The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-06-12
MACHINES AND THE Man
BY FRANK FlLsoN.
Copyright. 1916. by W. G. Chapman.)

Lieutenant Rycroft's first expert
ence Of battle was so stupendous that
for . 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 q pandemoni-
UNI Of noises. The heavy shells from
the guns roared over 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 it
were, was the boot of rife bullets.
now overhead, now low beside him,
occasionally varied with a squirt of
dust as a bullet struck the ground.
Rycroft, being an imaginative boy,
had anticipated the stunning horrors
of battle. He knew that it would re-
Quire all a mans resolution to face
them. Still, he came of a military
family, and he had believed that
when his time came, he would not be
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 a battle of men,
but this was a 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 a shrill 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 rifle, 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.
His knees would hardly bear him.
He heard his voice shouting com
mands to his men. and did not recog.
nize 1t for his own. or know how 1t
issued from his lips. He did not
know what he was saying, and list.
ened for the words. Forward, boys!"
he was shouting.
He halted and crouched low. The
line had swept into an exposed angle
among the trees. and all the flre Of
the enemy was concentrated here. II
was hard to 60 forward. was becom.
| ing impossible The men we're lying
Town again. kneeling, firing. The fig.
we're seen, urging them to rise. But
every man who stood upon his feet
! withered under that internal bullet
stream. Rycroft saw the captain 60
down. The machines we're winning
, the victory.
And q sitting rage against this des.
, tiny rose in his heart and choked his
throat. He sprang to his feet and
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-.
envy 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, and the hostile gunnera
could fire no longer for fear of hurt
ing their own men,
It was bullet against bayonet now
It 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
f, will-power were there. as on the foot
ball 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 q dream. He
was conscious of an inner personality
serene and quiet, in the heart of the
storm He saw himself cut down q
man at machine gun, who was aim.
ing q rife 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 1t.
But he knew that he had found him,