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Show I Love Versus Wine m " By " Sergeant Arthur Guy Empcy Author of "Over the Ton," "First Call," Etc. o-o-o Mr. Emrjey's Experi-encesDuringHisSevcn-teen Months in theFirst I Line Trenches of the British Army in France (Uopjrlf ht, 1917. br TIia ttcCla.o tiowipupor tfjnitlcale) r . Tho I3ne.llsh Uon wns roaring, nml , his growls could ho heard nil along the f western front. No doubt ninny n Ger main general wus stirring Uneasily In i his' largo concrete shell-proof dugout, Ullos hehlnil the Oermnn front line, ns tho over-liTcrcnalng thundering roar, reached his ears. ' Wo had. n. close-up view of his inn-Jcsty.-the ltlng of beasts, nnd to us ho wns n sorry-looltlng specimen. Patches of hldo wcro worn away, whllo In his tall wero two big knots. If theso knots had hare been labeled It would have been easy to read "Ncuyo Clinpcllo" and "Galllpoll." Tho memory nnd pr.lit of these two disasters no doubt Increased tho Intensity of his thunder. Tho llrlttsh 'bombardment of tho German lines wan on, n homhnrdment which lasted over eight days nnd nights. It wns tho forerunner of the Illg Push, or "Unttlo of tho Somme." Atwoll nnd I were flitting In n dugout dug-out of tho support trench. Atwcll wns a great, big, lovable follow, and was my mute. Wo both bad been detailed to tho divisional 'Intelligence department, depart-ment, nnd wcro engaged upon "spy work." Atwoll, although of n naturally cheery disposition, occasionally relapsed re-lapsed Into fit of despondency. In tho light fronrn stump of n. candle can-dle I was making" out my previous day's report to turn Into brlgndo headquarters. Occasionally tho en- lll trnnco to tho dugout would light up I with n red flnru un n ohull burst In the near vicinity. Atwell wus sitting on bis pack, with his back leaning against tho wot and muddy wall of tho dugout. Tho" rays from tho caudlo-lighted up. his face Finishing my report, I got out n j "fng," lighted It, nnd with nn uneasy feeling listened to tho roar of tho hell outside. A long-drawn sigh caused mo to look In Atwcll's direction. Novcr Is ray life lmvo I seen mich n . i dejected nnd woe-begono countennncc. This, In n wny, lingered me, because I, myself, right (hen, hnd n feeling of Impending disaster, n sort of unknown dread, perhaps Intermingled with n fnr-nwoy longing for tho fields nnd flowers nt home. I wanted to bo cheered, and Atwcll's fnco looked llko . n morgue. Forcing n smile I slapped Atwell on tho kneo and sold: ' "Como out o' your trnnco. Wo'vo both got a good chance, for Blighty with this bombnrdtnent on." Atwell looked In my direction, nnd t .. . In n tono of volco which from hlin I had, never heard beforo, nnswered: , "Yank, I've been out since '14. I've burjed innny ft mnto nnd 1'vo seen i ..many n lucky 'bloko on n stretcher . bound for Illlghty, mnd novcr gavo It , n. thought, but right now I feel ns If i, .my stay In tho irenohes will bo short. r ..I've had somothlng on my mind' since i u September, 1014, nnd It's been worrying worry-ing mo pink. I'm goln to toll you tho Btory, and I'll glvo "you my oath that you're tho first ono Hint's over heard - It from my lips; but I'vo got to linvo your promise that you'll not Judgo mo . too harshly. I've Just got to get It out o my system." Just then a sighing, monn could be beard overhead. It was ono of our , . "nine-point-two" shells aimed In tho itroMlnn f lierlln. Wo both Instlnc- ' tlvely turned our eyes toward the en-trnnco en-trnnco of tho dugout and waited for tho burst Nothing happened. "Another bloomln' dud," ejnculntcd I Atwell. "A few more hundred jiounds gono to seed," and then ngnln tho ijloomy look sprend over his counto-. counto-. nnnco. I was getting nervous nnd un-eiisy. un-eiisy. Trying to hide my fear, I said: "For W lovo o' Alike, Atwell, cmck , , a smile. Give us thut story of yours, . "or clso I'll go bughouse. You bud bet-'. bet-'. ,tcr get It off or your chest, becnuso ..I'm thinking that Fritz will Boon bo . , replying to our strafing, mid If nn - "eight-Inch shell ever hits this dugout they'll need no wooden crosses for t us, because