e, beer, porter and
Scotch highballs, surrounded by high banks of cheese, mutton and roast
beef."

"There could be worse heavens," said Carstairs, "and if it should happen
that way it wouldn't be long before you Yankees would be trying to break
out of your heaven and into ours. But here's a taste of it now, the
cheese, for instance, and the beer, although it's in bottles."

A spry Tommy Atkins served them, and John, thankful at heart, ate and
drank with the best of them. And while they ate the pulsing waves of air
from the battle beat upon their ears. It seemed to these young men to
have been beating that way for weeks.

"Lannes will be back soon," said John to Carstairs and Wharton, "and
he'll tear you away from your friends here. You think, Carstairs, that
you're an Englishman, and you're convinced, Wharton, that you're an
American, but you're both wrong. You're Frenchmen, and you're going back
to the French army, where you belong. Then Captain Daniel Colton of the
Strangers will want to know from you why you haven't returned sooner."

"But how are we to go?" said Carstairs.

"And where are we to go?" said Wharton.

"I'd go in a minute," added Carstairs, "if the German army would let
me."

"So would I," said Wharton, "but the Germans fight so hard that we can't
get away."

"Lannes will attend to all those matters," said John. "I'll rest until
he comes, if I have the chance. Is that your artillery firing?"

"It's our big guns out in front," said Lord James Ivor. "Jove, but what
work they've done! A lot of our guns have been smashed, one half of our
gunners maybe have been smashed with 'em, but they've never flinched.
They covered our retreat from Belgium, and they've been the heralds of
our advance here on the Marne! Listen to 'em! How they talk!"

The heavy crash of guns far in front and the thunder of the German guns
replying came back to their ears. It was a louder note in the general
and ceaseless murmur of the battle, but the young men paid it only a
passing moment of attention. Carstairs presently added as an
afterthought:

"Unless Lannes returns soon I don't think we'll hear from him. That
blaze of the guns in front of us indicates close fighting again, and
we'll probably be ordered forward soon."

"I don't think so," said Lord James Ivor. "Our guns and the German guns
will talk together for quite a while before the infantry advance. You
can spend a good two hours with us yet, and still have time