It was the noise of a tremendous explosion, and the whole place shook as though there were an earthquake. The captain gave some rapid instructions which I did not hear, and then hurried away. CHAPTER V HOW A MAN WORKED A MIRACLE Since then, I have been under some terrific bombardments, but up to that time I had never experienced anything so terrible. Evidently our big guns were turned on, and they had located the German trenches to a nicety. Moreover, I judged that something serious was on hand, for it continued hour after hour. Before long all lights went out, and I knew by the hoarse cries which the Germans were making that they were in a state of panic. The bombardment had lasted perhaps an hour, when part of the roof of the cave fell in with a tremendous crash, and I imagined that several men were buried. 'We'll get out of this,' said the lieutenant who had been left in charge; 'there's a safer place further down.' 'Yes, sir,' replied the soldier, evidently glad of the order, 'but what about the prisoners?' The young officer seemed in doubt about us, and then grumbled something about his captain's orders. 'Our numbers are up, sergeant,' I said, for Sergeant Smith and I were the only two who were left alive. 'Either we shall be killed by our own guns, or else we shall suffer worse than death at the hands of these fellows.' 'Never say die, sir,' replied Sergeant Smith, who was noted for his optimistic temperament; 'anyhow, these chaps are all in a blue funk.' 'There can be no doubt about that,' was my reply. 'If we live through it, and if this bombardment is but the preliminary to an attack, there's a sporting chance that we may get away.' 'About a hundred to one, sir.' After this, I have no clear recollection as to what took place. I remember that we moved along a tunnel until we came to another dug-out,--after that everything became a blank to me. Either I had been stunned by my captors, or I had been hurt by falling _debris_. When I came to my senses again, the guns were still booming, although they seemed at a greater distance, and I judged that our captors regarded us as in a safer place. Then, suddenly, I heard a voice which set my nerves tingling. It was an English voice, too, although he spoke in German. 'You chaps are in an awful hole,' I heard some one say, in quiet matter-of-fact tones, as though the situation were of a most ordinary nature. 'Do you know what I think of you? You are a lot of idiots.' 'We're better off than you, anyhow,' and this time it was a German who spoke. 'If we come alive out of this, we shall be all right; but you are our prisoners.' 'Prisoners if you like, my dear fellow, but what's the good of that to you?' 'Every English prisoner taken is one step nearer to German victory,' replied the soldier sententiously.