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Show NY FOURTEEN MONTHS AT THE FRONT m An American Boy' B Bap'itm of Fire ..H WILLIAM J. ROBINSON i Copyright, Little. (Irown tt Ce m SYNOPSIS H Wllllnm J ReMrtMO, a young Amnrtraa H on a btUrtlMM irl In London, catches tli PkH war fever ami i-nl!Hta In a British csvalrjr HH regiment and lands at Ostend In October, 114 Hgl Made driver or nn armored car and take H part In battles about Ypres Transferred H to the army service corps, bus further H lighting experiences aa a motorcycle rider H with ninchlne gun attached and aa a dls- H patch H Describes Christmas of 1914 In trenches H aouth of Yprea Fearful loaaea. Kills a H sniper and tells of Hclglan spies. H A brush with German cavalrymen. Tells H of motor work and work of chaplains, doc- H Witnesses Itnjral Horse artillery In ao- H tlon. Has a narrow escnps and takes ref- H uge In a cellar Is sent to Paris H Describes bomb throwing and aeroplane H attacks and the bombardment of a village. 1 Kills a trench dlgfer B The mining and rapture of I Kill 60 8e- H cures leave and describes war Incidents la B 'tsgow. Returns to Ypres In midst ol B 'I in- orderly told ine that the shells H were dropping in at tlio rute of forty- one to tlie inlnuto, and I remember H w niifli'i Inn who on i-nrili would be fool H enough to count the number of shells Hb fulling. 1 reported to my officer and H found linn aa cool as a CUOBUltktt Ho asked mo where the horses were, and when I told him he said for mo to leave B them thero and to go and find a car of HHj I knew tt was mighty serious when he would aim mli 'ii tho horses, and I started out with the fear of (IikI In my heart and wondering where In the dick- Icus I would tltid it car In that Inferno. Aa a matter of fact, I did (1ml "lie, Of H at least It hnd heen a car at some time or oilier. It was an atnliulanco which . hud had the laxly blown off, and some one hud built a couple of little bucket B seals out of empty bacon boxes. Racon boxes or not. It certnlnly look- cd like a million gold dollars to me at that moment, and I wasn't bo alow about nabbing It. Tho engine was all gsflBH right, so I decided to take n chance on !t lie test of It holding together until I got my olllcer through the city anyway. 1 pulled urouml In front of the hi-iid- J Quartan, and the olllcer Jumped In. It seemed us though tho ubole tity HBh w as being torn from Its very founds tlous so terrible was the din. 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Vi were going at a pr"tt good H pace when we hit the main square of H the city, but It seemed to me eTC H There Is a sharp corner as one turns HflB out of tin- sipiure, and 1 knew It would HjVjjBflB Is) luipo -lt-li- to tulsl her aioiind It at the puce we were gotllfl so I tried - H Ht 'int I had read about racing drivers ! doln on (he I gave HHjMjYBj her more power jammed OK the brake H and we around on I WO ipftgHl We were between III' devil the HHHlH (lceu st a and 1 felt that no ' srw romd lake were too long consider lug the fit we were In. The bacon boxes held together all right, and we got out of It without be- I big touched, but tt was more by pure I luck tbau anything else. What got my goat was that during the whole thing the officer sat there with a cigar In his mouth and a monocle In his eye I snd dlil n't even look aa though tie waa I nervous. When we got back to our own headquarters head-quarters he said "Thank you" and re-imirU-d to another olllcer that "on" d d fool" bad escaped wearing a i wooden uniform that day "by the breadth of a gnot's eyelash." I presume pre-sume he was referring to me, and I i spree with him heartily, Relievo me. that ride did me out of a year's growth. I cerlalnly pitied our transport HMO I during tills time ns I never pilled them before. They could not help being BOTTOM while w. -ill big to go through the cllv, which the.v had to do, as there was DO other way for tlnni to go. The nmbulames, too, Minded heavily. All night the Immb.'iidnieiit continued Willi tini.b.'iled fury, yet our OppUtO went Ihioiigh the city to the men Just Ihe MUM, The next morning I wos ordered to report In my car to a young ollhcr of the bilelll'iU'e depart ment. The olllcer olll-cer told me that he had orders to go through Ypres to a little plat o called I'otljze and to report himself to the divisional commander there. There was absolutely no other way to get to I'otljze exiept through Yprea, and you may bo euro we were feeling none too pleasant about tho prospects We hnd to go slowly, even nt the stnrt, as tho road was filled with all kinds of transports After we got thnnigb the Ullage of Vlamertlughe wo found the going a 111 He better, and wo got along faster. Tho mud from Vlamertlnghe t" Ypres Is utmost straight, and one can see right Into the city before oue cornea within two kilometers of It. Aa we awung Into this straight ; stretch I noticed