The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-07-18
CHAPTER vii.

men remained. Presently others strsg-
Eled In until there were 20 OF us as
se,nbled There IL eager questioning
everywhere as each man attempts to
learn about his comrade or acQusint-
ance. Few questions can be answered.
however, Ms each man had thought
only Of himself In that night
Driven by hunger We approached
the village. The first thing we did
was to hasten to the wells and drink
We drank as II we wanted to dli our
selves mp with enough water to last Us
the rest of our lives Only here and
there were we able to find anything to
eat A few beets were left In the gar
dens and we ate them eagerly. without
waiting to wash or clean them.
Where Is our company? Nobody
knows. We are the company, we 20
men. And our officers. Somewhere
surely" said a soldier. somewhere In
q bomb-proof corner"
But what were we TO dol No one
could decide. Presently q noncommis-
stoned oflicer of the field gendarmes
approached on horseback. II Is the
duty OF this particular class Of defend
err Of the fatherisDd to round up
siackers behind the front.
''You are pioneers" he called to Us
roughly. what are you doing beref'
Then he asked US innumerahle ques-
tious. which We answered as well as
we could.
where are the othersY' he asked.
"Over there" said Young Berlin
soldier. and pointed to the battlefield.
THE others are dead or perhaps
prisoners. Several others have man
aged to save themselves and are some
where. perhaps"
-Never mind" the noncommissioped
officer said roughly. The conversation
had become disaEreeable TO him wait
here. until come back Where are
the ofi3cers7"
Again no one could answer. What
are their names1 I shall find them.
Perhaps they are in viry."
We told him the names of our on
GERS. he gave US Identification papers
no that we might be able TO prove 10
others lnquiring why we were waiting
where we were.
utpt uir hoTtC tdfs anu ne oIt1ks
his neck" said one OF our men.
We entered one Of the houses which
nsd been robbed. as were all the others,
threw ourselves down upon the mat
tresses TO sleep. sieep. sleep. How
long we slept no one knew. We only
knew that II was night and that some
Of our company had aroused us. These
were newcomers who had been hunting
for rs for long time.
2 ''Cone along. The captain 10 out
side and he Is very angry. He has
gathered IL Of his men together and is
cursing like the very devil because he
could not locate you
Sleepy. and entirely Indifferent to the
future. we left the building. We knew
thnt We would be sent into notion
again but no longer cared. had never
before seen among n body OF soldiers
such an atmosphere OF absolute indif-
ference.
We came upon the captain He saw
us approach minus our headgcnr. our
uniforms torn into shreds and without
guns and knapsacks.
"why are you running around herer
he roared. That was our reception
Nobody answered. Nobody cnred-
Nothing could be worse than what we
had been through. but although every
one among us felt keenly the injustice
of the captains attitude we all re-
mained silent.
'WheTe IL your eQuipmentf-I,ost-
Lost. This has been q nice business.
The state equips you. you rebel. II all
were like you"
fashion. this brave fellow. who. without
any action on his own part permitted
the rebels 10 retreat while he defend
ed his fatherland In vItry. 4.2o kilo
meters behind the battle line.
We selected guns from those lying
around US in heaps and soon were
ready to fight again.
We stood around half asleep. lean
ing on onr guns. and waited to be led
once more TO the slaughter. A shot
fell In our midst. II struck . color
sergeant and smashed his right hand.
He cried out from the pain. His hand
was quickly bnndaged. He was the
flrst.
An eyewitness told MS how this had
happened. He had rested his hand on
the Kun barrel In the same manner
NJ did all the others except that his
hand partly covered the muzzle. The
orders provide that the gun he locked
II loaded. Turning TO the color SER
geant. who wns writhing with pnIn.
the captain rosred at him: II shali
report you for punishment for your
gross carelesspess and for mutilating
yourself In the heid."