steel cordon around the Central powers and their smaller allies, Bulgaria
and Turkey, and forcing the Germans to shorten their lines. In the
eastern war theater the Russians again were on the advance and were
pushing the Germans and Austrians hard, threatening for a second time to
invade Galicia and the plains of Hungary. It began to appear that the end
was in sight.

Italy, too, had launched a new offensive with Trieste as the objective
and the driving power of the Italian troops was beginning to tell. It
began to appear that the Central powers must before long be placed upon
the defensive in all war zones.

The world waited impatiently for the opening of the grand allied
offensive that, it was expected, would be delivered simultaneously on all
fronts. It was felt that it would not be long coming. There was talk of a
new great field gun perfected by Great Britain--a gun that would be more
effective than the German 42-centimetres--but so far it had come to play
no part in the struggle.

But of all battles, land or sea, that had been fought in the greatest war
of history, the battle of Verdun stood head and shoulders as the most
important. It was the greatest and bloodiest struggle of all time, up to
that period.

And it was in this battle that Hal and Chester, with the friend Anthony
Stubbs, war correspondent, and other friends, old and new, were to play
important roles. While each realized, as the three made their way to
General Petain behind the French officer who had interrupted their wild
automobile ride, that an important engagement was about to be fought,
neither had, of course, means of knowing that they were to take part in