Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1916-11-10
1917!

Continued from page 6

AASi11ih Aib'A aoR NOo ~ SA@doO Aht
now. Mr.. President and gentlemen. As
YOU observe. it is rather later than
daybreak. and General cambridge has
reported that at dawn the lombard
ment of the city altered character to
intensive shell fire against our posi-
lions opposite Brooklyn. a probable
preliminary to IL general assault"
The assault. as Il matter of fact, al
ready was begun. y 81, barely a third
of a mile from the front of the cap
tured borough of Brooklyn. was in the
very center Of the American position
under attack. One gun. hidden some
where across the river. evidently was
detailed TO the destruction of the ware
house. The shells, arriving every TWEEN.
ty seconds. struck first in the street
and a little to the right; now they
burst directly III front of the building;
now they struck the building itself and
began to blow it to pieces.
Jim Ashby. erouching behind a cot
ton bale at a window on the second
floor, clinched his musket with every
muscle strained and tense, his skin
bloodless and damp with cold sweat.
He repeated to himself the words of
his major-'Stick. Hold your position
or die"
The smash of a shell-the awful, soul
shredding burst and batter of a high
explosive ch~arge-dashed him down
abject, shrinking. nerveless against the
floor. 10 God. O God.' he prayed.
Let me livei"
Twenty feet away. just down there
past the second window. a great. grisly
smear which had beer a lieutenant
and four men was spattered about the
floor. Another shell came. and the
man beside jim at the window. two
more on the other side. 1attened them
selves on the floor, gasping, then rose
and scurried for the stairs. Jim saw
them and started to scramble after
them.
go back to your places. Go back
there, l say" 1t was Houston, the
wooden legged man. who headed them
off and caught one bodily and hurled
him back toward the windows.
ooh, we've can't stay here! Let
us by! Let us by. oh, oh. this is
murder! We got to get out! Let
us byI"
Four of the recruits were trying to
get past the wooden legged man now.
They were wild. beside themselves.
Houston struck the first full in the
face with his revolver. The recruit
went down and lay quiet. Houston
struck the mex and staggered him
back. Corporal A~shby-whose bust
ness now ii was. if it was any ones.
to hold those men to their positions
got up and faltered toward them. But
was it to join them against Houston
OF to help the wooden legged man?
Jim stopped himself from joining the
two now trying to run. but he could
not help Houston.
Too well he knew his duty was to stay
and make them stay. to drive them to
ito stay there and be slaughtered
How could he do that? Why should
he? What sense was there in that?
He must be crazy. The wooden legged
man must be mad. Every one must
be mad except those men who were
trying to get away. 1t was murder,
plain self slaughter, to stay.
"Houston!" he appealed-'Houston!,
"And you. tooi' the wooden legged
man bawled back at him. AZ shoot
you too! Go back to your place there
or you get it too, Hang you cow
ards! Go back-go back" The wood.
en- legged man in his fury drove the
others before him. Jim SUNK back
with them and stared dizzily again
out toward the East river.
1t was Houston now-who told him
that he would shoot right through the
head the first man who left his posi-
ton. who shot down a man for run
ming back-it was stark, physical fear
of Houston that was holding Jim In
his place. Jim knew that; he could
not deny it. He was planning whether
he could shoot Houston before Hous-
ton killed him when he turned. If the
shells were killing every n why
weren't they killing that wooden legged
fend who made a man lie still to be
murdered.
"Oh, God. kill him. Jim prayed
kill him. and let me go!'
Hold your places and watch the
river! The range will be battle sight
when you first will see anything. Put
down the leaf of your sight. When
you see them take aim-with the leaf
down-and fire slowly" Houston was
going from man to man and looking
at the rifles. He had examined Jim's
also.
"Watch the river!"
Jim was watching the river-that is,
he was staring fxedly u of the slit
between his cotton bale and the win
dow. But instead of seeing out he
seemed to be looking into a close, con-
fined room in which a flame was burn
ing. 1t was a blush yellow flame at
the end of a pipe, Inc he knew that