re into the approaching horsemen. Those who were not
killed or who had not fallen wounded from their horses were turned
back.

"Mattia, in his excitement, crawled along one side of the
communicating trench toward the machine-gun emplacement. He was
shocked to see that more than half of his machine-gun crew already
were dead or wounded. Now the German artillery, which he could not
see, began shelling the French positions. A shell exploded in the
trench occupied by his comrades, and Mattia was hurled violently into
the communicating trench.

"When the smoke had cleared away Mattia ran forward. The machine gun
was silent, though others down the line were very busy. It was a
strange sight for a boy to gaze upon. All his comrades were now lying
in the trench, either killed or badly wounded.

"The German infantry, in close formation--meaning close together--was
coming on steadily. Down the line the French were holding them back,
but in Mattia's trench there was no opposition.

"The boy collected his wits, uttered a gasp, then sprang to the silent
machine gun. A half-used strip of shells was in the gun and other
strips were close at hand.

"Little Mattia began to work the machine gun. He swept the field with
it as far as it would reach to the right and the left, sending a rain
of bullets into the enemy. Even after the strip was exhausted he kept
on working the gun, not realizing that it was out of cartridges.
Discovering this finally, he reloaded and began firing again.

"His fire saved the day for the French, because, had Mattia failed to
serve the gun, the Germans soon would have broken through the line and
that would have lost the battle for the French.

"At last the German line began to waver; it stopped, then began a
retreat on the run, followed by the bullets of the machine gunners.
Mattia was yelling and whooping as he pumped away with his weapon,
elevating its muzzle a little from time to time that he might be sure
to reach the fleeing men.

"Shells had been bursting about him all the time and were still
bursting.

"The French machine-gun fire from other trenches stopped almost as
suddenly as it had begun. Then something happened to little Mattia.
Another shell landed in his trench and burst with a deafening
explosion. The lad fell forward on his gun and lay still.

"They found him there later, unconscious, badly wounded, his hand
still on the trigger of the gun he had worked with such success. He
was car