The Tupelo journal., 1917-07-20
A Brave Man Afraid
Of His Shadow
By F. A. Mitchell

operating on our right. We are within
half a dozen miles Of them, and it Is
necessary that we come together. There
Is no road leading in that direction, and
you'll have to go on foot. But the moo
Is nearly full, and your way will be
lighted. Here is the written message"
Lieutenant Obermeir took the mes
sage, saluted and left his superior,
starting at once The general had
spoken correctly in saying that the
was nearly full, but when Ober-
meir got beyond the tip of the army's
wing he looked up to see that a film
OF mist was spread over it and the sky
about it.
Well" he said to himself, II shall
cast no shadow. Tonight l am not my
self. l feel as l did after that last
wound when the pluck had gone out Of
me. In other words, If I should see
my shadow it would brighten me-"
The country through which he walk
ed was no mans land. 1t was sparse
ly settled with peasants, but war had
driven most Of them away. What else
was there was probable, but not GER
tain-that is. a sniper lying in wait
for any enemy. One passing would
not likely receive a challenge he would
be more apt to receive a bullet, The
way, too, was rugged. Nature had not
smoothed the country. which was up
and down grade, rocky, covered with
decayed trees and. to make it worse,
war had filled it with shell holes.
The lieutenant had come to Il COM
paratively level sweep when, looking
down on the ground before him. he saw
what seemed to be his shadow cast by
the moon-Such a shadow as the moon
would throw covered with the thin
gauZe that partly obscured it. Turn
ing, be looked up to where the moon
should be. 1t was not there. Turning
again, he saw 1t overhead and slightly
before him.
Surely" he said, that cannot be a
shadow cast by the noon. Shadows
are on a direct line with the light that
makes them" He looked down in front
Of him again. There was that dark
something, shadow or whatever it was.
But 1t was not well defined. Indeed, it
was like a film of darkness. He turned
his eyes upward 20 see what was caus-
ing it. There was nothing in the heav-
ems except that pale mist which dim
med the moon, and a line from the
noon formed an angle with the shadow.
The warrior trembled.
Why was it that in battle he could
stand up against shot and shell with
out a culver and here in perfect silence,
with not a creature, so far as he knew,
to harm him. be was shaking like a
leaf in the wind?
In the distance was q light. He
blessed it and FASTENED his pace max
ing straight toward it. The nearer he
came to it his fear grew less. And
when suddenly he heard who comes"
in the German tongue and heard the
click Of a rifle, instead of fearing a
picket might shoot him before he could
make himself known he felt brave as
alton.
The lieutenant vas taken to head
quarters, delivered his message to the
general commanding and was about to
set out on his return when the officer
said to him:
why not return with us, lieuten-
ant? We shall move to make a juno
ton with your force at daylight"
Obermeir would gladly have done as
the general suggested. But there is a
professional pride among soldiers that
must be maintained. The lieutenant
was afraid Of his shadow, but he was
more afraid of an imputation Of cow
ardice, not so much from his comrades
as from himself. He thanked the gen.
eral and set off on his walk back to his
own command.
The atmosphere bad not changed
there was the same mist over the face
Of the moon. Obermeir would not look
for his shadow. Why? He said to
himself it would be cowardly to do so.
Then it occurred to him that it would
be cowardly not to look for it. The
moon was now at his back. With a
dread he could not control he looked
down before him. There was the black
thing, denser If anything, than before.
He shuddered.
But he trudged on. trying to make
himself think that some peculiar at
mospberic condition caused his shadow
to be out Of place. Many things cause
refraction Of light. One thing he had
often noticed himself. An oar dipped
in water will appear to be broken at
the point where it touches the surface.
His efforts to explain away the mys-
terry were futile. And had he satisfac-
torily explained them to himself 1t
would not have helped the burden that
weighed him down. The journey home
ward seemed longer than his going.
This was doubtless that the farther he
went the stronger the spell under
which he staggered. Yes; he staggered
now, his eyes held by an invisible pow