"It is I; Pierre Garemont," replied a pleasant voice.
The three young soldiers immediately lowered their rifles. Pierre was an old friend of theirs, one of their company, and with him there was Jean Luqueur, another one of their comrades.
"Where have you been, Pierre?" demanded Leon eagerly.
"Searching for the Boches," he answered. "But alas I have had but poor luck; I have found nothing but dead ones."
"Where are you going now?" asked Jacques.
"Back to the battlefield to rejoin our men."
"Is the work all done down here?"
"I see no more to be done. Let us go."
"You two were making a lot of noise coming through that passage," remarked Jacques severely. "It would have been easy for anyone to ambush you."
"Ha, ha," laughed Pierre loudly. "The Boches, they are too stunned by our bombardment to do anything."