Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1918-12-13

The English Lion wns roaring. aus
his growis could be heard all along ~,
western front. No doubt many Ger
man general was stirring uneasiiy II
his large concrete shellproOf dugout
kl!os behlad the German front line. a
the cverlnrreasing laundering roar
reached hls eess.
We had a closeup view OF his ma,
lessy. the King Of beasts. and 10 us be
was sorry looking specimen paiche.
Of hide were worn away while IN his
tall were two blk knots II these knots
had have been labeled II would hnve
been easy 70 read "Ncuye chapelleT
and "GallipolI.~ The memory and
paSU o. these two disasters no doubt
decreased the intensity OF his thunder.
The british bombardmcnt 81 the
German llncs was on, bombardment
which TASTED over eight days and
nights II WIS the forerunner OF the
Biz Push. or Battle Of the somme."
Atwcil and were slttlng In dug
ont % the support trench. Atwell was
great, big. ioyable fellow. and wns
my mate. We both had been detailed
90 The divisional intelligence depart
ment and we're engaged upon spy
work.
Atwell. although OF naturally
CHEEKY disposition. occasionally re-
lapsed into DIS Of dependency.
la the light from a stump Of can
die was making out my previous
days report 90 turn into brigade
headquarters occnJenaIly the en-
trance 20 the dueout would hight up
with a rel flare AS a shell burst In the
near vicinity. Atwcll was sitting on
his PACK. with his back leaning against
the wet and muddy wall OF the dueout.
The rays from the candle lighted up
his face.
Finishing my report ect out
flag" lighted H. and with nn uneasy
feeling listened 20 the ronr OF the hell
outside. lsne.drawn sigh caused
me 10 look In Atwcll's direction.
Never In my life have l seen such
detected aud wocbegone countenance.
This. In way. angered me. because
J. myself right then. had feeling of
inpending disaster. sort Of unknown
dread. perhaps lntermingicd with
far-away longing for the fields and
flowers at home ! wanted 10 be
eheercd. and Atwell's face looked Ike
a morgue.
Forcing a smile I slapped Atweil on
the knee and said
"cotne out o your trance. We've
both got good chance for Blighty
with this bcmbardment on"
Asweli looked IN my direction. and
ia tone ~ voice which from him
had never heard before. answered:
"yank I've been out since "a. I've
hurled many mate aud I've seen
many lucky bloke on ssretchcr
bound for Bllghfy. and never gave II
a thought. bat right now | feel as II |
my stay In the trenches VIII be short
I've had something on my mind since |
September. 1914. and it's been worry
Ing me pink. I'm goin' 20 tell you the
story. ami III give yau my oath that
YOU'RE the FIRST one that's ever heard |
n from my lips: but I've got 10 have
your promise that you'll not judge me
too hAr~hly. I've just got to get II
oat o. my sysfssn."
lust then signing moan could be
heard overhead. II was one Of our
saline. point two" shells aimed In the
direction % Berlin. We both instlnc
lively turned oar eyes toward the en-
trance o. the durout and waited for
Ne burst. Nothing happened.
Another bleomin' dud~ calculated
AtwelL "A few mere hundred pounds
gone to seed and then again the
gloomy look spread over his counte
nance. Nas getting nervous aud un-
easy Trying 20 hide my fear, said;
-For Ia love O. Mike. Atweli. crack
smile, GlSe as that story ~ yours.
or else IN 90 hughonse. Yeu had bet
ter get Il on or your chest because
rEl rfink:ag that Fritz VIII soon be
replying 70 cur sfrnflug. and n an
elghfIs7A shell ever hits this dugout
thsy'n need no wooden crosses for
rs, beeause our names viii appear un-
der the caption Missing"
with another sigh escaping from
MS ftp<. when sent a cpiu rtbfef UP
and down my spinal column. he lighted
flag and started In. This Is whit he
told me:
1T was back in September, 1914.
You know ] came out with the first
hundred thousand. the time when all
the fighting was done In the open
The Germans were smashing every
thing before them In their drive on
Paris Our regiment was one OF the
few opposed TO Won Kluck. 1t was a
case Of hold them for few hours and
then retreat--nlways retreat- We
dien't even have time to bury our
dead. The grub was rotten, and We
we're Just noout tagged out. dead tired.
18th no prospect OF relief or rest in
front Of sss.
y: WIS eustcmn-y for small patrols