"Have any trouble with the prisoners while I was gone?" asked Frank. "Not much," grinned Billy. "Redbeard tried to get up, but I handed him a clip on the jaw and he sat down again." "Drop!" shouted Bart suddenly. "Those fellows are getting ready to fire." They threw themselves flat on the snow, and a moment later some bullets zipped over them. "Looks as though they meant business," muttered Frank. "Lucky that they haven't all got rifles," remarked Billy. "Seems like the old Argonne days come again, only on a smaller scale," remarked Tom. "Shall we let them have a taste of lead, Frank? My finger's fairly itching to pull the trigger." "Hold in a while, Tom," counseled Frank. "They have done that to vent their spite. We're safe enough behind these oaks, and we haven't any too much ammunition. If they show any signs of making a rush, we'll let them have a volley." "That's just what they're going to do," remarked Bart. "They know they're four to one and they're going to take a chance." "Five to one, really," answered Frank, "for Billy will have his hands full in guarding the prisoners." Another volley came at that minute, and several bullets embedded themselves in the oaks. At the same moment, the Germans rushed forward a few yards, taking shelter behind what trees they could or throwing themselves behind hillocks of snow. "They're in earnest," remarked Tom. "All right," said Frank, and his fingers tightened on his rifle. "Let them rush us. They'll get all that's coming to them." CHAPTER VIII JUST IN TIME "Those fellows are old campaigners," commented Bart. "You can tell that by the tactics they're using. It's the old system they tried at the Marne and in the Argonne, making a rush for a few yards, throwing themselves flat, and then repeating the process until they got near enough to rush us." "A pretty good system, too," commented Tom, "but it didn't win then and it isn't going to win now. Just watch me wing one or two of these Huns and put a crimp into their tactics." His chance came even while he was speaking, for one of the Germans thrust his rifle out from behind a tree and fired. At the same instant, Tom's rifle cracked, and the bullet ploughed its way through the man's right shoulder. He fell with a groan and rolled out from behind his shelter on to the snow. He was an easy mark as he lay there, but Tom refrained from firing again. The man was out of the fight and as good as dead as far as any further offensive was concerned. Besides, it was no part of the American idea of war to kill a wounded foe, although it was a matter of record that it had frequently been done by the Germans. "Good shooting, old man," commented Frank. "You haven't got out of the way of potting them." "One less to cause us trouble," remarked Billy. "Gee, if I didn't have these prisoners to watch! I'm getting cross-eyed, trying to keep one eye on them and the other on these fellows that are trying to rush us."