l by his side, unharmed.

"The bayonet after all is the weapon for close quarters! It takes a good
man to stand the cold steel!" shouted Carstairs.

"So it does!" John shouted back, "but they've stopped for only a few
moments! They're gathering anew!"

"And we're here waiting for them! But I wish there were more of us!"

John echoed the wish. He saw the German army advancing again or at least
enough of it to know that it could overpower the defense. The Germans
were as brave as anybody and under their iron discipline they would come
without ceasing. He borrowed Wharton's glasses, and also saw the vast
overlapping lines to right and left. A great fear was born in his heart
that the German effort would succeed, that the British army would be
surrounded and destroyed. But he handed the glasses back to Wharton
without a word.

The battle swelled anew. The German generals reformed their lines and
the hosts poured forward again, reckless of losses. The defense met them
with a terrible fire and charged again and again with the bayonet.

For hours the battle raged and thundered over the hills and valleys, and
the British line still held, but it was cut up, bleeding at every pore,
and to right and left the horns of the long German crescent were slowly
creeping around either flank. John from his place on a hill saw well and
he knew that their position was growing extremely dangerous. It seemed
to him that the German threat would certainly be carried out, unless
help came from the French.

[Illustration] "A vast red whirlwind in which the faces of men shone and
steel glittered."

Late in the day he was on horseback again, carrying a message from a
general to any French commander whom he could reach, urging immediate
help. He had left Wharton and Carstairs on the battle line, and the
horse was that of a slain colonel.

Gaining the rear, where the weight of the fire would not reach him John
galloped toward the right, passing through a small wood, and then
emerging upon a field, in which wheat had stood.

As his blood cooled a little he slowed his speed for a moment or two,
and took a look at the battle which was spread over a vast area. He was
appalled by the spectacle of all those belching cannon, and of men
falling like grass before the mower. A continuous flash and roar came
from a front of miles, and he saw well that the German host could not be
stopped.

He galloped toward the right, but it seemed to him that dista