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. I............