The Great Push

e the

joined

d in D

y night th

ld their

'm out in

like wheat

ath and not

olding c

ing line. In the near distance was the village of Bully-Grenay, roofless and tenantless, and further off was Philosophé, the hamlet with its dark-blue slag-heap bulking large against the horizon. Souchez in the hills was as usual active; a heavy artillery engagement was in progre

the roof.... My mind was suddenly permeated by a feeling of proximity to the enemy. He whom we were going to attack at dawn seemed to be very close to me. I could almost feel his presence in the room. At dawn I might deprive him of life and he might deprive me of mine. Two beings giv

ide as a second reverberation shook the house. "It doesn't ma

bottle as we

ll of a do to-mor

ed. "The officer said that our

said

t the street an

e," I remarked. "He's s

ke you

your

soft blue dr

t voice," I said. "Has

from the shadows of the room answered, "Oh, yes! He'

now and Bill is edging up to her as quietly as i

t girl in short petticoats and stout sabots. Her eyes were a[53] deep black, her teeth very white. She was a c

er falling from the pump; then he nudged the girl in the hip wi

but otherwise made no attemp

lf!" said Bill, and b

etty little gi

re at

s th

. The maiden did not relish this familiarity. Stooping down she placed her hand in the pail, raised a handful of water and

deep in a pre-arranged conversation. "They have a grace of their own and a coynes

Teake, sitting d

ut the French girls," said

Bill in a col

bug about the

l. "They can make a joke and take

may resent advances in the street, and show

es Brebis pumps is ve

n the darkness, but we could a

r?" he asked with studied indiffer

yor in a repentant voice. "We're all

l. "It's very comfy to '

an a kiss even

al entered. For a moment he stood there without speaking,

?" said Pryor i

the corporal. "I thought that we were

ng a decision arrived at a few hours previ

way, and the light, if uncovered, might be seen by the enemy. I glanced down the street and saw boys in khaki strolling aimlessly about, their cigarettes g

ed nervously, betraying doubt and a little fear of the work ahead at dawn. Under his arm he carried a bottle of champagne[56] which he placed on the floor beside the candle. Sighing a lit

ral, a sign that he was under the strain of great nervous tension. Felan looked very much at ease, though now and again he fumbled with the pockets of his tunic, buttoning and unbuttoning the fla

awg!" said Bill, glancing at Felan

wish I w

d'yer

cook bully-beef when his regiment goes

k him solemnly by the ha

5

esses?" asked Kore. "It's

g it we reconciled ourselves to a dread inevitable; the writing of these addresses seemed to be the

e bottle was handed round, and each of us, except the corporal, drank

me strength. "If I'm killed write to —— and

's always best to tell them at home that death was sudd

pau

thing one can d

ut what the devil does it matter! I've nobody to write to, nobody that cares a

5

write to for you

e, puckered his lips, and became thoughtful. I

id, matey

wered in a th

to die once, any

asked Bill. "But I s'pose if a man 'ad nine l

pose," s

t can't be 'elped.... I'm not goin' to give any addre

evening with the recklessness of men going out to die. Teake handed round a fresh bottle of champagne and I gulped down a mighty mouthful. My shadow, flung by the candle on the white wall, was a grotesque[59] caricature, my nose stretched out like a beak, and a monstrous bottle was tilted on demoniac lips. Pr

is the easier event of the two. We have no remembrance of birth and will carry no remembrance of deat

t was 'e in?

for some eightee

bli

o issues short rum rations dies on the field of honour (don't drink all the champagne, Bill) we'll talk of him when he's gone as a damned good f

me names, Pat?"

om. His little potato of a nose assumed fantastic dimensions. The other occupants of the room diminished in bulk and receded into far distances. I tried to attract

d, speaking with diffic

up to now I had a vague distrust of my actions in the work ahead. My normal self revolted at the thought of the coming dawn; the experiences of my life had not prepared me

ising[61] the blind so that little

nging," he said. "My God! it does look fine." He arranged the blind again and sa

nd sing a song,

Felan, but by his way of speakin

come along!

een his fingers and thumb and put it out by rubbing the lighted e

will I sin

d thing,"

' and we'll all

closed his eyes, stuck the thumb of his right hand

the singer was one with us; now he gave himself up to the song, and the whole lonely romance of war, its pity and its pain, swept through the building and held us in its spell. Kore's mobile nostrils quivered. M'Crone shook as if with ague. We all l

what are you

call I'm

you if you

et's but fai

m home. Come h

'er the dead

e lyin

n to the

y can't

, coming across the floor, he

ttered huskily. "My voice has

us spoke, but we were aware that Fela

6

ice. "'Look not upon the wine when it is red,'" he quote

s on sticks; it would be more

ll, corporal," said M'Crone.

der his thighs. He had a blunt nose with wide nostrils, and his grey, contemplative eyes kept

't do without it now after keeping

regretfully at the last half-bottle. "There's nuffink

g back from that." "Wish we'd another bloomin' bottle of fizz." "S'pose our guns will not lift their range quick enough when we advance. We'll have any amount of[64]

peared at the top of the stairs, h

ed, with paternal solicitude. The s

risky," said Bill. "

spoke almost in a whisper, and somethi

to his lips and pa

us all!" he sa

y when you hear the whistle blown in the street. Have a smoke

ng his moustache with the back of

d in a blaze of colour, and a few rifles were snapping viciously out by Hohenzollern Redoubt, and a building on fire flared lurid against the eastern sky. Apart from that silence and suspense, the world waited breathlessly for some gr

hone wires had fallen down and lay in wait to trip unwary feet. Always the whispers were coming down the line: "M

was in a wonderful state of preservation. Just as we halted for a moment on the roadway the enemy sent a

shot," said Pry

ype="