There, although of course we could not see the French position, we could
hear and see their shells as they exploded. They were firing short, one
of the officers told me, because they thought the Germans were on the
forward hill. He could see one of the French aeroplanes directing their
fire, but I could not make it out. We stayed there listening to the
shells and watching the few movements of German batteries that were
taking place. A party of officers hidden by the trees were taking
observations and telephoning the results of the German fire and, no
doubt, of the French fire in the German trenches. There was no
excitement; but for the noise the whole scene reminded me of some kind
of construction work, such as building a railroad.
After about an hour, when nothing had happened, one began to realize
that even such excitement may become monotonous and be taken as a matter
of course. One of the officers told me that the Germans had been there
since the beginning of October and that even the trenches were in the
same position as when they first came.
Certainly the trenches seem permanent enough for spending many Winters.
A number of them have now been built of concrete, especially in that
swampy part near the Aisne where they strike water about three feet
underground.
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