The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, April 12, 1918, Page PAGE SIX, Image 6
PAGE SIX
"Over the Top"
By An American Soldier
Who Went
ARTHUR GUY EMPEY
Machine Gunner Serolng In France
i| i i
Ujopy right, Ull. by Arthur Uuj Huido?)
(Continued From Last Issue.)
CHAPTER XVIII.
j
Staged Under Fire.
! Three days after the Incident Just re
lated our company was relieved fron
the front line and carried. We stnyei
'in reserve billets for ubout two week
(when we received the welcome new
Jthat our division would go back of th
line "to rest billets." We would re
.main In these billets for at least tw<
; months, this in order to be restored b
our full strength by drafts of recruit
'from Blighty.
Everyone was happy and contentei
at these tidings; all you could hen
around the billets was whistling au<
(Singing. The day after the receipt o
;the order we hiked for Ave duys, mak
ling an average of about twelve kilo;
? <rer day until we arrived at the sinal
'town of O' .
ii looK us anour inree uuys 10 ge
settled, aud from then on our cusli:
, tluie started. We would parade fron
'8:45 in the morning until 12 noon
(Then except for on occasional Mile
lor brigade guard we were on our own
(For the lirst four or five afternoons
{spent my time in bringing up to dut<
my neglected correspondence.
Tommy loves to be amused, and be
ing a Yank, they turned to me foi
something new in this line. I taugh
them how to pitch horseshoes, and this
game made a great hit for about ter
days. Then Tommy turned to Amer
ica for a new diversion. I was up ir
the air until a happy thought came t<
me. Why not write a sketch ami breal
Tommy in as an actor?
One evening after "lights out," whet
you are net supposed to talk, I impart
ed my ? neme in whispers to the sec
tlon. They eagerly accepted the idei
of forming u stock company ant.
themselves "The Eow Bells," and
put on a sketch entitled, "Blighty?
What Hopes?" They were the divisional
concert party.
We hoped they ull would be soon
In Blighty to give us n chance.
This company charged an admission
of a franc per head, and that night
our company went en masse to see
their performance. It really was good,
I had a sinking sensation when 1
thought of runniug my sketch in opposition
to it.
In one of their scenes they had n
soubrette called Flossie. The soldlet
that took this part was clever and
made a tine-appearing and chic girl
We Immediately fell in love with hei
until two days ufter, while we were
on a march, we passed Flossie with
"her" sleeves rolled up and the sweul
pouring from "her" fuce unloading
shells from a motor lorry.
As our section passed her I yelled
out: "Hello, Flossie; Blighty?What
Hones?" Her renly made our love dlt
out Instnntly.
"Ah, go to h?1!"
This brought quite a Inngh from th<
marching column directed at me, and 1
Instantly made up my mind that oui
sketch should Immediately run In op
position to "Blighty?What Hopes?"
When we returned to our billet fron
the march, Ourley Wallace, my the
ntricnl partner, came running over t?
me and said he hnd found u swank;
place in which to produce our show.
After taking off my equipment, am
followed hy the rest of the section,
went o\or to the building he had picket
out. It was a monstrous barn with i
platform at one end which would muk<
an Ideal stage. The section got rich
on the Job, and before night had tha
.place rigged out in ap, k-ple or*
The next day was Sui 'w
church paruue we put ail our t*.,.c
a dress rehearsal, and it went line.
1 made four or live large sig.ts an
nouneing that our company would opei
up 11 III I I'Vt-lIIIIfc (It inr IVIII* \irw? in
Fifth theater, on the corner of Ainm
street and Sandbag terrace. Genera
admission was one-half franc. Firs
ten rows In orchestra one r,n
boxes two francs. Ry this time ou
printed programs had returned frm
London, and I further announced thai
on the night of the first perfominno
a program would lie given free c
charge to men Holding tickets costing
franc or over.
We had an orchestra of seven me
and seven different instruments. Thl
orchestra was excellent, while the
were not playing.
The performance was scheduled t
start at tl p. m.
At 5:lf> there wns a moh In front <
our one entrnnce and It looked like
big night. We had two boxes each a
commodatlng four people, and thes
we immediately sold out. Then
brilliant idea came to lkey Cohenstel
Why not use the rafters overhead, ca
them boxes, and charge two frnncs fi
a seat on them? The only difllcul
was how were the ruen to reach the*
boxes, but to lkey this was u mere d
tail.
He got long ropes and tied one et
around each rafter and then tied a 1
of knots In the ropes. These rop
would take the place of stairways.
We figured out that the rnfte
would seat about forty men and so
that number of tickets accordingly.
When the tieketholders for the box
?oi a glimpse of the rafters and we
H informed Hint they had to use the rope j
stairway, there was a howl of Indigna-1 fu
tlon. hut we had their money and told |
them that if they did not like It thej , ac
eould write to the management later ;
I II...U ........... .......1.1 ?... ...? 1?? - I -*
tiuu lUt-ll IllUlltV MVHIU Ml- I 1-& I1IIIIV11 , I (I)
but under these coudttlons they would I w
not he allowed to witness the performance
that night. Ai
After n little grousing they accepted j cl
the situation with the promise that it J at
the show was rotten they certainly |
* would let us know uhout it during the
performance. ge
Everything went lovely and It was a
howling success, until Alkali Ike np- w
peared on the scene with his revolver ^
loaded with blank cartridges. Belilgd n[
s the bar on a shelf was a long line of p,;
Q bottles. Alkali Ike was supposed to
j start on the left of this line and break tv
s six of the bottles by firing at them with ()|
s his revolver. Behind these bottles a
e piece of painted canvas was supposed m
y to represent the back of the bar, at
5 each shot from Alkali's pistol a man jn
behind the scenes would hit one of the
~ bottles with his eutronohinir tool
handle and smash It. to give the lm- j*'
j presslon that Alkali was u pood shot. su
r Alkali Ike started in and aimed at Iir
I the ripht of the line of bottles instead sjj
j of the left, and the poor hoqh behind
. the scenes started breaking the bottles j)(
s . . .
Preparing the "<
could hardly wait tjf.tll the morning on
for further details. tul
After parade, the next afternoon I ?11'
i was almost mobbed. Everyone In the CC!
I section wanted a part In the proposed Wt>
i sketch. When I informed them that it
would take at least ten days of hard
' work to write the plot, they were hitterly
disappointed. I Immediately got
[ busy, made a desk out of biscuit tins
In the corner of the billet, and put up
a sign "Empey & Wallace Theatrical
i Co." About twenty of the section.
upon reading this sign, immediately *
I applied for the position of office boy. Pr<
. I accepted the twenty applicants, and 'n
sent them on scouting parties through- wa
' out the deserted French village. These f-'1*1
i parties were to search all the attics for 'ur
t discarded civilian clothes, and any- ',al
; thing that we could use in the props ^
of our proposed company.
1 About five that night they returned "-v
t covered with grime and dust, hut load-,
? ed down with a miscellaneous assort- ^?
ment of everything under the sun.
They must have thought that I was1 ^1
, ^ t __ til
? u? suiri it (icpuri uieiu wort", *'
[ judging from the different tilings they j ?'s
r brought hack from their pillage.
After eight days' constant writing I '
completed u two-act farce comedy j
1 which I called "The Diamond l'alace Mn'
- Saloon." Upon the suggestion of one i va!
> of the boys In the section I sent a proof ! ",v
j of the program to a printing house In s<'1
London. Then I assigned the different
1 parts and started rehearsing. David on<
I ltelaseo would have thrown up his ""
1 hands in despair at the muterlnl which snr
i I had to use. Just Imagine trying to "I1
teach a Tommy, with a strong cockney 8 *
t accent, to Impersonate a Bowery tough cn
t or a Southern negro.
n r
'Jacei.t to our billet was an open
' ' Id. We got busy at one end of it and |
. trueied a stage. We secured the j
lumber for the stage by demolishing;^
i . old wooden siiuck in the rear of i
a our billet. )
e The first scene was supposed to rep- '
a resent a street on the Bowery in New
1 York, while the scene of the second
t act was the Interior of the Diamond I'" 1
in
d Palace saloon, also on the Bowery,
r In the play I took the part of Ahe j .
n Uti.iD.k .. P.. ...L^ ?....! , '
II o ?v M i ii, II iiii ill ii , win* u.UJ 1'iiiiiir i I CHI
*11'
it I'umpkinville Center, Tenn., to make j ^
e his lirst visit to New York. ,
>f In the first scene Abe Switch meets a|f
? the proprietor of the Diamond Palace
saloon, a ramshackle affair which to C||
n the owner wus a flnanclul loss. n(J
18 i The proprietor's name was Toir. nn
y Twistem, his bartender being named , Pu
Flllera Up. j ,
? After meeting Abe, Tom and Fill em | ,
IJp persuaded him to buy the place,:
praising it to the skies and telling
8 wondrous tales of the money taken
c" over the bar. !
While they are talking, an old Jew I **
8 uamed Ikey Cobeoatein comes uhng, ,'J
n- and Abe engages him for cashier. After |
engaging Ikey they meet an old ,
"r Southern negro called Sambo, and ! f\
fy upon the suggestion of Ikey he is em ;
s?e gaged as porter. Then the three of1
e- them, arm In arm, leave to take pos- r
session of this wonderful palace which u
1(f Abe lias just paid $0,000 for. (Cur- 8'
?nin \ d<
OX *? ?./
eg In the second act the curtain rises "
on the Interior of the Diamond Palace
rs s iloon, and the audience gets Its first P'
lj^ shock. The saloon looks like a pigpen,
two tramps lying drunk on the
floor, and the bartender In a dirty
shirt with his sleeves rolled up, asleep a
with hl? luuil nm Um luif CI
O
THE LANCASTER NEM
fcnter Abe, Sambo and Ikey, and the j,
in commences.
Oue of the characters In the second ,
:t was named Broadway Kate, and I |
id an awful Job to break In one of
e Tommies to act and talk like a
oman.
Another character was Alknll Ike, an
rtzona cowboy, who Just before the
ose of the play conies Into the saloon
id wrecks it with his revolver.
We hail eleven three-hour rehearsals
'fore I thought It advisable to pre-,
lit the sketeli to the nnhlle
The whole brigade was crazy to'
Itness the first performance. This j
rforinauce was scheduled for Friday
ght and everyone was full of nntlclitlon;
when bang! orders came
rough that the brigade would move at
*o that afternoon. Cursing and
hiding was the order of things upon
e receipt of this order, but we
oved.
Thut night we reached the little vllge
of S and again went Into rest
llets. We were to be there two
eeks. Our company Immediately got
lay and scoured the village for a
ittable place In which to present our
eduction. Then we received another
iock.
A rival company was already ostnb- '
died in the village. They called
A
1
Q.HH^TTec bh Puguc trtroftttATtor<|
Chow."
the left, nnd then the hoxholdors
ned loose; hut outside of this little
sco the performance was a huge slices,
and we decided to run it for a j <
ck. I I
S'ew troops were constantly coming 1 <
ough. and for six performances we j |
d the "S. It. O." sign suspended out- j
e. | I
CHAPTER XIX. i
On His Own. !
course Tommy cunnot always bo
iduelng plays under lire but while j 1
rest billets he has numerous other <
ys of amusing himself. He Is a (
sut gambler, but never plays for '
stakes. Generally, In each com- ?
ny, you will tind a regular Canfleld. '
Is inan banks nearly all the games
chance and Is an undisputed authoron
the rules of gambling. When?r
there Is an argument among the
mmies about some uncertain point !
to whether Houghton Is entitled to
itkins' sixpence, the matter Is taken i
the recognized authority and Ills deIon
Is tlnnl.
