"You'll get over that after a few days of this," said a gunner. "It wasn't an exceptionally noisy day, as we had only about a hundred guns on tap; but over in the Champagne, when we cut a swath of six kilometers, fifteen kilometers long, in two days, we had over three hundred guns. That meant some pounding." At nine o'clock in the morning the boys were ready for the trip over Dead Man's land, as the region was termed. Four officers and a half dozen of the gunners made up the party of observation. As they marched down the hill the lieutenant said: "This is not a trip to satisfy mere curiosity, but to give us an idea of the nature and extent of our work. In order to appreciate it we are compelled to make an investigation before the traces of our work disappear." They had little difficulty in crossing the stream, for hundreds of crafts were all about. The first evidences of the galling fire did not appear until they had gone a thousand feet from the stream, where the first line trenches of the Germans zig-zagged around the inclined surface of the fields. "This may interest you," said the captain, as he pointed to a section directly behind the main trench. The scene was an excellent one, as it gave them a clear view over a field covering about two acres. Before the onslaught, it had been a field of sod, level as a floor, and part of the green was in front of a magnificent country home. The house was a mass of ruins, of course, and two of the outbuildings had been burned. It would not be a misstatement to say that so close together were the holes and the upturned pieces of sod that it would have been possible for one to go over that entire lawn stepping from hole to hole, without touching the grass. "That must be a tunnel," said Ralph, as he approached an opening, which could be observed from the ruins of the house. Together the party moved over and entered the covered way. His surmise was correct. It was a timbered channel way, three feet wide, and high enough to permit a tall man to walk erect in it. Alfred peered in. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, several objects were noticed in the enlarged space. "I suppose they have furniture here," remarked Ralph. "Hello! what's this?" The captain came forward, and struck a light. Three bodies of Germans were lying on the floor. That was queer. A closer examination was made. It was then discovered that in the sound chamber were other bodies, more than a dozen, and most of them officers, as the insignias on their uniforms indicated. "They were, undoubtedly, brought here at the beginning of the fight," said the lieutenant. "They had no idea what they had to contend with when we opened on them."