The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-11-15

| I believe yer scared" Tho last with .
contemptuOus sneer.
They marched ten kilos. full pack,
to little dilapidated village, aud the
sound Of the guns grew louder. con
stantly louder
The village was full of soldiers who
turned out TO inspect the new DRIFT
the men who were shortly TO be their
mates in the trenches for they were
going "up the line" on the morrow, to
take over" their certain sector OF
trenches.
The draft was parnded in front Of
battalion headquarters and the men
were assigned to companies.
Lloyd was the only man assigned to
d company. Perhaps the officer In
charge Of the draft had something to
do with It, for he called Lloyd aside
and said:
Lloyd. you are going to a new com.
pany. No one knows you. Your bed
Will be as you make 1t, so for Gods
sake, brace up and be man. thin1
you have the stuff In you, my boy, so
good-by and the best of luck to you"
The next day the battalion took over
their part of the trenches. 1t happened
to be very quiet day. The artillery
behind the lines was still, except for
an occasional shell sent over to let the
Germans know the gunners were not
asleep.
In the darkness, in single file, the
company slowly wended their way
down the communication trench to the
front line. No one noticed Lloyds
white and drawn face.
After they had relieved the company
in the trenches, Lloyd. with two of the
old company men, was put on guard in
one Of the traverses. Not shot was
fired from the German lines, and no
one paid any attention to him
crouched on the firing step.
On the first time in, new recruit Is
not required to stand with his head
"Over the top" He only "slts 1t out"
while the older men keep watch.
At about ten o'clock, all of a sudden,
he thought hell had broken loose, and
crouched and shlvered up against the
parapet. Shells started bursting, as he
imagined, right in their trench, when in
fact they were landing about a hun
dred yards in reGT of them, IN the Sec
ond lines.
One of the older men on guard, turn.
ing to his mate. said:
There goes Fritz with those ID
trench mortars again. It's about time
our artillery 'taped' them, and sent
over a few. Well, I'll be id,
where's that blighter of a draft man
gone to? There's his rifle leaning
against the parapet. He must have
legged it. Just keep your eye peeled.
Dick, while report it to the sergeant. |
1 wonder If the fool knows he can be |
shot for such tricks as leavin' his
poSt"
Lloyd had gone. When the trench
mortars opened up, maddening ter
ror seized him and he wanted to run.
to get away from that horrible din,
anywhere to safety. So quietly sneak
ing around the traverse, he came to the
entrance of a communication trench,
and ran madly and blindly down 1t,
running into traverses, stumbling into
muddy holes, and falling full length
over trench grids.
Cropping blindly, with his arms
stretched out in front of him, he at
last came out Of the trench into the
village, or what used to be village,
before the German artillery razed it.
Mixed with his fear, he had Pc
,uliar sort of cunning, which whis-
Oered to him to avoid all sentrles, be-
cause if they saw him he would be
sent back to that awful destruction in
he front line, and perhaps be killed
,r manned. The thought made him
;hudder, the cold sweat coming out In
,eads on his face.