Oxford eagle., 1918-07-25

boy. you belong In Jersey City. and
you'd better get back there as quickly
ss possible"
The bullets were cracking overhead.
] crawled q few feet back TO the Ger
man barbed wire. and in q STOPPING po-
sition. guiding myself by the wire. !
went down the line looking for the
lane we had cut through. Before
reaching this lane / came TO q limp
form which seemed like a bag Of oats
hanging over the wire. In the dim
light / could see that its hands were
blackened, and knew II was the body
Of oae Of nv mates. / put my hand
on his head. the top Of which had been
blown of by q bomb. Ny fingers sank
into the hole. pulled my hand back
full Of blood and brains. then i went
crazy with fear and horror and rushed
along the wire until ! came TO our
lane. ! had Just turned down this lane
when something inside of me seemed
to say. Look around" did SO; hul-
let caught me on the left shoulder II
did not hurt much. inst felt as II some
one had punched me In the hack and
then nv left side went nurnh. Ny arm
was dangling Ike a rag fell forward
In a sitting position But all the fear
had left me and was consumed with
rage and cursed the German trenches
With nv right hand ] felt in my runic
for nv frSf-hid or she. desSinE In
feeling over my tunic my hand came
in contact with one ~ the bombs which
I carried. Gripping II. ] pulled the pin
out with my teeth and hiindiy threw u
towards the German trench l must
have been out Of my head because j
was only ten feet from the trench and
took 3 chance of being Ensngied II
the bomb had failed 20 20 into the
trench ! would have been blown 20
hits by the explosion Of my own bomb.
By the fare Of the explosion Of the
bomb. which luckily landed In their
trench. ! saw one big Boche throw I'D
his arms and fall backwards. while his
rife few into the air Another one
wilied and fell forward across the
Realizing what foolhardy and risky
thing | had done. ] was again seized
with horrible fear. dragged myself
10 my feet and ran KRdly down the
lane through the barbed wire, STUN
bling over cut wires. tearing my uni
form, and lacerating my hands and
legs. Just as ! was about TO reach
No Mans Land again. that same voice
seemed 10 say. Turn around" ] did
SO. when, crack" another bullet
caught me. this time In the left shoul-
der about one-half inch away from the
other wound. Then II was taps for me.
The lights 4 N out.
When i came TO ] was crouching In
hole in No Mans Land. This shell
hole was about three feet deep. 50 that
il brought my head few inches below
the level Of the ground. How i reached
this hole / viii never know. German
'typewriters were traversing back
and forth in No Mans Land. the bul-
lets biting the edge OF my shell hole
and throwing dirt all over me.
overhead shrapnel was bursting.
l could hear the fragments slap the
ground. Then ! went out once more.
When came 10 everything was silence
and darkness in No Mans Land. I
was soaked with blood and q big fap
from the wound in my cheek was hang
ing over my mouth The blood run
ming from this flap choked me. Out of
the corner Of my mouth i would try
and blow II back. but IL would no,
move reached for my shell dresstne
and tried. with one hand. TO bandage
my face 10 prevent the fiOw. / had
an awful horror OF bleeding 10 dea.h
and was getting very faint. You wculd
have laughed IL you had seen nv
ludicrons attempts AZ bsndaging with
one hand. The pains In my wounded
shoulder were awful and / was getting
sick 81 the stomach ] gave I'd the
nancaging stunt as bad job, and then
! tainted.
When i came TO. hell was let loose.
An intense bombardment was on. and
On the whole my position was decided
" unpleasant Then, suddenly, our
oarrsge ceased The silence almost
hurt. but not for long. because Fritz
turned loose with shrapnel. machine
guns. and rife FIRE Then all along our
nne came q cheer and our boys came
over the top In q charge. The srss
wave was composed Of Jocks" They
were magnificent sight, kits, fappins
in the wind. bare knees showing. and
their hayonets glistening. In the first
wave that passed my shell hole, one Of
the Jocks" an immense fellow, sbou,
SIX feet two inches In height Jumped
night over me. On the right and lef,
Of me several soldiers In colored Kilt
were huddled on the ground. then owe,
came the second wave, also -Jockx.'
One young Scottie. when he came
abreast Of my shell hole, leaped int<
the air. his rife shooting out Of his
hands. landing about six feet in from,
OF him. bayonet first. and stuck In the
ground. the butt trembling. This i'm
pressed me greatly.
Right now can see the butt of ths,
gun trembling The Scottfe rnada 9