ermans were digging a trench on a rise of ground, where they
always try to place them, instead of on low ground, about half a mile
away. Mattia peered at them, looking through the bushes, until he was
ordered by an officer to go back and bring up the breakfast for the
men. Thus the little Frenchman was given to understand that he was one
of them. The officer in command either had forgotten his orders to the
boy of the previous night, or else had decided to use him so long as
no fighting was going on.

"There was much about the work that Mattia did not understand. He now
knew that there were other French detachments close at hand, but he
neither saw nor heard them. The others, undoubtedly, were camouflaged
just as his detachment was.

"So secretly, however, had the French worked that the Germans did not
appear even to suspect the presence of the enemy. This secrecy was
maintained for two more days, Mattia in the meantime having been
initiated into the mystery of the machine gun. He was allowed by a
friendly sergeant to handle the gun and go through the motions of
firing it and putting in a fresh string of shells. It was a delight to
him.

"On the morning of the third day he was ordered to remain behind in a
dugout that had been built. He knew by this that an action was at
hand.

"It came about nine o'clock in the morning, when a company of French
soldiers came marching down the field in plain view of the Germans,
though no Germans were in sight. He did not know that these
infantrymen were a decoy, a part of the plan of the French to draw the
enemy down within easy range of their machine guns.

"Rifles began to crackle from the Prussian trenches, and to his
amazement, after firing a few rounds in reply, the French infantrymen
ran for the cover of the brush. He saw the reason for this a moment
later when a big troop of German cavalry topped the rise of ground and
swept on toward the French, followed by the charging infantry of
the Germans."

[Illustration: HIS FIRE SAVED THE DAY.]

"Some time since, Mattia had slipped from his dugout. He was
determined to miss nothing of what was going on. He saw his own
infantrymen take to the communicating trenches and disappear, plainly
as a part of the plan.

"Then the machine guns began to play. The mounted German detachment
was close upon them before the hidden French machine guns opened up.
All down the line to the right he could hear French machine guns
pouring their fi