IMAGINATIVE EXPRESSIONS, VERDUN.
March, 1916.
The sector is being frightfully bombarded and all one can do is to wait for the attack——
"Good morning, mon petit, is it going?——"
"Yes, lieutenant, it's bad in the aquarium—has been that way all morning. I've changed my sex three times since you saw me a short while ago——"
Ravin des Fontaines (Verdun) during bombardment.
MY ORDERLY HABERT, VERDUN.
March, 1916.
I have just returned from Verdun, worn out by fatigue, at the beginning of the afternoon, with the idea of getting a few hours sleep in the silent and empty house of Monsieur Louis. Habert, alone, had not left it. I had taken him as an orderly for the reason he was the father of five children. Besides, he is not a warrior and it is plainly uncomfortable for him to wait on us when the shells break around Rue sur-l'eau.[26]
I am dying with envy to get into bed. I climb the stairs to the first floor where the bed is made. Habert has found a pretext not to accompany me——