The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-10-26
The Man :
Who Thought
BY D0NAL HAMIl. TON HAINES
corvRrenr .s,o. nv rns ss.sson rvsLuass CO
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leel away WIN It's crown DlOWn u
bits, Burke lost his temper With
one hand he felt Of his head, and with
the other he rolled the limp boy be-
hind the shelter Of a stump.
Now stay therel" he shouted. And
for the love o mercy, don't load that
gum There's no tellin' when it might
go off an hurt somebody"
The slender force in front of the
bulky column was falling back sui
lenly. looking anxiously for their own
supports. The brown infantrymen
flied at them bindly, but the very
volume of the fire told, and the gray
uniforms melted back The sprawllng
column ran headlong toward the road
only half under control of their Off
GERS.
"What'd tell ye?" shouted the tail
man gleefully. I'VE got 'em on the
run already"
Burke grunted scornfully
You're liable to get hit in the stom
ach if them chaps take TO shootin'
high he retorted gruflly.
From the high ground toward which
the column was numbering, an unseen
and the steadily increasing hum OF
bullets overhead meant that re.en-
forcemeuts we're trickling into the en-.
emy's lines. Only the sight of the
retreating enemy kept the brown wave
of men going forward
How far are we gon' to chase them
fellers?' wheezed the old man.
"Til they turn round!' grunted
Burke, pausing for a snapshot at Il
gray figure
AT the edge of the pike the frantic
officers, sweating to carry out orders
from higher up finally succeeded In
checking tho blind. headlong rush of
the green troops, and got the lines
into hand The exhaustion Of the men
was enough to temper the flush of
their success and they listened to
reason.
well" demanded the tall man de-
family, what ye got to say now"
Burke, forlornly contemplating q
hole through his canteen, looked about
him and grinned.
We've got this far without fallin'
and breakn' our necks,' he admitted.
II didn't think we would"
why" chirped the tall soldier,
'this wars most over There must
have been ten thousand men in front
of us, an we killed most OF eml'
Burke glared at him in speechless
scorn
rs there goln to be more?' de
manded the boy
"Aint really got warmed up yet"
Burke told him
Turning where he sQuatted Burke
looked back over the country they
had crossed, and as far as he could
see in each direction, He had the rare
gift OF being able TO estimate large
bodies of men. and what he saw did
not reassure him
Something's slipped" he growled
anxiously, there ain't enough Of us
in sighti"
Burke only saw that the American
lines were too slender He did not
know that one brigade, which had
blocked his columns progress ia the
village, had been withdrawn after a
half-hearted furry Of firing. and that
the supporting column-blown like i'll
conditioned runners after their hot
march-had been drawn out Of touch
with even their own troops on the pre-
text Of relilling their cartridge belts.
Their commander had been thrown
from his horse, and the command had
fallen on a man who four weeks be-
fore had been teller In a bank
Along the edges Of the cleaning
white turnpike the two forces caught
their breath and commenced biting
sayagely at each other with their RI
fes Burke, lying on his side to get
the advantages of cover and have both
arms free for rapid loading, glanced
at the boy.
"StiIl scairt?" he queried cheerfully.
The lad turned to him a face fairly
stiffened with fright
"If you was as seart as | am" he
said through his chattering teeth,
you'd rum"
The fire grew hotter. Back from the
road on the other side rose a table
land, topped by two big farmhouscs
and a cluster of outbuldings Be
yond them rose the thick screen Of
timber Back Of the farm houses
battery was busy, and from all about
them came little jets Of fame, while
gray mist foated la the air. A lieu
tenant, kneeling behind bush where
Burke and his companions lay. caught
at an order which echoed to him down
the long line.
Fix bayonets,7 he yelled.
Burke looked al him with an express
sion of horror DO you mean 10
say" he commenced, then checked
himself and put his bayonet in place
with q savage Jerk the brown lines
staggered to their feet and swept out
into the open Burke chattering 70
himself as he ran
"Goin' up ILL.," he spluttered, "sn'
not a gun GOVERN u.s."
Tardily out with gathering effect
two regular batteries came into action
behind the rushing wave Of brown.
and their shells wrought chaos about
the group of farm buildings. Burke
grunted satisfaction.
That's something Ike. he ex-
claimed Wen make a mistake an
lick somebody YET If we amt careful!
There was a sharp cry behind him
and claiter Of metal He turned 10
see the boy lying on the ground.
Now that's happened" growled
Burke, as he dropped his rifle and
hurried back.
They've got me; knew they
would" 7Oaned the boy
Burke ore open the boys jacket
found nothing. frowned and continues
his search
ITS my head" the lad cried qusr~
lously. "A