The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-12-24

simply holes in the cliff, each hole
thatched round with a woven tunnel OF
kaolin stalks. Here the men live q
dozen to the dugout, packed like sar-
! dimes at night for warmth, but com
Portable. Some of the officers dugouts
are fairly luxurious.
! The men have plenty of tea and are
| fairly fed, but fresh meat is a luxury
that is not to be neglected at any juno
ture. and suddenly. while we were talk
ing by the fire, some fresh meat made
| its appearance.
There was row toward the forward
lines of trenches that might have pre-
saged a Japanese attack. and VIC
| rushed to a knoll that commanded a
view. There. from a seemingly desert
ed Chinese hut rushed a half-grown
pig, shoat of the Manchurian razor
back variety After it went a Cossaek
in hot pursuit Other Cossacks joined
the chase, but the pig, threading the
trenches, gained the open ground ami
headed for the Japanese lines, less
than 400 yards away.
Reckless of death or anything else,
six Cossacks dashed in pursuit with
their long brown coats tucked around
their waists. But the pig headed cross
the imaginary dividing line. and
charged the japanese position. The
opposite hill slope, to all appearances.
had been vacant and silent as the
grave, but a hidden trench suddenly
gave up party of Japanese, and away
they went after the pig.
Pig Got Away.
The Cossacks stopped and the Japan
csc headed the pig diagonally back to-
ward the Russian lines. They did not
catch ii, but a fresh relay of Russians
took up the chase, and the pig veered
over again to the Japanese. Not a shot
was fired all this time. and the Japan
csc and Cossacks stood within 100 PAGES
of each other in the open, laughing at
each others non-success and hurting
mutual maledictions after the pig. The
last we saw of it, the pig was keeping
strictly to the neutral strip between
the forces, and holding westward in the
direction of Lao river.
The general laughed, though he also
sighed atsthe thought of vanished pig,
and Invited us over to have more tea
at his palace
Il do not patronize anything but pail
aces he explained, as we mounted to
follow him, land, there being none
hereabeuts' I had one built" 1t was
down a steep trail, where the horses
fairly sat down and slid on the frozen
ground. Overhanging the edge of a
narrow valley was the palace, a more
than unusually commodious dugout
and inside a stove was cunningly built
into the wall with home made bricks.
1t had had a fire in it the day before,
and was shut up tight and still warm.
Before it on the ground sat Prince.
Radzivil, just come in from a scout,
and warming his red hands against the
bricks. There was a table and a tiny
window letting in a little light from
a tunnel on one side. And hot tea,
without lemon, this time, added to, the
joys of living.
Shell Came Whizzing
We turned back later along the route
we had come. The opposite hillside was
vacant and silent as usual. But from
far distant crest came a wink of light
almost like. a Photograph, and a eW
seconds later big byzantine shell
burst with a thunderous noise and q
cloud of smoke and dirt close to the
trench where we had seen the pig race
in the morning. We climbed to helio-s
graph station on the cliff above and
found the officer in charge flashing a
message to Poutiliff hill. Through the
we could see Poutiloff's tiny
mirror winking in reply. New bat
terry said the officer, jerking his head
toward where the shot came from, \
while a signal sergeant, through -
transit, was scanning the hill crest.
Had the Location.
-s'Poutiloff and I both have got his
angle approximately" he explained,
and we know the base line from here
to Poutiloff hill, so the next time he
shoots we can triangulate. on him and
get the exact range. We will make
things interesting for MIN "a little !
later" he added significantly.
So wesrode slowly back to our dug
out. leaving the signal officer trying TO.
beat some circulation into his mittened
hands. There may be a fight tonight
Or there may not. but that is all there
IS to tell just now Of day along the
i