Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1918-12-13


! reins Of his horse from the post an
! mounted. The orderly came runDIr
toward me. yelling ont In German. an
: could see soldiers emerging from III
stable. 4 had to act quickly.
"When / mounted. the capital
reached for his revolver. / covere
him with mine and. with a shrek q
terror, Adrienne threw herself 1
front OF the Uhlan captain to protec
him. i saw her too late. My bulle
pierced her left breast, and re-
smudge showed on her white sill
blouse as she sank to the ground.
shot the orderly's horse to prevent i'm
mediate pursuit and then away on |
mad gallop down the road. 1t was I
long chase, but | escaped them.
''The rest of my men were captured
At our headquarters / had to lie like
ambushed and wiped out. 1t was the
only way TO save my skin. There
were no witnesses against me. so
got off with reduction to the ranks and
transfer TO another regiment. They
smelled a rat. all right, but had nc
proof.
$50 that is my story. Yank. just
forget that ] ever told 1t to you.
Enough to make a fellow get the blues
occasionally, isn't 1t? Just pass me a
flag, and take that look off your face"
| gave him the cigarette and, with
out a word, went out Of the dugout
and left him alone. l was thinking of
Adrienpe.
Upon reaching the trench ] paused
In wonder and fright. The sky was
alight with a red glare. The din was
terrific. A constant swishing and
rushing through the air, intermingled
with signing moan, gave tes-
timony that our batteries were
sweating blood. The trench seemed
to be rolling like a ship. stood in
awe. This bombardment of ours was
something indescribable, and shud-
der passed through me as / thought
of the havoc and destruction caused
In the German lines. AT that moment
/ really pitied the Germans, but not
for long. because suddenly hell seemed
to burst loose from the German lines
as their artillery opened up. i could
hear their 'five-nines" screeching
through the air and bursting in the
artillery lines in our rear. Occasion
ally far-off rum-hum-rump-rump,
Crash Bru-u-nn-u-gg could be heard
as one of their high-calibered shells
came over and burst In our reserve.
l crouched against the parados, hardly
able to breathe. While in this position,
right overhead, every insthnt getting
louder, came q German shell-hiz-z-z
/ was blinded by the flash.
Down | went, into the mud. Strug-
Cling to my feet in the red glare Of the
1ombardment.
1 saw that the traverse on my left
,ad entirely disappeared. Covered
With mud, weak and trembling. l could
lear what sounded like far-distant
-oices coming from the direction Of
he bashed-in traverse.
"BlIme me. get is bloomin' napper
'uta tn mud; 'e's chokln' to death.
'ass me. bandage-tyke 'is b'yonet |
err a spllnt. Blime. me, is leg Is
not 'arf hit h'aint. TIL rest |
: you blokes 'op it fer a stretcher,
clio, 'e's got another one-quick.
ournlquet, the poor bloke's ableedin'
o death. Quick, h'up against the par
pet, ere comes another"
whiz-z-zl Bang-g-g!
Another flare, and once again 1 was
brown Into the mud. I opened my
yes. Bending over me. shaking me
Y the shoulder was Atwell. His voice
ounded faint and far away. Then /
anne to with rush.
''Blime me, Yank, that was a close
ne. Did it get your
He helped me to my feet and felt
lyself all over. Seeing 1 was all
ght. he yelled in my ear:
'We've got to leg 1t out of ere.
ritz Is sure sendin' over 'whiz-bangs'
nd 'minnies.' Number 8 platoon In
he next fire bay sure clicked it. About
Ighteen of them have gone West.
ONE on, wen see If we can do any
ling for the poor blokes."
We plowed through the mud and
lme into the next fire bay. In the
ght of the bursting shells an awful
ght met our eyes. The traverses were
,shed In. the fire step was gone, and
the parados was hole that looked
Se a subway entrance. There was
nd and blood.
Every now and then. ducking as a
or minnie" came over,
e managed to get four of the wound
on the stretchers, and Atwell and I
carried one to the rear to the first .
4 dressing station. We passed the ,
gout which l had left but a few |
nutes before, or 1T least. what used !
be the dugout. but now all that 6
uld be seen WIS q caved-in mass OF l
It; huge square-cat timbers sticking
I OF the ground and sIlhouetted
ainst the light FROM bursting shells,
liking like huge giants. A shudder G
ssed through me as l realized that \
we had stayed In the dugout we /
,uld have now been lying fifteen to S