but; as he rode slowly back and forth with the others, he
heard the light talk and the jesting among these troops who spoke
English. Although he knew that they underrated the danger he was proud
of them, and he remembered that his transplanted blood and theirs were
the same.

His eyes turned back to the gray sea, coming forward like the tide
across the open fields. It's edge was yet far away, but the sunlight was
so bright and the columns so deep that he saw them plainly. As in the
battle with the French they made upon him the impression of irresistible
strength. He saw too that their tremendous line would overlap the
British on both left and right, and he was assailed by a sudden and
deadly fear that they stood in the presence of the invincible. But his
strong will took command of his imaginative mind, and his face seemed
calm as he sat on his horse with the others and watched the advancing
foe.

Rifles were already crackling in the valleys between, where the pickets
were seeking the lives of one another, and now came the deep, rumbling
thunder of the giant cannon as they threw their shells from a range of
eight or ten miles. When a shell burst there was a crash like that of a
volcano in eruption, great cavities were torn in the earth, and men fell
in dozens. Vast clouds of smoke from the monster guns began to drift
against the horizon, but nearer where the smaller guns were at work only
light white clouds appeared.

The advancing German army was a semicircle of fire. From every point the
field batteries opened, making a steady crash so frightful and violent
that it seemed to rend the earth. But above their roar the eruption of
the colossal cannon in the rear could be heard now, and shells of
immense weight struck and burst in the English lines. Along the whole
British front the cannon were replying, and the roar reached incredible
proportions. Noxious fumes too filled the air. Gases seemed to be
released and the air was heavy and poisonous in the lungs. War had taken
on a new aspect, one more sinister and menacing than the old.

The shock from the great guns became so terrific that John tore little
pieces from the lining of his coat and stuffed them in his ears, in fear
lest he should be made deaf forever. He did it surreptitiously, until he
saw others doing the same, and then he put in more. Many of the troops
were lying down now. Others were kneeling, but everywhere the officers
stood up or sat their horses, rec