of men had been chosen to take care of the guns, which were first taken down the hill, half of the force accompanying them in the march toward Tondres, Ralph and the six wounded men being carried along on the caissons. Alfred was with Roland, under command of the Captain.

This was an opportunity that he had long awaited, as military operations in the night were fascinating to him. Ralph bitterly regretted his inability to be with them, but the loss of blood had weakened him, and it was not prudent to permit him to walk.

Promptly at twelve that night the corporal made his rounds, and quietly gathered in the picket patrols, which silently followed the two companies that had been left behind, the retreat being effected without the knowledge of the Germans. At two in the morning Alfred saw that they109 came up with the halted division, which had reached the railroad south of Tongres.

109

After a half hour's rest the entire force moved on, and as daylight began to appear the command was halted, and it was not long before many of the men had found comfortable places and were sleeping soundly.

Alfred was too fatigued to care where he slept. Ralph, on the other hand, was able to only after he became accustomed to the rolling motion of the heavy ordnance wagon.

At six o'clock he was up, and looking around was gratified to see Roland, who greeted the boy with the greatest enthusiasm.

"Are you looking for Alfred?" the latter inquired.

"Yes, do you know where he is?" asked Ralph.

"Poor fellow, he is almost dead with fatigue. You will find him on the straw to the left."

Ralph was over in an instant, and there was Alfred, lying on his side, sleeping as peacefully as though dead.

What he now noticed for the first time was the condition of Alfred's clothing. There was not a clean thread on the boy. The trousers had holes in the knees, the shoes were badly jagged, and the toes worn through. It would have been hard to recognize the hat, as it had no semblance of its former shape.

After gazing awhile he thought of his own clothing. It was no better, although strange that he had never noticed its dilapidated condition before.110 He remembered how they had to crawl 

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