At Montsou, during this period, the inhabitants awoke with a start every night, their ears buzzing with an imaginary alarmbell and their nostrils haunted by the smell of powder.
A Montsou, des lors, les bourgeois s'éveillerent en sursaut chaque nuit, les oreilles bourdonnantes d'un tocsin imaginaire, les narines hantées d'une puanteur de poudre.