uently fell near them, many soared over their heads with
weird moanings. He was getting so familiar with the sound of shells
that he could tell the kind of shell that was passing by the noise
made by it.

"Along toward the middle of the night the machine gunners reached
their destination. Mattia did not show himself until the soldiers
began preparing an emplacement for their gun. This emplacement was
located in a clump of bushes, in which they dug a short trench,
carrying the dirt far to the rear, so the enemy airplanes might not
discover that the earth had been turned over there.

"The lieutenant in command discovered him and Mattia spent a few most
uncomfortable minutes in trying to explain why he was there.

"'I know this boy, sir,' volunteered a sergeant. 'He is with the army
and he is always very useful. Why not, sir, let him remain in case we
need to send a messenger back?'

"'Very good,' answered the lieutenant, after brief reflection. 'But
understand, boy, you must keep out of sight. In the daytime I want you
to go over yonder in those bushes and lie down and don't dare to show
yourself unless I give you permission.'

"To these orders Mattia made no response. None was expected. All the
rest of the night he assisted in carrying back dirt in bags and
dumping it in a gully where it could not be seen from up in the air.
In addition to the parallel trench one was dug back through the soft
ground as a sort of communicating trench. The lad wondered how that
trench could be dug there without the enemy's seeing it, but when the
men began to plant bushes along its sides, permitting the branches to
droop over the trench, he saw the idea of the plan. This was
camouflage.

"It was nearly daybreak when he and some of his comrades made their
way to the rear and went to sleep. When he awakened the sun was
shining brightly. Forgetful of his orders, he entered the
communicating trench and walked forward. He was amazed to find another
trench leading into the communicating trench. He asked a soldier about
it.

"'Say, Mattia, do you think this squad is the only one in France?'
asked the soldier. 'There are other machine-gun units out here. Of
course, we know where they are and the officers know what we are going
to do. Peek through these bushes.'

"'Boches!' gasped the lad.

"'That is right, Mattia. They do not know we are here.'

"'Why don't you shoot at them?'

"'We are not ready, or rather, they are not.'

"The G