Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-12

weak from living for four days on
leaves and chewing tobacco that they
collapsed.
AT this point the story is resumed
by Lieut. Arthur r. McKeough,
mild-mannered. sunny dispositioned
young newspaper writer, who used to
sit at his typewriter in the office of a
New York newspaper a couple Of years
ago and delight in writing "thrillers."
Little did McKeough think two years
ago that oday he would be a greater
hero than any that he had ever writ
ten about
For it was this same Arthur Nc
Keough. now first lieutenant Nc
Keough, who won his way out of the
forest of Argonne by cunning and by
killing, and carried the word which
resulted in rescuing forces bang sent
to the aid of the famous lost bat
TALON which lay there starving,
thirsting, surrounded by foes and APP
parently doomed.
Maj Whittlesey gave me fifteen or
twenty men with grenades to wipe
out what we thought was single
machine gun nest on the left" Nc
keough said, after relating how the
battalion had pushed beyond it's com
municating lines. But when we got
close to it we found that there were
three nests and at least three machine
guns in each nest.
!; 5;
The boches heard us coming and
shouted over something about Kan
Grad" I got one of my boys. little
East Side Jew named Hirschowitz
(and a wonder too), who knew Ger
man, to find out If they wanted to
surrender. He had a long palaver
with thela and then reported, No.
sir; they want us TO surrender. They
say they've got us surrounded and
they want US to do the kamerad. act
Tel them, kamerad, hell / instructed
Hirchy, and he aid it with great glee.
We cleaned out what We could of
them with hand Grenades, but it was
q tough job. Then along about even
ing another lieutenant with detail
of men joined my party and told me
that Maj. Whittlesey said. 1 should
take a couple of men, make my way
back to headquarters and tell the
colonel, If | got there. that the bat
TALON was surrounded l picked out
this fellow ELirschowitz and another
lad named Jack Mupson and we start
ed off through the darkness. going by
compass. 1t was a jungle we had to
go through, and We could make only
Il few feet at Il time. crawling along.
"There were boches all around.
hear them, and it was a miracle we
weren't caught. We We're headed due
south, but so thick was the under
growth that we'd frequently have
to go due north around a thicket be-
fore we could get our right direction.
AT dawn we reached the edge of
little clearing. We heard talk in Ger
man and then saw two boche officers
talking to gether. We were lying
down, and I rested my automatic on
a log and called on them to surrender,
But they weren't 'kamerading.' One of
them let go at me Just as l let fly at
him, I aimed at his mouth and plug
ged him between the eyes. His bullet
caught me in the right wrist--just Il
nick, but enough to give me my wound
stripe. The other fellow ran. off. |
took his papers from the dead one
and also IA postcard photograph of
him"
Lieut.. McKeough had this photo
graph with him. 1t showed a hand
some young German officer and bore
the words, Birthday greetings from
Oscar which was apparently his
name.
Through all the day Lieut.. Nc
Keough and his two dauntless COM
panions Indianlike. lay low. Not once