“It is good,” he said, “very beautiful, my friends, and I congratulate you all. Your song is admirable, it will go with us everywhere, and we will lead it to victory. But who is the author? There must be an author. The devil, there must be an author!” There was a moment of silence as if each one hesitated to reply, but a big sergeant cried out in a stentorian voice: “A _ban_ for the author, Lieutenant Delpos, and a couplet for him besides.” Then the men broke all alignment, pressed around their young sub-lieutenant, joyous, proud and blushing with pleasure, weeping with joy, and burst out at the top of their lungs, with indescribable feeling, which showed all their strength, their will for victory and their unbreakable confidence: _Et comme nous elle attendra_ _Le grand jour qui déclanchera_ _L’offensive victorieuse,_ _Ma mitrailleuse._ _Poursuivant le bandit germain,_ _J’entendrai sur les bords du Rhin,_ _Au grand soleil, claquer joyeuse_ _Ma mitrailleuse._ Then, amidst the applause and the “vivats,” the lieutenant embraced his young friend vigorously and said: “Nom de Dieu! You didn’t tell me that you were a poet. I congratulate you.” And taking him by the arm, he went off joyous, skipping like a gamin, taking up again the inspiring refrain: _Ma Mitrailleuse ... Ma Mitrailleuse!_ CHAPTER V A RECONNAISSANCE IN THE FOG One evening the lieutenant said to me a little after dinner: “To-morrow, at four o’clock, we’re going to the first line trenches to find positions for the machine guns. The section leaders are coming, and if you want to come, you’ll find it interesting.” The selection of a machine gun emplacement is essentially a delicate task. The Germans are past masters in this art. So, in the days of attack when our artillery had made a thorough preparation and they were convinced that there was nothing left in front and we could advance without trouble, exactly as though taking a walk in a square, we found ourselves abruptly right in the fire of a Boche machine gun which had not been spotted and which was so skilfully camouflaged that it had resisted the most terrible bombardment. It is necessary above all to find a place which commands a wide field of fire and one easy to play on. It must also be easy to conceal the gun in some way, for, if it is once spotted, a shell will soon send the gun and its crew pirouetting in the air, unless they are forewarned by a shot too long or too short, but whose destination is unmistakable, and so have time to move. It was scarcely daylight when we assembled in front of the lieutenant’s quarters. A fog that could be cut with a knife limited our view to a few yards. It was cold.