How many men there might be in the machine gun crew he did not know. There would surely be two, perhaps half a dozen. He did not greatly care. In that moment of intense exaltation he would have fought a regiment.
The bullets ceased to sing above his head. He peered cautiously above the edge of the hole. The wicked looking muzzle of the machine gun was pointing considerably to his left.
He leaped from the hole and raced for the barricade.
There was a startled shout and a frantic effort to slew the gun around. The next instant Frank sprang high in the air, struck the topmost log of the barricade with both feet and sent it tumbling down upon the machine gun crew while he went down with it.
CHAPTER VIII
PUTTING IT OVER
There was a wild scrambling and confusion in the machine gun nest, as the log came down, followed by Frank.
The latter lost his balance and went down on all fours, but was on his feet again in a second.
The log had struck one of the crew in falling and knocked him unconscious. But his companion in serving the gun had risen to his feet at the same moment with Frank and had drawn his revolver to fire. Frank had no time to raise his rifle, but quick as lightning he swung it from the level of his waist against the upraised arm of his opponent. There was a sharp crack that told that the bone was broken, and the man sank to the ground with a groan.
Frank heard a shout just behind him and wheeled about. A helmeted head was emerging from a trench that had been dug in the rear of the machine gun, and in this a squad of Germans had been stationed to support the crew.
Frank’s rifle spoke, and the German sank back with a bullet through his shoulder. Two jumps carried Frank to the head of the trench, where he saw seven Huns, who had evidently been rattled by the fall of their leader and were hesitating, not knowing how many enemies might be waiting for them on the ground above.