Explore "At the Sign of the Sword" by William le Queux on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Two days later the Sixth Brigade, to which the Eighth Chasseurs belonged, had been christened by the men "The Flying Column," for it had been designed to support the other brigades in action. Since their retreat from the Meuse, Edmond Valentin had marched with his regiment hither and thither; marched until he was footsore, with few intervals of rest, sometimes engaging the enemy, and then moving forward again to some new position, blindly, but with the knowledge that it was upon some general, previously conceived plan.
War is truly a strange experience. The mere man in the fighting-line shoots in a trench, lies low, smokes a cigarette and chaffs his comrades, shoots again, then advances -- or retreats, as the case may be. Rumours pass from mouth to mouth of success or of defeat; he knows not which is the truth. Retire or advance, what does it matter? If one retires it is for strategic purposes; if one advances it does not mean victory. Edmond Valentin, _sous-officier_ of infantry, was but a mere little pawn in that colossal game of world-power.