The citizen., 1918-08-22

A Regular Hall Of shrapneI Fell.
could see the road I had been on
The first thing / saw was a broken
down wagon that had Just been hit
In fact. II was toppling over when my
eye caught 1t. The driver jumped
from his seat and while he was In the
air his head was torn completely from
his shoulders by another she'll dc
not know what kind. This was enough
for me, so back to the dugout.
How the Germans did 1t do not
know. but they had found out about
that road and opened fire at exactly
the moment when the road was GOV.
cred with wagons and men. Yet there
had not been a balloon or airplane In
the sky for some time.
After a while the bombardment
moved away to the east, from which
direction had come, and l knew our
batteries were getting 1t. The Tommy
and came out of the dugout. As /
started climbing up the muddy sides
j saw there was a man standing at
the edge Of II, and could tell by his
puttees that he was a Limey. 1 was
having a hard Job Of It, so without
looking up hailed him.
THAT was sure some shelling,
wasn't itr / said. There's a lad
down here with a wounded fin; better
give him a hand"
"What shelling do you mean," says
the legs. without moving, There's
been none In this sector for some
time. I think"
The Tommy was right at my heel
by this time. and he let out a string
Of language. was surprised. too. and
still scrambling around In the mud.
Then the Tommy let "Gawd 'elp
usl" and I looked up and saw that the
legs belonged to a Limey officer. q
major. think. And here we had been
cussing the eyes OF of himl
But he sized It up rightly and gave
us Q hand. and only laughed when we
tried to explain. got ratified and
told him that all saw was his legs
and that they did not look like an off,
GERS legs, which might have made II
worse. only he was good-natured about
It. Then he said that he had been
asleep In battalion headquarters dug
out about hundred yards away, and
only walked up when part of the roof
caved In on him. Yet he did not know
he had been shelledi
went on down the road a stretch,
but soon found 1t was easier walking
beside II, because the Huns had shelled
It neatly right up and down the middle.
Also. there were SO many wrecked
horses and wagons to climb over on
the road-besides dead men.
After-I had passed the area Of the
bombardment and got back on the
road ! sat down to rest and smoke. A
couple Of shells had burst so near the
crater that they had thrown the dirt
right into the dugout, and / was a little
dizzy from the shock. While was sit
ting there a squad Of Tommies came
up with about twice their number of
German prisoners. The Tommies had
been making Fritz do the goose step
and they started them at 1t again when
they saw me sitting there. It sure
is good for a laugh any time. this
goose step. I guess they call 1t that
after the fellow who invented 1t.
One thing I had noticed about Fritz
was the way his coat fiared out at the
bottom, so I took this chance to find
out about 1t. while they halted for q
rest Just little farther down the |
road. l found that they carried their
kits In their coats. These
kits contained canned meat. tobacco.
needles. thread and plaster-all this
In addition to their regular pack.
Then / drilled down the road some
more. but had to stop pretty soon to
let column Of French infantry swing
On to the road from a field. They
were on their way to the trenches as
After every two
there would be a wagon.
Pretty soon saw the uniform of the
legion. Then company of my regi-
~s ~eAsS W ohu 4 WhcSicu III Win
hem. We were In the rear of the col
INN that had passed. Our boys were
'olng up for their regular stunt In the
ront lines, while the others had Just
irriyed at that part Of the front.
Then for the first time my feet be-
,an hurting me. Our bosts were made
Il rough cowhide and fitted very well,
'ut II was a days labor to carry them
N your feet. l began tagging behind.
would lag twenty or thirty yards
ehind and then try TO catch up. But
he thousands of men ahead OF me
ept up the steady pace and very few
mped, though they had been on the
larch since 3 a. m. II was then about
l a. m. Those who did limp were ,
arried In the wagons. But had seen /
cry few men besides the drivers rid
lg In the wagons, and I wanted TO
Q as tough as the next guy. so l kept
n. But, believe me. was sure glad