Show The Lone Tree Sentinel or Ghosts on oi the Firing Line I By Sergeant Arthur Guy uy Empey Author of Over the Top First C Call E Etc c. c 0 o-o-o Mr Empey's Empy's His Seventeen Seven Seven- teen Months in the First Line Trenches of the British Army ArIy y in France rance gilt 1917 by Syndicate Tim ThA McClore Newspaper rL vOne v- v One s sinny afternoon our guns gun's crew was sitting on the fire step of a frontline frontline front front- line trench just In front of ot Gomme- Gomme court wood Happy was busily engaged in rigging up a flash screen to hide the flare of our gun which we were to mount on the parapet that night Sailor Bill was sewing a piece of khaki cloth over his tin hat because th the night previous while on sentry go standing In the moonlight with his head over the top the rays from the had reflected from his steel hel met inet and a couple df of f German bullets had knocked up the dirt within a few feet of his head As was usual with him Hungry Foxcraft Foxcraft Foxcraft Fox- Fox craft was wrestling with a tin of bully beef while Curly Wallace Vallace was hunting huntIng hunt hunt- Ing for cooties Ikey Honney with our mascot Jim was sitting on the tue fire s step fire ep his back leaning against the traverse of the fire fire- I bay hay picking mud out of his harmonica with a sliver of wood Jim seemed happy and contented not knowing the fate In store for him Two days later poor Jim Was killed by a German bullet bullet bullet bul bul- i let and we burled buried him behind the lines placing a little wooden cross at the head of his grave After Arter working a afew afew afew few minutes at the harmonica Ikey ILey would woul pause put It to his lips and blow Into It a squeaky noise resulting Then Thea with a deep he would resume the picking process I had just finished a letter home and was sighing f for r the time to come when hen once again I would be able to say hello hello hel lo 10 to the old girl with the lamp In her I right right hand hand guarding New Y York rk har hat bor Although It was warm and nd sunny the floor of the th trench was about three Inches deep In soft sticky mud On my right I heard a low mutterIng mutterIng muttering mutter- mutter Ing and a splashing in the mud thud and around the traverse Into our carrying a box of ammunition on his shoulder came the most weird weird looking looking soldier I had ever seen se n. n As he passed In front of me he turned his gaze In my direction and a cold s lver seemed to run up and down dowa my spine as I I. I looked into his eyes They were uncanny un ia- ia canny a sort o of vacant stare as If the owner of them was looking into the Great Beyond As this soldier staggered staggered staggered stag stag- through the fire fire bay bay almost bendIng bending bend bend- Ing double under the weight of the ammunition and passed from view around the traverse it seemed to me meas meas meas as if the Grim Reaper had bad stalked through Shuddering a little I Instinctively turned my eyes In the direction of the rest o of the crew They were also staring at the traverse around which the looking gloomy gloom soldier had dis dis- appeared ily My heart sank to zero and I 1 had a sinking sensation In the region of ot my stomach and on the In Ia front of f me like a moving picture on a screen flashed a cemetery dotted all allover allover allover over with crosses I felt queer and uneasy Curly Wallace In a low half fright ened voice exclaimed Blime me that was Jerrys Jerry s brother the one who clicked Jt It It by the theold theold theold old l lone ne tree If you blokes want to get the creeps you ought to ear Im talk Some Someo o t the e fellows claim that Its It's unlucky to get im started They sye aye that one o o 0 is is sure to click In within a few days' days time but if Ff f f you fellows want to tyke the chance Ill I'll go over to is section which Is occupying the second on our left and see If I cnn can get Im ha to tellus tell tellus us ItS about is brother But Dut now mind this fellow Is a little balmy In Is n napper napper nap nap- p. p per so dont don't myke fun of ot Im 1 I confess that I was glad to be rid of him but my curiosity overcame my fears so I asked Curly to go ahead The rest fest of the crew weakly assented and Curly went after Jerrys Jerry's brother In about twenty minutes he returned with him Jerrys Jerry's brother came o over cr crand and sat on the next to me He sat silent for a few minutes and then In a thick piping pitched high-pitched voice spoke So yo yoG yo want to ear car about Jerry do you They called him Jerry but he be weren't taunted he be could just see see e e could see Into the future could sort o 0 tell what was to appen E could talk to the dead E 11 ad au and anu they told im always spirits around Im ghosts im ghosts you call em cm but there aint no such thing as ghosts they're they ra souls around they're about