thing pleasant had
happened in this room; where, God knew, nothing had; where, when
they turned round, a swarm of black flies was quivering with
greed and delight over the smears Willy Katz' body had left on
the floor. Claude had often observed that when David had an
interesting idea, or a strong twinge of recollection, it made
him, for the moment, rather heartless. Just now he felt that
Gerhardt's flash of high spirits was in some way connected with
him. Was it because he had gone in with Willy? Had David doubted
his nerve?
XVII
When the survivors of Company B are old men, and are telling over
their good days, they will say to each other, "Oh, that week we
spent at Beaufort!" They will close their eyes and see a little
village on a low ridge, lost in the forest, overgrown with oak
and chestnut and black walnut... buried in autumn colour, the
streets drifted deep in autumn leaves, great branches interlacing
over the roofs of the houses, wells of cool water that tastes of
moss and tree roots. Up and down those streets they will see
figures passing; themselves, young and brown and clean-limbed;
and comrades, long dead, but still alive in that far-away
village. How they will wish they could tramp again, nights on
days in the mud and rain, to drag sore feet into their old
billets at Beaufort! To sink into those wide feather beds and
sleep the round of the clock while the old women washed and dried
their clothes for them; to eat rabbit stew and pommes frites in
the garden,--rabbit stew made with red wine and chestnuts. Oh,
the days that are no more!
As soon as Captain Maxey and the wounded men had been started on
their long journey to the rear, carried by the prisoners, the
whole company turned in and slept for twelve hours--all but
Sergeant Hicks, who sat in the house off the square, beside the
body of his chum.
The next day the Americans came to life as if they were new men,
just created in a new world. And the people of the town came to
life... excitement, change, something to look forward to at
last! A new flag, le drapeau etoile, floated along with the
tricolour in the square. At sunset the soldiers stood in
formation behind it and sang "The Star Spangled Banner" with
uncovered heads. The old people watched them from the doorways.
The Americans were the first to bring "Madelon" to Beaufort. The
fact that the village had never heard this song, that the
children stood round begging for it, "Chantez-vous l
|