Satisfied with his scrutiny, the Captain turned and descended again to the battery position. He passed along the line of dug-outs in the flank of the rise until he reached one whose entrance bore the notice "Fernsprecher und Befehls Unterstand"[6] neatly painted on a board. The Oberfeldwebel standing at the doorway sprang to a precise, heel-clicking salute. The officer acknowledged it curtly and dived into the dug-out. Here yellow electric light replaced the cool grey dawn and tobacco smoke floated in long wreaths about the bulb. A young lieutenant, seated at the telephone instrument on the table, took the pipe out of his mouth and rose smartly as his superior entered. "Good morning, Eberstein," said the captain. "Anything fresh?" "Nothing, Herr Hauptmann," replied the lieutenant respectfully. "Nothing of this rumoured attack?" "Nothing." The captain seated himself heavily at the table and the lieutenant was at liberty to resume his chair. "And that frightful bombardment all last night, Eberstein, what do you make of it?" he asked as he lit himself a cigarette. The mouth under the fair moustache of the young lieutenant twisted into a contemptuous smile. "Bah! the Englanders want to make us nervous or to persuade themselves that their wonderful 'great push' is not played out." The captain blew out a long puff of smoke and nodded his head in dubious thought. "And you think it is?" Von Waldhofer, a man of somewhat deliberate mental processes, was never unwilling to discuss general topics with his subordinate. Eberstein's cheering, if crude, optimism was a welcome stimulus to him. "Of course it is," said the lieutenant. "Since the first rush they have been practically fought to a standstill. Here it is two and a half months since the offensive began and where are they? Now in one week on the Donajetz we----" "Yes, I know, Eberstein," his superior interrupted him. "You did wonders. But it is the Somme and not the Donajetz that interests us now." He removed his helmet and passed his hand wearily over a high semi-bald brow. "I wish I could be as certain as you. These Englanders do not know when they are beaten----" He stopped, then broke out again with the over-emphasis of a man wearied with long brooding over a problem. "The colonel was so positive last night! And he had just come from the General Staff. At dawn, he said, we might expect it. I can't make it out. All night that frightful bombardment, obviously preparation. Then this quiet! I feel something is coming." He shook his head. "We are much too near in this position." "If they come, so much the better!" cried Eberstein. "We will annihilate them. But I do not for a moment believe----" He was stopped by a heavy distant roar that commenced with the suddenness of a thunderclap and continued in one never-ending roll. "There we are!" exclaimed von Waldhofer. He looked at his watch. It marked 7 o'clock precisely.[7]