Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-12-22
Sniper's Work Brings Sol
emn You of Vengeance
BY All around the
Festiue Board.
BY SERGEANT ARTHUR G. EMPEY.

pey's experiences during his seventeen
months in tho frst-linc trenches OF
tho British army in France, the thrill
ing great adventures" which hundreds
OF thousands OF young Americans are
soon to pass through.)
Copyright. 1917. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.)
1t was Christmas Eve. and cold: not
the kind OF cold which sends the red
blood tingiing through your veins and
makes you want to be up and at en-"
but tina. miserablc damp kind that
cats into the marrow Of your bones.
attacking you from tho rear and send
ing cold s!vcrs up and down your
spinal column. 1t gives you u feeling
OF dread and loneliness.
The three Of us. Curly" Happy"
and myself. were standing al the corner
of Yankee Avenue" and "Yiddish
Street" waiting for the word. Stand
to-" upon which VIC were TO mount our
machine gun on the parapet and go on
watch for two hours with our heads
sticking over the top.
Yankee Avenue" was the name OF
the first trench, while "Yiddish Street"
was the communication trench leading
to the rear. We were occupying "Y
Sector" Of the front line OF our brigade.
The trench was muddy. and in some
places thin crust Of ice was begin
ming to form around tho edges of the
puddlcs.
We had wrapped our feet and legs
with empty sand bags. and looked like
snow shovclers on Fifth Avenue. My
teeth were chattcrinG with the cold.
Happy was slapping his hands on his
thighs while Curly had unbuttoned one
of the buttons on his overcoat and. with
his left hand. was desperately trying
TO reach under his right armpit-no
doubt "cootie" had como marketing
for it's Christmas dinner.
Then came the un~elcomc stand to-"
and il was up on the fire step for us.
tn. get our gun mounted. This took
about five minutes.
Ar Starved With Cold.
Curly. while working away, was NUT
terins: "Blinc INC. Christmas Eve. and
ere am somewhere in France. 'alf
starved with tho cold"
Happy was hummiaE Keep tho
Home Fires Burning" Right then. to
me. any kind OK home fire would have
been very welcome.
II was black as pitch in mo mans
land Curly stopped mut;erinE to
himself and Happy's humming ceased
There was serious work in front of us
For two hours VIC had to try and pene-
trate that blackness with our strain
ing eyes to see that Fritz did not sur
prise US with some Christmas stunt
of his.
Suddenly Happy. who was standing
on the fire step next TO me. Erippcd
my arm. and in low. excited whisper,
asked:
Did you sec that out in front. Yank.
a little to the right Of that black patch
in tho bsrbcd wirc?''
Turning my eyes in the direction
indicated. with my heart pounding
aEains. my ribs. waited for some
thing to develop.
Sure enough. L CO. d mako out
slight movement. Happy must have
seen. 1t at the same time, because he
carefully cascd his rife over the top.
ready for I$iant use. My rife was
already H. sition. Curly was fum-
bling Wit tc fare pistol. Suddenly.
''plop." as ne pulled the trigger, and
4 red streak shot up into the air as
the star she'll described an arc out in
front. 1t hit the ground and burst.
throwing ou, white. ghostly light.
A frightened 'meouw." and cat, with
speed clutch open. darted from the
wire in front OF us. jumped over our
gun. and disappeared into the black
ness OF the trench. Curly ducked his
head, and Happy let out weak,
squeaky laugh. ] was frozen stiff with
fear. Pretty soon the pump action of
my heart was resumed. and once more
looked out into mo mans land"
Through Icy Mind.
For tse remainder of our two hours
on guard nothing happened. Then we
".urncd over" to the second relief. and
half frozen. wended our way through
the icy mud to the entrance OF our
dugout.
From the depths OF the earth came
the notes OF harmonica playing
Pack up your troubles in your old kit
bag and smile. smile. smile" Stumb-
ling down the muddy steps. we entered
the dusout. About eight boys of our
section. sitting Oil their packs. had
formed circle around wooden box.
in an old ammunition tin six candles
were burning. | nwardly shuddered
at this extravaganza. but suddenly re-
membered that it was Christmas Eve.
Sailor Biil' was making cocoa over
the flames OF n "Tommys cooker" while
Likely" lIonncy was toastng bread In
front of a trench fire bucket, the fumes
from which nearly choked us.
As soon AS wo made our appearance
in the dugout the circle stood up, and.
as is usual with the English. made
room for us to get around the fire
bucket 10 thaw out our stiffcned joints.
In about twenty minutes or so the cold
Of the trench was forgotten. and we
joined In tho merriment. The musician
put his harmonica away. and. burst
ing with importance. Sailor Bill adj
dressed US:
+ Gentlemen, 1t is now time for this
ships company to report progress as
Continued on Fifth Pagc.),