we reached the river which i afterwards discovered was the loison. there was no difficulty there. some foot-bridges had been erected, which bent beneath our weight till they touched the water.

on the other bank we were greeted by some engineers.

"we've been working the water-wheel for you foot-sloggers! isn't that worth a drink?"

we replied:

"in berlin!"

the torrent of shells still continued, but passed over our heads. our field-guns retorted, but only feebly, as we were well aware.

we began to clamber up the other side of the valley. more corpses! on our right we could see the smoking ruins of a village. but our morale had much improved, for we had just crossed the water-bed where the enemy's efforts had spent themselves in vain for three whole days.

pffmm...! pffmm...! we looked up.

"pills?"

bullets. yes! an unpleasant sensation.

in the fields on a line with us, we caught sight of isolated soldiers (rotters—the lost lot), lying down[pg 217] or cowering on the ground, others dragging themselves along on their knees, or limping along. where the deuce was the enemy? perhaps at the edge of that wood about twelve hundred yards away, but invisible, needless to say.

a bank skirted a cross-road running along the side of the hill. we went towards it. cover! everyone felt the need of a real halt. the wish was fulfilled. we formed into sections.

guillaumin greeted me with:

"any of you hit? i was very much afraid so, for a minute!"

"a man named blanchet," i said; "a splinter in the stomach!"

"poor devil! two kids, i believe!"

"and what about your lot?"

"nobody. not like the first. a shell made an awful mess of them."

"frémont?"

"he wasn't touched, luckily."

breton, the quartermaster-sergeant, joined us.

"halloa, you chaps, going strong?"

we answered cordially:

"not so bad for a start."

"we've done jolly well!" he said with na?ve delight.

the captain came up accompanied by two subalterns. some of the men began to get up.

"stay as you are. it's not worth getting you fired at!"

"and what about you, sir!" lamalou remarked.

"oh, i'm taboo!"

the other gazed at him. the captain repeated:

"they can't do me any harm to-day!"

[pg 218]

he smiled, his moustache bristling slyly. then, turning to one of his companions:

"pleased with your n.c.o.'s, henriot?"

"very much pleased, sir! dreher and guillaumin especially have done remarkably well!..."

"i was sure of it."

they went off. guillaumin whispered:

"all over us, isn't he?"

he was joking, but i felt that he was touched and proud, dear chap that he was.

this rest did us both harm and good. good, because we recovered from our exhaustion. we had a drink and a bite. harm, because we softened and no one wanted to go on again.

an intermittent firing went on. pffmm...! a bullet!... another!... and another!... judsi pretended to catch them.

we heard that a man had just been killed in ravelli's platoon, a bullet through his head. confound it! we bent down. it was oppressively hot.

then the artillery started off again. the order was passed along to lie down and protect our heads with our packs. the cartridge-pouches caused us agony. we stayed like that for nearly three-quarters of an hour. the men grew restless, and would rather have done a bolt, even forwards. i was the only one, i believe, to prefer the fatigue and less risk.

henriot came to warn us to be ready.

we were. some of the men readjusted their belts and straps.

a company on our right, the 23rd, was starting. bouguet, who was watching it, exclaimed:

"lawks. they're going down like ninepins!"

[pg 219]

guillaumin gave me a short lecture. all the theories they had taught us at the "peloton" were out of date, all the supposed lessons of the russo-japanese war! the movements now must be carried out in established formations, sections for preference. the advantage of it was that the men felt they had support. yes, but what a target they offered for the machine-guns in ambush.

whom should i see appearing at my side but de valpic, who crawled up.

"i wanted to come and wish you good luck," he said simply.

"very nice of you!"

lifting up my water-bottle, i said:

"have a drink?"

"no thanks, frémont gave me some water."

i was surprised. i had thought that that was the errand he had come on. but i was mistaken. he went away again. it was a purely friendly proceeding.

the order to start was delayed. even i began to get impatient. guillaumin, who had gone off, reappeared and confided in me that there had been great excitement.

the captain had just discovered descroix tearing off his stripes.

"what an idea!"

"on the pretext that n.c.o.'s are marked particularly."

"well?"

"it turned out badly. the captain called him ... a coward. he defended himself and contended that there was no need for him to get himself killed for nothing!"

[pg 220]

"no one is ever killed for nothing!" the other answered. "and as to your stripes, if you daren't wear them, i'll relieve you of them!"

"the captain's a fool!" i said.

"do you think so?"

"certainly! it's probably true that the bosches mark the n.c.o.'s."

goodness knows i held no brief for descroix, but guillaumin disgusted me then with his little heroic sniffs.

i had decided to use my pack as a shield. i told him.

"pooh! do you think that's any good?"

i implored him to follow my example. it was sufficient protection against grape-shot. he ended by allowing himself to be convinced, and gave the same advice to the men who for the most part did not follow it.

henriot, on his knees, was watching for the signal and giving us endless pieces of advice in an under-tone.

"you'll all start at once. keep your eyes fixed on me, see? at the double. is that clear? and as for firing, be careful about that. be sure to wait for the order to fire!"

"talk away," muttered lamalou; "think we're going to wait for your bally permission when we get a sight of the bosches?"

the whistle was blown.

"advance!" shouted the subaltern.