cause the little camp, in an instant, was the scene of
terrible turmoil and confusion, a wild medley of shouting men and
rearing horses. Instinctively he rushed to one side, dodging the thrust
of a lance, receiving a blow from the butt of another on his head, but
finally coming clear of the tumult.

The lance blow had made him see stars, and he could not think or see
clearly now. He had dropped his rifle, but he remembered his automatic,
and drawing it he began to fire into the mass of horses and horsemen.
Then a lancer rode at him with poised weapon. He fired at him, leaped
aside and ran through some bushes, intending to come around on the other
flank.

But the dizziness in his head increased and his sight became dimmer. The
whole world suddenly turned black, and he felt himself falling through
space.

CHAPTER XV

THE GIANT GUN

When John came back to the world he was conscious of a painful throbbing
in his head, and that he was lying in a very awkward position. He seemed
to be doubled up with his feet nearly as high as his head. Around him
were narrow, earthy walls, but above him was a sky full of stars.

"Well, if I'm dead," he muttered, "they certainly didn't take the
trouble to bury me very well. I didn't know it was the fashion in this
country to leave tombs open."

But he felt too weak and languid to "unbury" himself, and lay for a
little while in this awkward position. He saw the same circle of
peaceful sky, but he heard nothing. The Uhlans, whose rush he faintly
remembered, evidently had passed on. He rubbed his head where the
throbbing was most acute and felt a big lump there.

But his skull was not fractured. He felt of it gingerly, and it seemed
to be as solid as ever.

He lay a little while longer and made an effort. Slowly and painfully he
straightened himself out and stood up. His head rose considerably above
the edge of the hole, in which he had lain, and he saw a country free
from troops, where he stood. But he heard beyond him in the direction of
Paris the flashing and roaring which had been going on for days. The
German army had marched over him, and for some mysterious reason had
left him there.

John looked at the hole in which he stood. It was not more than three or
four feet across and at the bottom lay his automatic, which he was glad
to find as he had plenty of cartridges left in his belt. But how had
such a queer place happened to be there? And how had he come to be in
it?