“True,” assents Tjaden, “but no war at all would be better still.”
He is quite proud of himself because he has for once scored over us volunteers. And his opinion is quite typical here, one meets it time and again, and there is nothing with which one can properly counter it, because that is the limit of their comprehension of the factors involved. The national feeling of the soldier resolves itself into this—here he is. But that is the end of it; everything else from joining up onwards he criticizes from a practical point of view.
Albert lies down on the grass and growls angrily: “The best thing is not to talk about the rotten business.”
“It won’t make any difference, that’s sure,” agrees Kat.
As for the windfall, we have to return almost all the new things and take back our old rags again. The good ones were merely for the inspection.
★★
Instead of going to Russia, we go up the line again. On the way we pass through a devastated wood with the tree trunks shattered and the ground ploughed up.
209
