The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1915-01-28

~No. sAA Aost vasls any tias. q
thes. eaA naai" ~ a.oeAar. "nask
TO your bslhs!.
Fsllss ~ D0e svsa Aser then. Ses
the moment he vas actually Ssaf.
Fire." saiA DsllarDsis whsle.
''Thurs-s!" vsat tAs automatic n
soallsss. necAanical repetition. ~
taps sptnning through the eyiinAsr.
while the rises spoke With the human
irregulaity Of stsel-tippeA hnseEs
pounding At random On . drumhead.
All along the line facing La Tir the
volume Of hre spread until 1t wss like
the concert Of . mighty loom.
The Gray batteries having tried out
their range by the flashes of the Az
tomato the previous evening. were
making the most OF the occasion.
"Uk-ung-n-ng!" the breaking jackets
whipped out their grists. The re-
serves. the h0spital-c corps men and the
engineers hugged the breastwork for
cover. The leaves clipped from the
trees by bullets were blown aside with
the hurricane braaths of shrapnel
bursts; bullets wh.stled 20 near Marta
that she heard tLsir shrillness above
every other sound. She was amazed
that the houses still remained stand
ing-that anyone was alive. But she
had . glimpse Of Dellarme maintain.
ing his set smile and another Of Eel
Ter. who had crept up behind the au-
tomato. making impatient "come-oa!
come-on! what-is-the-matter-W y
gestures in the direction Of the bat
teries in front of the castle.
"Thur-eeshAthur-ee -eesh!" A the
welcome note swept overhead he
waved his hands up and down in mad
rapture and then psepsd over the
breastwofk to ascertain II the prac-
tice were good. The Brown batteries
had besn . little slow in coming into
action. but they soon broke the pro
cision Of the opposing are.
Now shells coming frequently fell
short or went wide. The air cleared.
Then . chance shell. striking at the
one point which the man who fred
1t six thousand yards away would have
chosen ~ his bull's-eye. obscured Fell
ler and the automatic and Its gunners
in the havoc Of explosion. Feller must
have been killed. The dust settled;
she saw Dellarme making frantic ges-
lures - he looked at his men. They
were keeping up their fusillade with
unflinching rapidity. Through the
breach left In the breastwork she had
glimpses, a. the dust was finally dis
sipated. of gray figures. bayonets fixed.
pressing together as they came on
fiercely toward the opening. The
Browns let go the full blast Of their
magazines. Had that chance shell
turned the scales? Would the Grays
get into the breastwork?
All Marta's faculties and emotions
were frozen in her stare of suspense
at the breach. Then her heart leaped,
a cry In 4 gust of short breaths broke
from her lips a. the Browns let 60
a raspins, explosive. demoniacal cheer.
The first attack had been checked!
After triumph. terror. faintness. and
. closing Of her eyes. she opened
them to see Feller. with his old straw
hat-brim torn and crownless now
still on his head, rise from the debris
and shake himself like a dog coming
ashore from . swim. While the engi-
neers hastened to repair the breach
he assisted stransky. who had also
been Knocked down by the concus-
sion. to lift the overturned automatic
OF the gunner. The doctor. putting a
hand on the gunner's heart, shook his
head, and two hospital-corps men re-
moved the body to make room for the
engineers.
For once Dellarme's CHEEKY smile
deserted him. There was no one left
to man the automatic, 30 vital in the
defense, and even II somebody could
be found the gun was probably out Of
commission. Az he started toward It
his smile, already summoaed back,
was shot with surprise at sight of the
gun In place and q stranger in blue
blouse, white hair showing through a
crownless straw hat. trying out the
mechanism with knowing fingers. Del
larme stared. Feller, unconscious of
everything but the gun, righted the
cartridge band. swung the barrel back
and forth, and then fired q shot.
"You-you seem to know rapid
firersi" Dellarme exclaimed in blank
incomprehension.
Eyes, sir!" Feller raised his finger,
whether in salute as soldier or as
gardener touching his hat 1t was
hard to say.
But how-where!" gasped Del
larme.
This time the movement of the I'm
ger was undoubtedly In salute. in per-
feet, swift, military salute, with head
thrown back and shoulders stiff. Eel
Ter the gardener was dead and buried
without ceremony.
"Lanstron's class, school for ON.