Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-11-23
AUGUST And armand !
were TIRED Of WAR
The Dutch Drummer Van Sloot Insisted They Were Not
Game-"They Were Not Good Soldiers" Said He
what Would Become of the War if All Soldiers
Acted as They Dido"

This Frenchman,' said Van Sloot,
'fell In the darkness. When he rose
he had lost his direction. He heard
men running and calling all about
He could not tell which was friend
and which was enemy"
He crept cautiously on, his rifle al
the ready. All the time he conscious
ly veered away from danger. He fell
again-this time in the funnel shaped
hole that had been scooped out by a
German shell. 1t offered him security
against stray bullets. So he settled
there for the night. first feeling about
mans nerves were shaken. He had q
greater dread Of dead men sharing the
pit with him than Of live foes.
1.-THE German, too, lost his friends"
said the Dutch travelling man. IT don't
know how. But he found himself
alone there in the night. He heard
the cries. He saw the red daggers Of
fire cut the darkness. But he did not
know which way to 60"
So, when he came to the stump of
an old. tree. he determined to stay
there for the night. BY daylight it
might offer him some slight protection
he was tired-tired almost to death.
For days he had been dragging him.
self over muddy roads on half rations.
He had marched at night instead Of
sleeping. or he had attacked or been
attacked. He stretched himself out on
the moist Belgian turf. Before he
knew it he was fast asleep.
"He says he woke himself up nee
or twice." said Van sloot, ''by snoring.
I don't know"
| Fifty yards distant the Trenchman
had curled himself up in his muddy
refuge. He, too. was numb with
fatigue. His very bones ached. He
saw before him the pleasant prospect
Of hours OF uninterrupted rest. No
one knew where he was. He pulled
the skirts Of his long coat over his
knees and slept. The suns rays were
warm upon him when he woke.
hole" said tho Dutchman. Carefully,
! you know, for fear some one might be
watching. Fifty yards away he saw
the German sitting up by his stump,
whistlinE. He thought he was all
The Frenchman did his duty as a
soldier. He shot at this stranger, SIT
ting whistlins by q stump. The strang-
er wore the g~reen-gray uniform Of the
official enemy-somewhat dirty and
daubed, but still recognizable. He
was plainly a stranger to be shot at.
But the Frenchman missed.
There followed q long, weary vigil.
Tho German stretched himself behind
his stump, his rifle thrusting It the
shell hole in which the French,nan lay
hidden. The Frenchman found him
self at a disadvantage. He made with
a stick a little peephole in the mud
ramparts Of his hide-out through
which he could watch the Allemand.
Hut he could not take aim without
exposing himself.
They shot at each other three or
four times" said Van sloot, 'but they
didn't hit. Neither man could align
his sights on the others head without
Offering q better target than he got"
Thirst tormented them. A dead man
lay near the German, with black flies
buzzing over him. The Frenchman
could that bit or human wreck
age. too: Once he was sure he saw
fort for o he aV ~at aG his ey ss a BUT fsaen wh EN-
he looked back again he was certain
the dead man had shifted his posi-
ton. The blank eyes looked directly
at him. There wal SLAYER on its
mouth. as though 1t had died in
agony. The Frenchman elevated his
rifle. butt upwards.
"Bosch!" he cried. "Bosch!"
The German put up his musket butt
in token Of an armistice. Without
leaving their defenses they called to
Zach other. why should we murder
each other?" they asked. I'VE have
no quarrel. Let us talk it over"
So they shook hands and went to
the canal and drank and shared the
Germans sausage. They told each