The Washington herald., 1918-03-05

up in blood-soaked bandaGe. He was
moaning very loudly. had an awful
headache, and the skin on the left side
of my face was full Of gravel. and the
blood was trickling from my nose.
But that ambulance was turned over
in the ditch, and was perforated with
holes from fragments Of the shell. One
Of the front wheels was slowly revolv-
ing, so 1 could not have been "out"
for long period.
II Mr.. Ford could have seen that
car, his Peace at Any Price" con-
viction would have been materially
strengthened, and he would have i'm
mediately fitted out another peace
ship"
The shells were still screaming over
head, but the battery had raised its
fire. and they were bursting in a little
wood, about half a mile from US.
Atwell spoke up, II wish that officer
hadn't wished US the best o. luck"
Then he commenced swearing. 1 could
not help laughing, though my head
was nigh to bursting.
Slowly rising to my feet 1 felt my
self all over to make sure that there
were no broken bones. But outside of
few bruises and scratches, l was
all right. The corporal was still moan
ing. but more from shock than pain.
A she'll splinter had gone through
the flesh of his right forearm. AtweIl
and ], from our first-aid pouches, put
tourniqsett on his arm to stop the
bleeding. and then gathered up our
equipment
We realized that we were in a dan
gerous spot At any minute a shell
! might drop on the road and finish US
of. The village we had left was not
very far, so we told the corporal he
| had better go back to it and get his
arm dressed, and then report the fact
of the destruction of the ambulance to
the military police. He was we'll able
to walk, so he set off in the direction
| Of the village, while Atwell and con-
| tinued our way on foot.
Without further mishap we arrived
at our destination, and reported to
brigade headquarters for rations and
| billets.
That night We slept in the battalion
| sergeant-major's dugout. The next
morning went to first-aid post and
had the gravel picked out of my face
The instructions we received from
division headquarters read that we
were out to catch spies, patrol trench
es, search German dead, reconnoiter in
No Mans Land, and take part in
trench raids, and prevent the robbing
! of the dead.
L had a pass which would allow me
authority to stop and search ambu-
lances. motor lorries, wagons, and
even officers and soldiers, whenever
my suspicious deemed it necessary. At
well and 1 were allowed to work to-
sether or singly-it was left to our
Judgment. We decided to team up.
AtweH was good companion and
very entertaining. He had an utter
contempt for danger, but was not fool
hardy. AT swearing he was a wonder.
A cavalry regiment would have been
proud OF him. Though born in Eng
land ne had spent several years in
New York. He was about. six feet
one, ana as strong as an OK. I am
feet fvs in height, so we looked
IKE BUD Fishers Mutt and Jeff''
when together.
We took UP our quarters in a large
dugout OF the Royal Engineers, and
mapped out our future actions. This
ougout was on the edge of a large
| cemetery, and several times at night
80 " ~ VIC got many a Iall
stumbling over the graves of English,
French, and Germans. AtweIl on these
occasions never INDUCED in swearing,
though at any other time, at the least
stumble. he would turn the air blue.
A certain section of our trenches
was held by the Royal Irish Rifles.
For several days a very strong rumor
went the rounds that a German spy
was in our midst. This spy was sup
posed to be dressed in the uniform of
a British stan officer. Several stories
had been told about an officer wear
ing a red band around his cap, who
patroled the front-line and commune
ication trenches asking suspicious
questions as to location of batteries,
machine gun emplacements,s and
trench motars. II shell dropped in
battery. on a machine gun, or even
near dugout. this spy was blamed.
The rumor gained such strength that
an order was Issued for all troops to
Immediately place under arrest any
one answering to the description OF
the spy.
Atwell and were on the qui vive.
We constantly patroled the trenches