attack, and the inaction was telling on the nerves of the officers.

The men are only kept under fire for four days. At the end of that
time, they are sent back a few miles in shifts to the nearest village
where they find quarters, and rest from the nerve-racking, soul-shaking
clamor of guns and buzz of bullets. The trenches were wonderful.
Zaidos and Velo, the Red Cross badges on their arms giving them free
passage, soon explored every inch until they were perfectly familiar
with them all. Zaidos drew a sketch of the plan to send to the fellows
in school.

First of all, and nearest the opposing force, is the line of the small
trenches for the snipers or sharp-shooters. These men, facing certain
death in their little shelters, are picked shots, and keep up a steady,
harassing fire at anything showing over the tops of the enemy's
trenches or, failing that, at anything that looks like the crew of a
rapid-fire gun. These, of course, they guess at from the line of fire
as the guns are placed in the first line of trenches in little pits of
their own. On his map Zaidos marked the positions of the guns with an
A.

Behind the snipers are the barbed wire entanglements, a nightmare of
tumbled wires piled high in cruel confusion. Close behind this are the
observation trenches. There was no firing from these small trenches;
they were simply what the name implied: look-outs. Leaving these, and
passing down the zig-zag connecting trench, the first line trench was
reached. This was fifty yards from the wire entanglements, and along
here the rapid-fire guns were set.

[Illustration: Trench layout diagram]

When Zaidos and Velo made their first visit through the trenches, they
were puzzled to see that the guns were all set at an angle, so that the
line of fire intersected, usually just over the barbed wire
entanglements.

Zaidos asked about it.

"We protect our guns in that way," explained the young Lieutenant who
accompanied them. "With the fire coming at an angle, it is difficult
for the enemy to get the exact position of our guns, and they are
unable to follow the line of our fire with their own fire, and so
cripple us. On the other hand, you notice that all trenches are either
battlement shape or zig-zag."

"I wondered why," said Zaidos.

"Well, that is so a shot from the enemy, no matter what the angle,
striking in a trench, will simply go a few feet, and plow into the bank
of earth ahead of it. Formerly, a