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Show The Fusilier Giants l Under Fine fv m 38 Sergeant Arthur Guy Empcy Author of "Over tho Top," , "First Call' Etc o-o-o I Mr. Empey's Expert- encesDuringHisSeven- teenMontha in theFirst t Line Trenches of the British Army in France j (Udpnlbt1917lbjrThicClant!owipapr Wo wore Bitting on n flrcstcp In tho front lino trench. It wns bright nnd sunny nnd wo were bubbling over with r flood humor. Thcro were two reasons L' for this: First our battalion was to , bo relieved nt nlno that night nnd .wo 1 wcro going back for n two weeks' rest. Second It wns spring. Wo could cmcll It In tho nlr. Even tlio wind blowing from tho German trenches In Cur direction had a sweet und I "springy" smell. ' Aboul thirty yards down n communication communi-cation trench to tho lpft was- nn orchard. or-chard. Tho trees wcro scarred from bullets nnd fragments of shell;' but oven theso bnttcrcd trunks could not resist tho feel of spring, becauso hero nnd thcro on tho twigs nnd brunches could bo seen bursting buds. Flitting nround wcro numerous birds, chirping, nnd sometimes wrnngllng among themselves. them-selves. To mo It seemed odd that birds could nccustom themselves to war. Occa-! Occa-! elonally n German shell, or perhaps I ono of ours, would go screaming over tho orchard. Tho birds did, not seem i to mind tho noise Just carried on with their ncst-bulldlng. ' In our company was nn American named Alexander Stowart. Naturally ho nnd I wero very chummy. Stewart nnd I wero tho chief "amusement promoters" In tho com-I com-I pany, tho Tommies constantly looking ' to us for Homo new diversion. In tho English nrmy u Tommy seems to hnvo tho ldcn that nn Americans I chief vocation In tho United Stnles Is to invent, nnd to keep on Inventing. Of course, Stewart nnd I did not In any way try to dlsslpnto this Idea; In fact, wo encouraged It, nnd took great h . prldo In being looked up to In ' this I way; but, bcllovo me, It kept us bust- L ting to keep tho Tommies nmuscd. 1 P It was getting too warm for soccer footlmll, nnd wo know ns soon as wo got Into rest billets that tho Issuo would bo put right up to us: "How ii ro you going to amuso us whllo bo-?. bo-?. hind tho lines?" Wo wcro Amcrlcnns,.nnd rod-blood- J cd; spring wns In tho nlr, nnd our thoughts turned to whnt every Amcrl- can boy Is thinking of upon tho arrival of spring baseball. I turned my eyes to tho muddy parados para-dos (rear wall of tho ren?h) nnd fixed my gazo on n fragment of German shell embedded In tho mud. Pretty noon this fragment seemed to chn'ngo Into n baseball player, with mask, protector pro-tector nnd catcher's mitt. lib wns crouching behind tho homo plqtq nnd nlgnnllng to tho pitcher. Just (hen Stowart said: "Say, Emp, wonder It wo could tench tho Tommies liow.to piny baseball?" I Immediately turned in his direction. Ho wns nlso staring nt that fragment :' of shell. I answered: "Did you over try to tench n Chinaman how to speak French?' no. got it right nwny nnd n dejected look spread over his countenance, nnd ho let out a long-drawn sigh. A Tommy sitting on my right butted In with: "Did you syo byschnll, Yank? Why, I saw n gymo In London, nnd It is absurdly easy to plyc, but I cawn't eyo I fnwncy h'lt" With n look of disgust Stewart turned to mo and said : "I guess you'ro right, Emp, It would bo easier to teach ho Chinaman French." That night wo wero relieved and H' went behind tho lines. Tho next afternoon, nftcr parade, wo wcra sitting in an orchard drinking ten. About n month before, Stewart mill X had taught tho Tommies how to J pitch horseshoes. There, was great rivalry among tho different squads, Hj each squad having a team. Just tlion Corporal Wntktns camo over to us and asked : "Whcro aro tho 'orse shoes? I cawn't And 'em." Another Tommy answered : "Strnfo mo pink, whcro aro your h'cyes? Cawn't you bloomln' well seo tho h'of-fleers h'of-fleers usln' 'cm bo'lnd that billet over" thcro? Bllmo mo, they're nlw'ays u'gummln' tho gymc." Suro enough, tho officers wcro using our horseshoes. Stowart, with a look of depression fl on his face, turned to me and said: H "V'.