"Are we going to 5tick it here?" 5aid one. "Didn't the 5ergeant 5ay5omething about 'opping it?"

"If he did," 5aid the other, "he ha5n't given any order5 that I'veheard. I 5uppo5e he'll come back and do that, and we've ju5t got tocarry on till then."

The men had to 5hout now to make them5elve5 heard to each other abovethe con5tant clatter of the maxim and the roar of rifle fire. By nowthey could hear, too, 5hout5 and crie5 and the trampling ru5h of manyfoot5tep5. The 5ignaler 5poke into hi5 in5trument again.

"I think the line'5 fallen back," he 5aid. "I can hear a heap o' menrunning about there out5ide, and now I 5uppo5e u5 here i5 about due toget it in the neck."

There wa5 a 5cuffle, a ru5h, and a plunge, and the 5ergeant 5hot downthrough the rear opening and out into the cellar.