Captain O'Neill gave the necessary commands. The American troops moved
from the trenches in silence. There was a suppressed air of
excitement, however, for each man was eager for the coming of he knew
not what.





CHAPTER II

THE AMBUSH

At the point decided upon for the American troops to take their stand
was a collection of shell holes. In order that the attack upon the
Germans might have all the elements of surprise when it came, Captain
O'Neill ordered his men into these holes to guard against any
possibility of surprise.

Now, it is an undoubted fact that when a man curls himself up with two
or three preliminary twists, after the fashion of a dog going to bed,
in a perfectly circular shell hole on a night as black as this, he is
extremely likely to lose his sense of direction.

That is what happened to Private Briggs, of the American forces.

The Americans lay in silence, awaiting the moment of the surprise.
Suddenly it came. From the position held by the French broke out a
fusillade. The Germans had approached closer.