-il, hero goes, Emp. Steve Brodlo took a chanco, so I might bo ablo to got away with this." H Then, turning to tho Tommies, ho EI eold: "Did any of you blokes over U lic&r of John McGrnw?" HJ Throo of tho Tommies answered, H "Yes." H A sunny smllo and a look of hope H flitted across Stewart's face, and ho breathlessly asked, "Who Is he?" Tho J tlu-eo started to answer nt once, 'but H Hrowort, majestically extending Ida H i ..nil, palm forward, said, "Got In l.je. ono at a time. Now, Perkins, who J ' Is John Mcflrav?" J I'ei'J-.lim niiHwercd; "Why, 'e's a Km 'iayfi ccrporal In tlio Koyal Irish ItlleV Ae:crding to Stewart's look, that Tftinlny, should, huvo Immediately drapped dead. 'liirnlng to tho iext, ho said, "'CuN ly, 'or tho lovo Mike, who Is ho?'" Curly, with u knowing look, answered, an-swered, "E runs tho King's Arms public 'ousc, down llyo lane." With n piteous look, Stewart glnnccd my way nnd I jerked my thumb In (ho direction of the other Tommy, who seemed to bo bursting with suppressed eagerness. Stewart, looking nt him, ejaculated", "Spit It out before you choke." This fellow, with n superior nlr, turned In the direction of tho two dejected de-jected Tommies, nnd nnswered, "John MncGraw, why everybody knows 'Im; 'o was tho fellow In tho London Scottish Scot-tish who clicked 'crucifixion' for stealing tho rum Issuo nt 'Wipers'. E was n lad, not 'arf ho weren't." A hissing nolso Issued from Stewart's Stew-art's Hps, nnd ho seemed to collnpso llko a punctured toy balloon. After a few seconds ho Btrnlghtcncd up nnd n look of determination camo Into his eyes. Addressing tho Tommies, ho exploded : "You blokes nro enough to mnko Wily Sundny tako to drink. Now, listen hero, nnd let It sink In deep. John- McGrnw Is tho manager of tho New YorlcGlnnts. Ho Is n baseball player; get it? A baseball player. A guy what manages a baseball team. And nny fellows who can't ranko good on his' team, or in tlio bush leagues, he sends 'cm a cricket hot with their noma inscribed on it and pays their passage to England. Get me?" Several Tommies took exception to this, nnd said that they had followed cricket nil their lives, but had never heard of nny American cricketers bo-Ing bo-Ing sent over by n Mr. McGrnw. At this -I exploded, nnd Stowart went up in the nlr. Standing up and turning to tho bunch under tho trees, pointing point-ing his finger in their direction, ho let out: "Now listen, this Is good. I'm going go-ing to send down to tho ordnnnro corps nnd get n dozen gimlets nnd some funnels. With theso gimlets I'm going to boro holes In your 'nnppers,' nnd using tho funnel I'm going to pour Into those garrets of yours a llltlo brains. Then, nfter you'vo acquired gray matter, I'm going to tench you tho great American gamo of baseball ; and then when through teaching you, Tin going to retire to tho Old Soldiers' homo ns physically nnd mentally unfit, un-fit, becauso I know tho Job will put mo there." Tho Tommlc3 did not tnko exception excep-tion to his pointed remarks about their hick of brains. They overlooked this becauso they wcro very eager to learn how to play baseball. A chorus of, "Go to h'lt, Yank, that's what wo want; something new out 'ere In this bloody mess of mud and 'cooties.' " , Stewart said that wo would havo to talk tho matter over, and beckoning tp one, went In tho direction of tho billet. I followed. Ho then outlined his scheme. Wo wero to form two bnscbnll classes, Stowart In chnrgo ot one, I tho other. On tho plaster of tho billet wo carefully scratched out n baseball diamond, und then culled tho Tommies In. They rat nround llko llttlo children chil-dren in n school, eagerly Intent. For two hours wo explained tho gnmo to them." When wo got through thoy all knew how, to play baseball on pnper. Wo dismissed them, telling them another an-other class would bo hold tlio following follow-ing nftcrnoou: That night, Stewart nnd I, around tho stump of a candle, went .Into details for organizing two teams. Everything nr.