Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1914-11-11
THE WORLD SET FREE:
By H. G. WELLS
Copyright. 1914. by II. G WELLS

lie had been unendurable and |
believe some one had shot him dead. |
had been wanting to do 30 for some
time"
The enemy began sniping the rife.
pits from shelters they made for them
selves in the woods below A man
was hit In the pit next to Barnet and
began cursing and crying out in a VIC
lent rage. Barnet crawled along the
ditch to him and found him in great
pain. covered with blood. frantic with
Indignation and with the half Of his
right hand smashed to Il pulp Look
ut this!' he kept repeating. hugging it
and then extending it. I'D foolery!
D-d fooIery! My right hand. sir.
My right hand.'
For some time Barnet could do moth.
ing with him. The man was consumed
by his tortured realization Of the evil
Stiffness Of war. the realization which
had come upon him In flash with the
bullet that had destroyed his skill and
use rs an artificer forever. He was
looking at the vestiges with a horror
that made him impenetrable to any
other idea. At last the poor wretch
let Barnet tie up his bleeding stump
and help him along the ditch that con
Quoted him OBVIOUSLY out of range.
When Barnet returned his men were
already calling out for water. and all
day long the line Of pits suffered great
~ from thirst. For food they had
chocolate and bread
AT first" he says, II was extraordi
narily excited by my baptism Of fire
Then as the heat Of the day came on
experienced an enormous tedium and
discomfort. The flies became extreme
ly troublesome and my little grave Of
rifle pit was invaded by ants.
could not get up or move about. for
some one In the trees had got mark
on me. I kept thinking Of the dead
Prussian down among the corn and of
the bitter outcries Of my own man.
ID foolery! 1t was ID foolery.
But who was to blame? How had we
got to this?
early in the afternoon an aeroplane
tried to dislodge US with dynamite
bombs, but she was hit by bullets once
or twice and suddenly dived down over
beyond the trees.
"'From Holland to the Alps this day.
l thought, there must be crouching
and lying between half million men,
trying to inf1ict irreparable damage
upon one another. The thing is id!otic
to the pitch of impossibility. 1t is a
dream. Presently shall wake up
Then the phrase changed itself in
my mind. Presently mankind will
wake up
II lay specializing just how many
thousands Of men there were among
these hundreds Of thousands. whose
spirits were in rebellion against all
these ancient traditions Of flag and en-
pire. Weren't we. perhaps. already in
the throes Of the last crisis. in that
darkest moment of nightmares hor-
ror before the sleeper will endure no
more Of it-and wakes?
II don't know how my speculations
ended. l think they were not so much
ended as distracted by the distant
thudding of the guns that were open.
ing fire at long range upon Namur."
But as yet Barnet had seen no more
than the mildest beginnings Of mod
ern warfare. So far he had taken part
only in little shooting. The bayonet
attack by which the advanced line
was broken was made at place called
Croix Rouge, more than twenty miles
away, and that night. under cover Of
the darkness. the rifle pits were aban-
doned and he got his company away
without further loss.
His regiment fell back impressed be-
hind the fortified lines between Namur
and Sedan. entrained at station call
ed Mettet. and was sent northward
by Antwerp and Rotterdam to Haar-
lem. Hence they marched into North
Holland. 1t was only after the march
into Holland that he began to realize
the monstrous and catastrophe nature
Of the struggle in which he was play
ing his undistinguished part
He describes very pleasantly the
journey through the hills and open
land of Brabant, the repeated cross
Ing OF arms Of the Rhine and the
change from the undulating scenery of
Belgium to the fat, rich meadows, the
sunlit dixie roads and the countless
windmills Of the Dutch levels. In
those days there was unbroken land
from Alkmaar and Leiden to the Dol
lart. Three great provinces. South
Holland, North Holland and Zuitlerzee
land, reclaimed at various times be-
tween the early tenth century and
1915 and all many feet below the leve
Of the waves outside the bikes. spread
out their lush poders to the northern
sun and sustained a dense industrious
population. An intricate web of laws
and custom and tradition insured a
perpetual vigilance and perpetual
defense against the beleaguering sea
For more than $50 miles from Wal
cheren to Friesland stretched line OF
embellishments and pumping stations
that was the admiration of the world.
If some curious god had chosen tt
watch the course OF events in those
northern nrOVincpS while that fla n kin