"Shall—shall we fight in the morning?"
"I don't know. Nobody knows!" answered Fracasse. "We wait on orders, ready to do our duty. There may be no war. Don't let me hear another peep from you!"
Now all closed their eyes. In front of them was vast silence which seemed to stretch from end to end of the frontier, while to the rear was the rumble of switching railway trains and the rumble of provision trains and artillery on the roads, and in the distance on the plain the headlight of a locomotive cut a swath in the black night. But the breathing of most of the men was not that of slumber, though Eugene and Pilzer slept soundly. Hours passed. Occasional restless movements told of efforts to force sleep by changing position.
"It's the waiting that's sickening!" exploded the manufacturer's son under his breath, desperately.
"So I say. I'd like to be at it and done with the suspense!" said the doctor's son.
"They say if you are shot through the head you don't know what killed you, it's so quick. Think of that!" exclaimed Peterkin, huddling closer to Hugo and shivering.
"Yes, very merciful," Hugo whispered, patting Peterkin's arm.
"Sh-h-h! Silence, I tell you!" commanded Fracasse crossly. He was falling into a half doze at last.