-ioiircd rosy, nnd wo wcro highly Jubilant. A Tommy cased over In our direction aud innocently inno-cently asked : "I syo, Yank, isn't it necessary to 'nvo bysehnlls and clubs? Wo cawn't very well pl'y without 'cm." This wns n bombshell to us. In our eagerness nnd excitement we had quite forgotten that bats, balls nnd gloves wcro necessary. I th6ught Stewart was going; to burst. Letting out n "Well, I'll bo blowcd I" which nearly blow the candlo out, ho turned a silly- look In my direction, and I looked Just ns cheap. At last tho Tommies hnd stumped us, nnd wo could seo our reputation fading Into nothing. A dend silence reigned for over nvo minutes. Then Stewart started madly" to open his haversack.' hav-ersack.' ' I thought ho hud suddenly gone crazy. I reached my hand In tho direction 'of my bayonet, fenrfng that ho was looking for n Mills' bomb. When htf drew his hand out, hanging to his fist-was n writing pad. I let go of ray bnyonet. ' Borrowing n pencil from mo'(Stownrt wns always borrowing), borrow-ing), he-started writing. I thought perhaps per-haps ho wns going to commit suicide nnd was writing a farewell letter home, hnd asked ' lilm what was up. Ho whispered to me: "Emp, wo'ro two bloody fools not to have ftliought of this long ago. All WO'vo'got t do t0 wrlt0 nomo t0 0,10 oft tho Now ( York papers, asking tho renders. tosend out bnscbnll stuff to is, nnd it'-wlll only bo a matter of a few weeks when wo will havo enough to 'equip two teams." f offered fq, wrlto tho letter, nnd With Stewart bending over me, I eagerly wrote nn appeal to tho readers of n Nev York newspaper, nnd turned the letter over to tho mall orderly. , Wo thdn explained to tho Tommies that equipment was necessary and that wo had written home, but whllo waiting wait-ing for tho baseball stuff to arrive wo would carry on with our instruction classes. Tho next day Stewart nnd I mado a vobIen baseball out of an ofd puttee, i'lxed up a temporary diamond, and showed tho Tommies tho general run of tho gamo. Tnclr nntlcs wcro nwful.J If wo had used n regular baseball I don't think there would hnvo been a Tommy in tho squad without n blnck eye: Did you ever watch n girl trying to catch n ball? Well, tho girl's team alongsldo of somo of thesp Bommtcs would hnvo looked llko tho winner In our world's scries. It wns hard work' keeping their Interest up. Two weeks Inter wo went up Into-tho front lino; then enmo back ngnln for another rest. Tho Interest In baseball wns dying out nnd wo wcro nt our wli s end. Tlmo passed, nnd wo figured out-that out-that wo ought to bo hearing from our appeal, but nothing enme. Then, pneo ngnln wo went Into tho front lino trench. . Tho Tommies wcro very skeptical nnd every tlmo bnscbnll wns mentioned men-tioned they would gazo In our direction with n sneering look. This completely got our gonts. Ono evening wo wcro sitting in a dugout of tho support trench; It wns raining llko tho mischief, and wo wcro. cotd nnd downhearted. Pretty soon the rations enmo up. Tho ration party generally brings tho rations down Into tho dugouts, but tho two men cnrrylng our "dlxlo" set It down in tho mud of tho trench nnd almost "shot tho chute's" down tho cntrnnco to tho dugout. dug-out. They