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Show .ItPJI '.!!.. lllll I.IHL'IMIIII Hill Hie Loae Tree Sentinel; or, Ghosts on the Firing Line By Sergeant Arthur Guy Empey Author of "Over the Top," -First Call," Etc o-o-o Mr. Empey's Experiences Experi-ences During His Seventeen Seven-teen Months in the First Line Trenches of the British Army in France (Copyright, 1917. by The McClure Newspaper BTntHcale) 10 One s,mny afternoon our gun's crew was sitting on the fire step of a frontline front-line trench, just in .front of Gomme-court Gomme-court wood. Happy Houghton 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 t the night previous, while on sentry go, standing In the moonlight, with his head over the top the rays from the moon had reflected from his steel helmet hel-met and a couple of German bullets had knocked up the dirt within a few , feet of his head. As was usual with him, Hungry Fox-craft Fox-craft was wrestling with a tin of bully beef, while "Curly" Wallace was hunting hunt-ing for cooties. Ikey Honney, with our mascot, Jim, was sitting on the fire-step, his back leaning against the traverse of the fire-bay, fire-bay, 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 bul-let and we buried him behind the lines, placing a little wooden cross at the head of his grave. After working a few minutes at the harmonica, Ikey would pause, put it to his lips and blow into it ; a squeaky, rattly noise resulting. Then, with a deep sigh, he would resume the picking process. I had just finished a letter home and was sighing for the time to come when once again I would be able to say "hello" "hel-lo" to the old girl with the lamp in her right hand guarding New York harbor. har-bor. Although it was warm and sunny, the floor of the trench was about three inches deep in soft, sticky mud. On my right I heard a low muttering mutter-ing and a splashing in the mud, and around the traverse, into our firebay, carrying a box of ammunition on his shoulder, came the most weird-looking soldier I had ever seen. As he passed in front of me he turned his gaze in my direction and a cold stiver seemed to run up and down my. spine as I looked into his eyes. They were uncanny un-canny ; a sort of vacant stare, as if the - owner of them was looking into the Great Beyond. As this soldier staggered stag-gered through the fire-bay, almost bending bend-ing double under the weight of the ammunition and passed from view around the traverse, it seemed to me as if the Grim Reaper had stalked through. Shuddering a little, I Instinctively turned my eyes in the direction of the rest of the crew. They were also staring at the traverse around which the gloomy-looking soldier bad dis- appeared. My heart sank to zero and I had a sinking sensation in the region of my stomach, and on the parados in front of me, like a moving picture on a screen, flashed a cemetery, dotted all over with little wooden crosses. I felt queer and uneasy. Curly Wallace, in a low, half-frightened voice, exclaimed : "Blime me, that was 'Aunted Jerry's brother, the one who clicked It by the old lone tree. If you blokes want to get the creeps you ought to 'ear 'ira talk. Some o' the fellows claim that it's unlucky to get 'im started. They sye that one o' 'is 'ettrers is sure to click In within a few days' time, but If you fellows want to tyke the chance, I'll go over to 'is section, which Is occupying the second firebay en our left, and see if I can get 'im to tell us about 'is brother. But, now mind, this fellow is a little balmy in 'is capper, cap-per, so don't myke fun of 'im." 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 of the crew weakly assented, and Curly went after Jerry's brother. In about twenty minutes he returned with. him. Jerry's brother came over and sat on the firestep next to me. He sat silent for a few minutes, and then, In a thick piping, high-pitched voice spoke: "So yon want to 'ear about Jerry, do you? They called him "Aunted Jerry,' but he weren't 'aunted; ha could just see 'e conld see into 1he future; could sort o' tell what was agoin' to 'appen. 'E could talk to the dead, and they told !im. 