The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-01-10

Springing tt 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
l could see soldiers emerging from the
stable. i had to act quickly.
when / mounted, the captain
reached for his revolver. / covered
him with mine and, with q shrek of
terror, Adrienne threw herself in
front Of the Uhlan captain to protect
him. / saw her too late. My bullet
pierced ner left breast, and a red
smudge showed on her white silk
blouse as she sank to the ground. I
shot the orderly's horse to prevent inn
mediate pursuit and then away or a
mad gallop down the road. 1t was a
long chase, but / escaped them.
"The rest Of my men were captured.
At u headquarters / had to lie like
a 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 j ever told it to you.
Enough to make a fellow get the blues
occasionally, isn't it? Just pass me a
| 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 a red glare. The din was
terrific. A constant swishing and
rushing through the air, intermingled
with a signing moan, gave tes-
timony that our batteries were
sweating blood. The trench seemed
to be rolling like q ship. 1 stood in
awe. This bombardment Of ours was
something indescribable, and a shud-
der passed through me a I thought
Of the havoc and destruction caused
In the German lines. At that moment
I 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 "fve-nines" screeching
through the air and bursting in the
artillery lines in rear. Occasion
ally a far-off rum-hum-rump-rump,
CRASH Bru-u-nn-u-ggl could be heard
rs n Of their high-calibered shells
came over and burst in u reserve.
/ crouched against the %parados, hardly
able to breathe. While in this position,
right overhead, every instant getting
louder, came a German shell-hiZ-z-z
bang-g-gi I was blinded by the flash.
Down l 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. I could
hear what sounded like far-distant
voices coming from the direction Of
the bashed-in traverse.
"Blime me, get Us bloomin' napper
outa tn mud; 'e's chokin' to death.
Pass me a bandage-tyke is b'yonet
fer a spllnt. Blime me, lis leg is
smashed, not 'arf hit h'aint. tn rest
o. you blokes 'op it fer a stretcher.
'Ello, 'e's got another one-quick, a
tourniquet, the poor bloke's a~'bleedin'
to death. Quick, h'up against the par
apet, ere comes another"
Whiz-z-zl Bang-g-gl
Another flare, and once again ! was
thrown into the mud. I opened my
eyes. Bending over me. shaking me
by the shoulder was Atwell. His voice
sounded faint and far away. Then I
came to with a rush.
"Blime me, Yank, that was a close
one. Did It get your"
He helped me to my feet and I felt
myself all " Seeing / was all
right, he yelled in my II:
"We've got to leg 1t out Of ERE.
Fritz Is sur sendin' over 'whiz-bangs'
and 'minnies.' Number 9 platoon in
the next fire bay sure clicked 1t. About
eighteen Of them have gone West.
Come on, Wen see If we can do any
thing for the poor blokes."
We plowed through the mud and
came into the next fire bay. In the
light Of the bursting shells an awful
sight met our eyes. The traverses were
Dashed in, the fire step was gone, and
In the parados was a hole that looked
like a subway entrance. There was
mud and blood.
Every now and then, ducking as a
"whiz-bang" or minnie" came over,
we managed to get four of the wound
ed on the stretchers, and Atwell and
I carried one to the real to the first
aid dressing station. We passed the
dugout which ! had left but a few
minutes before, or 1T least, what used
to be the dugout, but now all that
could be seen was a caved-in mass Of