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diff --git a/42446-0.txt b/42446-0.txt index a209486..43c5bc2 100644 --- a/42446-0.txt +++ b/42446-0.txt @@ -1,36 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Many Fronts, by Lewis R. Freeman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Many Fronts - -Author: Lewis R. Freeman - -Release Date: March 31, 2013 [EBook #42446] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANY FRONTS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42446 *** MANY FRONTS @@ -6787,361 +6755,4 @@ JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Many Fronts, by Lewis R. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Many Fronts - -Author: Lewis R. Freeman - -Release Date: March 31, 2013 [EBook #42446] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANY FRONTS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - MANY FRONTS - - - - - MANY FRONTS - - BY - LEWIS R. FREEMAN - - - LONDON - JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. - 1918 - - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - THE FIGHT FOR THE GARDEN OF EDEN 7 - - IT'S A WAY THEY HAVE IN THE AIR CORPS 38 - - SHARKS OF THE AIR 66 - - TO BRITISH MERCHANT CAPTAINS 96 - - THE PASSING OF A ZEPPELIN 112 - - FIGHTING FOR SERBIA 128 - - BEATING BACK FROM GERMANY 156 - - THE SINGING SOLDIER 192 - - BLOWING UP THE CASTELLETTO 219 - - WONDERS OF THE TELEFERICA 246 - - THE GARIBALDI FIGHT AGAIN FOR FREEDOM 280 - - -My grateful acknowledgments are due to the several magazines in which -these stories and sketches have appeared:--_The Cornhill Magazine_, -_Land and Water_, and _The World's Work_ in England; and in America, -_The Atlantic Monthly_, _The World's Work_, and _The Outlook_. - - L. R. F. - _October, 1918._ - - - - -MANY FRONTS - -THE FIGHT FOR THE GARDEN OF EDEN - - -I - -I had known F---- through years of hunting and sports in India, but -never until the night that our old British-India coaster lay off the -Shat-el-Arab bar waiting for the turn of the tide to run up to -Bassorah, did I hear him speak of the things that were really next his -heart. Then it was that I was vouchsafed transient vision of the outer -strands of the previsionary web England was weaving beyond the marches -of India against events to come. I will give his story, as nearly as I -can remember, in his own words. - - * * * * * - -For the best part of the last five years [said he], I have been coming -to Arabia and Mesopotamia on "language study." In all of that time I -have not been back to England, and I am almost a stranger to the -officers of my own regiment. I talk like an Arab, I am beginning to -think like an Arab, and, what with sunlight and dirt that have gone so -deep under my epidermis that they will never come out, I shall soon -look like an Arab. Perhaps in time--you'd never believe the appeal of -the Koran till you've bowed toward Mecca, with a Bedouin on either -side of you, morning and evening, for six months at a stretch--I shall -pray like an Arab. I have had smallpox, dysentery,--which has become -practically chronic,--and a dozen varieties of fevers and skin -diseases, and I'm mottled from head to foot with "Aleppo button" -scars, two of which have never healed. I've been alone so much that I -talk to myself even in Calcutta and Simla. The Persians in this region -distrust me, the Russians and Germans hate me, and the Turks are -perfectly frank in saying that they will send me on "the long -pilgrimage" if ever a fair chance offers. - -All that my Government does is to allow my pay to go on and to provide -me with a passport that will land me at Koweit, Bassorah, or Bagdad. -If I get into trouble they will not--cannot, in fact--do as much for -me as they would for a spindle-legged Hindu coolie. And all this on -the chance that, some time before I am retired for old age or -invalided from the Indian army, the Great White Bear will try to come -down to the Persian Gulf to slake his age-long thirst. In this -contingency, of course, there is no denying the fact that I shall be -very much in demand, especially if operations are carried on in my own -"sphere," that of North-Eastern Arabia and Southern Mesopotamia, up to -a line drawn from Bagdad to Hitt. - -Afoot, or by horse or camel, I have traversed almost every square mile -of this region. There is not a bazaar from Kerbela to Koweit in which, -disguised, I cannot mingle unsuspected in the throng, or, in case of -need, call upon friends who will do anything, from giving me a -cigarette or a handful of dates to risking their lives to save my own. -I also know every one of the greater, as well as most of the lesser, -Bedouin sheikhs whose peoples roam the deserts between Bassorah and -Damascus; and with one of the most powerful of these--his camels are -over 100,000 in number and his sheep and goats three times that--I -have gone through the "blood brotherhood" ceremony. The blood of our -arms has actually mingled, and each is pledged to stop at no act to -serve the other. My friends, I need hardly say, are all Arabs, -Chaldeans, Syrians, Jews, or people of one of the other subject races -of this region; to the Turk, courteous as he is to me socially in -Bagdad and Bassorah, my name is anathema. A week hence, for instance, -I shall exchange Oriental amenities with the Vali of Bagdad in his -garden on the banks of the Tigris. He will toast me in scented coffee -and drink to the success of my visit; and all the while a double guard -of police will be watching the gates to prevent my getting away to the -desert and my Arab friends. Personally, I know it would pain him if I -were to be shot in the dark for neglecting to answer a sentry's -challenge; but officially he is dead keen for it, and there is no -doubt that it would do him a lot of good in Stamboul, where he is not -in very high favour at present. - -The whole thing, when all is said and done, resolves itself down to -about this: If a war involving operations in this "sphere" comes -within the next twenty years, I,--and a couple of other chaps who are -doing the same sort of work,--provided I do not lose my life, or my -health, or the best of my faculties in the interim, will probably -break all records outside of a Central American revolution for quick -promotion. I should probably be a brigadier-general at forty, with ten -or a dozen letters after my name. But if, as is likely, there is no -war, I shall probably continue these little jaunts into the desert -until my health gives out, when, at best, I shall be invalided home -and retired on the half-pay of a captain or a major. - -So, you see, my future depends entirely upon whether or not some of -our neighbours, or would-be neighbours, see fit to "start something" -in this little neck of Central Asia within the next decade or two. And -now that Russia is in the Entente, and we are acting so entirely in -concert with her in Persia, I'm very much afraid that it's going to be -a case of the "hope deferred which maketh the heart sick." - - -II - -The following day we caught the river steamer at Bassorah, and four -days later arrived at Bagdad, F---- putting up at the grim brown fort -which housed the British Consulate, post office, and telegraph -station. I saw him on and off for a week, usually at tiffins or -dinners given for him by some of his British friends. At other times -he was not to be found. "F---- _Sahib_ gone to bazaar," his Pathan -bearer invariably answered my inquiries; and F---- himself volunteered -no more than that he was spending a good deal of time "renewing old -acquaintances." Then, at the end of about ten days, without a good-bye -to anybody, so far as I could learn, he dropped from sight. "F---- is -off again to his Arabs," said his friends. - -"I am much relieved," the Consul whispered to me. "They hung on him -like leeches this time, but F---- got away by togging up as an -Armenian _arabana_ driver when they were expecting him as an Arab. The -Armenian came here, F---- stained his face, got into the chap's -clothes, and actually drove the _arabana_, with a load of passengers, -to Kerbela. The Turks nabbed the real driver when they caught him -going out on foot, but got little out of him, and I don't think they -know yet exactly what happened. F---- is far into the desert by this -time." - -This was in 1912, and at that time no one--least of all F----, who had -the most to gain by such an event--appeared to dream that the -blood-drenched plains of Babylonia and Assyria were likely to echo ere -many years to the tramp of hostile armies. The broad scope of -Germany's activities, extending far beyond the mere construction of -the Bagdad Railway, was evident to every one; but, this -notwithstanding, the general impression seemed to be that the -whip-hand in this region was Russia's. This feeling was aptly -expressed by an old Turkish officer with whom I discussed Near Eastern -politics at Mosul. "The Germans may build railroads," he said, -punctuating his measured speech with puffs from a gurgling _hookah_, -"and the British may build ships, and the Turks may build dams and -canals,"--referring to the reclamation work at Hindia on the -Euphrates,--"but in the end the Great White Bear will come down to the -Persian Gulf and have his drink of warm water." - -That the Germans had ambitious plans for controlling the commerce of -the incalculably rich Tigro-Euphrates Valley no one doubted, or even -that the Kaiser aimed at some sort of political control. But that -German influence should prevail over that of Britain and Russia in -Constantinople, to the extent of aligning the Porte on the side of the -Kaiser against the Triple Entente, was not dreamed of in Mesopotamia, -even by the Turks themselves. The price to the Entente, however, of -alienating Italy from the Triple Alliance by acquiescing in that -Power's conquest of Tripoli, was the irretrievable loss of Turkey's -friendship; and with the succession of Enver Pasha to the War Ministry -at the end of the first Balkan conflict, there is no doubt that the -Porte stood absolutely committed to action with Germany. After the -outbreak of the present war, Turkey's participation on the side of the -Central Powers was only a matter of the Kaiser's nod. Enver Pasha, -educated in Berlin and always actively anti-Russian, had spent nearly -two years in preparation for the struggle which the Germans had -doubtless assured him was inevitable; and the making ready for a fight -to the death at the Dardanelles was not allowed to interfere with a -general stiffening of the Eastern defences. This, briefly, was the way -in which it came about that Britain is facing Turkey instead of the -long-prepared-against Russia in the Mesopotamian "theatre." But I will -let my friend F----, to whom it was given to help set and stage the -opening scenes of the play, tell something of what happened up to the -moment of his tragic exit. - -Late in the fall of 1914, a hastily scribbled card reached me in -California. "Things looming large at last," it read. "Am off for the -'P.G.'[1] to-morrow with big work in prospect. Will write when I can -get anything of interest passed." The card was post-marked Karachi, -and dated but a few days previous to Turkey's official entry into the -war. I took it, therefore, that the Indian Government had discounted -this action, and that at the moment the Turks opened hostilities by -bombarding the Russian coast, F----, doubtless with considerable -forces, was on the way to his "sphere." - - [1] Persian Gulf. - -The promised letter was long delayed, and when it came bore the -post-mark Bassorah, not in the pothook Turkish characters, but in -plain English letters, while the blue two-and-a-half anna stamp of -India appeared in the corner formerly sacred to the narrow, pink, -half-gummed one-piastre sticker which you had often to affix with a -pin to keep it from falling off. Thus ran the letter:-- - -"I am writing you this from the one-time home port of 'Sinbad the -Sailor,' which, I am rejoiced to say, has been under our flag for some -days. The Turks had considerable forces of seasoned troops -here,--doubtless you remember how much of the old town was taken up by -barracks,--but, evidently because they did not expect us so soon, or -in such force, had done little in the way of outpost defence. This, -coupled with the facts that our naval strength was overwhelming and -the river very ineffectively mined, made what might have been an -operation of tremendous difficulty comparatively easy. The guns of our -cruisers outranged those of the old forts at the mouth of the -Shat-el-Arab, and, with sweepers working ahead of them, the -light-draught gunboats peppered so hotly those dense palm groves which -fringe the river banks that we had little difficulty in fighting our -way through them without great loss. - -"Co-operating with the advance up the river, our main force was landed -above Koweit and marched across the open desert to attack Bassorah on -the west, threatening the rear of the Turkish positions on the left -bank. Here the Turk could have made us no end of trouble had he been -in sufficient force, for the lowlands were partly inundated and a -defence of the practicable routes could have been made very effective. - -"It was the weakness of the opposition met here that first led us to -hope that Bassorah was not going to be strongly defended. Although the -advance resolved itself into little more than a series of outpost -actions, the period was an anxious one for us--and especially for -me--in that it put to the acid test the result of our work, not only -in forecasting the capricious and variable overflow, but also in -conciliating the no less capricious and variable Arabs of a region -nominally subject to Turkey. I can only tell you now that things -turned out, and are continuing to turn out, even better than we had -any reason to hope they would. There was no suggestion of a menace to -our exposed left flank from the hordes of curious but in no wise -hostile Arabs who showed themselves all along the way, and the censor -will probably not allow me to tell you that our transport and -commissariat, if nothing more, will probably be much helped by active -assistance from this source. [Here several sentences, doubtless -telling something more of the attitude of the Arabs, were obscured by -the censor's brush.] So you will see that the Turk is reaping the -harvest he deserves from his sowing of harshness and duplicity among -the Bedouins, and that the time and efforts of us 'language students' -who have worked this sphere will not have been spent in vain. - -"The Turks have undoubtedly been quite sound in deciding not to make a -stand at Bassorah. With the sea approaches in our hands, and with the -city entirely encompassed by desert and marsh, the holding of it for -any time would have hinged upon command of either the Tigris or the -Euphrates all the way to the rich agricultural region to the west of -Bagdad. As the cutting of this line by us was only a matter of time, -the city would have been isolated and forced to withstand a siege -which could only have ended in the capture of whatever forces were -locked up there. As it is, the most of these forces are now at liberty -to dispute our advance, through a very difficult country, to -Mesopotamia and Bagdad. Here it seems certain we shall have all the -fighting we care for. - -"I have not mentioned the fact that I have received my captaincy and -am assigned to the general staff. In an ordinary campaign the latter -circumstance would mean a lot of dreary consultations at headquarters, -and no action. Here, Allah be praised, the case is quite different. -R----, K---- (the two chaps who have also worked this sphere), and I -are always called in, if we chance to be on hand, when the maps are -unrolled; but most of the time the whole lot of us are off on -something else. R---- has been through the Turkish lines twice, once -spending three days in Kurna, their advanced base, and I have been off -on a week's journey to receive renewed assurances of the friendship of -my Bedouin 'blood-brother.' It is going to be a jolly amusing game." - - -III - -Another letter came from F---- a month later, this being in answer to -one I had rushed off on receiving the card announcing his departure -for the Persian Gulf:-- - -"You ask what we are driving at here, by which I suppose you mean, -'What is our plan of campaign?' This, obviously, is a question I can -answer only in the most general way. Our principal purpose in the -present campaign will be the occupation of southern and central -Mesopotamia up to and including the cities of Bagdad and Kerbela, a -region roughly corresponding to what might be called ancient Babylonia -proper. Our objective in this is twofold. First, to gain control of -all the irrigated--and hence highly productive--portion of the -Tigro-Euphrates Valley, and, second, to establish ourselves strongly -upon the flank of Persia in the event that that country should show a -disposition to make common cause with our enemy. - - [Illustration: MAP OF THE TIGRO-EUPHRATES VALLEY, Where the - operations against Bagdad were carried out.] - -"There is little doubt that the advance to Bagdad will be a fight all -the way. The most difficult country will be that between here and -about fifty miles north of where the Tigris and Euphrates come -together. Most of this area is marshy all the year, and practically -all of it will be under water from the spring floods by the time we -are ready to get into it. An endless network of 'canals' and backwater -channels makes it practically impossible to advance on foot even -across much of the overflow country, and one of the main reasons for -our long halt in Bassorah has been the training of our men in the use -of the various native craft which will have to figure in our -transport. Luckily, the Turks will be under the same handicap as -ourselves in this region, and our superior artillery and organisation -are sure to give us the 'edge.' The real fighting is going to come -when we emerge upon the level alluvial plains of Central Mesopotamia. -Here the enemy will have the Bagdad railway at his back, and, without -doubt, a pretty complete little system of German-made light railways -to keep him in munitions and food. - -"It may be that it will take us to the end of 1915 to attain our first -goal. Then, if a decision in Europe has not been reached in the -meantime, our next general advance would be up the Tigris to Samara, -Tekrit, and Mosul, and up the Euphrates to Hitt and Deyr; this advance -would place in our hands an upland grain-growing region of -considerable productivity. Still another campaign would have to be -launched to occupy the country up to a line from Aleppo to Mardin or -Diarbekir; but Russia should reach this region from the Caucasus -before we can get there from the south. Upon the guns and munitions -which the Germans are able to send through to Bagdad will depend the -character of the stand that the Turk is going to make in Babylonia. - -"But what a game it is going to be, this fight for the old Garden of -Eden,--with the high-banked canals and the crumbling walls of Babylon -and Hitt serving for trenches and forts, and the _khans_ which -sheltered Ali Baba and Haroun-al-Raschid as outposts! Why, the -'G.C.C.' and I have even discussed how we are going to use that -isolated old _tepe_ of Birs Nimrud--which some call the 'Tower of -Babel'--when the time comes! - -"Our transport for the new campaign will probably be the most -remarkable thing of the kind ever assembled. The fact that the -country into which we are advancing will be largely under water will -compel us to become practically amphibious. On land we are using -camels, horses, mules, and donkeys, while on the water the services of -everything, from the native _balems_, _gufas_, and _kaleks_ to -shallow-draught gunboats and river-steamers, will be in demand. The -old Bagdad side-wheelers have all been converted into gunboats, but -even their slight draught of five or six feet is too great for all but -the main river-channels. One of these, by the way, went into action -the other day with an armour improvised from mats of dried dates. Of -course the Turkish shrapnel made an awful mess of it, and, I am sorry -to say, also of the chaps behind it. - -"The direction of the training of our men in the use of the native -watercraft has been one of my recent duties. The _balem_ is a -gondola-like sort of boat which has long been used for passenger -transport on the canals and rivers of this region. It may be rowed, -sculled, or paddled, and since it is of fairly stable equilibrium, the -men are not long in mastering it. The _gufa_, however, is quite -another matter. It is a slightly flattened ball of woven reeds covered -with pitch, having a hole from five to ten feet across at the top to -receive passengers and freight. It is propelled by paddling, now on -one side, now on the other, and two or three old hands can make very -fair progress with it. A novice, however, can do little more than make -the thing spin on its own axis. Moreover, he invariably renders -himself still more helpless by laughing at his own uselessness; and -although some of the more serious-minded Sepoys have made considerable -progress in handling the _gufa_, I am afraid we shall never be able to -make Thomas Atkins, or his equally frivolous comrade-in-arms, the -Ghurka, take it as other than a perpetual joke. - -"A score of miles to the north of here, a few days ago, a dozen -dismounted troopers, in lieu of anything better to hand, tried to -cross a broad back channel of the Shat-el-Arab in a _gufa_, in order -to dislodge some troublesome Turkish snipers. Their best efforts, -however, served only to send the contrary craft bobbing down their own -bank, the finest kind of a mark for the enemy's sharpshooters. The -latter (I have this on the word of the sergeant whose misplaced -enthusiasm was responsible for the trouble), evidently highly amused, -held their fire until after the 'marines,' as they have since been -dubbed by their comrades, had kicked a hole in the bottom of the -_gufa_ and been compelled to take to the water. The few scattering -shots fired even then were apparently sent only with the intent of -'shooing' several belligerent Tommies back to their own side, for the -only casualty reported was the drowning of a man who, in the language -of one of his surviving comrades, 'caught 'is bloomin' spur in the -bally goofy an' got 'eld under water.' - -"Which incident reminds me to say a word for our old friend, the Turk, -as a sporting fighter. Of course, we knew all the time that he was a -first-class offensive fighter and a superlative defensive one; but, -because for years we have known him under such characterisations as -'The Terrible,' and 'The Unspeakable,' we had come to expect from him -a programme of 'frightfulness' quite in keeping with that of his -allies of the Occident. That nothing of this character has been in -evidence is one of the most refreshing surprises of the campaign. I -can only set down here one of a number of instances in point which -have fallen under my observation. - -"You doubtless read in the papers that the Turks made an attempt in -some force to recover Bassorah a few weeks ago, going by boats to -Nasire, on the Euphrates, and marching from there around the -inundation area to approach this point from the west. Fortunately, one -of our 'friends' sent us word of what was afoot, and we were able to -prepare a proper reception at Shaiba. It was after we had beaten them -back at this point, and while they were fighting rearguard actions in -a most cleverly conducted retreat, that the incident I have in mind -occurred. I was out with, though not in command of, a troop of cavalry -which was pressing the pursuit a considerable distance ahead of our -main force. About eleven o'clock in the morning we found our way -blocked by a small detachment of the enemy which had been left to make -a stand at an isolated _khan_, one of those walled desert -halting-places of the caravanserai order,--really more of a fort than -a tavern. - -"There was no use in trying to dislodge the Turks until the guns came -up, but, unluckily, about a dozen chaps, out of touch with their -officer, attempted to rush the gate 'on their own.' The enemy coolly -let them come on to about a hundred yards from the _khan_, and then, -unmasking a machine-gun, dropped them all in a space not fifty feet -square. A rifle volley brought down the three or four reckless spirits -who, in spite of wounds, staggered to their feet and lurched ahead. -Taking advantage of the cover afforded by a pair of old canal banks, -we managed to get up within about three hundred yards of the _khan_ -gate without exposing ourselves dangerously, there to wait for our -field guns and to be ready to make it lively for our Turkish friends -in case they tried to evacuate in the meantime. - -"For a while we thought that, mercifully, no life remained in any of -the still, sprawling brown figures in front of the _khan_; but -presently, with his face covered with the dirt a sniper's bullet had -thrown on it as he put his head up for a look, a man crawled back to -report to Major S---- that he had seen a hand feebly raised as though -trying to attract our attention. Verifying the truth of the statement -at the risk of his big new _shikar_ helmet, S---- promptly called for -volunteers to try to bring the wounded man in. 'It's a slim chance,' -he said, 'but this noonday sun would kill an unwounded man lying on -his face for an hour out there. We've got to make the attempt.' - -"Passing down the line, S---- picked the four spryest and wiriest -looking of the sprawling row of grimy Tommies, each of whom had raised -an appealing hand as the word for volunteers passed along. 'Make the -best of the cover of that strip of date-palms, and bring in the -man--he's the one nearest us--the same way,' he ordered just about as -he would have sent them out on patrol. 'We'll give the Turks what -diversion we can in the meantime.' - -"Then we began peppering the ports of the old _khan_ in a blind and -large sort of way that had little effect, as a consequence of the fact -that the machine-gun fire which came in reply made it impossible to -put our heads up to aim. Enough of a diversion was created, however, -to allow the volunteers to make their way, apparently unobserved, to -the farther end of the palm clump. But a hail of bullets met them as -they left cover, and the last of them dropped while he was still a -dozen yards from the object of his rush. The three first to fall lay -still,--shot dead, as we learned later,--but the last one, in spite of -a punctured femur, presently pulled himself together and began to -crawl forward. It was not until this moment, I am certain, that the -Turks fully comprehended what we were driving at; for now, although -they continued to keep us under cover with sweeping jets from their -machine-gun, not another shot was directed at the man on the ground. -Nor was there any attempt to check his painful progress as he dragged -the man he had been sent after back to the palm grove. Nor yet, finest -of all, did the Turks try to wing a single one of another brave four, -who, disdaining the cover of the palm trunks, dashed out to relieve -their comrade of his burden. - -"Encouraged by the forbearance of the enemy, we were about to send out -a squad under a white flag to see if any more of the wounded were -alive, when dust clouds on the southern horizon warned the Turkish -leader that our field-guns were coming up; and, with his task of -delaying the pursuit well fulfilled, he made ready to retire by -sweeping our cover with a fresh fusillade. The only gate of the -_khan_, opening to the south, was completely covered from our -position; but the resourceful Turk coolly breached the northern wall -with a flake or two of gun-cotton, and, the first thing we knew, the -whole troop--machine-gun and all--went scurrying off across the -desert. For two or three minutes they were fair marks for us, and, as -they sent several Parthian volleys themselves, there was no military -reason why we should not have tried to bring down a few of them. As a -matter of fact, we did send a few perfunctory volleys; but if its -shooting on that occasion was any criterion of the marksmanship of -S----'s troop, Allah have mercy on it when it comes to real grips -with the Turk! Not one of the fugitives dropped from his saddle, and -I don't think one of them was hit. If we had done for even a man of -them, imagine what our feelings would have been when, on taking -possession of the _khan_, we found, hung carefully in a thick-walled -crypt well beyond all danger from our rifle fire, three goatskins of -clear, cold water, while scrawled on the wall, in both French and -Turkish, was the direction, 'For the Wounded.' As we had been out of -water for hours ourselves, and as a few cups sufficed for the two or -three wounded who had survived the withering sun heat, you may surmise -that our hostility toward the 'unspeakable Turk' was not materially -increased by this latter incident. - -"The chap who was rescued at so great a cost died a few hours later, -but rather from exposure to the sun than from his wound, which was -slight. The man who brought him in is well on the road to recovery -and, I trust, a V.C." - - -IV - -My next, and what proved to be my last, letter from F---- reached me -in London:-- - -"Our general advance has begun, and we have attained our first -important objective in the occupation of the 'Garden of Eden.' Not -the greater 'Garden of Eden,' which name Sir William Willcocks applies -to all of Mesopotamia south of Hitt and Samara, but the traditional -site of the Garden at the meeting of the Tigris and Euphrates. This -was surely one of the strangest engagements in history. The country -was under water for miles around, and the Turks had fortified and -elected to make their stand on the only dry ground in the whole -region, a series of low rises--hardly to be called hills--in the rear -of Kurna. Fortunately, their available artillery was not powerful. We -had prepared for the assault by emplacing batteries of heavy howitzers -at every point sufficiently solid to support them, while lighter guns -were mounted on the river-steamers and on barges. - -"After a heavy shelling of the Turkish positions our troops, in -everything from _balems_ and _gufas_ to _kaleks_ and gunboats, were -rowed, paddled, poled, and steamed forward to the limit of the draught -of their respective craft. Then over they went into the water, and the -assault commenced. Luckily the Turkish guns had been pretty well put -out of action by our howitzers, else that half-mile or more through -mud and water would have been a very costly business for us. As it -was, some barges and _kaleks_ with machine-guns on them were brought -up close to the enemies' lines, and, the fire of these and the -gunboats having made the Turkish positions practically untenable, the -troops had to do little more than go and round up a very sizeable -bunch of prisoners who had been cut off by a swift flanking movement -of a column of Sepoys. Some of our men, in their eagerness, went -overboard into deep water, and, as a consequence, had to chuck their -accoutrements and swim for it. A number of them, in fact, lost more -than their arms; and a bevy whom I saw later helping to shepherd some -Turkish prisoners aboard a gunboat had little to differentiate them, -sartorially, from Father Adam in the earliest days of this same -'Garden of Eden.' - -"I had a rather interesting job a few days ago. This was to lead a -small picked force across country and destroy a bridge of boats which -the Turks were endeavouring to maintain across the Tigris at the Tomb -of Ezra, for the use of any stragglers who might still be drifting -back from the south. - -"You recall the Bible story of this famous structure. The Prophet -Ezra, faring about this region in his old age, feeling the hand of -Death upon him, directed his followers to bind his body to a camel, -drive the animal into the desert, and where it finally lay down to -rest, there to make the holy man's burial-place. The camel headed -straight for the nearest reach of the Tigris, and there the -brilliantly-tiled tomb which was reared above the Prophet's remains -stands to this day, a mecca for Jews and Mohammedans alike. - -"I didn't make a very brilliant success of my job with the bridge of -boats. We got into a marsh in the darkness and waded about in it until -too late to make the night surprise I had counted upon at Ezra's Tomb. -We did get there at dawn, however, and, principally because the Turks -must have thought we had strong support coming up, managed to induce -the latter to evacuate his very good position about the Tomb and -retire to the east bank of the river. We established ourselves in one -of the Tomb gardens, but could go no farther for the moment on account -of the brisk and accurate fire of the enemy from the other side. - -"Most of the day I lay on my back in a bed of petunias under the -garden wall, and gorged myself on the ripe pomegranates which the -Turkish bullets cut down from the trees above. But about mid-afternoon -they knocked a couple of bee-hives off the wall into the very midst of -us, and, as we were wearing 'shorts,' with nothing to protect the leg -from calf to knee, the sequel was a very unpleasant one. So dead sure -were those bees that our inoffensive little party was responsible for -upsetting their homes that they divided themselves into just as many -bands as we were men, and started, impartially and systematically, to -sting us to death. My men were out of hand in an instant, and I really -believe that, had not a modern miracle been wrought, another -minute would have seen the whole pack of us, careless of such -trifles as Turkish rifle and machine-gun fire, wallowing in the -fifty-yard-distant Tigris. - -"The miracle was performed by a little pink-cheeked, bare-footed angel -of a Jewess, evidently the 'shepherd of the bees.' Unconcernedly -tripping out among the writhing 'casualties,' oblivious alike to the -threat of Turkish bullets and the roaring masses of bees, she set up -the punctured hives in a safe place under the wall, and then began to -beat sharply with a stick upon an old bronze gong which was suspended -from her neck by a thong. Instantly the bees stopped stinging, and -inside of five minutes the last of them was settling back with a -contented buzz into its hive. I could have kissed the stubby brown -toes of the pink-cheeked little angel of mercy. And here again let me -record to the credit of the Turks that, although her head and -shoulders must have been visible to them above the low wall, they made -no attempt to stop with a bullet the work which, had they only known -it, was all that prevented the whole lot of us from falling into their -hands. - -"Every man of us was, of course, in beastly shape from the stings. My -own agony from this source was infinitely worse than that from a -bullet which ploughed up my scalp when we cut the bridge of boats -after darkness had fallen; in fact, if the truth were known, I think -the desperate pain all of the boys were in had a good deal to do with -the absolute recklessness they displayed when the time came for us to -try to fulfil our mission. I heard one chap tell another he was afraid -that he _wasn't_ going to get shot, and the whole bunch acted as if -they felt the same way. Luckily, the Turks had no searchlight, and it -is probable their own fire helped not a little in breaking up the -bridge. At any rate, it went off down the yellow Tigris in a score of -sections, and we--or what was left of us--with it. A half-dozen -impetuous Turks who, in their eagerness to get at close quarters, had -come out to welcome us half-way, were also carried along when the -bridge broke up. After that it was a case of _sauve qui peut_ for all -of us, and I'm sorry to say that only about a third of the force I -started out with has, so far, straggled back to Kurna." - - -V - -I was still chuckling over F----'s account of his experience with the -bees when, opening the latest issue of the _Sphere_ the following -afternoon, I saw his familiar face smiling back at me from the corner -of one of the first pages. "Been getting mentioned in dispatches," I -said to myself; and then the title of the page, on which appeared a -score of other portraits, met my eye: "Dead on the Field of Honour; -Officers Killed in Action." There were no particulars, not even a -date; nor was anything further to be learned behind the tape-bound -portals of Whitehall. To the officers of F----'s regiment, now -fighting in Flanders, some few details were ultimately vouchsafed; and -from one of these, whom I encountered a few days ago, during his leave -in London, I learned all that I have so far been able to gather -concerning the death of my friend. - -"F----'s work in cutting the bridge of boats across the Tigris," he -said, "is spoken of as one of the most daring things of the -Mesopotamian campaign. Undoubtedly he deserved a V.C. for it, and it -is just possible one may be awarded posthumously. He was slightly -wounded there, but must have been out on duty again within a very few -days. According to the account we have received, he was off on some -special detail when he came upon a number of imbeciles of the -transport trying to ferry several camels and machine-guns across a -back channel of the Euphrates on a _kalek_, a sort of raft consisting -of a light platform resting on inflated sheepskins. One of the camels -had kicked a hole in the platform and was rapidly demolishing the -supporting skins, when F----, fearing the loss of the guns, swam off -to try and set things right. In endeavouring to extricate the camel, -he ducked under the _kalek_, where, it seems likely, his wounded head -was struck by one of the brute's sharp hoofs, and he let go his grip -and sank before any one could get hold of him. Glorious death, wasn't -it,--for a man who had led the life F---- had, and who, for that -particular region, was the most nearly indispensable man with the -expedition?" - -Two months have gone by since F----'s last letter was written, and -the Mesopotamian campaign has been prosecuted along the general lines -he forecasted at the outset. Nasire and Amara have fallen, and the -early winter will see the armies drawn up for the final fight for -Bagdad, probably upon that same Plain of Shinar where the scarlet -desert flowers still keep alive the old belief that - - Never blows so red - The rose as where some buried Cæsar bled. - -For destiny has decreed that once more the might of two rival races -shall lock in death-grips for the possession of that age-old prize, -the Garden of Eden. Eve was put without the gates when she tasted of -the Forbidden Fruit, and right on down through the ages the same -undeviating penalty has been inflicted upon the Babylonian, Mede, -Assyrian, and other empires that gorged themselves upon the Forbidden -Fruit of Corruption. Brave foeman that he is, the Turk, cloyed with -the same Forbidden Fruit, has long been marked for the inexorable -justice of the ages, and every precedent of tradition, history, and -strategy points to the conclusion that the closing hour of his -stewardship of the Garden of Eden is about to strike. - - - - -"IT'S A WAY THEY HAVE IN THE AIR CORPS" - - -I - -It had been all of nine years since I first met Horne at an _estancia_ -house-party in the heart of the Argentine Pampas, and fully seven -since I last saw him at a banquet given at the Buenos Aires Jockey -Club in his honour, a day or two after he had led his four to victory -in the finals of the River Plate polo championships. Yet, in spite of -the pallor of a face I had always remembered as bronzed, and a slight -hitch in his once swinging gait, I recognised him instantly--it was -the keen, piercing glance, I think, and the sudden flash of white -teeth in the quick smile--when he hailed me from a passing taxi and -came hobbling back along the broad pavement of Whitehall to meet me. - -"What does this mean?" I asked, indicating his jaunty Flying Corps -uniform, after we had shaken hands. "I thought it was the army you -were in before you resigned to become an opulent _estanciero_ and -'man-about-the-Pampas.'" - -"It was the army I came back to," he replied, "and I was with my old -regiment at Neuve Chapelle when a fragment of hand-grenade effected a -semi-solution of the continuity of one of my Achilles tendons and put -a period on my further usefulness in that branch of the service. The -'air' was still open to me, however, and, as I had already dabbled in -flying,--I was the first man to pilot an aeroplane across the Plate -estuary,--I got a commission almost immediately, and so lost very -little time." - -"But your 'lily-white' face and hands," I pressed. "I never heard that -the air had a bleaching effect on the complexion." - -"Oh--that--" (Horne looked absently at a blue-veined hand and shuffled -uneasily), "that must have come from my spell of 'C.H.'--confined in -hospital. Got knocked up a bit again. Flying over Belgium. Got shot -down and hit the edge of Holland a trifle too hard when I volplaned -over the boundary. Telescoped a few vertebræ, that's all. Now, be a -good chap and stop asking questions and jump in with me and come along -to the Club." - -Horne waited for me while I picked up a few promised figures at the -"Lloyd-Georgery," as he facetiously called the new Ministry of -Munitions in Whitehall Gardens, and then took me up to one of the -Service clubs in Piccadilly. There, without giving me further chance -to "get him up into the air," he launched at once into news and -reminiscence of the Plate and the Pampas. When I left him at six, we -had talked for close on two hours without more than the most casual -reference to events of the war. - -"A keen patriot, like all the rest of these young Britons who have -flocked home from overseas to fight for their country," I reflected as -I sauntered down through Green Park; "but certainly not keen on his -work." I even speculated as to whether or not Horne might be in some -sort of trouble in the service. Nothing else seemed to account for the -man's reticence regarding everything connected with his special -activities. - -A few days later Horne called me up to ask me to dine with him that -evening at a famous old restaurant in the Strand. - -"'S----'s' is a bit more 'merry and bright' than this old tomb of a -Club," he said, "and a few of the Flying Corps chaps who are in the -habit of rendezvousing there while in London on leave you'll find well -worth knowing." - -The gathering was even more informal than I had anticipated. One of -the long tables, it appeared, was set aside for "R.F.C." officers and -their friends, and these dropped in by twos and threes, as suited -their convenience, all the way from seven to ten o'clock. - -There were half-a-dozen men at the table when Horne and I entered, and -all of these--they had stalls for a new "revue"--presently took their -leave. One of the group was a South African, one a New Zealander, and -two Australians. The latter we found bent over the racing page of the -Sydney _Bulletin_, while the New Zealander was evidently trying to -persuade the Africander that a dairy herd near Wellington offered -better prospects than a general farm in Rhodesia. One of the -Australians, whose family was interested in an importing house, -lingered behind a moment to ask me if I thought the war was going to -force up the price of American agricultural machinery in foreign -markets. None of them said a word about flying, and Horne volunteered -no more than that they were all "good men--that little chap from New -Zealand really 'topping.'" - -Horne, with the fleshpots of Argentina in his mind, ordered solidly -and lengthily, and three or four more officers had "wolfed" hasty -meals of roast beef and whisky-and-soda before our _Chateaubriand_ -(which represents the nearest Anglo-French equivalent to the _carne -asado_ of the Pampas) had been done to its proper turn over the -coals. These, like the others, rattled on about the music-halls, the -homeland, the "rotten London weather"--anything and everything, in -fact, save the war in general and the war in the air in particular. - -One, it is true,--he had come from France only that afternoon,--in -accounting for a bandaged hand, did mention something about getting a -finger jammed under the belt of his machine-gun; but it seemed to -occur to no one to inquire what he had been shooting at, or whether or -not he had hit it, or any of a dozen or so other things concerning -which I, for one, was at once consumed with interest. - -By nine all of those with theatre or other engagements had come and -gone, and the eight or ten still seated at the table were leisurely -diners with the evening on their hands. Yet not even among these -unhurried ones was there evident any inclination to talk of their -work. On the contrary, I fancied I discerned an inclination to avoid, -to "side-step" it. When they were reminiscent, it was the friends and -events of their old life--"trekking," "caravanning," "hiking," -"mushing"; Arctic midnights and tropic dawns; strange odds and ends of -adventure by land and sea--that they called up. And when they spoke -of the present, it was in connection with little happenings incident -to their leaves--with the comparative merits of "kit" shops, Turkish -baths, "revue" favourites, the pros and cons of drink restriction, and -the extortionate charges of dentists. - -Yet every man of them appeared true to what I have since come to -recognise as a rapidly-developing type--the "Flying Type." The army -aviator of to-day is picked for his quickness of mind and body, and -the first thing that strikes you about him is a sort of feline, -wound-up-spring alertness. Then you note his reticence, the cool -reserve of a man whose lot it is to express himself in deeds rather -than words. And lastly there is the quiet seriousness, verging almost -on sadness, of the man who must hold himself ready to look Death -between the eyes at any moment, and yet keep his mind detached for -other things. - -It was the youngest, and therefore the least "formed," officer of the -lot--a lad who had left his cacao plantation in Trinidad to come home -and fight--who was responsible for the only "shop" discussion of the -evening. Noting that he was eating but little, and constantly passing -his hand over his temples, some one asked him banteringly if he was -"homesick or only lovesick." - -"Neither," he answered, relaxing his set lips in a forced smile. "Had -a bit of an accident yesterday, and have had a deuce of a headache -ever since. Can't for the life of me make out whether it comes from -going up too high or coming down too quick. I went up higher and came -down faster than ever before in my experience. Landed all right, but -ever since I've felt as though I were being blown up by a tire-pump -that was driving air into every capillary and nerve-tip. My head feels -as though some one was opening up a jack-screw inside of it. Suppose I -should have gone to the hospital and found out what was wrong, but I -didn't want to spoil my leave. Maybe some of you chaps can tell me why -I feel as though I had to keep holding my head together to stop its -flying to pieces," he concluded, pressing the heels of his hands to -his temples to offset the seeming pressure from within. - -Every one stopped talking and leaned forward with interest, and for an -instant I thought the curtain was going to drop and reveal something -of the experiences, if not the minds, of those khaki-clad sphinxes of -the air. Horne's coldly professional diagnosis dashed the hope. -"Altitude," he pronounced laconically. "Got over twelve thousand, -didn't you? Over thirteen thousand? That accounts for it. And you -went up wide-open, trying to take 'pride of place' away from a Fokker, -I suppose? Of course. And when you got there you began to feel like a -deep-sea fish looks when you bring him up out of the kelp-beds and his -own air-bladders blow him up? A man can go up fifteen thousand feet by -rail or on foot without more than a shortness of breath and occasional -nose-bleed. But not every man--and not even every seasoned flyer--can -stand jumping up to twelve thousand feet in the half-hour that some of -the new machines can negotiate that height in. The difficulty's almost -entirely physical, and it all depends upon how a man is made whether -or not his flesh and blood will accommodate themselves to the suddenly -reduced pressure of the atmosphere. There's no growing used to it. If -it 'gets' you once, it's pretty sure to do it again. At the best you -may only have a bad headache and a sort of 'boiled-owl' feeling for a -week. At the worst you faint, lose control of your machine, and are -listed among the casualties of 'cause unknown.' Did _you_ lose -control, by any chance?" - -"I think not," was the reply. "It was a second German machine--one -that I hadn't seen--that brought me down. It came nose-diving down -out of a cloud, shaking its tail, and giving me a regular shower-bath -of bullets--the usual Fokker trick. I'm almost positive I can remember -all the way down. Fact is, with my machine in the shape that it was -after its peppering, any 'lapse' on my part would have started it -somersaulting at once. No. Rotten as I felt, I'm sure I kept -'connected up' mentally all the way down." - -Horne shook his head dubiously. "You may be able to stick it," he -said; "but before you try any more big-game shooting among the high -places, best have a few practice flights in the upper empyrean. The -sooner a man learns his altitude limit the better. There's plenty of -useful work below twelve thousand feet for the man who begins to -'blow-up'--mentally or physically--above that height." - -Conversation became general again even before Horne had finished -speaking, for to most of them there was nothing new in what he was -saying. None but the man on the left of the young West Indian ventured -an inquiry as to the details of what had happened, and it was only by -straining my ears that I was able to catch the drift of the -low-voiced, almost monosyllabic exchange. - -"Get your petrol tank?" - -"No, for a wonder. Got about everything else, though. Propeller all -chewed up; wings a pair of sieves. Bumped the bumps all the way down. -Ground was about the softest thing I hit." - -"Any one get the Hun?" - -"None of us. Got himself, though. He came breezing out of a tuft of -cirro-cumuli all of fifteen thousand feet up, and seemed to be going -wild; sort of running amuck. Seemed to be trying to ram me when he -nose-dived, and the reason he bored me so full of holes was that he -didn't sheer off to give me a berth. Missed me by a hair, and almost -upset me with his wind. But he never recovered from his dive. Just -seemed to lose control and started going end over end. Fell almost -into some of our trenches. I landed five miles away from the wreck of -him with nothing shot up but my machine and my nerves." - -"Any one get the first machine--the one you went up after?" - -"No. It had the heels of all of us. The Hun's 'Archies'[2] brought -down one of our machines that tried to follow it." - - [2] Soldiers' slang for anti-aircraft guns.--THE EDITORS. - -"Shop" interest waned at this juncture, and the conversation upon -which I had been eavesdropping veered off _viâ_ headache-remedies and -a pretty Scotch nurse at a hospital in France to the comparative -merits of the "Empire" and "Alhambra" choruses; and I was able to turn -both ears to Horne, who had been holding forth learnedly for some -minutes on the points of the Andean pony-thoroughbred cross as a polo -mount. - - -II - -Our fellow diners drifted away as they had come--singly, and in twos -and threes--and by ten o'clock Horne and I were alone in the deserted -lounge with our cigars and coffee. He was expecting to be rung up at -ten-thirty, he said, and as the time approached I could not help -noticing that he became _distrait_ and nervous, palpably anxious. The -call came promptly, and it was with a look of ill-concealed -apprehension on his face that he rose to follow the summoning flunkey -to the telephone booth. A minute later he returned walking on air. -Twice or thrice he tried to take up the dropped thread of Argentine -reminiscence, finally giving it up as a bad job. - -"I can't help telling you that I've just had some very good news," he -exclaimed, with beaming face. "For six weeks now I have been haunted -by a fear that that last jarring up I got was going to put me out of -the game for good. Yesterday I had the doctors go over me, and now, -after being kept all day on tenterhooks, comes word that, so far as -flying is concerned, I'm going to be as right as rain. Nothing -whatever likely to occur to prevent my going back in a fortnight. I -think I must be just about the happiest man in London to-night. I----" - -He checked himself with a deprecatory gesture. "Really, you'll have to -pardon my outburst, old chap; but I wasn't half sure that I wasn't in -line for invaliding out. Besides, I've been fairly itching to be 'up' -all day. There's been witchery in the air ever since sunrise. I've -never known more perfect flying weather. Which reminds me, by the way, -that the Zepps are expected in this vicinity to-night. They were on -the 'East Coast' last night, you know. It's just a little too clear -for their purposes; but the air itself is perfect--_perfect_. There -haven't been more than one or two other such days for flying as this -one since the war began. You can't understand it till you've been in -the air yourself. It was in the blood of all those chaps at dinner -this evening. They talked about everything on earth except flying; and -were thinking about nothing else but that. Didn't you notice that they -were as restive as the lions in the Zoo an hour before feeding time?" - -Throwing aside all reserve, Horne began to speak of his work--his love -of it, the fascination of it, the great and increasingly important -part it was playing in the war. This was precisely what, hoping -against hope, I had been trying to draw him out on all the evening; -and so, lighting a fresh cigar, I sank back contentedly in my armchair -to play the part of the appreciative auditor. Scarcely was I well -settled, however, when Horne abruptly ceased speaking and leaned -forward with his head cocked in an attitude of attentive listening. - -"Did you hear that?" he whispered; "and that, and that?" - -"Nothing but the chatter of the first dribble of the supper crowd," I -answered. "What is it?" - -"Bombs," was the reply; "three or four of them. And, I think, -gun-fire. The Zepps must be nearer London than they have been at any -time since last October. Let's get down to the Embankment. We can see -from there, if anywhere. They never wander far from the 'river road.'" - -The Strand, packed with the crowds from the emptying theatres, was -plainly oblivious and unalarmed, and I promptly taxed Horne with -letting either the wine or the "perfect air conditions" go to his -head. He said nothing, but, all the way down the black little canyon -of a street along which we threaded our way, appeared to be listening -intently. Not until we were about to emerge into the brighter -blankness of the Embankment did he speak again. - -"There have been no more bombs," he said, "but I think the guns are -going right along. If the sound is too faint for your 'unattuned' ear, -perhaps the fact that you hear no shunting of trains or whistling at -Charing Cross or Waterloo (you know of the new order which halts all -trains during air-raids) will convince you that the Zepps are about. -Or if not that, then come along here and have some ocular evidence. -What do you say to that?" And Horne pointed off down past the looming -mass of St. Paul's to where the stationary beam of a single -searchlight laid low along the eastern horizon. - -"I see the searchlight plainly enough," I said, "but where's the -Zepp?" - -"Take my glass," said Horne, handing me a small pair of -semi-collapsible binoculars which was evidently a constant companion. -"Now focus on that point of brighter glow, with a shadow behind it, -half-way down the shaft--right there, straight over the back of the -right-hand lion at the foot of the Obelisk." - -I did as directed, fairly to gasp with astonishment as a tiny blur, so -indistinct as to go unnoticed by the passers-by on the Embankment, -sharpened to a long, yellow-ribbed pencil, with pin-points of -light--fireflies escorting a glow-worm--flashing out and disappearing -above and below and round about it. - -"The first Zepp to get over London in six months," I ejaculated -excitedly. "How long will she take to get here? Hadn't we better get -away from the river and under cover? But no," I went on, peering -through the glass again; "I don't think she's coming this way. Seems -to be standing still. Probably hovering over W----, the old -objective." - -"London! W----!" laughed Horne. "Do you realise that _you_ didn't hear -any bombs, and that none of these people have any idea that there's a -raiding Zeppelin, with shells bursting about it, squarely in their -range of vision? That fellow's all of twenty-five miles away, and as -for its 'hovering,' you may rest assured that when you see a Zepp with -incendiary shells bursting _above_ it, it is either badly hit or else -doing seventy miles an hour toward the home hangars. As a matter of -fact, I've been expecting to see this fellow begin to drop at any -moment. He's evidently run into better guns and gunners than he -counted on. Ah! No hope!" (Horne snatched his glass and turned it -quickly on the now agitated searchlight beam.) "He's gone. Even the -light's lost him." - -Horne turned around disgustedly, led the way to a bench by the curb, -pushed along a somnolent "match dame" to make room for him, and -wearily sat down. - -"He's slippery game--the Zepp," he observed presently, after watching -the futile flounderings of the questing searchlight. "I didn't tell -you, did I, that it was through trying to get a Zepp that I came that -last cropper of mine over Belgium?" - -"You know perfectly well you didn't," I replied, folding a corner of -the old match-seller's straggling cloak back over her knees and -sitting down in the space vacated. "Go to it." - -"I was starting on a reconnaissance over a corner of Belgium just as -the Zepp was returning from a raid over France. I got above him, and -just after I dropped my first bomb the 'Archies' opened up on me from -the ground and put me out at just about the first shot. Jolly nervy -work, with my machine only a couple of hundred feet above the Zepp. A -little too nervy, perhaps, for I've never been quite certain in my -own mind whether it was my bomb or one from the German guns which sent -the Zepp--not wrecked but pretty badly messed up--down into a -sugar-beet field. I headed----" - -"Just a moment," I interrupted, anticipating the end of the tale at -the end of Horne's next breath. "You're dumping over your story just -the way a Zeppelin under fire dumps over its bombs. Now please back up -and tell it properly. The night is young, the raiders are now headed -out to sea, and the lady and I are here to follow you to the end." - - -III - -Horne laughed uneasily, fumbled through his pockets in a vain search -for matches, filched a box from the tilted tray of our nodding -companion,--leaving a sixpence in its place,--lit his pipe, puffed -pensively for a minute or two; and even after all that preparation -made his beginning apologetic. - -"I don't know that I've ever told the yarn from the beginning," he -said, "and I'm dead sure I've never said much about the end. If I -chatter a bit to-night, you'll please check it up against the good -news I had a while ago--and the air. A man could pretty nearly walk on -the air as it has been to-day, and a machine would slide through it -like tearing silk. Funny thing, but it was in the dawn following -almost just such a night as this that I went off on the flight I have -spoken of. - -"There are three main factors in flying,"--Horne spoke more freely -again as he digressed upon generalities,--"the man, the machine, and -the atmosphere. Theoretically, man and machine are supposed to be sent -out in perfect order, ready to take the air as they find it. There -_are_ days, of course, when you are 'off', your machine 'cranky,' and -the air all 'heights' and 'hollows,' and at such times there is pretty -sure to be a 'stormy passage,' if nothing worse. Usually, however, -it's a fairly fit man and machine against indifferent air. But once or -twice a year there comes a period, like the last eighteen hours, when -the air is almost absolutely 'homogeneous,' and then, with his engine -running 'sweet,' the man has spells of fancying himself an 'air god' -in fact as well as in name, and acts accordingly,--invariably either -to his own or his enemy's sorrow. - -"It was like that on the morning I am telling you about--man, machine, -and air all in harmony--yes, and with the usual result. I would have -remembered this flight for several reasons, even if the Zepp hadn't -come along; for one, because of our ride down the wake of a '42' -shell; for another, on account of the terrific shelling they gave, or -tried to give us, as we passed over the German lines. - -"The meeting with the shell was merely one of those freak experiences -that might happen to any one, or, just as well, never happen at all. -It was during the time I am speaking of that the Germans were amusing -themselves by a long-distance bombardment of N---- with their biggest -guns, and we--(I had an observation officer along, a chap named K----, -whom you may have heard of as a long-distance runner)--simply chanced -to meander into the path of one shell somewhere about the last quarter -of its trajectory. Watching from a distance, you can always see one of -these brutes go hurtling along, but this one we only heard,--and -felt,--and it was like two express trains, going in opposite -directions, passing at full speed. There was a strange soft sort of a -buzz, growing into a rushing roar inside of two or three seconds, a -blow from a solid wall of air that was like colliding with the side of -a house, and then, for two or three minutes, a series of bumps like -going over a corduroy road in a springless cart. - -"I don't know whether we interfered very much with the course of that -shell, but the shell pretty nearly brought _our_ flight to an end then -and there. Only the fact that we met the first big rush of air head-on -saved us. I wouldn't have had one chance in a thousand of 'correcting' -if it had caught us sideways--and even as it was, the machine, in -spite of its seventy-miles-an-hour headway, was stood up on its rudder -like a rearing horse. After that first 'collision,' our fluttering -flight down the wake of the '42' was only 'queer,' but withal a -different sensation from anything I had ever experienced. - -"I have no idea how close we passed to each-other. My impression of -the moment was that the distance was inside of fifty yards, though it -was doubtless really much greater. We were not, of course, going in -exactly opposite directions, for the shell must have been coming down -at a considerably greater angle than that at which we were going up. -Yet the 'aerial surf' stirred up by the passage of the Hun's little -messenger of goodwill in that smooth stretch of atmosphere was heavy -and persistent enough to keep my machine wallowing for over a mile. - -"The air was going by us in a swift, steady river as we neared the -German lines, and I never recall having been able to climb so quickly -and easily. Lucky it was, too, for the enemy--probably in anticipation -of a pursuit of their returning raiders--had their whole trench -'hinterland' planted with anti-aircraft guns, both stationary and -movable. There was one little strip that blossomed out like a poppy -garden as they opened up on us, and for a minute or so the smoke from -the spreading shell-bursts formed a good-sized little cloud of its -own. But they never had any real chance of getting us. My good little -engine, singing like the wind in the telephone wires, had enabled me -to get up over fourteen thousand feet without turning a hair and at -that height you're a lot safer from shells in an aeroplane than from -taxis in crossing the Strand. K---- was feeling the altitude a bit, I -think; I saw him wiping blood from his nose and pressing his hands to -his ears, but he gave no signs of real distress. As for myself, beyond -a little swelling of the fingers and a drumming at the temples, I was -quite as usual. - -"We passed over the main 'bouquets' of the 'Archies' without even -feeling the kick of the shells bursting beneath us; but in dropping -down to ten thousand feet a few miles beyond, we encountered an -unexpected 'plant' of them and the shrapnel bullets were flying all -about us for a minute or two. A score of neat little holes winked out -in the wings, and one friendly bit of a bullet--spent, but still hot -from its sharp flight--dropped gently into my lap and slightly singed -the fold of my coat in which it found lodgment. Then we left that -mare's nest behind and the going grew smoother once more. - -"It was only a few minutes later, and before any beginning had been -made on the work we had come for, that K---- picked up a Zepp through -his glass and began reporting its progress to me over the telephone. -At first it was flying very high, doubtless to keep above gun-fire in -crossing our lines. Once over, however, it came down rapidly, -probably, as K---- suggested, with the purpose of luring the pursuing -aeroplanes into easy range of the German 'Archies.' If that was the -plan, it was eminently successful; for K---- presently reported one of -our 'chasers' falling in flames, another planing for our own lines, -and two or three others turning back. I could see the marauder myself -by this time, and noted that it appeared to be heading off about -twenty-five degrees to the west of me, and flying already at a level -considerably lower than the twelve thousand feet I had run up to in -getting away from the last spasm of gun-fire. - -"It was this commanding height, together with the fact that my engine -was running as sweetly as when it started, that determined me to take -a hand in the game at this juncture. Still keeping well up, I promptly -headed across to cut off the returning prodigal. For a minute or two -the Zepp either didn't recognise me as 'enemy,' or else ignored me -entirely. But presently a sharp speeding up of its engines was -apparent, and for a moment I thought that it was going to challenge me -for a climbing contest, generally a Zepp's first resort. But a few -seconds later it had altered its course through nearly half a quadrant -and headed off at top speed, at the same time beginning to descend at -what I figured was about an angle of ten per cent., or five hundred -feet to the mile. The ruse--to draw me down over some concealed line -of 'Archies' in that direction--was plain as day; but I had three -thousand feet of altitude to the good, power to burn, and, moreover, -was bitten deep for the moment with that 'air-god' bug I have spoken -of. It seemed as natural that I should chase Zepps as that a -fox-terrier should chase chickens. Without further thought, I accepted -the challenge and launched off in pursuit of the speeding 'sausage.' - -"It really never occurred to me to discuss the thing with K----, but, -like the trump he was, he never showed by word or sign that tilting at -airships had not been included in our orders. He, also, twigged the -game at once. - -"'Guns probably in that thick clump of trees by the little pond,' his -far-away voice said over the telephone. 'Best catch him as far this -side there as you can. One of his engines missing badly, and he's not -going very fast.' - -"With a quarter of an hour instead of a couple of minutes to work in, -I would have preferred to keep along on a comparatively high level, -and only descend, to drop my bombs, at an angle that would have kept -me pretty well out of the range of the Zepp's guns. But K----'s -warning was too sound to be disregarded and, in this case, the -quickest way was also the only way. As it was, it was really almost a -nose-dive, and I did the first half of it with the throttle wide open. -So fast did we come up with the Zepp that it seemed almost as if a -giant had taken the big gas-bag in his hand and thrown it at us. - -"The patter of machine-gun bullets sounded only for a second or -two--it wasn't unlike walking over a lawn-sprinkler--and, so far as I -could see, did no harm. Then, cold as ice for the work in hand, I shot -straight down along the yellow spine of the airship, letting go a -couple of bombs before my terrific speed carried me beyond my mark. - -"Now a perfect torrent of shrapnel burst out around me--the -smoke-tufts made the still distant clump of trees look like a cotton -field--and almost at the same instant there was a strong rush of air -from below. The machine teetered giddily on one wing-tip for a moment, -and I just managed to right it in time to free a hand to grab the tail -of K----'s coat as he, apparently unconscious, started to lurch over -the side. I don't seem to have any very clear recollection of being -able to get him back into his seat at all. - -"I didn't have a chance for another good look at the Zepp; I only know -that it descended rapidly, although apparently not entirely out of -control. My machine, badly shot up as it was, still seemed to have a -good deal of 'kick' left, though the reek of petrol in the air wasn't -an encouraging indication that its 'vitality' would continue. The -impetus of my descent quickly carried me out of range of that spiteful -but isolated little battery of 'Archies'--luckily, too, in just the -direction I wanted to go. - -"Just before I flew over the Zepp--it was while the machine-gun -bullets were still pattering, I have since recalled--K---- 'phoned me -the compass bearing of the nearest point of the Dutch boundary, and -said something about it being our only chance if things went wrong. -(That they had already 'gone wrong' with him he gave no hint.) -Strangely, the figures had stuck in my head, and it was in that -direction I sheered as soon as the machine was on an even keel again. -It was not far, thank heaven, and, partly planing, partly under the -power of that brave little half-fed engine, I somehow managed to keep -up long enough to clear the top wire of the boundary fence and pile up -in a heap in the hospitable silt of good old Holland." - -A dozen questions tumbled after each other off the tip of my eager -tongue, and the old "match dame," who had snored peacefully all -through Horne's even narration, stirred and muttered petulantly at the -unwonted disturbance. But Horne, rising and working his stiff joints, -essayed to answer all in a single breath. - -"I don't know how much harm was done to the Zepp, or whether it was I -or the Hun's own 'Archies' that did it. K---- died in a Dutch -hospital, without regaining full consciousness, two days later. (It -was a bullet from one of the Zepp's machine-guns that did for him.) I -can't tell you how I managed to get out of Holland; and"--as a low -whistle sounded from Charing Cross and a hooded eye peeped cautiously -out of the black shed--"the trains are running again; so we may take -it that the little visitor we were watching is now out over the North -Sea and on its way home to bed. I think it's high time that we -followed its good example on the latter score. Good-night and sweet -dreams, mother." And he took my arm and began piloting me back to the -Strand to waylay a taxi. - - * * * * * - -Horne has been back at work for a month now, and, so far as I have -heard, with no recurrence of ill luck. Last week I met another friend -from Argentina--a doctor, returned to "do his bit" with the Red Cross. -"Horne has made a brilliant success of his flying," he said; "did he -tell you anything of his exploits?" - -"Only a little about a brush with a Zeppelin," I replied, "and scant -details of that." - -"That's all he has ever told any one. Yet the Dutch patrol swear that -he came down in Holland with the tail of his half-dead observation -officer's coat in his teeth (only thing that kept the chap from -falling out); and there is also every reason to believe that it was -his bombs that brought that Zepp down, and badly knocked up, too. -Either one of them would bring him anything from the Military Cross to -the V.C. if he would tell even the plain, unvarnished tale of it. But -the quixotic idiot made his report so confoundedly non-committal that -there was simply nothing for his commander to go by. Was hardly enough -to merit mention in dispatches the way it stood, much less to award a -decoration on. Queer thing, but they say they've had the same sort of -trouble with a number of the flying chaps. Seems to be a sort of cult -with them. Can't say it's a wholly bad one, either." - - - - -SHARKS OF THE AIR - - -The sea raid, the land raid, the airship raid--this was the trio of -bugaboos under the menace of which Britain, uninvaded, almost -unthreatened, for a thousand years, stirred uneasily at the outbreak -of the war and turned anxious eyes toward the leaden mist curtain -which veiled the North Sea. Then the bulldog of the Navy after a -tentative snap or two, set its teeth in an ever-tightening -strangle-hold, and with the dying gasps of German sea-power the threat -of the sea and land raids disappeared for good. So far as England was -concerned, only the ways of the air were left open to Germany; only -the menace of the Zeppelin remained. - -And when weeks had lengthened to months, and summer had given way to -autumn, and autumn to winter, without the threatened bombing from the -sky, the name of Zeppelin ceased to have interest for the stolid -Briton, now just awakening to the fact that he had a mighty task to -perform beyond the sea. Continued immunity bred contempt, and even the -fore-running aids of the spring of 1915 failed to stir London from -her impassive calm. By midsummer she was showing signs of being bored -with the whole subject, and the sky-searching antics of the comedians -in her packed music halls began to be greeted with yawns from the -stalls. She was becoming impatient of her darkened streets, and -captious "Pro Bono Publicos" wrote to the papers demanding