The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-02-28
Copyright, 1917. by Tho Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate)

British army stationed Somewhere in
France" and had just arrived at our
rest billets, 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 r~atlons, and run over
our bodies at night. German gas had
no effect on these rodents; In fact,
they seemed to thrive on 1t. The floor
space would comfortably accommodate
about twenty men lying down, but
when thirty-three, including equip
ment, were crowded into it, it was
nearly unbearable.
The roof and walls were full of shell
holes. When 1t rained a constant drip,
drip, drip was In order. We were so
crowded that IL a fellow was unlucky
enough (and nearly all of us in this
instance were unlucky) to sleep under
a hole, he had TO grin and bear 1t.
1t 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 q door In II. This
place was the headquarters of our
guests, the rats. Many a stormy cab
met meeting was held there by them.
Many q boot was thrown at 1t during
the night to let them know that Tom
my Atkins objected to the matter I'M
der discussion. Sometimes one Of
these missiles would ricochet, and land
or the upturned countenance Of q
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
Dor 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 It was deserted. An
order had been issued, two days pre-
vlous to our arrival, that all civilians
should move farther back of the line.
/ had been asleep about two hours
when I was awakened by Sailor Bill
shaking me by the shoulder. He was
trembling like a leaf, and whispered
to me:
"Wake up, Yank, this ships haunt
ed. There's someone aloft who's been
moaning for the last hour. Sounds
like the wind In the rigging. l amt
unnrnd nA humans nr Car,on1 hv,k
when 1t comes to messin' In with spir-
its it's time for me to go below. Lend
your a and cast your headlights OF
that grain locker, and listen"
I listened sleepily for a minute or
SO, but could hear nothing. Coming
to the conclusion that Sailor Bill was
dreaming things / was again soon
asleep.
Perhaps fifteen minutes had elapsed
when 1 was rudely awakened.
"Yank, for Gods sake, come aboard
and listen !" / listened, and sure
enough, right out of that grain bin
overhead came u moaning and whim-
pering, and then a scratching against
the floor. My hair stood on end.
Blended with the drip, drip Of the
rain, and the occasional scurrying of
a rat overhead. that noise had a SUI
pernatural sound. I was really fright
ened perhaps my nerves were a triie
unstrung from our recent tour In the
trenches.
I awakened key Honey. while Sail
or Bill reused Happy Houghton and
Hungry Foxcroft.
Hungry's first words were. "What's
the matter, breakfast ready?"
In as few words as possible we told
them what had happened. BY the
light Of a candle I had lighted their
faces appeared as white as chalk. Just
then the whimpering started again, and
we were frozen with terror. The ten
sion was relieved by keys voice:
II admit I'm afraid Of ghosts, but
that sounds like a dog to me. Who's
going up the ladder to investigator
No a volunteered.
I had an old deck Of cards In my
pocket. Taking them OUT, / suggested
cutting. the low man to 90 up the lad
der. They agreed. I was the last to
cut. I got the ace of clubs. Sailor
Bill was stuck with the Ave Of dia-
monds. Upon this. he insisted that 1t
should be the best two out OF three
cuts, but we overruled him. and he was
unanimously elected for the Job.
With q $50 long. mates, I'm going
aloft." he started toward the ladder,
with the candle In his hand, stumbling
over the sleeping forms of many. Sum
dry grunts, means, and curses follow
ed In his wake.
AS soon as he started to ascend the
ladder. q "~tap-tap-tap" could be heard
from the grain bin. We waited In fear
and trembling the result Of his mss-
s2an- Hungry was encouraging him