several German aero- , plains over the city, and It waa plain to bo seen Hint they were dropping bombs. This time they were dropping ' petrol bombs, and the Instant the exploded ex-ploded they would spray petrol all t over tho place and a flume would shoot up Into the air. In this way they were Betting Ore to the city. It was a night that I shall never for- ' get. The shells were falling Just tbe ! same, and, what with the ground fairly trembling from the tenllle cxploslonB, the smoke from the bursting shells and burning houses, the flames and dust (hat tilled the air. It made a scene that i would need a I 'ante to describe und do It Justice. The thought that we were to attempt j the passage through all this was terrl- i fylng. An awful fear, utmost panic, seemed to grip me, and I longed to . Jump from that car ami hide my face from the Hunting hell which seemed to be stretching out Its tentacles of lire to di a w us into its gaping maw. I felt weuk all over and waa wet with cold perspiration. I looked at the olllcer, almost prnylng that ho would give tho order to stop, but even as I looked I knew there was no chance of that. He was as white as death, but there was a look of determination ou his face, and the clenched teetb nud set Jaws gave no promise of his back-lug back-lug down. I think the bulldog grit that he was showing helped we, for I resolved that, j while I might get so weak us to be un- j able to drive that car, I would stick by him us long as I could bold out And be certainly ihowtd thut be wus "white" clear through, for he told me to top tt moment. 1 did, nud he got j out of the car. "Itohin.soii," be said. "I've Just been thinking that there won't be any need for you to come utiy further It Is a rotten btlalneas, nud as there are ambulances am-bulances going up all the time, I euu get a lift In one nud will stand Just ua much chance of getting through aa though rou were to lake DM I don't believe In any one taking unnecessary rl--ks, and In this uise It would tie risk-log risk-log an extia imin and a tar, too. und 1 ilnii't mind going on In an umbuluce the least hit" I thought It was Just about one of the tlnest tilings I bail ever heard of a man lining, and I want to say right here that such things as this are typical of the true ltntlsh olllcer There are men holding commissions who couldn't do i BDCta u thing as this to save their necks, but the.v uie the pikers" found In er- ry Country, "tOBiponUrj gentlemen." BH the.v uie called by the real men who are obliged to associate with them My I'lllcer's generosity did not help me any. but I appreciated It mora than 1 can tell I hail orders to take htm to I'otlJe and to hilng him bin k ami If I stayed behind DOd anything happened to til in I would be worse "11 than If I were lying beneath the ruins of Ypres. I explained tola lo bin and said that I would miller take bin tiod knows whelbei II was true or not but I sail it. anyway, While we were talking another an-other nil passed mm. mill as ui ofdeaf lumped in l reaulved to follow the man w ho w BB li'iw ulieail of DM I noli cil us the nr passed us ttiat there weie two olllcers In It One. a major was aitttng bealde the driver nd the other, a colonel wus In the back The cur was about H00 yards ' ahead of HO, ami I lei him keep about 1 (hat mill h ahead all the way up lo the outskirts' of the city As we got nearer the noise became deafening and the smoke began to bother us too Iteiore one enters the city proper one must cross a double line of railroad trie ks The machine ahead of us hud pist crossed these when a big lliteen Inch sheii screamed orer and burst just beside ihe cur In front I nun where we were It looked us If the cur and Its occupant must li.ive been wiped off the fa e of the earth 1 Mopped our cur to w a" until the Miioi.i cleared awaj before goloi on It teemed like hours before we saw the spot again, but when the amoki was finally gone you can Imagine our aurprlse at seeing the car turned completely com-pletely around and coming toward us The chauffeur was gathering speed all the time, and when he passed us bis car was going at a fairly decent pace. We had time enough, though, to sen one of (he most horrible sights thnt I wltnessetl diflug the whole time I was at the fiot t The car Itself was In awful condition. condi-tion. Tho two rear doors were torn away, the body wos full of Jugged holes, the front ami rear mini gtnirdi ittitl the running hoard on one side cre torn off and tho wind screen bod bUM swept away. The major, who was silting with the driver, had his head and the whole side -iaVsM I Resolved to Follow the Man Who Was Now Ahead of Me. of his body torn away, and the rest of him was leaning on the driver, who was being covered wltb the blood which wus gushing from this awful thing beside him The colonel, who. bud been bitting In the back of the car. was curled over on the seat, and his head