El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-03
a Baptism of Fire


to take and destroy a village which
lay in the valley b. the riverside. and
their operations would be confined to
the lower ground The heights above
would be entirely untroubled, unoccu-
pied.
And so I had gained these afte-
walking five miles over gentle slopes
of short scrub grass, and then lain me
/ down on the ridge, and watched the
sk1rmishing. the attack and the capture
through a pair Of glasses From the
distance it had all seemed very tame
There were little puffs Of gray smoke.
men fell, others came on at a run
ziSzaggtng in and out in entire dis
order, made their weapons and ac-
coUtrements glitter in the sun, and
then disappeared under cover Of th..
mud and bamboo. More smoke arose
In puffs from the lanes between the
houses. And then a stream of black
flag Chinese began to pour out on the
run, some of them pitched forward and
lay still, and the others opened out
/ to let these by. and others limped and
Jagged behind the general pace and a
I quite irregular crackle from the Wiz
lage, like the burning Of brushWOOd,
told me what was causing these things.
But when the black flags were out of
range and the firing ceased, the valley
{ dropped into dread quietude and there
was nothing more TO see. I yaWned
over ii for another half-hOur, and then
, smoked a couple OF cigarets and be-
gan my dejeuner- The regiment OF
Black Flags, which came down upon
me. must have started climbing the
hill face the very minute 1 quilted
[ the ridge.
/ Instinct as I say. jerked me to my
feet, and instinct must have given me
prodigiOus start, for when my first
wits came to me, I found myself run
ming like a frightened dog The officer
gave me a second shot which cut a
gutter down my feet, and then his
men opened out with Remington rifles.
I don't know how many fired. 1t
seemed as II 10000, 600 bullets Whisped
past me, and I had a notion 1 was hit
in 20 places But nothing clOgged my
legs, and although my heart was try
ing hard TO jump clear Of its mornings,
ran on at treshened pace. There
wasn't more terrified man in Asia
that minute The shots came dropping
after me; shots and cries OF chase in
barbarOus Chinese; and the world
swan in front. Terror undiluted made
me a running autOmatOn
Beyond a doubt the most coWardly
Frenchman in the east that moment
was myself I cid not attempt TO con-
trOVert this TACT / ran on. Cringfng
from every buleet that rustled past
me or spurted up the ground beside
my leaping feet but I sought to find
excuses for my conduct. For good be-,
naFlOr they had raised me from the
ranks to a non commissioned officer:
to lead and be an example to the rest
of the rank ard file when a pinch
came, and here / was leading the wrong
way and setting the worst Of all ex-
amples-
How long I ran on in this blinded
state I canOt tell, but a sharp sting
OF pain set my wits a-gOing. 1t felt
ike the scar OF hot metal burning and
frying. and the hurt came somewhere
from the round Of the left shoulder.
instantly my mood woke again For
the first time there grew upon me a
vague resentment against the crew
who were yelling and firing in chase:
and as I scurried on, and the i'll aimed
bullets threw their rushing halo Of
sound around my head and limbs. this
increased to a Wild. poisonous hate.
Then, for the first time, I remem-
bered my revolver. With bungliEg
ringers / upholstered il. and, turning
flred six rapid shots One man clapped
ElS hands 10 his face, screamed Shrilly
ike child. and pitched to the earth.
MS pigta1l swinging up in the air as
though II had been a black Whiplash.
/ had II in me to have leaped on that
man mad been near him, and crushed
the remaining life out Of him with
bare hands and then have kicked and
offered insults TO his dead body. I
was no longer French gentleman
then, 1 was a savage beast, lustful 70
tear my enemies threats.
turned again and fled on. the
breath coming in thick, sObbing pants I
A whole rusillade OF vengefuI shots
were exchanged in return, but none
of them found me. and laughed aloud
IN triumph Whatever happened now
1 had killed my own weight Of enemy.
But as 1 say, I wanted desperately I
10 90 more and now that the paralysis {
OF terror and excitement had flashed I
away, my mind was beginning to work
with craft and cunning. To the left
were the French lines and safety. In
'front.'. and a balls throw beyond the :
road. was the yellow turbid stream Z
OF the river
1t was impossible to reach the camp /
even had I wished It, The Black FLAGS /
mad anticipated the move and had de-
tailed off a party to out flank me in 4
that direction BY turning off to the I
right 1 might very well bring down I
the enemy upon our eNpeditionary /
force on their march back from the 4
village. They might be prepared to re-
relVe them, and again they might not. |
and would have died ten times sooner |
than any move Of mine for my own I
saIety should bring disaster on my ]
comrades Our branch of the service /
gets sneered at enough as il is.
SO raced on for the road and passed /
=. and labored down to the river The (
snoIS came fast and thick now, and :
Two more bullets Erazed me. but I [
Waded through the shadows without I
further hurt and gained the deep tawny /
river beyond.
A sampan was moored 1000 yards out /
and little down stream. I made for Z
it with long. bursting dives. There
were half a dozen men on board. jump
ing, gesticulatng, and crying warn /
ings; and once when I came up from an \
underwater swim one of them let fly
a matchbox at me. I saw him blow
his smoking fuse. and fire tt was
loaded with birdshOt. but I was too
close for the charge to scatter, and so
1t all missed me
Another dive and I was upon them
and they received me with knife stabs
and how the fight turned next I /
could not tell But Of a sudden, with
a clink and a gasp and a downward
blow 1 came by my wits again. ana Z
found that I was on board the sampau I
with curved Chinese sword in my Z
hand; and one man lay dead and bleed
ing at my feet, another was dead and /
floating face dOwnwards with the cur
rent astern- And the rest were swim
ming to the shore and 20 Black Flags
were firing over their heads as fast
as they could.
Ny pistol was gone and 7 could do !
no more on the offensive. The wish for .
fight had left me; the lust for life
alone remained I cut the painter and Z
lay on the sampan's bottom. while she
drifted down with the current into our
own lines.
And yet my officers were pleased to
call me brave. md the General orar-a ma ]