But hardly had they passed within the lines when a violent cannonading broke out from the German front.
“Sounds as though they were going to start something,” said Chester. “Maybe our prisoner knows something after all.”
“Oh, I guess not,” replied Hal, and once again passed by an opportunity.
Half an hour later, their prisoner having been turned over to Captain O’Neil, the lads sought their own little dugout and much-needed repose.
CHAPTER II
ENTOMBED
Hal Paine and Chester Crawford, in spite of the fact that the United States had not declared war on Germany until April of 1917, already had seen virtually four years of fighting in Europe.
They had been in Berlin when the European conflagration broke out and had been with the Allied armies almost from the first.
The lads had seen active service with the Belgian, British, French, Italian and Russian armies and, through their courage and bravery, had won captaincies in the British army.
When the United States entered the war, Hal and Chester were among the officers sent back to America to help train the young men in the various officers’ training camps. When they returned again to the fighting front with the first contingent of American troops to join the Allies, it was as first lieutenants, U. S. A.
Through their courage and resourcefulness, both lads had won the praise of Marshal Joffre, commander of the French forces, in the early days of the war, and of Sir Douglas Haig, the British commander-in-chief. They had also rendered invaluable service to the Allied cause upon the request of General Pershing, in command of the American Expeditionary Forces.