The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-09-14

met with hail of bullets. We sud
denly feel as If attacked by fever. but
this feeling very soon leaves US. Al
ternately dropping ourselves to FIRE.
and jumping to our feet 10 rush
across the open, we more ana more
approached the enemy, who were as
sembing IN strong forces. But so
were cur troops. The earth was shak-
en- by the incessant cannona ding. and
the air torn by the continuous rat
Ting OF rife FIRE. We rushed for
ward, that is to say our escouade, in
order to reach a piece of ground sur
rounded by low dykes. A comrade on
my right stumbled. dropped forward
without uttering a sound, killed by a
shot in the breast. A man in front
of me threw UP his arms, fell. strug-
gled to his feet. fell again, and tC'est
ca were his last words.
I'VE had reached the aforesaid
piece of ground, twelve of u.s. /
looked around for a moment A ter
rible battle was raging, and so ut
terly horrible were the scenes around
me that up to this moment l cannot
believe that have really lived to see
that. The widest phantasy cannot
imagine such a horror, in which alb
solutely nothing human is left, and
which could not be equallei by the
most bloodstirring fancies OF a horde
of devils
"a shell exploded near us, follow
ed by terrible cry Five Of us were
lying dead on the little square. One
man had both his legs blown off, ami
was still alive and conscious, implor-
ing us to kill him. An officer ran
past, stopped. and after a short look
at the man, shot him through the
heart. Ca vaut mieux' he said, pa
uvre diable. He opened his mouth
10 utter a command at his men, and
at the same moment got bullet in
his mouth. He turned round twice
and fell heavily on the dyke close by
ms.
"At a good distance behind us Red
Cross soldiers and two Red Cross
Friars, carrying the Red Cross flag.
were STOPPING over the wounded and
removing them to the ambulance
vans. A she'll exploded over their
heads and only couple of the Red
Cross men were left
More hostile troops have been adj
losses, but on our side also the num-
Der of casualties is very large, and
our position seems to become criti-
cal. We have to retreat, are, in fact,
Fresh French batteries
are put into action. / am just look
ing at a German battery which is be-
ing turned in our direction when it
is hit by two shells simultaneously.
The German artillerymen at the guns
are swept away, two guns destroyed.
"One moment It seems as If the
enemy are hesitating, and we avail
ourselves of the opportunity to dash
forward, infiicting great damage on
them.
>.-They are undoubtedly preserving
our men are, and they display re-
markable self-control. Notwithstand-
ing the appalling scenes around me,
I, TOO, feel perfectly calm now, and,
terrible though it may seem, con-
fess that without moments tremble
/ aim at my living targets, shoot and
watch the effect of my bullet. So do
all Of u.s. They do not waste their
cartridges. The enemy outnumbered
us. however, so much that we could /
not offer a longer resistance without
exposing ourselves and the main |
army to an enormous danger.
"The retreat is carried out splend-
idly. / have just reached the crease
of a hill when / feel a slight shock in !
the left shoulder. nothing else / do
not heed it, but some moments after
wards / feel a burning pain in the
shoulder, and ! perceive that am
wounded and that the weight OF my !
left arm seems to increase. Sometime
afterwards / find myself neatly in
stalled IN field hospital.
Here is my nurse again, with her
pleasant smile. She says / have done
enough writing now. and that / had
better have my dinner. And III you
don't obey at once. you naughty boy,
she added, I shall have TO punish /
you / wonder what the punishment
would be like. Well. fortunately,
have ended the report so that can
obey her And my dinner is only too
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