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J>;:. ^Men, it's a case of going West for us. We are oat of ammunition and ^?!& bombs, and the Boches have us in a ?:ft^ trap. They will bomb us out Our bayonets are useless here. We will have to go over and meet them, and v, itfa a case of thirty to one. so send i c|<'" every tfciust home, and die like the ! men of D company should. When J V" the word, follow me, and up and ! 1-bt them. Give them h 1 Lord, if ? ^ jme only had a machine gun, we could t: jwtee them out! Here they come, get p?' bendy, men." | .;i ; Just as he finished speaking, the wet come "pup-pup" of a machine gun In their rear rang out,, and the front lln< [of the onrush!ng Germans seemed te jinelt away. They wavered, but one* j again came rushing onward. Down ^ ! ureal their second line. The machine g^ VJ-gttn was taking an awful toll of lives. v Then again they tried to advance, but |*fc: ..the machine gun mowed them down, fDropping their rifles and bombs, they j broke and fled in a wild rush back to ; 'their trench, amid the cheers of "D* company. They were forming again lor another attempt, when in the rear U company came a mighty cheer, if; ... The ammunition had arrived and with It a battalion of Scotch to re-enforce them. They were saved. The unknown I B|Wr, machine gunner had come to the rescue 1' in the nick of time. With the re-enforcements it was an easy task to take the third German Ife^llne. tV . fek After, the attack was over, the capf| tain and three of his noncommissioned officers, wended their way back to the ^- 'position where the machine gun had done its deadly work. He wanted to thank the gunner in the name of D ^. company for his magnificent deed. Ixney arnvea ai ine gun, ana an awxm sight met their eyes. % |.vljjjjpa had reached the front line trench, after his company had left it A j strange company was nimbly crawling j 'up the trench ladders. They were re-' enforcements going over. They were Scotties, and they made a magnificent r sight in their brightly colored kilts and bare knees. r Jumping over the trench, Lloyd raced Across "No Man's Land," unheeding the rain of bullets, leaping over dark forms! I oh the ground, some of which la^ still, J while others called out to him as he Speeded past v | He came to the German front line, but it was deserted, except for heaps of dead and wounded?a grim tribute to the work of his company, good old X> company. Leaping trenches, and' WB f8splng for breath, Lloyd could see right ahead of him1 his company in a [% ?' dead-ended sap of a communication trench, and across the open, away in front of them, a mass of Germans preparing for a charge. Why didn't D Anmnonv firo nn fhom? Whr wprp thPT so strangely silent? What were they waiting for? Then he knew?their am; i inanition was exhausted. SNc But what was that on his right? A machine gun. Why didn't it open Art $f:: and save them? \He would make that I gun's crew do their duty. Rushing j j over to the gun he saw why it had not jopened fire. Scattered around its base / lay six still forms. They had brought ; their gun ta consolidate the captured position, hut a German machine gum ? '*' had decreed they would never firm again. , Lloyd rushed to the gun and, grasping the traversing handles, trained it J : Pn the Germans. He pressed the thumb | |if piece, but only a sharp click was the < result The gun was unloaded. Then : lie realized his helplessness. He did & not know how to load the gun. Oh, why hadn't he attended the machine*! gun course in England? He'd been *'offered the chance, but with a blush of ! shame he remembered that he had been i ;. , afraid. The nickname of the machine gunners had frightened him. They, w%re called the "Suicide club." Now, ^ < because of this fear, his company would be destroyed, the men of D company would have to die, because he, r u Albert Lloyd, had been afraid of a name. In his sharie be cried like a baby. Anyway he could die with them ?r?ri Heine tn his hp Stumbled I over the body of one of the gunners, who emitted a faint moan. A gleam 'ot hope flashed through him. Perhaps this man could tell htm how to load the gun. Stooping over the body* he gently shook it and the soldier opened his eyes. Seeing Lloyd, he closed them again and, in a faint voice, said: "Get away, you blighter, leave me alone. I don't want any coward around me." The words cut Iloyd like a knife, but he was desperate. Taking the revolver out of the h >lster of the dying man he pressed the cold muzzle to the soldier's head and replied: "Yes, it is Llojl, the coward of Company D, but s> help me God, If you don't tell me he w to load that gun HI put a bullet though your brain!" A sunny smile cane over the counef the dyir 2 and he said T! Tilt' If mow 5oii>ui 0 WENT * * MfflYMY E mmjmm fRAffCE? i ?1917 by Arthur art am m a raint wmsper : "Good old boy! I knew yob wouldn't disgrace our company " Lloyd interposed: "For God's sake, if you want to save that company you are so proud of, tell me how to load that d d gun!" As if reciting a lesson in school, the soldier replied in a weak, singsong voice: "Insert tag end of belt in feed block, with left hand pull belt left front. Pull crank handle back on rollan lof an nnrt rpneflt motion. Gun is **? *vv Ovi r ? now loaded. To fire, raise automatic safety latch, and press thumbpiece. Gun is now firing. If gun stops, ascertain position of crank handle?n But Lloyd waited for no more. With wild joy at his heart, he took a belt from one of the ammunition boxes lying beside the gun, and followed the dying man's instructions. Then he pressed the thumbpiece and a burst of fire rewarded his efforts. The gun was working. Training it on the Germans he shouted for joy as their front rank went down. Traversing the gun back and forth along the mass of Germans, he saw them break and run back to the cover of their trench, leaving their dead and wounded behind. He had saved his company, he, Lloyd, the coward, had "done his bit" Releasing the thumk pVfce, he looked at the wateh on his wrist He was still alive at "3:38LW Ting!"?a bullet sang through the air, and Lloyd fell forward across the gun. A thin trickle of blood ran down his face from a little, black round hole In his forehead. j w m w "The sentence of the court had been "duly carried out" The captain slowly raised the limp form drooping over the gun and, wiping the blood from the white face, recognized it as Lloyd, the coward of D company. Reverently covering the face with his handkerchief he turned to his "noncoms" and, in a voice husky with emotidns, addressed them: "Boys, ifs Lloyd, the deserter. He has redeemed himself, died the death yt a hero?died that his mates might live." That afternoon a solemn procession wended its way toward the cemetery. In the front a stretcher was carried by two sergeants. Across the stretcher the Union Jack was carefully spread. Behind the stretcher came a captain and forty-three men, all that were left of D company. Arriving at the cemetery, they halted In front of an open grave. All about them wooden crosses were broken and1 trampled into the ground. A grizzled old sergeant, noting this destruction, muttered under his breath: "Curse the cowardly blighter who wrecked those crosses! If I could Only get these two hands around his neck his trip West would be short" The corpse on the stretcher seemed to move, or it might have been the wind blowing the folds of the Union Jack. CHAPTER XXV. Preparing for the Big Push. Rejoining Atwell after the execution I had a hard time trying to keep my secret from him. I think I must have lost at least ten pounds worrying over the affair. Beginning at seven in the evening it was our duty to patrol all communication and front-line trenches, making note of unusual occurrences, and arresting anyone who should, to us, appear to be acting in a suspicious manner. We slept during the day. Behind the lines there was great activity, supplies and ammunition pouring in, and long columns of troops constantly passing. We were preparing for the big offensive, the forerunner of the battle of the Somme or "Big Push." The never-ending stream of men, supplies, ammunition and guns pouring into the front lines made a mighty spectacle, one that cannot be described. It has to be witnessed with your own eyes to appreciate its vastness. At our Dart of the line the influx of supplies never ended. It looked like a huge snake slowly crawling forward, never a hitch or break, a wonderful tribute to the system and efficiency of Great Britain's "contemptible little army" of five millions of men. Huge fifteen-inch guns snaked along, foot by foot, by powerful steam tracttors. Then a long line of "four point five" batteries, each gun drawn by six horses, then a couple of "nine point two" howitzers pulled by immense caterpillar engines. When one of these caterpillars would pass me with its mighty monster in tow, a flush of pride would mount to toy face, because I could plainly read on the name plate, "Made in U. S. A." and I would remember that if I wore a name plate it would also read, "From the U. S. A." Then I would stoD to. / \ tnmK now tnin ana straggly tnat mighty stream would* be if all the i "Made in U. S. A." parts of it were withdrawn. Then would come hundreds of limbers and "G. S." wagons drawn by sleek, well-fed mules, ridden by sleek, ! well-fed men, ever smiling, although grimy with sweat and covered with the fine, white dust of the marvelously Well-made French roads. What a discouraging report the Ger-, man airmen must have taken back to J their division commanders, and this, stream is slowly but surely getting big- j ger and bigger every day, and the pace is always the sane. No slower, no : faster, but ever onward, ever forward, j Three weeks before the big push of j July 1?as the battle of the Somme has j been called?started, exact duplicates of the German trenches were dugI about thirty kilos behind our lines. The layout of the trenches was taken : from airplane photographs submitted j by the Royal flying corps. The trench- 1 es were correct to the foot; they j showed dugouts, saps, barbed wire de- j fenses and danger spots. Battalions that were to go over in i the first waves were sent back for j three days to study these trenches, engage in practice attacks and have night maneuvers. Each nian was required to make a map of the trenches and familiarize himself with the names and location of the parts his battalion was to attack. I In the American army noncommissioned officers are put through a course of map making or road sketching, and during my six years' service in the United States cavalry I had plenty of practice in this work, therefore mapping these trenches was a compara[ tlvely easy task for me. Each man had to submit his map to the company commander to be passed upon, and I was lucky enough to have mine selected as being sufficiently authentic to use in the attack. . No photographs or maps are allowed to leave France, but in this case it appealed to me as a valuable souvenir of the great war and I managed to smuggle it through. At this time it carries no military importance as the British lines, I am happy to say, have since been advanced beyond this point, 80 in having it in my possession I am not breaking any regulation or cautions of the British army, v The whole attack, was rehearsed ^ mKabmhuI nnHl TtTO hoarHlv AtlTflprf (Uiva icuctuocu uuui t? v umuvu^ v<~>~w { the one who had conceived the idea. The trenches were named according to a system which made it very simple for Tommy to find, even in the dark, any point in the German lines. These imitation trenches, or trench models, were well guarded from obseiv vation by numerous allied planes which constantly circled above them. No German airplane could approach within observation distance. A restricted area was maintained and no civilian was allowed within three miles, so we felt sure that we had a great surprise in store for Fritz. When we took over the front line we received ah awful shock. The Germans displayed, signboards over the top of their trench showing the names that we had called their trenches. The signs read '"Fair," Tact," "Fate," and "Fancy," and so ob, according to the code name* on our map. Then to rub it in, they hoisted some more signs which read, "Come on, we are ready, stupid English." It is still a mystery to me how they obtained this knowledge. There had been no raids or prisoners taken, so If mrraf hovo Hoon tho Wfirk ftf ST) I Pi! in our own lines. v Three or four days before the big push we tried to shatter Fritz's nerves by feint attacks, and partially succeeded as the official reports of July 1 show., ? Although we were constantly bombarding their lines day and night, still we fooled the Germans several times. This was accomplished by throwing an intense barrage into his lines? then using smoke shells we would put ffcheig fajaj i refreshing I delightful, j||| With no had 1|1 after effect. a curiam or wnite sitiose across no Man's Land, completely obstructing his view of our trenches, and ; would raise our curtain of fire | as If in an actual attack. All | down our trenches the men would shout and cheer, and Fritz would turn loose with machine-gun, rifle, and shrapnel fire, thinking we were coming over. After three or four of these dummy attacks his nerves must have been near the breaking point On June 24, 1916, at 9:40 in the morning our guns opened up, and hell was let loose. The din was terrific, a constant boom-boom-boom in your ear. At night the sky was a red glare. Our bombardment had lasted about two hours when Fritz started replying. Although we were sending over ten shells to his one, our casualties were heavy. There was a constant stream of stretchers coming out of the communication trenches and burial parties were a common sight In the dugouts the noise of the guns almost hurt. You had the same sensation as when riding on the subway you enter the tube under the river going to Brooklyn?a sort of pressure on the ear drums, and the ground constantly trembling. The roads behind the trenches were very dangerous because Boche shrapnel was constantly bursting over them. We avoided these dangerous spots by crossing through open fields. The destruction in the German lines was awful and I really felt sorry for them because I realized how they must : be clicking it From our front-line trench, every now and again, we could hear sharp whistle blasts in the German trenches. These blasts were the signals for stretcher bearers, and meant the wounding or killing of some German in the service of his fatherland. * ? t- -1 . A -1- Xi ^ ^H IX Atwen ana i naa a cougn ume 01 n, patrolling the different trenches at night, but after awhile got used to it My old outfit the machine gun company, was stationed in huge elephant dugouts about four hundred yards behind the front-line trench?they were in reserve. Occasionally I would stop in their dugout and have a confab with my former mates. Although we tried to be jolly, still, there was a lurking feeling of impending disaster. Each man was wondering, if, after the slogan, "Over the top with the best of luck," had been sounded, would he still be alive or would he be lying "somewhere in France." In an old dilapidated house, the walls of which were scarred with machine-gun bullets, No. 3 section of the machine gun company had its quarters. The company's cooks prepared the meals in this billet On the fifth evening of the bombardment a German eight-inch shell registered a direct hit on the billet and wiped out ten men who were asleep In the suppos-jdly bomb-proof cellar. They were burled the next (Jay and I attended the funeral (To be continued next week) Dr. THOMAS BLACK, JR~ DENTAL SURGEON. Graduate Dental Department University of Maryland. Member S. C. State Dental Association. Office opposite new post office and over office of H. M. Graham. Office hours, 8:30 a. m. to 5:30 p. m. BAMBERG. 8. C. ? - -? nt> For indigestion, wnau^auuu v? Biliousness Just try one 50-cent bottle of LAX-FOS WITH PEPSIN. A Liquid Digestive Laxative pleasant to take. Made and recommended to the public by Paris Medicine Co., manufacturers of Laxative Bromo Quinine and Grove's Tasteless chill Tonic. Whenever You Need a General Tonic Take Grove's. 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