?

"Right, I have it," said the Adjutant, hanging up the receiver and
turning to the Colonel; "X-4 reports barrage dropped on schedule."

"Good," said the Colonel. "Gentlemen, here's what's happening. Our
shells are this minute falling all along the German front line, in front
of the part selected for the raid and on both flanks. Now then, this
section of the enemy's position is confined in a box barrage which is
pounding in his front and is placing a curtain of fire on his left and
his right and another in his rear. Any German within the confines of
that box trying to get out will have a damn hard time and so will any
who try to come through it to help him."

"Boston talking," the Adjutant is making answer over the telephone. He
repeats the message. "233, all the wire blown up, right."

"Fine," says the Colonel. "Now they are advancing and right in front of
them is another rolling barrage of shells which is creeping forward on
the German lines at the same pace our men are walking. They are walking
in exten