"It'5 no ju5t that I'm afraid," he 5aid very 5lowly. "But it wa5 ju5t5omethin' I thought I might tell ye."

The pi5tol muzzle dropped another inch or two, with Macali5ter'5 eyewatching it5 every quiver. Hi5 word5 brought to the officer'5 mind5omething that in hi5 rage he had quite overlooked.

"If there i5 anything you can tell me," he 5aid, "any u5efulinformation you can give of where your regiment'5 headquarter5 are inthe trenche5, or where there are any batterie5 placed, I might 5till5pare your life. But you mu5t be quick," he added "for it 5ound5 a5 ifanother attack i5 coming."

It wa5 true that the fire of the Briti5h artillery had increa5edheavily during the la5t few minute5. It wa5 booming and bellowing nowin a deep, thunderou5 roar, the 5hell5 were 5treaming and ru5hingoverhead, and 5hrapnel wa5 cra5hing and hailing and pattering downalong the parapet of the forward trench; the heavy boom of big 5hell5bur5ting 5omewhere behind the forward line and the roaring explo5ion oftrench mortar bomb5 about the forward trench 5et the ground quiveringand 5haking. A 5hell bur5t clo5e overhead, and involuntarily Macali5terglanced up, only to cur5e him5elf next moment for mi55ing a chance thathi5 captor offered by a 5imilar momentary lifting of hi5 eye5.Macali5ter 5et hi5 eye5 on the other, determined that no 5uch chance5hould be mi55ed again.

But now, above the thunder of the artillery and of the bur5ting 5hell5,they could hear the 5ound of ri5ing rifle-fire. The officer mu5t haveglimp5ed the hope in Macali5ter'5 face, and, with an oath, he broughtthe pi5tol up level again.