The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-10-11

! Though flowing free again. 1t
helps, Sybil."
60 she let him deliver himself of
- his misery. Vaguely. Incoher-
emily.
At last they found him. Took
him to a hospital Base hospital
No. 10. At Buzzoillex. His leg was
broken, and his left arm.
"See-how crooked it is. The leg
set better. Shrapnel scars on my
body. Ribs caved in. Pretty much
Of a bust. And I couldn't tell them
thing, Sybil. Not my name, or my
outfit. Nothing at all. My mind was
an absolute blank. Everything that
happened before the explosion
might just as we'll have never hap
pened, so far as 1 was concerned"
When squads blew up, men were
put down as missing, presumably
dead. The presumption was safe
enough And that was how John
Lawrence came to be listed first
as missing" finally, killed in
action"
He had escaped in delirious
flight from Base Hospital No. Is in
his pa iamas one night. If they had
known his name, they would have
dropped him after ten days, as a
deserter. But, because he was name
less, he was spared that ignominy
And when they came upon him in
Bordeaux they sent him back
again.
There were months of it. He did
not know how many. Finally the
Armistice was declared.
But I was of my nut. I didn't
care"
And you didn't ever think of
me?" she whispered.
mo- dear. You see wish
could make you understand. 1t
was as if my past was all behind
great wall. If I could pierce the
wall, I knew I'd find the life I'd
left behind. I simply couldn't get
to it. 1t was like physical strug-
gle, trying.
1T was as if I had died and
gone. Oh, say I'd gone to Mars.
And after death, knew I'd lived
dreadfully far away. There was no
on a different planet. But it was
one on Mars who could help me go
back, and no one on earth to come
to get me. Do you see, dear? Can
I make you feel the thing at all?
1t was like standing On a brink,
with darkness behind me. Trying
to remember, was like trying to see
with eyes bandaged. There was not
one glimmer of light to help.
Il
T TRIED to reconstruct a life such
l. such as other fellows had. I
studied faces, photographs even.
Searching for features, eyes, smiles,
anything that would help me re-
member. Middle-aged faces, like
fathers and mothers. I tried to re-
construct my childhood.
Then I began to wonder if there
had been a girl. A sweetheart.
read love stories, seeking to relieve
any romantic episode that had COL
ored my life. I closed my eyes
and thought of kisses-soft arms, a
beautiful face, lovely body. And
I made myself ache with longing
but that was all. 1t brought back
nothing
Finally they sent me home-to
the States, Walter Reed Hospital
in Washington. There was a con-
greSSwoman from Massachusetts
there, Mrs Foster. Angel the fell
lows called her.
She took an interest in me, the
same sort of interest she took in
every poor devil. She had no.
ton was from Boston. She talked
to me about Harvard, but it didn't
mean a thing. knew a little Ger
man and some Spanish. I'd read a
good deal and discovered 1 could
translate Greek. But I don't know
yet where I learned those things.
you're all I remember, dear.
Nothing else but you. And until 1
saw you, when I opened that door,
you hadn't crossed my mind in ten
years"
Sybil bit her lip on despairing
littl moan.
do you remember everything
now. John?"
"No-but will. It's coming back.
can feel it. It's like seeing figures
In fog. I found you first. I'll find
the rest later"
He drew her to him.
do you love me, Sybil?"
Ito Be Continued