The Ordway new era., 1917-11-23

to the gunners of that hidden batter,
Dressing In the mnddest haste, Fa
tria ran from her room. and withou
pausing to find and question anyon
who might be about the house, left tn
patio by the passageway.
In front of the house her motor
car was waitins-by prearranged or
der-in charge of an orderly. From
him, as she drove toward the aviation
field, she learned little or nothing. HI
had arrived at the house with the cal
at about the time when the firing be
gan, He could tell her no more thar
that the end of sleepless night hat
found every man upon the ranch ut hi:
post and prepared 10 sell his life tt
the highest bidder.
On the way they passed squad OF
men operating an apti-a;rplane gun
which they had just brought into ac'
ton. They worked steadily, method
I ically. intelliscntly, as If they were
well-acCuStumeti 20 their business In
stead OF the noviceS they We're in all
save drilling.
And the accuracy of their firing was
astonishing. By the time Patria ar
rived at the aviation field, lucky
shot had brought down one Of the hos
tile aircraft. another was winGing
southwark as fast as its engine would
move II. and the third was engaged in
a duel with two planes sent up by
Fatria'S corps.
Fascinated. she stood watching this
spectacle long after her own biplane
had been wheeled out Of its hangar
and made ready for her ascent.
The three in the air were so high
that they seemed little larger than
swallows, and like swallows they
wheeled and swooped, splitting fire at
one another. their planes flashing in
the young sunlight like swords.
In the end the invader took refuge
in flight. the two defenders swapping
at his heels; and so they drifted from
sight, far south of the border.
The distant firing had now become
more fast and furious.
Clambering into the seat of her BIZ
plane, Patria grasped the controls and
gave the word to start the engine.
Five minutes later she was at an
elevation whence she commanded n
view of the country north and south
Of the boundary line.
That report had not erred in saying
that the japanese and Mexicans meant
to invade In force was dismayingly dis
closed. The roads to the south of the
arroyo which marked the international
line We're choked with regiments of
horse and foot. Patria's widest fears
had not prepared her for the sight of
so vast an army. Her heart sank the
handful of men with which she had
thought to oppose this army seemed
more than ever pitifully inadequate.
She had expected them to be outnum- |
lered ten TO one; the truth was that |
hey were outnumbered a hundred to |
one.
Yet thty We're fighting gallantly-
rs gallantly as If they imagined that
the odds against them We're less brutal
Under cover of the sand-bag parapet
IF the first trenches-immediat to
he north of the bridge spanning the
lrrOyo-Sevcral companies were doing
good service under CALLING conditions.
sweeping the approaches To the bridge
With machinegun fire while suffering
| rain of shrapnel.
This last came from that battery
which had awakened Patria with its
irst shots. 1t was sheltered behind a
ill at some distance south of the
bridge, and its gunners, having got the
-ange of the trenches, We're subjecting
hem to bitter fire. constant and
vas constant procession of wounded
moving by communicating trenches to
he rear, either in stretchers or max
ng laborious journey afoot-assisted,
Ierchance, by some comrades shoul-
Ter. And already the ground beyond
he parapet was Uttered with bodies
If their dead.
And this was only the beginning. :.
To the man In the observers seat by
her side Patria communicated certain
Instructions which he swiftly trans
lated into wireless to be picked up by
the operator at the headquarters Pa
tria's people had established well back
1f the main line trenches. Within five
minutes the effect of her orders was
apparent. The first line trenches were
being rapidly vacated, their occupants
Fastening back to the greater security
Of the main line. While one of PARIS
masked batteries, going on informa-
ton communicated by Patria, got the
range of the japanese guns beyond the
hill and began to pound them merci-
lessly.
The evacuation of the first-line
trenches was accomplished barely in
time, even as Patria had foreseen