The Breckenridge news., 1906-05-16

along the line. Fleischmann had fallen
fairly leaped ahead of us, his great sabre
sweeping down a row of bayonets as
scythe in ripe wheat The French stood
i'm a pit dug around the brow Of the hill
and fought like demons. There seemed to
be thousands of them. Our revolvers were
emptied Immediately. and II was then a
primitive hght-hand to hand, face to face,
shoulder to shoulder. l struck out to right
and left with but one idea-self- -preserva-
ton. AS in a 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
were clear inside the line. driving the
French before them. A few OF our men
gathered about us, and. almost surrounded
by the infuriated French we held our
own, lighting with the absolute despera-
ton that comes into mans heart but
once In a lifetime. We were fairly walled
in with the dead; yet as fast as they went
down others came forward. There seemed
to be no end to the cut and slash, the
eyes looking into our own with murderous
hate. Lowenberg was on my right; at his
right Fleischmann. welding, his sabre like
again. STEADY. weIi have them on the
run" But in my heart l knew that IL
could not be so; that we must go down, In
blood and dust, victims or misguided
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
desperate thrust sent his bayonet into
Lowenberg,s vitals All, God how II sick
gasp A mist obscured my sight; for a
moment l weakened and my sword wa
VerCd. Before | could recover, the butt OF
a musket appeared in the air immed. ,tely
before me and descended upon my head
My ears rang like foundry. The whole
world seemed suddenly to be whirling like
a EOurt IN of .IulN DinWleel with multi
tudes of sparks flying. | tottered back
ward and fell heavily upon the pile OF
looked at Fleschmann. He stood erect,
with feet well spread, like some great
war-god sabre in each hand, hewing.
smashing, cutting, his lips compressed, his
jaws set with determination. He had
thrown away his coat long before; his hat
was gone; cut on his temple let the
cheeks. Into my heart came great love
for this mighty fighter. Then my light
went out and the horrid noise OF war
faded away into the great silence.
Ii was Fleischmann's voice in my ears
that wakened me. | 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 F'renchman in sight. Fleischmann was
as calm as before the fight began. He
told me that just as he was about to give
were in full possession, but at what a
fearful cost! Out of ten thousand men
barely FIVE hundred TO answer the call.
i found Lowenberg lying on a heap OF
straw, his light fickering, 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
Presently my friend turned his head and
looked at me with eyes suddenly grown
clear. Adams" he said. family, tell |
the boys it was a good fight, They were
true Prussians. And tell-tell his Majes- |
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 dlrec- |
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 were engaged. 1t was late after |
noon now. The sky 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-
stion we could see far out on the plain.
| picked up a glass from a dead officer and
put Ii to my eyes. There lay the pano-
rama OF war Like moving patches OF
The brown khaki OF the Germans and the
soft gray sea-island-cloth OF the French
gave distinction enough. There was no
powder The center Of fighting appeared
to be we'll down the bend of the Marre,
and as / watched l could see that tie
water was full Of black specks. Tho
French Were being forced into the river.
A large body of the gray was hurrying u
the river bank, making for the Monte |
Pelier crossing. And we with but half
thousand men to defend It!
The wind increased in force. The skies
grew dark. And now, coming from the
south, appeared a shoal of small airships,
Of new, dirigible type. with fans and
rudders. They circled above us, hardly
quarter of 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
torlous 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
front Of them, sparkled, like the phos-
phorescent ocean. | saw the whole army
moving north, struggling. disorganized
horde. They left behind them a brown
track, and as the sky lightened for a
/ saw that the track was hu-
nan-the bodies Of men prone upon the
earth. / called Flelschmann. Look"
cried. "The army is retreating. See the
sparks around them. What does 1t
nean7"