Page:Poet Lore, volume 27, 1916.djvu/389

 ''burning village of Skalitz. Now and again the landscape shakes with the thunder of the near-by artillery. During the lull is heard the pattering of the feet of soldiers running on the highway which passes the wall of the church-yard. But these are only stragglers who delay, as the body of the Austrian army defeated at Skalitz has fled by already. Then even the stamping and neighing of horses, the clatter of hurrying cannon is heard. Yelling, shots, the creaking of wheels, grating and rasping, the cracking of whips, a stray shot or two—again the cannon thunders, drowning for the moment the noise of the highway. Now the first soldier appears in the church-yard. The others drop in at various intervals afterward.''

''All the soldiers are excited and fatigued. They are out of breath, wan, tattered, bloody and muddy. All are quite young.''

Vonka (Opens the gate, stops a moment, looks about, then turns back).—Hi! you! Moravian.

( comes in followed by .)

Havlin.—Church-yard—we won’t stay here—in a church-yard

( throws down his gun, pays no attention to . Bends over the dead soldier.)

.—They were carrying him and threw him in here—but you don’t want to stay here?

Vonka (Bent over the dead body).—The flies, look at them! What a lot there are on him already—Shrapnel struck him under the chin—it took a bit of his shoulder—A Maygar—from the 32nd (he rises.) To cart him with such an injury. (He is restless—he does not know what to do, he chokes with excitement.)

Havlin.—But you are not going to lie down here.

( mutters through his teeth but is thinking of something else.)

Havlin.—Say something, you are not going to lie down here, are you?

( says nothing; he goes to the right. Rests his chin on the wall and gazes out.)

Havlin (to ).—You lie down;—is it just to bandage your foot?

Vichodil (Who the moment he came in, sat down on the grass to attend to his wounded leg).—It scratched me, brother; it burns—it did not before but now it stings.

Vonka (Looking over the wall).—Skalitz is still burning—there, the buildings near the railroad station. (Turns toward the church-