Wcro breathless with excitement. ex-citement. Ono of them yelled out: "Yank, there's n limber full of par-cols par-cols down In tho reserve dugout They're nil addressed to you,, h'Em-pcy, h'Em-pcy, and thcy'ro from America." Stewart let out a shout and I felt wnrm nil over. How wo lorded it over those poor Tommies. That night wo wcro to bo re)lcvcd(nnd go back-to back-to rest billets. Wo could hardly wait for tho time. Tho next morning was Sundny, nnd nftcr church pnrudo wo mado n mad rush to tho orderly room to get our mall. Tho quartermaster sergeant was waiting for me. nnd behind him stood every officer in tho company, trying to dlsg'ilso tho expectant look On their faces. Every eyo was turned In tho direction of n heap of parcels, I thought tho "quartor" never would start. Even .tho cnptaln could not stnnd It, and giving way to his eagerness, eager-ness, said: "Sergeant, you had better bet-ter Issuo tho mnll." Stowart and I wcro all anxiety. Then, stooping down, tho sergeant took up a parcel and rend off: "Era-pey, "Era-pey, No. 0203," nnd throw it over to mo. I cnught It oft 'tho fly. Tho sergeant ser-geant kept ou reading out "Empcy," nnd parcels enmo through tho nlr llko n bombardment. The first parcel I picked up was stamped "Passed by Censor," nnd con- Contained Twelvo Brand-New tiase-balli. tiase-balli. tnlned twelvo brnnd-no'w baseballs, or nt least, cloven, mid tho remains of one. This twelfth ball was stamped, "Opened by Censor," but search ns I could, I could find no stami? reading "Sewed Up ljy Censor." Wo did tho sowing up, but that bnll looked like n durk'i egg when wo hud finished. Stewart nnd I roundly cussed the censor. cen-sor. Later, wo both cussed tho Inventor Inven-tor of baseball. Thcro was a reason. rea-son. TJio readers of tho newspaper appealed ap-pealed to had nobly responded jo our appeal. Tliero wera enough gloves nnd balls for two teams, nnd oven n chest protector and mask. Tho masl,-was masl,-was nn article-of great curiosity to all. Somo of them thoug'it It was n bomb protector. Every ono In tun tried It ou, nnd every one, "upon lonr Ing that the cntcher was to wear the mask, wanted Immediately to sign up fo-tho fo-tho position. Stewart and I could have been elected to parliament right there, If theso Tommies coull havo bad their way. Tho next afternoon tho candidates, forty In nil, nnd tho wholo company, turned out en mnsso on the baseball field, which wo had luld out during our previous stay in rest billets. From that day on, Stewart and I led a dog's life. Though on paper everything looked bright, and tho candidates can-didates wero letter perfect In tho game, or thought they were, on tho field they werq dubs of the worst caliberregular cali-berregular bonehcads. If McOraw of tho Glnnts had had that mob wished on htm ho would havo chucked up his Job and taken the stump for womn suffrage ; eo you 'can appreciate appre-ciate our fix. Stewart wns n really good pitcher; plenty ft curved stuff, having plnjod seml-prO ball in tho United States. If wns ''my Intention to catch for him, end fllljn tho other positions with the most likely candidates. This srhomo did not work In with the popular ver- 'siou a uttio bit. Out of tho forty try-fng try-fng for tho tenfuvtWcnty-elght Insisted Insist-ed Jon Jielng catcher. 