“As we backed down into a big shell crater, he waited until the nose of the Boche tank came rolling over the edge, and then suddenly shot our machine forward, so that it slid in under the German. That gave me my chance, and maybe you think I didn’t take advantage of it. I began pumping steel jacketed bullets in through the floor of that tank so fast they must have thought it was a machine gun doing it. They saw what they were up against, and tried to retire. But we followed them close, and never gave them a chance to get away. “Seeing that they couldn’t escape that way, they suddenly reversed and tried to climb over us, but the Lieutenant was some driver, I can tell you, and reversed about as quickly as they did, so that was no go. Oh, we had them right that time, and no doubt about it.” Here Arney took a last lingering puff at the remnants of his cigarette, and regretfully tossed it away. “Well, how did it end?” questioned Billy, eagerly. “Oh, we got their gasoline tank, and then it was all over,” replied Arney, “of course, all the time the Lieutenant was backing and filling, I was pumping bullets into them for all I was worth. Suddenly there came a terrific explosion, and the whole inside of that tank was on fire with burning gasoline. That finished those who were left in it, and then we backed away from under, and as our men had reached their objectives by that time, we returned to our own lines. We were pretty well torn up by the encounter, but still had a little fight left in us.” “Gosh!” exclaimed Billy, when Arney had concluded his narrative, “I think that’s the service I’d like to get into. You get some excitement there.” “You are certainly hard to please!” exclaimed Tom. “Chances are you’ll get all the excitement you want this afternoon, when we get in touch with the Germans again. Making a frontal attach on a machine gun emplacement is all the excitement my young heart craves.” “You’re probably easily satisfied,” grinned Billy. “But if your young heart craves that method of diversion, we’ll let you go after the next one all by your lonesome.” Arney grinned at this exchange of repartee, and then, shaking hands all around, took his departure. Shortly afterward the bugle sounded, and once more the tedious and costly attack was resumed. CHAPTER XI LIQUID FIRE It was soon apparent that contact with the Germans had been made in earnest, for the resistance, which had been comparatively light in the morning, stiffened perceptibly. Machine gun nests became more and more frequent, and in every case the machine gunners stood by their pieces until the last man was killed, or the gun put out of action.