The two most popular games are
rown and Anchor" and "House."
The paraphernalia used in "Crowd^
j Anchor" consists of u piece of can- k
t two feet by three feet. This is
ided Into six equal squares. In these
lares are puinted a club, diamond, j
irt, spade, crown, and an anchor,
? device to a square. There are
ee dice used, each dice marked the J
lie as the canvas. The banker sets
his gambling outfit In the corner ot
>11 let and starts bally-hoolng until a
>wd of Tommies gathers around;
>n the game starts,
flie Tommies place bets on the
linen, 11iv rniwii nr alienor neing ]
iyed the most. The banker then
Is his three dice and collects or pays I
t as the case may he. If you pluy I
? crown and one shows up on the
e, you get even money, If two show
, you receive two to one, and If three,
pp to one. If the crown does not npnr
and you have bet on It, you lose,
d so on. The percentage for the
nker Is large If every square Is
lyed, but if the crowd Is partial to,
y two squares, he has to trust to
k. The hanker generally wins.
The game of "House" is very popular
to. It takes two men to run It. This
me consists of numerous squares of
rdboard containing three rows of
mhers, tive numbers to a row. The
mhers rim from one to nlnet/. Each
rd Imh u different combination.
The French "estamlnets" In the vll?es
are open from eleven In the ruorn<
until one In the afternoon In acrdance
with army orders.
After dinner the Tommies eongreite
at these places to drink French
er at a penny a glass and play
louse."
As soon as the estnmlnet Is sufllently
crowded the proprietors of the
louse" game get busy and, as they
nn It, "form a school." This consists
' going around and selling cards at
franc each. If they have ten In the
hool, the backers of the game deict
two francs for their trouble and
le winner gets eight francs.
Then the game starts. Each buyer
laces his card before him on the ta- I
le, first breaking up matches Into flf- |
?en pieces.
One of the backers of the game has I
small cloth bag In which are ninety I
irdbouyd squares, each with a nura*
rS, LANCASTER, S. C. '
ber printed thereon, from one to nine- i po
ty. He raps on the table and cries ! sti
Ollt! "Kvp? flown inv 1n?lo '? ?
All noise ceases uud every one Is at- be
tentlon. tin
The croupier places his hund in the ,
bag and druws forth a numbered an
Munre and immediately calls out the ) thi
number. The man who owns the curd ;
with that particular number ou It, | ^
covers the square with a match. The ' vj,
one who covers the lifteou numbers on ' y0
his card llrst shouts "House." The 1 l.j1
other backer Immediately comes over j
to him and verities the card by calling
out the uumbers thereon to the man '
with the bag. As each number Is | jo
called he picks it out of the ones
picked from the bag and suys, "Klght." I
If the count is right he shouts, "House
DM
correct, pay the lucky gentleman, and
Bell him a curd for the next school." |
The "lucky gentleman" generally buys
one unless he has a miser truce in ; _
his veins.
Then another collection Is made, a cr0
school formed, und they curry ou with ,
the game. I FCr
The caller-out has many nicknames l*1'1
for the numbers such as "Kelly's Eye" cr'
for one, "Leg's Eleven" for eleven, | '
"Cllckety-cllck" for sixty-six, or "Top Hee
of the house" meaning ninety. ; nn<
The game is honest and quite en- J"'1
Joyable Sometimes you have fourteen , '
i ? _ i % flAI
Liuuim-ra vu your uiru covereu auu " "
you tire waiting for the fifteenth to be 'liK
called. In an Imploring voice you call i ')oc
out, "Come on. Watklns, cbutu, I'm
sweating on 'Kelly's Eye.'" nu
Witt kins generally replies, "Well,
keep out of u draft, you'll catch cold." J ?
Another game Is "I'ontoon," played
with cards; It Is the same us our
'Pluck Jack," or "Twenty-one." I J.J'1
A card game called "Brag" Is also
popular. Using a casino deck, the (>nI
dealer deals each player three curds. j,, '
It Is similar to our poker, except for j j
the fact tiiat you only use three cards
and cannot draw. The deck Is never fj(
shullled until a man shows three of a
kind or a "prlle" as It Is called. The . e
value of the hands are, high card, a ^
pair, a run, a flush or three of a kind
or "prlle." The limit Is generally u (j)(
penny, so It Is hard to win a fortune, j
The next in popularity Is a card j8 j
game called "Nap." It Is well named. erj
Every time 1 played It I went to sleep
Whist and solo whist are played b; i j
the highbrows of the company. on
When the gamblers tire of all othei flXi
games they try "Bunker und Broker/ I wh
I spent n week trying to teach some ?t
ji inn i (limine* now in piny poKer, nut ton
because I won thirty-five francs they , spi
declared that they didu't "fawncy" the his
game. I is |
Tommy plays few card games; the 1
general run never heard of poker, eu- ; col
chre, seven up, or pinochle. They have am
it (tame similar to pinochle called kn
"ftoyul Bezlque," but few know how to lur
play it. '
Generally there are two decks of Is
cards in a section, and In u short time na
fhey are so dog-eared and greasy, you , flcl
can hardly tell t)^ ace of spades from Ze
the ace of hearts. The owners of these \ '
decks sometimes condescend to lend it?t
them after much coaxing. j tig
So you see, Mr. Atkins has his fun lo>
mixed in with his hardships and, con- on
trury to popular belief, the rank and
file of the British army In the trenches t
Is one big happy family. Now in Vlr- j be
gin I a, at school, I was fed on old McGutTy's
primary reader, which gave me Bn
an opinion of un Englishman about Sn
equal to u '70 Minute Man's backed up wi
by a Sinn Fel tier's. Rut I found Tom- tie
my to be the hest of mates and u gen- g
tleman through und through. He never I
thinks of knocking his officers. If one I
makes u costly mistake and Tommy | 1
pays with his blood, there Is no gen- ,
eral condemnation of the officer. He
Is Just pitied. It is exactly the same I
as It was with the Light Rrigade at I
Balaclava, to say nothing of Gnlllpoll, B
Neuve ('handle and I^oos. Personalis
I remember u little Incident where ?
twenty of us were sent on a trench r
raid, only two of us returning, but I |
will tell this story Inter on. S
I said It was a big happy family, and B
so it Is, but us In all happy families. | 2
there are servants, so In the Ilrltish E
iiny there ure also servants, officers' ' ?
servants, or "O. S." as they are termed. I 2
In the American army the common ?
name for them Is "dog robbers." From E
a controversy In the English papers, p
Winston Churchill mude the state- ?
ment, as far as I can remember, that e
the officers' servants In the 'ilritish
forces totaled nearly two hundred
thousand. Me claimed that this removed
two hundred thousand excep- ,
tionally good and well-trained fighters
from the acting firing line, claiming
that the officers, when selecting a man
for servant's duty, generally picked the
man who had been out the longest and K
knew the ropes.
