Jimmy had one glimpse of Bob, Roger, and Franz being directed off to the right, while his party was ordered to the left. So, for the time, Jimmy lost sight of his chums.
The battle was fierce and hot. In spite of the American barrage, the Germans broke through at one point, and there was hand-to-hand fighting, grim and terrible while it lasted.
Jimmy Blaise was in the thick of this. He had one vision of a big burly German charging him, his mouth wide open in a yell, and his bayonet dripping red. Then Jimmy's rifle spoke, and the German was no longer in front of the Khaki Boy, who leaped over his body to keep beside his comrades.
Sergeant Jimmy saw another Hun taking aim at Lieutenant Morrison, who was engaged with a German officer. There was no time to warn the lieutenant, and Jimmy did the next best thing. His bayonet put the Hun out of the battle for all time, and the lieutenant, who had just defeated his opponent, turned with a look that meant much to Jimmy. There was no time for words.
Guns and shells were crashing on all sides. The Germans had brought up some machine guns, and these were doing fearful execution among the Americans until the nests were located and the crews working the automatic death-dealers killed.
Sergeant Blaise led in one of these raids, and he and his comrades had swept triumphantly over the place, leaving only dead Germans to tell the tale, when Jimmy suddenly felt a great blow on his head. Instantly all became black around him, and he fell.
For one fearful moment the thought flashed through his mind that he was killed—that this was the end of it all. And then, as he landed with a thud on the ground, his senses seemed to come back to him.
His face was wet, and something seemed to cover his eyes. He put his hand to his face as he lay on the ground, a horrible fear coming to him that his eyes had been blown out.
To his great relief he found that his vision came back to him when he rubbed his hand over his eyes. And as he looked at his hand he found that it was not covered with blood, as he had feared, but with mud. A shell had exploded in a mud hole directly in front of Jimmy, and had deluged him with the mucky stuff, completely covering his face and eyes.
"But I'm hit, though," he mused, as he felt his head, and this time there was blood on his hand. But it did not seem to be an alarming amount. In fact, after the first shock, Jimmy felt as though he could get up and go on fighting. But an officer, leaping over him, sensed the situation and cried: