The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-02-27

toraIe OF the German Empire, with
the capital at Naples!"
MY God! voices little Dingbat
TREMENDOUSLY 81 have my steamer
tickets for the twelfth, and | hope,
l only hope, that Paris will be safe
until then
well, I'm here and I'm going to
stickw declared Jones, his freckles
becoming more intense, as his good
jaw squares.
There is a general reflection of the
spirit of Jones on every face, except
that of little Dingbat, who clings
tenaciously to the fact that he hates
to die.
"Maybe the British can keep them
out" suggests Brown. 'They did, you
know
he British ?" Gray looks around
at the boys meaningly, and they
turn plying eyes on Brown.
Haven't you heard about the
British" inquiries Smith, shocked
that there should be such ignorance
in Paris. "TelI him, Gray,"
ooh nothing" says Gray, affecting
an extreme noncholance of manner.
He's a rough sort of citizen, is Gray,
fuzzy hat, and speaks hard and
laughs loud, and conveys a general
impression with his shoulders of be-
ing ready to fight at any and all
times, and is always dragging sick
cats home. Scarcely ANYTHING,
Brown! Only this; all that remain
ed of the British army was wiped
out at Cambria! There's nothing left
of it but the officers you see in Lon
don and Paris. They're going to
form themselves into a regiment. and
go up there for the honor of the
British nation, and all be killed off
in one last forlorn-hope dash, next
Tuesday at 2:15 p. M"
Grave fellows, the Irtah." OBJ
serves Jones, with the solemnitv of
church, and his sentiment is reflect
ed on every face except Dingbat's,
who is too much shocked to have
any expression.
"It's rough that we don't get the
truth at home" Dooflab pours the
wine from the big fitting magnum
with firm hand, though his face is
still pasty. However, we're in this
thing, and we're in it to stay, and,
by thunder, We'll do something!
We're overlooking the fact that our
fine husky United States soldiers are
ready to go into action and hungry
for it! I've heard, on pretty high au-
IfldC we nave SOIDGITlIlg ike
five million here now!
Five whatn Agonized little Ding
bat violently plucks out one of the
six hairs of his mustache. us that
what you're basing your hope on!
and from very high authority,
though I wouldn't repeat it except
here among friends, whom / know
and can trust" His eye wavers with
merely slight flicker of dubious
ness toward the man who had come
over on another boat. "The Ameri-
can army in France consists of ex-
actly 1,427 men! And there isn't a !
bean to feed 'em with! They have
nothing but tobacco. They were
dumped out in the freezing mud up
munition, clothing or shelter; and
they're dying of starvation and ex-
posture at the rate of 100 day!I
You can figure it for yourself. In
IA Ia days"
And so it goes. Among the newly |
arrived in Paris, rumor madly fol- |
lows rumor, each more wild, more |
fantastic, more silly and absurd than
the one upon the heels of which it |
treads. The trouble is sudden prox- |
unity. Those fresh from across the |
raging sea approach Paris with the !
feeling that now they're in the midst |
of the biggest thing that ever hap |
pened in the world; and they ex-
pect big things to start seething the
minute they arrive. The big things
don't, and the Paris papers furnish |
very little excitement. The daily |
news is usually printed on one small |
sheet, about Is inches by %, and |
there's only room, on the two sides,
for advertisements, peppery letters
from Old Subscribers, and the cold,
bare facts Of army operations; just
the official communications, these |
last, which we get back home. but
without our picturesque amplifica-
emit
The newly arrived American sees