Rut from my observation I And that
a iurge percentage 01 me servants no , ?
go over the top, but behind the linen &
they very seldom engine In digging I
parties, fatigues, parades or drills. ,
This work Is as necessary as actually
engaging In un attack, therefore I think I
It would be safe to say that the all- I n<
round work of the two hundred thou- |
sand Is about equal to fifty thousand u'
men who are on straight military du- T
ties. In numerous Instances, ofllcers' cr
servants hold the rauk of lance-corpo- ^
rals and they assume the same duties si
and uuthority of a butler, the one el
stripe giving him precedence over the j
other servants. I tl
There are lots of amusing stories h
told of "O. 8." . | 01
One day one of our majors went Into w
the servants' billet and commenced o:
"blinding" at them, saying that his vt
horse hnd no straw and that he per- a
sonally knew that straw hud been is- e<
sued for this purpose. He called the h
lance-corporul to a r count. The cpr- li
rul answered, "lilliue me, sir, the (
uw was Issued, but there wasn't
ough left over from the servants'
ds; In fnet, we had to use some of
e 'ay to 'elp out, sir." I
It Is needless to say that the servts
dispensed with their soft beds
it particular night.
Nevertheless It Is not the fault of
i individual officer, It Is just the surrul
of a quaint old English custom.
iu know an Englishman cannot be
unged in a day.
Hut the average English officer Is a
od sport. He will sit on u fire step
d listen respectfully to I'rlvute
nes' theory of the way the war
ould be conducted. . This war is
initially crumbling the once lusur?untable
wall of caste.
You would be convinced of tills If
u could see King (ieorge go among i
t men on an Inspecting tour under I
e, or puuse before u little wooden
iss In some shed-tossed field with
rs In his eyes as he rends the inlptton.
And a little later perhaps
id over a wounded man on u stretchpatting
him on the heud.
dore than once In u hospital I have
n a titled Red Cross nurse fetching ,
1 carrying for a wounded soldier,
hups the one who In civil life de?red
the coal at her hack door. Tor
she does not shrink from lighting I
fag or even wushlug his grimy
ly.
'ommy admires Albert of Belgium be- I
ise he Is not n pusher of inen ; ho <
ds them. With hlin It's not n case
"take that trench," It Is "come on
1 we will take It."
t Is amusing to notice the different
iracteristlcs of the Irish, Scotch and
gllsli soldiers. The Irish and Scotch
very impetuous, especially when It
nes to bayonet fighting, while the
gllshmun, though a trifle slower,
roughly does his hit; he Is more
thodieal and hns the grip of a bullj
on a captured position. Me Is
wer to think ; that Is the reason why
novitP lriwm u lelion h.. I.. ll/?b/w?
Fwenty minutes before going over
1 top the English Tommy will sit on
> tire step and thoroughly examine
mechanism of his rltie to see that it
In working order and will Ore propy.
After this examination he Is sated
and ready to meet the Roches,
iut thcf Irishman or Scotchman sits
the Ore step, his rifle with bayonet
I'd between his knees, the butt of
ileh perhaps is sinking into the mud
lie bolt couldn't he opened with a|
im of horses It Is so rusty?but he ,
ts on his sleeve and slowly polishes ,
i bayonet; when tills Is done he also
ready to urgue with Fritz.
It is not necessary to mention the
onlals (the Cuuadians, Australians
il New Zealanders), the whole world I
ows what they have done for Eug-1
id.
The Australian and New Zealander
termed the "Anzuc," taking the
me from the first letters of their oflal
designation, Australian and New
aland army corps.
rnmmv dU'l/Lio ilio > ?
1UIII11IJ Ullllf.iI CTTT: UL'l IIIMII U1 1UJ
o three classes according to their I
htlng abilities. They rank as fol- i
vs: Prussians, Bavarians and Sax-;
s.
When up against n Prussian regl>nt
It Is a case of keep your napper
low the parapet and duck. A hangng
all the time and a war is on. The
varians are little better, hut the
xons are fairly good sports and are
Ulng occasionally to behave as gen-1
men and take It easy, but you cuu- ]
V
?t trust any or (Hem overloug.
At one point of the line the trenches
ere uhout thirty-two yards apart,
his pounds horrible, but In fact It wus
vsy, because neither side could shell
le enemy's front-line trench for four
>ells would drop Into their own. This
I minuted urtillcry fire.
