Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-07-31
lover the Top
BY An American Soldier
Who Went
ARTHUR GUY EMPEY
Machine Gunner Serving
In France

:
In France
Copyright, 1917, by Arthur Guy
Empey.
A bullet, did you say1 Well. tell me,
have always wanted to know, did It
hurt worse going in or coming out1'
Tommy generally replies that - did
not stop to figure 1t out when he was
hit.
One very nice-looking, overenthusi-
astic young thing, stopped at my bed
and asked, "What wounded you In tho
facer $3.50: ..-.a.-e ria.--ss.,s,.. .s.>'
In q polite but bored tone I an
swered, "A ride bullet"
With look Of disdain she passed
to the next bed, first calculating, "Oh!
Only a bullet7 I thought It was a
she'll" Why she should think shell
wound was more Of a distinction beats
me. I don't see whole lot Of differ
ence myself.
The American Women's War hospl-
tai was a heaven for wounded men.
They were allowed every privilege pos
sible conducive with the rules and mill
tary discipline. The only fault was
that the mems passes were restricted.
To get a pass required an act of par
lament. Tommy tried many tricks to
get out, but the commandant, an old
Boer war officer, was wise to them all,
and it took new and clever ruse to
make him affix his signature to the
coveted slip Of paper.
AS soon as 1t would get dark many a
patient climbed over the wall and went
ION his own" regardless of many signs
staring him in the face, "Out of bounds
for patients" Generally the nurses
were looking the other way when one
of these night raids started. / hope
this information will get none of them
into trouble, but / cannot resist the
temptation to let the commandment
know that occasionally we put 1t over
on him.
One afternoon I received a note,
through our underground channel, from
my female visitor, asking me to attend
q party at her house that night. !
answered that she could expect me and
to meet me at certain place on the
road we'll known by all patients, and
some visitors, as "over the wall" I
told her I would be on hand at seven
thirty.
About SEVENTEEN I sneaked my
overcoat and cap out Of the ward and
hid 1t In the bushes. Then told the
nurse, particular friend of mine, that
I was going for walk in the rose gar
den. She winked and knew that ev-
erything was all right on her end.
Going out of the ward, I slipped into
the bushes and made for the wall. 1t
was dark as pitch and / was cropping
through the underbrush, when sudden
~ stepped into space and felt myself
rushing downward, horrible bump.
and blackness. When I came to my
wounded shoulder was hurting horri-
bly,. I was lying against circular
wall Of bricks, dripping with moisture,
and far away could hear the trickling
Of water. had In the darkness fallen
into an old disused well. But why
wasn't wet? According to oil rules
should have been drowned. Perhaps
I was and didn't know 1t.
AS the shock of my sudden stop
gradually wore off 1t came to me that
was lying on ledge and that the
least movement on my part would pre-
cipitate me to the bottom Of the well.
l struck match. In its faint glare
I saw that was lying In a circular
hole about twelve feet deep-the well
had been filled inl The dripping had
heard came from water pipe over on
my right.
With my wounded shoulder it was
impossible to shiny up the pipe. /
could not yell for help. because the
rescuer would want to know how the
accident happened, and ] would be
Hailed before the commandant on
charges. just had to grin and bear
it, with the forlorn hope that one of
the returning night raiders would pass
and I could give him our usual signal
of "siss-s-s-s," which would bring him
to the rescue.
Every half-hour I could hear the
clock in the village strike. each stroke
bringing forth a mufled volley Of
curses on the man who had dug the
well.
After two hours I heard two men
talking in low voices. recognized
Corporal Cook, an ardent might raid
err" He heard my "slss-s-s-s" and
came to the edge Of the hole. I ex-
planned my predicameht and amid lot
Of impertinent remarks. which at the
time did not resent, wasasoon f1shed
out.
Taking of our boots. we sneaked into
the ward. I was sitting on my bed in
the dark, Just starting to undress.
when the man next to me, "Ginger"
Phillips, whispered, "'Op 1t, Yank, ere
comes the matron.'
Immediately got under the covers
and feigned sleep. The matron stood
talking in low tones to the night nurse
and fell asleep.
When I awoke In the morning the
night sister, an American, was bending
...,a,,Y - --l.& ~ ~ ,,,1, o1,ox,