Up there, far to the north of those lights, the great guns thunder and the sky glimmers with star-shells. Men are fighting, and struggling, and dying, and laughing over their _Pinard_, but it is not for us. We have finished for a while. Of course we are coming back, but furlough is not offered often enough to be refused lightly. We feel a queer mixture of sadness, and happiness, and relief. The life has worked its way into our hearts, and the call to return rings in our ears. But the relief from the tenseness and the joy of anticipation of America and Home exceeds all else. The wind blowing across the waves starts somewhere in America, and we take deep breaths. Soon we shall be home, shall see our friends, and shall lead a life of luxurious ease again for a short space of time. We walk around the deck and then, taking out our pipes, settle down in our steamer chairs and puff thoughtfully. All is peace and quietness here, the spray breaking over the bow and the waves lapping against the sides. It is hard to realize that the earth is shaking in a cataclysm only a little north, but we know that this must be endured until the power of Germany is destroyed—that the world may be as peaceful as is the sea tonight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GLOSSARY [_The meaning of the words as given in this Glossary is that which holds in the army at the front and sometimes conflicts with the meaning as given in the dictionary._] ABRI _dug-out_ AMBULANCIER _ambulance driver_ ARGOT _slang_ ARRIVÉE _an enemy shell_ ASSIS _a wounded man able to sit up_ BLESSÉ _wounded man_ BONNE CAMARADERIE _good-fellowship_ BONNE CHANCE _good luck_ BOYAUX _communication trench_ BRANCARDIER _stretcher-bearer_ BRIQUET _pocket lighter_ CAMION _truck_ CAMIONNETTE _small truck_ CHEF _first lieutenant_ CONDUCTEUR _ambulance driver_ CONTRE-AVION _anti-aircraft gun_ COUCHÉ _a wounded man lying down_ CROIX DE GUERRE _war cross_ DÉPART _a shell fired towards the enemy_ DUD _a shell which does not explode_ ÉCLAT _shell fragment_ EN PANNE _breakdown_ EN PERMISSION _on furlough_ EN REPOS _on a rest_