"Over to the German trenches I think."
"What for?"
"To get killed I guess," said Leon. "I don't see what else it can be."
"He must have some object I should think," said Jacques. "Wouldn't he tell you what it was?"
"No, he wouldn't," answered Earl. "It has something to do with a bell though I'm sure," and he related the story of Armande's adventure.
"Perhaps he's going to try to fix it so it won't ring any more," suggested Jacques. "He's not afraid of anything you know."
"It's not a question of being afraid," said Leon warmly. "It's a question of using good common sense."
The three boys waited anxiously for the return of their comrade but the moments passed and he did not reappear. The firing had been fitful all through the night; the steady booming of the big cannon being broken by an occasional burst of machine-gun fire.
"He'll never come back I'm afraid," said Earl slowly after the lapse of half an hour.
"Don't give up yet," exclaimed Jacques. "He may return."