Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-01-09
BY Arthur Guy Ernpey

glasses on the table, withdrew. We
were alone. She took tho bottle. ana
pouring a glass of wine, touched 1t
to her lips and handed 1t to mo,
with this toast;
"'Drink, my sergeant. Drink to
our betrothal, Drink to the honor
of France. Drink to the honor of
England. Drink to the confusion of
our enemies,'
II drank with my fool heart
pounding against my ribs. Then
blackness.
when I awolSe, I was lying on
the settee, my head bursting with
pain, The gray dawn was filtertng
through the curtained windows, and
there, in the middle of the room,
with my Adrienne. in her arms,
stood captain of Uhlans. was a
prisoner, 1 saw 1t all in a flash.
She had betrayed me. Now I knew
why she had wanted no guard post
ed. That wine we pledged our troth
In was drugged. What an ass had
been!
Il closed my eyes and pretended
to- be asleep. They were talking in
German. Pretty soon the captain
came over and roughly shook me.
ton OF disgust he called out in Ger
man. Two troopers came in, and,
lifting me by the shoulders and feet,
carried me out into the air. l
slightly opened my eyes. and saw
that I was being carried out to the
gate, where two horses were stand
ing with their reins thrown over a
hitching post. By the equipment, 1
knew one of the horses belonged to
the captain, while the other was the
orderly's. The two troopers dumped
"a m
a kick with his boot. I was lying on
my left side, and by certain hard
pressure on my ribs knew they had
neglected to search me. That pres
sure was my automatic pistol. A
feeling of exultation rushed over
me. I would euchre them yet.
Fate worked into my hands. A
hail in German came from the
stables, and one of the troopers left
one against one. 1 slowly turned
over on my face, as If in sleep, and
my fingers grasped the butt Of the
automatic, but just then 1 heard
steps on the gravel walk. The cap
tain and Adrienne were coming to-
ward me. ....
She stopped beside me. and said
in English:
lONe 10 me- VIII SOu oOOo-OJB my
foolish sergeant. While you are
rotting in prison, think of your
Adrienne, bah!"
MY hand gave the butt OF my
auto matte just the slightest squeeze.
/ was thinking of her hand on my
shoulder. Well, two could play that
game.
"The captain said something TO
the orderly, who left in the direction
of the house. Now was my chance.
Springing to my feet and leveling
the pistol at the captain, 1 grabbed
the reins of his horse from the post
and mounted. The orderly came
running toward me, yelling out in
German, and I could see soldiers
emerging from the stable. I had to
act quickly.
when 1 mounted, the captain
reached for his revolver. 1 covered
him with mine, and, with a shrek of
terror, Adrienne threw herself in
front of the Uhlan captain to pro-
tect him. l saw her too late. My
bullet pierced her left breast, and
a red smudge showed on her white
silk blouse as she sank to the
ground. 1 shot the orderly's horse
to prevent immediate pursuit, and
then away on a mad gallop down
the road. 1t was long chase, but
escaped them.
THE rest of my men wero cap
tured. At our headquarters, l had
to lie like a trooper. Told them we
had been 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