The Greeley tribune., 1906-05-24

DUCK, slipping on a loose stone. Now he
Llirly leaped ahead of us, his great sabre
sp,s,pg swe,eping down q row OF bayonets as
IN u pit dug around the brow of the hill
ana fought like demons, There seemed to
oe thousands of them. Our revolvers were
primitive iiSht-hand to hand. face to face,
shouldSr 10 shoulder | struck out to right
ana ana left with hut one idea-self- -preserva-
uoh; As in a dream heard the deadly
c.ash Of metal. the putting and grunting
o. stfaining men,. the blasphemy; the
shriek of the wounded.
We're railing 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 lifetime We were fairly walled
In with the dead; yet as fast as they went
down others came forward. There seemed
squirting, of red blood. the glare of angry
eyes looking into our own with murderous
hate. ,Lowenberg was on my, right; at his
again, steady We'll have them on the
run; But in my heart l knew that it
principle.
Then an ugly. squat Frenchman. who
mad been felled some time before by one
of Lowenberg's lightning strokes, wriggled
up through the heap of dead. and with a
ened me. My beloved friend sank with
gasp. mist obscured my sight; for a
moment l weakened and my sword Wa
vered.. Before 1 could recover. the butt of
a musket appeared in the air Immediately
before me and descended upon my head.
My ears rang like a foundry. The whole
world seemed suddenly to be whirling like
n Fourth of July. pinwheel. with multi
tudes of sparks flying. | tottered back,
dead in the trench. As ! 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 trickle down over his bronzed
cheeks Into heart hearts came great S eSe
faded away into the great silence.
1t was Fleischmann's voice in my my ears
IN inaa Wnafeo sma open e she'd Jay He p Was s bathing
my head with cool water. Quickly recol-
lection came back to me, and stung into
my my feet. feet But the danger was past. Save
for the dead and wounded there was not
Frenchman in sight, Fleischmann was
told me that just as he was about to give
up, his comrades came to the rescue We
We're in full possession, but at what a
fearful cost! Out of ten thousand men
barely five hundred to answer the call.
l found Lowenberg lying, on heap OF
straw, his light tiickering. his mind wan,
dering. AT intervals he gave orders. cried
man ballads. One Of his under officers,
M Who d was a physea1 r. sat v mean innrY There
Presently my friend turned his head and
clear. Adams" he said, family. tell
the boys it was a good fight. They were
true Prussians. And tell,,-teli his Majes-
with clenched fist "For God and the
Fatherland," he cried in ringing tones,
and fell back dead.
ton of the river and prepared to hold our
little fort for the expected assault. For
several hours there had been III little ,,,ip or
noon on now. The. SKY was. becoming over
and the he wnu aoanI Mas Of ng rose again
All the guns in the world seemed to be
going off at once. From our elevated po-
I picked up glass from dead officer and
put it to my eyes. There lay the, panoss
rama Of war. Like moving patches OF
The The bETown Edvaa Khaki Of the Germans and the
soft gray sea a-island-cloth Of the French
gave distinction enough; Ihere o vas oa.e,oee NO
powder. The center Of tighting appeared
to be well down the bend of the Marne,
and as / watched I could see that ,t TIE
water was full of black specks Inc
French were being forced into the river.
A large body of the gray was hurrying "
the river bank, making for the Mont
Pelier crossing. And we with but halt
thousand men to defend 1T!
The wind increased in force. The skies les
grew dark And now, coming from the
south, appeared a shoal of small airshlps;
Of a new, dirigible type, with fans ana
rudders. They circled above us, hardiy ,,,s
quarter of a mile away, and swung down
toward the battlefield, heading into the
gale in regular formation: And as s,,d !
ships were poised directly, over the VIC.
torious Germans. Suddenly a series OF
peculiar popping reports came to my ears
/ saw the Germans breaking. scatterlng
running away from the French Inc
ground beneath them, behind them, IN
front of them, sparkled, like the phos.
phorescent n ocean. | saw the whole army my
moving north, struggling disorgani1en nnnn
horde. They left behind them a pro"n
track. and as the sky lightened Tor
moment / saw that the track was nu- M
mantle bodies of men prone upon iig
earth. / called Fleischmann: Look'
cried. .The army is retreating see tne ne
sparks around them. What does II
mean?'