In the trenches in WWI, soldiers as usual are dying like flies as expected. All of a sudden the French troops drop their arms and walk very serenely away from the front. Hearing of this the generals bring them up on charges of dissertion, a capital crime. Tremaine is the advocate for their case. They don’t seem to want to defend themselves for their inexplicable behavior, not in a way that makes sense. While waiting for the fateful morn, he seeks out a bottle of something special that they request as a last toast. Beckoned to the cottage of a little French boy’s family, they are set upon by a German who recounts similar stories of walking away from the front all at the same time on the German side. Rushing back to HQ, Tremaine succeeds in staying the sentence at the last moment, as the officers confirm the veracity of the stories, a mystical event.