Show 4 r IK A JH I 1 Copyright 1918 I 4 f Continued from Yesterday I CHAPTER XV Listening XV-Listening Listening Post 1 IT fT T was WiS G 0 in ill the morning when we ve C arrived at our rest bill bilI billets ets and we were allowed to sleep until noon that is s if il we wanted to go without our breakfast For s sixteen days we wc remained remain cd in rest billets digging roa roads s drilling I and other oilier fatigues an and then back into the line front-line trench Nothing happened that night but the tho the next afternoon I found out out that a bomber Is general utility In man a sec see tion About Abou t 5 j o'clock In the afternoon our OUI came down the trench and stopping stopping- in front of ot a bunch bUllch of ot us on n the fire ire step with a broad road grin on his face asked Who ho is h going boing to volunteer for tor lis listening lIs- lIs toning post tonight 1 I need tS two men It is needless needles to say no one volunteered volunteered volun volun- 1 because It Is anything but a a. cushy Job I began to feel as I k knew lew It was getting around for tor m my turn Sure SUle enough with Ith another grin he lie s said I 1 you ou and Wheeler heeler are due so tome come down Into m my dugout for Cor in- in at 6 C I Just as he lie left and was going around a traverse tra Fritz turn turned cd loose with a machine machillo gun and the bullets ripped the sandbags rl right ht over o his head It gave me great pleasure to see him duck against the parapet lIe He was as getting gettins a taste of ot what we would get later Intel out I in front I IThen Then of or cour course e It began to rain I 11 knew lenew it n wa was the forerunner of or a miserable miserable mis mis- erable night for 01 us Every cry time I 1 had hall to go o out in iii front It Just naturally rained Old Jupiter Pluvius must have had it In for tor meAt me A At t six Ix we reported for tor instructions I They were simple and cas easy All we had to do was to crawl out ut into No NoMan's NoMans o Mans Man's Land lie on our bellies Jellies with our ears to the ground and listen for tor the tap tap of or the German engineers or 01 sappers who might be tunnelling under 1 0 Xo No Mans Man's Land to establish a mine-head mine beneath our trench or Of course In our orders we were told not to bo be captured b by German patrols 01 or reconnoitering parties Lots Lol of oC breath Is wasted on the lie Western l Front giving BIll silly cautions cautious As soon as it was wag dark Wheeler heeler and andI I crawled to our post which was about way half between the lines It was raining the ground was a asea asea sea of or sticky mud anti and clung to us u like gi glue u e. e We 0 took toole turns In listening with our r ears cars to the lie ground I would listen for tor twenty minutes while Wheeler would be on tho time qui lul iVe he for German patrols We e each wore a wrist watch and believe mc me neither one of us dill did over ove twenty minutes The rain soaked ed us to the skin and antI our OUI ears were full of ot ofin in mud u d E ct Every few minutes a bullet would crack overhead o or 01 a l machine gun would traverse back and forth Then all firing fIring- suddenly ceased I whispered to Wheeler heeler Keep your eye cye sl skinned mate most lIk likely I Fritz has a patrol out out that's that's why the time Bodies Boches have havo stopped firing tiring We re were each armed with a rifle and bayonet and three Mills bombs to be used for tor defense only I had m my ear car to the tho ground roun 1 All of or ofa ora a su sudden I h heard ard faint dull ull thuds Ina In Ina a very low but excited voice I whispered whispered whis whis- to Wheeler I think the they are ale f mining listen He put his ear to the thc ground round and antI inan In Inan Inan an unsteady 1 voice olce spoke Into m my car Yank that's a l patrol and Its It's ht headIng head head- adIn ad- ad In lag Ing our out way For Gods God's sake sako keep still I was as 13 still as ns a mouse mouse and was scared stiff stier Har Hardly breathing and with viOl eyes trIng tryIng trying try try- Ing to pierce the Ink inky blackness we e waited I 1 would have given gl a thousand thousand thou thou- sand pounds to have been safely In my dugout Then we plainly heard footsteps and our hearts stood still A dark