The Carlisle independent. (Carlisle, Ark.) 1905-current, 1920-01-08
THE GREAT ADVENTURE
(By Ira C. Hopper
part EIGHTEEN)


road was new. The heavy rain
had made a slush of the mud and
it soon had us covered from head
to foot. The route ran up gorge
with steep hills on both sides. 1t
was the blacklist night we had ever
seen. A steady downpour of rain
added to the intensity of the dark
ness. Our eyes strained as we
tried to see on ahead.
1t seemed that America was
pouring her all up that gorge. An
endless column of humanity
fought forward foot by foot. The
column would stop minute, then
inch forward again. Carts, wag-
ons, tractors, tanks, artillery, ev-
cry conceivable form of wheeled
transportation filled the road and
pushed forward. A carriage
would stick and block the column.
Ready hands would shove it out
and the line moved on. Doughboys
trudged through the mud almost
knee-deep on the outer edge of the
road. They walked in single file,
holding to one another's belts to
keep from being separated and
lost in the darkness.
The Boches were Smelling road
to our right. The scream and
whistle of the shells through the
night and over our heads, as we
pushed our way forward, pro-
duced nervous tension which was
terrible. Some said nothing, some
laughed in a peculiar way, some
softly cried to themselves, some
swore in an undertone. We learn
ed that some swearing sounded al
most like a tender prayer.
In the darkness we reached our
appointed position and all was put
in readiness for the attack. Moth
ing remained now but to wait in
the rain, cold and darkness for
the zero hour of action. That wait |
seemed to be time without end.
Not sound could be heard around
US. We did not know what artil-
lery was near us. We did net
know who was ahead of us. We
seemed all at once to be a small
bunch encircled in oblivion and
cut off from everyone. We could
not remain still. The wait was
getting on our nerves. We were
trembling in our excitement. We
wondered if the morrow would
find us dead or alive We didn't
much care which way we went.
We imagined what folks home
were doing. A bursting rocket up
ahead brought our thoughts back
to business ahead Of us. We went
to our places. We forgot all about
being cold and wet. 1t was only
one minute till the zero hour.
part NINETEEN
A distant boom to our left broke
the stiffness of the night. Other
guns up and down the line answer
ed in quick succession. The next
moment every gun in creation
seemed to belch forth flame and de
struction at the same instant. The
roar was deafening. The earth
trembled. The hills received the
sound and sent the echo back to re-
double the noise. Sound piled on
sound and sent its defiant roar to
the very heavens. Pandemonium
seemed to reign in every corner
of the earth. Never in human ex-
perience had such volume of deaf
ening sound been heard in one sec
tor. The roar swelled up and
down the line and each gun SEEM
ed to double it's intensity. The
flash from the many guns lighted
up the heavens. The night became
day. One minute the darkness
was so intense you could not see
your hand before your face. The
next, you could read a newspaper
anywhere in those hills. Every
agency of obstruction in the whole
world seemed to have emptied it
self into that area.
Men worked like fiends. Sweat
ran from their brows. No one
thought of death. The mud, cold
and rain were forgotten. A wild
JOY never before known took pos
session Of every one A feeling of
relief and satisfaction spread over
all. The reward had come for all
previous misery.
Up in the front line trenches
rockets were sent up continuous
ly. Their quivering light feverish-
ly PLAYED over no man 8 land in a