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Show ADVENTURERS' CLUB F-A ''Dead Mans Dole" By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter HELLO EVERYBODY: Wg letter to LuigiFranciaofBrooklynx y me that ft'8 itbf a long SS, but the point Is you're not bad at n y at composing your yarn. that you don t hav t0 D rsnot writers. This column is for AdvfM rei has all the elementa of And you've got to .af the setting. Trlpolitania, North swell adventure storymJM miles inland from the city of Tripoli-Africa. Tripoli-Africa. AlnZara a"t006BdouJn Arabs, and four regiments of a town composed of about d.uuu oeu f j.,, inIa9try Italian infantry. Luigi Frwela fl fa ,tseJt regiments in June, 1913 and tt.t was marauders he TB n hlanT manf casualties" It was no fun getting says, "and we had many, ma y hQw t tfae hit with a slug from a "uYset in, and then you died." wound it seldom healed Tetanus set cualtle, Attacks wern?0S0f the garrison decided something were so heavy, fta ."e "egtoents were issued extra ammunition ought to be done about It The r were i:rrc:zifJt . marauding. Captured by the Arabs. After weeks of preparation, the Italians were ready for a surprise attack One hot June night, Luigi's regiment got orders for a mast forma ion and a square of soldiers was thrown about the camp. Luigi. wwas corporal major, was sent with 15 men on a scouting expedition The Chief Told Luigi to Shave the Dead Man. to an advanced post in the desert. When they sighted the Arabs, they were to give the alarm so that the regiments could close in. "But I 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 Allah! Allah! and shooting as they advanced. ad-vanced. 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 month, there were but 30 of us left. The ethers died from wounds, some starved. Others were butchered outright. The rest of us had to pump water, wash the Arabs' filthy clothes, eat grasshoppers grass-hoppers 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 chief's brother, stiff and cold. The chief gave Luigi a razor and a little soap and told him to prepare the dead man for burial. "I started shaving him," says Luigi, "while outside, a thousand Arabs prayed to Mahomet, their prophet. I was so skinny from malnutrition malnu-trition and so nervous that I could hardly hold the razor straight, but I did my best, i was almost through when the razQr sippedi jabbed the stiff s neck, and to my surprise, the BLOOD BEGAN TO FLOW " Luigi knew then that the man wasn't dead. He told the chief, and the chief put his hand on his brother's heart, but he couldn t fee any beat. Then Luigi told him to get a mirror. ttdV uf 'he maD'S m0Uth and " cld. That settled it. He wasn't dead. medldnne0n!cUaSnePdriherS;''HayS Lu5gi' "W3S 8 y0Ung man h ew Food and Freedom His Reward surptte1 doctor had a pleasant saved his brother" l He t-Ts 'u,16"1 had it, he fed those two poor half ,?ar ' t0 ShW Ulat he meant them on a camel and toM 1 P,rlsone". gave them money, put food and a A C IT 8 SUPply f chief's blessings ringing in their ears aCrSS Ule old e?&lSZ SK'pS attC,1thn deSert" CrSt Tripoli. And there s 111?, C,UbIIa' about 90 'rem by machine junKJTT' "1Cy WCre aImost kilIei J- 'heir dirty S.8 t. whom, than anything else. arme"s, they looked more like enemies and sentTmbkio Tripoli There' ' their Stry ln mement, they were brought before toe chief in r FeceivinS medical attention, to ell their story Qver '"and at the Presidio, and had luriough with pay, and-well-m3 T"1 were given 8 si months' adventure all over again for thaTLTt of a breV C UlrUgh - Copyright WNU Scrvlc.. |
