Warm over there." The noise just then of the batteries was terrific.

We were compelled to shout at one another.

A battery behind us bellowed like a young bull and the shrapnel falling at some distance amongst the trees had a strange splashing sound as of a stone falling into water.[A] The candles twinkled in the breeze and the place had the air of a Christmas-tree celebration, the wounded soldiers waiting their turn as children wait for their presents.

The starlight gave the effect of a blue-frosted crispness to the pine-strewn ground.

We arranged our wagons safely, then, followed by the sanitars, walked off, Nikitin almost fantastically tall under the starlight as he strode along.