eavy iron balls rolling over the ground; at
other times, the discharges were quite near and rent the air with a
crash, bursting over the men's very heads, as it were.

The commander of the squad stood right in front of his men and kept
lighting cigarettes shielding them with the skirts of his cloak. He
did it so often that it seemed as if he had been vainly attempting to
light the same cigarette for the last three hours. The soldiers were
attentively looking at his back and were all morbidly anxious to help
him. It was cold and damp, and they felt an incessant, nauseating
gnawing in the pit of the stomach. It was not fear but an indefinite
anguish, a sort of _the-sooner-over-the-better_ feeling.

Several hours passed in this manner, but towards noon it all changed
abruptly. Though the sky was still as grey as before and it drizzled
continuously, it grew lighter, the clouds in one spot became white and
shining and one felt that the sun was somewhere behind them. But
amidst this cold white light a disquieting feeling pervaded the
atmosphere and the gnawing anxiety was turning into unbearable agony.
Suddenly, an aide-de-camp dashed past on a horse, covered with froth
and fuzzy with dampness. Officers began to scurry back and forth;
sharp commands were heard; and the bugles resounded.

"Well, comrades!" ... said some one in the ranks in a high, false tone
of voice. Every one heard this exclamation and understood it, but no
one turned around to see where it came from. The grey mass of people
suddenly stirred, gave a sigh, surged like the sea whipped by a gale,
and, sinking at each step into the mud, the entire regiment rolled
forward, over the expanse of the shoreless fields which now suddenly
looked strange and dreadful. The soldiers, their faces haggard and
queer, were crossing themselves as they ran. They marched in disorder,
and when they were stopped on the hill-crest, they turned the
regiment into a confused mob of breathless and perplexed men. Some
even forgot to lower their rifles.

Before them the hazy network of rain was still hanging and the
distances stretched, strange and hostile. But now the fields were
astir with flickering pale flames and a ceaseless scattered cracking
of guns. In the grey sky a small black dot was discernible, seemingly
motionless, but changing in size. When it grew larger, a faint buzzing
was heard from above and made the soldiers turn their grey, ghastly
faces upward.... Then a mighty