e up!" signals the driver. The gears-men get into first gear, and
the tank tilts back as it goes up one side of the trench. Suddenly she
starts tipping over, and the driver takes out his clutch and puts on
his brake hard. McKnutt yells out, "Hold tight!" and the tank slides
gently down with her nose in the bottom of the trench. The driver lets
in his clutch again, the tank digs her nose into the other side and
pulls herself up slowly, while her tail dips down into the bottom of
the trench. Then comes the great strain as she pulls herself bodily
out of the trench until she balances on the far side.

It was now no longer safe to run with lights. They were snapped off.
Once more the darkness closed around them, blacker than ever. They
could no longer find their route, and McKnutt jumped out, walking
ahead with the tank lumbering along behind. Twice he lost his way and
they were obliged to wait until he found it again. Then, to his
intense relief, the moon shone out with a feeble light. It was just
enough to illumine faintly the ground before them and McKnutt
reentered the tank, and started on.

Their route ran close to the sides of an old quarry and they edged
along cautiously. McKnutt, with his eyes glued to the front, decided
that they must have already passed the end of the quarry. That would
mean that they were not far from the spot where they were to wait for
the signal to go into action. The moon had again disappeared behind
the clouds, but he did not consider it worth while to get out again.
The journey would be over in a few minutes.

Suddenly, his heart took a great dive and he seemed to stop breathing.
He felt the tank balance ever so slightly. Staring with aching eyes
through the portholes, he saw that they were on the edge of the old
quarry, with a forty-foot drop down its steep sides before them. The
black depth seemed bottomless. The tank was slipping over. When she
shot down they would all be killed from concussion alone.

His heart was pounding so that he could hardly speak. But the driver,
too, had seen the danger.

"For God's sake, take out your clutch and put your brake on!" McKnutt
yelled, his voice almost drowned by the rattle and roar inside the
tank. The man kept his head. As the tail of the tank started tipping
up, he managed somehow with the brakes to hold her on the edge. For a
second or two, she swayed there. She seemed to be unable to decide
whether to kill them or not. The slightest crumbl