Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-11-01
CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER I.
Lieutenant Mark Wallace Of the
Seventieth New York regiment came !,
to an abrupt standstill. He was alone
In the jungle, upon the blazing hillside |
before Santiago. in the month Of June. |
1898.
Through the branches of the trees
the Mauser bullets still whipped and
whistled. and the prolonged screech of
shells and distant shouting indicated |
that the battle, which had ragged all |
day. had not yet reached Its end. But
within the short radius of Wallnce's
vision nothing stirred. not even the
palmetto boughs that rustled with the
least breeze like the sound Of the sea.
Wallace had only the most confused
and incoherent knowledge of what was
happening on that historic day. There
hHd been an advance In the cool of the
morning, II brief respite from the op-
pressive heat could be called coolness
In contrast. Then came the deploy-
ment HIong the base Of the hills as the
first shells began to fall, the advance
In open order, In which the nicely In
culcated teachings OF the parade
ground fell to pieces, the tumble of
men, Of companies, and, later, of regi-
ments, pressing forward past the dead
and stricken, the shouts, the rattle of
machine guns and rifles. Batteries
came galloplng where they had no
theoretical business to be, upsetting
the junior officers desperate attempts
to preserve alignment; Red Cross
men invaded the battle line to succor
the wounded; commissariat mules,
shaking Off the lethargy which no
amount of belaboring had ever over
come, rap away with supplies and
strewed embalmed beef over the hill
side. In the midst Of It all Wallace
had rallied some men of his own troop
and led them forward; he plunged into
the patch of scrub-coyered Jungle. and
found that he was alone.
In front of him was a small clearing.
made by some Cuban squatter in the
preceding year and abandoned after
the rcaping. II contained the ruin of
palm shack, and the furrows scraped
by primitive pillow were only just dis
ccrnible amid the rank growth that
had sprung up. The lieutenant stop
ped and shouted, expecting to see, his
men come running through the trees.
But rone appeared, and it was at
this moment that the bullet that had
been stamped with his name, accord
Ing 10 the soldiers superstition, found
him. lie felt smart blow on the
shout Ter, which knocked him back
ward He stumbled. fell down, sat up
agnii. and discovered that his elbow
was shattered. The arm hung help
lessIy at his side.
lie managed to bind up the wound
with his hand and teeth. There was
not much pnin. but a sort Of physical
larguor. which made him reel giddlly
when he arose. There was burning
thirst. too. II wan extraordinary that
a little thing like that should take the
grit out Of man. A little blood was
running down his sleeve. but the
wound seemed trivial.
Wallace leaned against the wall Of
the shack and waited for his men.
He shouted once or twice more, but
nobody answered him, and the battle
seemed to be drifting In another dlrec
tlon. Wallace imagined that his trooy
had advanced around the patch Of
scrub, In which case he was not lIkel,
TO establish touch with them again til
nlghtfaIl. He cursed his luck anC
started forward. but the trees began {,
reel around him: he clutched at tn,
wall Of the shack, missed Il, and fell
Then he realized that he was out O
the fight. Yet, In spite OF his intens
disappointment, he knew that wors
might have befallen him. He ha,
fought through hours OF the day-tha
was much; he was probably spared L
lead his men again--and that wa
more. He had found and prove,
himself; and at twenty-One a youn
man. for all his self-confldence, is con
posed Of fears and doubts as well. L
spite of his soldier ancestors, Mar
Wallace had not been sure that hi
capacity for leadership extended be
yohu Nhe puAhuc Bhuuuut uuu ne ud
suffered from the young soldiers IL
evitable fear Of fear.
SO he resigned himself to his situs
ton. He emptied his water bottle anC
gripping the end Of his gauze roll wit
his teeth, managed to bandage hi
wound sufficiently to stop the blee(
ing. The languor. however, was II
creaslng. Sometimes he would doz
for a few moments, awaklng with
start, TO wonder where he was, an
what had happened. The air was yer
still. The shouts had long since die
away, the rifle firing was a distar
cracking; the tremulous staccato taI
ping of the machine guns was like II
roll of drums far away.
Wallace must have slept for a pr
longed period, for when next he b
came conscious he started up to Sc
to his intense nstonishment, q prett
little girl Of three or four years, stan
ing in front Of him and looking at hir
He rubbed his eyes, expecting her
disappear. But she was still there, ar
Just as he was beginning to piece t
gether a Spanish phrase she spoke
him In English.
II want my daddy"
Wnllnce res ched out and drew q
child toward him. where Is yov