us now I now I slowly eased down th the firest p away from him Jerry used to talk to the dead e a would sit In a cemetery at night while in rest billets and receive messages from them what cant can't speak no more Sometimes lyte at night I t can caa ear I far voices c llin to me rae but as yet understand em cm but I will willI I I will My blood began to curdle Curly Wallace placing his hand on oa the speakers speaker's knee kne softly said mate we know you can can see far beyond us but tell us of Aunt ed Jerry and the pome e wrote the day before e clicked It at the lone Jone tree Jerrys Jerry's brother nodded In a comprehending comprehending comprehending compre compre- hending way and reaching Into the pocket of his tunic drew out ut a creased and muddy piece of f paper which he opened out upon his knee and then inan In Inan Inan an unnatural singsong voice which shivers through us recited the following poem Between the lines In No Man Land With foliage gone and ana tru c that's that torn tot A lonely sentry takes his stand Silently watching from morn to morn On starlit nights when moon Is bright And spreads Its rays of ghostlike beams Against the sky that tree of blight A ghastly hangman's gibbet seems When night Is black and winds wind's faint sigh Through its us branches moans A. A call to men To UTa die to die They answer it with groans and groans But nut obey the call can for more and more more And Death sits by and grins and grins And watches the growing fast score The harvest of his sentry's whims There Thera they lie huddled friend and foe Ghastly heaps English Hun and French French- And still those piles forever grow They are fed by the Men of the Trench No o wooden cross to mark their fall No tombstone theirs no carven rocks rust Just the Lone Treo Trea with Its grim call Which forever mocks and mocks When Jerrys Jerry's brother had finished a n dead dead silence ensued I 1 nervously lighted a fag and out of the corner of Df my mv eye noticed that Sailor Sanor Bill nm was uneasily squirming on the Letting out a sigh which seemed to whistle between his teeth our carried on Jerry weren't much at cheerful writing because e ad a a calling Even Cven back ome orne In Blighty mighty e were weren't l much ranch for lights nor fun E took toole after af af- af ter er our mother The neighbors called er r too but she She could see things like Jerry This ere re lone tree sentinel Jerry writes Hites about was an old tree In No NoMan's NoMans l Mans Man's land about a undred yards from froin out our Ul line front trench It was pretty veil vell knocked about by bullets and shell liell fragments It made e a pretty good guide post sort o 0 lonely like up ip the skyline at night Reconnoitering Re- Re patrols and antI parties par ties Lies used It to show em the wye back aCk to to their trenches because y v know out there In Ia the blackness Its It's easy to lose your wye unless you rou ave spirits a guldin you Lots of times English and German patrols would meet near the lonetree lonetree lone lonetree tree and many a and and to and to fight would tyke place around Its Its' roots At that part o 0 the line It were pretty ot ot what with the rifle and machine ma inn- chine gun chine gun firing The only time there would be a lull In the firing was when o D reconnoitering patrol was out In front and then as you know linow you couldn't fire for fear of a your own blokes All around the lone tree were scattered many bodies mostly English and German Some of em for weeks and aa va been a a lyia lym there when wIlen the wind were a from the German lines towards us It were of unpleasant In our front line Every time the th-e captain would all for soldiers for a reconnoitering patrol pa Jerry as you call Im always put is bloomin nyme on the list It got s that after a while e enever enever enever never asked if e wanted to go the captain would just naturally put Is down as In our dugout J Jerry rry would tell fell me meow meow meow ow many dead were around the tree Ow c s could count em in the dark I 1 dont don't know but e e could see see e e could see Sometimes In the the- daytime e Ie would rg rig up a periscope on is own wn and sit en cn the for hours out Bending Double Under the Weight of I the Ammunition In No Mans Man's land at the tho lone tree and the bodies around it This sort sorto o 0 got on our captains captain's nerves and ande ande e 0 gave Jerry orders not to use a pen perl periscope scope After Alter this order Jerry Terry used to sit off by on the a musin and a mustn't musin I The The- Theother other blokes laughed at tIm ira but I knew what he be were e e were to the spirit of the lone tree Then fe e got sort o o 0 reckless and because be be- because cause it were against orders for im to use a periscope e used to in the bloomin daytime stick Is ead end over overt t I the top and gaze In the direction of