AS SEEN IN FRANCE
Two French soldiers took their places in the trenches—the one middle-aged, who had long since received his baptism of fire, the other a mere youth, whose chattering teeth and blanched face proved it was his first experience of real war.
The older soldier tried to reassure his frightened companion. “Be brave, my lad; remember you fight for France.”
A shell screeched through the air close overhead, and the young man’s terror increased.
More soothing words, but more shells, and the upset nerves still on edge. An hour passed, punctuated by many kindly encouragements, but the new soldier’s fear had not abated.
The patience of the other was at last exhausted.
“Why do you shiver and shake like that, you vain young fool?” said he. “You don’t suppose the Germans are firing all these expensive shells at you, do you? You are not a cathedral or a work of art!”