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Show 'l‘llli 1).\111\' 17(112158'1‘ THE I NV] 81 131.111 BATTLE q111s1te ease and lethargy. 1' was going" into hattle. was I? l was to have tonight the supreme experien ee of 111v lite' it might 1,11‘tl1attornigl1t 1 should die » only last week two 111en1hers ot' the lied Cross~ a nurse and a doet‘oi‘r‘liad heen killed. lt 111ight he that these stars. this straw, this quiet night were 111111111 me for the last time. It did not matter to 111efinothine' eould toueh me. My s11u1 was some where tar away. upon some husiness of its own, and how happy was my hody without the soul, how eontented. how undisturhedl 1 eould taney that 1 should go, thus roeking‘. into hattle and there die het'ore my soul had time to return to me. \1‘11at would my soul 1111 then? Find some other l1o11y. or go wandering. searehina' for me? A star, :1 tlash of light like :1 ery of happiness or 01' glad surprise, fell through heaven and the other stars trenihled at the sight. My wagon st1:1pped with a jerk. Some voiee asked: what the devil were we doing tilline‘ the road with our carts at the exact moment that sueh-and-sueh a Division wished to move. I heard Seniyonov's voiee, very cold, ottieial and polite. Then again: "\Vell, in God‘s name, hurry thenl . . . taking: up the road! . . . hurry, 1 tell youl" ()n we jogged again. Trenehard‘s voiee came to me: he had heen, it 111ight he, talking for some time. "And so I'm not surprised; Durward, that you thought me a terrihle foo1 to Show my fee1ings as I've done this last fertnieht. lint you don't know what it: is to megto have somethingr at last in your hands that you've dreamed 111' all your hie and never dared to hope for: to have it and feel that at any moment it may slip away and leave you ill :1 Worse state than you were hefore. I'd heen wishing. these last weeks. that 1'11 never met her. that 1'11 simply eonie to the war by 111yself. But now~»to-dav---when she spoke to *l' 71'» 7 me as she did, asked me to tore‘ive her for what happened last night, my God, Durward! [ to forgive /11‘1'.' . . . lint, 111 show her this very night, what lean dom-this very night 3 They'll give 1110a ehanee, wont they? lt would he terrihlo if they didn't. Seinyonov won't give me a ehanee it he 1-;111 help it. \Vhat have I done to Seniyonov that he should hate me? \Vhat have . . ." 13111; I didn't answer '1‘1'e11ehar11. That part 111' 1111) that had any concern with him and his atlairs was far away. lint, his voiee had stirred some more, aetive lil‘e in 1111‘. l thoutl'ht to 1115‘s1111'11ow: Will there he some eonerete delinito 111111111111; in this attiair when 1 shall say to niyselt': ".\11, there it. is! There's the heart of this whole lrltsint‘ssl There's the enemy! Slay him and you have settled the matter!" or, perhaps, "Ah, now live seen the seeret. Now I‘ve hunted the animal to his lair. This is war, this thin: here. Now all my days 1 remain quiet. There is 111111111115 more to fearu-or would it 111‘ 11111111th that 1 should thee >1~1nethi11e‘ and he tilled, then. with 1111a‘1n‘er11ahle terror so that I should r1111 for my lil'e. run, hide me in the 111111, eover 11p my days so that no one. shall ever tind 11111 again. . . .? I raised myself on my elhow and loolxed at the eonntry. \Ve jolted over a little 111111111" l1r11sl1e11 11111111111 :1 thielvef 111'11'1‘es,eameon to a path running: at the l'orest's hunt and >;t\\' on our lel't a little wooden 111111911. :1 high wood lire horn in: in tront 111‘ it. I looked at my wateh. lt 11.1.»‘11111111111111.. Already a very faint glow throhhed in the sky. 11111 11 the tort-st. at long intervals. ('211111‘ 11111111 hoo1ning sound like the shutting of a heavy iron door. The wae‘ons drew up. ‘1'11111111arrivedatourdedination. "We shall he here." 1 heard Semyonov sav, "some live, hours or so. You'd hetter blCCP it' you 1-1111." |