Then it began to swing forward, slow and straight, in the manner of a falling tree.

A swift muscular contortion made the left shoulder strike the ground first.
The body seemed to bounce a little way from the earth.

"God!" said the tattered soldier.
The youth had watched, spellbound, this ceremony at the place of meeting.

His face had been twisted into an expression of every agony he had imagined for his friend.
He now sprang to his feet and, going closer, gazed upon the pastelike face.

The mouth was open and the teeth showed in a laugh.
As the flap of the blue jacket fell away from the body, he could see that the side looked as if it had been chewed by wolves.
The youth turned, with sudden, livid rage, toward the battlefield.