The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1918-07-18
CHAPTER XXIll-Continucd.

l shouted to the driver to stop. and
In his nervousness he put on the
brakes. We nearly pitched out head
first. But the applying Of those brakes
saved our lives. The next instant
there was II binding flash ana Il deaf
ening report. All that | remember is
that l was flying through the air, and
wondering If l would land in Il soft
spot. Then the lights went out.
When l came to, Atwcll was pouring
water on my head out OF his bottle.
On the other side Of the road the cor
poral was sitting, rubbing II lump ON
his forehead with his left hand. while
his right arm was bound up in Il blood
soaked %bandngc. He was moaning
very loudly. ! had an awful headache
n the skin on the left side Of my
face was full Of gravel and the blood
was trickling from my nose.
But that ambulance was turned over
In the ditch and wns perforated with
holes from fragments of the ShaH. One
OF the front wheels was Slowly revolv-
Ing, so | could ..ot have been "out" for
a long period.
The nclls were still screaming over
''o Jul liz buNlSlS XIV l{llcNN llS
tire and they were bursting In II little
wood about half n mile from us.
Atwcll spoke III. II wish that OH
Ger hadn't wished us the best O luck"
Then he commenced swearing. l
couldn't help laughing, though my
head was nigh to bursting.
Slowly rising to my feet | felt myself
all over to make sure that there were
no broken bones. But outside Of q few
bruises and scratches ! was all right.
The corporal was still moaning, but
more from shock than pain. A shell
splinter had gone through the flesh OF
his right forearm. Atwell and l, from
our frSt-aid pouches, put n t%Ournlquct
on his arm to stop III bleeding and
thcn gathered up our equipment.
We realized that we were In a dan
gcrous spot. At any minute n shell
might drop on the road and finish us
off. The village we had left was not
very far, so we told the corporal he
had better so back to 1t and get his
arm dressed. and then report the fact
Of the destruction of the ambulance to
the military police. He vas well able
to walk, SO he set Off In. the direction
Of the village, while Atwcll and I con-
tlnucd our way On foot.
Without further miShap we arrived
at our destination, and reported to bril-
gndc headquarters for rntions and bill
let's.
That night we slept I'm the battalion
sergeant MAJORS dugont. The next
morning I went to II tirst-ald post and
had the gravel picked out Of my face.
The instructions we received from
division headquarters read that we
were out to catch spies, patrol trenches,
search German dead. r%econnoiter In No
Mans Land, ana take part in trench
raids ana prevent the robbing Of the
dead.
had q pass which would allow me
to go anywhere Mt any time In the sec
tor Of the line held by our division. II
gave me authority to stop and search
aDibulnnceS, motor lorries, wagons and
eve officers and soldiers. whenever
my suspicious deemed 1t necessary.
Atwell and I were allowed to work to-
gether or s%ingly--it was left to our
Judgment. We decided to team up.
Atwell was a good companion and
very entertaining. He had an utter
contempt for danger, but was not fool
hardy. At swearing he was a wonder.
A cavalry regiment would have been
proud Of him. Though born In eng
land. he had spent several years In
New York. He was about six feet one,
and as strong as an OK.
We took up our quarters in a large
dugout Of the royal engineers, and
mapped out our future actions. This
dugout was on the edge Of n large
cemetery, and several times Mt night
I'm returning to 1t, we got many n fall
stumbling Over the graves Of English,
French and Germans. sAtwel on these
occasions never INDUCED in swearing.
though at any other time, at the least