Chester threw his men out in a thin line, the distance between each man
being perhaps twenty yards.

"Fire when I give the word, and not until then," he ordered. "And make
every shot count. If the enemy rushes us give way as slowly as possible;
but if they try a hide-and-seek game, keep your positions behind shelter
as much as you can."

The men repeated this order to show that they understood, and all crept
forward. Three minutes of silent crawling and they came within full view
of the German line. It was still facing the road, across which were the
British. In the faint moonlight the entire force was clearly exposed to
Chester's party.

When Chester believed that he had approached near enough, he raised his
hand for a halt. Quickly each man concealed himself behind the largest
tree he could find.

So far they had not been discovered.

Chester glanced quickly around. Everything was ready.

Drawing a bead upon the German soldier who was nearest, Chester at last
gave the command his men had been eagerly awaiting:

"Fire!"

The eleven British rifles cracked out as one, and as many of the enemy
toppled over, for the British, unseen, had approached so close that a
miss was practically an impossibility.