The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1915-01-01

The colonel of the 12Sth had not
looked for immediate resistance. He
had told Fracasse's men to occupy the
knoll expeditlously. But by the com
mon impulse Of military training, no
less than In answer to the Whistles
call, In face OF the whitening fire they
dropped to earth at the base OF a
knoll, where Hugo threw himself
down at full length In his place In line
next to Peterkin.
Fire pointblank at the crest In
front Of you! | saw couple Of men
standing up there!" called Fracasse.
Fire fast! That's the way to keep
down their fire--pointblank, tell you!
You're firing into the sky! | want to
see more dust kicked up. Fire fast!
Well have them out OF there soon!
They're only an outpost"
Hugo was firing vaguely, like a man
In a dream. PilZer was shooting to
kill His eye had the steely CLEAN
Of his rifle sight and the liver patch
on his cheek was a deeper hue as he
sought to avenge Eugene's death.
Drowned by the racket Of their own
fire. not even Peterkin was hearing
the whish-whish OF the bullets from
Dellarme's company now. He did not
know that the blacksmith's son, who
was the fourth man from him, lay with
his chin on his rifle stock and tiny
trickle Of blood from a hole in his
forehead running down the bridge of
his nose.
Young Dellarme. new to his cap.
tain's rank, watching the plain
through his glasses, saw the move.
ment of mounted officers to the rear
of the 12Sth as a reason for summon.
ing his men.
Creep up. Don't show yourselves.
Creep up - carefully-carefully." he
kept repeating as they crawled for
ward on their stomachs. And no one
is to fire until the command comes"
Hugging the cover of the ridge of
fresh earth which they had thrown up
the previous night, they watched the
white posts. Stransky, who had been
rum,natiyely silent all the morning.
-. IN his place, but he was not look
| Ing at the enemy. Cautiously, to avoid
a reprlmand, he raised his head to en-.
able him to glance along the line. All
the faces seemed drawn and clayish.
"They don't want to fight. They're
just here because they're ordered here
and haven't the character to defy au
thority," he thought. The leaven is
working! My time is coming"
For Dellarme the minute had come
when all his training was to be put tc
a test. The figures on the other side Of
the white posts were rising. He was tt
prove by the way he directed com
pany of infantry in action whether OF
not he was worthy Of his captains
rank He smiled cheerily. In order
that he might watch how each mar
used his rifle, he drew back Of the line
f-aA----.a-.a..~.see a he rested or
one knee. his head level with tne
other heads while he fingered his
whistle. The instant that Eugene
Aronson sprang over the white pos
a blast from the whistle began the
war.
1t was signal. too, for Stransky
to play the part he had planned; tc
make the speech of his life. His 81,
feet of stature shot to its feet with
a Jack-in-the-box abruptness, under
the impulse Of a mighty and reckless
passion.
Men, stop firing" he howled thun
derously. stop firing on your broth
ers! Like you. they are only the
pawns of the ruling class. who kee1
US all pawns in order that they may
nave champagne and cayiare. Com
rades, Ill lead you! Comrades, well
our coMhAalttas flag and go down to meet
think as we do! rail- fnd that they
The appeal was drowned",."..
cracking Of the rifles working as regu
larly as neutrality-suspicious. in a fac
tory. Every soldier was seeing onl
his sight and the running figures ur
der it. Mechanically and automatical
ly, training had been projected int
action, anticipation into realization.
spectator might as we'll have called t
man in a hundred-yard dash to sto
running, to an oarsman in a race t
jump out Of his shell.
The company sergeant sprang 70
Stransky with an oath. But Stransk
was in no mood to submit. He felle
the sergeant with blow and. recl
lessly defiant, stared at Dellarme
while the men, steadily firing, wer
still oblivious Of the scene. The SCI
geant, stunned, rose to his knees an
reached 10. his revolver. Dellarme
bent over to keep his head below tn
crest, had already drawn his as h
fastened toward them.
"Will you get DOWN. Will you tax
your place with your rihe?" demande
Dellarme.
Stransky laughed thunderously 4