Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-02-02

pocket. Taking them out, suggested
cutting, the low man to go up the ladder;
They agreed. l was the last to cut.
got the ace of clubs. Sailor Bill was
stuck with the five of diamonds. Upon
this, he insisted that it should be the best
two out of three cuts, but we ovcrruled
him. and he was unanimously elected tor
the job.
With a $50 long, mates, I'm going
aloft." he started toward the ladder,
with the candle in his hand, stumbling
over the sleeping forms of many. Sundry
grlInts, means, and curses followed In
his wake.
As soon as he started to ascend the
ladder. a "tap-tap-tap" could be heard
from the grain bin. We waited in fear
and trembling the result of hls mission.
Hungry was encouraging him with
''Cheero, mate, the worst is yet to come.
After many pauses, Bill reached the
top of the ladder and opened the door
We listened with bated breath. Then he
shouted:
"Blast my headlights, if it amt poor
dog! Come alongside, mate, you re on
lee shore, and IN sorry plight.
Oh, what relief those words were to usl
With the candle in one hand and dark
object under his arm, Bill returned and
! deposited in our midst the sorriest-
| looking specimen of n cur dog you ever
| set ewes on. 1t was so weak 1T cou.dn
| stand But ( at ipOk in its e>'cs inst
| gratitude. plain gratitude. Its stump OF a
tail was pounding against my mess tin,
and sounded Just like a message in the
| Morse code. Happy swore that 1t was
| sending S. O. S.
| We were like lot of school children,
/ every one wanted to help, and make
! suggestions at the same time. Hungry
suggested giving it something To eat,
while key wanted to play on his internal
! Jews harp claiming 1t was musical
/ dog. Hungry suggestion met our ap-
I proval, and there WAS n general scramble
/ for haversacks. All we could muster was
some hard bread and big piece OF
| cheese
Ills nibs wouldn't eat bread, and also
/ refused the cheese, but not before smiling
/ at il for couple OF minutes. was going
Z; to throw the cheese away, but Hungry
said he would take it. | gave it to him
We were in quandary. 1t was evident
that the dog was starving and in very
weak condition Its coat was lacerated
all over, probably from the bites Of rats.
That stump Of a tail kept sending :. Q. s.
against my mess tin. Every tap went
straight to our hearts. We would get
! something to eat for that mutt If we were
shot for it.
; Sailor Bill volunteered to burglarize
the quartermaster' stores for a can of
unsweetened condensed milk, and left on
his perilous venture He was gone about
twenty minutes. During his absence,
with the help of bandage and a capsule
/ of iodine, we cleaned the wounds made by
4: the rats ! have bandaged many a
wounded Tommy, but never received the
amount OF thanks that that dog gave with
its eyes.
! Then the billet door opened and Sailor
/ Bill appeared. He looked like the wreck
OF the Hesperl!s, uniform torn. covered
I with dirt and -four. and beautiful black
! eve, but he was smiling, and in his hand
he carried the precious can Of milk. We
asked no questions. but opened the can.
Just as we were going TO pour It out,
Happy butted in and said it should be
! mixed with water; ne ought to know,
! because his sister back in Blighty had q
! baby, and she ALWAYS mixed water with It's
/ milk We could not dispute this evidence
| so water was demanded We would not
| usa the water in our water bottles, as it
/ was not fresh enough for our new mate.
| Happy volunteered TO get some from the
| well that is, If we would promise not TO
! feed his royal highness until he returned.