"Poor devil!" said he, shrugging his shoulders.
A little moved myself, I echoed:
"Yes, poor devil!"
But the wheel-driver, who had left a wife and children behind him, and was wondering how they fared, turned in his saddle:
"Dirty pig!" he growled.
This morning the battle started early and with unusual violence on a front which appeared to stretch from east to west. As far as one could see the sky was fleecy with shell smoke.
"There!... And they said the Germans were going—were entraining! Do you see them over there?... Brutes!"
"Yes. They were detraining!"
The men bitterly cursed their erstwhile credulity. Nevertheless I knew that this evening they would be ready to believe the news that the Russians had reached Berlin, provided that it was sufficiently vigorously affirmed.