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Show Tab was a fir m ... . :. CHAPTER V Continued - 13- ' "So yon came In across tbe field. Muttered the ragged officer. "We've tried to get runners through there, but they haven't seemed to be able to make It Well, what's the answer? Too men want to commit suicide or did you come op here for some definite defi-nite purpose 7" "We've brought op a wire from the Information center," replied Lieutenant Lieuten-ant Connor coldly. He had been thinking more and more that this ragged officer was probably a temporary tempo-rary . second lieutenant No one btfugbt expensive uniforms like that except newly commissioned officers of the general staff. Hence he, Connor, was preparing to do some heavy rank tag. "You've brought op a wire" cried the ragged man. "Well, 1 call that fine work. If I'd known you men were bringing me a wire I'd have let go a few slugs at you myself. This Is the first time In twenty-nine years of service serv-ice that I've been able to draw a free breath and do as 1 pleased. What the h 1 do I want with a wire? I've got a blinker running and that's enough. It oniy runs one way, that's why I like It Who knows how to hold this road, me or old Foot is the Grave ten miles back and ninety feet down?" "Before we discuss the question any further," remarked Connor haughtily, "let's settle the question of rank. "I'm a first lieutenant ranking from July 10. 1918. What are you?" The ragged man's Jaw dropped with almost a distinct click. He Beemed at a loss for words. Be gasped. "Rank?" Anally breathed the ragged man In a husky voice. are they ail crazy I Don't worry about rank, lieutenant When 1 was a first lieutenant you weren't bora Go bring me that wire." One of the men that had come up with Eadte detached himself from the group and In a few minutes appeared with several more, tugging the end of the wire after them. Lieutenant Con nor, who had an Instrument at taelied the end of the wire and after ome minutes of cranking and calling "hello," he got a response. "There you are," said he to the ragged man. "You ran talk to them.' "Hello," began the ragged man "Who's this! Ah, well put me through to Sheridan. Uello, Sheridan! Sheri-dan! General MacLeod speaking. I'm up here in the woods with a com poslte battalion. They belong to every ev-ery unit In the A. E. F. The rectlO cation of the line was very poorly done and so we were pinched out 1 can hold out until night We've got to have some air by then though. Darkness and all that I haven't got any machine guns to speak ot Can you hear me?" ' The ragged man, who said be was a general, wound the crank of the telephone. He listened, he called Into the mouthpiece, and wound the crank again. "I guess it's gone," he remarked. re-marked. "Well, they , know we're alive What the h I is eating you?" A doughboy, holding a portable pick In bis bund, had Joined the group. "Speak up!" said the general. The man gave a dry croak. "Bochel" he said, and pointed with his free hand. The group all looked In the direction direc-tion of the place where the road went downhill toward the west That place had a few seconds before been full of doughboys digging holes, arranging shelter halves over holes already dug or chopping down bushes for camou flage. These had suddenly disappeared disap-peared and now one could see nothing noth-ing but a helmet or two, a few rifle barrels and some men prone In the road, who were looking at something downhill below them. "Lieutenant!" said the general quickly and sharply, "you and 1 are the only officers here. Go down to the other end of the road and take charge. Uave everyone stop what he's doing and find cover. Under no con slderatlon let any shooting start. Jump! The rest of you. follow me!" Eadle, Jake, the men who bad guarded them, and two others that he had not noticed before, went hurriedly hur-riedly to the edge of the hill. Uere they cautiously looked down. There was a deep gulch there that ran diagonally across the road, win lug away to the southwest Through this gulch marched a great many German Ger-man soldiers, rifles slung, full packs, all bel meted with that dark steel hood that looks so much like a coal scuttle. They flowed along the gulch like a ,strej4 running uphill, not la any klnr .f formation, but Just as any crowd of men would scramble along over rough ground. F.adie tried to remember something be had learned a long time ago about the number of men In column of fours that would pass a point in a given time. He couldn't remember. Flg-res Flg-res were not necessary, anyway. There were a whole lot of Germans there, and that was enough, 'Ti n." said the general In an undertone un-dertone to th two Inrantrymen, "Jump iit and tell those men In the ditch sui to start any shooting. Those Ger- mans are going np that gulch to pull off a flank attack on our lines farther back. We mustn't let them know we're here. They outnumber us about five to one or more anyway Sergeant Fletcher, run back to the blinker and send. 'Enemy In large numbers moving southwest Watch left ! Go on, yon others, get all those riflemen back bere. You there, you man with the mustache, do you know where the machine gun Is up there? Jump op end tell .'em not to fire on their lives !" The men turned to go, but there was a sudden crackle of rifle Ore and a straggling burst of yelling fun down the road. The Germans below halted Instantly and stood listening Two patrols detached themselves from the mob and began to climb the hill toward the Americans The machine gun that was on the upper edge of the road went Into action with a sound like ripping cloth, the two pa trols melted Into lumps of motionless gray, and men went down In the tight ly massed troops below, beaten down by the machine gun fire as grass Is by water from a hose. The sight was too much for the concealed American Infantry. The place began to sizzle with rifle fire. "Ah, d n the luck I" muttered the general. "Now they're off." He bit his Up a moment then turned to Eadle and Jake. "Is either of yon a non-com?" be asked. "I'm a sergeant, sir," replied Eadle. "Good. We're In for a red hot tight. I'm going back to get the wounded out of the rouid and to see bow thtngs are there. . Stay here and when my messengers mes-sengers come back don't let them go away again I'm leaving you In charge now. Don't let anyone start a panic." The Germans, recovering from the shock ot their surprise, unable to retreat re-treat because of the number behind, and unable to go forward because of lack of cover, began to ascend the hill In the face of the American fire. Eadle had heard somewhere that the Germans did not know how to shoot, but these he now faced were an exception ex-ception to the rule. Their rifle fire was hot and accurate, and the explosions explo-sions of the grenades were unpleasantly unpleasant-ly close. The Americans, tiring down hill and wildly excited, were tiring too high, but as the range became more and more polntblank their bullets began be-gan to find marks and the advance slowed. It slowed but it continued, nevertheless. Eadle, on bis stomach In the middle of the road, watched the enemy come nearer and nearer. An explosion at his ear nearly split the drum "Who the b I was that?" cried the sergeant, looking around with his hand at hi? ear. "Me," said Jake. "1 didn't mean to bold the old gat so near you. Look 1 1 the squareheads fixln' their bayonets They're gonna rush us I Git out your gun, Eadle, unless you want 'em to come up bere an shake bands with usl" It was true, the Germans were dangerously dan-gerously near. Eadle drew his pistol and pointing It In the general direction direc-tion of the Germans, fired away a clip, ills breath came In gasps as though he had been running a long time and bis heart beat with such speed that he seemed to be suffocating. The enemy were closer than ever, he could even see tbetr faces now. There was one In particular, a man with a blond mustache. mus-tache. This one was In the right band ditch and showed himself from time to time to throw a grenade. Eadle aimed at blm and fired. A few seconds later the blond man leaped np and a gren ade sailed In the sergeant's direction. He did not hear It burst tor he had fired again at the German. He missed by a mile. "Steady now," muttered Eadle, steady." He rested both elbows on the road and steadied his right wrist with his left hund. Then he drew a careful bead on where he thought the German would appear the next time A pau?e. The German with the blond mustache obligingly put his bead and shoulder out of the ditch. Bang! "I bit blm I shrieked Eadle. "By 0 d. I hit him r There was no doubt of that The German was slammed back against the bank as by a powerful nnseen hummer and he remained there, arms outstretched as though he bad been nailed to the ground. One or two men took the time to look curiously at Eadle over their rifle butts, but the greater part paid no attention. The air was full of unintelligible cries and rhouts, both Id German and English and the men had other things on tbelr tnlnda than to beed them. The messengers that the general bad sent out did not come back. Eadle thought of them now and then, but all the men be could see were Intent on killing as many Germans as possible. pos-sible. The enemy, be noticed suddenly, was not pushing the advance. It was apparent as It la to a watcher on the seashore, that the high water mark had been reached. "Have any of those birds come back?" cried a voice In Eadie's ear. At the same time a freckled band plashed Into ibe mud and a naa lay down by Eadle. The sergeant looking look-ing at him, recognized him as one ot those who bad been with the general "Haven't seen any," said Eadle -We're holdln' em l" "Have tbey begun to fall back?" "No, not yet They aren't doing an more rushing, though." "J si" The other man spat In the road. "Ain't this a picnic for a man above grade seventeen to get Into I I was detailed to go with that high flyln' staff bird an' carry his camp chairs an' stuff. I'm sergeant major with Brigade H. Q. Figure me doln It 1 Boy, there's a Jinx on this out-tit! out-tit! Where the b I did that shell shocked lieutenant come from?'" "The one with me?" asked Eadle "What's he done now, bawled you out for not saluting?" "Ulm? H I. no. But the general told blm to go back and not let any shooting take place. They cut loose before be got there, but be soon stopped It Yesslr, be was the man that wasn't going to let It happen again, either. When the general got back there, and the scrap was golD' on like a bouse afire, this looey ba Eadle Had Heard Somewhere That the Germans Did Not Know How to Shoot, but These He Now Faced Were an Exception to the Rule. the 'men all lined up emptyin' their ammunition belts into the road so's they couldn't do any more unauthor Ized firln'. An' alt h I loose at this end o the road!" The sergeant major paused and chewed upon a twig. "Boy, we'll get the Medal of Honor ont of this fight!" be yelled, "us or our folks." "There they go I" cried Eadle excitedly. ex-citedly. "They're pulling out I We've licked 'em. G d n their lousy souls 1 Look at 'em run !" "Outta bere!" howled the sergeant major, springing to bis feet' "outta here! You men down there, fall back I" He took a whistle from bis pocket and blew npon it with lung-burstlug lung-burstlug force. "Blow your whistle !' be cried to Eadle, "get these guys outta bere I The general said the minute they started to go to run like What May Be Called The Jews possess the unique dis-tlu.tion dis-tlu.tion ot being the world's champion curseu, one of their owu number declares de-clares In The Reflex. This writer further fur-ther points out that the Old Testament Testa-ment contains more cursing thar any other great book of literature. "Cursing," he says. "Is common to all oriental peoples, but neither the Arab nor Hindu, Chinese or Japanese displays as much fantasy as does the eastern Jew. In doing that he follows an old tradition. Cursing Is the one thing that Is not forbidden to the Jew He may curse and bles to his heart's desire, but bis life Is such that he has more opportunity to curse than t bless. Yet the curses have their savor. The literary merit of Jewish curses Is high. They form a distinct artistic contribution. "For Instance: 'May yoj possess sixty castles with sixty rooms In each castle, and may there be sixty beds Tree Toad$ at Prophet It Is quite commonly believed that the .tree toad's loud piping voice Is a sign of rain. Like must weather prophets, however, be cannot be depended de-pended upon. Tbe skin of the tree toad Is very moist and Is sensitive to the least Increase of moisture in the atmosphere. He feels moisture to the air before most other creatures do and It la his practice to let the world know be la thankful for It Where be fools pop'. or rather where people fool themselves. Is to respect to the meaning of moisture to the air. It does not necessarily Indicate rain, but many believe it Joes. Exchange. . rrt. oimiiH shower (il ourseivea. iucj i b- down with G. L cans!" Eadie's whistle added Its shrieking to the others and at last some of the men In the dltcb and in holes at the side of the road began to pay atten tlon. The two noncoms waved their arms frantically and the men began to come In, standing up and climbing hastily out of the ditch or running down the side hill to the road. -Go back there!" directed the sergeant ser-geant major, shoving them along the road. They obeyed, bending almost double to shelter themselves from any stray bullets. Eadle looked around for Jake as the last of the riflemen skipped down the road. The red-headed man bad taken up a sitting position on the bank and was firing a rifle that he bad picked up. His bolt worked fast, and his Jaws kept time. The light of battle was In his eye. It was necessary to climb the slippery bank a way and shake the man's arm. Jake turned with unseeing eyes. "Come on, Jake! Lay off shooting, the war is over. Come on, we got or ders to fade to b 1 away out of here!" Jake's Jaw stopped its rapid motions and the gleam In his eye died. "Man," he muttered. "This ain't no way to do. I was Just goin' good!" He arose stiffly, however, slung his rifle, and then the three men, bending low, scuttled down the road after the others. The general was there, ushering the men off the road to the right that is. northward. There seemed to be a trench or another road there, what it was Eadle could not quite make out Some men were hurriedly hauling in Eadie's wire that bad been laid up the road, others were arranging a sort of embrasure In the ditch, so that a machine gun could be set up and have a clear field of fire down the road, yet be protected from shells striking near at hand. The wounded had all disappeared, dis-appeared, but the line of dead with their boots sticking out from under the blankets, still remained. Eadle looked again at those boots. The hobnailed hob-nailed ones were not remarkable, but there were some that had bare soles with a chain around the arch, but most had those ridges of rubber that the British invented and call military soles. "Lesson in duties of liaison detail," remarked Jake, sensing Eadie's thought "What's them with no hob nails? Officers. How come they got killed? They got between some doughboy an' the skyline How come they got all carried In here 'stead o bein' left In the fields like the bucks? So's the fightin' democrats wouldn't steal the gold outa their .teeth. Man. there's d n few officers fills an un known grave. They carry too many francs In their Jeans." "How come all these officers with their toes in the air?" asked Eadle. turning to the sergeant major. "Battalion staff and company commanders," com-manders," said the sergeant major "The order come up to retire to rec tlfy the lines, the division on the left havln' left our flank flyln" In the breeze for about five miles. The battalion bat-talion commander has In his captains to explain the retirement to 'em. Down comes a shell, a mean Austrian 88, one of them that comes zlpp and you're dead. Well. It slammed right Into 'em and when the smoke cleared their folks was all ten thousand bucks Fine Art of Cursing in each nom. and may yon be shaken from bid to bed. -rour roo... to room from castle to castle.' Or. 'May I live to s.e you on one foot and may von have only one eye with which to "see me. Or. 'May God send upon you foui mothers-in-law.' "But the real cursing that Is done ..n Mlna. Kovno or Crakow is straight bitter and plain. It is shocking in Its brutality; it I3 brief and to the point For example. 'May the earth not ac-cei ac-cei ; you'; 'the cholera unto you' - may the dogs eat your body and prison their stomachs'; "may God nna a dis. ease Into your house so that you shall -ot be able to move'; may the stars spit upon you'; or, "may your bodr swell like a mountain - S Not Works of Romance Newspaper men called frequently t the offices of the United States Steel corporation to await for lengths pe riods ot outcome of official meeting long wondered why Elbert H Garv chairman of the board, apparently was so deeply Interested in roman. Volume, of "Romance, ErJ. occupied shelves to office caW nets otherwise given over to bus! ness and reference books, a Z porter, growing Impatient one dav sought to find in -romance' respk. from thu vPRFtnoe. . resPite vl yruionged watt. tag. only to discover that the volume, were moral fnh.t. . "umes - muiiv uacss nastMf cardboard. . camouflage forTea?, 0I catalogues, pamphleta and old paper Love of one's work la 0f in rewta. It has to be haix nabIt .ni ha nonaro I an' Adolph was out In the field, or wed have got ours, too. ....... "This bunch what is left of the battalion?" bat-talion?" asked Eadle, Indicating the hurrying men. most of whom bad now disappeared In the ditch to tbe northward. north-ward. . . "1 guess so," answered tne sergeani mw "Thev been stragglin' ln all ni"ht There's squads left of platoons and platoons of companies, commanoea by anything from sergeants to privates first-class. We'll last till night and then we'll get a summons to surrender, which we won't do, and then the boche will come In bere In the dark and drive the Uvin' tar out of os. Walt an' see." , Thesp are the two men," said an unpleasant voice, "these two. I Just wanted to point tnem out to you Blnce they "on't be under my eye any more. Eadle and Jake turned. Lieutenant Lieuten-ant Connor stood there, pointing them out to the general "1 found them skulking," went on thP lieutenant "and they've several times tried to get away from me. Tru told they made threats about killing me when they got me alone.' "They're a tough looking pair," remarked re-marked tbe general, a slight twinkle in bis eye, "but then we all look a little the worse for wear. Civilization's Civiliza-tion's no deeper than a shave and a little touch of the pressing Iron, anyway. any-way. I'll keep my eye on 'em." The lieutenant favored the two witb one last cold look and then going over to the machine cud embrasure, got Into It There were several helmets visible there, and It was plain that the machine gunners had their weapon In readiness. "I'm leaving it to you, lieutenant" said the general, shaking the other's hand from the edge of the hole. "Keep 'em off my back. We'll keep em off yours and our own gang In the woods will keep 'em from crossing to the south." CHAPTER VI The Sunken Road The moaning cry ot soaring shells seeking their prey heralded the arrival ar-rival of the barrage The general. Eadie, Jake, the sergeant major and the few stragglers did not await Its arrival, but tore down tbe road and plunged into the trench or ditch or whatever it was that ran northward in a sunken road, hidden among the bushes that lined It and the thorny hedge that crowned the top. were the remnants of the battalion. They were packed In there like sheep, and having no officers, nor anyone who knew what to do, or where to go. the confusion was terrible. A man wearing a khaki uniform, but not of American pattern, came running run-ning up to the general. It needed uo second look to tell that this man was French. In the first place he wore no slicker. In the second, the buttons on bis uniform were gold, and in the third place he wore a red cord around his left shoulder. Hehad a number of little loops of thread over bis left breast pocket to suspend medals from. "General." said the French soldier, "we ain't got no bullets for de odder gun. Anyway, she's broke Its piston In t ree ekal half an lost one." "And that leaves how many?" "One now an' de rudder one what's got de lootenant" "Sergeant major, go round up all the noncommissioned officers and bring them here. Walt here a minute, Adolph, we'll want your advice on this thing." Adolph lighted a cigarette with a nriquet and looked calmly around. Eadie regarded bini. He noted the row of brisques or service chevrons that the French soldier wore, he noted that he was small, had intensely black eyes and coarse black hair. The collar col-lar of his blouse bore no device, bul from the khaki uniform and the red cord, the fourragere of the Legion of Honor, rhls French soldier belonged to the Foreign legion. Eadle looked at the other's cuff, ffhere was a diagonal di-agonal stripe of gold braid there. "Where did you learn to speak English, sergeant?" be asked. "I never learn." answered Adolph seriously. "I was horn wit It I come from top Canadaw." "What are you doing