Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1915-03-19

shaped head.
You next!"
His was a, figure that only the loose
laws of conscription could have passed
into an army fighting for a nations
existence. He was small, even for a
petit soldat of France. But something
tn the way the man moved, and espe-
cially something in his long, thin face
bespoke courage and power that
might we'll have had their habitation
In stronger and a finer body.
BY the time Duprcz had selected two
or three more of the men who were
to follow him it YVES apparent to the
watching officers that there was Gu
rious method in his nominations. For
the dangerous and difficult mission
upon which he was about to be sent
he was not choosing those of the bat
| talon who looked the best soldiers
| or the readiest men for an undertake
ing that required courage, quickness
| and endurance.
Every face as he passed down the
line was scrutinized closely, and it
was clear that none but the intellectual
If they might be so described-ap-
pealed to him. And when he had
| found his twenty the officers could
not repress EXPLANATIONS of amaze
ment, not unmixed with mirth, to see
them assembled for review and in
structions, looking as if they should
have had books in their hands instead
of rifles.
Don't quite like the looks of that
lot-for blowing up bridges said the
colonel, directing himself especially
to Duprez' lieutenant.
That officer also had his doubts; but
he realized that, Duprez having been
given permission to choose his men,
to make any changes in his command
would be to imperil the success of the
expedition and perhaps to weaken
discipline and confidence in the two
battalions.
tits too late now, don't you
Think" he ventured to suggest in re-
ply.
II suppose so," growled the colonel.
returning to his mustache.
And so Private Duprez, with curl
GUS smile lurking at the very corners
of his mouth, and deeper glow in
his firm, dark eyes, was allowed to
set about quickly informing his men
of the task before them.
"Any man who doesn't like the Job
may step out, and I'll find another"
he said tersely when he had finished.
Not man moved; there was doubt
and curiosity on their faces, but no
fear.
That's better" admitted the colo
mel in the ear Of the lieutenant.
Half an hour later Duprez and his
twenty, carrying charges of dynamite
in addition to their rifles and KNAPP
sacks, set out down the white road
leading to the distant bridge.
They felt curious thrill with the
thought that they were in Lorraine
that far south of them other French
regiments were in Alsace-that after
forty years Of patient waiting the hour
of France had come, and the tricolor
again waved over the fair, lost prov
inces.
Only now and then the sound of
cannon and the faint rattle of rife fire
from far over the hill at their left re-
minded them that the provinces had
not yet been conquered-that the
fight had not yet been won.
They marched in silence for almost
an hour very slowly, lest they tumble
unexpectedly upon outposts or scouts
of the enemy. Then suddenly Du-
PREF, who until that moment had ad-
dressed barely few short words of
command to his men, turned around
and faced them.
Something strange in his counte-
nance and manner brought the twenty
to sharp halt in their very tracks,
where they stood regarding him ex-
pectantly. For a moment Duprez
stood, studying them with that same
keen scrutiny they had observed when
he selected them for this expedition.
"Brothers!" he cried.
A moments pause.
"Comrades!"
Another pause.
Brothers, comrades, fellow men!
Why are we here?"
They could only look at him, puz-
zled by his words, so irrelevant to the
hour, but fascinated by his fiery man.
ner and the ring Of his voice on the
still air.
"Have you ever stopped to think
why we are fighting? Did you stop
/! to think back yonder when we passed
the graves of our brothers of the til,
why they died, and why we shall die
after them? Will you stop to reflect
now what all this means?"
The little knot of men stole swift
glances at one another's faces and
saw here and there flush, and heard
a quickening of the breath and felt a
movement Of expectancy. Then all
eyes were again fixed on their leader.
Brothers" he went on, II chose
you for this undertaking because
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