the lone tree Bullets from German snipers would kick up the dirt and find tear the sandbags all around Im but none of em ever It im No bullet ever myde could kill Jerry as you callun call un The rest resto 0 the blokes blokE's In the would pull Mm lim down off oil the tile They thought they were a savin his life but Jerry weren't afraid from bul bul- lets B E knew and so did I that they couldn't arm im Then our ur captaine captain captain- ne n- n e 0 ad lad brains e ad said lad said that Jerry was balmy and gave orders to the sergeant ser ser- sergeant ser geant major to tyke Ira un back bacle to the doctors to send im to Blighty Jerry was told about this the night before e was to leave E B was greatly upset but talk to the spirits the the air was full of em I lem-I I could ear their voices too That night about ten o'clock Jerry was missed The next morning e Ie was still a Fot For two days was card eard of Jerry Then Thea the Royal Irish Rifles RUles took toole over a sector of trench on our right A lot of our blokes told em lem about Jerry bela A few of em lem got around me and I I. I described Jerry to em but I weren't afraid for Jerry Jerry Jerry-I I knew where e was e was e were with Is spirits That night an Irish patrol went out and when they returned they brought a body with them said they'd found it at the foot o the lone tree It were Jerry all right but e weren't It lIt no no- where Two bloomin doctors examined exam exam- ined med Im lookin for wounds E B was dead all right and that bloom n cap cap- Bi I I I Brought In the Beeding Bleeding Body of Jim I tai tal tain taie i e e ad brains e was ad ad was reo responsible re re- re- re o for is d death ath E B ad tried to tyke Jerry from Is spirits so Jerry crawled out t to the l lone ne tree to answer Its call E 13 answered it it and nowes e Ie loved and andson now es cs with the spirits soni son some time t me Ill I'll be able to talk to imEs im Es Eg with em all all all' allright right I know know know-I I kno know Just then Jim started to whimper I 1 guess if the truth were known we all felt like whimpering With Without ut another n ther word Jerrys Jerry's broth broth- brother brothen er en get got up and muttering to himself passed out of sight around the trav tray erse As he lie disappeared from from view Sailor Bill DIll exclaimed my deadlights but if a bloke like that ever slipped in the navy In a fortnights fortnight's time ime e would bloomin well be an admiral because e would b be the only one left in the blinkin navy Gives me the proper creeps O Ow In ell dl is company stands f for r im lm I dont don't know Ow about it Curly Curly why why e been sent tc tt flighty Blighty as as balmy Til ru tell you Bill answered Curly This bloke only gets these fits occa occa- Es js a d d-d d d good soldier soldier- always on the job and next to Corporal Cor French and his brother Jerry es the best scout for work well wellIn In No Mans Man's ans an's land that's ever ever put a afoot afoot foot In these blinkin pitches ditches Its It's anI only lately that es cs been these spells spell so often and yesterday major told me that c e was und r observation ob oh a nd 11 d that It would only ony be zi n short time before e fe was back Is rs it a fact Curly asked Happy that th t this Jerry crawled out there the way his brother says and and that he was was found dead without a wound on him If Its It's so he must hav ha have e bad a bloody poor heart and died that way Curly answered It sure sure is so because because be be- cause I gc it tt from a leftenant In Jerrys Jerry's s section Jim rIm was still whimpering This got goton goton goton on Ikey's Ik ys y's nerves he gave him a sharp cuff cut on the side of the v 1 tad ad This was the first time a hand had been raised against Jim since he had joined us months back He gave Ikey key a piteous piteous piteous pite pite- ous look and sticking his stump of a atall tail tall between his legs disappeared from the fire bay Two days later Iter J ter Ikey made up for that slap because at the risk of his life during an attack he raced Into lato No Mans Man's land under heavy fire fi-e and brought In the bleeding body of Jim All afternoon we tried to be as cheerful as possible but our merriment merri merrl ment meat was very ery artificial Every laugh seemed forced and strained Haunted Haunt ed J had bad Jerry rry sure put the kibosh on us That night Curly Happy and I were on watch from ten to twelve melve and believe belIeve believe be be- lieve me me we never spent a worse two hours In our lives There was not a n word spoken among us I 1 was as think think- In tag Ing o oj Haunted Daunted Jerry and no doubt the other two were doing likewise A few later days Jerrys Jerry's brother was sent back to Blighty and n ne doubt right now is In some Insane sane lum lam in Blighty communicating with Haunted Jerry and his spirits |