I am pretty well exhausted by this time. Only some internal exaltation sustains me. This hollow is endless ... this hill steep beyond imagination! Up at the top some men are moving about and talking. I tell myself to run onwards ... but all I can do for the moment is to rest on my sword and slowly drag one swollen foot after the other. The pain in my back has become intense. Nevertheless I must go on. One final effort and I shall have reached my destination. Onwards!... (Censored) The men I totteringly approach have assumed the dimensions of giants. They possess enormous, unbalanced bodies; they are monstrosities who dance before my burning eyes. With a gentle, sustained power, the mud itself seems to draw me towards them. Forward!... But I can no longer move forward.... The light is failing.... Ah, what an unfortunate devil I am! Someone raises and carries me with strong, careful arms. The sensation is good. Then some burning liquid scorches my mouth and throat, and instantly causes me to open my eyes. Close to my face, a voice asks: "How do you feel now?" "It is nothing at all," I say weakly. "Fatigue! no sleep ... nothing to eat. Been fighting all night. It is all right!" I am lying in a trench covered with muddy straw. Near me is a lieutenant and several men. It is the former who just spoke to me and who presses whiskey upon me from his flask. I look at the collar of his coat and see the number of the regiment I have been seeking. "Ah! So I have found you," I cried. "Is the whole regiment here?" The abruptness of my question takes him back for a moment. "Yes, that is so! Didn't you know?" "I should say I didn't, seeing that I have zig-zagged all over the countryside for you and Colonel G----. We hadn't the slightest idea where to find you at the advance post and for hours we, unsupported, have been at grips with more Germans than you could count in a week. "You are wanted very badly indeed over there. Do you know where he is--Colonel G----?" "In this wood, I believe. He has taken up his position somewhere before those batteries you can hear firing. It should be possible to see him from here." He raises himself and looks about. "I can see him no longer, but he has been here for a long time past. They will certainly be able to tell you over there where he is gone." I thank him and ask before leaving: "Just one more drop of '_Gniole_,' if you can spare it. I am very badly in want of a stiffener." I take a long gulp of neat spirit and set off towards the 75's which are growling together in the wood.