The Washington herald., 1919-05-04

In a few minutes the ten rufisn
E were increased TO twenty, thirty
! fifty. a hundred. tried to parry thei
SCOTS and threats. but made no head
way. In ten minutes I was slmos
: surrounded by several hundred Q
j these uniformed rogues.
! What do you want with me-"
cried out. losing patience
= I'VE want you to disband your bat
] TALON. We want you 10 surrende
T all the rifles to U.S."
! Now there can hardly be a create
e dishonor for a soldier than 10 sur
render his arms without a fight
However. my girls knew that hate
to lose my life at the hands OF
: mob. When they heard Of the de
: mand OF the crowd they all cam
out. with rifles in hand.
Dehes BoIshevIks.
: ! made a couple of efforts to argus
but IL was apparent that the mel
came with the purpose fixed in thei
. minds by propagandists. They woUl'
not recede and finally cut me shor
, by giving me three minutes to decide
One OF the ringlesders stood there
, with a watch in hand, counting tn.
; agoniZing moments.
Il would rather advance against al
entire German army than sUrrende
arms TO these Bolshevik scoUndrels.'
J thought. But it is not my life onl:
that is at stake. Everything is los
, anyhow They say that peace ha:
been declared already Have ]
, right 10 play with the lives Of m.
. girls? But. Holy Mother. how can ]
"A soldier true 10 my oath and loya
to my country. order the surrende
Of my battalion's arms without 6
Ifght?"
, The three minutes were up. hat
arrived at no decision. Still ] mount
ed the speakers bench. There was
general quiet The crowd of cours.
expected my capitulation. My girl
, waited in great tension for thei
natchainik's orders. My heart throb
bed violently as my mind still Eropes
for a solution.
shoot" ! suddenly shouted at TN
top OF my voice TO the girls.
Il The men were so surprised that 70
a moment they remained petrihed
| They were Unarmed.
volley from so rifles went up int
the air.
The crowd dispersed in all dircc
tions. My order almost drove tn
men insane with rage. They ran 70
their barracks after weapons. threat
ening TO return and wipe US all out
! The real crisis now arose. Their
was no question that the mob wouk
return several times stronger. anC
tear US 10 pieces. A decision had e
he arrived at and carried out instant
ly. II would take not more than ter
minutes for tine men to come back. I
1 faEF
death
In five minutes the battalion shal
be ready to march, ! thundered.
. sent one OF my instructors TO the bar
racks. to mix with the crowd and lat
er report to me in the woods on tn
mob's activity. simultaneously / dl
reCted the supply detachment TO fol
: low the road in the direction OF krss
= noye Selo. Then / called for a vol
unteer from among the instructors O.
take care Of our battle flag undeI
= oath that he would defend il to HI,
death. Accompanied by three otheI
instructors. he was sent ahead will
/ the flag.
DuEOuts Deserted.
!, All this was done in less than fv'
| minutes. II was TO ordinary feat fOi
: military unit TO form in full march
I ing formation in that space OF time
= But my girls did il. | sent one sduac
: after another into the woods. leavin.
with the last squad myself.
n I had as our destination certain
= clearing in the woods. seven versts
deep. This distance We covered a.
I a neck-breaking pace. knew tina
the infuriated men would take th'
, road in pursuing us and ] ordered the
! battalion through the thick of th'
= woods. There were few of Us who
did not trip on the way several times.
, our uniforms were torn by thorns and
brambles. and many OF US had lac.
Grated legs and arms. There was
/ little time for dressing the wounds
| couple of hours later. after reach
Z ing the clearing. We heard a distant
: whistle. the signal of the Instructor
4 had left behind. lie was hilariou'
over his experience. and in spite OF
our preCariouS position We enjoyed
his story immensely.
The mob. il appeared. returned. a.
We had anticipated. TO our billets
!. armed to the teeth. II was i'm a fe-
, rocious mood and rushed into the
! dugouts. The men were thunder.
struck upon discovering that the dug
4, outs were deserted, They ran about
like madmen. securing the neighbor-
? They could not realize that in such
. brief space OF time the battalion
, had been marched away with all the
!. equipment
THE WITCH they shouted. she
must have spirited them away"
1 But this did not seem a plausible
explanation 10 the cooler heads They
telerhoned TO headquarters. but re-
ceived an answer OF complete aston
ishment. Nobody there knew of my
sudden withdrawal. The mob decided
that We were on the same road and
. sent a couple of horsemen to over
take us. The horsemen. of course
, returned with empty hands.
. ''She is WITCH" many soldiers
shook their heads with superstitious
awe.
"A witch, veritably!" confirmed 9TH
ers. with uneasiness.
Calls Conferences.
The four men with our hag lost
that they did not come up, / sent out
about twenty girls and instructors &c
look for them. They were finally dis
covered. Next we had to get in touch
: with the supply wagons. and man.
aged to bring them 20 our camp.
: Once this was accomplished we were
fairly well established behind the
D protection of the thickets. There was
) only one question confronting US:
r How to get away in safety.
tCopynght 1872. By the Frcderick A. stokes Co..
rany. Ar rights -rez-rfedl