The boys' hearts sank within them. They watched the tracks which were laid from the platforms of the cars, and saw the field pieces wheeled down. Then the boxes that followed, that they knew contained the ammunition.
"What are those curious looking bullets?" asked Ralph.
Shrapnel Shell
"They are shrapnel. They are filled with bullets, and a bursting charge so as to scatter the bullets," said Roland.
"How are they made?" asked Alfred.
Roland then hurriedly explained it to them as follows:
"There is an outside shell A, which is provided with a charge of powder sufficient to explode it. This has a time fuse of such length that it will explode a sufficient distance ahead of the striking point, say two or three hundred feet. These bullets scatter where they strike."
"But why is it called 'shrapnel'?" asked Ralph.
"It was named after a British general, Shrapnel, who invented it about eighty years ago," replied Roland.