Gunnison news-champion., 1918-04-05
| 6sST ~
IGi-2 ZTrTI


lurgg We stood at attention Ia front
orhlm and waited. His say vas short.
Don't you two ever get II into your
heads that Morse Is d dead language.
I've known Il for years. The two Of
you had h"'reE get rid of that nervous
habit or tapping trausmluers; its dan
gerous. That's all
"wo saIu',d and wcr" Just going out
the door of 'he duguur when the cap
tn,u called up bncE aud said;
"'SmuF- Gy.glluk. = YcsT Wen.
there ar" rwO tins of them on ms table.
Go larE To the battery and keep your
tongue. between your teeth Und"r-
-'undT
I'VE understood.
"l.- t,,. u.rEs afterwards our bat
Try d.d nothing huI extra fatigue.
We were satisfied md SO were IN"
,,u. It was worth It ~ put an" over
un uld Pepper. /" say nr,hing Of tn"
Injury rnu-..d to Fr.iz' feelings"
when wilson hrG finished his story
/ I looked up and 'h" dusuUt was
/ 'r"ru"d An artillery rop'aln und ',ND
,.'.yls hnd ulSu "n'r-,-j and stayed
! f"r n" Finish. " son -uat out an
/ "I,u-sD"us qu.d uf fupo,cn leaked NJ.
saN rho cnr'rIu aad g"t ns red a. a
/ rgua'Ion Tn" rslprain smiled and
/ Ir" Wilson whispered 10 me:
"R'im" me. YuUk see where, click
/ for rrucinyi"n. That captain is IN"
| same one that churkcd us G"ldnakcs
| In his dugout and her" have been
'rhurkIng m" weight about in his
! henrinc'"
| Wilson never clicked his cruclGXion.
! Quite q contrast to Wilson was an
! other character In our hricude named
! Scott; we called him "Old Scnity" on
account ~ his age lie was flfry-sev"n.
| although looking forty. "Old Scotty"
! had been born in the Northwest and
had served In the Northwest Mounted
police, He was typical cowpuncher
and Indian fighter and was Il dend shot
J with III" rife. and took no pains to
disguise this fact from Us. He used to
take care Of his rifle ns II II were n
baby. In his spare moments you could
always sec him cleaning II or polish
ing the stock. Woe bctidc the man
who by mistake happened to get hold
~ this rifle; he soon found out his
"r-"r. Scott was as deaf as mule.
and II was amusing M parade to watch
him In the manual Of arms. slyly
glancing out OF the corner of his eye
nt the man next to him to see what
! the order was. How he passed the
doctor was n mystery to us; he must
have bluifed his way through. because
I he certainly was independent Beside
him the Fourth OF July looked like
Good Friday. He wore nt the time
/ large snmbrcrn. had Mexican stock
saddle over his shoulder. lariat on
his arm. and .forty-tive" hanging
from his hip. Dumping this parapher-
MALTA on the floor he went up to the
recruiting officer and shouted: 'Tm
! from America. west OF the Rockies.
and want TO join your ID army
I've got no use for German and can
| shoot some. At Scotland Yard they
turned me down: said was deaf and
so am don't banker to ship In with
a ID mudcrunchlng outfit, but the
/ y ihii. s' lutsS ItEi-
ments better than none. so trot out
your papers and I'll sign EN-" He told
them he was forty and slipped by. I
was on recruiting service ut the time
he applied for enlistment.
II was Old Scotty's great ambition
to be a sniper or body snatcher." ms
Mr.. Atkins calls 1t. The day that he
| tpo OF hrir 10 ha ,nla
brated his appointment by blowing the
whole platoon to fags.
Being Yank. Old Scotty took ljk-
Ing to me and used to spin some great
yarns about the plains, and the whole
platoon would drlhk these In and ask
for more. Ananlas was rookie com
pared with him.
The eX-plainsnaan and discipline
could not agree. but the officers all
liked him, even If he was hard to man
age. so when he was detailed as
sniper sigh of relief went up from
the officers mess.
Old Scotty had the freedom of the
brigade. He used to draw two or
three days rations and disappear with
his glass, range finder and rifle. and we
would see or hear no more of him
until suddenly he would reappear
with couple of notches added to
those already on the butt of his rifle.
Every tirhe he got German 1t meant
another notch. He was proud of these
notches.
But after a few months Father
Rheumatism got him and he was sent
TO Blichty; the air in the wake of his
strctcher was blue with curses. Old
Scotty surely could swear; some Of his
outbursts actually burned you.
No doubt, at this writing. he is
somewhere in Blighty" pussy footing
it on a bridge or along the wall of
some munition plant with the "G. R"
or Home Defense corps