The gay air as of sure victory just ahead that marked them in the closing months of summer the year before had departed, but in its place was a grim resolution that made them seem to John as formidable as ever.

The steady beat of solid German feet made a rolling sound which the orders of officers and the creaking of wagons and artillery scarcely disturbed.

The waves of the gray sea swept steadily on toward France.
John showed his passport twice more, but all that day he beheld marching troops.

In the afternoon it snowed a little again and the slush was everywhere, but he trudged bravely through it.

Having escaped from the trenches he felt that he could endure anything.