'E always 'ad spirits around Mm ghosts, you call 'em. but there ain't no such thing as ghosts they're souls awanderln' around ; they're about us now" I slowly eased down the firestep away from him. "Jerry used to talk to the dead ; 'e would sit In a cemetery at night while In rest billets, and receive messages from them what can't speak do more. "Sometimes, lyte at night, t can 'ear far cw'y, voices callin' to me. but as ; yet cawn't understand 'en, but I will I will." My blood began to curdle. Curly Wallace, placing his hand on the speaker's knee, softly said: "Righto, mate, we know you can see far beyond us, but tell us of 'Aunted 'Aunt-ed Jerry and the pome 'e wrote the day before 'e clicked It at the lone tree." Jerry's brother nodded In a comprehending compre-hending way, and reaching into the pocket of his tunic drew out a creased and muddy piece of paper, which he opened out upon his knee, and then. In an unnatural, singsong voice, which sent shivers through us, recited the following poem: Between the lines, in No ManV Land, With foliage gone, and truit that's torn, A lonely sentry taks 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 wind's faint sigh Through its shelltorn branches moans, A call to men, "To die, to die!" They answer it with groans and groans, But obey the call, for "more and more." And Death sits by and grins and grins. And watches the fast-growing score. The harvest of his sentry's whims. There they lie huddled, friend and foe. Ghastly heaps, English, Hun and French And still those piles forever grow, They are fed by the "Men of the Trench." No wooden cross to mark their fall, No tombstone theirs, no carven rocks. Just the Lone Tree with its grim call. Which forever mocks and mocks. When Jerry's brother had finished, a dead silence ensued. I nervously lighted a fag, and out of the corner of my eye noticed that Sailor Bill was uneasily squirming on the firestep. Letting out a sigh, which seemed to whistle between his teeth, our "gesst" carried on : "Jerry weren't much at cheerful writing, because 'e 'ad a calling. Even back 'ome in Blighty, 'e weren't much for lights nor fun. 'E took after af-ter our mother. The neighbors called 'er 'aunted, too, but she weren't. She could see things, like Jerry. "This 'ere lone tree sentinel Jerry writes about was an old tree in No. Man's land, about a 'undred yards from our front-line trench. It was pretty well knocked about by bullets and shell fragments. It made a pretty good guide post, stickin' sort o' lonely like up gainst the skyline at night. Re-connoitering Re-connoitering patrols and bombing parties par-ties used it to show 'em the w'ye back to their trenches, because, y' know, out there in the blackness It's easy to lose your w'ye, unless you 'ave spirits a-guidin' you. "Lots of times English and German patrols would meet near the lone tree, and many a 'and-to-'and fight would tyke place around its roots. "At . that part o' the-line it were pretty 'ot, what with the rifle and machine-gun firing. The only time there would be a lull in the firing was when a reconnoitering patrol was out in front, and then, as you know, you couldn't fire for fear of a 'itting your own blokes. All around the lone tree were scattered many bodies, mostly English and German. Some of 'em 'ua been a-lyln' there for weeks, and when the wind were a-blowln' from the German lines towards us it were sort of unpleasant in our front line. "Every time the'eaptain would tall for soldiers for a reconnoitering patrol, pa-trol, 'Aunted Jerry, as you call 'im, always put 'is bloomln' nyme on the list. It got so that after a while 'e never asked if 'e wanted to go ; the captain would just naturally put 'is liyme down as agoin'. 'In our dugout, Jerry would tell me 'ow many dead were around the tree. 'Ow ' could count 'em in the dark, I don't know, but '-i could see 'e could see. "Sometimes in the daytime 'e would rig up a periscope on 'is own, and sit cn the firestep for hours alookin' out Bending Double Under the Weight of the Ammunition. in No Man's land at the lone tree, and the bodies around It This sort o' got on our captain's nerves, and 'e gave Jerry orders not to use a periscope. peri-scope. After this order Jerry used to sit off by 'imself on the firestep a musin' and a musin'! The other Mokes laughed at 'ira, but I knew what he were ndoin' 'e were atalkln' to the spirit of the lone tree. "Then 'e got sort o' reckless, and because be-cause It were against orders for 'lm to use a periscope, 'e used to. In the bloomln' daytime, stick Ms 'end over the top and gaze in the direction of the lone tree. Bullets from German snipers would kick up the dirt and tear the sandbags all around Mm, but none of 'em ever 'it Mm. No bullet ever myde could kill 'Aunted Jerry, as you call Mm. "The rest o' the blokes In the trench would pull Mm down off the firestep. They thought they were a-savin' his life, but Jerry weren't afraid from bullets. bul-lets. 