our names will appoux un-I un-I dor tho caption 'Missing.'" r With another sigh escaping from b his lips, which sent u cold shiver up - hind down my spinal column, he lighted 'h fag nnd started In. This Is whut ho t told mo: "It was hack In September, 1011. You know I oamc out with tho first .'hundred thousand, tho time when nil tho fighting wus done. In tho open. VVt'ho Germans wero smashing every-Mi"'1"" every-Mi"'1"" heforo them In their drive on tfPnrls. Our regiment wus ono of tho f'few opposed to Von Kluck. It was a p fcaso of hold them for a fow hours hnd K'tlien retreat always retreat We :,,illdn't even havo tlmo to bury our (. dead. Tho grub was rotten, nnd wo . 'were just nuout fagged out, dead tired, BH '. ,h no prospect of a relief or rest In front of us. "It was customary for small patrols of ten to twenty, men In charge of n sergeant, to reconnoitre on our Hunks. ! Ono day I was sent out In charge of one of these parties. Oh, yes, 1 wart n sergeant then, but I lost my stripes disobedience of orders they called It. I suppose I ought to feel lucky I wasn't shot but I'll lenvo it to you whether I did right tr not "At thnt tlmo I was, In fpr a commission, com-mission, hut, of course, didn't get It. If I had received It, no doubt byUhls lime I'd bo pushing up tho (daisies somewhere In France. In ' those days officers didn't Inst long made fine targets tar-gets for tho Bodies. -L "This patrol I woo In chnrgo of 'carried 'car-ried rations for thrco days. Wo wcro to scout nround Just In fronfnf, the advancing enemy, but our orders Wre not to'engngo them Just get Information. Informa-tion. If tho Information obtained wns vnluahlo cnougli, I was to send It In by one of tho men. Thero were fourteen four-teen of us, nnd wo wero mounted. I wns In tho Lancers then, nnd wns considered con-sidered n fair rider. "Tho first day nothing happened. Wo Just scouted around. By nightfall night-fall wo wcro pretty tired, so when we enmo to n village wasn't it village, cither; Just flvo or six houses clustered clus-tered nround n church I decided to go Into billets for Ihc night "Hiding up to the lurgest hbuse, which hud n four-foot stone wnll running run-ning nround Its garden, I dismounted nt tho gnto nnd knocked with the hilt of my sword. Pretty soon n light nn-pcarcd nn-pcarcd nt tho front door tho housp was on n sort of n knoll, so this door wn's In plain view. Then tho sweetest sweet-est voice I ever heard-called out In troubling tones. In perfect Kngllsh, too, but with Just the suspicion of un accent : "'Who Is there, pleaso?' "I answered, 'Just n few Kngllsh I.nncers who desire n place to rest for tho night TIiq barn will do. We don't want nuythlng to cat, ns wa lmvo rations with ns. So, If you wltl accommodate us, miss, I will be much obliged.' I wns In lovo with thnt girl beforo I saw her tho voice had Oopo the trick. "Sho nnswered, 'Just n moment, please, until I tell father,' and then tho door shut nnd the light disappeared. disap-peared. Wo didn't hnve to wait long before tho door opened, nnd sho called to me: "Father bids you welcome, and no do I, soldiers of Kngland.' "Then she opened tho gate., Thero 'sho stood on tho gravel path with tho lantern held shoulder his''. 1 trembled trem-bled all over thought I saw a vision. I tell you, Yank, sho was beautiful. Ono of tho kind you would , llko to tnk? In your nnns, but won't for fear of crushing. No uso for me to try to describe, her, Ynnk, It's out of my lino; but she captured me, heart nnd sout Thero I stood llko a great, big boob", shaking nnd stuttering. At last I managed to blurt out a stammering Thank you, miss.' "Sho showed us tho way to tho stables sta-bles nnd stood In tho door holding tho lantern so wo could sco to unsaddle. I was fumbling around with tho buckles, but for the life of mo couldn't get thnt snddlo off. Ono of tho men, with n wink and n brond grin, como ovcrnnd helped help-ed me. That grin got my goat, so on the sly, I kicked him on tho shin. Ho let out nn cxploslvo 'damn.' After thnt 'dnmn' tho silence wns painful. Tho poor follow felt llko u fool.. I was sorry for him, even though, I could