Omaha daily bee., 1918-05-12

time. so all We hSd to 90 was eat fl
and sleep and play cards and write
letters by candle-light. l had received
a Boston paper . day or two before,
and read the thing through and back
again and inside out, down to the
ads and the death notices. So did
everybody else. Tommy is quite as
interested In American newspapers @
in his own. He thinks we are BIZ
queer, but he likes to read about 10.
Rations at Railway Wood were
still cold and we had to do orr own
cooking, the same - In the she'll
holes. I got to be An expert at boil
ing water. The 48 hours rest passed
before we knew It, and at 10 on the
night Of August "a We went up 70 the
line again. II was quiet this time, \
with only an occasional shell COM
ing over. and we made it without
casualties.
We expected to occupy the pill
boxes we had taken, but found that
the company that had relieved ~ had
fallen back to shell-holes about 50
yards from the boxes. So We rolled I
into the mud again and settled down \
for another two days OF the horrors.
The place smelled worse than before. u
The hole l drew was too mail.
and there were four Of 10 in II. We
got busy that night and dug some i
little ssps 80 We could sit down and !.
stretch without lying on top of each
other.
About ) the next morning Fritz
started his regular daybreak strafng
and We were glad Of the saps.
The next hole to ours was bashed
In and = chap named Lawton had his
shoulder ripped away. He lived
through K and was carried out that !
night.
During the day the wind was Just |
right and six times Fritz sent over Il
gas waves. He gave them to us every
two hours on the tick We had the
respirators on most Of the time. Ths
Boche was playing game. He knew
that We were In . place where its
would b impossible to get up new
helmets, and that the chemicals II
any gas mask will last only 90 long.
No doubt he drenehed 10 with mus
tard gas that day In the hope thkts
BY night many Of 10 would Be weag-s
Ing played-out respirators and would
be easy victims. II worked. fioS
bagged quite Z number.
That night orders came up for y.
patrol of II men 10 be sent out g
have = "look-see" In front Of the
German lines. When We had tahea
the pill-boxes the Boche had failoa
back to ordinary trenches sevesal
hundred yards away. He had wifoe;
In front. and we wanted 70 get coma
line on whether he was preparing ~
Z counter-attack on the boxes. So
we were told to 20 out without ri6ee
and armed only with four bombsg
apiece and 4 persuader. m u
A persuader ID 4 club with loaded
and nlil-studded head. You side-
wipe Boche under the chops with
Il and II crushes his mob like an egg-
she'll. We did not blacken our faces
a. usual, as II was very dark. We
were to spy out the German positions
and take prisoners II we could do II
without making noise.
We left at 10 o'clock. We were
really each man on his own. Shells
were falling here and there. and ten
half an hour we lay In holes. M
wanted Ill the cover we could ct.
Then We went forward.
had been out maybe N hour arld
was hundred yards or 90 ID front
Of the pill-boxas when ! got ! sni6
Of gas. They were giving il 70 ~
again after q day Of Il. / hurried
into the fsspirator. Soon / got \
little dizzy. / knew what was wrong.
The chemical In my mask was worn
out. I was getting gassed and knew
il was time to light out for home. 4
headed back and my brain began q
spin. Immediately oil sense Of direc-s
ton went out Of me. ! fell over one
body and on top OF smother. ] clawed
him over, hunting for his gas mask
There wasn't any. The mask on the
next body was slit, and that on N.
other man had the tube broken. 1
gave Il up and staggered away, With
no idea OF where / was going. Pree-
emily I fell into some wire and hung
there. The barbs elutched and elung
at my puttees and trousers. tou4d
myself too weak to get out and elld
down into = crouch. hopeless and
waiting to die. My breath became
terribly labored. ! fought for each
inhalation. dragging II up IN grsat
rasping, gurgling. gasps. My eyee
stung terribly. and the tears streamed
down my face and went salty into
my mouth. ! siobbered. I got The
taste Of mustard In my nose and n
the back OF my throat, and my palate
stung and swelled.
weakened rapidly. But finally 4
summoned the strength to drag "a
my helmet for air. No use. i wae
worse In the open. / siclsned an6
tried to vomit, bat eouldn't, retching
and heaving up til I hung limp ID the
wire with my face crushed down Il
the cruel barbs-
didn't lose consciousness and wAs
still fighting for air when ! heard y
man say:
Don't move. damn you. WAo -
youi"
I pulled tosgthsr Ill the lie thak
was left In me and muttered In voieo
that sounded strangely loud and that
made my eardrums ache:
British soldier"
Then I slid out Of the world.
I came back to II ~ they wefe
dragging me out of the wires and
heard them say that they were from
the Somersets and were out on patrol,
and that l was in German wire.
| <Cno<:u,>d MoudayN