Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-11-12

such luck. AS we climbed the hill the
downpour grew in violence until our
shoes were wet through and we sank
up to our ankles in the soft red earth.
They Sensed the Charge.
Some Of our fellows were coming
down the hill as we came up. Others,
stretched at full length at its brow,
were firing from behind miserable lit
tie mounds of earth that they had cast
up before we arrived We knew what
was expected Of US, and if there were
any orders given I didn't hear them
We just went up quietly, kicked those
other fellows out and lay down in the
red earth that bore the imprint Of
their bodies.
and then something hit the ground
in front of me with a noise like slap
on a pillow with the palm of ones
hand and Lay down, you fool" said
my pal. Cant you see they've got the
ranger"
That shot reused my ire. My rife
was loaded. I slipped it over the top
Of my little parapet and took a shot
at the first puff of haze that I saw rise
from the hill across the way. l hadn' t
been ordered to shoot, but | felt l had
to get back at that fellow who took a
shot at me. How he saw me l don't
know, for I hadn't seen a sign of a
man over there yet.
Like Great Wave.
Somehow we got the idea there was
something doing. Hold EN-, boys!"
said the lieutenant, who was kneeIing
just few feet behind me, and sure
enough down the side of the other hill,
almost in an instant, there rushed a
whole troop of cayalTy-uhlans, may
be, but more probably just regular
horsemen. AS far down the little val
ley as | could see they broke over the
edge Of that opposite hill like great
wave and swept down into the little
valley where the brook flowed
shot wildly two or three times, and
then | realized | must make good, so
took careful aim at a fellow who had
almost reached the brook, and so was
about a quarter of a mile away. and
III GU. put iNO ilOIe ItitO u4Ii US-
fore he stopped. and then his horse
no, he didn't rear up as I hoped he
would, but just crumpled and threw
him headlong
His Pal Also Claimed Credit.
Il got that one" | said to nay pal
He turned, the funniest looking face |
have ever seen toward me- The devil
you did. | got him myself" he said
AS a matter of fact, think we both
got him. l believe / got him twice
But they came on all the same, but
there weren't SO many of them as
there had been. The machine guns
and our little Lebels were doing the
work, and coming up that hill through
the bushes wasn't an easy task for
their horses, though we could see that
by this time they were urging them
on with might and main Funny men
those Germans! They seemed to like
to get killed / wondered if they
would get up the hill, and I turned
over to load my rifle again. When !
looked out they were almost there, a
pltiful few of them, and those few were
only half iozen when they reached
ou- lines. None came near me, but
saw some other fellows driving their
bay 0nets, held in their hands, into the
bellies of the horses.
Days Fighting to Be Done.
And then there weren't any of them
Only d few horses galloped madly
about. Some of these horses were
killed, ] am sure, by their own shrap.
mel fire, for | had just become con.
scious that little iron balls were rain.
ing all about US, and then. as soon as
| dared, I looked around and saw that
there weren't as many of US as there
had been. | thought they would give
US rest; but it was still morning,
and there was a days fighting to be
done, so we lay down in our trenches
and began to take pot shots at the
trenches on the other side
To the north and the south of us
they were getting guns in position. and
saw that it was soon going to be up
to US to try to do just what they had
done. They wanted our hill and wa
wanted theirs, but our methods were
not quite so reckless.
l was getting a little hungry. Furry
I should think of such a thing at suth
a time, but l was hungry, and my BAL
was, too; so we took down our haver-
sacks and gnawed a little food That
made us thirsty, but the fellows in the
rear were prepared, so we slipped back
and took great swigs of water from a
pail they had there. and smoked a Gig
arctic before going back to our posi-
tions. This sounds a little unlikely to
you, maybe, and little irregular: but.
as matter OF fact, we all came about
the same time. There was water for
all of US, and we all went back to our
places in unison. You don't need or
ders for such things as that. The in
stinct seems to hit everybody about
the same time.
Ordered TO Take Other Hill.
They weren't doing much across the
way. Our gunners had gotten their
range apparently, and they were kept
pretty busy preparing cover for them
selves; so for an hour or two we Just
lay there and smoked and talked.
chiefly smoked, and waited for some
thing to happen.
It wasn't long before something did
happen. That little lieutenant got his
orders from somewhere, and he told us
we were to take that other hill. 1t was