'E knew, and so did I, that they couldn't 'arm Mm. Then our captain 'e 'ad brains, 'e 'ad said that Jerry was halmy, and gave orders to the sergeant ser-geant major to tyke Mm back to the doctors, to send Mm to Blighty. Jerry was told about this the night before 'e was to leave. 'E was greatly upset, and did nothin' but talk to the spirits the air was full of 'em I could 'ear their voices, too. "That night about ten o'clock Jerry was missed. The next morning 'e was still a-missin'. For two days nothin' was 'eard of Jerry. Then the Royal Irish Rifles took over a sector of trench on our .right. A lot of our blokes told 'em about Jerry bein' missin'. A few of 'em got around me, and I described Jerry to 'em, but I weren't afraid for Jerry I knew where 'e was 'e were with Ms 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 nowhere. no-where. Two bloomin' doctors examined exam-ined Mm, lookin' for wounds. 'E was dead, all right, and that bloomin' cap- Brought In the Bleeding Body of Jim. tain 'e 'ad brains, 'e 'ad was responsible re-sponsible for Ms death. 'E 'ad tried to tyke Jerry aw'y from Ms spirits, so Jerry crawled out to the lone tree to answer Its call. 'E answered it, and now 'e's with the spirits 'e loved, and some time I'll be able to talk to Mm. 'E's with 'em, all right, I know I know." Just then Jim started to whimper; I guess if the truth were known, we all felt like whimpering. Without another word, Jerry's brother broth-er got up, and, muttering to himself, passed out of sight' around the traverse. trav-erse. As he disappeared from view, Sailor Bill exclaimed : "Blawst my deadlights, but if a bloke like that ever slipped in the navy, In a fortnight's time 'e would bloomin' well be an admiral, because 'e would be the only one left In the blinkin' navy. Gives me the proper creeps. 'Ow In 'ell Ms company stands for Mm I don't know. 'Ow about it, Curly why 'asn't 'e been 6ent tt Blighty as balmy?" "I'll tell you, Bill," answered Curly. "This bloke only gets these fits occasionally occa-sionally 'E's a d d good soldier always on the job, and next to Corporal Cor-poral French and his brother 'Aunted Jerry, 'e's the best scout for work in No Man's land that's ever put. a foot in these blinkin' ditches. It's only lately that 'e's been 'aving these spells so often, and yesterday the sergCiint major told me that 'e was under observation ob-servation a"d that it would only bo a short time before 'e was shipped back." "Is it a fact, Curly," asked Happy, "that this 'Aunted Jerry crawled out there the way his brother says, and that he was found dead without a wound on him? If it's so, he must have bad a bloody poor heart and died that way." Curly answered: "It sure is so, because be-cause I gc it from a leftenant In 'Aunted Jerry's section." Jim was still whimpering. This got on Ikey's nerves ; he gave him a sharp cuff on the side of the Kead. This was the first time a hand hud been raised against Jim since he had joined us months back. He gave Ikey a piteous pite-ous look, and slicking his stump of a tail between his legs disappeared from the fire bay. Two days later Ikey made up for that slap, because at the risk of his life, during an attack, he raced into No Man's land under heavy fire and brought iu the bleeding body of Jim. All afternoon we tried to be as cheerful as possible, but our merriment merri-ment was very artificial. Every laugh seemed forced arid strained. Haunted Haunt-ed Jerry had sure put the "kibosh" on us. That night Curly, Happy and I were on watch from ten to twelve, and, believe be-lieve me, we never spent a worse two hours in our lives. TIktc was not a word Fpoken among us. I was thinking think-ing ot Haunted Jerry, and no doubt the other two were doing likewise. A few days later Jerry's brother was sent bak to Blighty, and nc doubt right now Is in some insane ar -y. lum in Blighty communk'ating v.iti I Haunted Jerry and his rjiirit.;. I |