The Cordova daily times., 1918-04-12
Under

tohBheS DeIWeen Your teeth. Under
standY
"We understood.
For five weeks afterwards our bat
terry did nothing but extra fatigues.
We were satisfied and so were the
men. 1t was worth it to put one over
on Old Pepper to say nothing OF the
injury caused TO Fritz feelings"
When Wilson had finished his story
I looked up and the dugout was
damned. An artillery captain and two
officers had also entered and stayed
for the finish. Wilson spat out AM
enormous quid of tobacco, looked up.
saw the captain, and got as red as a
carnation. The captain smiled and
left. Wilson whispered to me:
"Blime me, Yank, see where click
for crucifxion. That captain Is the
same one that chucked us GOldflakes.
in his dugOut and here / have been
'chucking me weight about in his
hearing"
Wilson never clicked his crucifxion.
Quite contrast to Wilson was an
other character in our brigade named
Scott; we called him "Old Scotty" on
account of his age. He.was fifty-seven.
although looking forty. "Old Scotty"
had been born in the Northwest and
had served in the Northwest Mounted,
police. He was a typical cowpuncher4
and Indian fighter and was a dead shot
with the rife, and took no pains to
disguise this fact from us. He used tel
take care of his rife as If 1t we're n
baby. In his spare moments you could
always see him cleaning 1t or polish
Ing the stock. Woe betide the man
who by mistake happened to get hold
of this rife; he soon found out his
error. Scott was as deaf as a mule. .
and 1t was amusing at parade to watch
him in the manual of arms. sIylvi
glancing out of the corner of his eye
at the man next TO him to see what
the order was. How he passed the
doctor was a mystery to us; he must
have bluffed his way through, because
ne certainly was independent. Beside.
him the Fourth of July looked like
Good Friday. He wore at the time 81
large sombrer0, had Mexican stock
saddle over his shoulder, a lariat on
his arm, and a "fOrty-five" hanging
from his hip. Dumping this parapher-
MALTA on the floor he went up to the
recruiting officer and shouted: "TmI
from America, west of the Rockies,
and want to join your ID army
I've got no use for German and can
shoot some. At Scotland Yard they
turned me down; said l was deaf and
so l am. | don't banker to ship in with
ID underwriting outfit, but the,
cavalry's full, so l guess this regi-i
ments better than none, so trot out
your papers and I'll sign EN-" He told
them he was forty and slipped by. II
was on recruiting service at the time
he applied for enlistment.
1t was Old Scotty's great ambltIonj
to be a sniper or body snatcher." as
Mr.. Atkins calls it. The day that he
was detailed as brigade 'sniper he cele-
brated his appointment by blowing the
| whole platoon to flags.
Being a Yank. Old Scotty took a lik-
! ing to me and used to spin some great
! yarns about the plains, and the whole
| platoon would drink these In and ask
for more. Ananias was q rookie COM
| pared with him.
The ex-plainsman and discipline
could not agree, but the officers all
liked him. even If he was hard to man
age, so when he was detailed as 81
sniper a sigh of relief went up FROM
the officers mess.
Old Scotty had the freedom of the
brigade. He used to draw two Or
three days ratiOns and disappear with
his glass, range finder and rifle, and wes
would see or hear no more of him.
until suddenly he would reappear1
with a couple of notches added tcd
those already on the butt of his rifle
Every time he got German it meant
another notch. He was proud of theSal
notches.
But after a few months Father
Rheumatism got him and he was sent
to Blighty; the air in the wake of his
stretCher was blue with curses. Old
Scotty surely could swear; some of his
outbursts actually burned you.
No doubt, at this writing, he is
Somewhere in Blighty" pussy fOotingj
it on a bridge or along the wall Of
some munition plant with the sc. r. =
or Home Defense corps.