Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1918-11-22
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lkssla O. calm amid iha tlIiBl5il,
AWhas ara W. 10 dpfa FFiel tits alTl
anaB rDI Nalki TRY 10 ssdha lyiI sani
feet. Eet le help you, Ws fhaak ahl
the Colonel aHlnaWhere,r
The Question On lf1rk'S 1Ips died
awaf AS there game the howl Of d
heavy shell. followed by d stunning i'm.
tacfs a column Of broken bricks spout.
ed into the afr at the end Of the Street
dissoIying into 4 cloud Of dust. An ia.
ftervaL and again there came a missile
from the monster gun. a house III the
next street went down ike cardboard
TWAS the threatened attack on the
American lines. The enemy was In
force somewhere across the fields, the
reserves were rushing up to rcpel them
Mark staggered to his feet and found
that he could stand. His arm ached
under the bandage, but 1t was not
broken. Probably a splinter had struck
him. He made his way toward the
Colonel, who eyed him vacantly as he
approached.
"Take Eleanor to safety and leave
me. Mark" he said. In a choking voice.
''T'll take you both, SIR, This can't
last long. Our men win be in the vii
lage in a few minutes. Or an ambu.
lance will pass"
| Mark put his hanGs beneath the Cole.
nel's arms and tried. to lift him.
AS the Colonel tried to stand he col
lapsed forward In Marks arms. He
looked at Mark piteously.
"Take her and leave me-" he whis-
pered. "And listen to me, Mark. She
cares for you. All will come right, If
can keep my worthless carcass alive
until Pve seen the General. But /
never counted on being done up like
this" >,
There were tears ia the old mans
eyes. "Forgive me, my boy" he NUT
tered, and fell into Inconsistencies.
Mark set him down against the wall
again. It was impossible to move him,
oven with Eleanor's help.
Mark looked at Eleanor. tits safest
here" he said. 'sThe village will be
occupied soon. Help will come"
He broke off abruptly as another Of
the heavy shells dropped nearer, send
ing the brick fragments flying in all d.
rections. OF a sudden it had occurred
to him that the reason why the Ameri-
cans did not enter the village was that
1t was a death-tl'ap; it's ranges were
all mapped and plotted, and the Ger
mans were bent on Its systematic de-
StructiOn.E
Mark stood by Eleanor In irresolu-
tion, cursIng his fate. He did not know
what to do: He could not leave her;
and yet he felt a burning impulse to
play some part in affairs. His eye,
trained BY long years of practice, took
in the tactical situation at a glance
The Germans must have made prodi-
gious thrust in the night, bursting
through the center the reserves, still
rushing over the fields, were trying to
fill and hold the gap. And the little
Headquarters village was the key to
the whole battlefield.
Wounded men came streaming down
the street. followed BY the merciles.,
shells. The aeroplane above was still
cdrcling like hawk; it seemed In.
credible that no aeroplane attacked It
And it was quite clear to Mark that
only treachery, calculated and lohg
planned could have brought about the
situations
For the Germans must have adj
vanced four miles since nightfall.
"Help will come" Mark repeated:
and suddenly, even above the drumfre,
he could hear the sounds of cheering.
And, topping the ridge that ran before
the village, there came swarm of
gray-green figures, thrusting back the
thin, scattered line that held 1t. The
bullets were whirring overhead, audi
ble,n and like swarm of bees. Clouds
Of dust rose up and hidsthe battle.
Eleanor, clutching Marks arm, stood
tense beside him; Mark saw that she
understood, and the two held their
breath as the dust clouds eddied along
the ridge
Suddenly they dissolved. and the at
taccking swarm poured like great flood
into the village. It looked as If all
were lost: S. $50
But an Instant later Mark saw a 1T
tie company Of Americans thrust out q
Maxim gun frem behind a wall, where
they had hidden it. The gunner took
his seat, and, just as the ranks were
closing in on him, swept the street
from sidesto side. The ranks recoiled
and fell, body piling on body. Then, as
torrent forces its way through the
ice-erust df a river. the attackers over
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