Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1926-05-21
in THE
THICK OF
BATTLE
BY HELEN E. HASKELL
C9 by Short Story Pub. Coz

Al would break IN an hour.
Adolf Streichen raised him
IL self on his elbow and gazed
down at the figure, wrapped
In its army blanket, lying beside him.
In the dim light 1t looked like roll
of newly turned earth and beyond 1t
were other rolls, inarticulate, APP
parently llfeless.
Suddenly the nearest one developed
arms. They stretched toward the sky.
Another moment, the blanket was
thrown back and Fritz Won Pau sat
up, yawned, struck his chest lightly
with his fists and turned toward
Adolf.
How goes 1t, cousin?" he asked, his
teeth cleaning like a white streak
in his dark face. "Bllsters any bet
terP'
Adolf fancied a covert sneer in the
question. He was sore from head to
foot. His feet were covered with bis
tiers, his army shirt stiff with blood
that had trickled from wounds on his
face and neck, cnt by the barbed wire
into which he had stumbled during the
retreat.
The mere memory of yesterdays
carnage nauseated him.
His sleep had been tormented with
the nightmare of their groans, as the
lines had plunged over them in that
headlong advance. Twice he had
fallen, only to be dragged to his feet
again by Fritz Won Pau, who had
fought like a mailman as they had
charged into that hurricane Of shot
and shell, charged and charged again,
while the rapid-fire guns of the enemy
had moved them down until, at the
end Of the day, the battlefield had
Of human flesh that had but little
while before been men.
All day they had fought, their thoats
parched with thirst, their brains
numbed with the awful thunder Of
the cannonadlng
Then the retreat-how long had
that lasted7 Had it been one hour or
ten that they had gone stumbling back
over boulders and fallen trees; over
great piles Of their own dead com
rades?
And in another hour, day would
break. The slaughter would begin
again. Was there no way of escape?
Again he rose on his elbow, peer
ing fuftlvely into the shadowy boles
Of the trees, that had given his de-
tachment temporary shelter Some
where beyond the trees there were
water-filled trenches. If It we're not
for Fritz Won Pau, who slept lightly,
he might slip away. His wounds
would be excuse enough If they found
him. He pushed back his blanket
He was soldier, not a butcher, and
he had had enough Of slaughter. eau
tiOusly he drew up his knees.
And again the man beside him
stirred, opened his eyes, sat up and
faced Adolf, whose guilty purpose Of
a moment before seemed suddenly
lighted up and understood.
Cant you sleep, old MANI What's
the row."
"The cursed barbed-wlre cuts have
given hhe lcNtI' AuOiI ItuCHeu loT
his canteen.
"Hard luck, comrade."
Again Adolf fancied the covert
sneer in his cousins tone.
another man would be in the hos
pital I'm unfit for duty. But this
war is all favorltlsm and politics."
Don't talk like an idiot" interrupt
ed Fritz Won Pau, drawing his watch
from his army shirt and swapping It
open. He smiled into a pictured face
in It's case, closed It and settled to
sleep again, the watch beneath his
cheek.
Adolf Streichen ground his teeth.
He hated the war, but even more he
hated this cousin who slept with the
picture of little Marie Won Schallern
under his cheek. He could not look
back over the twenty-fOur years of
his life and remember an hour when
the thought of Fritz Won Pau had not
been like sore spot on his soul. He
despised him for being welcher and
a coward. If the question Of rivalry
between them had occurred to him he
would have laughed, for he laughed
easily, taking life with frank light
heartedness Men loved him for his
courage and fine craftsmanship, WON
en- adOred him for his gallantry, one
and all Of them envylng pretty Marie
Won Schallern who had been cOurted
steadfastly and uselessly for a year
by Adolf Strelchen and whose engage
ment to Fritz Won Pau had been an
n0unced two days after their first
meeting.
Adolf Streichen doubled his fists at
the recollection OF his humiliation, sat
up and again looked down at his sleep
ing cousin. Already, although the war
had endured but month, Fritz was
wearing the iron cross for valor The
sight Of It In the dim light frenzled
Adolf. II he only dared, he would
send his clenched fists smashing into
his cousins handsome young face.
But he did not dare. In spite Of his
big shoulders and bull-llke neck, Adolf
Streichen was a coward.
The high courage that would send
Fritz Won Pau singing to his death in
his country's cause, he could not I'M
derstand The one big emotion Of his
life was his hatred for his cousin,
mingled with the tOrmenting desire to
make Fritz acknowledge him his peer.
Luck will turn some day." he NUT
tered as he pulled his blanket over his
chest. "And then I'll show him"
lie closed his eyas, but dread Of the
coming day and that ever Increasing