[Sidenote: Shifting the gun's position.]
Perhaps the most exciting incident, and at the same time the one that
sent more terror to our hearts than any other, occurred late one
afternoon. It was foggy, though fog always hung over our battery--in
fact, the climate of the front that has been assigned to our troops is
notorious for its winter fogginess. Orders had been sent out to shift
the position of our gun, and as the afternoon wore away--and the thick
smoke-like pall that hung over us made it impossible to recognize the
fellow standing next to you when he was half a dozen feet away--it was
decided that there was no use to wait till night, but that we could
shift the gun at once.
[Sidenote: A German aeroplane right overhead.]
All the crowd started to work, the new gun pit was ready, and the signal
station was all moved. It was just as we got the gun into the position
and were straightening it into position that a faint breeze came
stealing down from the mountains. In a minute the breeze was stronger,
and we could see a hundred yards away. In another minute we could see
three times that distance, and at the end of the third minute we could
see clear up into the heavens--and there was a German plane flying
straight for us.
Did you ever stand waiting for death? I suppose not--but that was what
happened to our gun crews. The plane swooped low and seemed to hang
right over us. We waited, hardly daring to breathe. I saw the
perspiration running from one fellow's face, and guess it was running
down mine.
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