Order began again, and against the whitish and bluish sheets spread by the star-shells I saw the pendulums of the step once more fall into line under the long body of shadows.
During the night there was a distribution of brandy.

By the light of lanterns we saw the cups held out, shaking and gleaming.

The libation drew from our entrails a moment of delight and uplifting.

The liquid's fierce flow awoke deep impulses, restored the martial mien to us, and made us grasp our rifles with a victorious desire to kill.
But the night was longer than that dream.

Soon, the kind of goddess superposed on our shadows left our hands and our heads, and that thrill of glory was of no use.
Indeed, its memory filled our hearts with a sort of bitterness.