Gilpin observer., 1915-06-03
MACHINES AND The MAN
BY FRANK FILsoN.

Lieutenant Rycroft's first expert.
ence Of battle was 30 stupendous that
for few minutes he forgot to be
afraid. He lay upon his face behind
the little shelter which, he had dug
with his sword, waiting for the com
mand to charge. On either side of
him he could see his men lying down,
also waiting. and adjusting tho mech.
anism of their rifles.
He was lying amid a pandemoni.
um of noises. The heavy shells from
the guns roared over him necessarily.
Mingled with these sounds came that
of the smaller artillery. a defying
screech that set his teeth on edge.
And with these, but blending, as it
were, was the hoot of rifle bullets,
now overhead. now low beside him,
occasionally varied with a squirt of
dust as a bullet struck the ground.
Rycroft, being an imaginative boy,
had anticipated the stunning horrors
Of battle. He knew that it would re-
quire all a mans resolution to face
them. Still, he came of a military
family, and he had believed that
when his time came, he would not be
proved wanting.
But this actual experience was more
terrifying than anything he had ever
conceived. AS he lay there, helpless
conscious that men were looking to
him for leadership, he felt his blood
turning to water. He was shaking,
he felt the sweat stream down his
face.
He had imagined a battle of men,
but this was battle of machines.
1t was machines that were vomiting
out that hail of bullets, that fury OF
shells. Machines, which had caught
him in their Internal snare and were
bent on his destruction. And the en-.
emy was not anywhere in sight.
Suddenly shrill whistle blew. II
was the signal for the attack Ry.
croft leaped to his feet, with the au.
tomatism born Of his camp training.
The men had sprung up on either side
of him. The hoot Of the bullets was
terrible. 1t seemed a miracle that he
had escaped thus far.
He saw men begin to drop on either
side. The sergeant, next to him, flung
up his rife, spun round, and collapsed
upon his face. Stories began to recur
to the lieutenant's mind. He had heard
that men always spun round that
way when shot through the BRAIN He
saw the blood upon the sergeant's
head.
His knees would hardly bear him.
He heard his voice shouting com
mands to his men, and did not recog.
nize it for his own, or know how it
issued from his lips. He did not
know what he was saying, and list
ened for the words. forward, boys!"
he was shouting.
He halted and crouched low. The
line had swept into an exposed angle
among the trees, and all the fire OF
the enemy was concentrated here. II
was hard to go forward, was becom.
ing impossible. The men were lying
iown again. knee!ing. firing. The fig
Tres of the officers and non-coms
were seen, urging them to rise. But
every man who stood upon his feet
withered under that Internal bullet
stream. Rycroft saw the captain go
down. The machines were winning
the victory
And sitting rage against this des.
tiny rose in his heart and choked his
throat. He sprang to his feet and
shook his fist in the direction of the
cannon.
forward. boys!" he screamed. this
time with intent and not automatical
ly. He began to run forward, his
knees quite steady now.
He heard the whole line rise to its
feet and follow him. He realized that
his anger had communicated itself to
his followers. The same spirit had
seized upon the entire company, and
spread from company to company,
throughout the regiment
AS he ran he began to see the en-
emy for the first time. He saw long
lines of figures leap from their
trenches to repel the attack. And he
became aware, too. that the shells
had ceased. The lines were too close
together, and the hostile gunners
could fire no longer for fear OF hurt
ing their own men.
II was bullet against bayonet now.
1t was bayonet against bayonet. The
attackers were upon the trenches Of
the enemy. The machines had ceased
to act 1t was the men behind the
machines now, and these were pow.
erless.
Suddenly Rycroft realized that. He
saw that the same moral force and
will-power were there, as on the foot
ball field. as at Crecy and Waterloo.
The machine was, by itself. an i'm
potent, dead thing. 1t was only the
man that counted.
He was mixed with the melee. He
was in the heart OF the stabbing as
sault Bayonet crossed bayonet. He
saw everything as in a dream. He
was conscious Of an inner personality,