The Alaska daily empire., 1915-10-02

tlac.a JeIliI 'hnlovs. ll dchcea Going ero ao eoners it srs lhe trees nd .he twlge siap n o0t aces. it i'd cold 1d the fragrant aif moota ua rho ifees rustic m ihe Vinl tr'slicrco ant mele white as chalk Qll ofer ihe road and Fly from tbo aparya. Motfe gre capeh, n tho lantern end lrng as'de.
 Dead sleeping villages. DO sound no living creature. The motor thcn- ders Red.brick houses sllmmer n the light and sink bacy Into darlnera aga'n The frightened eyes Of bis snoVVhite eat gieam out We arc stopped by sentinel shouts break tho silencei Onward! Above us tho stars ln Che summer sky shine ciear We are silent Each ia sunk ln his own thoughts
 Here over this road they went coi' umns companies. regiments, last ao- lumn. on their way to tho battle of La Basse volunteers. students. They went atorming singing their eyes shining 0nwardi Many were never to return At the roadside stands queefly shaped buahos-iize the fi- sures or women, lhoif faces hid in their hands. they seem in the night Hero. there, everywhere, on the road tide stones stand like ghosts Small white crosses are to be soen in the 7treet We fy past them and they turn on us again.
 Autumn is coming and the coi- umns are stun marching by They come only ct night time They do not sing now When they sang the sholls came
 Shots come from 9 trench. They sound nearer and nearer Now and ,hen 9 shot falls with a hollow sound, somewhere. Oven In tho night there can be no peace here. A few forage carts creak along tho road The hors. es are moving in their sleep and shy at the light Tho craters made by Che shells at the side Of Che road are con- siantly appearing many being quite fresh The car pebbles over earth ard stone; shells have burst In the middle Of Che road and g few hours |eeo it could not have been comfor- ,ablo here The trunks of che trees are split. Suddenly the driver grasps his break and halts. A tree has ial- len across the road. It fen like a sol- iler, the shells had cut it away rom the roots and thrown it on its face The twigs are stnl green and rustic in the breeze.
 A village the sentinel beckons. We must put out our lights We feel our way through the darkness The guns sound A heavy gun. close by is fired off, and the shells 50 in the darkness. Theor ies no doubt that Che night is trenches. balls Of light arise. near the irnchea, balls of light rise. Pale and gcindliating. like a vengeiul moon they float over the earth. The guns sound again and it is stiil once more The balls Of light sink, paling slowly Go the darkened earth. Another light is seen among the popiar5 bright and threatening A heavy gun fires and the shells pass over our heads.
 The stars iade and the landscape is bare. Mist rises from the fields The car flies. We must hasten. for the road lies within sight of the enemy Before daylight we must reach the trenches.
 Out of the gray morning light we see the bare. misty lines Of To Basse La Basse looks like @ corpse; no hu- man being but che solitary sentinels. The church is a heap Of ruins. The city looks as 4 it had been torn up by an earthquake. But the music pa- vilion on the market stili stands as .t did in the times oi peace.
 The car turns into a narrow street. One house is burning. set on fire by 8 shell during the night Let it burn The flames lick out of ihe windows; they accomplish their work quietly and slowly The blackoned beam now quivers Within the house the fire climbs over the purple red carpet woven with the Empire gariands. The spiinters of the broken mirror gilt. ter People once lived here
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