The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1914-02-14

| bush and settled down to wait
the long day through. He could
see the hilltop from where he
lay, could see things that looked
like flies swarming over it.
He saw squads of men come
down the hill and wander about
crafty, though with a purpose.
Spinning webs of barbed wire, he
was certain. He saw two treeless
belts, one three-quarters of the
way up the hill, and the other
right at the top.
Night came after centuries of
waiting and he left his shelter.
He walked mile, perhaps. Then
he .crouched and crawled at times,
seldom standing erect. Always he
kept his eyes on the wavering
lights above him; at frequent in
tervals he paused and strained his
ears. The lights died out, one at
time, and bugles blew the army
before him to sleep. He went on.
From the top of the rise above
him shot a binding eyes of
light. It pierced the distance to
the northward for an instant, SET
tied to the ground with a jerk
and swept in a gigantic arc over
the. country, slowly, securing the
open places, Illuminating the
brush. Jimmy dropped just be-
fore 1t reached him, flattened his
face in the sand. He could see
the white glare all about him for
time. Then it became dark
again and he looked up to see the
finger of white drilling the night
far away.
The man took a long chance on
the open country and made a eau
tious run for It. He went quietly
until his foot slipped and he went
down, banging his head on a rock.
The blow made him dizzy and the
noise he made terrified him. But
he got up and stumbled along in
the darkness, ready to flop to the
ground the instant the search
light turned his way again. He
gained the timbered stretch that
was above and breathed easier. 1t
was more difficult to travel, of
course, for the brush was stiff and
thick, but he was under cover at
least. Jimmy reached out his
hand to draw aside what, in the
darkness, looked like a vine. The
points of barbed wire dug into
the flesh of his hands and he
stood very still for a long time,
listening for footsteps. Once more
came the finger of light and he
squatted in the bushes while 1t
made the stunted forest glow.
With great difficulty Jimmy
wormed his way through the wire.
1t cut his clothing and 1t pricked
his flesh, but he did not heed. On
he went again, making every
move taken him nearer the crest
of the hill and making every mo-
ton as near noiseless as was pos
sible. He worked his way through
another wire net, worse than the
first. Then the light came back
and he lay still for a long time.
Perhaps it was a fortunate thing
that he did not feel compelled to
lay still, for he heard something
"a faint and regular sound. He
pressed his ear to the ground and
strained to listen. 1t grew
stronger, stopped, receded, and
died away. After a time it came
back again, growing stronger but
not strong, stopping, and, after a
deliberate interval, resuming,
only to die off. After he had
crawled fifty yards more and
stopped to listen, he heard the
sound plainly. In fact, he could
hear the boats that made 1t swish
ing through the grass. He waited
until the sentry reached the end
of his post and turned back. With
utmost caution, then, he hurried
along for many yards, stopped,
while the soldier came and went
scarcely breathing, and waited
again.
Thus he proceeded. Two more
! wire webs ripped his clothing and
haggled his flesh; three more SEN
tries patrolled the path he took.
Out OF the brush he worked, into
the open strip, not four hundred
yards from the ridge, where low
bushes and heavy grasses grew
thickly. He crawled a short way
into this and then sat up, looking
about his boldly.
Jimmy laughed crafty. War!
This was It! This was that for
which he had worked and waited
and deserted and broken from
1.-THE guardhouse! He wanted Just