Graham guardian., 1917-03-23
ABrave Man Afraid
Of His Shadow
BY F. A. mitchell

hOEt L WISH gou w Naiiy "a htSsSoSN w
the commander Of the Bulgarian forces
operating on our right. We are within
half a dozen miles Of them, and II is
necessary that we come together. There
Is no road leading In that direction, and
you'll have TO go on foot. But the moon
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
moon was nearly full, but when Ober.
meir got beyond the tip Of the army's
wing he looked up to see that film
of mist was spread over 1t and the sky
about 1t.
"Well," he said to himself, II shall
cast no shadow. Tonight am not my
self. feel as | did after that last
wound when the pluck had gone out Of
me. In other words, IL should see
my shadow il would frightcn ne"
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 ccr
taln-that Is, a Sniper lying In walt
for any enemy. One passing would
not likely receive challenge ne would
be more apt to receive bullet the
way. too. was rugged. Nature had not
smoothed the country. which was NJ
and down grade, rocky, covered with
decaye0 trees. and, to make 1t worse
war had flied it with shell holes.
The lieutenant had come to a CON
paratively level sweep when, looking
down on the ground before him. he saw
what seemed to he his shadow cast by
the moon such a shadow as the moon
would throw covered with the thin
gauze that partly obscured H. Turn
ing. he looked up to where the moon
should be. 1t was not there. Turning
again, he saw It overhead and slightly
before him.
Surely" he said, that cannot De
shadow cast by the moon. Shadows
are ON a direct line with the light that
max es them He looked down In from,
Of him again. There was that dark
something. shadow or whatever il was
But II was ux well defined. Indeed, it
was like fiIih o; darkness He turned
his eyes upward to see what was caus.
ing It. There was nothing In the heav'
ems except that pale mist which dim
med the moon, and line from the
N nuia with thf shadow
The warrior trembled.
Why was Il thai in battle he could
stand up against shot and shell with.
out culver and here 10 perfect silence,
with not creature, so far as he knew.
to harm him. he was shaking like u
leaf In the winGI
In the distance was a light, He
blessed ii and FASTENED his pace max
ing straight toward 1t. The nearer he
came to II his fear grew less. And
when suddenly he heard "Who cOmesT'
in the German tongue and heard the
click Of rife, instead Of fearing
picket might shoot him before he could
make himself known ne felt brave as
lion.
The lieutenant was 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 june.
tion with your force at daylight"
Obermeir would gladly have done as
the general suggested. But there IL
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
eraI 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 ObermeiI would not look
for his shadow. Why? He said to
himself Il would be cowardly to do So
Then IL occurred to him that it would
be cDwardly not to look for 1t. The
moon was now at his back. With
dread he could not control he looked
dow l before him. There was the black
thing, denser il 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 1t touches the surface.
His efforts to explain away the mys
terry we're 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
er on the black mass before him
which constantly grew denser and
larger, too, till there was no space
about him that II did not fill.
At daylight the Germans marched to
meet the Bulgarians. A short distance
from where the Germans started they
came upon the body Of Lieutenant
Obermeir lying dead In a shell hole
They turned him over to see where he
had been bit, but could find no wound
"Killed by balls wind" said the
surgeon. "There are many such cases."
They did not know that Obermeir
had died OF fright, caused, not by an