and part of his shoulder were iy big In a pool of blood In the bottom of the enr To me the most terrible part f It was the driver He wus as white as a ghost, utul his eyes seemed to be sticking un iinli out of their sockets lll-i teeth were bured, und his whole, fute wus twisted Into the most helllsli expression one could Imagine. "Hood (!od, he's gone mud!" cried my ofHeer. Ami I was sure of It. The olli , cer ordered me to turn around and fol low him and to cntcli him If possible The car was away down the mud by (he time 1 got turned uround, bu( I set out hi ter htm for all I wus wortb. I gained Oil bun. bo. but as I went through Ylumcrtiugho he waa Just stopping In front of the Held dressing ntutlou there. The orderly rushed out when he heard (he car. and I heard that driver say, "For Hod's suke tuke this thing away from me!" It was horilble beyond description I ' saw thut poor fellow a couple of weeks later, and lie wus bud enough to look at even then. Ho was walking around atone all right except thut his face was continually twisting and t witi hiug terribly ter-ribly His nerve wus completely gone, and he was discharged almost ut once For till (he shock he hud his wus a ml a u mis eecape When we suw thut the driver wn9 being taken care of we Mailed buck to make our attempt to puss through (he burning city As we got nearer the city I seemed to have hst all reeling of fear, und In fact I didn't bare an) reeling ut till. I tried (o think about what wus going go-ing to happen to us, for it worried mo thai 1 didn't seem to hare I nerve ill tuy body. I kept telling myself that I was going to tny death ami that In u few minutes i would ha lying eome-arbere eome-arbere in tboaa smoking ruins Dot it v its no use. I didn't care one way or the other lb-fore one comes to the railway track Just outside Ypres thero Is a routl which branches off to the left and leads to the village of lllvcrdlugho. Before DM Came to where this roud brunches off the olllcer spoke "1 think It would be worth while trying try-ing tO get to the canal bank through Flvertliiighe." he said, "und from (here we would perbapa be able to leave the car. swim the canal nud get through to I'otljze on foot It will tuke longer, of course, but the main thing for us to do Is to get then safely. DO mutter If It takes a great ileal longer. Let ua try that wny. unj w ay " I wus willing to try anything, ami so we turned off the mad and beaded for Rlrerdlngbe it was oolv a few kiio- metrea, und we dldn'l take long getting there. bUl when we urrheil we found thut we had Jumped out of the frying pan Into the lire, for lilverdlnghe wus getting it hot and heavy from the Herman Her-man Held batteries We rushed Into the town, und as we swung Into the Ulluge proper we came very near having one grand smushup a tieid ambulance was moving out of the place, and the mud was blocked bv ambulances which were loading up with WOUndod, I jammed ou the brakes and pulled over utmost Into the ditch, but the brakes stopped the car before we got clear 111 A sentry informed us thut the road through the Ullage was closed und that we would have to turn around and go buck. 1 tried to back up. but my two front wheels were stuck sway down lu the ditch, and she wouldn't pull out umler her own power I up; ealetl to the driver of an empty ambulance to help me. and he ipil kit got his tow rope around my back axle md we came out with the Oral bee re I n it Iced while we were taking the towrope off thnt the car waa a big six cylinder American make. I asked tbe driver bow he liked a Yankee car. and from the way he re piled I knew that be was an American himself. I nsked him where he came from, and you enn Imagine my surprise when be said "Bootou " I never say him again, and when I left him he was In one hot little corner of the map 1 hope be gets through ail right CHAPTER IX. The Fats of a Spy. WR rem hid Flverdlnghe as quick-Iy quick-Iy ns we could and got out without a scratch, which Is more Important than any thing else We went back along the road until we came to the tinning which leads to the Tlllagl of l; e-lnglie. This village Is en the bank of the canal, but It Is a mi Mi unhealthy place to rlelt, as it Is In full view of part of the Heiman lines. Our plan was to go as (Jong lo (ho village ns we dured and then leave the car and try to get through on foot. It was nlino't as dangerous ns It would be to go through Yprea, but WO llgured that here we would at least have a (lghtiig chance. We left the car under somo trees about half a mile from the Ullage und set out on foot. We hadn't been going leu minute i when a BOtitry stopped us again and Informed us that the road wus closed ami we would have to go back. The olllcer explained things to lii in and told him that It wus absolutely abso-lutely Imperative that we get through snd thut this was the only way It could be done. The sentry Fold that he wns very