Sevastopol by Leo Tolstoy

But hardly had the Lieutenant-Captain crossed the threshold of his lodgings, when very different thoughts entered his head. He saw his little room with its uneven earth floor, its crooked windows, the broken panes mended with paper, his old bedstead with two Toúla pistols and a rug (showing a lady on horseback) nailed to the wall above it,36 as well as the dirty bed of the Junker who lived with him, with its cotton quilt. He saw his man, Nikíta, with his rough, greasy hair, rise, scratching himself, from the floor; he saw his old cloak, his common boots, a little bundle tied in a handkerchief, prepared for him to take to the bastion, from which peeped a bit of cheese and the neck of a porter bottle containing vodka -- and he suddenly remembered that he had to go with his company to spend the whole of the night at the lodgments.

"I shall certainly be killed tonight," thought the Lieutenant-Captain; "I feel I shall. And really there was no need for me to go -- I offered of my own accord. And it's always so: the one who offers himself always does get killed. And what is the matter with that confounded Nepshisétsky? He may not be ill at all; and they'll go and kill a man because of him -- they certainly will. However, if they don't kill me I shall surely be recommended for promotion. I saw how pleased the Regimental Commander was when I said, ‘Allow me to go if Lieutenant Nepshisétsky is ill. ' If I'm not made a Major, then I'll get the Order of Vladímir for certain. Why, I am going to the bastion for the thirteenth time. Oh dear, the thirteenth! unlucky number! I am certain to be killed; I feel I shall; . but somebody had to go: the company can't go with only an Ensign. Supposing something was to happen. Why, the honour of the regiment, the honour of the army is at stake. It is my duty to go. Yes, my sacred duty. But I have a presentiment."