And once Christophe answered: clt is surely from
love.5
'Then I do not admit of such love,3 scowled Jan,
'I find it cowardly, and very unworthy/
If they happened to be in the Benedit's kitchen,
as was often the case on these winter evenings, Marie
would feel the blood ebb from her heart. But le tout
petit Loup would feel his heart beating, and this with
such violence that it ached in his throat.
'Babble; all you do is to babble!5 he would jibe,
'Dis done, how many Turks have you killed with your
tongue?5
'More than you will ever kill.5 Jan might retort,
with a smile that emphasized the boy's weakness.
Poor Anfos would crouch on his chair in silence,
and this silence of his gave them cause for misgivings,
since he now seldom spoke of his own accord and
when they addressed him he answered them nothing,
but turned his head away like a dog that is sick unto
death. Only with his eyes did he seem to speak of
unfathomable things when he let them rest broodingly
upon Christophe.
And meanwhile Jan would explain at great length
why Christophe and he should enlist without waiting.
If they waited until they reached the full age for their
military service they would probably be parted, where-
as if they enlisted, as likely as not they could get
themselves sent to the same regiment — such requests,
declared Jan, were frequently granted. But they must
not lose time, they were nearly eighteen . . . Then the
blood would go ebbing from Marie's heart as it had
from the hearts of countless mothers.
One night Christophe asked his father abruptly:
'If I wish to enlist have I your consent?5
And J6usŁ thought: cAh ... so here it is!5 as a man
might think who is struck by a bullet. 'Ah ... so
here it is!5 Jouse thought, for our thoughts are seldom
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