distance.

As fast as the camouflage could be "woven" and put in place to shield
them from observance by the enemy planes that whirred overhead in the
bright afternoons, the gun pits were dug. Platforms and "circulaires"
were installed as each pit was dug. The guns of the second platoon were
brought from Luneville on the evening of March 7, and caissons of
ammunitions followed during the night. The rapidity and excellence of
the work on the position were partly due to the French officer, Captain
Frey, whose battery was near, who gave his advice and counsel, and to
the little sergeant, nicknamed "La Soupe" (the words with which he
always signified his intention to depart for mess, for he acquired no
English), who constantly supervised the work.

At 9:50 a. m., March 8, Battery E fired its first shot at the front, the
Third Section piece having the honor. The gun crew was composed of
Sergeant Newell, Corporal Monroe, and Privates Sexauer, Ekberg, Farrell
and Kilner. The crew working on the Fourth Section piece, which
registered the same morning, included Sergeant Suter, Corporal Holton,
and Privates O'Reilly, O'Brien, Ladd, Colvin and Kulicek.

Until the first platoon's guns came up, the gun crews of that platoon
alternated on the pieces with the crews of the second platoon, who could
sleep in the billet in town on their nights off. The men on the guns had
two watches to keep, one at the guns, and one at the "rocket post" on
top the hill, to notify the battery if a red rocket, the signal for a
barrage, appeared at points laid out on a chart. At first there were two
barrages, Embermenil and Jalindet, the names of two towns in whose
direction the different fires lay. If the sentinel on the hill-top
shouted either of these names, the sentinel at the position was to fire
the guns and awake the crews. The names, unusual and difficult to ears
unfamiliar with French, were not easy to remember. From that difficulty
developed the "Allabala" barrage which made Mosier famous.

Seeing a rocket rise in the vicinity of Embermenil (whether white or red
is a mystery), he started to shout the name, but in his excitement could
not pronounce the French word, and stuttered forth a succession of
syllables like some Arabian Nights' incantation. Whatever it was,
"Allabala" or something else, it worked. The guns were fired--until an
order from the O. P. called a halt, declaring the alarm false.

The First and Second Section pieces were broug