They were heedless of his appeals.

They did not seem to see him.
They sometimes gabbled insanely.

One huge man was asking of the sky: "Say, where de plank road?
Where de plank road!" It was as if he had lost a child.

He wept in his pain and dismay.
Presently, men were running hither and thither in all ways.

The artillery booming, forward, rearward, and on the flanks made jumble of ideas of direction.