form suddenly loomed up In front of inc me it looked as big as the Woolworth building I could hear the blood rushing through h m my veins and It sounded as loud as Niagara Falls Forms seemed to emer emerge e from the darkness ss There wore CIO seven of ot them J i I Tommys Tommy's Dictionary of I j jI i the Trenches I I D. D A A. c. c Divisional Ammunition I I Column A collection of ot men I II I horses hortes and anti limbers lImbel's which supplies sup sup- sup sup-I I plies ammunition for tOl the line lino andI and I l keeps s Tommy awake anake while In inI I billets with their Infernal noise i I The They are like c owls owls always always workIng work work- I Ing InS at night 15 D. C C. C M. M r. r Distinguished 1 Conduct Conduct I Medal A piece of ot bronze bronzo rom o which j ja I I a soldier gets ets for COI bein being foolish Coolish I 1 I u. u C. C I I 1 Divisional Concert Party I I I An a aggregation of or would-be would j ac actors acI acI ac- ac I tors tOl'S who Imo inflict their talents on onI I I Tommy at half halt a franc per head I l rr Not ot an absconding ca cashier cashI cash cash- cashI h- h I I ier leI but a Tomm Tommy who ho has been I II I sentenced to extra pack Jack drill for tor I I breathing while on parade or doing do- do ing lug some sonic other little thing timing like that Dekko Ju ro To look lOk a n look at nt some some- t thing hI nl Detonator A contrivance e In a al I bomb containing fulminate or of mercury which ignited by hy a I fuse Cuse explodes the charge I Urr Jer utI Deux Tomm Tommys Tommy's Tommy's Tommys Tom Tom- m mys my's s French for tOI two eg eggs s t Dial Another term of or Tommys Tommy's for tor hIs Ills map or face race I I In lii Digging DI trenches ant I dU dugouts in a a. captured 1 position I larty It A detail of or men men I told off ort to tu tU dig trenches graves J or dugouts Tommy Is not particUlar par par- what he lie has ha to dig its tt's the actual digging ho he objects to t In all T I tried trie to wish them away T I never hover wished harder In m my life lIe They muttered 1 a few fow wor words in German relman and m melted Hc 1 into the blackness I didn't wishing ng either cither All of ot a sudden we heard a stumble a muddy splash and amid a muttered 1 Donner Don 1011 ncr ner and ancl BUtzen One of or the Bodies had tumbled into a shell hole Neither of or us laughed At that time time time-it It dl didn't strike us as funny About twenty minutes after the Germans Ger Ger- mans mau had bad disappeared 1 something from the tho rear real grabbed me b by the foot toot I nearly fainted with fright Then a welcome whisper In a n. cockney accentI accent I S' S sy weve we've come to relieve you Wheeler heeler and I crawled back to our trench we looked ed like c wet hens and felt worse After Arter a swig of or o rum we were soon fast tast asleep on the the Ire step stepIn In our wet clothes The next morning I was as stiff asa aRa as aR asa a poker and eVer every Joint ached like abad a n abad bad tooth but I was still alive athe so It did riot not matter r f c I It XVI X r I n 1 as milE da day lay after this I 1 received the T TilE J. J glad g tidings that I would occupy the machine gunners' gunners dugout right near the advanced artillery artiller observation post This dugout was a room roomy affair dl dry as tinder and real cots in it it These cots had been made b by the tho R. R Es E.'s who sho had previously pre occupied the time dugout Iwas I Iwas Iwas was the first to enter and promptly made a sign boa board Id I'd with my name and number on it and suspended it from tho the foot toot of or the lie most comfortable cot col therein n. n In the trenches it Is always as first come first served ser and tills this Is lived up to b by all Two R. R F. F A. A men Royal Field FleM Artillery Artiller Artillery Ar Ar- tillery tiller from flom the nearby observation post u ere cre allowed 1 the privilege pr of or stopping In this tills dugout while off ore duty One of ot these men Bombadier l r Wilson by name who belonged to Battery D S. S seemed to take a n. lilting to me an arid and I returned this feeling In two days days' time we were pretty prett chummy chumm and he told me how hl his batter battery battery bat bat- ter tery In the tho earl early da lays days s