The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-12-07

of us, but neither Of us was hurt
thought the fire would get heavier
then, 10 dragged the other chap into
one CT two holes made by the shell
Some pieces of the shell had stuck
into the dirt in the hole and they were
still hot. Also, there was a sort OF
gas there that hung around for sew
eral minutes, but It was not very bad.
The man began talking to me, and
he said 1t was an honor to lie on the
field of battle with leg shot off and
dead men piled oil about you, and
some not dead but grooming. He told
me would soon be able to hear the
grooming, though I had not said
minded 1t, or anything about IL. Then
he said again what an honor 1t was,
and asked if I had drink for him.
I had not had any water all day, and
/ told him so, but he kept on asking
for it all the same. Some of the Turk
ish bombers must have sneaked up
pretty close to our lines, for when !
looked out Of the hole toward our
lines, and shell burst near them,
! could see Turk coming toward us.
We played dead then, but / had my
bayonet ready for him in case he had
seen us and deeideA=to come up to the
hole. Hkidently he had not, for when
he got near the hole he steered to the
side and went around.
The other garby was cheerful when
he was not asking for water, but YOU
could see he was going fast. So we sat
there in the hole and he died. Shortly
afterward the fire slackened little
and got out and started toward our
lines. But / remembered about the
other wounded man I had passed
when l was carrying Philippe Pierre,
so began hunting for him, and after
long time found him. He was still
alive. His chest was all smashed In
and he was badly cut up around the
neck and shoulders. I picked him up
and started back, but ran into some
barbed wire and had to 60 around.
l was pretty tired by this time and
awfully thirsty, and I thought If / did
not rest little bit could never make
it. ] was SO tired and nervous that
I did not care much whether I did
get back or not, and the wounded
garby was grooming all the time.
So when thought the shells were
coming pretty thick again / got into
shell hole and it was the same one
I had left not long before. ThA aasaa
garby was there just as / had left him.
The wounded one was bleeding OH
over, and my clothes were just soaked
with blood from the three men, but
most Of all from him. There was some
of my own blood on me, too, for when
l was knocked down by the shell my
nose bled and kept bleeding for long
time, but, Of course. that was nothing
compared to the bleeding Of the
others.
The worst Of all was that he kept
grooming for water, and it made me
thirstier than had been, even. But
there was not q drop of water any
where and ! knew there was no use
searching any bodies for TASKS. So
we just had to stick 1t out. Pretty
soon the wounded man quit grooming
and was quiet, and knew he was
going to die too. It made me mad to
think that had not been of any use
In carrying these two men around, |
but If had gone on with either of |
them 1t would have been just the same |
they would have died and probably
I would have got 1t, too. When I fig |
ured it out this way quit worrying
about it, only wished the fire would /
let up.
So the other man died, and there
were two of them in the hole. / read |
the numbers on their Identification |
disks when shells burst near enough
SO that | could see them, and after
while got back to our lines and rolled
in. I could not remember the num-
oers or the names by that time, but d
working party got them, along with
others, so it was all right.
My clothes were mess, as have
said, and / was so tired I thought +
could sleep for week, but could
lot stand 1t in my clothes any longer.
It was absolutely against regulations,
out / took off all my clothes-the
blood had soaked into the skin--and
wrapped myself In nothing but air
md went right to sleep. I did not
sleep very well, but woke up every
'nce In while and thought T was III
he hole again.
During the night they brought ND
water, but was asleep and did not
NOW 1t. They did not wake me,
tut two men saved by share,
hough usually in case like that It
vas everybody for himself and let the
asst man go dry. You could not blame
hem, either, so I thought it was |
pretty decent of these two to save nv
hare for me. I believe they must
AVE had hard time keeping the
'thers off of it, to say nothing of them
elves, for there really was not more
han enough for one good drink all