"Confound it!—wasted!" growled the captain.
"Too short!" murmured the lieutenant.
"Plus fifty yards; augment by thirty minutes," called out the captain.
As the man at the telephone transmitted the order the lieutenant explained to the interested ambulanciers just what the captain's words meant.
"Plus means to increase the range and less to shorten it," he said; "augment tells the cannoneer that he must aim further to the right and 'diminish' means further to the left. The sighting apparatus of the gun is, of course, accurately graduated."
Another roar, and a second projectile was on its way.
Again an inky column, with lashing, tossing edges, spurted above the tree tops. And the aviator's son could instantly see that another shell had been wasted; for the bit of wall now gleamed brightly against a background of smoke.
The captain, lowering his glass, gave voluble expression to his annoyance and disgust; then, swinging around toward the telephonist, he commanded:
"The same elements, less thirty. Fire!"
"Same elements, less thirty," repeated the operator. "Fire!"