There would be a pause of two minutes, then three furious explosions, then a pause of five minutes, then another explosion....

I mastered quickly my impulse to leap into the air at every report, by a kind of prolonged extension in my mind of one report into another.

Little Andrey Vassilievitch was not so successful.

At each explosion his body jerked as though it had been worked by wires; then he glanced round to see whether any one had noticed his agitation, then drew himself up, brushed off imaginary dust from his uniform, coughed and frowned.

Trenchard stood close to Marie Ivanovna and looked at her anxiously once or twice as though he would like to speak to her, but she, holding herself very stiffly, watched with sternness the whole world as though she personally had arranged the spectacle and was responsible for its success.
Soon Semyonov came back and said that he must go on to some further trenches to discover the best position for us.