The shells whistled angrily and fell thick and fast on the city. They seemed to say: "Ah! you wish to sleep—but just try it." At the end of a few seconds I slept profoundly——
What good sleep, what a deep sleep, during which Death itself would come without one knowing it——
I had, nevertheless, the vague sensation of having been shaken and left dizzy by an explosion that prevented my making a movement. I finished by opening my eyes. The room was yet filled with dust and smoke; the window frame and part of the wall were thrown on the quilt! It was with difficulty that I could extricate myself and I shouted:
"Habert! Habert!"
Not a reply——
Immediately I imagined that the poor boy had been killed. My clothes had been scattered around the room and I descended the stairs four at a time without taking the time to even put on my trousers——
"Habert! Habert!"
He wasn't in the dining-room, nor in the kitchen where there were some broken glasses——
I opened the cellar door. The rascal was behind it with a bottle of my prune brandy in one hand and a little glass in the other——