| Show ile fhe lone tree sentinel or ghosts OB the firing lino line by sergeant serg earit arthur gy guy empey author of 0 the th top first ca jete 1 an 0 0 0 mr empens experiences Durin gHis seventeen months in the first line trenches of the british army anny in france F rance continued front from last isable curly wallace in a low half fright erd voice exclaimed allme me that was auntee jerrys brother boothm tl t t c e one who clicked it 4 fly by it the a old looe tree it you want j get the creeps you r fri 16 talk some 0 the feloi felloe that its unlucky to get im they s se that one 0 Is enters Is sure to click tn in within a few days ume time but it if you fellows want to tyke file he chance ill go over to js is section Is occupying the second fireway on our left and see if I 1 can get lm iro to tell us about Is brother but now mind this fellow Is a little balmy in Is napper so dont myke fun of ira I 1 confess that I 1 was waa glad to be rid of my curiosity overcame my tr fe akl a yi 4 kl asked curly to go ahead abend f j rest of the crew weakly assented id curly went after jerrys brother in about twenty minutes he hb returned with him jerrys brother came over and sat on the fin fi step next to me ile he eat cat silent for a few minutes and then in a thick piping high i pitched voice spoke so you yoa want to ear about jerry do you they called him auntee jerry but he auntee aunt cd lie he could just see e could see into tho the future could sort n tell what was agoan to lappen appen IS B could talk to the dead and they told im III always nd ad spirits around am alm ilm gli ghosts you call lera cm but there aint no such thing as ghosts souls ei around round about us now I 1 slowly eased down the fi away from him jerry used ased to talk to thu the dead e sit in a cemetery fit at night while in rest billets and receive messages from them what cant speak no more sometimes lyte nt at night I 1 can ear car far ably voices callin to me hut ns as yet cahnt linder understand stand lem cm but I 1 will 1 I will my blood began to curdle curly wallace placing his hand on the speakers knee softly said mate we ve know you can see ece for far beyond us but tell us of aunt ed cd jerry ant and the pome le e wrote the day before le e clicked it at the tee lone tree jerrys jerryc brother nodded in a comprehending way nud and rea reaching ebing into the pocket of ills hla tunic drew out a creased and muddy piece ot 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 stans mans tand land with foliage ollace gone and trunk thatis torn tor A I 1 lonely nely sentry gentry takes hla his stand bland oll antly watching from morn to morn on starlit nights when moon Is bright anil and ipp spreads reads vj 1 J rays ra ot of A 4 A learns beams against the icy V that tree of blight A ghar gha v hanemann hane hang mans gibbet seems when night la in black and winds faint filant sigh through its lt theil shell torn tom branches moans A call to men to die to ta alel they answer it with groans and groans but obey the call for morti more and mo more re arid and dolth sits by and grins and grins and wards the fast growing score th the K ct his sent rys rya whims i oy thera thein a S cuddled u addled friend and foe aliah 7 heaps s english mn and n gh and e ll 11 wil those plies piles forever grow they are fed by the men of the trench 7 no vo wooden cross to rk their fall fail no batons theirs no carven rocks just juat ai alio iona I ona tree with its grim call wh wah ach forever mocks enocks and mocks when jerrys brother had finished n lend ad silence ensued I 1 nervously lighted a fair eftig and out of the corner of my mv eyo eye wired that sailor was imparity Ily squirming on the fl out a sigh which seemed to whistle between lifs his teeth our guest ou on jerry much nt at cheerful writing because e nd goi a n calling even back amile nine it n Bilg mighty lity a Nv erent much for lights nor run fun 0 took af pf if ter our mother no thor the neighbors called er bunted nun ed ted too but she she could see things thing like jerry this ere lone tree sentinel I 1 jerry v rites about ggs on an old trop in n no mans land omit about lit undred yards from our ofir trench it woo pretty na well knocked about fly by bullets and shell fragments it made n pretty good guide post sort 0 lonely like up the skyline tit nt night re ile patrols and bombing paries it to show pin ein the wye back to their trenches be because enuse v know out there in the blackness im easy to lose your wye unless you ave spirits a guldan you lot 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 hat part 0 the line it were pretty oti lot what with the rifle and ana chenu chi gun firing the only time there here would be a lull in tile the firing was when 0 9 patrol was out in front and then as you know you fire for fear of a your own blokes all around the lone artt were scattered many bodies kostl english and german some of em cm ua iia been a byln there for weaks and when the were a blowin from the german lines towards us its it were sort of unpleasant in our front line lanei every time the would call for soldiers for n reconnoitering reconnoiter ing pa ila arol auntee jerry as you call IM always put Is bloomin bloom ln nymo nyme on the list it got so that after a while 0 e o never asked if le e wanted to go the captain would just naturally put plit la 18 cisine down na as i in our dugout jerry would tell me low aw many dead were around the tree ow le e could count em cm in the dark I 1 dont know but le e could asee ee e could see sometimes in the daytime