'jThey.:,w,intJeil to . Wear Mint mnAki If thoro'hnd' been n cnmern( cndi fofvtho fbrtyvduld have JiaiJ n photo-trtlcen ofihlmsclf. wearing tho "wlro cngeit' Hero, was a great illlcmniS., At that 'limq I was only; n private, nnd thcro ivero sergeants, corporals, cor-porals, and oyen nn officer, who wnntJ td to cn'tchV Stowart ngnln enmo to tho rescue. Calling me nsldo, ho sold: "Leave lt'to m'cj' i2mp, I'll fir 'cm. I'll try out each ono In Uirn. Let them wear the mask, and Til send In sonlo curves nnd when ,the ball cracks, them on tlio shins n couplo of times you couldn't pay 'cm to put on tho cage" The Tommies worn-Htrnngo to curved halls, and Stowart hud speed. It, did niy heart good to seo him datnppn'thclr nrdor nnd dent their' nnntonly nt tho same time. Tho Tommies would seo the bnll coming to them and would -reach up their hands to get It. Then tho ball would "brcak" nnd hit them 'on the shin or knee. After flvo or six had retired rubbing 'sorb spots and cussing Stcwnrt outjmb ono else wanted want-ed to catch, and tlio situation wns saved. Tommy is a natural born soccer player and clover with his feet, but stupid with Ms hands when It comes to baseball. Severn! of thom hod a bad habit of stopping grounders with their feet, especially our shortstop. Ho would seo a hot grass-cater coming his wdyr then, instead of using' his, hands, ho would put Ills foot In front of. It. The ball would climb his leg and get him on the clitn- or in the eye. After receiving a puffed-up Up and a beautiful beauti-ful black eye, ho flatly refused to play Itinlrss I Would let him wear tho mask. Americans, plcturo a shortstop wear-'Ing wear-'Ing n catcher's mask, nnd '.then sympathize sym-pathize with Stpwnrt nnd ,mc. Tho shortstop jvi" n Bcrcnnt., fthd through diplomatic reasons, I gnvo tho mask to. him. At this every inffeldcr wanted to wear It. Stowart, solved, tho problem prob-lem by putting In .another, shortstop and giving mo'tho mnsk. In England they hnvo a gamo called ."rounders," In which ,you nro supposed sup-posed to hit tho hnscrunncr with tho ball to put him out. This is generally; general-ly; a tennis ball and docs "not hurt very much., . - , Well, thoso Tommies hnd a hnblt of lamming tho bnscball with nil their might nt tho unfortunnto runner. Many tin early prnctlco -was broken up this way, .becauso tho. team- would loso Interest, In-terest, n bnsqb.al) whentlicy had a chanco to. view n fight between a giver and n receiver. 4 . After about ten days' pfactlco wo hnd picked two pretty fair teams nnd arranged for. n crub gome. Stewart's sldo won, duo to his pitching. Then, as Is usual In baseball, things began to happen. A jinx seemed to refit .on our candidates. Every tlmo wo had to goaup tho lino on a working pnrtyi ono or two of tho players would get wounded or killed; in fact, being n baseball plnycr got to bo a, perfect Jonah, and tho Tommies commenced getting superstitious. If ono of our team happened to bo working among ten or twelvo other compnny men, ho was suro to pet hit, whllo tho other fellows fel-lows came thfough'wlthout a scratch. Stewart and I also began to get frightened, fright-ened, and decided to chuck up tho wholo thing beforo wo got It ourselves. Then wo went further back behind tho lines. During this stay wo rounded out a passable team. . A Canadian battalion, Just sent out from England, on tholr wny tb "Wipers," went Into billets about a milo from us. This was our chnnco. Stewart went over nnd challenged them to a gnmo for tho following Sunday. Sun-day. Tho chullcngo was accepted. Wo had n week's time In which to strengthen somo weaknesses nnd to teach tho bunclra llttlo "Insldo" bnso-ball. bnso-ball. Then tho Jinx popped up ngnln. On tho morning of tho game with tho Canndlans, our clovercst Infleldcr, tho first bascmnn, picked up nn old German hand grenade and brought It to tho .billet. This man was n grent souvenir collector; always hammering nt rfauU" shells, trylug to remove tho nose-paps. Seeing him fooling around with tho Gcrmait bomb, I told hint to throw It nwny that ono could never trust thoso things, pud thatl did not want to tako nny, chances of losing a first bnsemnn; but being of a naturally curious dlspo-sltlon. dlspo-sltlon. ho refnied to do so. Taking tho bomb out