“Gee! we’ve had nothing but storms lately,” grumbled Phil Lawrence. “At least five in the last two weeks! You’d think there wouldn’t be any more water left in the sky.”
Over to the eastward a heavy mass of clouds had appeared. There had been but little wind, but now the leaves began to stir, and then a breeze sprang up, while the heavens began to grow dark rapidly. Far off to the north there had been a constant booming of heavy artillery, punctuated occasionally by the rattle of smaller firearms. Now the booming of the cannon on the German, front commenced to extend southward.
“Say, that sounds as if we might get in the direct line of fire before long!” cried Phil.
“Perhaps that’s the reason we were ordered to go back,” answered Dave. “Come, boys, we’ll have to hurry a bit. Hike up.”
The young civil engineers were well loaded down, not only with full soldier kits, including guns, but also with various tools, including picks, shovels and axes. Consequently, to “hike up” over the uneven ground and through the scrub timber and rank undergrowth was by no means easy.
“This traveling sure does get a fellow’s wind,” grumbled Buster, as he stopped for a moment to catch his breath and run the perspiration from his forehead with the side of his finger. “Talk about exercise—this beats anything I ever did in the Oak Hall gym.”
“Wow! wouldn’t old Oak Hall look good to us now?” cried Shadow, his eyes shining. “Think of that comfortable mess-hall, with those beautiful tables all set with clean linen and chinaware, and the smoking hot meat, not to say anything about the mashed potatoes, green corn, lima beans, and that beautiful pie, and—”
“Say! if you keep on talking that way, I’ll drown you in the first shell-hole full of water we come to!” burst out Phil. “I’m hungry enough now without your making me worse.”
“Never mind, boys, I guess there will be a good hot mulligan waiting for us when we get to camp,” said Dave, with a grin.
The detail of which Dave Porter was in command consisted of twelve army engineers. The majority of them were young men, four of whom were Dave’s personal friends and old school chums. All had been tramping through the wood for the best part of an hour, trying to reach their headquarters, located among some hills farther to the southward.