The Pulaskian., 1915-03-19

Stephens regiment was encamped on little plateau above bend in the river.
 To the east lay thickly wooded neck of land-to the west the stream cut through a hill. Across a stretch of bottom land in front spread a little village near which had been the bridge the troops had crossed The bridge was now mass of shapeless masonry, the engineers having blown it up as soon as the last soldier was over.
 The crossing of the Marne at that point would be no easy task. Even stephen could see that, and he han kered more than ever to take part in the fighting But he knew his desire was futile. Duty would send other men to the firing line; duty would force him to mix dough while they battled.
 At dawn the German guns opened fire, grumbling like a tired sleeper awakened too early; then for the first time in weeks of active campaigning, Stephen saw a real battle begin. The commissary wagons were back of a ridge hardly a half mile behind the line of rife pits, and from the top of the hill he could see the whole battle field in the bend of the river.
 The infantry swarmed into the trenches, each man working diligently with his bayonet to "dig himself in" deeper, using blanks, branches of trees, or any other material at hand to construct overhead coverings as pro- tection from shrapnel A group of staff officers galloped the length of the lines, then the English batteries went into action, firing at regular intervals as they tried out the range.
 The cannonading swelled to a steady pulsing roar that answered the throb of German howitzers masked in the hills beyond the river and soon the black spurt of smoke from high explosive shells mingled with the white cotton balls of bursting shrap- nel
 All morning Stephen watched the Germans attempting to force their way across the river.
 He paused in his work to see an English battery knock a pontoon bridge to pieces, and marveled when the Germans went doggedly to work to rebuild it, while their guns concen- trated a deadly fire on the pieces which had caused the damage.
 From both sides he heard the throb- ping of cannon and the smashing rife volleys-like the sound of hail on a glass skylight. For miles up and down the river the battle was in prog ress, and at every point the German onslaught was equally determined The pontoon bridge was completed again, and ghost-gray thousands poured over it.
 Cavalry battalions swan their the shelter of the high banks the kaiser's legions massed themselves for an attack
 They waited while their artillery drenched the English position with shrapnel, then surged out from under
 
 like the tearing of tough cloth, the in fantry cut loose the racket swelled by the wicked snarl of machine-guns which were spraying the advancing lines with steel-jacketed bullets
 Into the little village, now deserted by it's inhabitants, poured a German column; and as the English shells bumped down among the houses, thin plumes of smoke-which thickened and grew blacker-appeared at dozen points. But the Germans did not hesitate.
 Through the burning town they swept, while other columns advanced on each side, and across the river the living stream still flowed.
 In the fields the solid masses spread out fanwise and charged up the slope toward the trenches. Now they were at the foot of the hill, and Stephen could no longer see the ones directly in front of where he stood; but on each side he had a good view of their onward rush, little flashes of light glinting from bayonets fixed for the charge.
 Machine-guns and rifles took heavy toll
 The ground the Germans passed over was carpeted with writhing or motionless figures; but ever they closed their ranks and went on. The attack seemed rresistible-their num- bers hardly diminished
 Halfway up the hill the Germans faltered as an enf1lading battery plowed red furrows through their ranks; but it was only for moment; then they pulled themselves together and surged upward At the edge of the hill Stephen saw the English clam bering out of the trenches and heard the final volleys that withered the charging host and, above the thudding of cannon and the splitting rattle of rifles, the deep shout of the infantry as they met steel with steel.