Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-04-12

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old company men, was put on guard In
one OF the traverses, Not shot was
fired from the German lines, and no
one paid any attention to him
crouched on the firing step.
On the first time In, new recruit is
mot required to stand with his head
"over the top" He only "slts It out"
while the older men keep watch,
At about ten o'clock, all of a sudden,
he thought hell had broken loose. and
crouched and shlyered up against the
parapet, Shells started bursting, as he
imagined, right In their trench, when In
fact they we're landing about hue
dred yards In rear Of them, In the sec
Ond lines.
One Of the older men on guard, turn
Ing to his mate, said:
"There goes Fritz with those id
trench mortars again. It's about time
our artillery tapped them, and sent
over few. Well, I'll be ID,
where's that bllghter OF draft man
gone tor There's his rife leaning
against the parapet. He must have
legged It. Just keep your eye peeled,
Dick, while report II to the sergeant.
wonder II the fool knows he can be
shot for such tricks as leavin' his
posti"
Lloyd had gone. When the trench
mortars opened up, a maddenIng ter
ror seized him and he wanted to run,
to get away from that horrible din,
anywhere to safety SO quietly sneak
Ing around the traverse, he came to the
entrance Of a communication trench.
and ran madly and blindly down 1t.
running into traverses, stumbling into
muddy holes, and falling full length
over trench grlds.
Cropping blIndly, with his arms
stretched out In front of him, he at
last came out Of the trench into the
village, or what used to be village,
before the German artillery RACED It.
Mixed with his fear, he had a pc
cullar sort Of cunning, which whls-
pered to him to avoid all sentrles, be-
cause IL they saw him he would be
sent back to that awful destruction In
the front line, and perhaps be killed
or manned, The thought made him
shudder, the cold sweat coming out In
beads on his face.
On his left, in the darkness, he could
make out the shadowy forms of trees;
crawling on his hands and knees, stop
ping and crouchlng with fear at each
shell-burst, he finally reached an old
orchard and covered at the base of
shot-scarred apple tree.
He remained there all night, listen
Ing to the sound Of the guns and ever
praying, praying that his useless life
would be spared.
AS dawn began to break, he could |
discern little dark objects protruding
from the ground all about him. Curl
osity mastered his fear and he crawled
to one of the objects, and there, in the
uncertain light, he read on a little
wooden cross:
"Pte. II. S. Wheaton, No. 1910, list !
London Regt. R. f. Killed in action,
April %, 1915. R. l. p" Crest in
Peace).
When it dawned on him that he had
been hiding all night in a cemetery
his reason seemed to leave him, and a
mad desire to be free from 1t all made
him rush madly away, falling over lit
tie wooden crosses, smashing some and
trampllng others under his feet.
In his flight he came to an old
French dugout, half caved in and par
TALLY filled with Shiny and filthy wa
ter.
Like a fox being chased by the
hounds, he ducked into this hole, and
threw himself on a pile of old empty
sandbags, wet and widowed. Then
uncOnSciOuSnPSS.
On the next day, he came to; far
distant voices sounded in his ears.
Opening his eyes, in the entrance Of
the dugOut he saw corporal and two
men with fixed bayonets.
The corporal was addressing him:
"Get up, you whlte-livered bllghter
Curse you and the day you ever Joined
D company, spelling their fine rec
ord It'll he you up against the wall,
and good job too. Get hold of him,
men, and if he makes break, give him
the bayonet, and send 1t home, the cow
ardly sneak. Come on, you, move,
we've been looking for you loag
Lloyd, trembling and weakened by
his long fast, tottered out, assisted by
4 soldier on each side of him.
They took him before the captain,
but could get nothing out Of him but:
"For Gods sake, sir, don't have me
shot, don't have me shot!"
The captain, utterly disguised with
him. sent him under escort to division
headquarters for trial by court-mar-
tial, charged with desertion under fire.
They shoot deserters In France.
During his trial, Lloyd sat as one
1azed, and could put nothing forward
n his defense, only an occasional