Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1915-08-03

was someways down the road and we
hurried towards it with the orderly
When We reached it, this first aid
dressing station proved to be a dugout
chamber five feet below ground reacn-
| ed by an inclined plane much as me
enters to the tomb chamber of the
great Pyramid of Cheops. Here we
found our men, wounded but fifteen
minutes before, ready for us. One had
rife bullet through his head; the
other was riddled with shrapnel. Both
were in pretty bad shape, the shrapnel
case especially, but as we lifted the
first onto a stretcher his eyes opened
and he smiled at us, while from the
distorted bundle of light-blue uniform
and red bandage which was the Sec
ond, weak and bloody hand crept out
and closed over mine, as we lifted him,
and from a mouth which / could not
see came the whisper, Les Amer
icaines.'"
Mr.. Berry then describes the painful
work of carrying the two men back
through the post village to a little
church further on, which had been fit
ted us as a temporary hospital.
During dinner that evening the vii
lage was shelled for half an hour, ne
writes. At II p m. they were aroused
by an orderly with summons for
them to go to Hill IT,
Without single light, but with a
cloudy moon to guide us, the car NOV
ed through the deserted streets, feeling
its way through the tree shadows. Sem
tries are jumpy folk at these hours,
and a moving lantern in the middle of
the road brought us to dead stop
while throaty 'Qui Vive!' from the
darkness at the side marked where a
rife probably covered us.
"The pass woodland then on ag ain
until Hill IL was reached. This time
we left the car as close against the
nearest dugouts as possible for now
stray bullets were zip-zipping over
head as thick as June bugs around a
candle. A dim red light showed us
the 'Poste de Secours,' We shuffled
down its passage and entered. One Of
two lantern was smoking badly, and
it was through haze that we saw, at
: one end of chamber perhaps forty
feet long by ten wide in which one had
to stoop, five or six slightly wounded
infantry asleep on the straw which
covered the earthen floor; at the other
end, rude operating table from which
two orderlies were lifting the cause of
our journey. In corner the surge On
was washing his red hands in basin.
That was all.
But perhaps not quite all.
"The orderlies whispered encouras-
ingly into the ears that did not hear
as they strove to quiet the rolling to
: and fro of the bundle of red and white
bandage which was a head, or bound
to the stretcher the twitching arms
and legs in which the broken nerves
were struggling. Presently, however,
they stopped lifted, and passed ont
under the stars. We started to follow
with the accoutrements and rifle INT
the surgeon dried his hands and stop-
ped us. In silence he picked up an in
fantry tunic, bloodstained and cut into
|
ribbons by shrapnel and his scissors.
From an inside pocket he drew a let
ter, creased and smeared with red
Take good care of it for him. ne
said as he handed it to us, and Just
inside the envelope we could see a
piece of pressed yhite lilac, as clean
and unspotted as on the day someo lie
who had been left behind had put it
there.
I'VE, were glad after all that one of
the lantern was smoking"