The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1918-12-13

A NVNiU Ef-E rUhtttTE EAIEFEAUk HUN EUG
stable. had 10 act quickly.
@When mounted. the captain
reached for HIS revolver. j covered
him with mine and, with d shrek OF
terror, Adrienne threw herself IN
front Of the UhInn captain to protect
him. / saw her too late. My bullet
pierced her left breast, and a red
smudge showed ON her white silk
blouse SIS she sank to the ground. /
shot the orderiy's horse to prevent Inn
mediate pursuit and then away on d
mad galIop down the road ii was
long chase, but escaped them.
t9fhe rest Of my men were captured.
AT our headquarters I had to lie like
d trooper. Told them we had been
ambuShed and wiped out. 1t was the
only way to save my skin. There
were no witnesses against me. SO /
got Off with reduction to the ranks and
d transfer to another regiment. They
smelied a rat, all right, but had no
proof.
$50 that is my story, Yank. Just
forget that ever told IL to you.
Enough to make fellow get the blues
occasionally, isn't it7 Just pass me a
flag, and take that look off your face"
gave him the cigarette and, with
out a word, went out Of the dugout
and left him alone. was thinking Of
Adrlenne.
Upon reaching the trench / paused
Ia wonder and fright. The sky was
alight with red glare. The din was
terrific. A constant swishing and
rushing through the mir, intermlngled
with a signing moan, gave tes-
tlmony that our batteries were
sweating blood. The trench seemed
to be rolling like a ship. stood in
awe. This bombardment Of ours was
something Understandable, and shud-
der passed through me as / thought
Of the havoc and destruction caused
Ia the German lines. At that moment
really pitled the Germans, but not
for long, because suddenly hell seemed
to burst loose from the German lines
as their artillery opened UP. could
hear their ''hve-nines" screeching
through the air and bursting In the
artillery lines in our rear. Occasion
ally farsoff rum-hum-rump-rump,
Crash Bru-u-nn-u-gg could be heard
as one Of their high-callbered shells
came sover and burst In our reserve.
1 crouched against the parados, hardly
able to breathe. While In this position,
right overhead, every Instant getting
louder, came a German shell--hiz-z-z
bang-g-gl / was blinded by the flash.
Down / went, into the mud Strug-
Cling to my feet in the red glare of the
bombardment.
/ saw that the traverse on my left
had entirely disappeared. Covered
with mud, weak and trembling. could
hear what sounded like far-distnnt
voices coming from the direction Of
the bashed-in traverse.
"Bllme me, get rs bloomin' napper
outa tn mud; 'e's chokin' to death.
Pass me bandage-tyke is b'yonet
fer a spllnt Bllme me, lis leg is
smashed, not art hit h'aint. TIL rest
o. you blokes 'op it fer a stretcher.
'Tllo, les got another one-quick, a
tourniquet. the poor bloke's a'bleedin'
to death. Quick, h'up against the par
apet. ere comes another"
Whlz-z-zi Bangg-gl
Another flare, and ONCE again I was
thrown into the mud. / opened my
eyes. Bending over me, shaking me
by the shoulder was Atwell. His voice
sounded faint and far away. Then ]
came to with q rush.
"Bllme me, Yank, that was close
one. Did It get your
He helped me to my feet and felt
myself oil over. Seeing / was all
right, he yelled in my ear:
''We've got to leg 1t out Of ERE.
Fritz Is sure sendin' over 'whiz-bangs'
and minnles.' Number 0 platoon in
the next fire bay sure clicked it. About
eighteen of them have gone West.
Come on, wen see II we can do any
thing for the poor blokes."
We plowed through the mud and
came into the next fire bay. In the
light of the bursting shells an awful
sight met our eyes. The traverses were
dashed in. the fire step was gone, and
in the parados was hole that looked
like a subway entrance. There was
mud and blood.
Every now and then, ducking as o
Withholding" or "minnie" came over
we managed to get four Of the wound,
ed ON the stretchers, and Atwell and
carried one to the rear to the first
aid dressing station. We passed the
dugout which had left but a few
minutes before, or at least, what used
Go be the dugout, but now all that
could be seen was caved-ln mass OF
dirt; huge square-cut timbers sticking
out of the ground and silhouetted
against the light from bursting shells
looking like huge giants. A shuddel
passed through me as realized that
/ II we had stayed in the dugout We
would have now been lying fifteen tC
twenty feet down, covered by that
cavedin earth and wreckage.
Atwell jerked his head In the direc
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