The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1912-06-01
A TifaieGh Anniversary WAR Story
By RANDALL PARRISH
COPYRIGHT 1902 BY A. c. MecLURC & co.

OF low tangled bushes, or drifting
smoke clouds. OF a solid gray mass
breaking through. Of sunlight SHIN.
mering along front Of leveled steel;
then jerked the lanyard and mingled
smoke and flame burst forth.
All that followed was pandemonium.
rush. roar. lcaping. shapeless figures.
! could perceive nothing clearly; oil
remember was that we were firing
canister. the detected guns leaping
mad!y back with the recoil. growing
hot to the hand
trod on bodies as toiled heard
through the sitting volume OF smoke.
the Internal uproar, hoarse shouting
OF unrecu.,nizuDle orders. the wild
scream Of wounded horse. a single
mad oath. an agonized voice yelling
from behind. Where the devil is the
infantryY Yet all that l actually rea.
lized then were those distorted black
shapes springing back and forth from
that gun mtlzZle. and the lanyard
grasped In my hand That alone was
my work. my duty. and 1 must stand
10 II until died Two years OF iron
discipline had made me into a ma.
chine.
Something burned my shoulder like
a sudden squirt OF flame: ! felt sick
from the shock and chung desperately
to the breech to keep from falling.
l saw faces here and there amid the
brown whirls of smoke. strange. un.
known repulsive faces. rendered hide
Gus from the strain OF conflict. My
gun toppled over. one wheel smashed
into splinters. 1 saw Wyatt turn and
run for the rear. and Parkhurst flung
backward as though shot from cata-
putt 1 jerked the rammer out OF his
dead. clutching hands. and began striz-
ing tiercely at the crush Of gray figures
ieaping toward me. Then everything
went blank. and ! pitched over under
the wreck. ~
1t was dark when I slowly reopened
my eyes and endeavo red to look about.
dark and still. except for faint CLEAN
OF distant stars. and the awful CUR
Cling OF some desperately wounded
man lying not far away. My head
throbbed feverishly from pain, and
my right side ached horribly as first
attempted to move my body. Above
me was the black breech OF the gun.
and my extended hand touched the
single wheel UNFOLDING It. the spokes
ragged from splinters. 1t hurt me so
desperately to turn over that remain
cd motionless for long time. staring
straight up at the sky. listening intent.
ly for each sound. and endenvoring to
think. In measure the situation soon
became sufficiently clear-that fierce
charge OF the enemy had reached us
unchecked. and we had lost the guns.
Had we also lost the battle?
How deadly still the night was, not
shot echoing anywhere. not a foot
step. not a voice; only that awful
gurgling breathing yonder to the left!
One OF my feet pressed against body.
and l moved 1t carefully. although
even this slight action resulted in a
sharp twinge of pain. could per.
ceive another form huddled In n
shapeless heap against the wheel. and
as my hand reached out cropping to.
ward the right It touched an ice cold
face was afraid to ascertain the
truth. Had l been badly injured3
Was I crippled for life?
At length. my teeth clinched In final
determination to know the worst. I
endeavored to feel along my side
where the twinges of pain seemed
most severe. but only to discover my
rough wooden shirt. still from con.
gealed blood. My lips were dry and
cracked. my tongue parched and swol.
lea. Suddenly In the stiffness ] dis
tinguished the sound of some one ap-
preaching and sank down again. mo-
tionless. listening.
They came sinking toward me from
out the night much as jackals might
creeping along from body to body.
mumbling to each other ns they crop
ed around In the darkness. occasion
ally lifting their heads to listen, like
hunted wild beasts. recognized them
a. the scOurge OF the battlefieid-hu