They listened to the songs of the foe, and sometimes at night they talked together.
John recognized the feeling.

He knew that man at the core had not really returned to a savage state, and a soldier, but not a believer in war, he looked forward to the time when the grass should grow again over the vast maze of trenches.
A shell bursting almost overhead put all such thoughts out of his mind for the present.

A hot piece of metal shooting downward struck on the bottom of the trench and lay there hissing.

John stepped over it and passed on.
The cannonade was at its height, and he noticed that it was heavier than usual.

Perhaps the increase of volume was due to the presence of some great dignitary, the Kaiser himself maybe, or the Crown Prince, or the Chief of the General Staff.