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Show THE DIXIE OWE I FOU IIIK STARS AND STRTPES Ned Roberts and Leland Faison were two American boys who lived in one of the cities of eastern United States. The two boys, strong, stalwart young fellows about seventeen years old, were the closest friends. Lelands mother was dead. He and his father were the only Faisons in the city, llis father, a man held in high esteem by all who knew him, was the president of a college in the city. One day when the two boys returned from a stroll in the woods, they were greeted with a bit of news thal surprised and disappointed Ned, at Mr. Faison informed them least. that he had accepted an offer to go to Germany and study the schools there, that he might better the college on his return. This meant that the boys were to be seperated for two years at last. When the time came to part, with vows of eternal friendship, the comrades reluctantly bade farewel to each other. Two long years passed slowly, bringing more disappointment to A good position having been Ned. offered Mr. Faison, he had decided to remain in Germany for a few Leland was to finish his eduyears. cation there, and then he and his father were to return to America. Three years later all the world shook with astonishment and surprise on learning that Germany and her Allies had declared war on France, Britain, and some of the less important countries of Europe. Everybody was in a fever of excitement, and anxiously watched proNed heard ceedings in the East. stories of the German soldiers in France and Belgium; how women were disgraced and sent to German as slaves, and how the Bodies were burning, plundering, killing and deThen came stroying as they went. the sinking of the Lusitania, and with it a score of other reports of how the Germans were destroying lives and property with their dreaded, formidable submarines. At last the Stars and Stripes were added to the Allied colors in the On June 5th. fight for freedom. 1917, every American man between the ages of twenty-on- e and thirty-on- e for registered military service in the United States Army, to fight, and, if necessary to die, for Freedom. Ned Roberts, who had been an inter ested watcher of the conflict that was raging in Europe, felt that he could no longer stand idly by and permit such outrages to go on without doing his bit to stop them. Two weeks later he was in an Officers Training Camp Somewhere in U. S. After seven months of hard work Ned received his commission as a Lieutenant in the U. S .Army, and a little later was sent across. He had not been in France long before he became acquainted with some of the When he saw the horrors of war. deserted French villages that had been ruined by the Germans, he firmly resolved that the Americans, ii they felt as he did, would win that war or die trying. Lieutenant Roberts had been over more than once. He had just returned from the front and was in one of the deserted French towns, resting, with his men, after their try ing experiences in the trenches. He was thinking of his boyhood days; of the good tijnes he and Leland Faison had had together. How different it is now, he Instead of being a boy at thought. home, having a good time, I am a soldier in Frahce, fighting for Freethe top dom. His heart swelled with tenderness and his eyes filled with tears as he thought of the dear loving mother at home, who hoped and prayed every He was night for his safe return. rudely awakened from his reveries by a messenger, who came thundering up on a motorcycle. Almost before he had stopped, the messenger came to Ned and handed him a slip of paper. It was an order for him to get his men to a town about fifteen miles away, that was in danger oi being captured by the Germans When Lieutenant Roberts and is men reached the village, the Germans already had possession of pari of it and were stubbornly contending with the Americans for the other part. Then Ned got into one. of tin- most d terrible fights that had occurred between the Americans and the Germans. It was a case of the man The men strongest winning. were too close to shoot so they used the butts of their rifles, their bayonets, or anything else they could get hold of. As Ned suddenly rounded a corner he saw a lone German soldier preparing to murder an old Frenchman 1 hand-to-han- Ned who had escaped until now. rushed up to the two and raised his to kill the young bayonet in mid-ai- r German, when something caused the latter to look around. Ned immediately saw something familiar in the countenance of the soldier, and the Boche also seemed to be affected, for his mouth slowly opened in astonishment and his bayonet slipped from his fingeis as though he had suddenIn a flash it all ly become paialyzed. dawned on Ned, and just as he uttered one name his own was pronounced. "Leland Ned ! Then the two boys rushed toward each other. Their strong young hands met in a firm, affectionate grip. As soon as they could trust themselves to speak, Ned told his Leland's was longer, and he story. told it hurriedly as they moved toward the scene of battle. After I had been in Berlin about three years I fell in love with a German girl and we were married. A few months after war was declared my father and I were forced into the I cannot forget the German army. Kaiseis words to us just before we left. He told us to remember the Huns of Rome, and to institute such terror into the hearts of our enemies that the word, German, would be pronounced with fear and dread. At first I couldnt murder a person in cold blood as the officers about us were doing, but gradually I got used to it. Everywhere we went we were hated and it made us Some of the men delighted in killing, for we heard of and saw nothing else. In the first battle my father was killed, and a little later I got word that my wife was dead. I made me careand less, reckless, discouraged. You know what I am capable of doing, for you saw. Young Faison had hardly finished speaking when with a sudaen screech and. a loud bang a shell exploded a short distance away. The shock knocked both soldiers down, and when Faison got to his feet he found his companion was wounded. He lifted Ned in his arms and started towards an American Ambulance that he saw a little way off. Just before he reached it there came a sharp sting, the feeling of a heavy weight, then aU was blackness. When Sergeant Faison of the Ger-- ( Continued on page 5) hard-hearte- d. |
