He passed them around with great glee and soon every one was smoking except Earl, Leon and Jacques. They had never acquired the habit and knowing that they were better off without it had no desire to start. Their main desire was to keep themselves in perfect physical trim.
As they sat there talking the shells flew over their heads in a steady stream. In the great crater, however, they were comparatively safe unless some stray shell should chance to land directly in the hollow where they were seated.
"And if one ever does," exclaimed Jacques, "it's good-by to us."
"Why so?" demanded Earl. "In a hole as large as this we might get nothing worse than a spattering of dirt."
"Yes," said Jacques, "but don't you know that there are probably several thousand rounds of ammunition buried under here? If there should happen to be an explosion, what do you think would happen to us?"
"Well there wouldn't be enough to make much of a fuss over, I guess," remarked Leon with a grim smile.
A man suddenly appeared on the rim of the pit and slid over the edge.
"Ho, Coudert," one of the soldiers greeted him.
"Yes," said Coudert who acted as order-bearer in the battalion.
The men crowded about him, eager to learn what their next move was to be. Coudert spoke rapidly in French and Jacques translated his message to Earl and Leon. The two young Americans spoke that language fairly well but when it came to a question of orders they always had Jacques interpret them if possible, so that there should be no mistake.
"We are to leave here," said Jacques, "and go on down to the bottom of the hill where we are to dig shelters for ourselves. We cannot go forward until our artillery has had a chance to do a little more execution."
"Then we'll probably have to stay out all night," remarked Leon.
"I should not be surprised," said Jacques simply.
"That'll be nice," exclaimed Leon with a wry smile.
"Coudert says," continued Jacques, "that that trench we just left back there on the hill is half full of reinforcements for us."
"Ready," came the order, and with a final adjustment of his equipment every man prepared himself for the dash that was to come.
The men scrambled up the sides of the giant crater. From the pits on both sides of them the other sections were doing the same thing.