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Speaker 1: La der natier mobele Azacion by W. A. Dwiggins. On

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the left, the road comes up the hill out of

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a pool of mist. On the right, it loses itself

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in the shadow of a wood. On the far side

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of the highway, a hedgerow, dusty in the moonlight, spreads

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an irregular border of black from the wood to the fog.

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Behind the hedgerow, slender poplar trees, evenly spaced, roll off

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the distance with inky lines. A movement stirs the mist.

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At the bottom of the hill. A monotonous rhythm grows

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in the silence. The mist darkens, and from it there

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emerges a strange, shadowy column that reaches slowly up the hill,

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moving in silence to the somber and muff beating of

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a drum. As it draws nearer, the shadow becomes two

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files of marching men, bearing between them a long, dim burden.

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The leaders advance into the moonlight. Each two men are

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carrying between them a pole, and from pole to pole

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have been slung planks, making a continuous platform. But that

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which is heaped upon the platform is hidden with muddy blankets.

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The uniforms of the men of various sorts, indicating that

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they are from. Many commands are in shreds and spotted

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with stains of mold and earth. Their heads are bound

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in cloth so that their faces are covered. A single

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drummer at the side of the column carries slung from

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his shoulder the shell of a drum. No flag flies

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from the staff at the column's head, but the staff

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is held erect. Slowly, the head of the line advances

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to the shadow of the wood, touches it, and is swallowed.

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The leaders, the bare flag staff, the drummer disappear, but

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still from the shade is heard the muffled rhythm of

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the drum. Still the column comes out of the mist.

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Still it climbs the hill and passes with its endless

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articulated burden. At last, the rearmost couple disengages itself from

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the mist, ascends, and is swallowed by the shadow. There

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remains only the moonlight and the dusty head. From the left,

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the road runs from Belgium. To the right it crosses

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into France. The dead are leaving their resting places in

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that lost land. The end of La dernatier mobel Zassillon

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by W. H. Wiggins