ey had taken part in the battle of Mons, and the tales of the veterans of this world's memorable retreat, told in their own modest w

the first night I was in the lines I realized in the largest de

part of a building destroyed by German fire. There they had skillfully transformed the cellar into a gun pit, with a loophole four feet in diameter overlooking an orchard at t

t easily distinguishable to an airplane; the air birds are always on the lookout for these dark spots, watching them intently to discover if any signs of activity are t

ch we were not acquainted, and thoroughly so, and I had the honor of being in charge of my gun, due to th

irplanes, two of them flying low and doing the sprinkling honors with a fusillade of bombs, dropped on the road round about us. They left twenty or twenty-five of these calling cards,

to camouflage the guns with the artistry we had derived from ou

e sacrifice gun position, three hundred yards back of the front line trench. It derives its name, "sacrifice gun," from the fact that rarely, if ever, in cas

s when the enemy broke through and when our men in retreating were on a line even with us;

one on each side of the gun, and three more in a ruined building a hundred yards in the rear of the gun. Our shifts were two hours on and four off. The purpose pursued by the sacrifice gun is to surprise the enemy when in full view and exposed, killing as many of them as possible, blasting gaps through their line and enabling our men to dig in in the position to which they have retired, we knowing all the while that there is not one chance in

Fritz sniping us every step; he had registered the path and it was a constant target for his machine guns and snipers. Our pet was well hidde

hisper cautiously to each other, as the very grass beneath our feet contained spies in those days; the

e?" No answer. I repeated the challenge; still no answer. We made our way cautiously through the hedge, unclicked our safety catches and were just about

are

Light In

tell who they were but they

ut here wandering aro

were taking a stroll and got lost

again installed ourselves comfortably and were comparatively safe from the sniping in front, which was going on more or less all the time we were there, and about t

I whi

ard it again, this time a l

Who goe

me fellows called, "Don't shoot! We're looking

fellows doing around

find the Durham

want to live to eat your breakfast. If I find y

ain we directed them, and saw them

pped. Ping! Ping! and the shield of the gun got it this time. We were concealed behind the gun shield, which protected us pretty thoroughly from the front fire and were congratulating ourselves on our haven of safety when Ping! Ping! again from

or a minute and tel

ew minutes, then another fla

stack!" There was nothing for us to do but to lie there and watch, and we absolutely

ad been sniped at every step of the way to the gun. As Blaisdell entered, the open door threw out a fitful glare of light from our flickering candle, and a report from this particular haystack was followed by a bullet that knocked off a chip of brick just abo

ken his turn on the gun-watch, was inclined to be rather skeptical about our story of the sniper, declaring it couldn't be possible that Fritzie could be carrying on such work in the very midst of our lines, and that our imaginations had been running riot with us. We had been playing about three-quarters of an hour when a gust of wind blew the door open, throwing the faint gleam of the candle out in front. I jump

e stack and everybody was convinced of the certainty of the information I had given, for, as we watched, two more flashes came from the stack. Not a particle of doubt was left and the officer ordered a bomb thrown into the haystack.

a busy first night

a man, the remains of a rifle and a complete set of telephone apparatu

and down; and that same night one of the soldiers of an infantry battalion of the Warwicks, winding its way to the front trenches, got his death from a bullet square

event the flash being seen. As soon as we started firing, rifle shots from our left scattered the mud on all sides, coming at intervals of five or ten minutes. Speculation was aroused and we set a man to watch, and suspicion fastened on a farmer who was working his plow. Nothing was found on him. Next day the same thing happened and again the watch was set. This time our efforts were rewarded; the scout saw the f

found in various parts of the field, partly buried in the soil. When the guns were discovered the farmer threw up his hands, wildly gesticulating and vehementl