It was joyous information for the five, and they set about their few preparations with a zest only experienced by boys knowing they have important work to do, and feeling capable of doing it well.
"How long have you been over?" Joe asked of Tom Rawle.
"Got here two weeks ago," the big fellow answered. "But I haven't had any real service yet. I was assigned once to Cambrai, but before I reached there a big drive was under way, the Germans were being pushed back, and the detachment to which I had been assigned was so far forward that my orders were changed and I was sent back here."
"Did you get within sound of the big guns?" asked Slim excitedly.
"I should say so," answered Tom Rawle. "And so will you within a few hours. Isn't that so, Hoskins?"
"Yes," answered Frank, "and when you do you'll get a new idea of the fighting qualities of the French and Americans, going shoulder to shoulder against the Boches."
"Hoskins knows," explained Rawle, "for he got nearer than I did."
"Only for a short time," Frank corrected modestly, "but they called it my 'baptism of fire.' I was out one night with an advance party. We were nearly ambushed, and had to beat a quick retreat."
"Well, tell them all about it," demanded Tom Rawle, impatient at Frank's unwillingness to talk much about himself.
"Oh, they fired on us from a distance of about a hundred yards," the other lad admitted, "and it was a surprise party for fair, I can tell you. When bullets begin singing around your head for the first time, and especially when they come without any warning from the enemy, or any expectation on your part, it does give you rather a peculiar sort of feeling.