The Dermott news., 1914-12-31
By CAPT. F. E. KLElNscAMIoT.

Berlin It is midnight The re- serve battalion of the Forty yninth Prussian infantry regiment swings from the broad maeadamized highway into q muddy country road. Out of the darkness looms large farmhouse surrounded by stables and large barn. it Is their destination for the night Behind the reserve battalion follows a battery Stealthily. with out sound. they have all arrived for the Russians are not lar away, very likely wonder where the dark line shows the beginning ot q forest
 The leader laFs eu fhe window Open. please. Quarters tar tonight Tho door fs opened and room is made ready for thu officers. The men must find place 10 sleep in the barn, which is faa of hay and straw. but before turuu- iu. sowe want th" warmth of tae fire and q cup of coffee They open the kttchcn and an elderly man from Tho reserve, -.aoiWehr. man. formerly a rural letter carrier. ulses fire and begins ta grind oof fee
 Are there any Russians around here" someone asks the farmer
 No. they We're here yesterday All are away now"
 The officers are looking around in the rooms not used by their host and family. and then stretch their weary legs on the wooden benches in the large living room In the barn on the threshng floor filled with straw the men are making themselves comfort able Like "willo the-wisp' flashes here and there a pocket lamp or a cigar igniter. careful that not a glim mer of light may be seen towards the forest Strict orders for the greatest secrecy have been given.
 One of the men has a creepy feel ing. imagining that something Is not quite right. and voices his feelings, but he Is mocked by his comrades, who are too tired to bother about spooks. Another, climbing tho straw pile. suddenly feels something nov ing under his foot
 Hidden m the Straw.
 There is somebody here. Make light, Here, Here,"
 Out Of the straw a gray cap, sec ond. a third Bearded faces pop up everywhere The whole threshing floor of straw Is alive in a moment. petty officer jumps out Of the barn door. seizes his gun, and now levels 1t at the dark forms
 Hands up. say Don't you move" One gets rap with the butt He fires. and a second one rolls insensible down the strawpile.
 Hands up, say"
 Everywhere gray forms are stretch ing hands toward heaven. At the same time, outside the barn commences a furious firing The men jump to heir rifles and out of the yard. Or drrs are being shouted, but how to obe. where to go, in this pitch dark ness, and out of this hell-hole-is the question. You cant see your next man. let alone the enemy The Rus sians-thtre. wonder, on the edge of the forest
 Yes, wonder flash a hundred lights. They rattle and crack like whips, and bullets batter on the walls or splash on the ground. In the kitchen stands the grizzly old veteran, busy with his coffee-pot "Oh bosh, 1t won't amount to anything" he growls to himself. A window-pane shatters and the man falls headlong to the floor. Here cry. there groan. but now the rifles begin to bark on the Prussian side also. The men have jumped behind the stone wall. behind trees and stone fences. and are firing as best they can into the darkness in the face of spit ting lightning on the edge of the for.