"Pretty hot stuff these Turpin machines, what?"
We looked for a few seconds at the big well-built man with regular features, in the tightly fitting uniform trimmed with frogs. Some of the men who had come up formed a circle round us. Lamalou, without any hesitation, put his hand on the shoulder of the dead body....
I shall never forget the horror of it! The legs remained firmly fixed, but the upper half of the body fell apart, as if it had been a mannequin made in two pieces.
We bolted, but the poilus called to each other cheerily to come and have a look.
The halt continued; we extended the range of our walk as far as the quarter occupied by the other battalion. We came across friends at every other step, and greetings and hand clasps were more cordial than usual:
"No bad news, of your lot?"
And the reply was awaited with the curious mixture of curiosity and apprehension with which the list of victims is perused the day following a catastrophe.
We produced a painful effect each time. At the name of Frémont a look of sincere commiseration appeared on all the faces. Everyone loved him for his charm, and his good nature, this boy with the look of a girl and the memory of his romance secretly touched all their hearts.
The losses did not appear to be very serious; on the whole, our company was among those to have suffered most.
Someone announced that Denais, the big fellow in the 19th, had been killed right at the beginning by a splinter of shrapnel.