Explore "The Valley of Vision" by Henry Van Dyke on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
There were three American boys from the region of Philadelphia / in the dugout, "Somewhere in France"; and they found it a snug / habitation, considering the circumstances.
The central heating system -- a round sheet-iron stove, little larger / than a "topper" hat -- sent out incredible quantities of acrid smoke / at such times as the rusty stovepipe refused to draw. But on cold / nights and frosty mornings the refractory thing was a distinct / consolation. The ceiling of the apartment lacked finish. When / wet it dropped mud; when dry, dust. But it had the merit of being / twenty feet thick -- enough to stop any German shell except a "Jack / Johnson" full of high explosive. The beds were elegantly excavated / in the wall, and by a slight forward inclination of the body / you could use them as _fauteuils_. The rats approved of them / highly.