Three Day Road

Xavier has considered taking all the morphine at once to kill himself, and realizes he must do this soon or face running out. He feels like a criminal with Niska around, but now injects the morphine in front of her. He flashes back to the time when Elijah is made acting corporal while Thompson is away, recovering from his wounds. Elijah is ecstatic, and Xavier wonders why no one recognizes his accomplishments.

The battalion is sent to Albert, where the soldiers are awestruck by a large statue of the Virgin Mary that is still standing, though at an incline. A superstition has arisen about the statue: if it stands, the Allies will stand; if it falls, they will also fall. The soldiers are later moved again, this time in preparation for taking Courcelette, a German-held town that the Canadians are tasked with securing. Elijah and Xavier will go out first and find sniping positions. The Canadians have implemented a new form of attack, the creeping barrage, so the pair must be sure not to get stuck in the line of fire. They spy a crumpled farmhouse that will make a good position to protect themselves and have clear views for sniping.

While waiting for the offensive to begin, Xavier tells Elijah the story of their boat journey to England. The waves were rough. Many of the sailors suffered from seasickness. Xavier was sick as well, but remained below deck with the horses and tended to them. There was talk of U-boat attacks, so everyone was on edge. When Xavier traded watch with another soldier, two of the horses broke their legs. Xavier and Elijah realized that the horses needed to be put down, so Elijah went to find an officer with a revolver. The officers seemed uninterested in the fate of the horses, wondering rudely instead if Elijah would be fit for battle, despite his apparent prowess as an Indian. He was finally able to get McCaan and Breech to follow, as well as a group of the other officers, but when they finally made it down to the horses, Xavier had killed them both with his knife. The stalls were covered in blood, sickening the officers. The officers wanted to court-martial Xavier, but a commanding officer said Xavier acted bravely under duress, like an officer, which angered Breech. The battalion then cleaned up the mess, which gave the soldiers something to occupy their minds.

In “Collector”, Elijah and Xavier prepare for the battle over the trenches in front of Courcelette. Elijah takes more morphine, saying that he is just “dabbling with it” (177). Xavier thinks about how difficult their task is, as there are several trenches to secure before even reaching the town itself. The creeping barrage starts, and the battle against the trench begins. Elijah and Xavier are nearly overwhelmed by how many German machine guns they must take down during the fighting. The Canadians take Candy Trench, and move to secure Sugar Trench. After taking out more machine gunners, the town itself is finally taken by the Canadians.

The Canadians continue pushing north, and Xavier sees a tank in battle for the first time. The men are sent back to Albert to rest after taking more ground. There, Elijah tells Xavier about an incident in Albert when he mounted the large Virgin Mary statue and crawled along her back, reaching her crown. The men are sent back to the front line in November, and Xavier relates that many men die of pneumonia and disease, and that Elijah cannot eat and suffers from constipation due to the morphine. Another ailment, trenchfoot, has arisen. Trenchfoot is when soldiers’ feet begin rotting because of the wet, damp weather and the fact that they are always standing in water. Xavier says that morale is low as the weather makes raids and scouting impossible, and that the “mud and water hold the Canadians captive” (184). Elijah volunteers to bury the dead, and collects their belongings to take to their superiors. He then opens the corpses’ eyes so that he will be the last person each man sees. This act sustains him since food cannot.

In the next chapter, “Skinning, the soldiers are sent to rest for Christmas. Xavier, Elijah and a few soldiers go into town and get drunk. While walking around, Elijah and Xavier hear music and follow it to a bar. There, they observe French soldiers talking and roughhousing. Xavier thinks the men do not notice them, but they finally do, and refer to the Indian named Peggy. Elijah wants to know more about Peggy, so engages the men. He finds that the men take scalps from their kills to prove themselves. The men tell Elijah to take scalps as trophies, and that the scalps will prove his ability as a hunter and soldier, as well as render him honorable in their sight.

The soldiers are sent to Vimy Ridge, a place where countless British and French lives have been lost to the Germans. Now it is the Canadians’ turn to try and take the Ridge. Elijah and Xavier continue to snipe and “hunt” out on their own. The Canadians plan raids on the Germans and one night Elijah volunteers for one of the raids. Xavier has a bad feeling, so stays behind. Xavier thinks the Frenchmen who told Elijah about scalping are windigos. Elijah returns later and explains how he separated from the raiding party and, when he jumped into the trench, became stuck when he fell through the flooring. There were three German soldiers, and he killed each of them gruesomely. Elijah then scalped one of the soldiers, before joining the rest of the Canadians who were celebrating their small victory. The Germans began shelling that part of the line, though Elijah and most of the Canadians made it back.

Elijah admits to Xavier that the medicine is causing him to lose weight and have digestive problems. Xavier wonders if Elijah divulges this information because he feels guilty about taking the morphine. Xavier admits that when Elijah is without the medicine, he is afraid of the war and the world. When he takes the morphine, though, he is an even better hunter, fearless and invincible.