He knows
that feeling so well, so awfully well now. He has been a guide these many
times. But we skip back to our position, six paces behind. Then another
bullet drops and the whole dance-step is repeated with little variation.
The sergeant booms once more, and in desperation that the Boches will hear
him, we obey.
'Tis pretty how we step, too, on that first time "in." We lift each foot
like a trotting thoroughbred. We step high, we step lightly. We tread as
daintily as does a gray tomcat when he encounters a glass topped wall on a
windy night.
CHAPTER VI
THE MAD MAJOR
This first night in, had the commander-in-chief, had any one who questioned
the discipline of the First Canadians, seen us, he would have been proud of
our bearing, our behavior.
The Tommy who has been there before, when on guard never shows above the
parapet more than his head to the level of his eyes. When he has had his
view on the ground ahead, he ducks. He looks and ducks frequently. But
we--we were not real soldiers; we were super-soldiers. We were not brave;
we were super-brave. We went into those trenches; we returned the greeting
of the English boys; we lined up to the parapet; we stretched across it to
the waistline, and then rose on tippy-toe.
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