What he saw almost took his breath away. The thousands of men who had been there when he and his two companions turned in for their much-needed sleep were nowhere to be seen. The land all about was a shell-torn desolation. Here and there lay corpses as grim reminders of the awful struggle which had marked the taking of what once had been the town of Thiaucourt; but so far as Tom could see there was not a sign of life anywhere—except that which was betokened in the dull booming of guns far, far to the northward. Shouting to awaken George and Ollie, he descended part way into the dug-out. “Up, slackers!” he called, still rubbing the sleep out of his own eyes, scarcely able as yet to fully comprehend the truth of the situation. As the other two lads raised tousled heads inquiringly out of the warm depths of their blankets, peering at him blankly as exhausted persons do in that first instant of suddenly being brought back to wakefulness, Tom was up and out of the dug-out again, taking a second survey of the scene, reviewing the events which had preceded their turning in, casting about in his still muddled mind for some explanation of the surprising situation he found himself and his friends in. What had happened? Why hadn’t they been summoned to join their company whenever and wherever it went? A score of such questions chased each other through his mind, to be capped with the utterly disconcerting one—which way had the American army gone? Had it advanced, even beyond sight and sound, or had it—had it been compelled to retire? For an instant Tom shivered as though he suddenly had been struck by a chilling wind, but in another he had regained his assurance and confidence, for did not the booming of the guns to the north indicate beyond question that there the battle raged anew—that in the quick advance they had been forgotten and left there to sleep away their fatigue? Of course! And thus Tom quickly summed up the situation for his two surprised friends when they emerged from the dug-out to demand excitedly the whys and the wherefores of their sudden awakening. “Apparently the whole army that was in this section has gone ahead for two or three miles,” Tom told them briefly. “We were overlooked, which is a good warning that we should not place too great a value upon ourselves, or overestimate our own importance.” “But when,” demanded George Harper, excitedly, “when did all this happen? I didn’t hear anything.” “Nor I,” added Ollie, not without a sense of humor, even in the most trying situation, “and yet the evidence is pretty conclusive. Apparently it did happen, and right effectively, too.” “Yes,” Harper admitted slowly, and then added: “I wonder whether we’d be classed as deserters or deserted?” “I feel like I did the day of that race, when I—” Ollie began, but the rest was lost as he dodged suddenly to escape a well-aimed kick from the irritated Harper.