The Southern herald., 1918-10-04

still hot. Also, there was o sort OF
gas there that hung around for sew
eral minutes, but 1t was not very bad.
The man began talking to me, and
he said 1t was an honor to lie on the
field Of battle with leg shot OF and
dead men piled all about you, and
some not dead but grOanlng. He told
me l would soon be able to hear the
groaning, though l had not said l
minded 1t, or anything about 1t. Then
he said again what an honor It was,
and asked II l had a drink for him.
had not had any water all day, and
/ told him SO, but he kept on asking
for 1t all the same. Some Of the Turk
Ish -bombers must have sneaked up
pretty close to our lines, for when |
looked out Of the hole toward our
lines, and a shell burst near them,
l could see Turk coming toward us.
We played dead then, but / had my
bayonet ready for him In case he had
seen us and decided to come up to the
hole, Evidently he had not, for when
he got near the hole he steered to the
side and went around.
The other garby was cheerful when
he was not asking for water, but you
could see he was going fast So we sat
there In the hole and he died. Shortly
afterward the fire slackened a little
and got out and started toward our
lines. But l remembered about the
other wounded man had passed
when l was carrying Philippe Pierre.
SO l began hunting for him, and after
a long time l found him. He was still
alive. His chest was all smashed in
and he was badly cut up around the
neck and shoulders. l picked him up
and started back, but ran into some
barbed wire and had to go around.
1 was pretty tired by this time and
awfully thirsty, and l thought If did
not rest little bit could never make
1t. was so tired and nervous that
did not care much whether l did
get back or not, and the wounded
garby was groaning all the time.
So when I thought the shells were
coming pretty thick again got into a
shell hole and 1t was the same one
had left not long before. The dead
garby was there just as had left him.
The wounded one was bleeding all
over, and my clothes were just soaked
with blood from the three men, but
most Of all from him. There was some
of my own blood on me, too, for when
was knocked down by the shell my
nose bled and kept bleeding for long
time, but, Of course, that was nothing
compared to the bleeding of thu
others.
The worst Of all was that he KEEP
groaning for water, and 1t made mi
thirstler than had been, even. Blu
there was not q drop of water any
where and knew there was no us,
searching any bodies for TASKS. 81
we just had to stick 1t out. Prett.
soon the wounded man quit groanlnl
and was quiet, and l knew he wa
going to die too. It made me mad Il
think that l had not been of any US
in carrying these two men around
but If had gone on with either o
them 1t would have been just the sam
they would have died and probabl
5 l would have got 1t, too. When l fig
: ured 1t out this way l quit wOTryin
about 1t. only I wished the fire woul
t let up.
? So the other man died, and ther
were two of them in the hole. / rea
> the numbers on their identihcatio
disks when shells burst near enoug
so that l could see them, and after
:, while got back to our lines and role
l in. could not remember the nun
bers or the names by that time, but
I working party got them, along wit
I others, so 1t was all right.
My clothes were a mess, as l hav
: said, and / was so tired l thought
could sleep for q week, but coul
not stand 1t in my clothes any longe
1t was absolutely against regulation
but / took off all my clothes-th
u blood had soaked into the skin-an
{ wrapped myself in nothing but al
and went right to Sleep did M
= sleep very well, but woke up ever
once in a while and thought l was
= the hole again.
During the night they brought u
. water, but l was asleep and did M
\ know 1t. They did not wake m
|, but two men saved by shar
q though usually In a case like that
I was everybody for himself and let th
+ last man go dry. You could not blam
+ them, either, so l thought it We
q pretty decent of these two to save m
a share for me. l believe they mu;