machine gun
began to splutter.

"It's all up with him now!" said the officer, with something like a
groan. "I'll order our guns to shell the Hun trench, but it will be
too late!"

He jumped down off the firing step, where he and the others, including
Jerry and Bob, were standing, and started for the nearest telephone
that connected with a battery.

Just then Ned was seen to stagger.

"He's hit!" some one cried.

But if he was the lad who had taken such a desperate chance did not
stop. He dropped a piece of wood, but still he ran on, stooping over,
and darting from side to side.

And at last he reached the trench where Bob, Jerry, and his other
comrades awaited him. The rain had made the top of the trench
slippery, and Ned, striking this while going at full speed, fairly
slid down into the ditch, the wood dropping from his arms all about.

"There you are!" he cried, as he recovered himself. "Enough wood for
two fires! Now we can have something hot for breakfast! Bob, start the
coffee boiling! I'm like you--hungry!"

For a moment the others stood staring at him, and then the officer
came back.

"Did they get him?" he cried. "If they did they'll pay for it. We'll
wipe out the Hun trench in another minute!"

Then he saw Ned, standing, surrounded by the splintered, wooden parts
of the ammunition truck.

"Oh, you're here," said the officer, mechanically, as Ned saluted.
"Well, what in the name of General Pershing did you want to do that
for?"

"I wanted some wood to make a fire for breakfast, Sir," answered Ned
simply. "Some one took our supply last night, and when I saw the truck
blown to pieces and noticed that the driver was safe, I thought it a
good chance to get some fairly dry fuel. So I took it. Better pick it
up though, or it won't be dry long," he added to Jerry, and the
latter, with Bob's help, obeyed. Ned had done his share.

The officer stared at Ned as though the young soldier were a new sort
of fighter, and then, with a shake of his head, turned away. It was
past belief or understanding.

As the three chums moved back to where they had set up an improvised
stove, where they could build a fire with the truck pieces Ned had
brought in, the ground shook with the thunder of the American guns
that soon enforced silence in the German trenches. It was revenge for
having fired on Ned.

Technically Ned had been guilty of a breach of the regulations, but
though his venture into the open had resulted