This was to be a change. The night before the attack was a nervous one. Yet those not on duty managed to get some sleep. For many it would be their last. Then came the general awakening, and the moving of the men along the trenches to the posts assigned to them. Each squad of men was in charge of an officer, commissioned or noncommissioned, and in Jerry's squad were Ned and Bob. "Go over the top with a rush when you get the signal, which will be three whistles after the barrage has ceased," were the instructions, and Ned, Bob, and Jerry, with their comrades, prepared to do this. There was a period of tense waiting and then, with a suddenness that shook their nerves and bodies, as well as the whole earth about them, the big guns opened fire. That the Germans were taken by surprise was evident by the failure to answer. For perhaps five minutes it seemed as though a thousand of the most terrific of thunder storms had been condensed into one. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the firing ceased. The "zero hour" had arrived. Three shrill whistles, repeated from many points, sounded on the now silent but quivering air. Not a German gun had yet awakened. "Over the top!" came the cry, and the friends, with thousands of other brave lads, scrambled up the ladders from the trenches and started toward the German lines. CHAPTER XVII "FRIED HOLES" Ned, Bob, and Jerry were stationed in a sector which was alternately defending the lines against the Germans and attacking them in that part of the country where the trend of the war eventually led up to the terrific battles of St. Mihiel and the Argonne Forest. But, up to this time, no one had guessed that the whole nature of the war would be so quickly changed with the advent of the Americans, nor was it suspected what terrible fighting would have to be undertaken by our boys; though, of course, they were ready for the worst. So that the battle in which the Motor Boys and their comrades were now about to engage was merely what was termed a local engagement. Nevertheless, it meant everything--life and death--to those engaged in it, though there was never a thought of death in the hearts of any of the brave men who went over the top as the big guns ceased thundering and the shrill whistles gave the signal. "Come on, boys!" yelled Jerry, as he led Bob and Ned forward, followed by the others in the particular squad of which Jerry had charge. "Come on!" "Yi! Yi! Yip!" screamed a young giant from the South, as he leaped ahead of some of his chums to the side of Jerry. "Show the Fritzies how we fight!" And together he and Jerry rushed on, followed by Ned and Bob--a quartette acting as one man. It was the first really big battle in which the Cresville chums had taken part. They had been out on skirmish work and on night 

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