“Just in time, sir,” said Bowers.
“Right,” replied Hal, “thanks to the Frenchman.”
CHAPTER XXVI
THE ADVANCE CONTINUES
A runner found Major Drew and delivered an order to dig in.
Meanwhile, darkness had blotted out all but the trees, and between the bark of the “heavies” (heavy artillery), the marines caught the deep-throated roll of thunder. A soldier who has had two months of open work or outdoor warfare, in which artillery had played the leading role, has to be very tired to ignore an order to dig in a scant kilometer back of the first line, the worst spot on the field.
The marines dug in.
When nature’s storm broke the troops meekly rolled up in their ponchos, dropped to the ground and asleep. The closing misery of that day came in the shape of rain. But it did not keep the tired marines awake.
Before dawn next morning, the troops were up, standing by, awaiting the barrage. The last tanks that had found shelter in the woods the preceding day had trundled away before dawn. Nothing was now left to divert the attention of the men from gnawing stomachs. The men tightened their belts again and tried to concentrate on the work to come.
At four-thirty o’clock in the morning there was an explosion. It never wavered. It lasted for hours without interruption. The earth shook up and down and sideways. The very foundation of the Teutonic dynasties must have trembled. It shook the leaves off the trees.
Forgotten were parched throats and empty stomachs. The troops fairly revelled in the cannonading, for they felt that they would soon have a hand in the fight.