"Want any help!" asked Alfred.
"That's always welcome," said one of the men.
"All right, then," said Alfred, "here goes. Which boxes do you want first?"
They had already learned that there is nothing so welcome in the busy front as willingness to lend a hand. It is the open sesame to friendship and advancement.
"Where are you bound?" asked Ralph, as they marched to and fro.
"Right up to the front. These things must reach the 14th battery before night," was the reply.
Each of these trucks carried two tons of provisions, loads greatly in excess of the weights for which they were built, but that was of no consequence. The fighters must have something to eat, whatever happened. When the last boxes were piled up the boys remained on the truck, and the driver, nodding at them pleasantly, threw in the clutch and speeded out the road to the east.
"How long have you been at this business?" asked Ralph.
"Three months," was the reply.