The loading operation of the huge shells was also interesting, for it must be remembered that some of the missiles weigh nearly a ton. After the tremendous rebound of the gun, the breech block was opened, the opening mechanism being so arranged that the cartridge shell would be extracted automatically, thus preparing the gun for the next shell. CHAPTER XIII THE MYSTERIOUS FIGURES ON THE RANGE FINDER All in the battery arose the next morning with an air of expectancy on their countenances, and this was particularly marked in the demeanor of the boys. Captain Winston was at the camp all night, and the probable result of the cannonading was the all-important topic. "Do you think, Captain, that we wiped out the big battery over there yesterday?" asked Ralph. "That is the problem uppermost in my mind," replied the captain. "It was impossible for me to spot any location in that depression, which could conceal the guns, although, of course, as my observations were not less than a mile from the earth, it is rather indefinite." "Do you think they will have another try at it today?" asked Alfred. "I understand not," was his reply. "Then what will be done really to find out?" asked Ralph. "That is what we are now considering," said the lieutenant. "I do not know what suggestion to make. We have gone over the bench mark and are sure that it portends something, but what it is impossible to figure out." During all this conversation it must not be understood that the guns were silent. It was the custom to change the angle and sweep of the guns continually during these desultory rounds, the annoying thing being that there was no positive way of determining the effect of shots which landed three and four miles away. "The commandant wishes to see you," said an orderly, addressing the captain. Directly west of the hill, within the German lines just referred to, and, probably, three miles distant, was a spur of the railroad which led from the main camp ten miles in the rear. For more than two weeks it had been impossible for the British forces to use that road as some hidden battery of Germans, having the exact range, could rake it with heavy shells, and it was, consequently, torn up after each repair trip. It was generally used in the night to transport troops and provisions, but even that was too unsafe. All the supplies, therefore, for a mile of trenches, had to be conveyed through a section over which there were no roads, by vans, and the entire road was literally lined with machines which were mired. To wipe out the battery or batteries which were doing such execution, was the problem before our battery on the hill. Furthermore, it must be understood that before an advance could be made, with any degree of success, the location of that battery must be found. Once discovered, the English knew that it would be only a matter of hours before it would be wiped off the face of the earth. The great eight-inch guns were there for that purpose.