of the heavy and imposing glitter, of the mute
and vainglorious haughtiness which had made his relatives-in-law weep
with admiration. War, with its realism, had wiped out all that was
theatrical about this formidable organization of death. The soldiers
appeared dirty and tired, out. The respiration of fat and sweaty bodies,
mixed with the strong smell of leather, floated over the regiments. All
the men had hungry faces.

For days and nights they had been following the heels of an enemy
which was always just eluding their grasp. In this forced advance the
provisions of the administration would often arrive so late at the
cantonments that they could depend only on what they happened to have
in their knapsacks. Desnoyers saw them lined up near the road devouring
hunks of black bread and mouldy sausages. Some had scattered through
the fields to dig up beet roots and other tubers, chewing with loud
crunchings the hard pulp to which the grit still adhered. An ensign was
shaking the fruit trees using as a catch-all the flag of his regiment.
That glorious standard, adorned with souvenirs of 1870, was serving as
a receptacle for green plums. Those who were seated on the ground were
improving this rest by drawing their perspiring, swollen feet from high
boots which were sending out an insufferable smell.

The regiments of infantry which Desnoyers had seen in Berlin reflecting
the light on metal and leather straps, the magnificent and terrifying
Hussars, the Cuirassiers in pure white uniform like the paladins of the
Holy Grail, the artillerymen with breasts crossed with white bands, all
the military variations that on parade had drawn forth the Hartrotts'
sighs of admiration--these were now all unified and mixed together,
of uniform color, all in greenish mustard like the dusty lizards that,
slipping along, try to be confounded with the earth.

The persistency of the iron discipline was easily discernible. A word
from the chiefs, the sound of a whistle, and they all grouped themselves
together, the human being disappearing in the throngs of automatons; but
danger, weariness, and the uncertainty of triumph had for the time
being brought officers and men nearer together, obliterating caste
distinction. The officers were coming part way out of their overbearing,
haughty seclusion, and were condescending to talk with the lower orders
so as to revive their courage. One effort more and they would overwhelm
both French and English, re