The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1919-03-06

major. ana nave your XII packed IN
twenty minutes. You and Hartley are
going up to the 'front.'"
The senior captain temporarily COM
mandlng the detachlnesl unbent from
the official air which he was trying
terribly hard to assume.
"You were specially asked for from
headquarters" he said. with another
man: and I'm sending Hartley be-
cause he's your. friend. They want two
more men for the stretcher bearers
company. Wen be sorry to lose y0u,
Weston"
Mark saluted and went out just us
Hartley appeared at the door. The
sergeant major enlightened Hartley
briefly.
"You most have some pull at head
aunrters, Weston" he said. do you
know Major KeIlermanf"
"Allttie, sir" answered Mark grimly.
"Well, he seems to know all about
you, and he told the o. @. over the tel
ephone that he must have you. He'll
be your 0. G. now for a while, SO
things ought to run smoothly for you."
|, "He's not q doctor. sir"
"No, but the stretcher bearers aren't
medical corps; they're attached to
the -th."
Mark hurried away. In the barrack
room, at breakfast, the two were the
subject Of mingled jests and congratu-
latIons. The stretcher bearers, form
ing, as Il were, the last supports of
the infantry. shared with them the
great proportion of casualties. Keller
mans scheme was perfectly clear to
Mark.
He was in wretched stnte of mind
when the car steamed into the depot
at the end Of the narrow-gauge line.
He descended into q city. mushroom
city Of the supply and transportation
department.
| A sergeant and corporal. with nine
or ten men Of the stretcher bearers
company. were waiting for the two,
The little troop was returning to the
trenches after i've days OF relief ut q
rest camp.
You're the two men from the base
hospitalf" nsked the sergeant. SAll
right! Fail In. Right turni Quick
marchl"
They moved away down slope and
began to pick their way along the be
ginning Of a maze Of trenches.
The roar Of guns. which had never
ceased by night or day, and had lonl
ceased to be noticeable. was loudeI
now.
Suddenly the sergeant stopped.
There was ten Of you." he said tt
the corporal.
"All here" responded the corporal
The sergeant turned to Mark
"Where's your mater he asked.
Mark. who had been plodding alonl
under the impression that Hartley wal
following. turned round, to find tha
he was the last Of the party. Hartle!
was nowhere to be seen.
The sergeant run back few PAGES
to return breathless and red In tn
face. Hes gone. the silly foOlr b.
spluttercd. "Aiust have taken tn
wrong turn at the bend. Go back and
get hlm"
But Hartley was not at the bend
The sergeant Joined Mark. increduloua
They scrambled up the bank ant
scanned the level road. There was n
pedestrian In sight.
"He's taken the wrong turn some
where" insisted the sergeant Com
along with mel We've got to I'M
. him I"
They began doubling back, shout
4 ing, until they reached the end Of tn
trench system. Still Hartley could NO
be found.
"If he ain't on hand TIL be broke.
the sergeant grumbled. "And I'll breal
his head for him. You medical corp
chaps are like bunch Of babies. Oush
. to have nurse and baby carriage TO
each of you"
Reluctantly he abandoned the searcl
, and they rejoined the others. The ser
I geant. In IN ugly mood. ordered ther
I sharply onward. but could not resis
! casting occasional looks back to see
, the missing man was coming. How
ever, at last he resigned himself Z
. what seemed inevitable. The trenc
!. widened into deep, wide. parallel on
! extending In Eigzags to right and LEI
Of them
: A large dugout made shell-prooi
{ or as nearly a. possible 20, b
!. q roof Of heavy beams, sandbag
{ and corrugated steel. bore the Re
Cross upon the door, Inside q nun
. ber OF stretcher bearers were lounsini
Q The sergeant halted his men an