of ot the tho war had bad put over a stunt on Old Pepper and had gotten otten awa away with It I will endeavor to give the stor story as S asfar far tar as ns memory will permit in his own on words words' f I 1 came out with the First t Expeditionary Force and like lIJe all the rest thought ht wo we would have the enem enemy licked In Jig time and be able to cat eat Christmas dinner at home Well Veil so far I have eaten two Christmas dinners dinners din din- ners nerg in the lie trenches and am liable Hable to eat two more time tho wa way say things thing's are arc pointIng point- point Ing That is I If Fritz dont don't drop a bang on me an and send me inc to Blight Blighty Sometimes Sometime I 1 wish I would woul 1 get hit because its it's no great Ie t picnic out here and two twenty months of or It mal makes es you ou te fed 1 up Ul Iff Ita fairly cush cushy now compared to what It used to be although I admit this tills trench is a trifle rough roush Now we send over oer five shells shell to their one We c dro g getting our own hack but Inthe in time the early days daN it was different Then Ihen you ou hall had to take everything e without a n reply In fact we would get twenty shells In iii return for every one we sent over Fritz seemed to enjoy enJo It It but we British didn't we were ere the sufferers Just one casualty after atter another Sometimes Sometimes Some Some- Sometimes times whole platoons would disappear especially when a Jack Jacl Johnson plunked ed into their middle It got so bad that a fellow tellow when writing home wouldn't ask for tor an any to be besent besent sent ent out because he hc wils wits was afraid ho he I h 41 I tn t. t II h u 11 After the tile drive to Paris Pails was turned back trench w warfare started Our General grabbed 1 a map amp drew a pencil line lino across It it an and said Dig here then ho wen went t back to his tea a and n 1 Tommy armed armell himself with a pick an and 1 shovel and start started d digging lies lie's been digging digging dig dig- 11 gin ging t e ever r since Of or course we ve dug dug- those tr ches at night but it was hot work with the rifle und gun machine fire tire The stretcher-bearers stretcher worl worked harder than the diggers digger g Those trenches bloom bloomin In ditches ditche I call calI them were a nightmare They were only about five feet teet deep and you OU lt used e 1 to get et the backache from bending down don It wasn't exactly safe sate to stand upright either because as soon as your our napper showed showell over the tile top a bullet would bounce off it It or else come so close It would make your hair stand We Ve We used to fill sandbags s and stick them on top of oC the parapet to make It higher but no use use they would bethere bo be I there about an hour an and then lien Fritz would turn loose an and 1 blow them to bits bIte 01 My neck to be sore from froni ducking shells and hu bullets lIe ts Where here m my batter battery was stationed a n hast hasty trench had bad been dug which the boys nicknamed Suicide Ditch and believe belle me rue me Yank this was the original oris- oris inal Suicide Ditch All AU time the others are I Imitations Imitation iii i La t I o a s. s When a fellow went vent Into that trench it was an even cven gamble that he lie I would come out on a stretcher At Atone Atone Atone one time a Scotch battalion held it ft and when thc they heard the betting was oven even monc money noney that they'd thel come out on stretchers the they grabbed all the tho bets In sight Like e a lot of ot ball bally baBy idiots several of or the tho battery latter men mon fell tell for or their ther garne and put up real money mone The Jocks suffered a lot of ot casualties and the thc prospects looked bright for Cor the battery men to collect sonic some easy mone money So when the battalion was re relieved relieved re- re the gamblers lined lIne 1 up Several Jocks got their money moner for tOI emerging safely but the ones who sho clicked ed It ft weren't there to pa pay Tho The artillerymen artillery artiller- men had never thought It out that wa way Those Scuttles wore bound to be bc sure winners no matter mattei how lios' the wind blew So take a i tip from me never bet with a Scottie cause you'll lose mone money Continued Tomorrow |