The Revolution in the Armies
the railway system, sleeping in the stations or in the waggons, feeding on hard-boiled eggs, black sausages flavoured with garlic, or buckwheat biscuits, which were sold by the peasants on all station platforms with glasses of tea.
What attraction could such a method of travelling have for them? Certainly neither that of comfort nor the beauty of the country, for scenery is something that this class of travellers care little for. Simply the delight of feeling themselves free, of being able to go alone where they wished to, and to do what they pleased. It is not, after all, so very different from the mentality of the Belgian or French soldier, who, released during his leave from the long constraint and the promiscuity of the front and the depots, finds pleasure in feeling himself alone and free, and prefers, for instance, spending the whole night walking in the street or sleeping on the floor of some waiting-room rather than sharing some common dormitory which, even if it is comfortable, smacks too much of the atmosphere of barracks or billets.