lmvo killed him for Ills thoughtlessness. thoughtless-ness. But our cmbnrraHsmcnt wns short-lived, becnuso a .silvery laugh came from behind tho lantern, a laugh that wns.not loud, but It echoed nnd reechoed re-echoed among the rafters, overhead. I can hear It right now, Ynnk,v "After the horses hnd been, unsaddled unsad-dled and fed, tho men looked appenl-Ingly appenl-Ingly nt mo. I know what they wanted want-ed they were" dog tired, and dying to hit tho hay. Just as I was about to usk permission for them to turn In, the angel butted In with: "'Ppor, tired soldiers, sleepy-nnd hungry. Como right Into tho house. Jean has somo supper and wlno ready for you.' "Wo stammered our thanks nnd followed fol-lowed her Into tho house like u string of sheep. Yunk, to mo that mwil wns n dream. She flitted nround tho tnhlo, tilling a glass here and there, laughing "For the Love o' Mike, Atwell, Crack a Smile." with us nnd making us feel nt homo. Tho war was forgotten. By this tlmo I wns madly In lovo with her, nnd sho know It, becnuso when she leaned over my shoulder to replenish my glass with red wine, her linlr would brush my cheek, nnd once sho rested her hand on my shoulder and guvo It Just tho slightest slight-est squeeze. I wus In heaven. "It wa- ge'tlng lato and tho. flno wns beginning to tell on "the' men". The$ were falling-usleop in their Umlnk '(If had. a hard Job waking-fwur oft them), V) 'go on guard. They got "their rifles olid were standing nround mo for In-'struqtlons, In-'struqtlons, when our hostess cnino over to mo and, rcstlug her hund tm my arm, with again th. slightest of i squeezes nnd pleading eyes, interceded for them. ' 'Sergeant,' sho said, 'let thoi poor boys sleep.- They nro so tired. There I no dnngcr. The Germans nro miles nwny. I know this tri be true. "Do this for me.' And again thnt squeeze. "I, like n fool, listened to her, nnd-gave nnd-gave nn uuwllllng nsscnt. Thot men looked their gratitude.- Jean, the ni'nn-servant, ni'nn-servant, led them out to the .barn, whero nn nbundnnco of hay hud: been sprend for their beds. I was following;,' when a whisper In my car -made ,iny head swim: j- '"Don't go yet, my sergeant, stay with mo.' i stayed worse luck. ."Wo sot on n settee; talking, and her. arm stole nround my wulst I iwiisn't slow, cither, and ns you knou Yankrl hnvo a pretty good reach. Once, she, spoke to tno In French, but I shook my bend in bewilderment In a few' minutes min-utes the servant returned, nnd Adri-enno Adri-enno sho told "mo her nnnio called him to her nnd said: "'Jean, go down In tho wlno cellar and get somo ot thnt old port and glvo It to tho soldiers of JSnglaud. Poor "You Poor English Fool I Make tova to Me, Will You!" boys, It will wnrm them.' Sho added something In French I could not TOr-stand. TOr-stand. Then alio added: ' "'Leave a bottlo hero for tho sergeant ser-geant and me.' "I protested against more wine for tho boys. Her pleading overruled my good Judgment, nnd I consented. Tho servant left ,to do her mission, and, I proposed. Her nnswer was a kiss. I was tho happiest man In France. "Presently Jean returned nnd silently silent-ly placing a bottle and two glasses on tho tablo withdrew. Wo were n.lono. Sho took tho bottlo nnd, pouring out a glass ot wine, touched It to her II pa and hnnded It to mo with this toast: "'Drink, my sergeant' Drink to our betrothal. Drink to tho honor of France. Drink to the honor ot England. Eng-land. Drink to tho confusion of our enemies.' "I drank with my fool heart pounding pound-ing against my ribs. Then blnckuess. "When I nwoko, I was lying on tho settee, my hend bursting with pnln. The gray dawn was filtering- through tho curtulncd windows, and there, In tho middle of the room, with my Adrl-cune Adrl-cune In his arms, stood a cnptaln of Uhlans. I wns a prisoner. I saw It all In n flush. ,Sho hnd betrayed mey iNow I knew why sho had wanted no guard posted. That wlno wo pledged, our troth In was drugged. Whut an ass I hud been I "I closed my eyes nnd pretended to bo aslocp. They wcro talking In 'German. 