f the Meuse, their line drawn from that held
by their comrades in the neighbourhood of Louvemont, close to the Cote
du Poivre, round about Douaumont and its village, and so to Vaux and
south of it. Here, indeed, we must leave them for a moment, while we
return to Henri and Jules and their comrades, entangled in that country
to the north which had been ploughed, almost every foot of it, by the
torrent of shells poured upon it by the Kaiser's artillery.

Stealthily creeping away from their advanced positions, and leaving
these dull-grey lines of German dead stretched out before them--a
ghastly indication of their prowess--the troops fell back in clusters,
clambering from shell-hole to shell-hole, creeping behind any cover
which was to be discovered, and making the utmost use of the darkness.

"And so it is you--you, Jules?" cried Henri, as dawn broke on the early
morning of the 23rd and discovered his comrade. "Well, I never!"

It was typical of the gallant and gay Jules that he grinned in the face
of his chum, and repeated the observation.

"Well, I never! And what a sight to be sure! We were gentlemen when
escaping from Ruhleben compared with our condition now. What a mess to
be in, to be sure--and how hungry I am!"

"Hungry, mon garcon?" cried a sergeant near them, one of their own
battalion; "then there's good news for you; for if our commanders have
not been able to send us reinforcements, they have at least not
forgotten that we are living men. There is food close at hand, and our
cooks are preparing it."

In the lines which the troops had now gained in those trenches dug some
time before, and sweeping across the slopes of Pepper Hill (Cote du
Poivre), there were indeed welcome comforts for the men who had so
gallantly held up the advance of the Germans, and who had more
gallantly still, and with greater fortune, endured the terrible ordeal
of that shattering torrent of shells poured for hours now upon them.
Back behind the fire-trenches cooks were busy over their braziers,
while already kettles of steaming soup and coffee and long rolls of
bread were being conveyed to the soldiers. It was a happy, a grimy,
and a decidedly confident band of men who sat down that early dawn to
prepare once more for the enemy. Dishevelled, their chins covered with
dirty bristles, steel helmets lost in numerous cases, clothing torn,
and equipment absent, this band of heroes was nevertheless as jovial as
it was hungry.