in this crowd?" "1 dunno maselt De boys show me how to tose all ma money shottln' crap an' de officers ask me what kind wine It can get drunk on de soonest An' when I go to a French P C, It wants to know why de h I j ain't brung some boxes of cigarettes back wit me. "You must leae a tougb life," remarked re-marked Jake. "Ain't It better than bein up In the lines an' gettio' killed?" Adolpb looked at Jake unblinking! -You fink dis plcnio t0 brn lunch basket and sit onder tree?" a asked, nodding toward the road whu-e shells growled, ten growls to the minute. min-ute. "Ton wait till night an see." The sergeant major came splaying back along the road leading eeve! RWIT" "". (TO BX CONTIWCEXU firemen and thev !.. L. When they WmC ! fire suits Tab rushM ,.1 00 the! other carrying each flrZ 'Ton might havethoSVi' have made mistakes. bL. . " much alike. tt l fc But Tab knew t ham nil and be got every pair 0f hi?0" the rlglu owner. 01 boo i He carried many 0f their oth J lontrlnes to them un i. ' . nw fee- great deal of tinrr.M Tab had lived long engine bouse to know that nte counted after the fire al jf come in. m ut Now the men hadn't time to nv , - u, vicvernesa then Tab understood that - H IVU1 . He was quite satisfied that hi made no mistakes. He knew he hadn't torero, to him. " How happy and elated and m was Tab. He wa i house cat now, he felt snre thd .,., r. n. 1 V . ' oat u wueu mey came Home hm i lie uie. And wasn't he petted when they f come home? They told everyonl about Tab, the fire cat, and manjc their friends came to see Tab He would do his tricks for Carrying Each Fireman His Boott nnrfu- y NvV are mo I served 1 I MQCcoa lliaj. 1 " ' - -"I s masters, for thev were f he nnh nnI I "ow he cared about. I mM 1 After a time he learned ail thJ 1 delphia alarm bells that came In when firef 1 rK'rni broke out. . I Woodrt I Mother; He knew the differences berweec them, and always, from the time whoa he considered he had become i ca; he helped the firemen hurry to tti fire. He never made a mistake In git Iluve a mother is as c is an "find i Ing each one the right tilings, and bet never made a mistake in the fire bel But one day a fire broke out In &.i house next door. Tab smeit smoke- he knew the kind of burning smell was, for the firemen always were ft" of It after they had come home the fire. He felt sure it was next door, to. still he couldn't understand why ti-alarm ti-alarm hadn't come In. He went to one of the firemen was on duty but who had not notice' the smell of smoke. Tab sniffed and made the flreme kpo whnt hp mpant. And, sure enough, there -was 1 1 next door, and Tab was the one bad sent in the alarm. The fire was put out before It -a chance to get very far, and the!' pie In the house said: "To think of living next to l &; house and to have the cat sate t and our house by sending H C; alarm." And the firemen were still hotr Ire ci.t. Tab. Jtrof I cimini pi I lug a BH.tht I drann 1 the f And he was so glad that they pleased with him. It made oi t ring happier than ever I r c..-J Mnt'er'i Lilt Mr. John Flynn of Australia pave walking with his dog when a W it a, on him and severely injured nis To When he regained conscioosnea , j e (uscoverea max ne 4 himself. .... in. oM,f,il dn? was Still watch by him. Suddenly he tWr To: of a pencil in his pocket, aD,v. v., also an old newspaper. note to his .wife and & the collar of the dog. Be tnen j ( off, and the animal semed to Wf) stand what was required. J i The dog n rked furious at tl fj w. of the house until it was j Mrs. Flynn. She read the ino f , oc.utnnr-e. and the d f . - rescuers to the spot where Mr. j j lay Injured. I Saying, of Baby j j , -as B ' i Ray. age tnree jw - ef . to a man who bad lost two a looking . mgers. ne d ffbJ r i man's hand and finally aeu f j fingers were missing. tf e "I chopped them off while chopping wood." $g "Well." said Ray. "thetrext chop wood I'll use a ?8 Pood Dad , "Do yoo take after 1 I asked tbe caller, who tertalnedby little BobbT "Xo." replied the kid, w p, after daddy; be l tne ' anything and only gets Exchange. (C I The torero of the the tri with reiugn have i to the aehievi innvtli finer ( to oni dme. who I "All t to my And 8)leii(i er rti pati-h Slates "Jin here pvate coin. "At r Afflnr ton, i T , Tare Pi t: a Sea X I '. |