'Ger-man. Pretty soon (lie captuln came over nnd roughly shook me, I only grunted. With un exclamation of disgust, dis-gust, ho culled out In Oermnn. Two troopers came In and, lifting mo by tho shoulders and feot, carried me out Into tho air. I slightly opened my eyes and suw Hint I was being carried out to the gute, whero two horses were standing ,wllh tlielr rclus thrown overu hitching post By tho equipment I knew, ono of tho horses belonged to the captain, whllo tho other wns the orderly's. The two troopers dumped mo down on tho road, ono giving mo n klclc with his boot. I wns lying on my left sldo by n certain bard prensuro on liiy rllja I knew they hnd "neglected to senrcji me. That pressuro was my automatic pistol. A feeling of exultation rushed over me. I would euchre them yet "Fnto worked Into my hands. A hall In Gcrmnn came from tho stables, nnd ono of tho troopers left Jo answer. It Tho odds wero oven, ono h'galnsti one. I slowly turned over on my fuco, ns If In sleep, nnd my fingers grasped the butt of the nutoiftntlc, but Just then I heard steps on tho gruvolfjwulk. Tlio cnptaln nnd Adrlcnnu were coming toward to-ward me. t,' . ' "Sho stopped beside roo.and said in Kngllsh: fr "'Ypu poor English fool I , Mako love to me, will you? Good-by, my foolish sergeant Whllo you are rotting rot-ting In prison think of yourAdrlennc, bnhl' ;i "My hand gave tho buttfofimy automatic auto-matic Just tho sllghtestfsqueeze. I wns thinking of her (hand oh my shoulder. Well, two .could fplay , that gnmo. . "The cnptnln said something to tho orderly, who left. In thojjllrectlmi of , the house. Now was'fmy cliaucc. '. '.r springing to npr feet and leveling the fplslol nt tho .cnptnln, I grabbed tho Veins of his horse from the post nnd mounted. Tho orderly camo running ,iowurd me, yelllng-out In German, nnd I could sec soldiers emerging from tho stable. I hnd to net quickly. "When I mounted, the cnptnln reached for his revolver. I covered him with mlno nnd, with n shriek ot terror, Adrlcnno throw herself in front of tlio Uhlnn captain to protect 'hhn. I saw her too latd. My bullet pierced her left breast, nnd n. .red smudge showed on her white bilk blouse ns sho snnk to tho ground. I shot tlio orderly's horso to prevent lm-I'mcdlnte lm-I'mcdlnte pursuit and then nway on a mod gallop down tlio rond. It was n long chnse, but I escaped them. , "alio rest of my men wpro captured. .At our headquarters I hnd Xo lie ljko a trooper. Told them wo hnd been' nmbuflhed nnd-wlpcd out It was tho only way to save my skin. There wero no witnesses ngnlnst me, so I got off with reduction to tho ranks nnd n transfer to another regiment They Miiolled a rat, all right,, but hal no iroof' ... , . "So that is my story, Ynnki Just forget -that I over told It to you. Enough to.mnko a fellow get the blues occasionally. Isn't ltJ Just pass mo a fag. nnd take that look oft your fnco." I gave him tho cigarette nnd, wlthi out n'word, Avent out of .tho dugout nnd left him alone. I was thinking of Adrle'nne. Uprfn reaching tho trench I paused In wo'iider.nnd fright Tho sky wns alight with n red glnre. Tho din wns terrific. A constnnt swlBhlng nnd irushlng through Um nlr, Intermingled with a sighing monn, gavo .testimony .tes-timony th'nt our batteries were sweating blood. Tho trench Heemed to bo rolling llko a ship. I stood In nwc. This bombardment of ours wns something. Jmlc'scrlbablo, nnd a shudder shud-der passed through mo ns 1 thought of (ho hnvoc nnd destruction caused In tho German lines. At that moment I really pitied tlio Germans, but not for long, becnuso suddenly hell seemed to burst looso from tho German lines as their artillery opened up. I could hear their "five-nines" screeching through tho nlr nnd bursting In tlio nrtlllery lines In our renr. Occasionally Occasion-ally a far-off rura-hum-rump-rump, Crash I Bru-u-nn-u-ggl could bo heard as ono of- their Jilgh-callbered shells camo over nml burst In our reserve I crouched bgnlnsf tho parados, hardly ublo to brcatho. Whllo In this position, right overhead, every Instant getting lonrtnr. rnmn n German shell hiz-z-zl 'bnng-g-gl I- was blinded by tho flash. Down I went, Into tho mud. Struggling Strug-gling to my feet In tho red glare of tho bombardment ( I bw that') tho travcrso on my left 'RMt.4 entirely "disappeared. CJovored .with mud, weak and trembling. I could hear what sounded llko far-distant voices coming from tho direction of the bashcd-ln traverse. . 