Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-04-13
lover the Top
By An American Soldier
Who Went
ARTHUR GUY EMPEY

(oogsasht ~. b Asssur GU Hnpsy)

(Ooysasht lAI, By Arthur Guy 1mpsO
From the middle of our line some
Tommy answered the challenge with,
Jaw, 60 to HI" 1t must have been
the man who had sneezed or who had
Improperly cut the barbed wire; he
wanted to show Fritz that he could
die game. Then came the volley. Ma
chine guns were turned loose and sew
eral bombs were thrown in our rear.
The Boche In front Of me was looking
down his sight. This fellow might
have, under ordinary circumstances,
been handsome, but when viewed him
from the front Of his rife he had the
COLLINS Of childhood imagination rele-
gated to the shade.
The. came flash in front Of me, the
flare Of his rife-and my head seemed
to burst. A bullet had hit me on the
left side Of my face about half an
inch from my eye, smashing the cheek
bones. put my hand to my face and
fell forward, biting the ground and
kicking my feet. I thought I was dy-
ing, but, do you know, my past life did
not unfold before me the way it does
In novels.
The blood was streaming down my
tunic, and the pain was awful. When
/ came to said to myself. Emp, old
boy, You belong in jersey City, and
you'd better ct back there as quickly
as possible"
The bullets were cracking overhead.
I crawled few feet back to the Ger
man barbed wire, and in q STOPPING po-
sition, guiding myself by the wire, !
went down the line looking for the
lane We had cut through. Before
reaching this lane came TO limp
form which seemed like bag Of oats
hanging over the wire. In the dim
light I could see that Its hands were
blackened, and knew 1t was the body
Of one Of my mates. I put my hand
on his head, the top Of which had been
blown of by bomb. Ny fingers sank
into the hole. I pulled my hand back
full Of blood and brains, then went
crazy with fear and horror and rushed
along the wire until I came to our
lane. I had Just turned down this lane
when something inside Of me seemed
to say, "Look around" did so; bull
let caught me on the left shoulder. 1t
did not hurt much, Just felt as II some
one had punched me in the back, and
then my left side went numb. My arm
was dangling like rag. I fell forward
in sitting position. But all the fear
had left me and I was consumed with
rage and cursed the German trenches.
With my right hand felt in my tunic
for my hrst-aid or shell dressing. In
feeling over my tunic my hand came
in contact with one Of the bombs which
carried. Gripping it. / pulled the pin
out with my teeth and blindly threw 1t
towards the German trench. must
have been out Of my head, because
was only ten feet from the trench and
took chance Of being mangled- If
the bomb had failed to go into the
trench / would have been blown to
bits by the explosion Of my own bomb.
BY the flare of the explosion Of the
bomb, which luckily landed in their
trench, saw one big Boche throw up
his arms and fall backwards, while his
rife few into the air. Another one
wilted and fell forward across the
sandbagsE then blackness.
Realizing what foolhardy and risky
thing I had done, I was again seized
with horrible fear. dragged myself
to my-feet and ran madly down the
lane through the barbed wire, STUN.
bling ovex cut wires, tearing my uni.
form, and decorating my hands and
legs. Just as was about to reach
No Mans Land again, that same voice
seemed to say, 'Turn around" did
SO, when, crack" another bullet
caught me, this TIME in the left>shoul.
der about one-half inch away from the
other wound. Then 1t was taps for me
The lights went out.
When I came to was crouching in
a hole in No Mans Land. This shell
hole was about three feet deep, SO that
1t brought my head few inches below
the level Of the ground. How reached
INlS HUG WILL never hAOW. 0cl 1AdA
"tynewriters" were traversing back
and forth in No Mans Land, the bui'
lets biting the edge of my shell hole
and throwing dirt all over me.
Overhead shrapnel was bursting.
I could hear the fragments slap the
ground. Then went out once more
When came to everything was silence
and darkness in No Mans Land.
was soaked with blood and big flaI
from the wound in my cheek was hang
Ing over my mouth. The blood run.
ming from this flap choked me. Out Of
the corner Of my mouth would try
and blow 1t back, but 1t would not
move. reached for my shell dressing
and tried, with one hand, to bandage
my face to prevent the flow. I had
J. IN awful horror Of bleeding to deag
a 5t5siS7s RI ~, finn. ~ m fSaIo Sovan ~