dvance of an enemy, there had been added the
obstacles of campaign fortification, tunnels cut with wire lattice work,
large hanging cages of wire which, on falling, could block the passage
and enable the defenders to open fire across their gratings.

They began to meet soldiers with packs and pails of water who were soon
lost in the tortuous cross roads. Some, seated on piles of wood, were
smiling as they read a little periodical published in the trenches.

The soldiers stepped aside to make way for the visiting procession,
bearded and curious faces peeping out of the alleyways. Afar off sounded
a crackling of short snaps as though at the end of the winding lanes
were a shooting lodge where a group of sportsmen were killing pigeons.

The morning was still cloudy and cold. In spite of the humid atmosphere,
a buzzing like that of a horsefly, hummed several times above the two
visitors.

"Bullets!" said their conductor laconically.

Desnoyers meanwhile had lowered his head a little, he knew perfectly
well that insectivorous sound. The senator walked on more briskly,
temporarily forgetting his weariness.

They came to a halt before a lieutenant-colonel who received them like
an engineer exhibiting his workshops, like a naval officer showing off
the batteries and turrets of his battleships. He was the Chief of the
battalion occupying this section of the trenches. Don Marcelo studied
him with special interest, knowing that his son was under his orders.

To the two friends, these subterranean fortifications bore a certain
resemblance to the lower parts of a vessel. They passed from trench
to trench of the last line, the oldest--dark galleries into which
penetrated streaks of light across the loopholes and broad, low windows
of the mitrailleuse. The long line of defense formed a tunnel cut by
short, open spaces. They had to go stumbling from light to darkness, and
from darkness to light with a visual suddenness very fatiguing to
the eyes. The ground was higher in the open spaces. There were wooden
benches placed against the sides so that the observers could put out the
head or examine the landscape by means of the periscope. The enclosed
space answered both for batteries and sleeping quarters.

As the enemy had been repelled and more ground had been gained, the
combatants who had been living all winter in these first quarters, had
tried to make themselves more comfortable. Over the trenches in the open
air, they had lai