"They'll hit us before long," remarked Dubois.
"What do you mean?" asked Earl. "A counter-attack?"
"I think so. They may not try it to-day but they surely will some time to-night; the Boches are getting so they like to fight in the dark now."
"Perhaps it's because they can't see the bayonets so well," laughed Armande. "They don't care much about cold steel, do they?"
"I should say not," agreed Dubois. "It's funny too for they are certainly brave enough when it comes to facing shells and machine-guns."
"Hand-to-hand work isn't suited to Germans, I guess," said Leon. "You never heard of a German being a good boxer either; they don't seem to be much good at things that need quick thinking and action."
"Germans are good athletes though," exclaimed Earl.
"In certain sports they are," Leon agreed. "They're good wrestlers and gymnasts and that sort of thing. I say that they're strong but they're not athletic. The strongest fellows aren't always the best athletes, you know."
Meanwhile the guns boomed constantly. The shells from the French guns were exploding far in advance of the positions the douzième now occupied.
"They're probably shelling the ground where the Germans are trying to dig new trenches," said Dubois.