sorry, but bo hud atrlet orders from the nsslstnnt provost marshal mar-shal and he dared not let us pass. There was nothing left for us to do but to turn buck. We went straight to beudquarters, and the olllcer explained that It was Impossible for us to get through. II ordered me to report to him Ihe next morning and we would try again The next day they were bombarding Just as heavily, and the city was still burning, burn-ing, so all 1 hud to do waa to atatid by and hold myself In readiness all day long. We saw a very exciting Incident that day. There was a big ammunition column col-umn near our bcadipiartcrs, snd It was watting there, all ready londed. until sent for It had been there several weeks then, and the chaps who belonged belong-ed to It were having the softest time they ever hud In their lives. About 2 o'clock lu tho afternoon I was standing ou a corner near this column when I saw one of the police go up and speak to a chap who was walking uround It wltb o notebook in his band. They tulked for a few moments, mo-ments, und then a policeman sauntered down to w here I was standing and came up and , he to me. "Go down to the guurd mom.' he sold, "ami have the corporul full In two men and bring them up here as quick as Cod will let him That fellow there by die column is getting all kinds of lufor-tnutlou lufor-tnutlou and putting It In his book. Now, hurry, but take your time until you get out of sight of this place I'll look after him until the guard comes." I was naturally all excited, but I did as he said, und It wasn't many minutes beforo WO were on our wny buck nt the double Our tuun was still there, but the minute he saw ua he got slutted. Our policeman pulled his revolver and tired after him lie didn't stop for a second, but ho pulled a couple of guns himself and cwry few seconds would scud a shot bach ai us as he run. Fellows weie Joining In tin- chase nil the time, ami It was gelling interesting interest-ing The end came very suddenly when two of our chaps with rillcs appealed In the mud ahead of the lugltive und ordered him to had. lie Bred on them lor un unswer. so they raised their rifles ri-fles and brought him down. Examination showed thut he was a German lie had on Qermao service tfrooo under tho Britieb uniform he wus wearing Tho little book our police man referred to certnlnly wns a gold (nine of Information lie hud (he name, location nud Strength of every unit In our viiiuily and Blag the location of a good many of our batteries He was a brave fellow, nil right, und he played the game clear to the end The next day I reported myself ns usual for the trip to 1'otilze. and wo decided to make the try ugulll. BiTOOJ as we got near Ypres the lire seemed (o slacken, mid we rushed straight through w itboul mlabap. If Yprea hud been In bad condition before this I don't know how it would be lbs. iilad now! In ttie center of (ho town thero was acarcely a building left Handing All the towers but one had been Knocked oil the ruinous t'lotli lull, and the whole place had beeu gutted by lire The cathedral was nil down except half of the tower, and the Inside of thut wus still burning The streets were littered with bodies of every description, und broken wagons, wag-ons, embulancee, water carts, etc., lay every where The roads were almost obliterated, and wo were riding ovei broken lu h ks and inortur. The shells were still coining over, but they were no worse (ban what we hud run through before, so we did not mind them very much We found the road the other side or Ypres about as usual, so we got up to I'otljze without uny more excitement I'otlJ.e Is u very tiny place which bus seen some hard lighting from time to time There was foully very little left of the plat e itself, but our trenches ran Just outside the Milage, and WO had dugouts nil around (here. Ou our arrival ar-rival my officer told me to (urn (he car around ami then to get into one of tbe dugouts und watt for him. I did aa he told Uie, an. I for some reason 01 oilier I left (he engine running. I shut the throttle clear down so she wns lust barely ticking over I looked around and round n dugout not twenty yuitl- awai and went in Two olllcers were there at the time, but they told me to sit down, and tbey went on with their work. I found some paper and a pencil and started t write a letter. After a few minutes one of these officers got up and went out. I don't think It was more than ten minutes later that I heard a lot of running around and shouting over our heads, snd I wondered won-dered what It could be. Then I noticed that my throat and nose seemed to be burning, and my eyes ciiinniemed to water I couldn't draw a breath without sharp pain pier, lug my throat and lungs. It struck sab Ss- jif ssa 51. TOafe vki v a Hg. . j 4t bfla ' "la ' -OPwBH B- !' i ."