They had raised their
eyes for a moment as the enemy's shell went screaming by, and then had
continued their work.
"It must have fallen about three hundred yards away," said Rene
cheerfully.
The senator, impressionable soul, felt suddenly filled with heroic
confidence. It was not worth while to bother about his personal safety
when other men--just like him, only differently dressed--were not paying
the slightest attention to the danger.
And as the other projectiles soared over his head to lose themselves
in the woods with the explosions of a volcano, he remained by his son's
side, with no other sign of tension than a slight trembling of
the knees. It seemed to him now that it was only the French
missiles--because they were on his side--that were hitting the bull's
eye. The others must be going up in the air and losing themselves in
useless noise. Of just such illusions is valor often compounded! . . .
"And is that all?" his eyes seemed to be asking.
He now recalled rather shamefacedly his retreat to the shelter; he was
beginning to feel that he could live in the open, the same as Rene.
The German missiles were getting considerably more frequent. They were
no longer lost in the wood, and their detonations were sounding nearer
and nearer. The two officials exchanged glances. They were responsible
for the safety of their distinguished charge.
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