He was wanted by Henriot, and crawled away. It was the only mode of progression permitted. I was not sorry he had gone. I should have found nothing to say to him. The prospect of a bayonet charge obviously inflamed and excited him, just like that savage Lamalou who was boasting that he would skewer, how many?—one, two, three—who would have a bet on it?
As for me, I admit that I dreaded those two hundred yards across that no-man's-land (the last rush for how many of us!), and what followed, still more the hand-to-hand fight with the bayonet, the horrible butchery, the atrocious phase of the fighting for which no one prepares, for no one would face it in cold blood.
We had to wait for orders, for a long time, crouching behind the earthworks with our rifles in our hands.
It had got quite light.
All at once, exclamations were heard.
We looked round.
A hussar was galloping across the fields behind us.
"'E's arskin' ter be napoo'd!" Judsi exclaimed.
What a target indeed! How could the enemy help having a shot!
The horseman raced along the line, and disappeared. Not a single shot had been fired by the Bosches. A few minutes of trying suspense passed. Then a rumour ran along the line. Some of the men showed signs of getting up.