Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1918-12-13
CHAPTER VI-Contlnued.

CHAPTER Vl-Contlnued.
s.
The lieutenant came back with the
stretcher bearers and he asked one OF
them, SO the boy could not hear him, II
the boy would live.
The stretcher bearer said: II don't
think SO. One through his chest and
right leg broken"
The boy had kept quiet for a while,
but all of a sudden he yelled, "Give me
a cigarette" I handed him a ciga-
rette butt that I had found in the dug
out. We were all out Of cigarettes.
So they lit it for him and he kept
quiet. AS soon as they could they got
around the corner Of the fire bay with
him and through a communication
trench to a field hospital. The lieu
tenant and I walked a little way with
him and he began to thank us, and he
told the lieutenant, "Old man, you
have been a father and a mother to
me-"
And the lieutenant said to him:
"You have done well, old boy. You
have done more than your share"
When they started into the commu-
nication trench the boy began to
scream again. And the lieutenant
acted like a wild man. He took out
his cigarette case, but there were no
cigarettes in It, and then he swore and
put 1t back again. But IN a few min
utes he had the case out again and
was swearing worse than ever and
talking to himself.
"The boy isn't dying like a gentle
man." he said. "Why couldn't he keep
quiet" I do not think he meant 1t.
He was all W and excited and
kept taking out his cigarette case and
putting it back again.
The other officer had gone on to in
spect the sentries when the boy rolled
into the trench and a poilu came up
to tell us that the officer had been hit.
We walked back to where I had been
and there was the officer. If I had
been there I would have got 1t too,
I guess. He was an awful mess. The
veins were sticking out Of his neck
and one side Of him wa blown off.
Also, his foot was wounded. That is
what shrapnel does to you. AS
crawled past him I happened to touch
his foot and he cursed me all over the
place. But when I tried to say I was
sorry I could not, for then he apollo.
gized and died a moment later.
There was q silver cigarette case
sticking out Of the rags where his
side had been blown away and the
lieutenant crossed himself and reached
in and took out the case. But wher
he pried open the case he found thai
It had been bent and cracked and oil
the cigarettes were soaked with blood
He swore worse than ever, then, ant
threw his own case away, putting thu
other officers case i'm his pocket
At this point our own artillery be
gan Smelling and we received the orde'
to stand to with fixed bayonets. WheI
we got the order to advance some O
the men were already over the para
pet and the whole bunch after them
and, believe me, I was as pale as
sheet, just scared to death. I thinl
every man is when he goes over TO
the first time-every time for tina
matter. But I was glad we were goinl
to get some action, because 1t Is har'
TO sit around In a trench under fir
and have nothing to do. I had all
could do to hold my rifle.
We ran across No Mans Land.
cannot remember much about 1t. Blu
when we got to the German trencl
I fell on top of a young fellow and m,
bayonet went right through him.
was a crime to get him, at that. 81
was as delicate as q pencil.
When I got back to our trenche
after my first charge I could not slee
for q long time afterward, for remelr
bering what that fellow looked lik
and how my bayonet slipped into hlr
uIu HOW ue SCIcdLuSu Wutu hC ACl
He had his legs and his neck twiste
under him after he got 1t. I though
about it q lot and 1t got to be almos
a habit that whenever I was going t
sleep I would think about him an
then all hope Of sleeping was gone.
Our company took q German trenc
, hat time and along with anothe
I company four hundred prisoners. W
had to retire because the men on on
; sides did not get through and "
were being flanked. But we lost a Il
Of men doing 1t.
When we returned to our trenche
: our outfit was simply all in and "
were lying around in the front lin
like a bunch Of old rags in a Mario
alley. None of us showed any slgr
Of life except a working party III:
was digging with picks and shovels
some bodies that had been frozen I'M
he mud Of tie trench