were like a child's scribbling on a
slate, if the occasional glow of a brazier had not told Dennis that
those trenches were full of men, all waiting to repulse the great Allied
push.

He was happier now that the night was at hand, for it lessened his
chances of being recognised; but most of all was he pleased that no one
seemed to bother his head about him--no one entered into conversation.

For all that his condition was one of cramped discomfort, apart from its
peril. The tightly packed mass of human beings smelt offensively, for
the German, even in peace time, is a dirty animal, not fond of washing
himself.

The train moved so slowly--it was one of half a dozen similar trains all
using a single line--that he seriously contemplated trying to escape
when it should become quite dark, only the obvious presence of large
bodies of troops in every direction made him abandon the idea.

He was conscious that a feeling of sullen discontent was present in the
battalion.

"'Tis a blessing we're not going to Verdun, or to Hindenburg's command,"
said one of his neighbours in a low voice. "I myself have been spirited
three times to Poland and back, until the very sight of a troop train
gives me a feeling of sickness."

"And I can go one better than that," grunted another voice. "I have been
wounded five times, and they've patched me up and sent me back again,
and my wife has died since I have been at the front. I am waiting for my
sixth wound, and I hope it will find the heart."

Dennis gathered from such and other scraps of conversation all around
him that the little British cavalry dash had been witnessed from the
trench they had just left, and that the spirits of the battalion had not
been improved by the sight. They obeyed their orders like sheep, but
they were sheep that had gone astray, and their confidence in their
leaders' powers to lead them back into the path of victory was growing
less every day.

Stopping every now and then, and waiting sometimes a quarter of an hour
at a stretch, the train took a terrible time to reach the vicinity of
Peronne, although the distance was little more than ten miles, and
Dennis found it difficult to keep his patience under control; but at
last glimmering lights showed in the distance, lights that were
reflected in wavy lines on the marshes that surrounded the town, and
speculation became rife in the truck.

"I wonder if they will put us in the barracks, or shall we go into
bill