'Blime me, get 'Is bloomln' napper outa th' mud; Vs chokln' to death. Pass mo a bandage tyko 'Is b'yonet fcr a splint Bllmo me, Ms leg Is smashed, not 'nrf h'lt h'nlnt Th' rest o' you blokes op It fer a stretcher. 'Ello, 'e'a got nnodicr one quick, a tourniquet, tho poor bloke's n'blccdln to deatli. Quick, h'up against tho par-npet par-npet 'crd comes another." Whlz-z-zl Bnng-g-gl Another flnre, nnd onco ngnln I was thrown Into tho mud. I opened my eyes. Bending -over me, shaking mo by the shoulder wns Atwcll. Ills volco sounded fnlnt nnd for away. Then I came to with a rush. BUme. me, Ynnk, that was a closo one. Did It get your Ho helped mo to my feet and I felt myself nil over. Seeing I was all right he yelled In my ear: "We've got to leg It out of 'ere. Fritz Is sure scndln' over 'whlz-bangs' nml 'minnles.' Number 0 platoon in the next fire bay sure clicked It About eighteen of them hnve gone . West Como on, we'll sco If wo can do anything any-thing for tho poor blokes." Wo plowed through tho mud nnd icame Into tho next II ro bny. In tho light of tlio bursting shells an awful sight met our eyes. Tho traverses were bushed In, the. Are step was gono, nnd In tho parados was n holo that looked llko n subway cntmuce. Thero "was mud nnd blood. Every now and then, ducking ns n "whiz-bung" or "mlnnlo" camo over, wo managed to get four of the wounded wound-ed en tho stretchers,, nnd Atwell nnd I carried one to the rear to tho first nld dressing station. Wo passed tho dugout which I had left but a fow minutes before, or at least, -what used to bo the dugout but now nil that could bo seen was A cavcd-ln muss of dirt; huge squnrc-cut timbers sticking out of tho ground- nnd silhouetted ngnlnst the light from bursting shells, looking llko luiGO glnnts. A shudder passed through mo ua I renllzed that If wo hod stayed In tho dugout wo would Imve npw been lying fifteen tb twenty feet dt.vn, covered by thnt cavcd-ln earth ami wreckage. Atwell Jerked his head in tlio direction direc-tion of thu smnshed-ln dugout, end, ns was his wont, remarked: "now nbout thnt fancy report you wero writing out n fow minutes ngo? PtuVt I tell you that It novcr paid to mako out reports in tho front, Hire? It's best' to wnlt until you get to hend quarters, because what's tho uso of wnstlug nil thnt tjully tlmo when you'ro Hnblo to ' bo burled In a dugout?" Turning my head (o listen to Atwell, I ran plump Into n turn In tho trench. A shout camo from tho form- on tho stretcher: Why, In tho bloody cll don't you. blokes look where you'ro goln'? You'd think this wns n bloomln' PlcndlUy buss, and I wus out with my best girl on a Joy-ride," I mumbled my apologies ami the form relapsed into silence. , Then tio Muddy Tommy Vn the stretcher bepin to mumhlo. Atwcll asked him If Ito wanted nuythlng. With a 'howl, of rote ho answered: "Of' all the bloody nerve do I want anything only a bloody pair o crutches, a dish of 'fish and chips' nnd a glnwss of stout." When we enmo to the first aid dressing dress-ing station we turned our chnrgo over to some It A. M. O. men, nnd ducking and running through tho communlcn' tlon trench, wo nt Inst readied ono of tho roomy nnd snfo "elephant dugouts." dug-outs." At Inst wo wero safe. Stumbling Stum-bling over tho feet of men Wo camo to nn unoccupied corner and snt down In tho straw. Several candies were burning. burn-ing. Grouped nround theso candles wcro n lot of Tommies, their faces pnle nnd a frightened look In their eyes Strango to say,, the' conversation had nothing to do wltlr themselves. They wcro sympathizing with tho popr fellows fel-lows In the front lino who were click-' Ing It I must hnvo dropped off to sleep.-When sleep.-When I nwoko It wns morning, nnd after af-ter drinking tfur tea and eating our bread nnd bacon, Atwcll and I reported report-ed to brlgndo headquarters, and were again detailed Into tho front-lino trench. |
