Energy books

They had made a fire behind a screen to give them a little
comfort and frighten off the ghosts, and gossiped with a queer sense
of humor, cynical and blasphemous, but even through their jokes there
was a yearning for the end of a business which was too close to death.
I remember the gist of their conversation, which was partly devised
for my benefit. One boy declared that he was sick of the whole
business.
"I should like to cancel my contract," he remarked.
"Yes, send in your resignation, old lad," said another, with ironical
laughter.
"They'd consider it, wouldn't they? P'raps offer a rise in wages--I
don't think!"
Another boy said, "I am a citizen of no mean Empire, but what the hell
is the Empire going to do for me when the next shell blows off both my
bleeding legs?"
This remark was also received by a gust of subdued laughter, silenced
for a moment by a roar and upheaval of masonry somewhere by the ruins
of the Cloth Hall.
"Soldiers are prisoners," said a boy without any trace of humor.


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