t we belonged. In the
gigantic struggle, extending for miles, there was no possibility of
keeping together. The one thing was to drive the Germans out of the
second line of trenches, or better still to make them prisoners. But
every inch of ground became more dangerous. German shells were blowing
up the ground around us, and decimating our advancing forces.

It was here that I thought my number was up. A shell exploded a few
yards from me, shook the ground under my feet, threw me into the air,
and half buried me in the _debris_. It was one of those moments when
it seemed as though every man was for himself, and when, in the mad
carnage, it was impossible to realize what had happened to each other.
I was stunned by the explosion, and how long I lay in that condition I
don't know.

When I became conscious, I felt as though my head were going to burst,
while a sense of helplessness possessed me. Then I realized that,
while my legs were buried, my head was in the open. Painfully and with
difficulty I extricated myself, and then, scarcely realizing what I was
doing, I staggered along in the direction in which I thought my boys
had gone.

Evening was now beginning to fall, and I had lost my whereabouts.
Meanwhile, there was no cessation in the roar of artillery. As I
struggled along, I saw, not fifty yards away, a group of men. And then
I heard, coming through the air, that awful note which cannot be
described. It was a whine, a yell, a moan, a shriek, all in one.
Beginning on a lower note, it rose higher and higher, then fell again,
and suddenly a huge explosive dropped close where the men stood. A
moment later, a great mass of stuff went up, forming a tremendous
mushroom-shaped body of earth. When it subsided, a curly cloud of
smoke filled the air. I was sick and bewildered by what I had passed
through, and could scarcely realize the purport of what I had just
seen. But presently I saw a man digging, digging, as if for his life.

Half mad, and bewildered, I made my way towards him. In different
stages of consciousness I saw several soldiers lying. When I arrived
close to the spot, I recognized the digger. It was Paul Edgecumbe.
Never did I see a man work as he worked. It seemed as though he
possessed the strength of three, while all the energy of his being was
devoted to the rescue of some one who lay beneath the heap of _debris_.
In a bewildered sort of way I realized the situation. Evidently the
e