mptoms; he could not be
afraid, for he was not conscious that he was in danger; he only felt a
slight sensation of discomfort in the epigastric region, and his
head seemed strangely light and empty; ideas and images came and went
independent of his will. His recollection of the brave show made by the
troops of the 2d division made him hopeful, almost to buoyancy; victory
appeared certain to him if only they might be allowed to go at the enemy
with the bayonet.

"Listen!" he murmured, "how the flies buzz; the place is full of them."
Thrice he had heard something that sounded like the humming of a swarm
of bees.

"That was not a fly," Jean said, with a laugh. "It was a bullet."

Again and again the hum of those invisible wings made itself heard. The
men craned their necks and looked about them with eager interest; their
curiosity was uncontrollable--would not allow them to remain quiet.

"See here," Loubet said mysteriously to Lapoulle, with a view to raise
a laugh at the expense of his simple-minded comrade, "when you see a
bullet coming toward you you must raise your forefinger before your
nose--like that; it divides the air, and the bullet will go by to the
right or left."

"But I can't see them," said Lapoulle.

A loud guffaw burst from those near.

"Oh, crickey! he says he can't see them! Open your garret windows,
stupid! See! there's one--see! there's another. Didn't you see that one?
It was of the most beautiful green."

And Lapoulle rolled his eyes and stared, placing his finger before his
nose, while Pache fingered the scapular he wore and wished it was large
enough to shield his entire person.

Rochas, who had remained on his feet, spoke up and said jocosely:

"Children, there is no objection to your ducking to the shells when
you see them coming. As for the bullets, it is useless; they are too
numerous!"

At that very instant a soldier in the front rank was struck on the head
by a fragment of an exploding shell. There was no outcry; simply a spurt
of blood and brain, and all was over.

"Poor devil!" tranquilly said Sergeant Sapin, who was quite cool and
exceedingly pale. "Next!"

But the uproar had by this time become so deafening that the men could
no longer hear one another's voice; Maurice's nerves, in particular,
suffered from the infernal _charivari_. The neighboring battery
was banging away as fast as the gunners could load the pieces; the
continuous roar seemed to shake the ground, and t