Evening star., 1918-04-07

I
ns.sy to pay the cost Of trans
k---~------------------
the barragsr by shifting the ranges
to the right or left
OF these niceties could see nothing.
Ny sole anxiety was concerned with
the success or failure of the attack.
Above the dust and smoke covering the
battlefield rockets arose in confusion.
These rockets were from the French.
signaling their whereabouts to the ar
tillery. and these red rockets were
Twice in the course Of that hour !
had q moment of anguish. The first
was at the very beginning. The
French could not have been out OF
their trenches more than two minutes
when between their lines and the Ger
mans q violent enemy barrage rent the
earth with hammers Of fre. Had the in
fantrymsn been caught? Evidently not.
for the French rockets continued to
soar from points even farther forward.
Moreover, as the French shells began
to take effect the German batteries.
one after the other, ceased firing. My
fears for the time being were qufeted,
but half an hour later I heard through
the incessant clamor Of the cannon the
sharp and odious tapatapatapping OF
machine guns toward the left. These
machine guns must have been left un-
destroyed. Every one knows what
that means. I thought Lallemant,
the tall grenadier, and his valiant COM
rades. God help them II they had run
into machine guns! But there was no
way Of finding out. AL could do was
to hope.
German Plane Sent to Earth.
Though the cannonade ceased at the
end Of an hour. did not know how the
action had been decided and I started
to return to division headquarters to
learn the news. It was now daylight.
In tho tumultuous morning sky. all
flushed with the sunrise. war planes
ward the rear . French balloon was
being rapidly pulled down. Even as I
looked 1t collapsed in q Hare Of smoke
and atraight toward me, sixagging like
q drunken swallow came . German
plane, which at the same instant was
attacked from above by two French
machines -
At division headquarters I met the
men who had made the attack. The
last Of them had returned to the French
lines by 9 o'clock and had been imme-
diately relieved. They came back down
twelve. their shoulders bowed with the
weight Of the guns and packs. Their
clothes were plastered with mud and
their steps were slow. but in the. hol-
low eyes was q fierce glare Thf stamp
Of battle was .tiiI upon them One
breathed through clenched teeth and
drawn ffps like Asrunner 1t tho ana of
heat. The drst detachment with
which spoke had been on the right Of
the attack. whore all had gone well.
Nryx
barraEes. they said, had been marvel
oualy accurate. They had reached the
German dugouts without difncu1ty and
had taken q number Of prisoners in
nades. The general spoke few hearty
words Of praise for them and they plod-
ded on their way. well content that
they had been victorious in q dif1cult
position and had suffered practically no
Hand-to-Hand Grenade Fight.
The second detachment, ten grimy,
war-worn poilus. with brfstling chins
and flaming eyes. had . different story
to tell. for they had been on the left of
the line At the point, you remember.
chine guns half an hour after the at
tack started. Yes, there had been ma
chine guns and eight men had been
killed and q number OF others wounded.
inc O0fm6n foSl8LAnC0 was STUBBORN.
Part of a company crept around the
shell holes to the left of the advancing
French and counter attacked them on
the flank. A hand-t hand grenade fight
ensued. in which the French. though
ultimately victorious. suffered severely.
However, they took some Of the assail-
ants prisoners and the others were
~grilled" as the soldiers say before they
could get away.
I'VE got them. all right" said the
spokesman Of the wild-eyed group with
> sudden fash of pride. "But It was
not easy. You know Lallemant, the
champion Of the battalion, q tall,
round-shouldered fellow. who could
throw grenade forty-nve yards and
was to represent US In the champion
ship competition next Sunday?"
"Ah. yes. Lailemant." exclaimed the
others. pressing closer about me.
He was carrying thirty-two grenades
all by himself" continued the spokes-
man. when the Germans counter at
tackled he charged ahead of US all.
alone"
The speaker paused. YES" I said,
'and where IL her
The rough old poilu still hesitated a
moment, seemed to swallow a lump in
his throat, and then, looking me
straight in the face. said. quietly:
He was killed"