News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1919-01-01

| Nz5@ 1
%ou Poor English Fool! Make Love
to Me, VIII You"
saw that l was being carried out to the
gate, where two horses were standing
with their reins thrown over hitching
post. BY the equipment l knew one of
the horses belonged to the captain,
while the other was the Orderly's. The
two troopers dumped me down on the
road, one giving me a kick with his
boot. l was lying on my left side, and
by certain hard pressure on my ribs
l knew they had neglected to search
me. That pressure was my automatic
pistol. A feeling of exultation rushed
over me. l would euchre them yet.
Fate worked into my hands. A hail
in German came from the stables, and
one of the troopers left to answer it.
| The odds were even, one against one.
L slowly turned over on my face, as If
in sleep, and my fingers grasped the
butt of the automatic, but just then
heard steps on the gravel walk. The
captain and Adrienne were coming to-
ward me.
"She stopped beside me and said in
English:
"'You poor English fool! Make
love to me, will you? Good-by, my
foolish sergeant. While you are rot
ting in prison think of your Adrienne,
bahp
'My hand gave the butt of my auto
matte just the slightest squeeze. l
was thinking of her hand on my
shoulder. Well, two could play that
game.
'The captain said something to the
orderly, who left in the direction Of
the house. Now was my chance.
Springing to my feet and leveling the
pistol at the captain, | grabbed the
reins of his horse from the post and
mounted. The orderly came running
toward me, yelling out in German, and
1 could see soldiers emerging from the
stable. had to act quickly.
"When l mounted, the captain
reached for his revolver. ! covered
him with mine and, with a shrek of
terror, Adrienne threw herself in
front of the Uhlan captain to protect
him. ! saw her too late. My bullet
pierced her left breast, and a red
Smudge showed on her white silk
blouse as she sank to the ground. l
shot the Orderly's horse to prevent i'm
mediate pursuit and then away on a
mad gallOp down the road. 1t was a
long chase, but l escaped them.
1.-THE rest of my men were captured.
At our headquarters had to lie like
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 L
got off with reduction to the ranks and
a transfer to another regiment. They
smelled a rat, all right, but had no
proof.
$50 that is my story, Yank. Just
forget that ever told it to you.
Enough to make fellow get the blues
occasionally, isn't it? Just pass me
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 |
Adrienne.
Upon reaching the trench I paused |
in wonder and fright. The sky was
alight with red glare. The din was
terrific. A constant swishing and |
rushing through the air, intermlngled |
with. signing moan, gave tes-
timOny that our batteries were |
sweating blood The trench seemed |
to be rolling like ship. l stood In
awe. This bombardment of ours was /
indescribable, and shud-
der passed through me as / thought
In the German lines. At that moment
1 really pitied the Germans, but not
for long, because suddenly hell seemed
to burst loose from the German lines
as their artillery opened up. l could
hear their "five-nines" screeching
through the air and bursting in the
artillery lines in our rear. Occasion
ally far-off rum-hum-rump-rump,
Crash! Bru-u-nn-u-gg could be heard
as one of their high-calibered shells
came over and burst in our reserve.
crouched against the paradOs, hardly
able to breathe While i'm this position,
right overhead, every instant getting
louder, came a German shell-hiz-z-z!
bang-g-gl / was blinded by the flash.
Down I 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-distant
voices coming from the direction Of