Jimmie Higgins eBook   The orders had been to hold at all
hazards; but that had not been enough for the doughboys, they
and the leather-necks had seized the offensive and sent the
Germans reeling back.  The very pride of the Prussian army had
been worsted by these new troops from overseas, at whom they had
mocked, whose very existence they had scouted.  It was a blow
from which “Fritz” never recovered; he never gained another
foot, and it was the beginning of a retreat that did not stop
until it reached the Rhine.  And the Yanks had done it—­the
Yanks, with the help of Jimmie Higgins!  For Jimmie had got
there first; Jimmie had held the fort while the Yanks were
coming!  Yes, truly; if he hadn’t stuck by that machine-gun and
helped to work it, if he hadn’t hid in that shell-hole, emptying
the contents of a rifle and an automatic pistol into the
charging Huns, if he hadn’t held them up that precious
hour—­why, they might have swept over this position, and the
Yanks might not have had a chance to deploy, and th