though. A lot of men from other units have been killed. The last shell
dropped into a mess-room and laid out a dozen or more, and just as we
were coming along we saw an artilleryman lying in the road with a big
hole right in the middle of his face. He was still warm but his heart
had stopped beating. It's a bloody awful feeling to lose one of your
mates, though."

"I can't make it out, some'ow. 'E was talkin' an' jokin' to me only a
few minutes back, an' now 'e's dead. The way 'e said 'O me poor mother!'
nearly set me cryin'. Poor old chap, 'e was one o' the best--it's allus
the best as gets killed an' the rotters left alive."

No more shells dropped into the town that day, but instead of going back
to the billet, the men made their beds in the barn at nightfall. I
returned to camp, thinking of the man who was dead and wondering whose
turn would come next.




IV

THE CASUALTY CLEARING STATION


"For who feels the horrors of war more than those who are
responsible for its conduct? On whom does the burden of blood and
treasure weigh most heavily? How can it weigh more heavily on any
man or set of men than those on this bench?"