"How could they? We rushed over with a bunch of our boys to clean out this machine-gun nest. And we're the only ones left alive to get here, worse luck for those who started out with us. So there's not much chance that any fellows in our squad know we're here. At the same time, this place was known to be held by the Huns, and our boys, who don't know anything about our having taken the gun, may still think it's a machine gun nest and be peppering it whenever anything alive shows, as my helmet did. I'm glad my head wasn't in it," and Jimmy looked again at the bullet hole in the strong metal.
"And do you think it could be Germans shooting at us?" Roger inquired.
"Of course it could be Huns. A lot of 'em are probably over to the left of us where there isn't so much fighting going on. They may have seen us wipe out this bunch of their friends, and now they're going to turn the trick on us."
Roger agreed that this view of the matter was probable. Then he asked:
"What are we going to do about it?"
"Let's work our way back to the middle of the bunch of trees," suggested Jimmy. "We'll be somewhat protected there, and maybe if we try to get out in another direction than the one we just attempted, we'll have better luck.
"Wiggle back now, but don't raise your head. Can you make it going backward?"
"It's harder to crawl backward on your stomach than it is to go forward in the same way," said Roger; "but I'll try."
He did try, as, likewise, did Jimmy. But they found it almost impossible because of the nature of the ground, and Jimmy called a halt.
"Let's pivot around," he suggested, and head uphill. It'll be easier crawling then. But keep your head down."