'Be kind to the animals.'
That was on a notice a joker stuck up in our trench.... But what
isn't good enough for them is good enough for us. All right; I'm not
kicking. Things are like that. We have to take it as it comes. But
you could see that the little Sergeant had never been up against it
before; the rain and the mud, and the meanness; the dirt worst of all,
everything that you touch, your food, your skin, full of vermin.... He
came close to crying, I could see, once or twice, when he was new to
it. I wouldn't let on that I noticed, for the boy was proud, didn't
want any help, but I would jolly him, try to cheer him up, lend him
a hand sometimes; he was glad to get it. You see you have to get
together. But before long he could stick it out as well as anybody;
then it was his turn to help me. I never heard him squeal, and we had
gay times together--must have a joke now and then, no matter what
happens. It keeps off bad luck."
Clerambault sat and listened with a heavy heart.
"Was he happier towards the last?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir, I think he was what you call resigned, just like we all
were. I don't know how it is, but you all seem to start out with the
same foot in the morning. We are all different, but somehow, after a
while it seems as if we were growing alike.
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