Evening star., 1934-11-25


not quite the last straggler.
When l finally did get into camp that after
noon, found the place dotted with pup tents
sheltering six men apiece each man having
carried his sixth section. Under every tent
were the six Legionnaires, lost in sleep and ex-
hauStion.
At twilight the camp began to come to life.
Pinard pinard! 1t flowed like water. Aching
bones were eased, blistered feet healed, the
sun and the sand and the insects forgotten, in
the benson of red wine. The soldiers drank,
laughed, jested sang and forgot all about the
days hardships.
Next day We had to cross 80 miles OF sand
without tree or a stream. The officers drove
their men more and more ruthlessly They
must march-march or die. But some aoso-
lutey, physically, could not keep up. They
preferred to creve-and so did l. Falling back
in ignoble defeat persuaded a kitchen-wagon
driver to let me board his steaming stove. He
had been ordered to follow the column to pick
up stragglers, our strange ambulance was
soon loaded to capacity but still the hmping
stragglers multiplied. AS last resort, ropes
from the wagon were tied to the exhausted SOL
diers' belts-not SO much to compel them as to
assist them but it worked both ways
That afternoon I reached the second encamp-
ment just in time to witness painful scene
The captain was standing before the well with
his riding whip uplifted. lasbing across the face
every Legionnare who tried to rush the reser-
voir. Halfway across the burning desert that
day the men had drained the last drop from
their bidons; they came staggering into camp
perishing from thirst and the captain stood
between them and the water, beating them on.
But this was not just the legendary Legion
cruelty. The water impure, and when
gulped down in quantities by thirst-crazed men
it brought on violent dysentery. An hour later
when they had cooled and relaxed. it would be
less dangerous. The officer knew the necessity
of protecting his men; but it was most thank
less and futile task Their clamors increased In
violence. They came at him by tens rather than
by twos His own wrath rose. but by sheer weight
of numbers he forced from his post, ours
ing and lashing, and the scores Of Legionnaires
fell like thirst-crazed beasts upon the unhealthy
we'll
OTHER than this one justifable incident
~ never in all the weeks of my close
association with the Legion, saw an oficer
strike Legionnaire. That form OF treatment
has gone forever The fire breathing sergeants
Of cinema and story-b fame are fiction. Dis
cpline is at times stern. necessarily, to fashion
hard boiled Arab-eating soldiers out of German
farmer boys But they're all in it together. and
each captain tries to keep his men as happy
and devoted as the hard life allows.
In fact, was to become so accustomed TO
this humane paternalism that several weeks
later, when I saw a sergeant major pedal his
bicycle into q group of Legionnaires and in .
blazing tyrannical fury call them animals for
not getting out of his way, stared at him with
speechless amazement-and So to a less speech
less extent, did the Legionnaires.
Before we reached the end Of our l50-mile
desert march heard enough Legion stories
lzAA l. ~v,l xfv1<r
to fill a book. One stands out vividly in my
memory:
Some time before, considerable excitement
had developed in Colomb Bechar, one of the
desert outposts, over the remarkable case OF
q certain Austrian whose name, shall We say,
was Schantz. Young Schantz had fallen heir
to q huge fortune in Vienna left him by DIS
fathers will, and the executors were trying 70
find the beneficiary, whom they knew to be hid
ing in the Legion. They had succeeded in tracing
down his regiment even his company. His
assumed name however baf1ed any further
identification.
As last attempt to find the missing man the
sergeant-major. to whose company the author1-
ties were sure Schantz belonged announced the
bequest publicly at assembly All the details
were described 50 that there could be no
mistake The sergeant-major ordered "Schantz'
to step forward and receive his legacy. There
would be no penalties, no questions-just .
paper to sign and 81 100000 to spend.
Nobody moved.
What! A million dollars, fool!" The exam
iners eye swept the ranks, blazing with impa-
tience at the stupidity Of the secretive Austrian
who preferred to remain unknown at the
price of 81 900 900.
But all his pleadings and threatenings were
Of no avail.
He then tried individual crOSS-examinati0n OF
every man in the company. Half the men were
quickly eliminated-they were obviously not