“What damage did that shell do?” demanded Captain Obray, as he came up on the double-quick, for he had been with a gang some distance away.
Dave made his report, and the captain looked the men over.
“You’ve got to keep your eyes and ears open for those shells,” said the officer. “If you think they are coming anywhere near you, don’t wait, but throw yourselves flat on your face. By doing that you may save your life.”
A little later the engineers were out on the roadway working as industriously as ever. Only one man remained behind, he having fallen over some rough rocks and bruised his elbows.
It was almost nightfall, and the bombardment seemed to be slowing up, when Dave found himself with the gang under him at a turn in the roadway which was being constructed. Here on one side were several walls of rocks, while on the other the roadway was lined with a series of heavy trees backed up in some places by thick brushwood.
“Almost time to knock off, isn’t it?” said Ben. He had put in an unusually big day, and his back ached.
“We’ll knock off in about an hour, Ben,” answered Dave. “Pretty heavy work, isn’t it?”
“I never thought I’d work as hard as this in my whole life, Dave,” answered the son of the leading real estate dealer of Crumville. “Gosh! I wonder what my dad and ma would say if they could see me now? Dad used to think I didn’t even like to cut the wood at home or weed the garden, and just look at all the wood-cutting I’ve done, not to say anything about shoveling dirt, hauling stone, and building trenches and dugouts.”
“Never mind, we’ve got a good reason for doing this, Ben. When you come to think of that reason it makes it worth while, doesn’t it?”
“Indeed it does, Dave! And don’t think for a minute that I’m complaining. If doing this kind of work is going to help win the war, then they can depend on my sticking on the job until we march right into Berlin.”