Frank saluted and hastened back. Orders were issued, and soon every man was at his post, strung up to the highest pitch of excitement and expectancy. They strained their eyes through the baffling fog but for a while could see or hear nothing.
Then suddenly a white shaft of light stabbed through the fog and piercing the damp folds revealed row after row of helmeted figures moving toward them with a deliberation and menacing weight that might well have struck terror to hearts less stout than theirs!
CHAPTER XXV
A GALLANT EXPLOIT
Crouched, tense, ready for the word, the American lads faced the foe. A thrill of impatience ran through them as the enemy came nearer.
Were they to wait there, until that grey wave overwhelmed them, pouring into the trenches like a surging flood?
The strain of waiting was becoming almost unbearable.
The captain shouted a command, and up they scrambled like hounds freed from the leash. But just as their leader reached the top he fell headlong, stricken by a bullet.
For a moment the men waited, uncertain, hardly knowing what to do. Frank sensed the hesitation and like lightning he acted.