Norwich bulletin., 1918-04-27
STORIES OF THE WAR
The Soldier and His Horse.

The Soldier and His Horse.
 Correspondence of The Associated Press):
 An Ameriean captain. of artillery lying wounded in an American hos pital at the rear of our sector north west of Toul called his nurse to his bedside the other day and said:-
 I'm feeling pretty good now but I'd feel a whole lot better if only could see old Bill. my horse"
 The orderly spoke to the ward phy sieian, the surgeon in charge of the hospital telephened to artillery head quarters and soon afterwird an or derly came galleping up the read to the hospital and dismeunted
 Here's Captain von Blanks horse" said he. Tine captain wants to see him"
 So ofderly and horse were led around to window in long, low building. Three windows down they stopped. The orderly looked in and saw his captain lying on a cot just inside.
 'sGood morning, captain" he said, q have brought Bill around
 The wounded captains face broke into a smile.
 l. Have him stick his head in,'' he ordered
 But the horse had heard a voice he knew and he put his head inside the ward window without any urging, 1 There was his master lying fat on his back, a small bandage around his head where just little piece of rock hit. And pinned to the pillow of his cot was a little bronze cross sus- pended from a green and red ribbon I the CroiX de Guerre.
 For half an hour the wounded cap tain talked to the hoFse, calling him | "Old Boy and 'Old Man and feehly stroking the animals soft nose. The ! horse apparently understood, for he kept his nose as close as possible and stood perfectly still He only moved | his head once or twice and then 1t
 was 10 rub his nose against his masters palm.
 -The surgeon standing nearby mo-
 tioned to the orderly after while and the horses head was withdrawn from the widow. The orderly rode
 him aWay-haek toward the batteries The captain watched the window foi
 a minute or two and then said to thG
 surgeon:
 tWen, I feel better. If Bill car
 come round every day I ought to hf
 moving about in a week or se,'
 So Bill-he isn't one of the kind O
 horses that the army calls an "artil
 lery plug" he's a real American
 horse and looks it-probably will bi
 a regular hospital visitor for som. days to come.
 For some months the captain hal aHectionately cared for his mount Before the artillery unit to which tn officer belongs moved up to the. lin he and the horse were together eyef, day and sometimes all night. The understood each other perfectly. Then came the meve to the iron and for several weeks the officer di' not get many chances to ride; ther being work to do with batteries trains, on the Germans. Then there was al ? American raid on the enemy line; with it's baFrage and enemy batter work. The captain was in the thie : of it and. during the time when Ger man shells were falling heayies
 around our guns, he was obliged to g out into the open to give orders t some of his men.
 : A shell dropped near and explode : and splinter tore into the captain ! chest. Three days later he was in a l evacuation; hospital within sound C his own guns and declared to be i 9 a dangerous condition. It was feare g by his friends that he would die. }, However, his stFensth and exceller 8 medical attention have pulled htT g through until today, when, aeeordin to the surgeons. he is on the road