ume the
hard life of cavalrymen on active service, spend all their time
looking after their horses, fetching rations and forage, often from a
considerable distance, cleaning harness and arms, and every night
contriving some sort of quarters for themselves and their beasts in
the squalor of half-destroyed or abandoned villages, quarters they
must leave on the morrow. Yet nothing seems to depress them. They
preserve all the eagerness of the first few days and that imperishable
French gaiety which is an additional weapon for our troops.

That evening I felt them vibrating in unison with me more keenly than
ever.

There was little doubt that I should have to appeal to their courage
again presently, for something unusual was happening in front of us.
It was maddening not to be able to pierce the luminous mist, behind
which the enemy would be able to form up and take new positions
without our knowledge. Down behind the line of willows we could now
barely distinguish, we were aware of mysterious sounds, making a kind
of distant murmur. They must come from the rattle of arms, orders
given in whispers, footsteps slipping on the fat soil of plough-lands.
Listening heads craned over our parapets. Each man was trying to hear,
to understand, to see, and to divine, and each felt intuitively that
the enemy was about to renew his assault. The most absolute silence
and the most impressive calm reigned in our trenches. Yes, we were
ready for them! Let them come!

Then suddenly from the enemy's camp there rose a solemn, harmonious
hymn sung by hundreds of manly voices. We could not distinguish the
words uttered in the barbarian tongue. But the music was perfectly
audible, and I must confess that nothing caused me so much surprise
throughout this eventful evening. With what ardour and unanimity, and
also, I am bound to admit, with what art, these men proclaimed their
faith before rushing on death! One could imagine no more magnificent
temple for the prayers of soldiers about to offer up their lives than
the spacious firmament above and the luminous night around. We
listened, touched and delighted. The hymn continued for some time, and
the music seemed to me noble and inspiring; the voices were true and
the execution admirable. But, above all, the singing conveyed a
disturbing impression of disciplined and ordered piety. To what
lengths these men carry their love of command and obedience!

Suddenly the hymn broke off abruptly in a form