The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-10-01
BY CLARENCE q. HOLLAND.

Paris.-A man can be only so
frightened. After that he dies sudden
ly, or laughs, or both. Also, no mat
ter how scared you are, curiosity sur.
wives.
If a shell is coming, you want to see
II land. If 1t is going to swat you, you
wan to see how it goes about it.
We were going back from the front
back. The battle was behind us.
Privately each one of us didn't car
how much farther behind US it got. 1t
could pick up its belongings and move
away from us as fast as We were NOV
ing away from il IL 1t wanted. No
body would hear a protest from any of
us.
AT a crossroads our meteoric prog
ress was halted by a young and severe
soldier with NJ. p. on his sleeve.
you can't pass" he said; they're
Smelling the road ahead"
He didn't need to tell us. We knew
1t. AS a matter of fact we could have
ttlh AAth ilAiiAEC uDVdA tuab IOdu DtAhS
shelled that he would never know.
A shell came screaming over our
heads to "wham'' down alongside the
road a hundred yards beyond. 1t
wasn't a big shell. In a calmer mo-
ment, and at a greater distance, /
might have admitted that it was a lit
tie shell, an insignificant shell. a neg
ligible three-inch shell. But when ii
went over my head l was willing to
take oath that 1t was a AZ centimeter.
When | was dug out of the ditch into
which / had dived and the mud
scraped out Of my eyes i took a last
look down the road.
Cap as Shock Absorber.
Something was paining me in the re-
gion of the knees. Also there was a
sound resembling that made by Broth
er Bones In the minstrel show. Minute
examination demonstrated that the
pain was caused by the knees assault
ing each other venomOusly. / stuck
my zap between them as a shock alb.
sorber and looked again.
1t was a busy little road. 1t was not
a popular road. Everybody on it had
taken a dislike to 1T and was moving
away with enthusiasm. In the dis
lance were three German prisoners
and one American private. The pri.
vate was on a horse. 1t looked a very
fast horse, but the Germans were hav.
ing trouble with 1t. 1t kept getting in
their way. They stumbled over 1t.
"Wham" came another shell. It's
explosion was almost drowned out by
the sounds of conclusion at my side
They were caused by the beating to.
gether of the knees of the driver OF
the Y. NJ. G. A. car and by those OF
a buck private. Their note was differ
ent, and the meter dissimilar, but the
air was much the same. / could not
quite make out which accomplished the
most knocks to the minute, nor which
was loudest.
Several ration carts were approach
ing. 1t was no slow, dignified, matron
ly progress. Anybody who believes q
team of mules is incapable of speed
should have been there to see. The ra
ton carts were filed with hard tack
The hard tack was as scared as any
thing else, and was trying to keep vi
to the cart-but Il was out of luck.
1t had no arms to hang on with. The
air was full Of hard tack. 1t flowed
out behind those ration carts like a
ribbon. Ii was a snowstorm of hare
tack, and nobody paused to ask where
IL fell.
bitches Are Popular.
Every ditch vas ~unbelievably popu
lar. 1t didn't have to be a deep ditcf
nor a clean ditch. Any common oil
garden variety of ditch would do. A
six-foot man was perfectly able to con
ceal himself in a six-inch ditch. Head:
would poke up, and another shell
would land. Immediately il would be
Aa~ItA. 1sF,1A,s