“How was that?” queried Tom. “Well, the way it happened was this,” replied the other, “our side had planned an attack one morning at dawn, but as it happened, the German had also planned one against us at the same time. Of course, neither side knew what the other was up to, so it came as a pretty big surprise when the Boches opened their bombardment just a few minutes before ours was due to commence. “This didn’t stop us, though, and our batteries opened up full split in reply. My tank was due to start out at six o’clock, and promptly on schedule we got away. It was still pitch dark, though, and raining as usual, and as neither side was sending up star shells for fear of exposing their own operations, we had very little to guide us. We lost our way a couple of times, at the same time falling behind our schedule, and when we finally did get on the right track, we trundled along at top speed. Top speed doesn’t mean very much to a tank, to look at it from the outside, but when you’re on the inside, with the engine going full split, and rocking along over ground that’s been ploughed up about a million times by big shells, you certainly do know you’re moving. “Well, we had travelled maybe half a mile, when suddenly we stopped dead, with a slam that nearly took my teeth out. At first I thought we must have hit a big tree, but then I remembered that all the trees around that section had been blasted into kindling wood a good many months ago, and as about everything else had shared the same fate, I didn’t know what had happened to us. But in a few seconds we had our searchlight going, and then I found out what was the matter pretty quick. There in front of us, butted square into us, was a big Boche tank.” Here the narrator paused to roll a cigarette, while the boys waited impatiently for him to go on. After deliberately making and lighting his cigarette, he took a few deep puffs, and resumed his narrative. “Well, boys, I figured we were up against it for fair in more ways than one. The driver put her into low gear, and threw in the clutch again and again, but it was no use. I suppose the other fellow was doing the same thing, and neither of us could budge an inch. Then, first thing we knew, a big explosive bullet came crashing through our armor, and stretched the driver over his seat, done for for good. I depressed my gun as far as it would go, and tried to get back at the Boche, but he could get his gun lower than I could get mine, and my bullets just bounced off his armor, because they hit it at such a big angle. “I went down and told our lieutenant how things stood, and he took the place of the dead driver, and threw her into reverse, but the Boche realized his advantage, and followed us up so close that I never got a chance to get a direct hit on him. It looked pretty bad for us, and I thought it was about time to say ‘Good-bye, sweet world, good-bye.’ But the Lieutenant kept his wits about him, and suddenly had an idea.