"No. Your men insist on one more attack on the Germans, as a reprisal for the burning of the village. Well, we cannot do anything in Belgium, for it would only mean another village burned. If we make the attack in Germany it will be different. They can hardly burn down their own villages." Corporal Shaw held out his hand. "Well done, lad!" he cried heartily, and the other men within ear-shot echoed his words. "That's a stroke of genius, and we are with you to a man. What are you going to attack--nothing less than Metz, of course?" Max smiled and shook his head. "Something a little less ambitious will have to do, I think. After another night march we shall be on the spot, and can get to work." "What are you going to do, lad?" Max hesitated a moment. Should he keep the men ignorant of the nature of the enterprise until the hour for it had struck? It was hardly worth while--in forty-eight hours or so it would be all over. "To block the main line between Aix and Liege," he answered simply. "Phew! I think you mentioned wild-cat exploits the other day. What sort of cat exploit is this?" "It must be carefully planned beforehand." "Humph! Trains filled with troops passing every five minutes; the lines thick with guards. It'll want careful planning--and a trifle more. In fact, it'll need the devil's own luck. What say you, boys?" "No matter, Corp," cried Peck testily. "Give the lad his head. We ain't particular, so long as it's a fust-class scrap." "It'll be all that," grunted Shaw. "Did we expect to git out of this show alive?" retorted Peck. "What's the odds? Let the lad 'ave his way--he's grubbed us well anyhow." The other men murmured an assent, and it was clear that most of the band were quite ready to follow Max in an attempt, however desperate, on the Germans' main line of communication. The Frenchmen were quite ready to agree to anything that would lead to another encounter with the enemy in company with their British comrades, and so Max was left in possession of the field and charged with full responsibility for the tremendous task before them. * * * * *