He had had
both his lips torn away, and appeared to be always laughing. "Stuff it
into us as if we were horses at a fair. That will make us run forward,
right enough."
"Oh, come," struck in a youngster who was lying perfectly flat, face
downwards on his bed: it was the position in which he could breathe
easiest. He raised his head a couple of inches and twisted it round so
as to get his mouth free. "It isn't as bad as all that. Why, the Thirty-
third swarmed into Fort Malmaison of their own accord, though 'twas like
jumping into a boiling furnace, and held it for three days against pretty
nearly a division. There weren't a dozen of them left when we relieved
them. They had no ammunition left. They'd just been filling up the gaps
with their bodies. And they wouldn't go back even then. We had to drag
them away. 'They shan't pass,' 'They shan't pass!'--that's all they kept
saying." His voice had sunk to a thin whisper.
A young officer was lying in a corner behind a screen. He leant forward
and pushed it aside.
"Oh, give the devil his due, you fellows," he said.
Pages:
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438