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Page 19
Our Sergeant approached. He was quite unafraid and had a rather bored
look on his face. Two men were walking beside him. One of them, a
Corporal, who a few hours before had complained that we were having no
excitement, was saying in a strained, halting voice, that he felt very
unwell, that he had hurt his knee, and would like to go back to camp.
The other, a small, broad-shouldered, full-chested, squat individual,
with a flat nose and a brutal face--the champion light-weight boxer of
our unit--implored the Sergeant in whining tones to let him go home. The
Sergeant, however, told him to shut up and go on with his work.
Gradually the firing became less and less frequent, until finally it
died down altogether. Soon the big yellow disc of the moon rose above
the tree-tops and all was silent except for the croaking of the frogs.
We finished emptying the trucks and then sat down inside them. The
engine came along, rattling and puffing. It was coupled to the train,
and the return journey began.
The landscape was plainly visible in the light of the rising moon.
Shell-holes, torn trees, and ruined houses decreased in number. We
passed a straw-thatched cottage nestling amid a group of bushes and
poplars. A light shone from the window, a dog barked. A bat flitted
silently past. It seemed as though the uproar of the cannonade had been
a dream.
The engine stopped at the siding. We jumped out of the trucks and
retired into our tents. Not a word was spoken by anyone.
The following day we again received orders to proceed to the terminal
siding by the light railway.
In the morning our champion boxer had reported sick in anticipation. He
looked convincingly pale and complained of the usual "pains all over."
The Medical Officer gave him "light duty" and he spent the day in camp,
picking up matches, bits of paper, and miscellaneous rubbish.
It seemed strange that the ruined houses, the belt of poplars, the
damaged farm, and the wood with the white ch�teau were still standing
there so peacefully after the bombardment of the previous night. The
frogs, charming creatures, were still croaking merrily.
When we had unloaded the trucks we sat down in the grass and awaited the
return of the engine.
The trees were dim in the warm haze. I gazed at the white ch�teau. It
fascinated me, for some inexplicable reason, and I felt an impulse to go
and explore it. I was seized by a mood such as I had rarely felt since
childhood, when almost every lonely and desolate building filled me with
a sense of awe and mystery, as though it were the home of ghosts or
fairies or witches. I was conscious of the absurdity of the emotion, but
I surrendered to it and even enjoyed its strangeness.
There was no sound of firing.
I obeyed the impulse and strolled down the little winding lane. It led
through a gap in the green hedge that surrounded the wood. Knowing that
the enchantment of the ch�teau would vanish as soon as I entered it, I
dawdled on the way so as to prolong my pleasure. Suddenly the bushes in
front of me caught fire and a bright sheet of flame shot upward and
almost simultaneously there was a sharp report. I was so thrilled by the
mysterious attraction of the ch�teau that I barely noticed the event. As
I passed a small ruined cottage, which I had not observed before, for it
was hidden amongst the trees, there was a short whizz on a high note,
and then a loud crash. Smoke issued from the windows and the riddled
roof, and bits of wood and d�bris hurtled through the air. Then there
was a loud wailing noise followed by a terrific detonation. The ch�teau
was blotted from view by a dense mass of black smoke that rose out of
the ground in front of me. The spell was broken. I hesitated whether to
go on or not, when I became aware of a voice behind me. I looked round
and saw one of our Corporals shouting and gesticulating. I turned back
and rejoined the others, though not before I had been called a "bloody
fool" and threatened with arrest for walking off without permission.
Suddenly the loud, rustling wail was repeated and a portion of the wood
was enveloped in a dark cloud. There was a deafening thunder-clap and
jagged shell fragments sailed over our heads or dropped in our midst.
Then shell followed shell in rapid succession, all bursting in the wood.
A piece of metal whizzed past the ear of a man standing a few yards
away. He became unnerved, dashed towards one of the trucks and cowered
down by the wheels, trembling in every muscle.
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