Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1919-01-24

--ID-
One s.mny afternoon our guns ere,
was sitting on the fire step of a front
line trench, just in front of CONNIE
court wood.
Happy Houghton was busily engages
in rigging up a flash screen to hide tn
flare of our gun, which we were t,
mount on the parapet that night.
Sailor Bill was sewing a piece O.
khaki cloth over his tin hat, becaus,
the night previous, while on sentry
go, standing in the moonlight, with hi:
head over the top the rays from the
moon had reflected from his steel he'll
met and couple of German bullets
had knocked up the dirt within a few
feet of his head.
AS was usual with him, hungry Fox
craft was wrestling with a tin of bully
beef, while Curly Wallace was hunt
| ing for coolies.
key Honey, with our mascot, Jim,
was sitting on the tire-step, his back
leaning against the traverse of the fire
bay, picking mud out of his harmOnica
with a silver of wood Jim seemed
happy and contented, not knowing the
fate in store for him. Two days later
poor Jim was killed by a German bull
let and we buried him behind the lines,
placing a little wooden cross at the
head of his grave. After working a
few minutes at the harmonica, key
would pause, put it to his lips and
blow into 1t; a squeaky, rattly nsise
resulting. Then, with deep sigh,. he
would resume the picking process.
had just finished letter home and
was signing for the time to come when
once again would be able to say "heI-
10" to the old girl with the lamp in her
right hand guarding New York har-
Dor.
Although it was warm and sunny,
the floor of the trench was about three
inches deep in soft, sticky mud.
On my right 1 heard a low mutter-
ing and splashing in the mud, and
around the traverse, into our firebay,
carrying a box of ammunition on his |
shoulder, game the. most weird-looking |
soldier 1 had ever seen. AS he passed |
in. front of ME he; turned his gaze in
ay.directfep -and:a.eold SILVER seemed
to run UP and down my spine as 1
looked into his eyes. They were I'M
-ahfi:y "A Sort OF vfrant stare, as if the
QWner of. them was looking into the
Great Beyond. AS this soldier stag
5ered through the fife-bay, almost bend
ing double under the weight of the
ammunition.. and. passed from view
'round the traverse, it seemed to me
IS if the Grim Reaper had stalked
through.
ShudderiDg a little, 1 instinctively 1
urned my eyes in the direction of the |
est of the crew. They were also ;
taring at the traverse around which |
he gloomy-looking soldier had dis 1
ppeared. {
My heart sank to zero and I had a L
mixing sensation in the region of my
tomach, and on the parados in front ;,
f me, like a moving picture on a Z
Green, flashed a cemetery dotted all q
yer with little wooden crosses. I felt S
ueer and uneasy.
Curly Wallace, in a low, half-fright- ri
1ed voice, exclaimed: @
'Blime me, that was 'Aunted Jerry's
'ether, the one who clicked it by the
d lone tree. If you blokes want to \
It the creeps you ought to ear i'm y
TX. .Sone@o, the fellows claim that =
s unlueky to. get lin started. They s
e that one O. is carers is sure to
eek in within q few days time, but r
you. fslioN-s want to tyke the U
anee. III: go over to lis section, which :
occupying the second firebay on our =
Il and .see.n- ]. cara get i'm to tell =
::.about is -brother.--B now mind. :
S fellow is little balmy in is nap =
r, SO don't myke fun of inn =
eosafess that Twas glad to be rid =
him.: but my curiosity overcame my =
RS, 50 I asked. Curly TO go ahead. -
e fest of the crew weakly assented,
Curly went after Jerry's brother. =
about twenty minutes he returned
h him. Jerry's brother came over =
sat ON the firestep next to me. He
silent for few minutes, and then, n
thick piping, high-pitched voice IN
Ike: Is
So voc want TO ear about Jerry, do
z They called him ''Aunted jerry
he weren't 'aunted; he could just 0e'
-'e could see into the future;
Id sort O. tell what was agoin' to in
zen. e could talk TO the dead, and
they told i'm. E always 'ad a.
its around 'im-ghosts, you call e Q
but there amt no such thing as 500,
SITS = they're souls awanderin' sit
md; they're about us now"-I a
-ly eased down the firestep away biol
J him. wha
cry used to talk to the dead; e to t
d sit in a cemetery at night while 81
est billets, and receive messages caus
them what can't speak no more. use
ometimes, lyte at night, can ear bloc
IVY, voices calm to me, but as the [