The La Jara chronicle., 1906-05-25

.s...s--.-.
along the line. Flelsehmann had ialifn
back Shipping on a loose stone, HoS sahrs
fairly .Ieaped ahead OF us; hsv65nets ms as
scvthe In ripe wheat. The French stpGI POI
in a pit dug around the brow. brow ol seemed t.
be thousands OF them. Our revolvets were
emptied Immediately. and It was NC sace
primitive iisht-hand to hnmoi ,ck ias out to risht
and left with but one idea-selt I edeadI,-
tion. As in a dream l heard the er,,ntinSs u11iSS
OF straining men; the blasphemy' inc
shrek of the wounded. III, .o, o,r men
were falling back; and farther yet yet thSE re-
were clear inside the line. drivins MO-, ,a
French before them. A few OF of,,,olnnhed our iiied
by the infuriated French. we held our
own, fighting with the absolute despebhI b,,t
once in lifetime. We were fairy Fly, wniagT xxsni
in with the dead; yet as fast as they a,,,ed Me-
down others came forward Ihere re sb the
to be no end to the cut ana siasn, III
squirting of red blood the glare of , angry
eyes looking into our own with murder1,Tis ,,is
right Fleischmann. welding his sabre nm nm
again, STEADY. we'Ii have them on the
run" But in my heart l knew that IL
could not be so; that we must go down ~
blood and dust, victims of a missu'ueu
Then an ugly squat Frenchmap. VINO VINO
had been felled some time before Dy III IN
up through the heap of dead and WIN into "a
desperate thrust sent his bayonet sint trto
Lowenbergs vitals; AZ; SOD Sod anis hoM " with a
gasp. A mist obscured my sight; ior 70 a
moment 1 weakened and my SWORD va
vered. Before 1 could recover the eu,t ta,1 TI
a musket appeared in the air Immediately
before me and descended upon my taIa nsIu
MY ears rnnF Se foTnfby ta be ywhrns like
Fourth of July pinwheel. win IuIiti nun
tudes of sparks flying. l tottered pacR Rf
1 \ F.I1 lN.aHaN tlNW
%arf Send in ahq the tei trench. e As ' went down
looked at F'leischmann. He stood erect; erect
smashing. cutting. his lips compressed, ms
jaws set with determination he nau at
thrown away his coat long before; ms nat
was gone; a cut on his temple let the
blood trickle down over his bropzed
cheeks. Into my heart came great ioKt
for this mighty fighter. Then my, light
went out and the horrid noise OF war
faded away into the great silence. aors
1t was Fleischmanns voice in my ears
that wakened me. ! lay upon the graiss i.
in a small, open shed: He was bathiIiie banie
lection came back to me, and stung nv 70
activity by my. supposed danger l rose s, 10 20
for the dead and wounded there was not
a Frcnchman in sight. Fleischmann was
as calm as before the tight began. lie
up, his comrades came to the rescue. we
were in full possession, but at what
barely five hundred to answer the call.
/ found Lowenberg lying on a heap OF
straw. his light fiickering. his mind wan, wan
derlng. At intervals he gave orders, cried
out to his wife, 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
Presently my friend turned his head and
clear Adams he said, family, tell
the boys ii was n good fight They were
true Prussians.. And tell-tell his Males
ty-" He half rose and raised his arm
with clenched fist. For God and the
Fatherland." he cried in ringing tones
We turned the French guns in the direc-
tlon Of the river and prepared 10 hold GU, our
several hours there had been little or
no firing to the east. where the main
noon nrt,i,sI now, The sfy was becoming over
cast. and the wind was 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-
sitionN we could see far out on the plain;
picked up glass from dead officer and
put it to mya eyes. There lay the pano-
dead grass appeared the opposing forces.
soft gray sea-island-cloth of the French !
gave distinction enough; There was no
to be well down the bend of the Marne, |
Snf Wnter as was ~dtfhe fni Of black specks p The
French We're being forced into the river.
a large body of the gray was hurryinS up |
the river bank, making for the Monte
Pelier crossing. And we with but half
thousand men to defend 1t!
The wind increased in force. The skies
grew dark. And now, coming from the
south, appeared shoal of small airships, |
of a new, dirigible type, with fans and
rudders. They circled above us. hardly "A |
quarter of a mile away. and swung down
toward the battlefield, heading into the
gale in regular formation. And, as |
watched a strange thing happened. The |
ships were poised directly. over the vic,
torious Germans Suddenly n series of
peculiar popping reports came to my ears
saw the Germans breaking. SCATTERING,
running away from the French. The
ground beneath them. behind them, In
front of them, sparkled, like the phos-
phorescent ocean. l saw the whole army |
moving north, a struggling. disorganized
horde. They left behind them brown |
track, and as the sky lightened for a
moment l saw that the track was hu-
man-thc bodies of men prone upon the
earth. / called Fleischmann. Look, !
cried. "The army is retreat ting. See the
sparks around them. What does 1t
mean?"