The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-04-23

The terrified brutes nearly kicked the
traces to bits; at length, with whip and
spur, I mastered them. Luckily the
pair behind were of a somewhat heav-
Ter type than usually find their way
into field batteries, and they kept the
equilibrium of the team.
At last l got them together and
dashed into position, dropped my gun
and wheeled into station behind it, my
horses still FESTIVE, prancing at every
bullet. Captain Mlllet had dismounted
and was standing by gun No. !, on my
left, making his calculations, paper and
pencil in hand. Our objective, as l
guessed was a small farmhouse far
away beneath US in the valley, from
which the smoke Of small arms sput-
tered increasingly. Between us and 1t
were dotted considerable numbers of
voltigeurs forming our skirmish line.
At first they all seemed to be advancing
on the farmhouse, but suddenly it
struck me that only about half of them
were actually in motion, and then I
L
the others were probably dead. The
difficulty we were in was to avoid the
danger of killing our own men with our
shells.
Captain Millet finished his calcula-
tons. He gave his orders, common
shell was rammed home, the screw
twisted to the elevation, then:
"Fire!"
With a sharp detonation the projec-
tile bursts from the body of the gun,
and soaring quicker than sound above
the heads of our skirmishers, seems to
drop perpendicularly upon the enemy 6
post-but no, it has fallen to the further
side; the elevation was too great,
l carry my eyes back to our own posi-
ton, and I see one of our gunners on
the ground bullet had struck him
dead while watching the flight of the
projectile he himself had aimed.
Gun No. 2 stands loaded, the captain
turns his attention to it; no calcula-
lions this time; the trail is slung round
to get the direction, a slightly less ele-
walton Is ordered-bang!
This time we have them, chimney
stack and roof collapse under our
metal, and we hear the distant crack oil
the tumbling beams,
Now all our guns open on this mark
and my horses CULVER and neigh in dis
tress at the believing mouths of fire
Our brigadier chuckles as we see the
dark forms of the foreign soldiers quit
ting the no longer tenable building and
seeking shelter in the wood behind
the rumble of doom Itself huge Prus-
sian battery, masked by the trees and
farm, launches shot and shell headlong
upon US. Almost before we know
whence comes the storm, a howitzer is
dismounted, team butchered, one OF
our lieutenants and ten men stretched
| llfeless and horrible upon the ground
| We try to work our pieces faster, but ir
vain; another gun is silenced three
| more servants down; we must fail
| back With difficulty I bring my lin.
| Der up to my gun; it is hooked on, an6
| am about to stretch my horses to the
gallop when crack goes the wheel
| struck by a spent shot, and the piece
| lurches forward on the rutted ground
Captain Millet springs from the horse
on which he has just vaulted and helps
the gunners to take our spare whee
up and mount it on the broken piece
What a labor. With rifle bullet an(
shell whizzing past our ears, or plough
ing the sod beneath us, our cattle fran.
tic almost beyond management! The
other guns are pushed on ahead, anC
we are left alone, while our wheel i.
hammered to the axle and the linchpir
| driven home.
At last Forward" comes the word
even as our captain falls-Oh, irony o
Fate, that respects not even the brave
struck from behind. But the enem,
are upon us, and we dare not stop t,
pick him up. At the grand gallop w
plunge from the field on to the high
road, and tear down it far in the rea
of the three other guns of our batter,
which have escaped from the field.
Down at Bagneux we come on on
| illcli Llt LOudNSS, III ScdUudIOuS
route, drunk with absinthe and fear.
Drive over them!" shouts my briea
der with curse. 1 hear shrek, thel
feel the crunch of limbs beneath m.
horses hoofs. One Of the Zouaves fire
after us, and the driver behind me fall
from his saddle under the scurryinj
wheels. On we go at the gallop. Sud
denly shout of terror in front make
me look up; posse of the enemy
hussars have ridden through our line
| and are sabering the fugitives in tn
road before us. The brigadier see
them, and clutches the bride of tn
riderless horse behind me.
"Gallop for everything" he shouts
Our whips sweep through the air, an,
yet an increase of pace is fiogged out O