The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-06-11

when something inside OF me seemed
to say. "Look around" I did so; a bull
let caught me on the left shoulder. It
did not hurt much. just felt as II some
n had punched me In the back, and
then my left side went numb. My arm
was dangling like a rag. I fell forward
In a sitting position. But all the fear
had left me and / vas consumed with
rage and cursed the German trenches
With my right hand / felt In my tunic
for my first-aid or shell dressing. In
feeling over my tunic my hand came
In contact with n of the bombs which
1 carried. Gripping 1t, / pulled the pin
out with my teeth and blindly threw IL
towards the German trench. I must
have been out of my head, because I
was only ten feet from the trench and
took a chance Of being m8ngied. II
the bomb had failed to go into the
trench / would have been blown to
bits by the explosion Of my own bomb.
BY the fare of the explosion Of the
bomb, which luckily landed In their
trench, I saw n big Boche throw up
his arms and fall backwards, while his
rife few into the air. Another n
wilted and fell forward across the
sandbags-then blackness.
Realizing what a foolhardy and risky
thing 1 had done, / was again seized
with a horrible fear. I dragged myself
to my feet and ran madly down the
lane through the barbed wire. STUN
bling owe cut wires, tearing my uni
form, and decorating my hands and
legs. Just as l was about to reach
No Mans Land again, that anne voice
seemed to say, "Turn around" I 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 1t was taps for me.
The lights went out.
When l came TO I was crouching In
a hole in No Mans Land. This shell
hole was about three feet deep, so that
1t brought my head few inches below
the level Of the ground. How I reached
this hole / will w know. German
.typewriters" were traversing bach
and forth in No Mans Land. the bull
le' biting the edge Of my shell hol,
and throwing dirt all over me.
Overhead %shrapnel was bursting
1 could hear the fragments slap ths
ground. Then / went out once more
When I came to everything was silence
and darkness in No Mans Land. ]
was soaked with blood and a big far
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 / would try
and blow 1t back, but 1t would not
move. | reached for my shell dressing
and tried. with hand, to bandage
my face TO prevent the flow. / had
an awful horror of bleeding to death
and was getting very faint. You would
have laughed IL you had seen my
ludicr0us attempts at bandaging with
one hand. The pains In my wounded
shoulder were awful and / was getting
sick at the stomach. I gave up the
bandaging stunt as a bad job, and then
tainted.
When l came to, hell was let loose.
An intense bombardment was on, and
on the whole my position was decided
ly unpleasant. Then, suddenly, our
barrage ceased. The silence almost
hurt, but not for long, because Fritz
turned loose with shrapnel, machine
guns, and rifle fire. Then all along our
line came a cheer and our boys came
over the top In a charge. The first
wave was composed of Jocks" They
wpro a mn Onffaonf SIGHT kflfo AapDip0
in the wind. bare knees showing, and
their bayonets glistening. In the first
wave that passed my shell hole, one of
the Jocks" an immense fellow, about
six feet two inches In height jumped
right over me. On the right and left
of me several soldiers In colored kits
were huddled on the ground, then over
came the second wave, also Jocks"
One young Scottie. when he came
abreast of my shell hole, leaped into
the air. his rife shooting out of his
hands. landing about six feet In front
of him. bayonet first. and stuck In the
ground. the butt trembling. This Inn
pressed me greatly.
Right now 1 can see the butt of that
gun ueAHpilng. Inc Scottle mhuc u
complete turn in the air. hit the
ground, rolling yer twice. each time
clawing at the earth. and then re-
NAMED still. about four feet from me.
In a sort of sitting position. l called TO
him, Are you hurt badly, Jockf" but
no answer. He was dead. A dark red
smudge was coming through his tunic
right under the heart. The blood ran
down his bare knees, making a horrible
sight. On his right side he carried his
water bottle. I was crazy for a drink
and tried to reach this. but for the life
of me could not negotiate that four
feet. Then / became unconscious.
When I woke up l was In an advanced
frst-aid post. / asked the doctor IL
we had taken the trench, "We took