Show adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF 1 dead mans doia by FLOYD FLOTD GIBBONS famous headline hunter H HELLO ELLO EVERYBODY luigi francia of brooklyn N Y says in his letter to roe me that hes not so good at composing a story well youre not bad at it by a long shot luigi but the point is that you dont have to be good at composing your yarn yam this colw column is for adventurers not writers and youve got to admit that ludgis yarn has all the elements of well adventure story first look at the setting Tripoli tania north africa aln ain zara a small town 60 miles inland from the city at tripoli a town composed of about bedouin arabs and four regiments of italian hi infantry fantry luigi francia was fighting in one of those infantry regiments in june 1913 and that was an adventure in itself we were constantly attacked at night by marauders he says and nd we had many many casualties it was no tan fan getting hit witha slug blur from a mauser rifle no matter how bow slight the wound it seldom healed tetanus set in and then you yon died attacks were getting so frequent around aln ain zara and casualties were so heavy that the commandants comm andante of the garrison decided something ought to be done about it the regiments were issued extra ammunition and a reserve supply of food and the word went out that they were going to ta make a counter attack on the arab tribes that had been doing all the marauding ma captured by the arabs after weeks of preparation the italians were ready for a surprise attack one hot june night gulgis regiment got orders tor for a mass formation and a square of soldiers was thrown about the camp lulal who was corporal major was sent with IS 15 men men on a scouting expedition the chief told luigi to shave the dead man to an advanced post inthe in the desert when they sighted the arabs they were were to give the alarm so that the regiments could close in but I 1 guess says luigi that we figured wrong about twelve thirty that night we were the surprised ones with a horde of arabs popping up all around us yelling allahl allahl and shooting as they advanced it happened so quickly that we were surrounded and about a hundred of us taken prisoners the hardships we endured at their mercy are unprintable in a mouth month there were but 30 of us left the others died from wounds some starved others were butchered outright the rest of us as had to pump water wash the arabs filthy clothes eat grasshoppers and drink stinking water in dirty sand wells ordered to shave a corpse but one day there came a diversion in the routine of that arab camp A big arab came to the italians and asked if any of them could shave and luigi said that he could the arab led him to the chiefs tent and there on a pallet lay the chiefs brother stiff and cold the chief gave gava luigi a razor and a little soap and told him to prepare the dead man for bu burial rl fal II 11 1 I started shaving ghim him says luigi while outside a thousand arabs prayed to mahomet their prophet I 1 was so skinny from malnutrition and so nervous that I 1 could hardly hold the razor straight but I 1 did my best I 1 was almost through when the razor slipped jabbed into the stiffs neck and to my surprise the BLOOD BEGAN TO FLOW luigi knew then that the man dead he told the chief and the chief put his hand on his brothers heart but he feel any beat then luigi told him to get a mirror ile he held it in front of the mans mouth and it clouded that settled it he dead among us prisoners says luigi was a young man who knew medicine I 1 called him and he pronounced the man to be suffering from sunstroke sun stroke and said he could cure him I 1 dont know what he did but in three days he had him up and walking around again food and freedom his reward and after those three days luigi and the young doctor had a pleasant surprise the chief called them into his tent and told thern ahem they had saved his brothers life he was thankful and to show that he meant it he fed those two poor half starved prisoners gave them money put them on a camel and told them that they could go with a supply of food and a full of water they set out across the desert the old chiefs blessings ringing in their ears it took them two days to get out of the be desert the first place they hit was an italian outpost at cubella about 80 90 miles from tripoli and there as they approached they were almost killed by machine gun bullets fired by their own comrades to whom in their heir dirty yellow arab garments they hey looked more like enemies than anything else the commandants comm andante of that post listened to their story in amazement and ben sent t them back to tripoli there after receiving medical attention they were brought before the chief to in command at the Pre presidio and had bad to tell their story all over again both of them were given a six months furlough with pay and well many a soldier would go through that adventure all over again for 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