Norwich bulletin., 1918-02-09
OVER THE T0p ARTHUR GUY EMpEY I'lz, IN

! He was getting taste of what we ! would get later out in front. Then, of course. it began to rain. knew it was the forerunner of a ] miserable night for us. Every time I l had to go out in front it just natlAal- 1 Iy trained. Old Jupiter Pluvius must have had it in for me. At six we reported for instructions. They were simple and easy. All we had to do was to crawl out tEinto No Mans Land, lie on onf bellies with our ears to the ground and listen for the tap tap of the German en- gineers or sappers who might be tun- nelling under No Mans Land to es-
 tabhsh a mine-trench beneath our trench.
 | Of course, in our orders we were told not to be captured by German patrols or accommodating parties, Lots
 of breath is wasted on the western front giving silly cautions. I crawled to our post, which was
 about half way between the lines. It was raining bucketsful, the ground was a sea of sticky mud and clung
 to us like glue.
 We took turns in listening with our
 ears to the ground. I would listen for twenty minutes while Wheeler would be on the qui vive for German patrols
 We each wore a wrist watch, and,
 believe me. neither one of us did over twenty minutes. The rain soaked us
 to the skin and our ears. were full of mud.
 Every few minutes bullet would crack overhead or a machine gun
 would traverse back and forth. l Then all firing suddenly ceased.
 whispered to Wheeler, Keep your eye skinned, mate, most likely Fritz has a patrol out = that's why the , Boches have stopped firing" .i We were each armed with a rifle . and bayonet and three Mills bombs , to be used for defense only. l, had my ear to the ground. All . of sudden heard faint. dull thhds In a very low. but excited voice, whispered to Wheeler, T think they
 are mining. listen"
 He put his ear to the ground and
 in an unsteady voice spoke into my
 ear: "Yank, that's patrol and it's head ing our way. For Gods sake keeI {. still"
 was as still as a mouse and wal
 scared stiff. sl Hardly breathing and with eyes try, ing to pierce the inky blackness, W,
 waited. I would have given thou sand pounds to have been safely il 1. my dugout.
 Then we plainly heard footsteps ant
 our hearts stood still. A, dark form suddenly loomed il T front of me, it looked as big as tn ' Woolworth Building. l could hea the blood rushing through my vein | and it sounded as loud as Niagar, a Falls .
 Forms seemed to emerge from tn ? darkness. There were seven of then ' in all. I tried to wish them away I never wished harder in my life
 l They muttered a few words in Ger 2 man and melted into the blacknesE I didn't stop wishing either. All of sudden we heard stumble : a muddy splash and muttered Don | ner und Blitzen" One of the Boclfe 2 had tunbled into shell hole. Neithe q of US laughed, At that time it didn F strike us funfiy.N
 p aafAbout twenty Jtminutes after tn
 Germans had disappeared somethiu S from the rear grabbed me by the foo T. nearly tainted with fright The $ welcome whisper in a cockney ac g cent:
 " T s'y, myte, we've come to reliev
 you" :. nl Wheeler and I crawled backed { ' our trench. We looked like wet hen ,s and felt worse. After swig of rul es we were soon fast asleep on the fir 'i step in our wet clothes.
 The next morning I was as stiff g x a poker and every joint ached like o'i bad tooth. but I was still alive, so did not matter. .-
 ot R. N-I.-J.