"Ah.... Ah.... Ah!..."
Our battery remained intact. The refilling wagon was still galloping
away in the distance. One of the numbers of the adjoining battery had
fallen forward in his death agony, and his forehead, pierced by a shell
splinter, was bathing the bottoms of the cartridge-cases with blood.
Hutin, still sitting on the layer's seat, suddenly cried out:
"Why, I can see the swine firing! I can see them ... long way off ...
down there, about ten thousand yards ... I saw the flash.... It's
coming ... it's coming ... look out!..."
Sure enough, we were shaken by fresh explosions. I shut my eyes
instinctively and felt my face lashed by the cast-up earth, but I was
not touched. The bottom of one of the cartridge-cases hummed loud and
long, and once again the battery was smothered in smoke. I heard the
clear voice of the Captain as he shouted to the senior N.C.O.:
"Daumain, get everybody under cover on the right! Major's orders. No
use getting killed as long as we aren't firing."
We called each other, got clear of the smoke and hurried out of the
line of fire of the Howitzers. But the enemy's shells pursued us over
the field as we ran, crouching down, in scattered order.
A projectile, the flash of which blinded me for a moment, knocked
down a sergeant of the 12th Battery, who was running by my side. The
man picked himself up immediately. Just above his eyes a couple of
splinters had drilled two horribly symmetrical red holes. He made off,
bending his head so that the blood should not run into his eyes. I
offered to help him, but he said:
"No, leave me.... Run! It's nothing, this ... skull isn't smashed to
bits!"
We took cover behind some large hayricks and waited for orders.
The roll was called:
"Eleventh?"
"Eleventh!"
"Hutin?"
"Here!"
"Not wounded?"
"No, and you?"
"No."
The four detachments were complete.
"And the Captain?"
"Still down there at the observation-post. Look ... you can see his
elbow sticking out behind that tree. He's all right!"
Two more volleys of shell burst close to our guns, which still appeared
to have escaped damage.
How long the night seemed in coming! How we cursed the sun which, its
blood-red disk almost touching the horizon, seemed as though it would
never sink down behind the mangel-wurzel field! It looked absolutely
motionless, stationary.
Hutin swore and shook his fist at the crimson sphere.
The Captain signalled for us to come up.