American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1918-07-23

ging OF the courtyard.
Our officer r~eappeared and In a low,
but firm voice, ordered:
"About-Turn 7"
We turned about. In the gray light
Of dawn. a few yards in front of me, I
could make out a brick wall. Against
this wall was a dark form with q white
square pinned on It's breast. We were
supposed to aim at this square To the
right of the form 1 noticed a white spot
on the wall. This would be my target.
Ready Aiml Firet"
The dark form sank into a huddled
heap. My bullet sped on its way, and
hit the whitish spot on the wall l
could see the splinters fly. Some n
else had received the rife containing
the blank cartridge, but my mind was
at ease, there was no blood of a
Tommy on my hands.
"Order-Arms About-Turn Pile
Arms Stand-Clear."
The stacks were reformed.
"Quick March Right - Wheeli'
And we left the scene Of execution be-
hind US.
1t was now daylight. After march
ing about five minutes, we were dis
missed with the following instructions
from the officer In command:
Return, alone, to your respective
companies, and remember, no talking
ahssut this affair, or else it will go hard
with the guilty ones"
We needed NJ urging to get away. 1
did not recognize any Of the men on
the firing squad ven the officer was a
stranger to me.
The victims relations and friends in
Blighty will never know that he was
executed; they will be under the i'm
preston that he died doing his bit for
king and country.
In the public casualty lists his name
will appear under the caption "Acci-
dentally Killed" or "Died."
The day after the execution 1 re-
ceived orders to report back to the
line, and to keep a still tongue in my
head.
Executions are a part Of the days
work, but the part we hated most Of
all, l Enthusiastically the saddest. The
British war department is thought by
many people to be composed Of rigid
regulations all wound around with red
tape. But II has a heart. and one of
the evidences of this is the considerable
way in which an execution is concealed
and reported to the relative of the I'M
fortunate man. They know the
truth. He Is listed In the bulletins as
among the accidentally killed"
In the last ten years l have several
times read stories In magazines of
towards changing, in a charge, to he
roes. 1 used to laugh at 1t. 1t seemed
easy for story-writers, but l said
Men aren't made that way.P But over
in France 1 learned once that the
streak of yellow can urn all white.
picked up the story, bit by bit, from
the captain of the company, the sen
tries who guarded the poor fellow. a:
well as from my wi observations. Al
first l did not realize the whole of his
story, but after a week of tnvestiga'
ton 1t stood out as clear in my mind
a. lhC AlOuAlloAAo - ny IL
the spring sunshine. 1t impressed me
so much that l wrote it all down in
rest billets on scraps of odd paper
The incidents are, as l say, every BIZ
true the feelings of the man are true
i know from all l underwent in the
fighting over in France.
We will call him Albert Lloyd. That
rr~a-n If- ~, hr,+ l. --f1T do.
Albert Lloyd was what the world
terms a coward.
In London they called him a Stacker.
His country had been at war nearly
eighteen months, and still he was not
in khaki.
He had no good reason for not en-
listing, being alone in the world, hav-
ing been educated in an orphan asy-
lum. and there being no one dependent
upon him for support. He had no good
position to lose, and there was nc
sweetheart to tell him with her lips
to go. while her eyes pleaded for him
to stay.
Every time he saw a recruiting ser
geant he'd stink around the cOrne out
of sight, with a terrible fear gnawine
ct his heart. When passing the big re
cruiting posters. and on his way tC
business and back he passed many. he
would pull down his cap and look tht
other way from that awful finger
pointing at him, under the caption
Your King and Country Need You :
or the boring eyes of Kitchener, which
burned into his very soul. causing hin
to shudder.
Then the Zeppelin raids-durinG
them, he used to crouch in a corner OF
his clearinghouse cellar, whimperine
like a whipped puppy and calling upor
the Lord to protect him.
Even his landlady despised him. al
though she had to admit that he was
good pay"
He very seldom read the papers, but
n mOmentOus morning the landlady