The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1919-05-29
S0sp'"shs M. Y Y. S:ciu'. s'-'DaDsr

he kind OF cold which sends the red
blood tingling through your veins and
makes you want TO be up and Mt
en-" but that miserable damp kind
that eats into the marrow Of your
bones. attacking you from the rear and
sending cold shivers up and down your
spiaal column. II gives you a feeling
Of dread aud loneliness.
The three of us. Curly" Happy"
and myself, were standing ut the cor
ner OF yankee avenue" and "Yiddlsh
street" waiting for the word "Stand
to- upon which we were to mount u
machine gun on the parapet and go on
watch for two hours with our heads
sticking over the top.
"Yankec avenue" was the name Of
the ire trench, while "Yiddish street"
was the communication trench leading
to the rear. We were occupying "I"
sector Of the front line of our brigade.
The trench was muddy, and In some
places a thin crust cf Ice vas begin.
ming to form around the edges Of the
puddles.
We had wrapped our feet and legs
With empty sand bags. and looked like
snow shovelers on Fifth avenue. My
teeth were c%hattering with the cold.
Happy was slapping his hands on his
thighs. while Curly had unbuttoned
one Of the buttons on his overcont,
and with his left hand was desperately
trying to reach under his right armpit
no doubt q ~"cootie" had gone mar
keting for its Christmas dinner.
Then came the unwelcome "Stand
to-" and II was up on the frestep for
Us, to get our CUR mounted. This took
about FIVE minutes.
Curly, while working away, was
muttering "Blime me, Christmas eve.
and ERE I am somewhere in France.
'alf starved with the cold"
Happy was humming Keep the
Home Fires Burning" Right then, to
me. any kind of a home fire would
have been very welcome.
II was black as pitch in No Mans
land. Curly stopped muttering to him.
self and Happy's cumming ceased
There wns serious work In front OF US
For two hours we had to try and penc'
trate that blackness with our straining
eyes to see that Fritz did not surprise
Us with some Christmas stunt of his.
Suddenly, Happy, who was standing
On the firestep next to me, gripped ms
arm, and In q low, excited whisper
asked:
"Did you see that out In front. Yank
a little to the right Of that black patch
In the barbed wire?"
Turning my eyes in the direction In
dicated. with my heart pounding
against my ribs, I waited for some
thing to develop.
Sure enough, I could make out {
slight movement. Happy must have
seen II at the same time, because h
carefully eased his rife over the top
ready for instant use. My rifle was n
ready In position. Curly was fumblln:
with the fare pistol. Suddenly, 'plop !.
az he pulled the tTis-er, and n re-
streak shot up into the air as the star
shell described an arc out In front
hit the ground and bust, throwln'
out a white. ghostly lig--. A fright
ened "meouw," and a cat, with spec
clutch open, darted from the wire il
front Of VS., jumped over our gun AM
disappeared Into the b~lackness Of tn
trench. Curly ducked his head, ant
Happy let out a weak, squGaky laugh
I was frozen stlr with fear. Trett
soon the pump action Of my heart wa
resumed, and once more / looked ou
into No Mans land.
For the remainder Of our .wo hour
on guard nothing happened. Then W
turned over" to the second relief anC
half frozen, wended u way throug
tho Icy mud to the entrance OF ou
dugout.
From the depths OF the earth can
the notes OF n harmon!ca playln
"Pack Up Your Troubles in Your OIL
Kit Bag. and Smile, Smile, Smile
Stumbling down the muddy steps "
entered the dugout. About eight DO,
Of our section. sitting on their pack
had formed q circle around a woode
box. In an old ammunition tin 81
candles were burning. / inwardly shu
dered at this extravaganza. but su
denly remembered that It was Chris
mas eve. "sailor Bill" was makir
cocoa over the flames OF a 'Tommy
cooker" while "Ikey" HONEY WI
toasting bread IN front Of n trench Il
bucket. the fumes from which near
choked Us.
As soon as we made our appearan
In the dugout the circle stood up, an
ss In usual with the English, ma
Boom for US TO get around the a
bucket to rhaw out our sdffened join
In about twenty minutes or 50 I
cold Of tho trench was forgotten n
We joined 10 the merriment. The IN
sician pc. his harmonica away, an
bursting With importance. Sailor d
addressed Us:
"0sptleussn. tt II now time for Il