The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1918-08-09

drawn back and forth on the track b
little Belgian engines.
| After had been at my gun for sey
eral days l was ordered back to m
regiment, which was again in tn
front-line trenches. My course wa
past both the British and French line
but quite a distance behind the from
lines.
Everywhere there were ambulance
and wagons going backward and for
ward. / met one French ambulance,
that was long wagon full of poilu
from field hospital near the firing
line and was driven by a man whose
left arm was bandaged to the shout
der. Two poilus who sat in the real
on guard had each been wounded il
the leg and one had had big strip OF
his scalp torn off. There was not 8
sound man in the bunch. You car
| imagine what their cargo was like, if
the convoy was as used up as these
chaps. But all who could were sing
ing and talking and full of pep. That
is the French for you: they used no
more men than they could possibly
spare to take care of the wounded, but
they were all cheerful about it
always.
Just after / passed this ambulance
the Germans began Smelling a section
of the road too near me to be comfort
able, so I beat 1t to a shell crater
about twenty yards off the road, to the
rear. A shrapnel shell exploded pretty
near me just as l jumped into this
hole-I did not look around to see how
close 1t was-and / remember now
how the old minstrel joke had heard
on board ship came to my mind at the
time-something about a fellow feel
ing so small he climbed into a hole
and pulled it after him-and 1 wished
might do the same. / flattened my
self as close against the wall of the
crater as 1 could and then I noticed
that somebody had made a dugout in
the other wall of the crater and l
started for it.
The shells were exploding so fast
by that time that you could not listen
lOA Coth Sapiooioh oCPoi dlCiys anu J0ot
as l jumped into the dugout regular
hail of shrapnel fell on the spot 1 had
just passed. 1t was pretty dark in
the dugout and the first move / made
bumped into somebody else and he
let out a yell that you could have
heard mile. 1t was a Tommy who
had been wounded in the hand and
between curses he told me had sat
right on his wound when / moved.
asked him why he did not yell sooner,
but he only swore more. He surely
was a great cusser.
The bombardment slackened up a
bit about this time, and 1 thought /
would have look around. l did not
get out Of the crater entirely, but
moved around out of the dugout until
could see the road / had been on.
The first thing I saw was a broken
Town wagon that had just been hit
n fact, 1t was topping over when my
Eye caught it. The driver jumped
rom his seat and while he was in the |
iir his head was torn completely from |
lis shoulders by another she'll do |
lot know what kind. This was enough |
or me, so back to the dugout.
How the Germans did it / do not |
now, but they had found out about |
hat road and opened fire at exactly |
he moment when the road was COW
red with wagons and men. Yet there |
lad not been balloon or airplane in /
he sky for some time.
After q while the bombardment |
moved away to the east, from which |
ERECTION l had come, and I knew our |
arteries were getting it. The Tommy
nd 1 came out of the dugOut. AS I
tarted climbing up the muddy sides
saw there was man standing at
he edge of it, and could tell by his
uttees that he was a Limey. / was
aving hard job of it, so without
,oking up / hailed him.
sThat was sure some Smelling,
-asn't it?" I said "There's a lad
own here with a wounded fin; better
i've him a hand"
what Smelling do you mean" says
he legs, without moving, There's
cen none in this sector for some
me, l think"
The Tommy was right at my heel
Y this time, and he let out string
language. I was surprised, too, and
i'll scrambIing around In the mud.
Then the Tommy let "Gawd 'elp
and looked up and saw that the 4
gs belonged to a Limey officer, a
ajor, I think. And here we had been
lssfng the eyes OF OF him! Z
But he sized it up rightly and gave I
$ hand, and only laughed when we i
led to explain. got ratified and
Id him that all saw was his legs {
I'd that they did not look like an ON