Amador ledger., 1906-05-25

along the line. Fleischmann had fallen
back, slipping on loose stone. Now he
fairly sleaped ahead of us, his great sabre
sweeping down a row of bayonetS as 4
scythe in ripe wheat. The French stood
in pit dug around the brow of the hill
and fought like demons. There seemed to
be thousands of them. Our revolvers were
emptie9d Immediately. % and it was then a
shoulder to shoulder. struck out to right
and left with but one idea-self-preserVa-
ton. AS in dream L heard the deadly
clash of metal, the putting and grunting
of straining men; the blasphemy; the
Shrek of the wounded.
Farther around the hill top our men
were falling back; and farther yet they
We're clear inside the line, driving the
French before them. A few of our men
gathered about us. and. almost surrounded
own, fighting with the absolute despera-
ton that comes into a mans heart but
once in a lifetime. We were fairly walled
down others came forward. There seemed
to be no end to the cut and slash the
squirting of red blood, the glare of angry
hate; .Lowenberg was on my right; at his
right Fleischmann, welding his sabre like
fail. Steady, boys" he cried, and
rum" But in my heart 1 knew that it
could not be so; that we must go down in
blood and dust, victims of a misguided
principle.
Then an ugly, squat Frenchman, who
had been felled some time before by one
of Lowenberg's lightning strokes, wriggled
up through the heap of dead. and with a
desperate thrust sent his bayonet into
Lowenberg's vitals. All, God how it sick
ened me. My beloved friend sank with a
gasp. A mist obscured my sight; for
moment weakened and my sword wa
vered. Before could recover, the butt of
muSket appeared in the air Immediately
before me and descended upon my head.
I,,z11
world seemed suddenly to be whirling like
Fourth of July pinwheel, with multi
tudes of sparks flying. L tottered back
ward and fell heavily upon the pile of
dead in the trench. AS 1 went down
looked at Fleischmann. He stood erect,
with feet well spread, like some great
smashing. cutting. his lips compressed, his
jaws set with determination. He had
thrown away his coat long before; his hat
blood trickie down over his bronzed
cheeks. Into my heart came a great love |
for this mighty fighter. Then my light |
faded away into the great silence.
1t was Flelschmanns s voice in my ears |
that walSened me. 1 lay upon the grass |
in a small, open shed. He was bathing |
lection came back to me-, and stung into |
activity by my supposed danger rose to |
my feet. But the danger was past. Save |
for the dead and wounded there was not |
a Frenchman in sight. Fleischmann was
as calm as before the fight began. He |
told me that just as he was about to give |
We're IN full possession, but at what a |
fearful costl Out of ten thousand men
barely five hundred to answer the call.
l found Lowenberg lying on a heap of |
straw, his light flickering, his mind wan
dering. At intervals he gave orders, cried
out to his wife. or sang snatches of Ger
man ballads. One of his under officers,
who. was a physician, sat near. He shook
his head in answer to my inquiry. There
was no hope.
Presently my friend turned his head and
looked at me with eyes suddenly grown
clear. Adams he said, family, tell
the the boys & 1t was good fight They were
with clenched fist. For God and the
he cried in ringing tones,
and fell back dead.
We turned the French guns in the direc-
ton of the river and prepared to hold our
little fort for the expected assault. For
several hours there had been little or
no firing to the east, where the main
armies We're engaged. 1t was late after
noon now. The sky was becoming over
east. and the wind-iwas rising.
Presently the sound of firing rose again
All the guns in the world seemed to be
going. off at once. From our elevated po-
sition' We could see. far out on the plain.
| picked up glass from dead officer and ,
put it to mys eyes. There lay the pano-
rama of war Like moving patches of
lead lea grass appeared the opposing forces.
soft gray sea-island-cloth of the French ,
gave distinction enough. There was no
smoke, for this is the day of smokeless
powder. The center of fighting appeared |
% be well down the bend of the Marne.
and as 1 watched I could see that the
water was full of black specks. The !
French were being forced into the river
\ large body of the gray was hurrying up ,
he river bank, making for the Monte
oelier crossing. And we with but half a
men to defend it, IL
The wind increased in force. The skies
grew dark. And now, coming from the
south, appeared a shoal of small airships, |
If a new, dirigible type, with fans and
'udders They circled above us, hardly a
quarter of a mile away, and swung down
-oward the battlefield, heading into the !
gale in regular formation. And as l
watched a strange thing happened. The
ships were poised directly over the vic
orious Germans. Suddenly a series of {
peculiar popping reports came to my ears
saw the Germans breaking scattering,
away. from the French The {
ground beneath them, behind them, in l
ront Of them, sparkled, like the phos-
)horescent ocean. l saw the whole army
moving north, a struggling. disorganized I
lorde. They left behind them a brown |
rack, and as the sky ightened for a
moment 1 saw that the track was hu-
bodies of men prone upon the
,arth. ] called Fleischmann. Look" 1 I
,ried. 1.-The army is retreating. See the ..
parks. around them. What does it
nean? Q