Page 102 (1/2)

Henri then, knowing all this--none better--had his first question to

settle, which was this: As spring advanced the flood had commenced to

recede Time came when, in those trenches now huddled shallow behind

the railway track, one could live in a certain comfort In the deeper

ones, the bottom of the trench appeared for the first time

On a day previous, however, the water had commenced to come back There

had been no rain, but little by little in a certain place yellow,

ill-sishly into the trenches

Seeped, rather than flowed At first the Belgian officers laid it to

that bad luck that had so persistently pursued them Then they held a

conference in the small brick house with its maps and its pine tables

and its picture of an American harvester on the wall, which was now

headquarters

Sitting under the hanging la coffee at a stove

in the corner, they talked it over Henri was there, silent before his

elders, but intently listening And at last they turned to hio and find out," he said quietly "It is possible, though I do

not see how" He s themselves at

our expense It is a bit of German humor"