Show 4 11 mr P r TIC k 1010 WY I 1 1 I ili th V itcy MACHINE IN 1917 DY r EMPEY HAS NARROW ESCAPE WHILE ON PATROL DUTY IN NO MANS LAND synopsis fired bythe by the tho slaking sinking of the with the loss of american lives arthur guy empey an american living in jersey city goes to england and enlists as a private in the british army after a short experience as a recruiting officer in london lie he Is sent to training quarters in F france rance where ho he first hears tile the sound of big guns and makes tile the acquaintance of booties cooties co oties after a brief period of training empens company Is sent into the front line trenches where he takes ills his farst to turn rn on thel the fire clr stop step while the bullets whiz overhead E empey ampey learns as comrade falls that death lurks always in the trenches chaplain distinguishes himself by rescuing wounded men under hot fire with pick and shovel E empey has experience as a trench digger in no mans land exciting experience on listening post detail exciting work on observation post duty CHAPTER XVI continued 13 quite a contrast to wilson was another character in our brigade named scott we called him old scotty on account of its his ego ago he was fifty seven although looking forty old scotty 11 had been born in the northwest and had bad served in the northwest mounted pollee police he was a typical cowpuncher and indian lighter fighter and was a dead shot with the rifle and took no pains to disguise this fact from us ile he used to take care of his rifle as if it were a baby in ills his spare moments you could always see him cleaning it or polishing the stock woe betide the man who by mistake happened to get hold of this rifle he soon found out ills his error scott was as deaf as a mule and it was amusing nt at parade to watch him in the manual of arms slyly glancing out of the corner of his eye chirner tit nt the man next to it him in to see what the order was how he passed the doctor was a mystery to us he must have bluffed his way through because lie he certainly was independent beside him the fourth of july looked like good friday he wore at the time a large sombrero had a mexican stock saddle over his shoulder a lariat on his arm and a forty five hanging from his hip dumping this paraphernalia on the floor floo rhe he went up to the recruiting officer and shouted im from america west of the and want to join your d d army ive got no use for a german and can shoot some at scotland yard they turned me down said I 1 was deaf and so I 1 am I 1 dont hanker to ship in with a d d mud crunching outfit but the caval rys full so I 1 guess this regiments ments better than none so trot out your papers and ill sign lem cm he told them he was forty and slipped by I 1 was on recruiting service at the time he applied for enlistment it was old scottys scottye Sc ottys great ambition I 1 to be a sniper or body snatcher as mr atkins calls it the she day that he was detailed as brigade sniper he celebrated ills appointment by blowing the whole platoon to f gs being a yank old scotty took a liking to rae me and used to spin some grent yarns about the plains and the whole platoon would drink these in and ask for more ananias was a rookie compared with him the ex plainsman and discipline could not agree but the officers all liked him even if he was hard to manage a so when ho he was detailed as it a sniper a sigh of relief went up from the officers mess old scotty had the freedom of the brigade he used to draw two or three days rations and disappear with his glass range finder and rifle find and we would see or hear bear no more of him until suddenly he would reappear with a couple of notches added to those already on the butt of ills his rifle every time he got a german it meant another notch he was proud of these notches but after a few months rather father rheumatism got him and he was sent to blighty the air in the wake of his stretcher was blue with curses old scatty surely could swear some of his outbursts actually burned you no doubt at this writing he Is somewhere in blighty pussy tooting footing it on a bridge or along the wall of df some plant with the G R or home defense corps CHAPTER out in front after tea lieutenant stores of our section came into the dugout and informed me that I 1 was for a deconn 01 bering patrol and would carry six mills bombs at 1130 that night twelve men our lieutenant and myself went vent out in front fronton lon a patrol in no mans land we cruised around in the dark for about two hours just 3 knocking about looking for trouble on them the lookout for bocho working panics to tb seo see what they were doing around two in the morning we were carefully pick picking ing our way about thirty yards la in froot of the perman german barbed vre vire when we walked into it a docile e party nearly thirty strong then the music started the fiddler rendered ills his bill and we paid fighting in the dark with a bayonet Is not very pleasant the germans took it on the run but our officer was no novice at the game and dian didn t follow them he gave the order down on the ground hug it close just in time too because a volley skimmed over ou our r heads then in low tones we we ve retold to separate and crawl back to our trenches each man mail on his own we could see the flashes of their rifles in the darkness but the bullets were going over our heads we lost three men killed nod and one wool wounded ded in the arm if it been for our officers quick thinking the whole patrol would have probably been wiped out after about twenty minutes waltee wait we went out again and discovered that the germans had a wiring party working on their barbed wire we returned to our trenches unobserved with the information and our machine guns immediately med lately got busy the next night four men were sent out to go 90 over and examine the german barbed wire and see sec if they had 5 A hidden gun cut lanes through it if so this presaged ad nn an early morning attack on our trenches of course I 1 had bad to be one of the four selected for the job it was just like sending a fellow belloi to the takers to order