The Irish standard., 1915-07-17


livid and their lips dumb. They +.
proved themselves to be f1rst.class
moles. They had done a good bit Of
work. They had undermined the
earth. They had stuffed the ground
with explosives, and if the enemy
comes tonight we shall repay the gifts
they lavished upon us from the sky
the other day with interest. They
have arranged 1t all like rat.trap.
Over there, beyond the mined field
even, two companies are lying in ex-
tended order And midway between
them, without vestige of cover,
stands our battery on the open field.
1t is planted there as If it were
doomed to be delivered into the
enemy's hands.
And no% we are lying in our long
trenches, and are peering out into the
field. with our eyes glued to the sharp.
ly outlined silhouettes of the guns.
The sun has set some time ago.
From the far distance the thin rat
tie of musketry reaches us clearly.
Wonder if it'll last much longer?
Our orders are to remain under
arms.
We have put on our overcoats. The
night is chilly, and lowering, gaze
out over the field of death-nothing
makes any difference to me now-if
only it were over quickly.
A scout has come in, and delivers
his rtport in a whisper.
Onr MT 70 Ava hn.
fore the order to fire is given, and
then to fire into the air.
In the background, far on the hori-
zon. the ground rises, and the gray
skyline stands out against the cloudy
sky The musketry fire has become
hotter from minute to minute, and
has increased to threatening rattle.
To the right and left of us fighting is
In full swing. In front of us the
mined field lies silent, and the two
companies too, are lying silent in their
rifle-pits.
am conscious that am terribly
tired-I can no longer keep myself on
my feet-my head sinks down on my
rifle-my eyes close-but the over.
strained nerves are still alert.
And now
The earth reverberates sullenly.
That's our battery! 1t is firing
straight into the darkness. So our
turn is coming now.
We hear how ours" over there are /
opening fire, and how 1t suddenly in.
creases. and dies down, and then again
swells to n maddening rattle. That
1t an attack by sharpshooters in over
whelming strength 4. they can
not be very far from one another now
=. and yet the battery goes on
believing, and Turing the enemy to
And now martial symphony rises
over the dark country bugles
shrill through the darkness, and
drums are rolling sullenly i
that means a general assault i
there rises q sound of shouting and
tramping a thunderous roar
of triumph rises to the dark sky
that is the shout of victory
from a thousand Threats in
their thousands they have charged
"curs' over there. and have crushed
them by assault. Ha, ha! thew
have taken battery by storm. |
Why, of sudden, has silence fail.
len what is the object of it
now it's our turn
Into the air! Rapid flre!" And
the volley crashes. And look there
over there the cheer rings out
again the signals for assault
sound and thousands of voices are
shouting 1t simultaneously i
there they are foaming up i
they are charging on, drunk with VIC
tory, in closed ranks thew
are rolling with roar over the mined
ned they are tramplng the
earth, as if with horses boots
that means death ! am lying
rigid now 1t must break, now
open my mouth wide
my rifle is trembling in my grasp.
And then
The earth has opened her mouth
lightnings, crashes and thun-
behring's, and the heaven splits in twain
and falls down in flame-the earth
%hirls upwards in shreds men
and the earth blaze and hurtle through
the air like catharine wheels
| and then crash, madden
ing uproar, strikes us full in the chest.
80 that we reel backward to the
ground, and half-consciously struggle
for breath In the sand and
now +. the storm is over
the pressure Of the atmosphere re-
lakes off our chest we breathe
deep only scattered, dancing
flames now and squibs fire.
works. II
But what on earth has happened?-,
We peer out fearfully over our
earthworks.
Has r.! hell opened its mouth? i
There rises a noise of screams and
yells, an uproar so unnnaturally wild
and unrestrained that we cringe up
closer to one another and,
trembling, we see that our faces, our
uniforms, have red, wet stains, and
distinctly recognize shreds of flesh on
the cloth. And among our feet some
thing is lying that was not lying there