?' ; ' now HgDDDDBSswv - J sB But AM the Tims I Had Mine I Nsvsr Saw Another Sign of Gas. me suddenly that It was tbe gas. The olllcer who had left a few minutes bo-tore bo-tore poked h!ni head down and shouted, "Klin like h-; It's the gns!" i'.y this time I could hardly see, and I was doing some tall old scrambling to get out of thnt pluce. I would bold my breath as long as I could, and then I'd take another breath through my khaki handkerchief. When I got outside out-side I found that everything was covered cov-ered with a greenish yellow haze, and I couldn't see three feet hi front of me. I run In the direction of the place I had left my car, and I struck it the first shot. Perbapa I wasn't thankful I had left the engine running! I Jumped Jump-ed In and started down that road for all 1 was worth, and before 1 bud goue Its) yards 1 wus off the road and stuck in a plowed licld. I was clear of tho rn. though, and that was all I cured about. I waited t lu-re for two hours beforo any one appeared, and when a fatigue party tlnully tame along the road I had them help ine get tho cur out. They got eight horses, und we bitched them on to the back, I raced my machine. and the hoi -es puUed, uud after half sn hour's work the cur was buck ou the road again. No sooner hud they gone than tny olllcer showed up sufo uud sound and we started bin k for camp. It was a terrible experience, and we were absolutely helpless, as we hud not been furnished wllh tho respirators snd gns helmets ut that time. We secured se-cured these things soon after, but all the time I had mlue 1 uever saw another an-other sign of cas I found out afterward that those two ollliers who had been In tho dugout Were both killed by the gas. The olhcer who was with me at tht time ol Ihe gas atlm k was one of the most remarkable men i ever met, For several years before the war ho had been In the British secret t-eiU.c In Oermauy, so he spoke German utmost as w i II as he did Ilntlisti One day we slopped at a hospital In Ballletll, and one of the orderlies told us that (hero were some German wounded there The officer asked me If I Would like to go in ami 000 them. I said I would like it ceTJ much, so wo went In, There was one poor devil all by luiu-elf among some English patients pa-tients The officer went over und sut on the edge of his bed ami began to talk lo him. If you could have seen that sior fel low's face when he board himself ad dies' ill tu his own language! His whole countenance lighted up. and he began to talk I'tetty soon the teurs began to run down his cheeks, and I felt awfully sorry for the poor chap, who was away from ull his own pen pie. se i roll wounded, lie said that DO bud Just been mnr- ried before the beginning of the war. ami he und Ills wife had saved nil tliev could, und two days before lie waa culled up they hud bought a cow. He was as worried as he could be for feur something hud happened to the COW, The bombardment of Ypres began the night of the April day we experienced the gas. and with the bombardment be tan the Infantry attach I was up at a little place tailed itbjenlngbloot, and I COUld hoar tbO lilies and machine guns at tt for ull they were worth. I was thanking my lucky stars that I wa.. un j niv car Instead of u motorcycle marking ma-rking gun. w hen un orderly risle up uud (old nut (hut 1 wus to report at head ipiai ten at once. All the way back to camp 1 had the fee.mg that something wus going to happen, and when 1 arrived there I I was told to report myself to the signal iinipiiny for duty with my motorcycle Then I knew thut I was to curry dls . pub lie- through the coming battle. I wish to make purttculur DOtO of the r.n t Unit at tbe beginning of this bat tie, Which lasted three weeks, we dls patch riders numbered thirty one lu all for our corps Hull un hour later W0 were fully equipped and on our w ay to the advanced report center, which woud in- tin- scene of our act I Title until the fight w as over We wen- about Ktsi yards to the re i si tin i r-i line oi t reneh i' given an old barn to ourselves and we Inld out our blankets snd made our beds, for It was 10:30 o'clock The attack at-tack was '-"re . i'uj In I y. all fclnde of shells round us, snd the Hermans .were using their same old tactics of hurling great masses of troops against our position. our machine guns gave the usual good in count of themselves, and the M German dead were piled up OTcr our .j wire entnnglements In grest heat " S The Hermans would fall bnck, reform ? and come on again In their usual close formation. So It went all night, and J w hen the morning came the "dead ground" between the two lines of trenches was a grewsome looking place. During the day (ho Hermans bombarded bom-barded our first mid second line trenches trench-es with high explosives and schrapnel nil day. and at night they resumed their lufnntry attack on our position. Hay alter day and night after n' W the battle continued until we all i-dejid i-dejid and numb all over. (To be continued.) |