more -illumination and a general return to "Business as Usual." - -The "authorities" still kept up a pretence of preparedness. The -so-called anti-aircraft guns--really a nondescript lot of ordnance, -left over after the fittest of the few available pieces had been -requisitioned for use in France, on the coast, or by the Navy--still -had their crews of half-trained amateurs, and the golden beams of the -searchlights continued to whirl and dip and curtsey in their nocturnal -minuets. Buckets of water and boxes of sand stood ready for emergency -use in the art galleries and museums, and on the hoardings conspicuous -posters gave with meticulous articularity instructions as to how one -should act if Zeppelin bombs began raining in his vicinity. At the -first sight of a hostile airship, we were told, we should repair at -once to the nearest cellar, and in case a smarting sensation in the -nostrils indicated the release of deleterious gas, the mouth and nose -should be covered with a moist double bandage containing a layer of -carbonate of soda. Some of the pharmacies displayed patent anti-gas -respirators in their windows, but none would admit ever having had an -inquiry for one. - -"We've got a war to fight. Zepps ain't war; fergit 'em." So a London -bus conductor summed up the situation to me, and so seemed to feel the -majority of his fellow townsmen of all classes. - -Such, as regards Zeppelins, was the spirit of "London and the Eastern -Counties"--to use the official phrase--as the summer of 1915 waxed and -began to wane. Something of how this spirit met the trying events of -the months which followed, I shall try to show by a few extracts from -my journal. In deference to the wishes of the British Censorship the -names of several points in London have been slightly altered. - - -I - - On Board Yacht ---- - _en voyage,_ - Wroxham Broad to Hickling Broad. - - _August--._ - -We sailed and poled along the river and canal yesterday, and in the -afternoon moored to the bank at this point, which is but a mile or two -from the North Sea. The morning papers, which we picked up as we -passed through the little village of Potter Heigham, contained an -official bulletin telling of a Zeppelin raid on the "Eastern Counties" -the previous night; and later in the day word was brought us that -Lowestoft, the great trawlers' port about twenty miles to the -south-east, had been heavily bombed. A second raid in this vicinity -seemed, therefore, anything but likely. - -The afternoon closed in one of those characteristic butterfly chases -of sunshine and showers so familiar to the August _voyageur_ on The -Broads, and, lounging at ease on deck after dinner, we had watched the -twilight aeroplane patrol, stencilled in black silhouette against the -glowing western clouds, pass north from Yarmouth to meet its fellow -from the Cromer hangars. A half-hour later the sharp staccato of its -engine, rather than its blurred image against the paling afterglow, -told us of its homeward flight. - -It was a good two hours after the drumming of the aeroplane's engine -had ceased to be heard that a strange new sound became audible, first -distantly, in the puffs of the quickening night breeze, soon more -imminent and with steady insistence. It was apparently the booming -explosions of powerful gas engines, and presently, blending with this, -could be distinguished a buzzing clackity-clack that suggested -whirring propellers. - -"Another aeroplane," suggested one. "A fleet of aeroplanes," hazarded -another. "A dirigible threshing-machine," opined a third. And, judging -by the now almost overpowering rush of sound, the latter was nearest -to the truth. - -The whole universe seemed to have resolved itself into one mighty -roar, and I distinctly recall that the mainsail halyard by which I -steadied myself vibrated to the beat of the pulsating grind from -above. For a moment--sensing rather than seeing--I was aware of a -great black bulk blotting out the stars above the river, and then, -stabbing the darkness like a flaming sword, the yellow flash of a -search light leapt forth from the dusky void and ran in swift zigzags -back and forth across the marshes and canals beneath. Now a herd of -cows could be seen staggering dazedly to their feet, now the startled -bridge-players on the deck of the houseboat moored above were -revealed, and now our own eyes blinked blindly in the yellow glare -before the questing shaft darted on down the river to spot-light an -eel-fisher's shanty on the dyke and the gaunt frame of a towering -Dutch windmill beyond. - -Now it found the sharp right-angling bend of the river, quivered there -for a second or two and then flashed out, leaving a blanker blackness -behind. At almost the same instant the "Thing of Terror"--a hurtling -mass of roaring engines and clattering propellers--shot by overhead, -followed by a confused wake of conflicting air-currents. It passed -straight down above the middle of the river at a height of not over -300 feet, and beneath the dimly guessed bulk of it bright chinks and -squares of light, broken by the shadows of moving men, plotted the -lines of two under-slung cars. A Zeppelin had passed almost within a -stone's throw. - -The lights of the car leaped sharply upward almost as soon as the bend -of the river was reached, and at the end of a couple of minutes the -roar of the engines dwindled to a distant buzz and died away -completely. Ten minutes passed, during which the old eel-fisher went -on stringing his traps across the river and the house-boaters resumed -their interrupted bridge. Then a red signal light flashed out in the -heavens in the direction of Yarmouth, and at almost the same moment, -clear and sharp, came the sound of furious light-artillery fire. This -lasted for only a minute or two, and there was another eight- or -ten-minute interval before a still more distant sound of gun-fire -became faintly audible. Drowning the crack of these latest shots -suddenly came the roll of a heavy boom, quickly to be followed by -another, and another, and another, until a dozen or more had sounded. -Then the peaceful silence of the early evening resumed its sway. - -The eel-fisher finished sinking his traps before paddling up the -gangway of the yacht and venturing a casual inquiry as to whether or -not we had "chanct to see the Zepp." "'Er do this onct befoor," he -chirruped. "'Er gets bearin's from 'e' riv'r an' then 'eds off fu -No'ich o' Ya'muth. I be thinkin' if 'er knowed this grouse moor -b'longed tu Ser Edderd Grey, 'er'd a bombed it good as 'er goed by." - -This morning the London papers have the bulletin of still another raid -on the "Eastern Counties," with a good many casualties; also an -account of how a Zeppelin was brought down in the North Sea and -destroyed by aeroplanes from Nieuport. - - -II - -LONDON, _September_--. - -Yesterday's papers had the usual account of an air raid on the -"Eastern Counties," and during the day word was passed round that -this had consisted of an attempt to bomb the Woolwich Arsenal. This -morning they have finally had to add "and London" to the regular -formula, as last night, for the first time, bombs were dropped upon -the heart of the city and seven million people watched the whole -performance. It was the nearest thing to their promised "big raid" -that the Germans have yet brought off, and to-day London--in the -defence of the metropolitan area of which guns were fired for the -first time in many hundreds of years--appears to have declared a sort -of informal half-holiday to note the consequences. - -To Londoners, a Zeppelin raid appears to be a good deal like the -paradoxical "man-sitting-on-the-pin" joke--it is funniest to those who -miss the point. To the ones in the swath of the raid, like the one who -sits on the pin, it is anything but a laughing matter. "But the swath -of the raid is so narrow, London so broad; the killed so few, -Londoners so many. If this is the worst the Huns can do, on with -'Business as Usual!'" There is no denying that this epitomises the -spirit of London--even as it mourns its dead--on the morrow of the -first great air raid of history. For myself, I must admit that I was -rather too near the point of the pin, and have since seen rather too -many of the "pin-pricks," to be able to look at the diversion from -quite the standpoint of the great majority. - -Last night was clear, calm, and moonless--ideal Zeppelin -conditions--and walking down from my hotel to the Coliseum at eight -o'clock, I noticed that the searchlights were turning the dome of the -sky into one great kaleidoscope with their weaving bands of -brightness. The warming-up drill was over as I entered the music hall, -and, returning home at the end of the "top-liner's" act, I picked my -precarious way by the light of the stars and the diffused halos of -what had once been street lamps. I was in bed by a quarter to eleven, -and it was but a few moments later that the distant but unmistakable -boom of a bomb smote upon my unpillowed ear. I was at my east-facing -window with a jump, and an instant later the opaque curtain of the -night was being slashed to ribbons by the awakening searchlights. - -For a minute or two, all of them seemed to be reeling blind and large -across the empty heavens, and then, guided by the nearing explosions, -one after another they veered off to the east and focussed in a great -cone of light where two or three slender slivers of vivid brightness -were gliding nearer above the dim bulks of the domes and spires of -the "City." - -Swiftly, undeviatingly, relentlessly, these little pale yellow dabs -came on, carrying with them, as by a sort of magnetic attraction, the -tip of the cone formed by the converged beams of the searchlights. -Nearer and louder sounded the detonations of the bombs. Now they burst -in salvos of threes and fours; now singly at intervals, but with never -more than a few seconds between. Always a splash of lurid light -preceded the sound of the explosion, in most instances to be followed -by the quick leap of flames against the skyline. Many of these fires -died away quickly,--sometimes through lack of fuel, as in a -stone-paved court; more often through being subdued by the firemen, -scores of whose engines could be heard clanging through the -streets,--others waxed bright and spread until the yellow shafts of -the searchlights paled against the heightening glow of the eastern -heavens. - -The wooden clackity-clack of the raiders' propellers came to my ears -at about the same moment that the sparkling trail of the fuse of an -incendiary bomb against the loom of a familiar spire roughly located -the van of the attack as now about half a mile distant. After that, -things happened so fast that my recollections, though photographically -vivid, are somewhat disconnected. My last "calmly calculative" act was -to measure one of the on-coming airships--then at about twenty-five -degrees from directly overhead--between the thumb and forefinger of my -outstretched right hand, these, extended to their utmost, framing the -considerably foreshortened gas-bag with about a half-inch to spare. - -Up to this moment, the almost undeviating line of flight pursued by -the approaching Zeppelins appeared as likely to carry them on one side -of my coign of vantage as the other; that is to say, they _seemed_ not -unlikely to be going to pass directly overhead. It was at this -juncture, not unnaturally, that it occurred to me that the -basement--for the next minute or two at least--would be vastly -preferable, for any but observation purposes, to my top-floor window. -Before I could translate this discretionary impulse into action, -however, a small but brilliant light winked twice or thrice from below -the leading airship, and a point or two of change was made in the -course, with the possible purpose (it has since occurred to me) of -swinging across the great group of conjoined railway termini a -half-mile or so to the north. This meant that the swath of the bombs -would be cut at least a hundred yards to the north-east, and, impelled -by the fascination of the unfolding spectacle, I remained at my -window. - -During the next half-minute the bombs fell singly at three-or -four-second intervals. Then the blinking light flashed out under the -leader again,--probably the order for "rapid fire,"--and immediately -afterwards a number of sputtering fire-trails--not unlike the wakes of -meteors--lengthened downward from beneath each of the two airships. (I -might explain that I did not see more than two Zeppelins at any one -time, though some have claimed to have seen three.) - -Immediately following the release of the bombs, the lines of fire -streamed in a forward curve, but from about halfway down their fall -was almost perpendicular. As they neared the earth, the hiss of cloven -air--similar to but not so high-keyed as the shriek of a shell--became -audible, and a second or two later the flash of the explosion and the -rolling boom were practically simultaneous. - -Between eight and a dozen bombs fell in a length of five blocks, and -at a distance of from one to three hundred yards from my window, the -echoes of one explosion mingling with the burst of the next. Broken -glass tinkled down to the left and right, and a fragment of slate -from the roof shattered upon my balcony. But the most remarkable -phenomenon was the rush of air from, or rather to, the explosion. With -each detonation I leaned forward instinctively and braced myself for a -blow on the chest, and lo--it descended upon my back. The same -mysterious force burst inward my half-latched door, and all down one -side of the square curtains were streaming outward from open or broken -windows. (I did not sit down and ponder the question at the moment, -but the phenomenon is readily explained by the fact that, because the -force of the explosives used in Zeppelin bombs is invariably exerted -upwards, the air from the lower level is drawn in to fill the vacuum -thus created. This also accounts for the fact that all of the window -glass shattered by the raiders has fallen on the sidewalks instead of -inside the rooms.) - -Tremendous as was the spectacle of the long line of fires extending -out of eyescope to the City and beyond, there is no denying that the -dominating feature of the climax of the raid was the Zeppelins -themselves. Emboldened perhaps, by the absence of gun-fire, these had -slowed down for their parting salvo so as to be almost "hovering" when -the bombs were dropped opposite my vantage point. Brilliantly -illuminated by the searchlights, whose beams wove about below them -like the ribbons in a Maypole dance, the clean lines of their gaunt -frameworks stood out like bas-reliefs in yellow wax. Every now and -then one of them would lurch violently upward,--probably at the -release of a heavy bomb,--but, controlled by rudders and planes, the -movement had much of the easy power of the dart of a great fish. -Indeed, there was strong suggestion of something strangely familiar in -the lithe grace of those sleek yellow bodies, in the swift swayings -and rightings, in the powerful guiding movements of those hinged -"tails," and all at once the picture of a gaunt "man-eater" nosing his -terribly purposeful way below the keel of a South-Sea pearler flashed -to my mind, and the words "Sharks! Sharks of the air!" leaped to my -lips. - -While the marauders still floated with bare steerage-way in flaunting -disdain, the inexplicably delayed firing order to the guns was flashed -around, and--like a pack of dogs baying the moon, and with scarcely -more effect--London's "air defence" came into action. Everything from -machine-guns to three-and four-inchers,--not one in the lot built for -anti-aircraft work,--belched forth the best it had. Up went the -bullets and shrapnel, and down they came again, down on the roofs and -streets of London. Far, far below the contemptuous airships the little -stars of bursting shrapnel spat forth their steel bullets in spiteful -impotence, and back they rained on the tiles and cobbles. - -Suddenly a gruffer growl burst forth from the yelping pack, as the -gunners of some hitherto unleashed piece of ordnance received orders -to join the attack. At the first shot a star-burst pricked the night -in the rear of the second airship, and well on a line with it; a -second exploded fairly above it; and then--all at once I was conscious -that the searchlights were playing on a swelling cloud of white mist -which was trailing away into the north-east. The Zeppelin had -evidently taken a leaf from the book of the squid. - -The tinkle of shrapnel bullets on the roof sent me down at this -juncture to join the gathering of my fellow guests on the ground -floor, where, on the manager's calling attention to the fact that my -knees were shaking from the cold, I was glad to avail myself of the -loan of his overcoat. I was not unappreciative of his delicacy in -attributing the undeniable shiver in my frame to the cold, and I have -not yet entirely made up my mind just to what extent the chill night -air, standing in a twisted and cramped position in order to look up, -and sheer funk shared the responsibility for it. - -I have been under shell-fire on several occasions, and I confess quite -frankly that I never before felt anywhere near so "panicky" as during -that long half-minute in which the airships appeared certain to pass -directly overhead. The explanation of this, it seems to me, may be -found in the fact that, in the trenches or in a fort which is under -fire, one is among cool, determined, and often callous men who are -meeting the expected as a part of the day's work, while in a Zeppelin -raid one is more or less unconsciously affected by the unexpectedness -of it, and by the very natural terror of the unhardened -non-combatants. At any rate, to say that there was not a very -contagious brand of terror "in the air" in the immediate vicinity of -the swath of last night's raid would be to say something that was not -true of my own neighbourhood. - -As soon as the firing ceased I slipped into my street clothes and -hurried out, reaching the "Square" perhaps ten minutes after the last -bomb had fallen. That terror still brooded was evident from the white, -anxious faces at street doors and basement gratings, but a mounting -spirit was recorded in the gratuitous advice shouted out by the -"Boots" at a hotel entrance to a portly and not un-Teutonic-looking -gentleman who went puffing under a street-light. - -"No use hurryin', mister," chirped the young irrepressible. "Last Zepp -fer Berlin's just pulled out." - -At the end of a block my feet were crunching glass at every step, and -a few moments later I was in the direct track of the raid. By a -strange chance--it is impossible that it could have happened by -intent--that last fierce rain of bombs had descended upon the one part -of London where the hospitals stand thicker than in any other; and -yet, while every one of these was windowless and scarred from -explosions in streets and adjacent squares, not one appeared to have -been hit. One large building devoted entirely to nervous disorders was -a bedlam of hysteria, and the nurses are said to have had a terrible -time in getting their patients in hand. From another, given over to -infantile paralysis, hip-disease, and other ailments of children, came -a pitiful chorus of wails in baby treble. The other hospitals, -including one or two foreign ones, appeared to be proceeding quietly -with their share of the work of succour, receiving and caring for the -victims as fast as they could be hurried in. - -The fires, except for a couple of wide glows in the direction of the -City and a gay geyser of flame from a broken gas main in the next -block, had disappeared as by magic, and most of the places where bombs -had dropped in this vicinity could be located only by the little knots -of people before the barred doors, or by following a line of hose from -an engine. - -Except for an occasional covered stretcher being borne out to a -waiting ambulance, the killed and maimed were little in evidence; and -but for a chance encounter with a friend who was doing some sort of -volunteer surgical work, I should have failed entirely to have an -intimate glimpse of the grimmer side of the raid. I jostled him at a -barrier where the crowd was being held back from a bombed tenement, -and he pressed me into service forthwith. - -"They are trying to uncover some kiddies on the second floor. Four of -them--all in one room," he explained. "Two floors above smashed in on -them. Everybody fagged out, and I'm after some brandy to buck 'em up. -You're fresh. Take this armlet and tell the police at the door I sent -you." - -The little lettered khaki band passed me by the police cordon, and I -found myself in the lantern-lighted hallway of a rickety brick -building such as they erected as tenements in London thirty or forty -years ago. Two blanket-covered bodies lay on the floor waiting to be -removed to the morgue, and a third, hideously mangled, but still -breathing, was being hastily bandaged by a doctor before sending on to -the hospital. A dozen children were crying in a room which opened off -the hall, and there, too, a hysterical woman in a nightgown, her face -and hands streaming blood, was being restrained by a couple of -uniformed police-women from rushing up the sagging stairway. - -A fireman who had collapsed on the floor gave me his axe, and a -special constable with a lantern guided me up the quaking stairs to a -little back flat, where several men, distinguished by armlets as some -kind of volunteers, were hacking away at the pile of _débris_ which -filled most of one of the rooms. Four children had been sleeping in -that room, explained the policeman, and one of them had been heard -whimpering a while back. There was no light but a lantern and a flash -torch, he added, and every one was dead played out; but just the same, -they were going to stick to it as long as there was a chance that the -"nipper" was alive. - -This must have been somewhere around midnight, and it was by the first -light of dawn leaking in through the shattered beams and rafters that -we reached the last of the little bruised bodies buried under the -_débris_. The ghastly interval between was in many respects the most -trying I have ever experienced. Somebody's strength, or nerves, or -courage was giving way every few minutes, and there was one dreadful -quarter hour during which we all had to knock off and help hold down -the now stark-mad mother who had somehow escaped from the room below. -For our reward we found that the youngest child was breathing, and -might continue to do so, according to the doctor, for several hours. -Its two brothers and its sister had mercifully been killed outright in -the first crash. - - * * * * * - -_Same day_, 7.30 P.M. - -I wrote the foregoing after a couple of hours of sleep; then went out -and spent the rest of the day back-tracking the raiders. As the swath -was largely cut through the tenement and slum districts of the East -End, the property damage was not great, but, for the same reason, the -loss of life must have been considerable. Pathetic little -funerals--the kind one sees advertised on posters of enterprising -Shoreditch and Whitechapel undertakers as costing two pounds ten -shillings, with hearse and two carriages, with an extra carriage -added for an even three pounds--were to be seen here and there; but -withal there was a remarkable absence of "hate" observable in the -crowds that thronged from far and near to view the work of the -nocturnal visitors from beyond the North Sea. - -It is, indeed, well said that the Briton is a poor hater, and almost -the only evidence that I could see of his being stirred by the events -of last night was in the heightened activity of recruiting. The astute -authorities, quick to see the advantage of taking the tide at flood, -kept speakers--both civilians and soldiers--all day at the barriers -where the crowds were held back in the vicinities of the points -bombed, and many hitherto wavering volunteers were gathered in as a -consequence. Here and there threatening crowds gathered in front of -bakeries and butcher shops which bore German names; but their leaders -were half-tipsy cockney dames whom the ever imperturbable "Bobbies" -had no trouble in hustling on out of the way. No, stubborn fighter -that he is, the Briton is only the most indifferent of haters. - - -III - -From the time of the big raid, in early September, until the second -week in October there was not a single night on which the moon, wind, -clouds, or some combination of meteorological conditions was not -unfavourable to Zeppelin action, and it was not until this date that -they tried to come again. Although rather nearer than before to two or -three of the explosions, I had no such opportunity to view the -progress of the raid as on the previous occasion, and this latest -bombing is, perhaps, most memorable to me as having served to shake -the monumental calm of two of the most famous and impressive of all -London's institutions, the "Bobby" and the Frivolity chorus girl. I -turn again to my journal. - - * * * * * - -LONDON, _October_-- - -I was at the Frivolity last night with my friend Captain J----, of the -Royal Artillery, home from France on a week's leave, to see an -oculist. About nine-thirty the nearing boom of heavy explosions -heralded another Zeppelin attack. I started for the door at once, but -J----, an old Londoner, pulled me down into my stall by the coat-tail, -dryly observing that, right before us under the Frivolity footlights, -there was transpiring an infinitely more epochal event than anything -that could possibly be seen outside. - -"We have had other Zeppelin raids," he shouted close to my ear, to -make himself heard above the uneasy bustle which filled the theatre as -the bombs boomed more imminent, "but never before in history has man -beheld the Frivolity chorus shaken from its traditional languor. But -now look! They faint to left and right, and I'm jolly certain that -M---- doesn't get her cue to embrace G---- until the next act. 