The Robesonian., 1918-07-08

dirt would rise into the air ana
chet bullet would whine on g. nch
IF a Tommy should see ono 90 "as
little spurts in front Of him. he r mes
tell the nurse about 1t iate- "oaio'
crossing Of No Mans Land rema, s
blank to me.
Men on my right and lef,
stumble and fall. Some would lug
get up, while others remained brasts %
and motionless. Then smoshasa
barbed wire came into view
seemed carried on a tide to ,bo a1a
Suddenly, in front Of me loo,,ls
bashed-in trench about four foo.
Queer-looking forms like mud tr.% s
were s~.ambling up its wall. or
these forms seemed to slip ard ;,
rolled to the bottom Of the trar.,
leaped across this INTERVENING l
The man to my left seemed to ,,.,,'
midair, then pitched head down ,,. II
the German trench. 1 laughed nm, ,-' .-.''
In my delirium. Upon alighting on ,a
other side Of the trench l came 70 r.,' ny
sudden jolt. Right in front -. 4a
lOOmed giant form with q rife IN. .ne
looked about ten feet long. on 1bo "Ni
of which seemed seven bayonets Tbas4
flashed in the air in front of me rhse
through my mind flashed the adm
ton of our bayonet instructor bact :.
Blighty. He had said, "whenerer ~ =
get in charge and run your h,ron'a
up to the hilt intosa German the Fri.
will fall. Perhaps your rifle will -
wrenched from your grasp. Do ~.
waste time, If the bayonet is forlos
In his equipment, by putting Your foo.
on his stomach and tugging at the r,s.
to extricate the bayonet. Siro,ls
press the trigger and the bullet Win
free It" In my present situation ,bi.
was the logic, but for the life Of Tno
could not remember how he had ,O,s
me to get my bayonet into the Cor.
man. To me this was the nara,oon..
Issue. closed my eyes and lun,ns
forward. My rifle was torn from nv
hands. l must have gotten the ca,.
man because he had disapnearoa
About twenty feet to my left fron,
was huge Prussian nearly s,v foo.
-four inches in height, fine spec,mon
Of physical manhood. The bovono,
from his rife was missing. but bs
clutched the barrel in both hands and
was swinging the butt around his head
I could almost hear the swish of ,ba
butt passing through the air. Three
little Tommies were engaged with him.
They looked like pigmies alongside Of
the Prussian. The Tommy on the left
was gradually circling to the rear Of
his opponent. 1t was funny sight IN
see them duck the swinging butt and
try to jab him at the same time The
Tommy nearest me received the butt
of the Germans rife in a smashing
blow below the right temple. II
smashed his head like an eggshelI. He
pitched forward on his side and q con.
vulsive shudder ran through his body.
Meanwhile the other Tommy had
gained the rear Of the Prussian. Sud.
denly about four inches of bayonet
protruded from the throat of the Prus-
sian soldier, who staggered forward
and fell. will never forget the look
OF blank astonishment that came over
| his face.
Then something hit me In the left
shoulder and my left side went numb.
It felt as II hot poker was being
driven through me. I felt no pain
just sort of nervous shock. A bay
onet had pierced me from the rear. I
fell backward on the ground, but was
not unconscious, because I could see
dim objects moving around me. Then
flash of light in front Of my eyes and
unconscfousness. Something had hit
! me on the head. have never found
! out what it was.
I dreamed was being tossed about
In an open boat on a heaving sea and
opened my eyes. The moon was shin
ing. 1 was on a stretcher being car
! ried down one of our communication
trenches. At the advanced frst-aid
post my wounds were dressed, and
I then was put into an ambulance and
+ sent to one Of the base hospitals. The
/ wounds in my shoulder and head were
not serious and in six weeks had re-
joined my company for service In the
| front line.
To Be Continued.