There was little or no rest for the men in the trenches on either side.  Out would rush the Germans from their trenches in a grand attack upon the trenches of the French.  Hand-to-hand fighting would ensue.  Perhaps the Germans would be driven back.  If they were they would make a new effort an hour or so later.

Perhaps the French would give way and the Germans would occupy the trenches.  A short time later the French would re-form under the very rifles of the enemy, and, by a grand charge, oust the Germans from their newly won positions.  Then came the work of concentrating and fortifying the trenches all over again.

It was terrible work, these days before Verdun.

Hal and Chester played no small part in the advance of the French army.  More than once they were despatched upon important missions; and their fortune had been of the best.  Not once had they failed to accomplish a piece of work entrusted to them.  General Petain began to look upon them as among his best men.  Many a piece of work that, a month before, he would have entrusted to an older head now fell to the lot of either Hal or Chester; and the boys did not complain.  In fact, the more they had to do the better they liked it.

Nor, for the matter of that, was there complaint from any of the men in the French army, officers or men.  They stood to their work bravely and never flinched under fire.  Nor did they protest when they were forced to go for long hours without sleep, other than that they could catch between the battles that raged almost incessantly and seemed to be nothing less than one continuous struggle.

Now came the day when the Germans had been pushed far east of the Meuse.  For the moment the French, flushed with victory, paused for a breathing spell.  It had been work well done, in the days that had just passed, and men and officers alike realized it.  Preparing their lines against attacks, under the command of General Petain, the French paused for breath.

The German Crown Prince, realizing the cause of this lull by the French, thought to take advantage of the foe, and launched assault after assault; but, tired out as the French were, there was still energy and courage enough among them to resist successfully the fierce charges of the foe.

And after awhile the Crown Prince gave up these attacks, realizing that he could not hope, at that moment, to penetrate the French positions, and, for once, doing away with the needless sacrifice of men.

Upon an afternoon when the battle of Verdun was a little more than three months old, Hal and Chester were summoned to the quarters of General Petain.  They went eagerly, for they realized that there was important work ahead.

“Boys,” said General Petain, for thus he had come to address them when alone, after the official salutes had been returned, “I have here a piece of work, that, because of the danger attached, I hesitate to select a man, or men, to perform.”