three o'clock in the afternoon
The telephone apparatus was fastened to a tree and Tom heard the words of the speaker as he tried to get into communication with the village which lay back across that shell-torn , trench-crossed area which they had traversed . At last he heard those thrilling words which carried much farther than the length of the sinuous wire : `` Hello , this is Cantigny . '' And he knew that whatever yet remained to be done , the first real offensive operation of the Americans was successful and he was proud to feel that he had played his little part in it . He was given leave until three o'clock in the afternoon and , leaving _ Uncle Sam _ at the little makeshift headquarters , he went about the town for a sight of the `` clean-up . '' Farther back in the woods he could still hear the shooting where the Americans were searching out machine gun nests and the boom of artillery continued , but although an occasional shell fell in the town , the place was quiet and even peaceful by comparison with the bloody clamor of an hour before . It seemed strange that he , Tom Slade , should be strolling about this quaint , war-scarred village , which but a little while before had belonged to the Germans . Here and there in the streets he met sentinels and occasionally an airplane sailed overhead .