I was secretly glad of this; for in the gloomy confusion we stuck closely to those we knew, as dogs do.
The new comrades of the squad--they lodged in the stable, which was open as a cage--explained to me that we were a long way from the front, over six miles; that we should have four days' rest and then go on yonder to occupy the trenches at the glass works.

They said it would be like that, in shifts of four days, to the end of the war, and that, moreover, one had not to worry.
These words comforted the newcomers, adrift here and there in the straw.

Their weariness was alleviated.

They set about writing and card-playing.

That evening I dated my letter to Marie "at the Front," with a flourish of pride.