The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1918-03-15

best of luck and duck the brick that
follows.
] glanced again at my wrist watch.
We all wore them and you could hardly
call US ''Sissies" for doing So 1t was a
minute to four. | could see the hand
move to the twelve. then dead 81
lcnce. 1t hurt. Everyone looked up
Ia see what had happened, but not for
long. Sharp whistle blasts rang out
along the trench, and with a cheer the
men scrambled up the ladders. The
bullets were cracking overhead, and
occasionally machine gun would rip
and tear the top of the sandbag para
pet. How I got up that ladder I will
never know. The first ten feet out IN
front was agony. Then we passed
through lanes in our barbed wire.
Knew l was running, but could feel no
motion below the waist. Patches on
the ground seemed to float to the rear
as if l were on a treadmill and seen
cry was rushing past me. The Ger
mans had put a barrage of shrapnel
across No Mans Land, and you could
hear the pieces slap the ground about
you.
After l had passed our barbed wire
and gotten into No Mans Land q
Tommy about fifteen feet to my right
front turned around and looking in my
direction. put his hand to his mouth
and yelled something which | could not
make out on account of the noise from
the bursting shells. Then he cOughed
stumbled, pitched forward and lay still.
His body seemed to float to the rear
OF me. ] could hear sharp cracks in
the air about me. These We're caused
by passing rifle bullets. Frequently,
+" my right and lett, little Spurts of
dirt would .4s< into the air and a rico
chct bullet would whine on its way.
If a Tommy should see one of these
little SpurtS in front of him, he would
tell the nurse about it later. The
crossing of No Mans Land remains a
blank to me.
Men on my right and left would
stumble and fall. Some would try to
get UP. while others remained huddled
and mo.iOnleSS. Then smaShed-up
barhed wire came into view and
seemed carried on tide to the rear.
Suddenly, in front of me loomed Il
baShed-in trench about four feet wide.
Overlooking forms like mud turtles
We're S>lambling up its wall. One of
these forms seemed to slip and then
rolled to the bottom of the trench. I
lCaped across this intervening space.
The man to my left seemed to pause in
midair, then pitched head down into
the German trench. l laughed out loud
in my delirium. Upon alighting on the
other side of the trench | came to with
a sudden jolt. Right in front of me
doomed Il giant form with rifle which
looked about ten feet long. on the end
Of which seemed seven hayonetS. These
flashed in the air in front of me. Then
through my mind flashed the aGmoni-
ton of our bayOnet instructor back in
B!ighty. He had said whenever you
get in charge and run your bayOnet
up to the hilt into,a German the Fritz
will fall. Perhaps your rifle will be
Wrenched from your grasp. Do not
waste time, if the bayonet is fouled
in his equipment, by putting your foot
on his stomach and Juggling at the rifle
to eXtricate the bayOnet. Simply
press the trigger and the bullet will
free it" In my present situation this
was the logic. but for the life of me
I could not remember how he had told
me to get my bayonet into the Ger
man. To me this was the paramount
issue. l closed my eyes and lunged
forward My rifle was torn from my
hands. I must have gotten the Ger
man because he had disappeared
About twenty feet to my left front
was Il huge Prussian nearly six feet
four inches in height, II fine specimen
Of physical manhood. The bayonet
from his rifle was missing, but he
clutched the barrel in both hands and
was swinging the butt around his head.
/ could almost hear the swish of the
butt passing through the air. Three
little Tommies We're engaged with him.
They looked like pigmies alongside of
the PruSSian. The Tommy on the left