“Now, put it there, alongside my mattress, and go to bed.”
The men went out, shaking their heads with amazement. I remained alone
with Lamailleux and lay down on the sheets. War had already taught me
to live and to sleep in the company of the dead, and I was surprised
that I had not, from the first, thought of so natural a solution.
For a long time, in the light of a candle, I looked at the frightful
heap which was my night companion. There was no smell yet. I blew out
the candle and could think at leisure.
From the stretcher there fell softly every second a drop of something
which must have been blood. For a long time I counted the drops,
thinking of many things that were as mournful as the epoch I lived in.
Loud whistles pierced the blackness, and I had already counted several
hundreds of the drops when I fell into a sleep that was like that of my
comrade--undisturbed by dreams.