that very soon we shall need them."

Running along the trench, Henri put his head through the narrow opening
of each of the dug-outs, while the men on either side of him did
likewise. Then, returning to his post beside the officer, he watched,
just as he had watched earlier in the day, though under different
conditions; for then, but for the indifferent visibility of the
atmosphere, the scene was clearly outlined to him; but now, what with
the flakes of snow whirling hither and thither, what with the trampled
snow-slopes between the trenches and the German positions, what with
the cold, flickering beams of the search-lights, everything wore a
strangely weird and ghostly appearance. Yes, ghostly, for the beams,
travelling along those scattered lines of grey corpses down towards the
fir-trees, made play with their figures. It looked, indeed, in that
curious light, as if some of them were kneeling, and as if others were
rising to their feet and were advancing uphill; and behind them, at the
fringe of the woods, there were others, hundreds of others, seeming to
stand still just now, and different in no way in appearance from those
others lying out before them. But wait! In a little while, in a few
minutes indeed, they were moving, they were sweeping on under the cold,
inquisitive beams of the search-light, on under the pelting hail of
shrapnel which the French 75's were now hurling at them, and, crossing
those irregular lines of grey corpses, dashing to the assault, were
charging uphill at a rate which threatened to bring them to grips with
the French in a very few moments.

"Into the trenches! Stand to your rifles! Open fire on the enemy!"

Hoarse commands were called along the battered trenches, while once
again men came stumbling up the wooden steps of their dug-outs, or went
creeping along secret channels to machine-gun posts well in advance of
the trenches.

"Now, let go at them; we have them in the open!"

A machine-gun immediately in front of Henri, hidden in a pit which was
indistinguishable from the hundreds of others formed by exploding
shells, suddenly spluttered, and, as Henri looked, the first line of
German troops, racing uphill immediately before that gun, fell flat,
was wiped out, and became non-effective. But other figures filled the
place, men pushed themselves, or were pushed, forward into the vacated
position, and without halt, without pause, or so much as a waver, torn
though it was and shr