The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1918-10-25

movement the voice Of a mule Skinn-
er could To- heard babying his mules
On. Come, Dandy. You, Pin-Ears.
Cid MD! There, Baby Doll" Good
mule SINNERS are surprisingly good
to their stock. The Army mule IL q
resigned, phiIOsophic, gentle beast
FOR the most part. Observe the rules
oF tine game and he Will be lamblike.
That isn't mule tradition, but At ~
mule fact From the roadside a voice
bawled HALT"
aIs this Such-and- Such an outfit ""
We assured him it was, meekly.
The night, the mystery, the voiceless-
ness w 1T impressed us. On ahead
the shell thunder seemed continuous.
now There was group by the road
side, consisting OF an officer Or two
and an orderly or two and a private
or two.
1Detruck," said the authoritative
voice.
we detrucked and formed UP by
the roadside, each truckload by its
truck. a guide found the captain
and announced himself There were
few Iow-toned orders and then
forward"
The guide set a tremendous pace
down the road. Tn ten minutes the
men were granting and sweating un-
der their heavy packs. III wisht Ill
was some rich mans dog some one
growled near me. Yet that pace was
wise one. Every inch or the way
was under direct shell fire. Not an
hour of the night passed that the
49, oh oI hot
we shuff1ed through a village,
empty, NJ seemed, except that here
and there one felt silent sentry
leaning on his rifle Here there are
no villagers. The houses were
emptied when the Germans made that
rush I'm March and April Once or
twice the faint fragrance lof apple
and pear blossoms came to US on the
nights light breeze The guide was
talking to- the captain:
Watch for gas at the crossroads, !"
said he. ct had to put my mask On
when came up"
We marched faster. "a corporal
was told of to drop to the rear of
each platoon and force the stragglers
10 keep up. Once there was a halt
at "a guarded road and turned To-
look ait the column. The moon had
risen and in the cold night air the
steam from the sweating men rose
in cloud. The OdOr OF perspiratiOn
was acrfd and rank.
The march became faster. Two Or
three shells were heard, but too far
away II began To hope for shell to-
drop somewhere near-sO that al
$srI,f s{7<x erof x.o1r~y
Our muscles were trembling, the
perspirat1On was running in streams,
our eyes were glazed. Our hearts
were drumming like tenor drums.
Something cold and white appeared
On the left Oh the road.
THE disposal OF remains plot"
said some grim humorist. lit was the
cemetery. We came into town almost
on the gallop, were led through form
less streets over pavements that had
long ceased to- BE- anything more than
badly filled shell holes and came to
q particularly ruinous ruin. All the
houses were ruins, as we could see
by the mounting moon. Tn two
weeks this village had ceased to be
more than a pile OIL stones.
Down here" said some one, I'm
fashion.
We entered a door over which an
arch Oh sandbags had been built and
then started down fight OF steps
Thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five--
level at least. q half turn, found by
feeling in the darkness, and cavern
was revealed by the flicker Of half a
dozen candles. Men were sitting
around on the floor and bed rolls and
boxes. The outgoing outfit was
ready to move
WAS any one hit when you came
ina,
Every one was surprised that no
one had been. Here men were laugh
ing with each other, making bad and
good jokes-and scratching Civ
ing orders. Those going out were
telling the newly arrived the oddities
of the sector and Of the Boche across
the way. The retiring gas officer was
telling our gas officer how to close
the doors that were To make this
cavern gas-proof. Men were putting
down their blankets on the dirty
spaces they were to live IN for three
weeks and painting and wiping their
foreheads.
'Good-by. everybody" said the men
going out Wish Us luck on the
road
We had made the relief.