behind tho billet, ho proceed-rd proceed-rd to .take liberties with Its mcclinn-ism) mcclinn-ism) result, right hnnd. blown off and nnoth'er vnenncy to bo filled nt first hafie. "What wo sold about him would noTbo fit for puVlcntlon. vTho game wni scheduled for two o'clock, nnd exactly nt qnc-thlrty-fivo Mr. Fritz plunked a stray "flvo nlno" shell Into our l.tfleld' betwijejf amo and-, first base, Linking a hole big enough for n limber to'hlde In. This meant picks nnd shovels for all hands tolflll In tho hole. iBy this tlmo njnrge crowd gf rooters root-ers for both sldes haiTlliied themselves nlon'g this foul,.Utie '.The compliments thatiwere wnftcd-'liaek nod orth made the Chaplain pnck'..j3pf,Bpd lenve beforo tlio. game stnrteV; Tiicri tho betyncoinmcnced. II waxed hot nnd'"lurlo.-. I don't believe be-lieve thcro was a loose penny in the crowd nftcr all bets had been placed. Ste,wart nnd I tried to dlscourago this betting becauso we .knew that if wo lost.wo would bo ostracized from that time on Wo explained to tho Tommies Tom-mies thyti tho .Canndlans wero baseball base-ball players, uud'&at -wo wcro 'in for an' awful trlmmlng.'burthey wouldn't 'listen, saying that anybody w co'Vla" make n ball curve In tho. air tho way Stewart could-was diotfgh to win for anystcam.'nnd'that alt tho Canadians would strlko out. Wb insisted no fui-ther.'n fui-ther.'n - Wo came' to bat first Our first man up got benned, und lnstc.H of taking flret.bnsa ho went out Into tho tpj teller's tell-er's ,box to lick the pitcher. After n Uttio nrgumont wo managed to get him on first Tho Canadian pitcher' was wId. 7110 next ball went over tho catcher's hend and our runner took second. Tho next man up struck out. I batted third, hit to tho outfield, tho right fielder dropped the boll, and I renched nccond, tho runner ahead of mo moving to third bnso. Then Stowart got up nnd placed n corking doublo out Into left field. Stewart was n fa&l runner. I started for home, touched third, tho runner In front of mo plowing along for homo plato. Ho ran llko an ico wagon. I was shouting to him to hurry up. 1 could hear Stewart pounding behind me". Tho Tommy's "cap blew off, nnd Instead of going home ho stopped to pick 'it up. Stewart was shouting, "Leg it, hero comes tho bnll," as ho Blld Into third base. I could not precede pre-cede tho runner In, so wo wcro trapped for a doublo play. Stewart's nngorn was bristling and mlno was tugging nt Its chain. Tho Canadian rooters wcro tickled to death, their sarcastic remarks burning burn-ing Into Stewart and me. Stowart was fast losing his temper. The first two Canadians struck out Tho third man up got his baso on a passed third strike. My error. Then our substlrnto first bascmnn pulled a stunt which turned the tables on'tho Canndlans and wo wcro somewhat some-what appeased. Tho Canadian runner was' laying a few feet off first base. Suddenly our first baseman shouted to him, "Look out, 'cro comes n shell; duck low I" Tho Canadlnn dropped to tho ground. Stewart instantly sized up tho situation situa-tion nnd tossed the ball to tho first bnsemnn, who touched tho bnserunner nnd three wero out. Wo had got our own back. Stewart and I could havo both kissed that rub o" first baseman of ours. Illght then nnd thcro wo put him In a class with Unl Chase. Up to tho fourth Inning neither side scored. Stcwnrt wns pitching in fine form. Tho Canadians Just couldn't connect with his delivery. All they wcro doing wns fanning tho nlr. Tho Canadian rooters commenced to get frightened becauso they saw their money disappearing Into tho Tommies' pockets. They had tho grentcst contempt con-tempt for tho rest of tho team, myself Included, but realized that If Stcwnrt did not weaken it would bo a caso of tlitlr going bnck to billets broke. Then