le e would rig up a periscope on Is own and sit on the fi for hours out in no mana land it at tho the lone tree and the bodies around it this sort ol 01 0 got on our captains nerves and I 1 e gave jerry orders not to use it periscope after this order jerry used to sit oft by myself on the fl fi a end ani it the other blokes laughed at im hut but I 1 knew what he were nvere adola e o were to the spirit of 0 tile the lone tree then e got sort 0 reckless and because it were against orders tor for ira im to uso use a periscope le e used to in the bloomin bloom ln daytime stick Is lead end over the top and gaze in the direction of the lone tree bullets from hermlin gennan snipers would kick up tho the dirt and tear the sandbags sandbars sand bags nil all around ini im but none of iem cm ever it tin im no bullet ever myde could MI kill I 1 auntee jerry cis as you call iro im the rest 0 the blob blokes es in the trench would pull IM down off the fl they thought they were a his alfi but terry jerry afraid from bullets ar R knew and so old did I 1 that they arm im then our captain io e lad id brains 0 o e ad sald said that eliat arry balmy and rave gave orders ordera to the major to tyke im hack back to the doctors to send in to jerry was told about this the night before I 1 e was to leave E wr w matly upset and ild did but talk to tho the spirits the air was full of em cm I 1 could ear their voices too that night about ten jerry was missed the next morning le e was still a mis san for two days was card of jerry then tit the I 1 hoyal irish took over a sector of trench on our right A lot of our blokes told lem em about jerry bola missan A few of lein em got around me and I 1 de described bed jerry to em cm but I 1 afraid for jerry I 1 knew where c e was e were with 11 ls spirits sent that night an irish patrol went out and when they returned they brought a body with ali thern them said found it tit nt the toot foot w 0 trio lone ione tree n were jerry nil all right but e it nowhere two bloomin doctors examined lookin for wounds IS E was dead bend nil all right and that bloomia bloom ln cap maln e nd ad brains le e ad was re for Is death IS E ina nil tried to tyke ake jerry aay from is spirits so jerry crawled cradled out to the lone one tree to answer its call IS B answered it ond and now ler OR with the spirits e loved and some time ill be able to talk to im Es with ero em oil all right I 1 know 1 I know just then jim started to whimper I 1 guess if the truth were known we all felt like whimpering whImper inZ without another word jerrys brother got up and muttering to himself passed out of sight eight around the traverse As he disappeared from view sailor bill exclaimed blaust my any deadlights headlights dead lights but if a 0 bloke like that ever slipped in the navy in a fortnights fort nights time le e would bloomin well bo be on an admiral because e would be ba tho the only one left in the navy gives me the proper creeps ow in ell Is company stands for ln ini I 1 dont know ow ov about it curly aby ft hy nent e been sent to as ais balmy ill tell you yon mil bill answered curly this bloke only gets these fits occasionally sio nally Es Bs a d d good soldier always on the job and next to corporal P ral french anil and tit lila brother auntee jerry vi an tho best scout for worl in no mans land ever put a foot lit in these ditches its lately that Vs es been ieving these spell so often and Fest yesterday erday malor major nd m mo that a lyge under oil oh serration find and hint it would only be a short time before le e was shipped back rs Is it n fact curly asked that tills this auntee jerry railed crawled out there filp hp way ills his brother pays one ant that he lend dead without t za v brought in the bleeding body of jim wound on him film it if its so he must have bad a bloody poor hea heart rt and died that way curly answer edIt sure sura Is so because I 1 got it from a leftenant lr ir auntee jerrys atlon Bet lon jim waa still till ou on ikels nerves lit lif r I 1 cuff on tho the side ft ct the head bead ahli was the first drat time a hand lind had beet blei mid against jim since lie lind had us months buck lie ile gave ikey n pite ous oua look ani slicking ht hid StU stump 1111 of a 11 tall liet bet hla hirs leya legs from tilt the fero bay two days later ikey in ando atto up ill for that slap because at tin OIL risk of his life during durin g on an attack lie he raced into no mans land under heavy lire and brought in the bleeding body of jim all afternoon we tall to be cis as cheerful as 03 possible but our merriment was wait very artificial every laugh seemed forced and strained haunted jerry hod had sure put tile kibosh on ell us that night curly happy and r were on watch from ten tell to twelve and believe me we ve never spent a worse worn two hours in our lives thero was not a word spoken among us I 1 was thinking of jerry and ant no doubt the other two were doing likewise A few days later inter jerrys brother was sent buck back to mighty blighty and no doubt right now Is in some insigne asylum lum in aitho lity communicating with haunted jerry and hla spirits jim of the king damom by sergeant arthur guy empey author of over the top first call etc 0 0 0 mr empens experiences Durin gHis seventeen months in the First line trenches of the british britis h army anny in france F rance tho mcclura WP wore were runner of the field li arm y matio rationed ned in france I 1 and had just tit nt our test billets after a weary march from froin the front lino sector continued Continue a nea assli |
