off your shoe and go barefoot; the cool earth will ease the pain."

And in that way Maurice found that he could keep up with his comrades
with some degree of comfort; he experienced a sentiment of deep
gratitude. It was a piece of great good luck that their squad had a
corporal like him, a man who had seen service and knew all the tricks
of the trade: he was an uncultivated peasant, of course, but a good
fellow all the same.

It was late when they reached their place of bivouac at Contreuve,
after marching a long time on the Chalons and Vouziers road and
descending by a steep path into the valley of the Semide, up which
they came through a stretch of narrow meadows. The landscape had
undergone a change; they were now in the Ardennes, and from the lofty
hills above the village where the engineers had staked off the ground
for the 7th corps' camp, the valley of the Aisne was dimly visible in
the distance, veiled in the pale mists of the passing shower.

Six o'clock came and there had been no distribution of rations,
whereon Jean, in order to keep occupied, apprehensive also of the
consequences that might result from the high wind that was springing
up, determined to attend in person to the setting up of the tent. He
showed his men how it should be done, selecting a bit of ground that
sloped away a little to one side, setting the pegs at the proper
angle, and digging a little trench around the whole to carry off the
water. Maurice was excused from the usual nightly drudgery on account
of his sore foot, and was an interested witness of the intelligence
and handiness of the big young fellow whose general appearance was so
stolid and ungainly. He was completely knocked up with fatigue, but
the confidence that they were now advancing with a definite end in