He knew that such an effort would afford him no protection, but the body sought it nevertheless.

All around him the young French soldiers too were clinging to Mother Earth.

Only Bougainville stood erect.
John had felt less apprehension under the artillery fire and in the charge than he did now.

He was helpless here when death fell like hail from the skies, and he quivered in every muscle as he waited.

A crash came again, but the bomb had struck farther away, then a third, and a fourth, each farther and farther in its turn, and Bougainville suddenly uttered a shout that was full of vengeance and exultation.
John looked up.