Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-10-08
in that sullen. stupid reiteration of

in that sullen, stupid reiteration Of
the one argument they know.
Then, suddenly, a shell burst in
the field, on our right The chauffeur
instantly stopped the car. .. .
'Mais c'est tout pres" I said.
("But this is very near.")
"Je comprends!" ("I knowi") said
Won de Lancken, who was sitting in
a seat in front of me.
The shell had exploded not more
than fifty yards away.
There had been-there still was a
great pun of brown smoke and then
q shower of dirt and stones right
there beside US. Then, the Shrek of
another shell again; it exploded just
to our left, and little ahead Of US,
UGH nearer. They were shooting at
us evidently. having seen, Of course,
the two big gray motors and the off,
GERS uniforms. Our captain cried:
Look out for the third onei'
Look out? How was one to hook
out? 1t seemed to me a most stupid,
silly thing to say. We sat there in
the motor and waited Nobody
spoke. 1 had a confused recollec-
tion of the old superstition of po-
that catastrophes come in threes. 1
was wondering at this, accepting it
as a phenomenon at last confirmed
by reality. But in the stiffness Won
der Lancken was explaining the way
gunners find the range, firing first
on one side, then on the other, and
then, in the middle-la fourchette
1.-THE fork he said, and striking his
n a.. IL
thumb and forefinger Of his left
hand, he illustrated just how the
third she'll. for which we were wait
ing, would strike US. I waited for
the third shot In a fascination OF
suspense. There ii was-that shrek,
that tearing of heavy cloth. Still.
the waiting, the suspense. Then
Lancken exclaimed:
III ma pas eclate!'' "(It has not
burst!')
A shell exploded In front of us
in the field, a little closer to the
road, They were getting nearer,
finding the range. The captain at
the wheel was backing his car as
fast as he could. Nobody spoke.
He backed the car down near the
caissons under cover OF the bank.
The shells were exploding all about
in that field above US to the right.
The artillery horses were bucking
and prancing. the gunners irritably
trying to calm them. On the other
side of the road sous officer" in
spectacles, who had been sitting his
horse carelessly, shouted an order
in a loud, angry, resent6ul voice.
The artillery men refined in their
horses, shouted at them, jerked
them about; and the caissons turn
ed, numbered down the hill and dis
appeared behind the vacant houses.
We alighted from the motors.
The shells were still exploding in
the field. The officers of our party
clambered up the bank TO the edge
of the field. climbed up, too, not
because I thought ] should do so
but because 1 thought 1 should do
as the others did. 1 was filed with
an intense depression. the depres-
sion, suppose, of fear, but did
not wish Villalobar and Won der
Lancken and the captain, just then
at least. to know of this fear. And
so 1 climbed over toward the Lo-
. retta heights again.
The name stands out in my mind
as the most important point in this
war, I looked. and 1t seemed mex
pressably foolish and futile and
stupid, to be standing there In the
field where shells were exploding,
tearing up the earth, and throwing
up clouds of dust. I looked down
the bank and saw Villaiobar who
had some difficulty in climbing the
steep scrumbling embankment.
went to assist him; not generously
or because he needed assistance,
but selfishly; I wished to be en-
ployed at something. There SEEM
ed to be a species of relief in that
thought. But the marquis was
smiling.
1T isn't raining. you know!" he
observed.
I looked at him, as we stood
there. finding the remark singular
ly inapropos.
but your coat collar" he be-
gan.
had turned up the collar of my
rain coat; instinctively, l suppose.
CONTINUED Next Issue)
published by special arrange
rnents with the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate. Copyrighted, 1918, by
Brand Whitlock. under the title
Memories of Belgium Under the
German Occupation" All rights
reserved. Copyrighted in Great
Britain. Canada and Australia. All
rights reserved for France, Bel
GUM, Holland, Italy, Spain, Russia
and the Scandinavian countries.)