Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-17

OK oE left Petlte-SaenS at
MNzssIsss Friday night light, an, md
" " what we were told would be
/ short hike. 1t was pretty warm and
muggy. There was a thin, low-lying
mint over everything, but clear enough
above. and there was a kind of a bad
moonlisht- There was a good deal of
delay in getting away and we had be-
gun to sweat before we started, as we
were equipped as usual with about
eighty pounds weight on the back and
shoulders. That eighty pounds is the
! oretical weight.
We began to sing the usual songs of
the march and / noticed that the Amer
lean ragtime was more popular among
the boys than their own music. Dixie"
frequently figured in these songs.
Topping a little rise the moon came
out bright and away ahead the silver
ribbon of the Souchez CLEANED for an
instant; the bare poles that once had
been Bouvigny wood were behind US.
and to the right. to the left pulverized
ruin where houses had stood. Biofeld
told me this was what was left of the
village of Abalaine. which had been de-
molished some time before when the
French held the sector.
At this point guides came out and
met US to conduct us TO the trenches.
The order went down the line to fail
in. single file. keeping touch. no srnok-
ing and no talking, and l supposed We
were about to enter a communication
trentch. But no. We swung onto
duck walk" This is a Slated wooden
walk built to prevent as much as pos
sible sinking into the mud. II was
very soft here.
: l Immediately wondered whether we
: hear. l wasn't in doubt long. for they
begin to send over the "Berthas" in
docks- The Bertha is an uncom-
monty ugiy breed of nine-inch shell
loaded with H. Z. 1t comes sailing over
with a querulous "spueeeeeee" and ex-
piodes with an ear-splitting crash and
burst Of murky. dull red flame.
IS u hits you fair you disappear At
little distance you are ripped to frag-
ments- and a little further off you get
case of Shell-shock. Just at the
edge of the destructive area the wind
of the explosion whistles by your ears
and then sucks back more slowly.
The boches had the range of that
now and then they would drop one
near the walk and from four to ten
casualties would go down. There was
no stopping, for the wounded. They
lay where they fell. We kept on the
run. sometimes on the duck walk,
sometimes in the mud, for three miles
i had reached the limit of my en-
durance when we came to a halt and
rested for a little while at the foot
Of a slight incline. This was the
.Pimple.' SO called on account of it's
rounded Nrest.,
J The Pmsple forms a part of the well
known Vimy RIDGES a semi-detached
extension of it-and lies between it
and the Souchez sector. After a rest
here we got into trenches skirting the
Pimple and soon came out on the quar-
ries.t This was a bowl-like depression
formed By an old quarry. The place
gave a. natural protection and all
jArotlud the =edge were dugouts which
had been built by the French. running
back into the hill. sorea.of them more
than hundred feet. 4g--
{ In the darkness we could see braziers
glowing softly red at the mouth of
each burrow. There was a cheerful,
smell of cookery on
the aF,gHs garlicky smell, with now
and then Whit of spicy wood smoke.
: We were hungry and thirsty as well
as tired. and shed our packs at the dug
outs, assigned us and went at the grub
and the char offered US by the men We
were relieving, the Northumberland
F'usfleers-
. BY the way. I do not think I have
said as should have, in my previous