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"Look here, sir," one of the men spoke up, "we 're all in this together. There 's no use jawin'."

"That 's right," another added plaintively.

Captain Keighley leaned forward eagerly. "Now," he said—"nowyuh 're talkin'. If yuh 'd been all together from the first, we would n't be here, d' yuh see? I got to run my company my own way. An' when you try to interfere with me, here 's where we get."

Several of the men answered: "'T wasn't our fault." They looked at the lieutenant, who had dropped his head and was gazing, empty-eyed, at his feet.

"No," the captain said suavely; "that 's right, too. An' it was n't mine, either. I never had anything against you boys, an' never did anything against yuh."

No one spoke until one of the men asked weakly: "Can't yuh get us out, sir?"

"Yes," he said—"yes. If yuh live long enough, an' I do, I 'll get yuh all out—ev'ry man Jack of yuh that 's breathin'. An' I won't leave here myself until I do. We got to wait here until that fire burns down, that 's all."

The young German had begun to sob. Lieutenant Moore opened his parched lips to speak, but his tongue, swollen and dry, like a piece of flannel in his mouth, was too thick to turn a word.