'Pon my -word, I never expected to live to see the waters of this fount of -brides for the British peerage so disturbed." J----'s voice trailed -off into wondering speechlessness. - -"Boom!" This time it was close at hand, and the rattle of falling -_débris_ could be heard above the discordant wail of the mechanically -labouring orchestra. Utterly unable to sit still any longer, I shook -off J----'s restraining arm, and reached a side exit just as two -bombs fell in quick succession, a hundred yards up the Avenue. Again I -was conscious of those strange rushes of air from the "wrong" -direction which I had experienced during the previous raid. The panes -of the upper windows shivered to bits, but the fragments, striking the -reinforced glass of the marquee, were robbed of their force before -they had caromed to the sidewalk. - -On both sides of the Avenue glass was falling in countless tons,--in -one great corner building alone 25,000 pounds of plate glass are -estimated to have been shattered,--and there is no doubt that many -were killed and injured by being caught under the vitreous avalanche. - -Almost immediately three or four more bombs fell beyond the Avenue, -there was another crescendo of falling glass, and then a lone -Zeppelin--apparently at the end of its ammunition--headed up and off -to the north-east pursued by a single searchlight beam and a -scattering gun-fire. - -The Frivolity chorus, having been soothed and revived, resumed its -wonted demeanour and took up the dropped thread of the performance, -and J----, no longer held a fascinated captor by the wonder of its -lapse, joined me on the sidewalk to see what had been happening -outside. It is a remarkable fact that the great majority of the -audience, many of whom had not stirred from their seat, elected to -remain and see the show out. From the three theatres opposite, -however, one of which had been struck, considerable numbers were -pouring forth. But not in all the now dense crowd in the Avenue were -there the symptoms of a panic. - -As we stepped from the curb something tinkled against my foot. Picking -it up, it turned out to be a still warm piece of torn steel which -J---- identified at once as a fragment of the casing of an incendiary -bomb. It was not over an eighth of an inch thick, but of such -superlative quality that it rang like a silver bell even to the tap of -a finger-nail. A far more murderous fragment of shivered metal, which -J---- kicked into a few minutes later, was a piece of shrapnel casing, -and there is no doubt that the casualties from anti-aircraft-gun -projectiles are very considerable. - -The police and fire department work was even more remarkable than in -the September raid. Not a single tell-tale glow marked the path by -which the Zeppelin had come, and the only fire in our immediate -vicinity was the spout from another sundered gas main. Barriers -already shut off the crowds from the points where the worst damage had -been done, and the work of removing the dead and wounded was being -carried on quickly and expeditiously. - -A bomb falling in the Avenue midway between a motor bus and a taxi had -taken a heavy toll of the passengers of both, while the two vehicles, -still standing upright, had been flattened until their appearance was -not unlike that of their respective "property" prototypes occasionally -employed to give perspective to the stage-setting of a street. A dozen -or more dead and wounded lay in a row in front of a gin palace which -had collapsed under a bomb; but, as far as we could see or learn, -there had been little, if any, loss of life in the historic old -theatre which had been struck. - -A sinister coincidence had landed one bomb on a temporary wooden -building occupied as Belgian Refugee headquarters. Miraculously -however, although the rickety frame was blown quite out of shape, no -fire was started among the small mountains of highly inflammable -baggage on which the bomb exploded. - -"The 'Uns ain't satisfied with wot they did to 'em in Belg'um," -snorted an indignant coster, viewing the wreck; "the baby-killers 'ad -to follow 'em to Lunnon." This was, I believe, about the nearest thing -to "hate" that I heard expressed during the several hours we mingled -with the crowds on the streets. - -Faring on down the "bomb-track" into that historic section of Old -London which lies to the east of the Avenue, we came upon an -apparition quite as astounding to me as the spectacle of the "panicky" -Frivolity girls had been to J----. It was nothing less than a London -police constable, hatless, breathless, and so little master of himself -that he was unable to respond with the customary "First to the right, -second to the left, and so on" formula when we asked him the way to -the B---- Court, where we had heard there had been heavy damage. -Slamming down on the pavement a heavy burden which he carried by a -loop of wire, he began jabbering something to the effect that the -"bloomin' pill" came down "'arf a rod" from where he stood, and that -orders called for the instant fetching of all "evidences" to the -nearest station. I switched on my electric-torch--everybody here has -carried them since the streets were darkened,--to recoil before the -sight of the pear-shaped cone of dented steel toppled over on the -cobbles at my feet. - -"Good heavens, man, you've got an unexploded bomb!" I gasped, backing -against the wall. "What do you mean by slamming it around in that -way?" - -"If she didn't go off after fallin' from the sky, I fancy she can -stand a drop of a few inches," was the reply. "It isn't 'avin' 'er -'ere, sir, that gets my nerves. They went to pieces when she came down -and bounced along the pavement in front of where I stood." - -"Perhaps she has a time fuse, set to go off when she gets a crowd -around her," said the irrepressible J---- by way of encouragement. -"The Huns are adepts at just such forms of subtlety. Better leave her -alone for a spell." - -Shaking in every limb, but still resolved to carry out "orders" to the -last, the doughty chap slipped his bleeding fingers through the wire -loop and trudged off on his way to the station, staggering under the -weight of half a hundred pounds of "T.N.T."[3] That he reached there -without mishap is evidenced by a flashlight in one of the "penny -pictorials" this morning showing both him and his booty at the wicket -of the B---- Street Police Station. - - [3] Trinitrotoluol. - -Two or three times during the next couple of hours searchlights -flashed out to the east and south, and the blink of shrapnel bursting -under barely defined patches of pale yellow indicated that the raid -was an ambitious one, participated in by many airships. The heart of -the city, however, was not reached again. I have it on good authority -this morning that a number of bombs were exploded on the works at -Woolwich, but, even if true, this only goes to show that Britain's -great arsenal, if not less, is at least not more vulnerable than the -non-military areas. - -If possible, London took this latest raid even more calmly than the -previous one, and the level-headed practicality of the remark of the -bus conductor I have quoted--"We've got a war to fight. Zepps ain't -war; fergit 'em!"--may be taken as fairly representing the frame of -mind in which the metropolis awaits the really frightful visitation -that Germany has promised. - -For three months following the October visitation there were no -further air raids on England, and it was known that this immunity was -due to one or more of four things: the strengthening of Britain's -anti-aircraft defences, unfavourable weather, the efficacy of the -Allies' reprisals on South German cities, or a dawning realisation on -the part of Germany that the maximum physical damage which can -possibly be inflicted on Great Britain by air raids can never be more -than an insignificant fraction of the damage done to the Teutonic -cause as a consequence of resorting to this form of terrorism. - -As weeks lengthened to months without an attack--even though incessant -reports from a score of sources told of feverish Zeppelin construction -in all parts of the Kaiser's dominions--there awakened a hope in the -breasts of Germany's enemies and her friends that the humanitarian -consideration had been the moving one. This hope was rudely -crushed by the mid-January aeroplane raid--evidently a scouting -reconnaissance--upon Kent, and the renewed Zeppelin attacks on Paris -and the Midland counties. Subject only to the weather, then, and to -such defensive measures as may be taken in France and England, we now -know that this least warranted and most cruel of all forms of Teutonic -"frightfulness" may be expected to continue until the end of the war. - - - - -TO BRITISH MERCHANT CAPTAINS - - -All yesterday evening I came upon little knots of sailor men gathered -along the quay or at the corners of the streets of Harwich and -Dovercourt. Their weather-beaten parchment-brown faces were drawn and -troubled, and they spoke in the jerkily lowered voices of men not wont -to hold their tongues or passions in restraining leash. There was -something in the half-stunned, half-angry looks suggestive of the -expressions I had seen on the faces of the sailors at a North Wales -port on the evening that a carelessly-framed despatch had tricked them -into transient belief that the British Fleet had been beaten by the -Germans in the North Sea. But I had been with naval men all afternoon, -and knew that there was nothing fresh to report from behind the grey -fog-curtain to the north. The trouble was of another kind, but from -past experience I knew that the moment when the British sailor man -spoke through clenched teeth in those jerkily lowered tones, with his -brow corrugated in mahogany wrinkles of perturbation and his blue eyes -fixed absently on the fingers of his working hands, was not the one -for even the most sympathetically curious to intrude upon him. - -Enlightenment came later, when I asked the maid who lowered the -shutters and drew the double curtains of my room in the little hotel -on the Dovercourt cliff, why it was that the children playing in a -narrow street that branched off diagonally below my window hushed -their voices and tiptoed as they came down toward the seaward end, and -why many of even belated and hurrying delivery carts were pulling up -and taking another way on their clattering rounds. - -"Is somebody sick?" I asked, "or is one of the neighbours dead?" - -"Didn't you know, sir?" faltered the girl. "That is Captain Fryatt's -'ome down there. It's the little red-brick 'ouse--the fourth or fifth -from the corner, sir. We all o' us 'ere knew 'im, sir, an' loved 'im; -an'--you'll excuse me, sir" (her voice broke for a moment and the -starting tears glistened in the flickering light of her candle)--"but -I was thinkin' o' the missus an' the nippers. They's waitin' down -there for more news from Belg'um. I hates to think o' 'em, sir. It -makes me want to scream an'--an' to fight. I'll be going now, sir; it -gets me all wrought up w'en I talks about it." - -It came to me all at once what those stunned angry sailors on the -street were talking of, and the hot wave of indignation--checked for -an hour or two by the excitement of meeting and boarding a returning -submarine--that had surged over me that afternoon when I first read -the news of Captain Fryatt's execution in the paper, welled up anew -inside me and throbbed against my temples. I was conscious of the -passing of one of a class of men whom I had learned to know and love -during many years of intimate association--in craft stout and frail, -on seas fair and stormy--and the fact that the death of this man had -been compassed with a cold-blooded cynicism scarcely paralleled in -modern history brought the significance of it home to me with especial -poignancy. In a dull sort of way I had been conscious of a similar -feeling every time I had read of the loss of merchant officers and -crews from the inauguration of the submarine campaign, but only now -had I come to understand how much of a hold these same sailor men had -on my affection, what parts they had played in scores of the vivid -incidents of my life that I cared most to dwell upon in memory. - -Three of the last ten years of my life had been spent upon the sea, I -reflected, and of this time perhaps six months had been put in on one -or another of the "floating palaces" of the main tourist routes, and -not more than that aboard ships under the German, French, Dutch, or -American flag. That left a good two years--more than seven hundred -days and nights--spent aboard the smaller British merchantmen--tramps, -coasters, colliers, traders, flat-bottomed river stern-wheelers--in -out-of-the-way water-lanes of the world. - -Two years of my life--and what treasured years they were, too!--spent -in the care of the bold, bluff, bronzed British merchant captains who -drove "the swift shuttles of an Empire's loom." What strange seas they -had steered me through, and what strange corners in the ports that -served those seas! And what adventures they had run me into, and what -scrapes got me out of! And what courtesy, what consideration--aye, -even what tenderness in times of misadventure and sickness--had I not -enjoyed at their hands! - -Pulling on my cardigan jacket, I "stood-by" at the hour of -one--midnight by the sun-time, by which the ships of the sea still -sail--and at the instant when the steamers in the harbour would have -been sounding "Eight bells" had there been no lurking Zeppelins to -guard against, leaned out of the open window till the indrifting fog -blew sharp against my face and began my "watch." - -Just so--with a rough blue sleeve brushing against my own--had I -leaned over the bridge or taffrail of a hundred steamers ploughing a -hundred sea-ways, and now, with the familiar breath of the sea in my -nostrils and the familiar mist of the sea damping my hair again, old -friends of other days strode down the corridors of memory and ranged -themselves, one at a time, by my side. At first I tried to muster them -chronologically, in the order I had known them from my first tentative -coastal voyages in the Pacific--(B----, of the Vancouver-Seattle -packet, who let me sleep on his cabin couch one night when the rooms -were all taken in order that I might be rested for the tennis -tournament I was engaging in at Tacoma on the morrow; R----, of the -old Alaska "Inland Passage" coaster, who taught me to "box" the -compass and awoke the slumbering love o' the sea in my blood with -tales of the Victoria sealing fleet; P----, of the Mexican trader, who -smuggled me out of Guaymas when the Sonora authorities were trying to -arrest me for landing on Tiburon without a permit)--but presently the -magnet of my quickened memory began drawing them forward out of turn, -and ere long they were crowding on like guests at a reception. - -Now I would think of the bravery of them, and instantly a series of -pictures took shape before my eyes, a score of names leapt to my lips, -a score of hands--hard brown hands, with a world of warmth in their -steady grip--reached out to clasp my own. Who was the bravest among -men that had all been brave? I asked myself; and then how the pictures -formed and dissolved as one stirring incident after another flashed -across my mind! What could have been finer than the way Captain K----, -of that cranky clipper-bowed old "C.N." steamer, had stuck out that -typhoon off Taiwan, lashed to the bridge for three days, and -subsisting on coffee and rum and pilot bread? I could see his -brine-white face (as I saw it when I took a timid peep up the -companion way on the day the "twister" began to die down) taking shape -out there in the drifting fog even as the recollection of that -fearsome storm crystallised in my memory, and then fancy turned -another cog, and it was a sun-blistered South Pacific trader that I -seemed to see, with a sallow, fever-wracked figure at the wheel, and -two or three dozen naked blacks writhing in agony on the forrard deck. -How old B----, of the _Cora Andrews_, took his load of plague-stricken -Papuans through the Barrier Reef and into the quarantine station at -Townsville is a South Sea epic. - -Then came memories with a more personal touch, and I dwelt for a few -moments over the shifting scenes of the mix-up I started the time I -tried to take a flashlight of the smokers in the "Opium Den" of the -old _Yo San_, plying on the Hongkong-Bangkok run. Some of the Chinese -crew were smuggling opium that voyage, and, taking me for a Secret -Service officer on search, started to wipe up the deck with my -protesting anatomy. Curled round my camera under a bunk in the corner -of the opium den, with nothing but the fact that my assailants were so -numerous that they got in each other's way saving me from instant -annihilation, and expecting every moment that one of them would gather -his wits together sufficiently to pounce down on me through the slats, -I cowered in terror, and was ever music sweeter than the raucous -bellow of bluff old Captain G---- when, cursing like a pirate and -banging right and left with the belaying pins he held in either hand, -he ploughed his way into the den and yanked me out by the scruff of -the neck. Poor old G----! he was lost with his ship two voyages later, -when the ancient _Yo San_ was piled up by a typhoon on the Tongking -coast. - -Then the recollection of the ignominious way in which old G---- had -pulled me out from under the bunk by the coat collar recalled the time -when another British skipper--his command was only a "P.S.N.C." tender -in Valparaiso, and I had long since forgotten his name--saved my life -by handling me in quite the same unceremonious manner. The schooner on -which I had planned to sail to Juan Fernandez had broken loose in a -violent "Norther" and was fast driving before the mountainous swells -upon the _malecon_ or seawall, when the "Navigation Company's" tender, -out to salve some drifting barges, came nosing cautiously in toward -where the hollow waves were curling over into crashing breakers. The -barges and their cargoes were probably worth more than our walty old -hooker, but the skipper of the tender, noting only that there were -lives to be saved on the latter, hesitated not an instant about -deciding to try and stand-by. Unfortunately, we had a lot of German -_colonistas_ aboard, and the panic among them prevented many from the -schooner being saved. I was one of the half-dozen who did not fail in -their leaps for the tender's outreaching starboard bow, but my hold on -the slippery rail was so precarious that only the mighty hand of the -skipper on my neck prevented my slipping back into the sea. For a -moment now, out in the drifting fog, I saw his round red face, under -its "sou'wester," just as I had peered up into it after he dragged me -over the rail and slammed me down on the heeling deck. - -At times memories crowded so that they became confused. I was not -sure, for instance, whether it was T----, of the _Eimoo_, or P----, of -the _Levuka_, whom I had seen go over the rail into shark-infested -Rotrura Lagoon to jerk the kink out of an air-hose before his diver -strangled; or which of two otherwise well-remembered "B.I." skippers -it was that waded in, barehanded, and floored every one of a bunch of -Lascars who were fighting with their knives; or whether it was the -mate or the skipper of the East African coaster who, with one of his -thighs being torn to ribbons by the beast's hind claws, kept his grip -on the throat of a young leopard that had slipped from its cage, and -which he was afraid might become panic-stricken and jump overboard -before it could be recaptured; or whether it was the captain of a -"Burns, Philips" or a "Union" steamer that I had seen put out through -the tortuous passage of Suva Bay when the wind was snapping the tops -from the coconut palms, and the barometer was at 28.50 and still -falling, just because the wife of the missionary on some obscure -little bit of the Fijian Archipelago to the north was expecting to -become a mother and needed the attention of the ship's doctor. - -I would have gone on to the end of my "watch" thinking of the -bravery--moral and physical--the ready nerve and the general -"sufficiency unto occasion" of my old friends, but most that had been -brave had also been kind and considerate, and every now and then I -found my mind occupied with recollections of the little things they -had done for me, or that I had seen them do for others. There was -B----, of the old _Changsha_, running from Yokohama to Sydney, who -went miles off his course just to satisfy my whim to pass over the -spot where _Mary Gloster_ was buried at sea. What an afternoon that -was! The Straits of Macassar "oily and treacly," just as Kipling had -described them, and the milk-warm land breeze wafting the odours of -the spice groves of Celebes. B---- had his volume of Kipling and I had -mine, and between us was the reef-freckled chart of Macassar Straits -with Borneo to starboard, Celebes to port, and a thousand dotted -lines indicating islets and reefs and rocks--mostly lurking, -half-submerged--in between. - - "By the Little Paternosters, as you come to the Union Bank, - We dropped her--I think I told you--and I pricked it off where she - sank-- - (Tiny she looked on the grating--that oily, treacly sea--) - Hundred and eighteen East, remember, and South just three. - Easy bearings to carry...." - -read B----, running his finger along the chart. - -"Aye, easy to carry. _Here's_ the spot," and he marked it with a -circled dot. Then we "dead reckoned" the latitude from the noon sight, -and "shot" for the longitude as we "came to the Union Bank." And -finally, when we were over the spot as near as might be determined -from hasty reckoning, nothing would do but B---- must start the lead -going to determine the depth. Never shall I forget the way his face -lit up when the leadsmen droned out "Fourteen," and there were tears -glistening in his eyes as he turned back a couple of pages and read-- - - "And we dropped her in fourteen fathoms; I pricked it off where - she sank." - -"I might have known that Kipling worked it out with a chart," he -exclaimed; "but what a thrill it gives one to find it exact, even to -the soundings!" - -The margins of "The _Mary Gloster_," in my "Seven Seas," bear the -pencilled records--now thumbed and fingered into dim blurs--of our -"mid-sea madness" to this day, and there is nothing that I treasure -more. B---- would never have taken his 5,000-ton freighter miles off -her course, at the cost of some hours of time and a number of tons of -good Nagasaki coal, had he been any less daft about Kipling than I -was. But all British sailors love Kipling; as a class, I have always -felt that they had a fuller appreciation of the message of "the -uncrowned Laureate" than have any others. - -For an hour at least I must have turned in fancy the pages of Kipling, -now with this well-remembered skipper, now with that, until the -recollection of how kind old N----, of a Liverpool Para-Manaos -freighter, had read to me "The Hymn Before Action" one night when I -was half delirious from the Amazon "black-water" fever he had been -nursing me through set the current of my thought on another tack. -N---- was only one of a dozen who had coddled me through some sort of -tropical illness or patched me up after some sort of a smash-up. - -It was R----, of the Valparaiso-Panama coaster, who had put my hand in -splints after it had been crushed between the gangway and a dug-out -full of