Eventually the Subaltern picked out a volume by Segur, not because he wanted to read about war, but because he feared that the Voltaires, the Rousseaux, and the Hugos would be too difficult for him.  Segur was easy:  one could skip whole phrases without losing his gist:  one was not worried by the words one did not know.  He read of Napoleon’s retreat on Paris—­in its time accounted the most scientific retreat in history.  Soissons!  Montmirail!  Why, they had almost passed into both these places!  How everything that had ever happened would shrink before this—­which was going on now, half a mile away.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE FIRST TRENCHES

Whether it was the second or third day of their stay in Poussey that the march began again the Subaltern does not know.  The only thing he remembers is being awakened from a peaceful afternoon nap, hurrying rather confusedly on parade, and marching off, out of the village.  Turning sharply to the left, the troops descended the hill, and at length crossed the canal, which had evidently parted company with the Aisne.  All was quiet, and he was making his way drowsily along the dusty road, when a whizz and a whistle brought him sharply to his senses.  There could be no mistake about it, the shell was coming right at them.

“Oh, damn,” he said; “we’ve been spotted.”

The shell burst short of them.

There was a space of about two hundred yards that would obviously be shell swept, and the road offered not the slightest cover.  Two hundred yards ahead there appeared to be a good stout bank, which would shield them very effectually.  The only thing to be done was to rush on as fast as they could, and thus suffer as few casualties as possible.

The men, however, did not quite realise the situation.  By long training and a great deal of actual experience they had learned that the best thing to do when you are under fire is to tear for the nearest cover, and, failing that, flop down on your faces where you stand, and take your chance.  As a general rule this proved sound enough, but in this especial case it was obvious to the Officers that the longer they delayed, the heavier would be the casualty list, a fact which the men did not understand.  The British soldier is a sportsman, and understands the game as well as his Officer.  He only wants to be led; and in battle, scarcely that.  Driving is an Art absolutely unknown in the British Army.

In the stress of the tense moments that followed, the Subaltern owned to himself that as a driver he was not much good.  The German artillery had got their range to a yard, and it was very trying to have to stand up in the open and spend precious seconds in urging on men who ought to have known better.  He was strongly tempted to run for it, but a sense of duty prevailed, and he stayed there dashing about in a futile effort to speed matters up.  He shouted, he shrieked, he swore, he has a dim recollection of even kicking at his men in the effort to get on out of the terrible danger zone.  But perhaps to his overwrought nerves the delay seemed longer than perhaps it really was, or perhaps force of numbers from behind succeeded where he had failed; anyhow, he got his Platoon into safety, and only sustained the loss of five or six men.