Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-02-02
We vere machine Cunners OF the British

We were machine gunners OF the britisn
Amy stationed somewhere IN France
and had Iust arrived at our rest blilcts,
after a weary march from the front line
sector.
The stable we had to sleep in was an
old rainshacklc affair, absolutely over
run with rats great, big, black fellows,
who used To chew up our leather equip
ment. eat our rations, and run over our
bodies at night German gas had no
oifert on these rodents; IN TACT, they secin-
ed to thrive. The floor space would
Comfortably accommodate about twenty
...cn lying down, but when thlrty-three,
saSn,iing equipment, were crowded hto
il, 10 Was nearly unhearabic. -,
The roof and walls were full OF she'll
holes. When IT rained constant df'p,
drln. drip was in order. We were so
crowded that # fellow was Unlucky
enough land nearly ali of us in this ~
stance were unlucky) 10 sleep under
hole. he had to grin and bear 1t. IL was
like sleeping beneath shower bath.
At onr end of the billet, with ladder
leading up to It, was sort oi gram ON,
with "A door IN it. THIS place was the
HEADQUARTERS of our guests, the rats.
MANY a stormy cabinet meeting was heid
there by them: Many a boot was thrown
st Il during the night to let them Know
that Tommy Atkins objected to the mat
ter under discussion. Sometimes ono OF
these missiles would ricochet. and land
on the upturned countenance OF snoring
Tommy. and for about half an hour even
the rats would pause IN admiration OF
hls flow of language.
On the night IN question we hoppeu
down in our wet clothes. and were soon
aslecp. As WAS usual, No. gun crew
were together.
The last time We had rested in this
nartlcular village it WAS inhabited 10y
CIVILIANS hut now IL was deserted. An
order had been issued. two days previous
TO our arrival that all civilians should move
farther back Of the line.
1 had been asleep about two hours when
I wa. awakened ny Sailor Bill shaking
me bv the shoulder He was trembling
like i leaf. and whispered 10 me:
.'Wakc up. Yank. this ships haunted.
There's some one aloft who's been moan
ing for the last hour. Sounds like the
wind IN the rigging. amt scared OF
humans or Germans, but when 1t comes
10 mcssin' in with spirits IT time Tor me
70 60 below Lend your ear and cast
your headlights on that grain locker, and
listen.
/ listened slecpily for minute or 80,
but could hear nothing. Coming to the
conclusion that Sailor Bill was dream
ng things, | was again soon asleep
Perhaps fifteen minutes had elapsed
when | was rudcly awakened.
"Nank, for God 5 sake, come aboard
and listen" | listened, and sure enough,
right out OF that grain bin overhead came
q moaning and whImperlng, and then a
scratching against the floor. My hair
stood on end Blended with the drip,
drip of the rain, snd the occasional scurry-
ing az rat overhead, that noise had q
sllpernatural sound. was really frlghtcn-
cd perhaps nv nerves were trlne un-
strung from our recent tour in the trench
Is
awakened key Honney, while Sailor
Bill reused Happy Houghton and Hungry
70 croft
Hungrys first words were, What $
the matter. breakfast ready?'
In Is few words as possible, we told
them what had happened. BY the light
Of candle | had lighted, their faces APP
peared as white as chalk. Just then the
whlmpering started again, and we were
frozen with terror. The tension was TO
heved bv lkev's voice:
Il admit I'm afraid Of ghosts but that
sounds lik 3 dog TO me Mo going up
the ladder 70 investigator
No one volunteered.
| had an old deck OF cards IN my