Presently Sergeant West came to the snipers and addressed Whitcomb:
"Corporal, you fellows are all wide awake and with your eyes sharpened. I'd like to have one of your men on relief at the listening point."
"All right. Rankin has got ears like a rabbit for hearing, even if he is a pretty boy. Go to it, old man!"
Rankin got up and stretched himself. He seemed more than usually serious.
"Maybe I'll hear them pronounce my doom," he remarked and turned away.
"He seems extra solemn tonight," said Gardner. "Wonder if we'll all come out of this business skin whole."
"All? I'll wager not all of us will. Those Huns can fight; I'll say that for them. But it's the only good thing I can say for them," Watson commented.
"That's where you're wrong, old man," Gardner replied. "As you know, I spent a year in Germany——"
"Or in jail? 'Bout as leave!" Watson jested.