The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-02-01
Frederic Haslkin's Lette.s'


: few hundred French solasr.
had received orders to hold =. !. !.
all costs until they were ,...
The Germans had succsaSSs.
cutting them off from he -.
the army. and just as their ~
ton ran low. they had pIac.s
battery to their left. vhics
pouring deadly fire into tAs 49, q
Il the garrison could only ~ n.
French army, now two Mills 49,
the position Of that Germsr. Y.
terry, they might yet hold the toss, -,
A. Dog Hero. =
"The last telephones had' ~.
destroyed; the last homiur n,sses
bad been killed by a she'll il ioss
ed hopeless. WY
"'But in the garrison W. !. A..
trainer named Duval nrs
sought his commandin. asic,.
and spoke Of Satan. Satan vss II.
trainers dog which he had hrourht
from the dog school with him
"'If l only had Satan aid n.
val, I could get a message IA n.
main lines, or il they would osl,
send Satan to US. am sure =
could make it. He has been en-,
the ground with me hurdrsda A.
times ...-. .......
"Once more, the young man nj.
ed his glasses and searched a.
space which stretched between Il.
lines.
at they would only send HIM
he repeated, then all at once 4,
started forward. Mon Dieun i.
cried excitedly, he comes. vojL!
Satan, Satan
THE commanding officer and
several others stepped forward, too
but all they could see was a hlick
speck moving rapidly forward from
a distance; then. it took on. the
form of dog, large black one,
that seemed to be leaping throush
the air. Some of the men swore
that he few. Others declared thsy
could see his wings. But only Du-
val believed that he would reach
them-past the barrage fire-aiiys.
Then. suddenly. it seemed as Il
Duval were wrong. In the midst
of his apparent fight, the dog fell,
as a missile struck him, then STAG
gered to his feet, confused and al.
tering. The precious message
seemed lost. But at this point. pg.
val. facing certain death. leaped
quickly to the top Of the trench
wall. -- ..,v
"'Satan come, mon ami, come
THAT was all. The sentence was
never finished. But it was enough;
the dog had seen and heard. With
an answering yelp, he took "
his miraculous flight and swept tri-
umphantly into town on three legs,
the fourth swinging helplessly BE-
hind. Not, however. to the hand
that had beckoned to him. for Du.
val, his beloved master, had paid
the price of the messages safety,
"'For Gods sake hold on. thu
message read. VIII relieve you
tomorrow But the dog also
brought something else. What the
men had mistaken for wings were
two little baskets. strapped to hil
sides. each Of which contained a
homing pigeon. Communication
was once more established between
the lines, and early the next morn,
ing the German battery was g..
fenced, the garrison relieved" -
The history of the war contains
many OF these dramatic incident,
enacted by dogs and pigeons. There
are many dogs and pigeons todsy
who wear around their necks the
Croix de Guerre and even the dec.
Grafton Of the Legion of Honor. Yet
Mr.. Baynes believes. it is not. ths
pigeon and the dog who deservs
the most credit for helping to win
the war. This, he thinks. belongs
to the horse and the mule, whose
aid came not in swift, heroic mo
ments, but in days and weeks o.
patient, unremitting labor, knee
deep in mud. Yes; the war mem
orial to animals will have to b
at least two-thirds equestrian.