“Make yourselves at home, fellows,” said the lieutenant. “And wipe your feet before you come in,” he added with a laugh, as he looked down at his muddy boots. 87
The passwords had been given and received. The other relief party had passed on to allow other worn-out men to get some rest. Ned, Bob and Jerry looked about them. They were in a dirt ditch, filled here and there with puddles of water from the last rain, and the clouds still hung in the sky.
“Where are the German trenches?” asked Ned.
“Where? Right in front of us—over there,” and the lieutenant pointed. “Wait, I’ll show you, and everybody get this, and take a lesson from it!” he added.
He held up a steel helmet on the end of a stick. In an instant it went spinning off and fell at his feet in the trench. He picked it up, pointing grimly to a neat little hole through it and said:
“That’s what will happen to any one of you if he sticks his head up. You’re in the front-line trench. Don’t forget it!”