to be wakened by the noise of a particularly violent and prolonged barrage west of the Meuse. . . .

                Tuesday at noon mess the always unpleasant order came to "harness and hitch." Shortly after 2 P. M. the Regiment wound down the hill out of the woods and took the road towards Verdun. At Charny, a ruined town on the Meuse, the Regiment halted from six to nine for bread and coffee. For us of the firing battery at least, this marked the "end of a perfect day," and from now on imperfections, beginning with a cold rain, began to come into evidence.

                The park wagons and soup-gun remained behind at Charny, while the pieces and caissons of the First Battalion splashed on in the dark through Bras, Vacherauville, and Samogneux, turning to the right at last into the Ravin D'Haumont, "Death Valley." In spite of the darkness, it was impossible to mistake the evidences of a tremendous concentration of troops, mostly artillery:—it looked less and less like "peace by arbitration."

                About midnight the Battalion halted, A Battery being in the lead. At this point the road lay through a narrow defile formed by steep slopes on each side. On the right we could feel—for one could not see past the end of his nose—a steep bank some four feet high. Over this bank and somewhere up beyond lay the A Battery goal. Shovels were brought into action, and while the drivers unloaded their caissons beside the road, the cannoneers cut away enough of the bank to permit the passage of the guns.

                Then began the main event of the evening which was to be a nightmare in the memory of everyone

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FIRST VERDUN POSITION CLOSE VIEW OF TELEPHONE DETAIL QUARTERS IN OPEN SHELL HOLE WITH CANVAS TO KEEP OFF RAIN SHELL BURSTING IN THE AIR OVER HAUMONT

DEATH VALLEY. A BATTERY'S KITCHEN IN SHELL HOLE IN LEFT FOREGROUND DESTROYED VILLAGE OF HAUMONT LIES ON RIDGE IN THE DISTANCE

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