The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-05-07

InSu the IuluS uoAAh6
them, he used to crouch In a corner Of
his clearinghouse cellar, w~hirnpering
like a whipped puppy and calling upon
the Lord to protect him.
Even his landlady despised him, al
though she had to admit that he was
"good pay" 4.
He very seldom read the papers, but
one momentous morning the landlady
put the morning paper at his place be-
fore he came down to breakfast. TAX
ing his seat he read the f1aring head
line, Transcription Bill Passed." and
nearly tainted. Excusing himself, he
stumbled upstairs to his bedroom,
with the horror Of it gnawing into his
vitals.
Having saved up a few pounds, he
decided not to leave the house, and to
sham sickness, so he stayed in his room
and had the landlady serve his meals
there.
Every time there was q knock at the
door he trembled all over, imagining 1t
was q policeman who had come to take
him away to the army.
One morning his fears were realized
Sure enough, there stood q policeman
with the fatal paper. Taking 1t In his
trembling hand he read that he. Albert
Lloyd, was ordered to report himself
to the nearest recruiting station for
physical examination. he reported Inn
hediately, because he was afraid to
disobey.
The doctor looked with approval
upon Lloyd's six feet Of physical per
lection, and thought what a fine
guardsman he would make, but exam
ined his heart twice before he passed
him as physically ft;" it was beating
80 fast.
From the recruiting depot Lloyd was
taken, with many others, in charge Of
a sergeant, to the training depot at Al
dershot, where he was given an outfit
of khaki, and drew his other equip
ment. He made a fine-looking soldier,
except for the slight shrinking in his
shoulders and the hunted look in his
eyes.
At the training depot 1t does not
take long to find out a mans character,
and Lloyd was promptly dubbed
windy" In the English army "windy"
means cowardly.
The smallest recruit in the barracks
looked on him with contempt, and was
not slow to show it in many ways.
Lloyd was a good soldier, learned
quickly, obeyed every order promptly,
never groused at the hardest fatlgues.
he was afraid to. he lived in deadly
fear of the officers and "noncoms" over
him. They also despised him.
One morning about three months
after his enlistment Lloyd's company
was paraded, and the names picked out
for the next draft to France were read.
When his name was called, he did not
step out smartly, two PAGES to the
front, and answer cheerfully, "Here,
SIR" as the others did. He just faint
ed in the ranks and was carried to bar
racks amid the sneers Of the rest.
That night was an agony Of misery
to him. He could not sleep. Just cried
and whimpered in his bunk, because
on the morrow the draft was to sail
for France, where he would e death
on all sides, and perhaps be killed him
self. On the steamer, crossing the
channel, he would have jumped over
board to escape, but was afraid Of
drowning.
Arriving in France, he and the rest
were huddled into cattle cars. On the
side Of each appeared In white letters,
"Hommes 40, Chevaux g." After hours
Of humping over the uneven French
roadbeds they arrived at the training
base Of Rouen.
At this place they were put through
a weeks rigid training in trench wsr'
fare. On the morning Of the eighth
day they paraded at ten o'clock, and
were inspected and passed by General
then were marched to the quar-
termaster's, to draw their gas helmets
and trench equipment
At four in the afternoon they were
again hustled into cattle ars This
time the journey lasted two days.
They disembarked at the town Of Ere
vent and could hear a distant dull
booming. With knees shaking, Lloyd
asked the sergeant what the noise was,
and nearly dropped when the sergeant
replied In a somewhat bored tone:
ooh, them's the guns up the line.
Well be up there in a couple O. days
so. Don't worry, my laddie, you'll
see more Of 'em than you want before
you get 'ome to Blighty again, that is,
If you're lucky enough to get back.
Now lend q hand there unloadin' them
cars, and quit that everlastin' shakin'.
I believe yer scared" The last with a
contemptuous sheer.
They marched ten kilos, full pack,
to a little dilapidated village, and the
sound of the guns grew louder, con-