his own coffin at ten we started out armed with three bombs a bayonet and revolver after getting into no mans land we separated crawling four or five feet at a time ducking star shells with strays cracking overhead I 1 reached their wire I 1 scouted along this inch by inch scare scarcely ply breathing I 1 could hear bear them hulking in their trench my heart was pounding against my ribs one false bovet or the least noise from me meant es discovery covery and almost certain death after covering my sector I 1 quietly crawled back I 1 had gotten about half way when I 1 noticed that my revolver was missing it was pitch dark I 1 turned about to see if t could find it it be far away because about three or four minutes previously I 1 had felt the butt in the holster I 1 cra crawled vIed around in circles and at last found it then started on my way back to our trenches as I 1 thought pretty soon I 1 reached barbed wire and ana was just going to give the password when something told me not to I 1 I 1 put out my hand and touched one of the barbed wire stakes it was iron the british are of wood while fh german are iron my heart beating by mistake I 1 had find crawled back to the german lines I 1 turned ay about and my tuni caught on the wire mire and made a loud ripping noise A shary challenge rang out I 1 sprang rang to my iny feet locking ducking low lov and ran lan madly back toward low aid our lines the germans s started arted t firing the bullets wore were bit biting n g alt all around me when baegl I 1 ran into our wire anda and a sharp challenge alt who comes there rang lung out I 1 gaspe gasped dout out the password and groping uty my v ay through the lane in the wire tearing my hands and uniform I 1 tumbled into our trench and was safe but I 1 was a nervous wreck for tin an hour until a drink of rum brought me round CHAPTER staged under fire three days davs after the incident just ie related our company was relieved from the front line and carried we stayed sta ed in reserve billets for about two weeks when lian we relph received ed the welcome news tint that our division would go back odthe of the line inc to rest billets we would remain I 1 nal n in these thes e b billets lets for at least two mont non ti lis is this in order to be restored to au our r full strength by drafts of recruits from fi din blighty E everyone elyone was happy and contented tit at these tidings all you could hear around the billets was whistling and singing the hie day after the receipt of the order we hiked for live five days milking making an average of about twelve kilos per day until we arrived at the small town of 0 it took us about three days to get settled fettled a and nd from then on our ausby time started we would parade from 8 45 in the morning until 12 noon then except for an occasional billet or brigade guard we were on our own for the first four or five afternoons i 1 spent pent my time in bringing up to date my neglected correspondence tommy loves to be amused and being a yank they turned to me for something new itt in this line I 1 taught them how to pitch horseshoes and this game made a great hit bit for about ten days das then tommy turned to america for a new diversion I 1 was up in the air until a happy thought came to me wily why not write a sketch and break tommy in as an actor one evening after lights out when you are not supposed to talk I 1 imparted my scheme in whispers to the section they eagerly accepted the idea of forming a stock company and could hardly wait until the morning for further details after parade the next afternoon I 1 was almost almont mobbed everyone in the section wanted a part in the proposed sketch when I 1 informed them that it would take at least ten days of hard work to write the plot they were bitterly disappointed I 1 immediately got busy made a i desk out of biscuit ting in the corner of the billet and put up a sign empey wallace theatrical co about twenty of the section upon n reading this sign immediately applied for the position of office boy I 1 accepted the twenty applicants and sent them on scouting parties throughout tile the deserted french village these parties were to search all the attics for discarded civilian clothes and anything that we could use in the props of our proposed company como any about five that night they returned covered with grime and dust but loaded down with a miscellaneous assort in ment ent of everything u under n der the sun they must have thought that I 1 wasi going to start a department store judging from the different things theli brought back from their pillage after eight days das constant writing 11 II completed a tu two oa act farce comedy which I 1 called the diamond palace saloon upon the suggestion of one of the boys in the section I 1 sent a proof of the program to a printing house in london then I 1 assigned the different parts and nd started rehearsing david belasco would have thrown up his hla hands in despair at the material which I 1 had to use just imagine trying to tench teach a tommy with a strong cockney accent to impersonate a bowery tough or a southern negro adjacent to our billet was an open field we got busy at one end of it and constructed a stage we secured the lumber for the stage by demolishing an old wooden shack la in the rear of 0 our billet the first scene was supposed to represent a street on the bowery in new york while the scene of the second act was the interior of the diamond palace saloon also on the bowery in the play I 1 took the part of abe switch a farmer fanner who had come from Pump kinville center tenn to make his first visit to new lew york in the first scene abe switch meets the proprietor of the diamond palace saloon a ramshackle affair which to the owner was a financial loss the proprietors name was tom Twi twister stem lis his bartender being named fullem up after meeting abe tom and alllen up persuaded him to buy the place praising it to the skies and telling wondrous tales of 0 the money taken over the bar empey embay stages his play under difficulties but with great success the next installment tells about it TO BE n CONTINUED |