American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-06-29

the art Of keeping his companions
cheerful under a d%OwnpOur OF shells
or rain, and a practical knowledge OF
Indian lighting are commonplace ac-
cOmplishments expected Of every sol
der. And, In addition 10 all this, he
is required now and hen TO become
"A detective and to solve mysteries as
battling as those over which Corporal
Victor triumphed.
Corporal Victor had been transfer
red to a new section of the front. and
was driving a party of staff officers
to a front-line trench when one Of
the party leaned forward and caution
ed him. Az the corporal relates the
incident in the Philadelphia Public
Ledger:
Now, be careful" said my passen-
ger, we are just at Devils Elbow, and
things have a habit Of happening
there"
Devils Elbow What a rush of
memories came to me at the name?
That awful corner we used to dread
In the old Scottish Trials route, and
the dream-faces that streamed past in
the dark, comrades of those distant
days. But the dreaming was rudely
broken by the zip Of a flying bullet,
and as / swung swiftly around the
Elbow there was a tap on the car
which told of a hit. A hundred and
fifty yards on was Suicides Corner,
and the same thing happened again.
All right now" said my officer,
we're safe; but that sort of thing is
getting too common lately. Nobody
knows where the bullets come from
but it looks like a sniper inside our
own lines"
Next morning / examined the body,
and found four holes in the rear door
panels. the shots had gone right
through and in a downward sloping
direction. by recalling the position Of
the car when struck. | worked out a
rough idea Of the direction from which
they had come.
| made a cylinder of brown paper
stretched on a stout wire frame about
eighteen inches in diameter. This we
oiled and mounted on a pole six feet
in height, with a candle inside.
About eleven o'clock at night we
started: half an hour later the car
was brought TO rest 200 yards from
the fatal Elbow. | gave the Pathan
the paper lantern, telling him to steal
quietly to the turn; there to light the
candle, then raise II with the pole rest
ing ON the ground, taking care that a
black line / had marked perpendicular
IN on II should be on the sid where
we waited for him; further, he was
TO remain until he heard a bullet
pierce the paper.
Just as he was starting, a horse
transport-train came round Suicides
Coruer. and the frightened cry of a
wounded horse showed that our snip
err was at work. The Pathan simply
disappeared from our view and we
watched for the lighted lamp. | do
no suppose five minutes passed before
we saw its glimmer appear, but II
seemed three times as long.
Scarcely had we noted its peculiar
glow when its light vanished. Almost
before l had begun to speculate. he
Pathan was back with his lamp. BY
the light OF an electric torch, which
we shaded with our ~overcoats, | eX-
amined It. Sure enough, the marks
man was a good shot, for he had hit
the candle fair and square. the bullet
had drilled two neat holes, one on each
side Of the cylinder walls. BY the
angle and DETECTION of the holes il
was easy to arrive at the exact direc-
ton from which the shot had been fir
ed. as we knew the position in which
the lantern had been held. setting it
by the black line.
| had provided a light piece of stick
of the diameter of a rifle-shot, and
by threading it through the two holes
l showed the Gurkhas how to take
fhafr Ifan Fp,tt, fk. .r,- A. 40
PLANTATION had to be given mostly by
signs, but the Two little beggars very
quickly grasped the idea, apparently
sank into the earth and vanished with
their lantern guide, the Pathan re-
naming with me in cas- Of trouble.
Once or twice the zip-zip drOned
overhead a twig from the tree be-
meath which We sat tumbled at our
feet the while We watched the star
shells lob up over the trenches a kilo-
meter distant. IL was a quiet night
as nights go-on that sector. and the
time passed slowly. BY my watch our
friends had been absent Just over
thirty minutes-one Of the longest
h%alf-hours l ever spent.
I was beginning to think nothing
was 10 cOme of our venture when a
soft rustling in the ditch walked me
into expectancy. and the next moment
two quaint figures clothed in British
~overcoats. rifles held at a ludicrous
angle On their shoulders. with two
black. grinning faces appeared before
us. They brought other things be-
sides. which. had perhaps better be
left to the imagination, but their tro-
phies bore indubitable proof thai the
coats had not been worn by our Tom
mics. The rifles we're a pattern used
by us. and on the end OF each was a
silencer. which had muffled their
shots.
Exactly what had happened l was
at no loss to understand; for the de
tails of how II had happened l had
20 wait till my little friends told some
one who understood their language.