Huddled in the darkness, the inmates of the dugout, their frames trembling from the shock, and half expecting to be blown to pieces, awaited the outcome in silence. A limb of a tree clattered down near the entrance; clods of earth shot beside it. And then the faint light which had been coming in through the opening suddenly disappeared, and dense, impenetrable blackness followed—a flood of earth and rocks could be heard pouring into the interior.
The ambulanciers and the soldiers were entombed. And scarcely had this startling fact been impressed upon their minds than a tremendous shower of smaller particles, making a din like the heaviest kind of hail, began to descend. And although the noise was very great they could faintly hear the reports of more rifles than they had ever before heard at any one time in their lives. A tremendous fusillade was going on.
"The Boches have mined the trench, and are attacking!"
These words were yelled from somewhere in the darkness—a poilu had spoken.
"Mined the trench and are attacking!" echoed Don, huskily.
After all, their visit had not been so very well timed, he thought.
Both ambulanciers possessed their full share of courage, but, nevertheless, they were very much alarmed. Visions of the many dreadful things that might happen filled their brains. Their situation was one of the gravest peril; even should they escape injury or death it might mean that their careers as Red Cross drivers were over and that they would be obliged to await the great war's termination in some prison camp.
The poilus, three of them, were now making a determined effort to remove the obstruction at the entrance to the dugout. It was hard work. As fast as they dislodged the yielding soil, the opening filled up again. But finally the hot, excited Frenchmen succeeded, and, with yells expressive of satisfaction and defiance, first one and then another clambered up the ladder and crawled into the trench.
Only a moment or two had elapsed when the sharp cracking of rifles apprised Don and Dunstan of the fact that these soldiers of the Republic were doing their part in helping to check the enemy.
The first impulse of the ambulanciers was to get out of the dismal darkness, but the loud explosion of a hand grenade, which landed almost outside, made them hastily reconsider.