They swung round and started back. Two shells dropped about twenty yards in front of them. For a moment McKnutt wondered whether it would be well to change their direction. "No, we'll keep right on and chance it," he said aloud. The next moment a tremendous crash seemed to lift the tank off the ground. Black smoke and flying particles filled the tank. McKnutt and James looked around expecting to see the top of the machine blown off. But nothing had happened inside, and no one was injured. Although shells continued to fall around them and a German machine gun raged at them, they got back safely. [Illustration: _Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N.Y._ A TANK BRINGING IN A CAPTURED GERMAN GUN UNDER PROTECTION OF CAMOUFLAGE] Brigade Headquarters, where McKnutt reported, was full of expectancy. Messages were pouring in over the wires. The men at the telephones were dead beat, but cool and collected. "Any news of the other 'busses?" McKnutt asked eagerly. The Buzzers shook their heads wearily. He rushed up to a couple of men who were being carried to a dressing-station. "Do you fellows know how the tanks made out?" he asked. One of them had seen two of the machines on the other side of the German line, he said. In answer to the questions which were fired at him he could only say that the tanks had pushed on beyond the German front line. Then on the top of the hill, against the sky-line, they saw a little group of three or four men. James recognized them. "Why, there's Sergeant Browning and Mr. Borwick, sir," he said. "What's happened to their tank, I wonder?" He and McKnutt hurried over to meet them. Borwick smiled coolly. "Hullo!" he said in his casual manner. "What's happened to your 'bus?" "What did you do?" was fired at him. "We got stuck in the German wire, and the infantry got ahead of us," he said. "We pushed on, and fell into a nest of three machine guns. They couldn't hurt us, of course, and the Boches finally ran away. We knocked out about ten of them, and just as we were going on and were already moving, we suddenly started twisting around in circles. What do you think had happened? A trench mortar had got us full in one of our tracks, and the beastly thing broke. So we all tumbled out and left her there." "Didn't you go on with the infantry?" asked McKnutt. "No. They'd reached their objective by that time," Borwick replied, "so we saved the tank guns, and I pinched the clock. Then we strolled back, and here we are," he concluded. Talbot joined the group as he finished. "But where's the rest of your crew?" he asked. Borwick said quietly: "Jameson and Corporal Fiske got knocked out coming back." He lit a cigarette and puffed at it. There was silence for a moment. Then Talbot said, "Bad luck; have you got their pay-books?" "No, I forgot them," Borwick answered.