"To-morrow—perhaps the day after."
"Where are you going?"
"We're not sure—either Verdun or Maubeuge."
"Well, the best of luck!"
"Thanks so much.... Good-bye!"
Good luck!... I hope so!... It is a sort of lasting farewell they bid us, out of the fullness of their hearts, before we start for the Great Unknown.
Wednesday, August 5
War has been declared since the 3rd, and fighting is in progress all along the frontier.
Serious losses have already been reported. Eleven thousand French and eighteen thousand Germans are said to have fallen in the opening engagements. Whether these figures mean killed or injured I do not know.
The news, true or false, damped our spirits for a few moments. But our extraordinary indifference soon gained the upper hand. Besides, has there ever been a more favourable occasion for revenge—for the Revanche—than this.