his clothing.

[Illustration: "A TERRIFIC CONCUSSION SENT HIS BOWL FLYING AND THE
YOUNG SOLDIER HIMSELF ROLLING FROM THE BANK"]

"A near squeak, mon ami," laughed one of the _poilus_, as he assisted
Henri in his task; "that is the first shell that has come near us for
days past, and I shouldn't mind if it were the last of them.
Understand, my comrade, that shell-fire is not all very pleasant, and
there are times when a man must sit in the fire-trench, crouching at
the bottom, whilst they rain all round him, some bursting in the trench
and shattering the traverses, some thumping pits behind or in front big
enough for a platoon to camp in, and others blowing in the parapets,
and smothering the fellows behind them. Rifle-fire is nothing to it--a
mere pastime--for then, if a man keeps his head well down, there is but
little danger."

Thud! In the distance another gun sounded. Thud! Thud! Thud! Sharp
reports followed almost instantly, and found their direction, it
seemed, from a thousand different points hidden by the forest country
in front of the trenches directly north of the city.

Had Henri and Jules been elsewhere than in those trenches now assailed
by the German artillery, had they, for instance, been in the
neighbourhood of the fortress of Douaumont, or even on some more
elevated position--if one were discoverable--they would have watched a
sight on this 19th day of February which would have appalled them, and
yet would have held them enthralled--so full of interest was it. Let
us but sketch the view to be obtained from such a point.

[Illustration: MAP OF VERDUN SALIENT DURING OPERATIONS ON 21ST
FEBRUARY, 1916]

From the heights of the Meuse, beyond and on which lay the French
positions, crossing the River Meuse in the neighbourhood of Brabant,
one looked down to a huge plain some hundreds of feet lower, the land
falling abruptly in many parts, and the rolling hills traversed here
and there by ravines, which gave easier access to the heights above
than was to be found elsewhere. Everywhere woods were to be seen,
woods of evergreen firs clothing the country thickly about the foot of
the heights, and sweeping, to some extent, out into the plain beyond;
woods, indeed, which masked the position of the enemy, which made it
practically impossible to say how many troops were there, and whether
the Germans had, as reports stated, made preparations for an attack on
the Verdun salient.

A glance at the map