El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-12-29

] and after ENcerpL4 VIII De puulAslel o.
this column daily during the next several
months. Today's instalmeut. continuing
the general narrative. relates experiences
on the saint Allhiel front after the more
active phases Of the great battle Of Sep
Il IS suggested that readers clip these
articles each day and paste them IN scrap
books; they VIII not be reprinted and back
numbers cannot be supplied
/ TIE NIGHT Of the Sd of October a
i brief barrage fire, evoked bV some
raid or threatened raid, was fol-
loved by heavy Smelling Of our back
areas BY the Germans. Around mid
night I went out to see what was do
ing and took a walk over on high
I ground where the view extended in
every direction. The fireworks were
well worth going to see, but had an
eerie experience
The night was cloudy, the sky not
solidly covered but yelled with fast
flying clouds and banks Of clouds that
made the night very dark and yet
revealed glimpses now and then Of
stars between the cloud masses. Afser
/ I had watched the flashes Of the guns
and shells and enjoyed the Unusual
I spectacle which the sky presel tied,
I becLme conscious that eeraain sim
stars and scattering consteliE IONS n
+ the nort1 we're chang 2 their position
I 10 he SKY "a her mlre rapidly than
I the revolution CT the earth would
warrant.
The din points Of light were most
/ elusive, and It was he''d to say what
I OF where they were, so cnangeable were
( the flying cloud curtains. They were
[ disappearing stars Of an entirely
new kind TO me, showing a few IN
stants and then darkness again where
I they had been They were so minute
they were scarcely perceptible and
strained the eyes to see, but there was
no installing that they were there,
high above the clouds.
I watched them for some minutes
and with difficulty traced a sort Of
orbit; the tiny dim points Of distant
stars seemed TO start from the hori-
zon due north where the German lines
lay, and if they Travelled, which I
could not determine, it was to take a
course toward ne and a little TO my
left.
All firing had ceased, and the world
was almost perfectly silent. ] listened
intently to try TO hear an airplane's
hum, but could not. I was alone, quite
ways from camp and nowhere was
there sign or sound that this part Of
the earth had another habitant than
L Such silence was unusual even for
few minutes at a time, and had It
not been for the occasional signal
rockets, red and blue and green and
yellow, OF the distant star shells that
friuged the horizon, I could have for
gotten the war. The only sound
10. :
over the pebbles Of the brook a good
ways off, and the mere suggestion Of
the patter and roll Of night traffic o.
the high road beyond the hill
The tWinl-ling lights were now GER
tainly coming nearer to me, but still
no sound. They formed IN patterns,
diamond, a wedge, with long lines,
bow almost a half circle, always NOV
ing slowly, and erratically. The points
Intervene and crossed one auother's
track, they seemed to leap sideways,
up and down, and even TO move back
wards. The group OF newly discovered
consultations did not pass over my
head but veered more to the left and
continued to play hide and seek with
the clouds.
The lights were so variable, inter
mittent, tiny, and dim that no one
could have seen them who had not been
intently watching. Going back toward
my hut I was challenged by q sentry
out Of the dark I called his attention
TO the lights but he could not see them
even when I pointed them out. They
were planes, Of course, and probably
allied planes returning home after
raid within the enemy lines, but 7 had
feeling they might be enemy planes /
Anyway they must have been very
high for not a sound did I hear
When came TO the great road, I
heavy artillery was moving up. The
effect IN the almost totally dark night I
was that Of unreality. Black silhouet
figures hunched on caissons OF plod- I
ding alongside the monstrous crawling
tractors appeared gigantic in the
shadows. There was no voice, no /
spark Of light, but I received, as 50
often in these night movements, the |
impression Of irresistible power and |
exhaustless resources, the secret as /
sembling Of all the powers Of earth to 1
crush the arrogant plotters Of destruo- /
ton. There was all the grim certainty, !
the battling obsCurity, Of Fate, in these I
night movements
As I entered the hut, anti-aircraft I.
Guns, opened On an enemy pane lIuMl- ]
ing around overhead and the shells 4
banged a little fusillade. heard the /
young officer IT the next compartment, (
here Tor a few days rest with his front !
line unit, cry sharply ~Halti" in his 4
dreams and again still louder, "Halti" /
then groan a little with half conscious /
Of his exciting delusion. /
Ny dreams are always pleasant, what I
ever the outside distraction, and they /
afford refreshing diversion; but had /
not seen or lived through such things /
as had left their scar on this young 4
mans mind.
An hour later. the Germans dropped /
several big shells near enough to |
waken me and cause me to estimate /
their probable objective, direction, and I
range. The French Interpreter, in the I
room with me, turned over, half wax I
ing, and when I remarked upon my /
during the night walk, and /
another shell screamed and crashed, he 1
said: "Sleep and forget; sleep is the ]
only thing that Is good about the war"
And I took his advice.
October l9lS-Foggy morning, fair 1
day, starry night.
CONTINUED tomorrow