V IN THE CHATEAU
XV THE FIGHT FOR THE TOWER
XVI THE DUG-OUT
XVII LIPPEN BREAKS
XVIII AN ASSIGNMENT
XIX OVER THE TRENCHES
XX AT FLAMBEAU
XXI DISABLED
XXII IN THE CLEARING
XXIII IN THE DARK
XXIV THE RETURN
XXV BACK AGAIN
XXVI THE BIG WAR
XXVII CONCLUSION

ILLUSTRATIONS

"Forward!" shouted the captain in a loud, clear voice . . . . . . . . .
_Frontispiece_

Leon whirled swiftly in time to see a big-helmeted German with the butt
end of his rifle upraised preparing to strike

The air was filled with smoke and dust from the crumbling plaster

"Let 'em have it!" cried Leon and the three automatic guns spoke almost
as if they were one piece

FIGHTING IN FRANCE

CHAPTER I

A DUEL IN THE AIR

"Well, Leon, it looks as if there was going to be a fight around here
pretty soon."

"Right you are, Earl. That suits me all right though and from the way
the rest of the men are acting it seems to suit them too."

Earl and Leon Platt, two American boys in the army of the French
Republic, were seated outside their quarters behind the fighting line.
The scene was in Champagne, one of the provinces of France that already
had witnessed some of the heaviest fighting of the Big War.

At the outbreak of the great European struggle these twin brothers had
been traveling in Europe. Earl was in England with friends and Leon
was visiting his aunt and uncle in a suburb just outside of Paris. At
the earliest possible moment Leon had enlisted in the French army.
Assigned to the aviation corps he had taken part in the great retreat
from Belgium to the gates of the French capital. Slightly wounded at
Charleroi, he had been in one of the hospitals for a few days.

When his wound had healed he had made his way south, arriving in time
to take part in the battle of the Marne which rolled back the tide of
German invasion and saved France. Through all these varying
experiences and hardships Jacques Dineau, a young Frenchman, had been
his inseparable companion. These two boys, for they were nothing more
than that, had more than once distinguished themselves for bravery and
daring until they had become the favorites of their regiment. Now they
were stationed in Champagne, in the trenches, where for weeks and
months both sides had been deadlocked, neither able to push the other
back.

With the declaration of war Leon's parents had naturally been anxious
as to his safety