Baxter Springs news., 1919-01-17
tcOOyhshA i'''. y ,1S;..,:S z: Mcclure N'"''A'''

rest blllets. after a weary march from
the front-llne sector.
The stable we had to sleep In was
an old, ramshackle affair, absolutely
Overrun with rats, big. black fellows
who used to chew up our leather equip
ment; eat our rations. and run over
our bodies at night. German gas had
no effect on these rodents; In fact
they seemed to thrive on II. The floor
space would comfortably accommodate
about twenty men lying down, but
when thirty-three. including equip
ment, were crowded into II, It was
nearly unbeRrable.
The roof and walls were full Of shell
holes. When II rained constant drip
drip, drip was in order. We were so
crowded that II a fellow was unlucky
enough (and nearly all Of us In this
instance were unlucky) to sleep under
q hole, he had to grin and bear 1t.
Il was like sleeping beneath a shower
bath.
At one end Of the billet, with a lad
der leading up to It. was a sort OF
grain bin. with a door in II. This
place was the headquarters Of our
guests, the rats. Many q stormy cab
met meeting was held there by them.
Many q boot was thrown ut 1t during
the night to let them know that Tom
my Atkins objected to the matter un-
der discussion. Sometimes one OF
these missiles would ricOchet, and land
ON the upturned c0untenance Of o
snoring Tommy, and for about half
an hour even the rats would pause In
admiration Of his flow of language.
On the night in question we Topped
down In our wet clothes, and were
soon asleep. As was usual, No. 2 guns
crew were together.
The last time we had rested in this
particular village, 1t was inhabited by
civilians, but now 1t was deserted. An
order had been issued, two days pre-
ViOus to our arrival, that all civilians
should move farther back Of the line.
] had been asleep about two hours
when / was awakened BY Sailor Bill
shaking me by the shoulder. He was
trembling like q leaf, and whispered
70 me:
"Wake up, Yank, this ships haunt
ed. There's someone alOft who's b,
moaning for the last hour. Sounds
like the wind In the rigging. aint
scared Of humans or Germans, but
when It comes to messln' In with spir'
its It's time for me to 60 below. Lend
your ear and cast your headlights on
that grain locker. and listen"
I listened sleeplly for minute oI
10, but could hear nothing. Coming
TO the conclusion that Sailor Bill was
dreaming things I was again soor
asleep.
Perhaps fifteen minutes had elapsed
when / was rudely awakened.
'Yank, for Gods sake, come aboard
and listen!" / listened, and sure
enough, right out Of that grain biI
overhead came o moaning and whim
perinR, and then a scratching against
the floor. Ny hair stood on end
Blended with the drip, drip Of thu
rain, and the occasional scurrying o.
a rat overhead, that noise had a 81
pernatural sound. was really fright
oued; perhaps my nerves were q trlf'
uhstrung from our recent tour In th'
trenches.
awakened key Honey, while Sail
OF Bill reused Happy HOughtOn AM
hungry FOxcroft.
Hungry's first words were, what
the matter, breakfast readyT
In as few words as possible we toll
them what had happened. BY tn
liRht Of a candle / had lighted thel
faces appeared rs white as chalk. Jus
then the whlmpering started again, an
we were frOEen with terror. The ten
sion was relieved by keys voice:
"I admit I'm afraid Of ghosts, bu
that sounds like q dog to me. Who
going up the ladder to investigator
No one volunteered.
I had an old deck Of cards In m
pocket, Taking them out, ] suggeste
cutting, the low man to 90 up the LAD
der. They agreed. was the last .
cut, / got the ace Of clubs. Sailo
Bill was stuck with the i've OF dia
mouds. Upon this. he insisted that
should be the best two out OF thre
cuts, but We oyerruled him, and he wa
unanimously elected for the JOB.
with q $50 long. mates, I'm Eoln
aIoft." he started toward the laddel
with the candle in his hand. stumblin
over the sleeping forms Of many. SUI
dry Rrunts, moans. and curses follow
ed In his wake.
Az soon a. he started to ascend IN
laddaF. a '.tap-tap-tap" could be hear
from the Efaln bin We waited In fea
and trembling the result OF his nu
SIon. Hungry was encOuraging MI
VITA sQssrO. mat% the worst . =.
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