The Mena weekly star., 1918-05-02
OVID III. TOD
 co
 AN AMERICAN SOLDIER WHO WENT a < AQIf1UR GUY EfIpEY
| @ls7 eY l lARIAlR GUY EhpfYl
MACHINE GUNNER SERVING IN FQANCE

tap the transmitter with his anper nails, and the one on the other end would get 1t through the receiver Many an hour was whiled away in tbls manner passing compliments back and | forth.
 Tn the observation post the officer used to sit for hours with a powerful pair of field glasses to his bves Inrough a cleverly concealed loophoIe ne would scan the ground behind the Serman trenches, looking for targets ana finding many. This officer, Can tain A by name, had a habit of talking out loud to himself. Some times he would vent his opinion. same as a common private does when he's wrought up. Once upon a time the captain had been on Old Peppers staff so he could euss and blind in the most approved style. Got to be sort of a habit with him.
 About six thousand yards from ms behind the German lines, was a road Tn plain view of our post. For the last three days Fritz had brought compa- nies of troops down this road in broad daylight. They were never shelled Whenever this happened the captain would froth at the mouth and let out a volume of Old Peppers religion which used to make me love him.
 Every battery has a range chart on which distinctive landmarks are noted With the range for each. These land marks are called targets. and are num- Dered. On oaf batterys chart. that road was called Target r, Range 60OO, 3 degree 30 minutes left D 29s battery consisted of four '4.5' howit- gers, and fired a 35-pound H. F. shell. As you know, H. T.. means high ex- plosiye.' l don't like bumming up my own battery, but we had a record in the division for direct hits, and our boys were just pining away for chance to exhibit their skin in the pyes of Fritz.
 "On the afternoon of the fourth day Of Fritz contemptuous use of the road mentioned the captain and were at rur posts as usual Fritz was strafe- Ing us pretty rough, just like he's doing now. The shells were playing leap frog all through that orchard.
 q was carrying on a conversation in our tap code with Cassell at the other end. It ran something like this;
 "Say, Cassell, how would you like | 10 be in the saloon bar of the Kings Arms down Rye lane with bottle ot Bass in front of you, and that blonde i harmaid waiting to fill lem up againT
 "Cassell had fancy for that par ticular blonde. The answer came back in the shape of volley of cusses. l changed the subject.
 "After a while our talk veered round to the way the Boches had been exposing themselves on the road down on the chart as Target IT. What he said about those Boches would never have passed the reichstag. though I believe 1t would have gone through our censor easily enough.
 "The bursting shells were making such din that I packed up talking and took to watching the captain. He was fidgeting around on an old sand l bag with the glass to his eye. Occa- sionally he would let out grunt, and make some remark couldn't hear on account of the noise, but l guessed what it was all right. Fritz was get ting fresh again on that road.
 "Cassell had been sending in the tap code to me, but I was fed up and didn't bother with it. Then he sent o. S., and was all attention, for this was a call used between us which meant that something important was on. was all ears in an instant. Then Cassell turned loose.
 "'You blankety blank dud, l have been trying to raise you for fifteen minutes. Whats the matter, are you asleepY (Just as if anyone could have slept in that internal racketD Never mind framing a nasty answer Just listen.'
 "sAre you game for putting some thing over on the Boches and Old Pep per all in oner
 q answered that was game enough when 1t came to putting 1t over the Boches, but confessed that l had weakening of the spine, even at the mention of Old Peppers name.
 "He came back with, Its so absurd ly easy and simple that there Is no chance of the old heather rumbling It. Anyway, If we're caught. I'll take the blame.'
 Under these condition l told him to snit ont his scheme. 1t was so daring