ivory nuts off some pile-built village of Ecuador, and it was -my fault rather than his that the little finger was still crooked. -And it was H----, of the big White Star freighter on the -Australia-South Africa run, who laboured for an hour in helping the -ship's doctor worry back into place the shoulder I had dislocated in -the "sports" one afternoon; and it was D----, of the Rangoon-Calcutta -"B.I.," who had reduced with horse-liniment the ankle I had sprained -in dodging out of the path of a temperamental water-buffalo while -ashore at Akyab; and it was A----, of the Lynch river boat plying from -Basra to Bagdad, who stitched up my scalp after the Arabs of the -bazaar of then almost unheard-of Kut-el-Amara had amused themselves -with bouncing rocks off my head because (this was during the -Turco-Italian war) they imagined I looked like an "alien enemy." - -A---- was killed when the Turks shelled his ship--then a -transport--early in the Mesopotamian operations, I remembered, and -this led my thoughts off to the long watch I kept by the bedside of -poor old Y----, on whose "B.P." steamer I had been roaming in and out -among the Solomons, New Hebrides, Fijis and other islands of western -Polynesia for two months. Y----'s heart had been giving out for a -number of years, and now very hot weather following, the excitement of -seeing his ship through an unusually heavy hurricane had hastened an -end long inevitable. He knew his "number was up," and so he told me, -that night, of things he wanted me to explain and set right for him in -Australia. It was the thinking of these, and the visit that I -subsequently paid to his wife and children in the Illawara, that -finally brought my mind back to that other bereaved family in the -little red house beneath my window. - -The short night had passed, the fog had lifted, and now in the early -morning light I saw a milkman stop his cart a half-dozen doors from -the Fryatt home and go softly tip-toeing on his near-by deliveries to -avoid making unnecessary noise. Out of the retreating fog-bank to -seaward two small freighters took sharpened line and headed for the -harbour mouth. They were much of a size and type, but the gay red and -white splashes on the bows of the more northerly ones indicated she -sailed under the flag of an enterprising Scandinavian country, while -the unbroken black of the side of the other told just as plainly that -she was British. As I watched, the shifting of the shadows on the -sides of the Norwegian told me that she was altering her course -sharply every few hundred yards--"zigzagging" to minimise the danger -from submarine attacks. A wise precaution, I told myself; now what -about the other? I took up my glass and held it on the Briton. One, -two, three, four, five minutes passed. All the time the wave curled -evenly back from her forefoot; not a ripple of shifting light or -shadow told of deviation in her course of the fraction of a point. - -"Straight on to your goal, little ship," I said, saluting with my -glass. - -But I might have known as much. That was Fryatt's way, and that was -the way all my friends of the Red Ensign did, and always will do. -"Good luck, fair weather and snug berths to you all; aye, and a quiet -haven when the last watch, the long watch, is finally over!" - - * * * * * - -Knots of troubled sailor men still gathered along Harwich quay this -morning, but now that I understood by what they were moved I no longer -hesitated to mingle and talk with them. Their slow anger was steadily -mounting--gradually crowding out all other feelings--with every word -that was spoken, with every hour that passed; but among them were -still men who were stunned and dazed, who could not understand how a -thing so monstrous really could have happened. - -"But w'y, w'y ha' the 'Uns done it?" persisted a grizzled old salt, -turning his troubled eyes to mine after all the others had shaken -their heads perplexedly. - -"It is just possible," I said, "that the Germans believe that the -execution of one skipper who attempted to ram one of their submarines -will make the others think twice before trying to do the same thing." - -Two or three of the older men fairly snorted in their incredulity that -even the Germans should thus cheaply rate the British sailor, but the -plausibility of the theory soon convinced even these. - -"Do you re'ly believe the 'Uns think that o' us?" one of them finally -ventured. - -"I do," I replied, "for there is nothing else to think." - -The old man took a deep breath and turned his eyes away to sea. "God -pity all 'Uns!" he muttered, and "God pity 'em!" "God pity 'em!" -echoed his mates. - - - - -THE PASSING OF A ZEPPELIN - - -In the year that had gone by since the first great air-raid on London -we knew that much had been done in the way of strengthening the -defences. Just what had been done we did not, of course, and do not, -know. We knew that there were more and better guns and searchlights, -and probably greatly improved means of anticipating the coming of the -raiders and of following and reporting their movements after they did -come. At the same time we also knew that the latest Zeppelin had been -greatly improved; that it was larger, faster, capable of ascending to -a greater altitude, and probably able to stand more and heavier -gun-fire than its prototype of a year ago. It seemed to be a question, -therefore, of whether or not the guns could range the raiders, and, if -so, do them any vital damage when they did hit them. The aeroplane was -an unknown quantity, and, in the popular mind at least, not seriously -reckoned with. London knew that the crucial test would not come until -an airship tried again to penetrate to the heart of the metropolitan -area, and awaited the result calmly if not quite indifferently. - -The Zeppelin raids of the spring and early summer, numerous as they -had been, had done a negligible amount of military damage and scarcely -more to civil property. The death list, too, had, mercifully, been -very low. It seemed significant, however, that the main London -defences had been avoided during all of this time, indicating, -apparently, that the raiders were reluctant to lift the lid of the -Pandora's box that was laid out so temptingly before them for fear of -the possible consequences. Twice or thrice, watching with my glasses -after I had been awakened by distant bomb explosions or gun-fire, I -had seen a shell-pocketed airship draw back, as a yellow dog refuses -the challenge that his intrusion has provoked, and glide off into the -darkness of some safer area. "Would they try it again?" was the -question Londoners asked themselves as the dark of the moon came round -each month, and, except for the comparatively few who had had personal -experience of the terror and death that follow the swath of an -air-raider, most of them seemed rather anxious to have the matter put -to the test. - -Last night--just twelve "darks-of-the-moon" after the first great -raid of 1915--the test came. It was hardly a conclusive one, perhaps -(though that may well have come before these lines find their way into -print), but it was certainly highly illuminative. I write this on my -return to London from viewing--twenty miles away--a tangled mass of -wreckage and a heap of charred trunks that are all that remain of a -Zeppelin and its crew which--whether by accident, intent, or the force -of circumstances will probably never be known--rushed in where two -others of its aerial sisters feared to fly, and paid the cost. - -There was nothing of the surprise (to London, at least; as regards the -ill-starred Zeppelin crew none can say) in last night's raid. The -night grew more heavily overcast as the darkness deepened, and towards -midnight stealthy little beams of hooded searchlights pirouetting on -the eastern clouds told the home-wending Saturday night theatre crowd -that, with the imminent approach of the raiders, London was lifting a -corner of its mask of blackness and throwing out an open challenge to -the enemy. This was the first time I had known the lights to precede -the actual explosion of bombs, and the cool confidence of the thing -suggested (as I heard one policeman tell another) that the defence had -something "up their sleeves." - -It was towards one in the morning when I finished my supper at a West -End restaurant and started walking through the almost deserted streets -to my hotel. London is anything but a bedlam after midnight, but the -silence in the early hours of this morning was positively uncanny. -Now, with the last of the 'buses gone and all trains stopped, only the -muffled buzz of an occasional belated taxi--pushing on cautiously with -hooded lights--broke the stillness. - -Reaching my room I pulled on a sweater, ran up the curtain, laid my -glass ready and seated myself at the window, the same window from -which, a year ago, I had watched those two insolently contemptuous -raiders sail across overhead and leave a blazing wake of death and -destruction behind them. On that night, I reflected, I had felt the -rush of air from the bombs, and--later--had watched the firemen -extinguishing the flames and the ambulances carrying the wounded to -the hospitals. Would it be like that to-night? I wondered (there was -now no doubt that the raiders were near, for the searchlights had -multiplied, and far to the south-east, though no detonations were -audible, quick flashes told of scattering gun-fire), or would the -defence have more of a word to say for itself this time? I looked to -the eastern heavens where the shifting clouds were now "polka-dotted" -with the fluttering golden motes of a score of searchlights, and -thought I had found my answer. - -There was no wheeling and reeling of the lights in wide circles, as a -year ago, but rather a steady persistent stabbing at the clouds, each -one appearing to keep to an allotted area of its own. "Stabbing" -expresses the action exactly, and it recalled to me an occasion, a -month ago, when a "Tommy," who was showing me through some captured -dug-outs on the Somme, illustrated, with bayonet thrusts, the manner -in which they had originally searched for Germans hiding under the -straw mattresses. There was nothing "panicky" in the work of the -lights this time, but only the suggestion of methodical, ordered, -relentless vigilance. - -"Encouraging as a preliminary," I said to myself; "now" (for the night -was electric with import) "for the main event!" - -There was not long to wait. To the south-east the gun-flashes had -increased in frequency, followed by mist-dulled blurs of brightness in -the clouds that told of bursting shells. Suddenly, through a rift in -the clouds, I saw a new kind of glare--the earthward-launched beam of -an airship's searchlight groping for its target--but the shifting -mist-curtain intervened again even as one of the defending lights took -up the challenge and flashed its own rapier ray in quick reply. -Presently the muffled boom of bombs fleeted to my ears, and then the -sharper rattle of a sudden gust of gun-fire. This was quickly followed -by a confused roar of sound, evidently from many bombs dropped -simultaneously or in quick succession, and I knew that one of two -things had happened--either the raider had found its mark and was -delivering "rapid fire," or the guns were making it so hot for the -visitor that it had been compelled to dump its explosives and seek -safety in flight. When a minute or more had gone by I felt sure that -the latter had been scuttled, and that it was now only a question of -which direction the flight was going to take. - -Again the eastward searchlights gave me the answer. By twos and -threes--I could not follow the order of the thing--the lights that had -been "patrolling" the eastern sky moved over and took their station -around a certain low-hanging cloud to the south. The murky sheet of -cumulonimbus seemed to pale and dissolve in the concentrated rays, and -then, right into the focus of golden glow formed by the dancing light -motes, running wild and blind as a bull charges the red mantle -masking the matador, darted a huge Zeppelin. - -Perhaps never before in all time has a single object been the centre -of so blinding a glare. It seemed that the optic nerve must wither in -so fierce a light, and certainly no unprotected eye could have opened -to it. Dark glasses might have made it bearable, but could not -possibly have resolved the earthward prospect into anything less than -the heart of a fiery furnace. Indeed, it is very doubtful if the -bewildered fugitive knew, in more than the most general way, where it -was. Cut off by the guns to the south-east from retreat in that -direction, but knowing that the North Sea and safety could be reached -by driving to the north-east, it is more than probable that the -harried raider found itself over the "Lion's Den" rather because it -could not help it than by deliberate intent. - -What a contrast was this blinded, reeling thing to those arrogantly -purposeful raiders of a year ago! Supremely disdainful of gun and -searchlight, these had prowled over London till the last of their -bombs had been planted, and one of them had even circled back the -better to see the ruin its passing had wrought. But _this_ raider--far -larger than its predecessors and flying at over twice as great a -height though it was--dashed on its erratic course as though pursued -by the vengeful spirits of those its harpy sisters had bombed to death -in their beds. If it still had bombs to drop its commander either had -no time or no heart for the job. Never have I seen an inanimate thing -typify terror--the terror that must have gripped the hearts of its -palpably flustered (to judge by the airship's movements) crew--like -that staggering helpless maverick of a Zeppelin, when it finally found -itself clutched in the tentacles of the searchlights of the aerial -defences of London. - -All this time the weird, uncanny silence that brooded over the streets -before I had come indoors held the city in its spell. The watching -thousands--nay, millions--kept their excitement in leash, and the -propeller of the raider--muffled by the mists intervening between the -earth and the 12,000 feet at which it whirred--dulled to a drowsy -drone. Into this tense silence the sudden fire of a hundred -anti-aircraft guns--opening in unison as though at the pull of a -single lanyard--cut in a blended roar like the Crack o' Doom; indeed, -though few among those hushed watching millions realised it, it _was_ -literally the Crack o' Doom that was sounding. For perhaps a minute or -a minute and a half the air was vibrant with the roar of hard-pumped -guns and the shriek of speeding shell, the great sound from below -drowning the sharper cracks from the steel-cold flashes in the upper -air. - -It was guns that were built for the job--not the hastily gathered and -wholly inadequate artillery of a year ago--that were speaking now, and -the voice was one of ordered, imperious authority. Range-finders had -the marauder's altitude, and the information was being put at the -disposal of guns that had the power to "deliver the goods" at that -level. What a contrast the sequel was to that pitiful firing of the -other raid! Only the opening shots were "shorts" or "wides" now, and -ten seconds after the first gun a diamond-clear burst blinking out -through a rift in the upper clouds told that the raider--to use a -naval term--was "straddled," had shells exploding both above and below -it. From that instant till the guns ceased to roar, seventy or eighty -seconds later, the shells burst, lacing the air with golden glimmers, -and meshed the flying raider in a fiery net. - -For a few seconds it seemed to me that, close-woven as was the net of -shell-bursts, the flashes came hardly as fast as the roar of the guns -would seem to warrant, and I swept the heavens with my glasses in a -search for other possible targets. But no other raider was in sight; -there was no other "nodal centre" of gun-fire and searchlights. -Suddenly the reason for the apparent discrepancy was clear to me. The -flashes I saw (except for a few of the shrapnel bullets they were -releasing) were only the misses; the hits I could not see. The -long-awaited test was at its crucial stage. Empty of bombs and with -half of its fuel consumed, the raider was at the zenith of its flight, -and yet the guns were ranging it with ease. It was now a question of -how much shell-fire the Zeppelin could stand. - -In spite of the fact that the airship--so far as I could see through -my glasses--did not appear to slow down or to be perceptibly racked by -the gun-fire, I have no doubt what the end would have been if the test -could have been pressed to its conclusion in an open country. But -bringing a burning Zeppelin down across three or four blocks of -thickly settled London was hardly a thing the Air Defence desired to -do if it could possibly be avoided. The plan was carried to its -conclusion with the almost mathematical precision that marked the -preliminary searchlight work and gunnery. - -From the moment that it had burst into sight the raider had been -emitting clouds of white gas to hide itself from the searchlights and -guns, while the plainly visible movements of its lateral planes -seemed to indicate that it was making desperate efforts to climb still -higher into the thinning upper air. Neither expedient was of much use. -The swirling gas clouds might well have obscured a hovering airship, -but never one that was rushing through the air at seventy miles an -hour, while, far from increasing its altitude, there seemed to be a -slight but steady loss from the moment the guns ceased until, two or -three miles further along, it was hidden from sight for a minute by a -low-hanging cloud. Undoubtedly the aim of the gunners had been to -"hole," not to fire the marauder, and it must have been losing gas -very rapidly even--as the climacteric moment of the attack -approached--at the time increased buoyancy was most desirable. - -The "massed" searchlights of London "let go" shortly after the -gun-fire ceased, and now, as the raider came within their field, the -more scattered lights of the northern suburbs wheeled up and "fastened -on." The fugitive changed its course from north to north-easterly -about this time, and the swelling clouds of vapour left behind -presently cut off its foreshortened length entirely from my view. A -heavy ground mist appeared to prevail beyond the heights to the -north, and in the diffused glow of the searchlights that strove to -pierce this mask my glasses showed the ghostly shadows of flitting -aeroplanes--manoeuvring for the death-thrust. - -The ground mist (which did not, however, cover London proper) kept the -full strength of the searchlights from the upper air, and it was in a -sky of almost Stygian blackness that the final blow was sent home. The -farmers of Hertfordshire tell weird stories of the detonations of -bursting bombs striking their fields, but all these sounds were -absorbed in the twenty-mile air-cushion that was now interposed -between my vantage point and the final scene of action. - -Not a sound, not a shadow, heralded the flare of yellow light which -suddenly flashed out in the north-eastern heavens and spread -latitudinally until the whole body of a Zeppelin--no small object even -at twenty miles--stood out in glowing incandescence. Then a great -sheet of pink-white flame shot up, and in the ripples of rosy light -which suffused the earth for scores of miles I could read the gilded -lettering on my binoculars. This was undoubtedly the explosion of the -ignited hydrogen of the main gas-bags, and immediately following it -the great frame collapsed in the middle and began falling slowly -toward the earth, burning now with a bright yellow flame, above which -the curl of black smoke was distinctly visible. A lurid burst of -light--doubtless from the exploding petrol tanks--flared up as the -flaming mass struck the earth, and half a minute later the night, save -for the questing searchlights to east and south, was as black as ever -again. - -Then perhaps the strangest thing of all occurred. London began to -cheer. I should have been prepared for it in Paris, or Rome, or -Berlin, or even New York, but that the Briton--who of all men in the -world most fears the sound of his own voice lifted in unrestrained -jubilation--was really cheering, and in millions, was almost too much. -I pinched my arm to be sure that I had not dozed away, and, lost in -wonder, forgot for a minute or two the great drama just enacted. - -Under my window half a dozen Australian "Tommies" were rending the air -with "cooees" and dancing around a lamp-post, while all along the -street, from doorways and windows, exultant shouting could be heard. -For several blocks in all directions the cheers rang out loud and -clear, distinctly recognisable as such; the sound of the millions of -throats farther afield came only as a heavy rumbling hum. Perhaps -since the dawn of creation the air has not trembled with so strange a -sound--a sound which, though entirely human in its origin, was still -unhuman, unearthly, fantastic. Certainly never before in history--not -even during the great volcanic eruptions--has so huge a number of -people (the fall of the Zeppelin had been visible through a fifty-to -seventy-five-mile radius in all directions, a region with probably -from 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 inhabitants) been suddenly and intensely -stirred by a single event. - -It was undoubtedly the spectacularity of the unexpected _coup_ that -had made these normally repressed millions so suddenly and so -violently vocal. Many--perhaps most--stopped cheering when they had -had time to realise that a score of human beings were being burned to -cinders in the heart of that flaming comet in the north-eastern -heavens; others--I knew the only recently restored tenements where -some of them were--must have shouted in all the grimmer exultation for -that very realisation. I can hardly say yet which stirred me more -deeply, the fall of the Zeppelin itself or that stupendous burst of -feeling aroused by its fall. - - * * * * * - -By taxi, milk-cart, tram, and any other conveyance that offered, but -mostly on foot, I threaded highway and byway for the next four hours, -and shortly after daybreak scrambled through the last of a dozen -thorny hedgerows and found myself beside the still smouldering -wreckage of the fallen raider. An orderly cordon of soldiers -surrounding an acre of blackened and twisted metal, miles and miles of -tangled wire, and a score or so of Flying Corps men already busily -engaged loading the wreckage into waiting motor-lorries--that was -about all there was to see. A ten-foot-square green tarpaulin covered -all that could be gathered together of the airship's crew. Some of the -fragments were readily recognisable as having once been the arms and -legs and trunks of men; others were not. A man at my elbow stood -gazing at the pitiful heap for a space, his brow puckered in thought. -Presently he turned to me, a grim light in his eye, and spoke. - -"Do you know," he said, "that these" (indicating the charred stumps -under the square of canvas) "have just recalled to me the words Count -Zeppelin is reported to have used at a great mass meeting called in -Berlin to press for a more rigorous prosecution of the war against -England by air, for a further increase of frightfulness? Leading two -airship pilots to the front of the platform, he shouted to the crowd, -'Here are two men who were over London last night!' And the assembled -thousands, so the despatch said, roared their applause and clamoured -that the Zeppelins be sent again and again until the arrogant -Englanders were brought to their knees. Well"--he paused and drew a -deep breath as his eyes returned to the heap of blackened -fragments--"it appears that they _did_ send the Zeppelins again--more -than ever were sent before--and now it is _our_ turn to be presented -to 'the men who were over London last night.' I wonder if the flare -that consumed these poor devils was bright enough to pierce the black -night that has settled over Germany?" - - * * * * * - -The tenseness passed out of the night, and--the raid was over. Who -knows but what, so far as the threat to England is concerned, the -passing of _a_ Zeppelin marked also the passing of _the_ Zeppelin? - - - - -FIGHTING FOR SERBIA - - -I have had many strange meetings--strange in place and attendant -circumstance--in various and sundry odd corners of the world, but, -everything considered, I am inclined to think my encounter with -Radovitch, toward the end of last March, was the strangest of them -all. - -It was on the gorgeously flower-carpeted slope of a mountain-side -in----. But let that transpire in its proper place. - -There had been hint of gathering activity