"Excuse me, sir, but I wanted to see by the fuse how far off the enemy's guns are. It's two miles and fifty yards. That may be worth knowing."
"By Jove! And suppose it had gone off?"
"Ah, well, sir, nothing venture, nothing have!"
"True, but, all the same, it was a bit thick! What's your name?"
"Paul Delroze, sir, corporal in the third company."
"Well, Corporal Delroze, I congratulate you on your pluck and I dare say you'll soon have your sergeant's stripes. Meanwhile, take my advice and don't do it again. . . ."
He was interrupted by the sudden bursting of a shrapnel-shell. One of the dispatch-riders standing near him fell, hit in the chest, and an officer staggered under the weight of the earth that spattered against him.
"Come," said the colonel, when things had restored themselves, "there's nothing to do but bow before the storm. Take the best shelter you can find; and let's wait."
Paul Delroze stepped forward once more.
"Forgive me, sir, for interfering in what's not my business; but we might, I think, avoid . . ."