I sat down beside him and asked him in a friendly way whether he was not awfully tired?
"I look it, don't I?"
"Oh! Just like everyone else!"
The whistle blew! I left him.
"Cheer up!"
But at the next pause I avoided looking in his direction. There was only enough water for me.
A few more miles. The men were grumbling quite openly now. From time to time one would fall out, and all at once, or little by little lose ground, and get left behind by the platoon. What was there to be said? I interfered no more. These fellows had not had a bite since five o'clock that morning.
Were we to leave these stragglers their rifles, or not?
The subaltern said they were to be taken away.
The result was that those who remained threatened to give up in their turn. Two rifles to drag about, not much! They were quite willing to do their bit, but they were not going to be put upon, not them!