old Mr. Jinx butted in again, and it happened. In tho British nrmy thcro Is an or-dor or-dor to the effect that gas hclMcts must bo carried at ull times, ovn whllo sleeping. To disobey this oHer Is a serious offense, nnd means Immedlnto confinement. Theso gns helmets aro In 4i convns hag nnd aro slung around tho left shoulder by means of a canvas can-vas strap. In pitching, Stewart's gns helmet bothered him greatly, and after tho second sec-ond Inning ho took It off. I warned hlra to bo careful, becauso I noticed Bovorol military police In the crowd. Hut Stcwnrt Stcw-nrt would not listen. Ho always was pig-headed. Ono of tho Canadian rooters spotted that Stewart had laid asldo his helmet, hel-met, and artfully communicated this fact to tho rest of his team's rooters. I noticed tho rooters crowd around him for thrco or four minutes, nnd then n great laugh went up and they stretched out along tho foul lines. Suddenly, ono fellow, getting out in front of tho bunch, llko a cheer leader, counted, "Ono, two, thrco." Then up went n mighty chorus of, 'Tley, Stowart, Stow-art, whero's your gas helmet, whero's your old gas bag, whero's your old gas bag?" They kept this up and it got Stewart's goat. I went out into tlio pitcher's box nnd warned him to put on his gns helmet, but still pig-headed, ho refused to do so. Do was In an awful aw-ful temper. A sergeant of tho military pollco wife watching tho gome, and hearing the cries of tho rooters he walked out on tho dlnmond nndnsked Stewart whcro his helmet was. Dy this tlmo Stowart had completely lost his temper nnd nnswered nn-swered with a sneer: "Where do you think It Is? I sent it homo for n souvenir," sou-venir," Tho sergeant explained to him that It was against nrmy orders to be without a gas helmet, nnd that ho had better put it on. Stewart would not listen to hlra, nnd nnswered t'WclU If ,lt'a against orders, get them rescind, cd." Tho sergeant Immediately put, him under arrest and raarchcd.htm off tho diamond. Our hopes wero dashed ; I could seo tho game going west Wo had no other good pitcher to put In. - Upon seeing Stewart's arrest, tho Canadian rooters kept up their gloeful shouting. Wo wero suro up against it. Hero was tho situation. It was1 tho ladi half of tho fourth Inning, and two woro out. If, by luck, wo managed to get tho third Canadian out, It would be nn easy matter for thqm to" retire us in tho next liming becauso our weakest batting order was up. Tfien, tho Canadians would como to bat and slaughter would commence. I wns In despair. Stewart must havo realized that tho garao was hopeless i unless It could be finished. In this Inn-i Inn-i Ing, becuuse as ho passed mo ho whispered, whis-pered, "Watch out for gas; 111 make them hunt for their gas helmets, It'll bo n long time before that bunch of 'mnpltf leafs' forgot tnis game. Now, get wise. Delay tho gamo ns much as possible whllo getting a dub to pitch in my placJ. Then watch foi happenings. happen-ings. Get mo? Aro. you wlso?" I didn't "get hint,"- nor was I ".wise," but I answered In the nfflrmatlve. I I followed Ids instructions, whllo out of T I i ., i . . ., iho corner of ray eyo I watched hint on his way to tho company billet. Ho called n man named Stein; a member-of our company, who thought do raoro of .losing a franc than ho did of hnvlng his right nrm shot off. Stein went over to Stewart, who whispered to him and passed him something. Whnt struck mo ns" strongo wns tho fact that Stein, who had fifteen francs on the gamo, Instcnd of coming back to watch the game, disappeared behind the billet, whllo Stewart wns marched off to "clink." Tho rooters wcro getting Impatient, so I put n big Welshman In to pitch. I told tho umpire that according to tho rules n pitcher being put In "cold" was allowed four balls