The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-06-01
MACHINES and THE MAN
BY FRANK FILSON.
Copyright, 1915. by W. C. Chapman.J

Lieutenant Rycroft's first expert
ence of battle was so stupendous that
for a 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 the mech
anism of their rifles.
He was lying amid a pandemoni-
um of noises. TIE heavy shells from
the guns reared ever 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 1t
were. was the boot of rifle bullets,
now overhead. now low beside him,
| occasionally varied with a squirt of
dust as bullet struck the ground.
Rycroft. being an imaginative boy,
had anticipated the stunning horrors
! of battle. He knew that it would re-
quire all mans resolution to face
them Still, he came of military
| family, and he had believed that
when his time came, he would not be
I 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 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-.
envy was not anywhere in sight.
Suddenly shriil 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 boot 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 rae, 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
Ills 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 fer the words Forward, boys!"
he was shouting
He halted End croCched low The
line had swept into al exposed angle
among the trees, and all the fire of
the enemy was concentrated here. 1t
was hard to go forward, was becom-
ing impossible. The men were lying
Town again kneeling, 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 Rycrcft saw the captain 60
down. The machines were winning
the victory.
And sitting rage against this des.
tiny rose in his heart and choked his
20 n,.I
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-
eny 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, ard the hostile gunners
could fire no longer for fear Of hurt |
ing their own men
1t was bullet against bayonet now.
II 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, |
bah 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, |
serene and quiet, in the heart of the |
storm He saw himself cut down a
man at a machine gun, who was aim.
ing a rifle at him. He saw the en-.
emy's lines break, surge backward;
he saw the defenders in wild retreat
pursued by his own men.
And he was standing alone, un-
wounded, in the center of a painting.
cheering throng. They were cheering
him His sword was broken and he
did not know how he had broken II