in the marching troops on -the roads, and I knew that some kind of a skirmish was on from the -scattering spatter of rifle-fire above and to my right; but that I had -actually blundered in between the combatants was not evident until the -staccato of a suddenly unmasked machine-gun broke out in the copse -below. I did not hear the familiarly ingratiating swish of speeding -bullets, and only an occasional twitching in the oak scrub told of a -skirmishing soldier, but it was plain that if the rifles were firing -in the direction of the machine-gun, and the machine-gun was firing in -the direction of the rifles, the position of my shivering anatomy -came pretty near to blocking a portion of the restricted little neck -of atmosphere along which the interchanged pellets must make their -way. One never learns it until he is under fire--especially -rifle-fire--for the first time, but the faculty for taking cover, for -making oneself inconspicuous at the approach of real or fancied -danger, is one of the few things in which the more or less degenerate -human of the present day suffers the least in comparison with that -fine and self-sufficient animal, his primitive ancestor. - -I hurdled neatly over a natural "entanglement" of magenta-blossomed -cactus, dived through a bosky tunnel in the gnarled oak scrub, and -landed comfortably in the matted mass of soft maiden-hair where the -water dripped from the side of a deep hole excavated by the village -brick-makers in taking out clay. There was ample cover from anything -but high-angle artillery fire on either side; so, picking out a bed of -lush grass with a cornflower and buttercup pillow, I stretched in -luxurious ease to let the battle blow over. - -The rifles spat back at the woodpecker drum of the machine-gun for a -minute or two, then quieted suddenly and gave way to the crashing of -underbrush and the chesty 'tween-the-teeth oaths that tell of -charging men. Scatteringly, in ones and twos and threes, they began -stumbling by above my head, now revealed by the quick silhouette of a -set jaw and forward-flung shoulders, and now by the glint of a bobbing -bayonet, but mostly by those guttural swearwords which mark the -earnest man on business bent. One of them--a gaunt-eyed Serb in the -faded horizon-blue uniform of a French _poilu_--who passed near enough -to the rim of my refuge to allow of a three-quarters length glimpse of -him, carried a squawking golden-hued hen by the feathers of her -hackle, and I was just reflecting how every other soldier that I had -ever known would have put a period on that tell-tale racket by -extending his grip round the windpipe, when Radovitch came down to -join me. Not that he had anything of the ulterior intention of seeking -cover that brought me there--quite to the contrary, indeed. I saw him -running hard and low (as every good soldier goes into grips with his -foe), burst out of the thicket, saw him straighten up and try to -swerve to the right as the hole suddenly yawned across his path, and, -finally, saw the quick tautening of the scaly yellow loop of -earth-running aloe root which deftly caught the toe of his shambling -boot and defeated the manoeuvre. - -There was little of the fine finesse of my own soft landing in the -whacking "kerplump" which completed the high dive executed by -Radovitch after his contact with the aloe root. His gun out-dived him -and cut short its parabola with the bayonet spiking a fern frond on -the opposite bank, but his broad, bronzed Slavic face was the first -part of Radovitch himself to reach the bottom, so that all the inertia -of the bone and muscle in his firmly-knit frame was exerted in driving -the ivory crescent of the teeth of his back-bent lower jaw in a swift, -rough gouge through the yielding turf. He pulled himself together in a -dazed sort of way, sat up, rubbed the grass out of his eyes, and -kneaded gently the strained joints of his jaw to see that they were -still swinging on their hinges. Reassured, he spat forth sputteringly -asphodel and anemone and the rest of his mouthful of flower-bed, -completing the operation by running an index finger around between the -lower teeth and lip to remove lurking bits of earth and gravel. - -There was something strangely familiar in that index-finger operation, -and it was the sudden recollection that was the identical way in which -we used to get rid of the gridiron clods that had been forced under -our football nose-guards which was responsible for my fervent -ejaculation of surprise. I don't recall exactly what I said, but it -was probably something akin to "I'll be blowed!" - -The look of dazed resentment on Radovitch's grass-and dirt-stained -face changed instantly to one of blank surprise. The poor strained jaw -relaxed, and he turned on me a stare of open-eyed wonder. - -"Where in 'ell d'you come from?" he gasped finally; and then, "You -speak English?" - -When, ignoring the former query, I grinned acquiescence to the latter, -he came back with, "Ain't 'Merican, are you? Don't know New York, do -you?" - -On my admission of guilt on both charges, he crawled over and gripped -my hand crushingly in his grimy paw. - -"My name's Radovitch. 'Merican citizen myself," he said proudly. "Took -out my last papers just 'fore I came over to fight for Serbia. Went to -school five years in New York when I was a kid. Ever been in Chicago?" - -"Of course." - -Radovitch's excitement, increasing when he found I had been in Omaha -(where he had worked in the stockyards), and Jerome, Arizona (where he -had "dumped slag" in the copper smelter), reached its climax when I -assured him that I had once played a game of baseball at Aldridge, a -little coal-mining town in Montana, near the northern portal of -Yellowstone Park. - -"I got a store there, and a half int'rest in the baseball grounds and -a dance-hall," he cried; and he was just in the midst of an excited -account of his rise to fortune in what he called the "hottest little -ol' camp in the Yellowstone," when the din of two or three fresh -machine-guns opening in unison drowned his voice, and a few minutes -later a half-dozen rifle muzzles were poked over the edge of our -refuge, while a gruff-voiced Serb corporal, in the khaki tunic of a -British Tommy and the baggy breeches of a French Zouave, informed us -that we were his prisoners. - -Radovitch, with a sheepish grin on his face, threw up his hands with -the classic cry of "Kamerad!" and then, shambling over opposite his -captors, coolly bade them toss down a box of cigarettes for him and -his "Merikansky" friend. - -"Smashed mine when I fell," he explained, sauntering back and offering -me a "Macedonia." "Wouldn't you reckon we'd had about enough fighting -in Serbia without these d---- d sham fights while we're supposed to be -resting up here in Corfu? It may be all right for new recruits; but -you'll have to admit that two years of the brand of scrapping we've -been getting over yonder in those mountains is not going to put us on -edge for play-fighting like this. But never mind, we'll be back to the -real thing again in a month or two. Come on along down to the camp and -meet my Colonel. We were kids together in Prilep. Now he's in command -of three thousand men and I'm only a corporal; but just the same I -could buy him out twenty times over." - -The bare outline of Radovitch's story he told me that evening (after -he had officially been "set free" again), as I trudged beside him -across the hills to his camp; but it was not until he obtained an -afternoon's leave three or four days later, and took me for a stroll -through the Serbian Relief Camp, that I learned he had been one of -that immortal band of heroes who, disdaining to take advantage of the -open roads to the Adriatic or Macedonia after Belgrade fell, made -their way to a mountain fastness in the heart of their own country and -stayed behind to wage such warfare as they could on the hated invader. -What sort of a warfare this was--indeed, what sort of a warfare it -_is_, for the band still survives, making up in an unquenchable -spirit what it has lost in numbers--I then learned for the first time. - -It was only the unexpected coming across a newly arrived comrade -(suffering--and it looked to me, dying--from an open bayonet wound and -an advanced and hitherto neglected attack of scurvy), that turned -Radovitch from wistful reminiscence of Aldridge, Montana, and set him -talking of the grim realities of the life he had been leading in -Serbia, a subject on which I had found him strangely reticent up to -that moment. The things he spoke of that afternoon covered only an -incident or two of his life with a body of men who, steadily depleted -and yet as steadily recruited from Heaven knows where, have furnished -an example of bravery and devotion to an all but lost cause almost -without a parallel even in a war in which bravery and devotion form -the regular grist of the day's work. - -Because this band in question, although its exploits are even now -being sung of by the Serbs along with those of the half-legendary -heroes of their early history, is still a "force in being," exercising -in its sphere an influence of its own on the course of the war, it is -necessary that the names of the villages and towns and mountains and -valleys and rivers to which Radovitch so constantly referred in his -narrative should be entirely suppressed. I may say, however, that -later inquiry which I made at Serbian Headquarters at Salonika -revealed ample evidence that the things he told me of--as well as -others scarcely less remarkable of which the time has not yet come to -write--occurred beyond the shadow of a doubt. - -The mood to talk did not seize Radovitch until after he had led me to -the summit of the hill behind the Relief Camp, from which lofty -vantage the eye roved eastward across a purple strait to the -snow-capped peaks of Epirus and Albania, westward to where what was -once the Kaiser's villa of Achilleon stood out sharply against the -sombre green of the backbone ridge of the island, northward to where -its twin castles flanked to right and left the white walls and red -roofs of Corfu town, and southward to the dim outlines of Leukas and -Cephalonia, thinning in the violet haze of late afternoon. Below, on -three sides, was the sea, with the storied Isles of Ulysses bracing -themselves against the flood-tide racing into the bay; above, a vault -of cloudless sky, and round about a thousand-year-old forest of -gnarled olives. It was the effect of all this, together with the sight -of his friend from Serbia in the little tented hospital of the Relief -Camp, which set Radovitch talking of things I had been vainly trying -to draw him out upon ever since I met him. While the mood lasted he -seemed to need no other encouragement than the attentive listener so -ready to hand; when it had passed he was back to the mines of Montana -again, deaf and blind to my every attempt to make him talk of Serbia -and what had befallen him there. - -"How did your band get together in the first place?" I had asked, "and -what sort of men was it made up of? Was there some kind of -organisation before the retreat, or did you simply drift together -afterwards?" - -"It must have been mostly 'drift,'" replied Radovitch. "Probably the -Government and our generals knew we'd have to give way when the -Austrians and Bulgars together came at us, but none of the rest of us -ever dreamed we couldn't wallop the whole bunch. So I don't think -there is much truth in the yarn about the band of 'blood brothers' -that had been formed in advance. We were about evenly made up at the -start of men who wouldn't leave the country and men who couldn't leave -the country. The first were mostly mountain men of the region we went -to. There were a lot of ex-brigands among them, and most of them had -been fighting the Turk, or the Bulgar, or the Government, or each -other, all their lives. It was to the way these fellows knew the -country, and how to live off it and fight in it, that we owed most of -our success. The rest of us were all sorts of odds and ends who had -fallen out of the retreat but had still been able to keep out of enemy -hands. - -"At first this particular mountain region--which later became our -stronghold, and is now the only part of Old Serbia in which the enemy -has never set foot--was but a refuge, and for a few weeks we were -pretty hard put to find enough to live on. It was touch and go for -food all of the first winter, and we lived mostly by night raids on -straggling Austrian supply trains. But before long we rounded up -enough sheep and goats to keep us going, and in the spring got one of -the little mountain valleys under cultivation. Since last -summer--except for vegetables, which we had no luck with--food was one -of our least troubles. - -"We had plenty of rifles from the first. A Serb will drop his clothes -before he will his gun, as you will find if you ever see our army in -action where a river has to be forded. Many a man straggled in to us -without pants or shirt, but never a one that I ever heard of without -his rifle, We were also tolerably well fixed for cartridges, because -a man don't use one in raiding or fighting from ambush to a hundred he -pots off in the trenches. We always managed to have enough for our own -regular army rifles, and after we got well started raiding, Austrian -rifles and munition came in faster than we ever had use for them. We -could have done with an extra machine-gun or two before we had our -stone-rolling defence organised, and before the Austrians had learned -that it didn't pay to try and crawl in and pull us out of our holes. -But before the winter was over we had enough spare 'spit-firers,' so -that we didn't mind risking the loss of one or two by taking them -along on raiding parties. - -"The lay of the mountains made the whole _mesa_[4] just one big -natural fort, and I miss my guess if in all the world there's another -place of the same kind so easy to defend and so hard to attack. The -mountains are steeper and rockier than that main range of Albania you -see across there against the sky, and that's going some. I never -struck anything half so rough in all the summers I put in prospecting -in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Only one of the passes had a cart-road -up to it, and only three had mule trails. At two or three other -places a man could scramble up by using his hands, but everywhere else -he would need to have ropes and scaling ladders. - - [4] Table-land. - -"At every one of the passes--including the one of the cart-road--a -half-dozen good rock-rollers, with plenty of 'ammunition,' could put -the kibosh on an army, and you may bet we saw to it that there was no -shortage of pebbles on hand. For the first week or two my fingers were -worn pretty near to the bone from handling rocks. The only way the -Austrians could have got the best of us, once we had made ourselves at -home, would have been with not less than a dozen regiments of their -Kaiser Jaeger, mountain batteries and all; but by the time this fact -sunk into them the Italians were keeping them so busy that they -probably figured they couldn't spare any such number of Alpine troops -for side-shows. Anyhow, they never even gave us a good run for our -money in the way of attacks, though of course some of the raiding -parties came in for pretty bad punishings every now and then. - -"The one thing that we needed most, first and last, was dynamite. If -we could have got hold of even half a ton of it in the first month or -two, before the Austrians got their patrols organised, we could have -done no end of harm in blowing up bridges and tunnels where they had -been missed in the rush of the retreat, and upsetting communications -generally. When we finally did begin to get hold of powder, all the -danger-points were so heavily guarded that we never got a fair chance -at them. Once, with fifty men armed with knives, we rushed the guard -at an important bridge and cleaned up the lot before a shot was fired. -But something must have been wrong with the fuse or caps, for the -dynamite placed under the near abutment never exploded, and there -wasn't time to go back and do the job over. The next time we tried the -same tactics it was on a tunnel, but here they had an ambush ready, -and only about a dozen of the hundred men who were in the raid ever -came back. The smoothest piece of tunnel work ever brought off was not -done by our gang at all, but by a much smaller one that worked in the -region of Uskub for a while, led by a Serbian Intelligence Officer -from Salonika who had been dropped there a month before from an -aeroplane. They descended into a very important pass in broad -daylight, seized a train of empty freight cars that was waiting on a -siding for a south-bound troop-train to go by, held it until a signal -arranged for in advance told them the troop-train was entering the -north end of the longest tunnel in that part of the country, and then -turned the freight loose into the other end. We had word later that -never a man was brought out alive, but the best effect of the job was -its setting afire the lime rock in the heart of the mountain and the -blocking of traffic for many months. - -"This southern band--after recruiting up to over a thousand men at one -time, and making life miserable for the Austrians for nearly four -months--ran short of food in mid-winter and had to break up. Its -leader, however, disguised as a Bulgar soldier, worked his way back -through the enemy lines, and after just missing being potted by the -first Serb patrol he ran into after crossing the Cerna, reached -Salonika in safety with a complete report of what he had seen during -five months in hostile territory. It was the slickest job of the kind -that has been put through in this neck of the war. The guy's name -is----, and, unless he's off on another lay of the same kind, you can -probably see him in Salonika.[5] - - [5] Through the courtesy of the Crown Prince of Serbia, the - writer, on his subsequent visit to Salonika, was granted an - interview with the Intelligence Officer in question, and expects - shortly to have permission to write a complete account of what - was undoubtedly not only one of the most daring, but also one of - the most successful exploits of the war. - -"As I was telling you," resumed Radovitch, "dynamite was the one thing -we felt the need of more than anything else, and yet--perhaps the one -big thing we did wouldn't have been half so big (and maybe it would -have failed completely) if we'd had the powder to go about the job the -way we planned to do it in the first place. Did you ever hear what -happened to the Austrian force that was camped in the ---- Valley last -spring?" - -"I remember reading one of their bulletins," I replied, "which -admitted losing a battalion or two in a flood in that region. But that -was due to 'natural causes,' wasn't it? Didn't a broken dam have -something to do with it?" - -"Natural causes and a busted dam did have something to do with it," -said Radovitch with a grin; "but nature in this case had some active -assistance, and that was where we came in. It wasn't just a battalion -that went down-stream, either; it was more like two of their big -regiments--the whole of the main force they had shivvied together to -bottle us up with. It was the best thing we did by a mile; and, as I -told you, it wouldn't have been half the clean-up it was if we'd had -in the first place the powder to do it in the 'regular way.' If we -_had_ had the powder, we'd never have given Providence a chance, and, -believe me, it was nothing but Providence that could have worked -things round the way they finally came out. - -"You see, it was this way," went on Radovitch, settling back -comfortably and smiling the pleased smile of reminiscence that sits on -the face of a man who recalls events in which he has taken keen pride -and enjoyment, "the most open approach to our mountain country was by -the gorge up which ran the cart-road. There was a good-sized area of -watershed draining out this way, so that the little river running -through the gorge was a pretty powerful stream even in low water--a -good bit bigger than the old Firehole in Yellowstone Park. This river -flowed out of the main mass of the mountains into a fine bowl of an -uplands valley, and then on out of that, through a rough range of -foothills, in another gorge. At the head of this last gorge is a -natural site to store water, and there--as a project of an old -Government reclamation scheme that had been held up halfway for lack -of money to go on with--a high dam had been built which backed up a -deep, narrow lake four or five miles long. - -"The Austrians had a small force in the little village in the valley -of the lake, and patrolled four or five miles of the cart-road into -the mountains, but the main lot of them were camped below the second -gorge in an open, triangle-shaped valley that ran up from the plain to -the foothills. It was a good, safe, healthy, well-drained camp, well -above the top marks of spring high-water. The only threat to it was -the lake behind the dam in the valley above, but, unluckily for them, -they didn't know all the facts about that dam. - -"The truth was that this dam was built to hold up a lake half again as -deep as the one then there, but poor engineering and scamp contracting -combined to make it too weak to stand the pressure up to the level -intended. The English engineer who came to inspect it put a mark about -two-thirds of the way up, and warned that it wouldn't be safe to ever -let the water rise above that height. As a precaution, it had been the -custom every February or March, before the spring thaw came, to drain -off the water of the lake during the month or two before the run-off -was the greatest, so that there was plenty of margin against the -floods shoving up the level above the danger-point. The Austrians were -good enough engineers to know that it was a rotten dam, but they -didn't seem to have the sense to start lowering the water level before -the spring freshets set in. - -"Of course we didn't have to set up nights to figure what a break in -the dam--if only it came sudden enough--would do to the main Austrian -camp; but the contriving of ways and means to bring about that 'sudden -break' seemed to have us guessing from the first. The simple and -natural thing would have been to try and work down a couple of raiding -parties on either side of the lake, rush the guards at the dam with -knives (as we did later at the bridge I told you of), plant two or -three charges of dynamite, touch off the fuses, and beat it back to -the hills. If we'd had enough powder, probably that's the thing we'd -have tried, but with what success it's hard to say. The chances -against anything like a 'clean job' were anywhere from ten to fifty to -one. In the first place, there was the chance of some of the raiders -running into an Austrian patrol or sentry and starting something -before they ever got near the dam. Then there was the chance that the -rush at the dam might not go off quietly enough to keep from bringing -the force in the village down on us and making it hopeless to try and -place the powder, even if we had cleaned up the guards. Or, if we did -get the powder placed, there was the chance that we might fail to -explode it (as happened at the bridge); or even if it did explode, it -was no cinch that the dam would go all at once, or that the camp below -wouldn't be warned in time to get clear. Yes, I'm sure it was a good -fifty-to-one that one of these things would have upset the apple-cart -if we'd happened to be in shape to try and do the job with dynamite. -And once we'd showed our hand, of course, the Austrians had only to -let the water out of the lake or move the lower camp, and the game was -up for good. - -"But the hundred or so sticks of forty per cent. 