over tho plato to worm up. Tho umpire agreed to this. I whispered to tho Welshman, "Get out in that box and tnko your time, delaying delay-ing the- gamo ns much us possible between be-tween each pitch. Now, you nro allowed al-lowed four bolls over tho plato in which to warm up. Slam 'cm Into mo, but If you put ono of them over, our goose Is cooked." Tho Welshmnn wns mystified, but followed my Instructions to tho letter. Ho throw four balls which nearly broko my back to get. Then tho umpire um-pire held up his hand and called, "Play ball 1" I Immediately went over to him and explained that these four balls had not gone over tho plato. Ho fell for this and agreed with mo. After He Wat In an Awful Temper. that rubo of n pitcher hnd thrown about fifteen or sixteen balls, sovcral passing me, which I chased to tho billet bil-let to waste time, tho umpire got impatient im-patient nnd tho rdotcrs were yelling llko mad to carry on. I still Insisted that nono of the balls had gone ovor, tho plate, and tho umpire wns In a quandary. Just then ono of our men passed In tho rwir of mo nnd whls-' pcrcd: "Stewart says to go on with tho game." Wondqrlng at this lnfor- motion, I started In. Tho pitching of that Welshman was awful. Ho hit tlio first two men up and walked tho third. I was in despair, bases full aud two out. Somo ot tho Canadian rooters wcro jumping up and down, throwing their hats in tho air, nnd ono fellow was whistling "Tho Star-Spnnglcd Banner." This got my goat completely. Near every billet hangs a gas gong. This Is a triangular plcco of steel or an empty shell case, Bcsldo this gong hangs an Iron striker. Upon tho sounding of tho nlarm, by striking on tho gong with 'tho striker, every man is supposed to put on his gas helmet ' and repair Immediately to his proper-station. proper-station. Theso gongs nro to warn soldiers sol-diers that German poison gas Is coming com-ing over. While I was signaling to my rubo pitcher and beseeching hlra to put ono over, tho clanging of the gas gong rang out. I dropped ray glovo, got off my chest protector, nnd mndly rushed for my helmet and soon had It on, tho rooters and players doing the snmo. ' Then I got wise. I remembered Stewart's Stew-art's Instructions: "Watch out for gns. , I'll mako 'cm hunt for their gas helmets." hel-mets." Tho nerve and daring of his schcino took my breath nwoy. Tho Canadians had a mllo to go to got to their stations, and believe me, It Is no fun double-timing for a mllo whllo a gas helmet Is choking you with its chemical fumes. Well, thoso Canadians beat it, and so did we, but tho gamo was saved and all bets wcro off. I nearly smothered with laughter In my gas helmet. To the rest, not being "In the know,' it wns a genulno alarm. Shortly after tha stampede it was discovered dis-covered that tho alarm .was false, and a rigid Investigation immediately took place. But tlio Canadians had left and our monoy wiib safe. It certainly woulil havo gono hard with 'the culprit bad he been caught As It was, our battalion bat-talion got two weeks as extra fatlguo ' on working and digging parties. Afterward, I was let into tho secret Stewart had given Stein ten francs to sound tho gns alarm, which, with his fifteen francs bet on the game, Stein did not have. It In his heart to refuse. Many a time, Stowart, Stein nnd myself my-self had a quiet little laugh when wo pictured the Canadians stampeding for their billets. Then orders wero received to take over n now sector of tho line, and baseball base-ball was forgotten. Tho work In front of us wns to bo of the grimmest nature. Not long after that, in my first going "over tlio top,'' Stowart was killed and Stein was wounded. I was also slight- -ly, wounded. ' Thus mded the career of the FuslUer Giants on tho western front. |