electric light, and are placing heavy guns--not the
very heaviest, I should say, but far heavier pieces than would usually
be at the front so soon--probably seven inch mortars."

"Seven inch mortars! That sounds almost incredible!"

"None the less, it is true. You may open fire at once on the spots
marked on your map, and do great damage. We are in a position here to
tell you whether your shells land properly or not--we can see the
battery from here. Will you fire?"

"At once!" said Delaunay. "Go and watch for the shells--then report to
us, if you can, whether they were properly aimed. You will be of the
greatest service to us if you can do that. It is of the last
importance that that battery should not come into action against
us--these forts were not intended, when they were built, to withstand
the battery of such heavy guns as that!"

Thrilled by the knowledge that the risks he and Arthur had run the
previous night had not been in vain, Paul went upstairs and rejoined
Arthur. To the east, where the frantic efforts of the Germans to get
their heavy artillery into position for the opening attack were still
continued, there was no apparent change in the situation.

"No one has come near," said Arthur. "Was the wire working? What did
they say at Boncelles?"

Paul told him, and they settled down to wait It was nervous work, tense
and anxious. Two of the guns--they counted six of them, in all--were
already in position, and finishing touches were being put to them.

"Oh, why don't they hurry?" complained Arthur. "The Germans are not
going to wait for them to be ready to fire."

"Listen," said Paul. "The fire is slackening a little, I think. You
can see that what we did had some use--they have silenced a good many
German guns already, through knowing just where to aim."

"What's that?" exclaimed Arthur, suddenly.

Overhead a strange noise filled the air; a shrieking, whining,
whistling sound. It rose, as it came nearer, to a wild whistle, like
the blast of a factory signal, releasing the workers at the end of the
day's work. The two scouts stared at one another; then, without
knowing why, they turned to look at the busy scene to the east.
Suddenly, before their eyes, there was a flash; a puff of white smoke
rising in the ghostly radiance of the arc lamps, and, after a distinct
pause, a dull crash. Then, as the smoke cleared, and they still stood
awe stricken, they saw that the bursting shell had t