every head turned as the men dressed the line.

"Dismiss!" bellowed the Sergeant, and in a moment the squad broke up,
each man going off to his own quarters. As for Henri and Jules, they
spent some busy hours in making ready for the coming journey; and,
boarding the train with a draft of men the following evening, they
found themselves behind the Verdun lines after a longish journey.

They were near the spot selected by the "All Highest", by the Kaiser,
the would-be lord of the world, who had determined to make one more
gigantic effort to crush the French and to defeat his enemies.

CHAPTER IX

A Terrific Bombardment

There is no need to tell how Henri and Jules, now converted into
_poilus_, joined the troops in their billets behind the lines at
Verdun; how they went to a school of instruction, where they were
coached in the minute and delicate, if not peculiar, art of bombing;
how they learnt, in fact, to conduct trench warfare, and prepared for
closer contact with the enemy. Nor need we tell how presently they
were drafted into the city of Verdun, where it lies beside the River
Meuse in a sleepy hollow facing the heights beyond, which lay between
it and the Germans. After a residence there in billets, they crossed
the river, and, mounting those heights, gained at length the
communication-trenches which gave access to the French positions in the
neighbourhood of Hautmont.

"And how do you like it?" the Sergeant in command of the platoon to
which they were attached asked them as the dawn broke on the following
morning, and every man in the trench stood to his arms in case of an
attack by the enemy. "See you, Jules, and you too, Henri,"--for let us
explain that our two young heroes were not entirely unknown to their
comrades, that is unknown by name or by reputation; indeed, the
regiment to which they were now attached had, like many another
regiment, read of their exciting escape from Ruhleben, gloried in the
event and in the spirit it showed, and were ready to welcome them
heartily--"you two, Henri and Jules, here is a loophole for each of
you. You see the parapet of the trench is strengthened with logs cut
from the forest, and if you are careful not to poke your heads up above
the parapet you have little to fear from enemy bullets. Look away down
below you; the ground slopes gradually, and there is nothing to
obstruct your fire but the stumps of trees which were cut down months
ago. Now, look stil