In these trenches when up against
le Prussians and Buvartuns, Tommy
nd a hot time of It. but when the Suxas
"took over" It was a picnic; they
'ould yell across that they were 8axns
and would not fire. Both sides
ould sit on the parapet and carry on I
conversation. This generally consistd
of Tommy teljlng them how much
e loved the kaiser, while the Hnxous {
iformed Tommy that King (Jeorge'
r~
FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 1918. B
Rheumatism Yields I
Only rheumatic sufferers know 1
the agony of its darting pains, I
aching joints or twisting cords. A
but some tew have not Known that
scorn J
EMULSION
has been correcting this trouble
when other treatments have
utterly failed.
Scott's is essentially blood-food
in such rich, concentrated form
that its oQ gets into the blood to
alleviate this stubborn malady.
Get a bottle of Scott's Emul
faion or advise an ailing \
friend. No alcohol.
The Norwegian cod llrer oil la
Scott** FmnUna ti now refined In oar
own American laboratories which [
make* it pure and palatable. ;
Scott & Bowne. Bloomfield. N. I. tT-M
Lost MotTon. e|
Tve climbed these stairs six times W
to see you, sir," said the bill collector. E*
Too bad, too bad," murmured Mr. fp
lobbies. "Now, what do you think of 1
that, sir?" "Urn. Well, I guess that^ f'
:omes under the head of lost motion." ']
whs a partleuit r mono or ttietrfi and \
hoped that he was doing nicely.
When the Saxons were to be relieved v
by Prussians or Bavarluns, they would
yell this Information across No Muii'h
Laud und Tommy would Immediately
tumble into his trench und keep his
head down.
If an English regiment was to he relleved
by the wild Irish, Tommy would iw
tell the Saxons, and immediately a vol- 9
ley of Thinner und Hlltzens" could ,a
be heard and It was Fritz's turn to get I
a crick In his buck from stooping, aud jd
the people In Berlin would close their |
windows. I
Usually when un Irishman tnkes over |
a trench. Just before "stand down" In I
the moral ng, he sticks his rltle over |
the top, aimed in the direction of lier- I
lln, and engages hi what is known as I
the "mud minute." This consists of |
firing fifteen shots In a minute. He g
Is not ulmlng at an/thlng in particular
?Just semis over eucli shot with a
prayer, Roping flint one of his strays
will got some poor unsuspecting Fritz
In the nnpper hundreds of yards behind
the lines. It generally does; that's
the reason the Itoches hate the man
from Erin's isle.
The Saxons, though better than the
Prussians and Itavarinns, have a nasty
tyalt of treachery In their makeup.
At one point of the line where the
trenches " 'ere very close, a stake was
driven Into the ground mhlwuy between
the hostile lines. At night when
It was his turn, Tommy woftld crawl
to this stake and attach some London
papers to It, while nt the foot he would
place tins of bully beet, fags, sweets,
and other delicacies that he had received
from Rllghty in the ever lookedfor
parcel. Later on Fritz would come ^ ;
out and get these luxuries. i
The next night Tommy would go out
to see whnt Fritz put Into his stocking.
The donation generally consisted of a
paper from Ilerlln, telling who was
winning the war, some tinned sausages, ^ I
clirars, and occasionally a little hecr.
id Infantry Attack.
nut n funny thing, Tommy never returned
with the beer unless It was Inside
of him. Ills j.lateen pot a whiff of
hla breath one night and the offending
Tnmrnw !/? Kio / K
IVOl Alio JUU.
One night n young English sergcartt* J
crawled to the stnke and na he tried to
detach the German paper a bomb exploded
and mangled him horribly. Frits
had act a trap and gained unother victim
which wan only one more black g
mark agalnat him In the book of thlA
war. From that time oo diplomatic relations
were severed.
| Returning to Tommy, T think hia
I spirit is beat shown In the questions he
nsks. It Is never "who is going to win"
I but Always "how long will it take?*
(To be Continued.)