It is a mark of distinction not given freely, and Number Eight is eager for more honors.
But the men have not forgotten a similar case, occurring on the voyage down the coast, when another cartridge failed, and on being extracted from the breech chamber, exploded, killing a marine corporal and wounding others.
The men of Number Eight have not forgotten that tragedy, and that is why their gun is now to them a menacing creature of steel, whose breath may be the breath of death.

They stand in groups, they eye it, they speculate, and they feel that a desperate and perilous duty is before them.
The risk must be taken.

The cartridge must be extracted.

It is a fortune of war which all who enlist must expect.

But it is one thing to fall before an enemy's blow, and another to lose your life at the stroke of your own weapon.
The officer of the division steps forward.
"We will see if we can't take it out without much danger," he says, briefly.