'giant' we had in -stock were out of the question to tackle the job with, and so no move -was made that might have stirred the enemy's suspicions of what we had -in pickle for him. So, far from taking any precautions as the flood -season approached, he only let the water go on rising in the lake and -extended the main camp a hundred yards nearer the river. We talked -over a hundred plans in the long winter nights, but it was not till -the snow began to turn slushy at noonday, along towards the middle of -March, that we hit on one that seemed to promise a chance of success. - -"We had been hoping all along that the Austrians might let the water -go on piling up behind the dam until it gave way, but it was not till -one day when our scouts brought word that the gates had now been -opened, with the evident intention of holding the lake at a level -which they figured at about ten feet above the danger-point, that it -occurred to us that we might do something to help the good work along. -Nobody ever recalled afterwards whose idea it was, but a dozen of -us--officers and men together, in the Serbian fashion--suddenly found -ourselves waving our arms and getting red in the face discussing a -plan for building a little dam of our own, backing up as big a lakeful -of water behind it as we could, and then turning it loose on the big -lake below at the crest of the spring floods. If any of us had had any -engineering sense we'd have known that we couldn't build--with no -tools but a few axes and spades, and no materials but what nature had -put there--a dam in a year big enough to be of any use, let alone in a -month. But having no sense to speak of in things of that kind, we went -ahead with the job, and, with the luck of fools, pulled it off. - -"There was a fine site for a dam at the upper end of the cart-road -gorge, where it looked as though a solid barrier thirty feet high -would back up a lake something like three-quarters of a mile long and -from a quarter to half a mile wide. We began by building a 'crib' of -pine-trunks thirty feet wide--which was to be filled with boulders -and gravel. On our pencil plan of it, it was to be heavily buttressed -from below and slope from both sides till it was only ten feet wide at -the top. Our idea was to make it as much like a fort as possible, so -that if the Austrians piped it off from an aeroplane they would think -we were only working on defences. A hole was to be left in the middle -for the river to flow out through, as we didn't intend to store water -till the big rains and thaws set in. As it was rainy or windy every -day from the time we started to work, the Austrians--as far as we ever -knew--did no flying over the mountains, so that we had no worry on -that score. - -"Upwards of five hundred husky Serbs can do a deal of work, -but it didn't take more than three days of log-rolling and -rock-packing to show that--even at the pace we were hitting it--that -hundred-yard-long, thirty-feet-high dam wouldn't be finished before -the next season, and that, even if we did get it done some time, the -stuff we were putting in it was too loose to stop water. It was at -this stage of things that I had _my_ big idea. I had worked in -hydraulic mines in the West, and while we had nothing to rig up a pipe -and nozzle from, there _was_ a chance to divert a little mountain -torrent that came tumbling down from the snows only a few yards below -our dam site. Why not, I suggested, build up only a narrow crib of -boulders and pine logs to act as a barrier, and then bring over this -little torrent--it was flowing about a hundred miner's inches at this -time--and let it sluice down the loose 'conglomerate' from the -four-hundred-foot-high cliff through which it flowed? Because no one -had anything else to offer, we decided to try the thing. - -"We used up a good half of our poor little store of powder in making -the cut to bring over the stream, but the job was mostly easy digging, -and we finished it in three days. My young 'hydraulic' sure tore down -a lot of rock and gravel, but, as we couldn't rig up anything to -confine it properly, it only spread out in a big 'fan,' which in turn -was sluiced away by the river. That fairly stumped us, and when on top -of it a big storm came on and brought down a flood that washed away -all our cribbing, we chucked up in disgust our project of 'harnessing -nature' against the Austrian and began to plan raids again. - -"All that night it rained cats and dogs, and when I looked out of my -hut the next morning the river was over its banks and humping it like -a 'locoed' mustang. But the funny thing was that the cascade from the -little stream we had diverted seemed to have disappeared. At first I -thought it had bucked its way back into its old channel, but when I -went down to look I found that it had been 'swallowed' up by the -cliff. Five times as big as on the night before, it came tumbling down -over an up-ended stratum of slate, to disappear in a foamy -yellow-white spout into a deep crack it had sluiced into the soft -'conglomerate.' At the bottom of the cliff it came boiling out from -under the angling slate-layer in a stream that looked to be about -equal parts of gravel and water. My baby 'hydraulic' had evidently -undermined a sloping section of the cliff for a hundred feet or more, -and only the tough slate stratum was staving off a big cave-in. How -big a cave-in it was going to be, and what it was going to lead to, I -never guessed. - -"The warm rain kept plugging down all day, and was still pelting hard -when I went to sleep that night. Towards morning I was waked up with a -roar a hundred times louder than any snow-slide I ever heard, and then -came a jar that rocked the whole valley. I felt sure a piece of the -cliff had come down, but didn't have the least hunch that anything -like what the first daylight showed up had come off. The first thing I -saw as the dark slacked off was the shimmer of a flat stretch of -water in the bottom of the valley, a lake--just as if it had been -dropped from the sky--right where we'd been trying to start one -ourselves. - -"The cliff had broken back a couple of hundred feet or more all the -way to the top, and in falling had piled up clear across the head of -the gorge. On the near side it was about one hundred and fifty feet -high, on the farther side something like sixty. - -"With the rain still pouring pitchforks and the snow melting all over -the mountains, water was coming down at a rate that had the lake -rising at the rate of two feet an hour all morning, and better than -half that fast even when it began to spread out over the valley floor -in the afternoon. The storm kept right on for three days. The second -morning there was twenty-five feet of water at the dam, on the third -forty feet and on the fourth near to fifty. The lake by this time was -both bigger and deeper than the one we'd planned to make ourselves. - -"By good luck the streams ramping down from the mountains into the -gorge below the slide kept two or three times its average flow in the -river, and so the Austrians--who didn't know its habits very -well--failed to notice that anything unusual had come off up-stream. -Our scouts reported that the water in the lower lake had not risen -much, and that it seemed to stand at about fifteen feet above the -danger mark. The Austrians, they said, did not appear to be paying any -more attention to the dam than usual. - -"We were hoping that the storm would hold until enough water was -backed up to bust the dam on its own, but when it began to clear on -the fourth day it was plain the best way out of it was to give the -thing a push on our own account. We didn't have a hundredth of enough -'giant' to do the job, so had to rig the best makeshift we could by -turning the still husky stream of my 'hydraulic' right along the -sloping top of the slide and off down into the gorge. - -"It was about midday when we set it sluicing, and all afternoon it -licked off the loose earth as if it was sugar. By dark half the near -end of the slide had slushed away, and the wall that still held was -beginning to bulge and cave with the seep forced through from the -other side. Half an hour later our pitch-pine torches showed the water -bubbling through all the way along, and we knew it was time for us to -clear out. It was none too soon either, for the last man was just out -of the way when a heavy sort of rolling-grind started, and -then--whouf!--out she went. - -"I've been in 'Yankee Jim's' Canyon of the Yellowstone when the flood -behind the break-up of the ice-jam in the lake came down, but that was -a rat-a-tat to the roar that sounded now. The mountains themselves -were shaking, and the movement started the 'hanging' snow-slides all -the way down the gorge. It must have been a racket like that when the -world was made. The lake was drained of all but mud in ten minutes, -and it must have been about twice that long before a new sound broke -in--a roar so deep that it seemed to almost be a rumbling from under -the earth. But we knew that it was the big dam going--that our work -was done for that night. - -"The next morning at daybreak every man in shape to stand the climb -over a mountain path we knew--the road down the gorge had been scoured -out clean--dropped down from three sides on the little Austrian force -in the village where the dam had been, and killed or captured the -whole bunch. Then we pushed on to the top of the foothills looking -down to the plain. Where the main Austrian camp had been was a slither -of smooth mud, dotted with the stumps of snapped-off trees; and just -that, and no more, was all we could see as far as our eyes could -reach. - -"And just so," cried Radovitch, leaping to his feet and shaking a fist -toward the serrated sky-line to the north-east, beyond which ran the -roads to Monastir and Prilep and Uskub; "just so, when the time comes, -will the whole ---- ---- herd of the swine be swept out of Serbia!" - - - - -BEATING BACK FROM GERMANY - -(AS TOLD BY AN ESCAPED PRISONER). - - -I was born on a Wisconsin farm, almost within sight of Lake Michigan -and only a few miles from the Illinois State line. My father was Irish -and my mother German. Like my name, most of my qualities--both good -and bad--were those of my father rather than my mother. He died when I -was ten, and within a year my mother married our German hired-man. My -mother was never unkind to me, but my stepfather was a brute, and from -the day of his coming to live with us I date a steadily growing -dislike for his race, which has been made worse by a sort of fatality -which, in spite of myself, has seemed to work to throw me amongst them -all my life. - -My stepfather was always rough with me, but until I was sixteen -confined himself to a black-snake and horsewhip in beating me. I got -on as best I could with him, but when he celebrated my coming to what -he called "man's estate" by starting in on me with a hoe-handle, it -was more than I could stand. The second time he tried it I was ready -for him and caught him a blow behind the ear with an iron -monkey-wrench that laid him out across the chopping-block. Afraid that -I had killed him--he was really not hurt much--I ran away, taking -nothing with me but the wrench I had in my hand. I never parted with -that good old monkey-wrench during all my wanderings of the next ten -years, and I felt worse about losing it to the Germans in Flanders -than I did about the two fingers their shrapnel bashed off. - -For the next few years I did all kinds of farm work, always being -employed by Germans because nearly all of the farms in southern -Wisconsin are owned by those people. Possibly there were many good -people amongst them, but it always seemed to be my luck to get with -the others. Hard workers themselves, they were also hard drivers of -those who worked for them, and full of mean little tricks for getting -more time out of you or for giving you less money. Of course, being -quick-tempered and with a sort of standing grudge against all -"square-heads" growing up inside of me anyhow, I was in hot water most -of the time. The week that went by without a fight was very -exceptional. If they were content to go after me with their fists, I -usually kept to the same weapons, and hardly recall a time when I -didn't have the best of it. But if they ever tried anything else I -always fell back on my trusty monkey-wrench, which I generally carried -swung to my belt with a raw-hide. After a while, just as the Indians -used to tally their scalps on the handles of their tomahawks, I -started cutting a notch on the wooden grip of my monkey-wrench for -every time I had dropped--I don't think I ever killed one--a -"square-head" with it. At first--proud of what they stood for--I cut -them broad and long, but soon I saw I was using up my limited space -too fast, and, to provide for "future developments," began cutting -them smaller. It was surprising how much the notches improved the -grip. - -By the time I was twenty I was able to run both the engine and the -separator of a threshing-machine outfit, and started going west every -summer to the Dakotas and Montana to get the benefit of the high -harvest pay. My winters I spent in a big factory in Racine, learning -to repair and build threshers and tractors. Partly to save the money -that I would have had to pay for a ticket, but more for the lark of -it, I started beating my way back and forth between the east and the -west on the trains. Sometimes I stowed away with a week's food in an -empty furniture car, sometimes I rode the "blind baggage," but mostly -it was the old stand-by of the "bindle-stiff" called "riding the -rods." My nerve was good and my arms strong, and it wasn't long before -I could swing up and disappear inside the "bumpers" of a train doing -thirty miles an hour as easily as the conductor swung on to the tail -of the caboose by his hand-rail. It was little idea I had that the -tricks I learned in those days were going to make all the difference -between my starving in a German prison camp and (what is happening -now) being fed on chocolates and pink teas in London by way of -training for another go at the Huns. - -In 1913 I went to South America to set up and run threshing outfits -that had been sold to the ranchers by the Racine company I had been -working for winters. I had a two years' contract, and was supposed to -go to Uruguay or the Argentine. If I had done that, probably things -would have been all right. But at the last moment, as a result of some -one else dropping out, I was sent to Rio Grande do Sul, in the -southern "pan-handle" of Brazil. But don't believe that because it was -Brazil there were any Brazilians there, or leastways any that counted -for anything. The Germans have been swarming into Rio Grande and -Santa Catharina for thirty years, and to-day southern Brazil is as -"Dutch" as--southern Wisconsin. Probably, in fact, it is more so, for -there are over half a million Germans there, and hardly a third that -many Brazilians. - -I had been avoiding German farms for the last two or three years, but -in Rio Grande all the ranchers were Germans, and I had to go wherever -an outfit had been sold anyhow. The notches multiplied pretty fast on -my old monkey-wrench for about three weeks, but at the end of that -time I found myself in jail for knocking out the front teeth of a fat -German farmer after I had ducked a prod from his pitchfork. Our agent -at Santa Catharina and the American Consul at Santos got me clear, but -the former took the occasion to cancel my contract and ship me home -before, as he put it, I had ruined the company's trade in that end of -Brazil. - -I was breaking prairie with a big gasoline tractor outfit in northern -Manitoba when the European War started, and so sure I was that my -country was going to take some kind of a stand against the invasion of -Belgium that I got ready at once to go home and enlist in case we had -to back up the protest with force. I waited, with my grip packed, -until it was plain that there was no chance of any move from our -brave statesmen at Washington--it must have been three or four weeks -before I gave up hope--and then threw up my job, did sixty miles on -horseback in nine hours to the railway station, and went to the -nearest recruiting office. They would probably have taken me as an -American, but I was taking no chances on being rejected. I told them I -was an Irish-Canadian, and the next day was being put through the -paces by the drill-sergeant. I could have got much more pay and a -better billet generally by going into the transport service and -driving a motor truck, but I had suddenly become aware that I had been -nursing a sort of slumbering desire to kill Germans for the last -decade, and I wasn't going to miss the chance to let that desire wake -up. I sewed an extra loop on my belt so that I could have my good old -monkey-wrench always handy, and began looking anxiously forward to the -time when I should be able to complete my "register" of bashed-up -Dutchmen on the handle. I might have to use my rifle for long-range -work, I told myself, but for the close-in action in the trenches I was -going to do with my wrench what the other fellows did with their -bayonets. Lucky it was for my peace of mind in those days that I -couldn't look forward and see what the end of the next eight or ten -months had in pickle for me. - -The call was pretty persistent for men in those first months of the -war and, in spite of the shortage of all kinds of equipment, our -training was rushed from the very beginning. Most of the boys in my -regiment had seen service or had training--some had been in the South -African War, and others had been members of the English Territorials -or the Canadian Militia--already, and we made much better progress -than the rawer contingents that came later. We had about three months -in Canada, a little longer in England (where I had a touch of typhoid -on Salisbury Plain), and by the early spring of 1915 we were in -reserve in Flanders. By the time the Germans made their second attempt -to drive through Ypres to Calais we had been pushed up into the first -line. Until the big attack came, however, we had had no real fighting. -The Germans--I had begun to call them Huns by this time instead of -Dutchmen--made scattering raids on our trenches and we made scattering -raids on theirs, but I never figured in any of this to the extent of -mixing in hand-to-hand work. I had no chances to add any notches to -the handle of my old monkey-wrench, but from my always carrying it -around with me the English "Tommies" (who call a wrench a spanner) -had dubbed me "Spanner Mike." They pretended to believe I was a little -"cracked" about my trusty old friend, but I found that they were never -above borrowing it for everything, from opening boxes from home to -tinkering the gear of broken-down automobile trucks--"motor lorries," -they call them. It's really remarkable what a lot of things a man can -use a monkey-wrench for if only he happens to have it handy when he -needs it. - -For some days the shell-fire against us had been getting heavier--at -least they called it heavy then; it would be nothing now--and we knew -that the Huns were getting ready for some kind of an attack. What kind -it was going to be we little dreamed, for even our officers seem to -have known nothing about the gas they had been experimenting with over -in Germany. When it came--it rolled toward us in heavy clouds like the -morning mists in the Dakota "Bad Lands"--the word went round that the -Huns' munitions had got afire, and we were telling each other that we -ought to be sent across to take advantage of the confusion. It was -only when we began to notice that it was bubbling up at fairly regular -intervals--thick greasy yellow clouds of it--that it seemed they -might be putting up a game on us, and by that time one of the advanced -tongues of the stuff lapped over into our trench. - -I shall never forget the horrible agony and surprise in the eyes of -the men who got that first dose. It was the look of a dog being -suddenly beaten for something it hadn't done. They looked at each -other with questioning eyes--I only recall hearing one man start -cursing--then they began gulping and coughing, and then fell down with -their faces in their hands. All the time the shrapnel was popping -overhead and raining bullets about, and, just as the gas began to pour -over my parapet, a bullet knocked my rifle out of my hand, and I -slipped in the mud as I jumped back and went down in a heap. It must -have been all of six weeks before I stood on my feet again. - -My first sensation was of a smarting way up inside of my nose. This -quickly extended to my throat, and then, as my lungs suddenly seemed -filled with red-hot needles, I was seized with a spasm of coughing. -Coughing up red-hot needles is not exactly a pleasant operation, and -the pain was intense. Mercifully, it was only a few minutes before a -sort of stupor seemed to come on, but even as I passed into -half-consciousness I was aware of my outraged lungs revolting, in -heaves that shook my frame, against the poison that had swamped the -trench. With some of my comrades the fighting instinct was the last -thing that died, and I have a sort of a recollection of two or three -of them clutching at the parapet and firing from cough-shaken -shoulders off into the depths of the rolling yellow gas clouds. One -lad toppled over beside me and still kept pumping shots from the -bottom of the trench. I remember hazily trying to kick his rifle out -of his hand as he discharged it over my ear, and, failing to locate it -with my foot, recall groping instinctively for my old wrench and -trying to disarm him with that. My last recollection of this stage of -things was the shock of feeling the wrench-handle swing backward -harmlessly for lack of my two shrapnel-smashed fingers to steady it. - -I had rolled and writhed, in the agony of the pain of the gas in my -lungs, in a pool of slush in the bottom of the trench, and it must -have been the lying with my face buried in the shoulder of my wet -woollen tunic that saved my life. Most of my comrades were quite -unconscious when the Huns, with their heads protected by baggy -"snoots," came pouring into the trench, but I had enough of my senses -left unparalysed to be able to watch them in a hazy sort of way. The -horrible quietness of the thing was positively uncanny. Always before -the enemy had charged with yells (it is directed in their manual that -they do so, though, of course, a man "gives tongue" naturally on such -occasions from sheer excitement), but now they were hardly making a -sound. Probably this was by orders, so that no more air than was -necessary should be taken into the lungs, but even when some of them -did try to speak the words were so muffled that it must have been very -hard to make them out. - -The Huns were pretty excited at first, and started right down the -trench bayoneting one body after another. But before they got to me an -officer stopped them for a minute and evidently gave them to -understand that they were to confine their butchery only to those that -tried to resist. Two or three of our boys, who had not gone under -entirely but had not sense enough to understand the uselessness of -putting up a fight, made a few groggy passes at the Huns and paid the -penalty. I lay quiet and played "possum," but got a nasty prod in the -groin when one of them turned me over with his bayonet to see where I -was wounded. There was still a good deal of gas in the bottom of the -trench, and between that and loss of blood I must have lost -consciousness entirely about this time. - -My recollections covering the next day or two are very dim and -confused, but one thing was photographed so clearly on my mind that -the image of it has never faded; I even grow hot as I think of it now, -over a year later. This was the last thing I saw before I "went to -sleep" in the trenches--two Huns using my monkey-wrench (the tool I -had been "strafing" "Dutchmen" with for the last ten years, and which -I had brought along to continue that good work with) to tinker up one -of our own smashed machine-guns to use against our own men. I never -saw it again, and its loss rankled in my mind during the whole year -that I was doomed to spend in German hospitals and prison camps. - -I have some memory of being carried in a stretcher, and of passing -through one or two dressing-stations where my wounds were washed and -bandaged. My connected recollections begin after my waking up in a -hospital--well back from the Front, but still not out of the sound of -the guns--that was evidently devoted entirely to "gas" cases. The ward -I was in was filled with men from my own regiment, but what interested -me specially--as soon as I was able to take any interest in anything -beyond my own suffering--was to observe that a great many Germans -were also being treated in the same hospital. I never did find out -just how these happened to be "gassed," but presume it was either -through accidents to their apparatus or from their "snoots" being -faulty. - -At any rate, the Germans had evidently prepared in advance for "gas" -cases, and the chances are that they pulled through a good many of us -who might have died had we been taken back to our own hospitals, where -they had, at that time, small facilities for handling that kind of -trouble. The ward was kept as hot as a Turkish bath, and some of our -chaps thought this was done with the idea of making our agony worse. -One of them, who jumped out of bed, threw up a window, got a lungful -of cold air, and died the same night, gave us a proper object-lesson -in why the air had to be kept at close to blood heat. Some of them -also thought that a kind of stuff they gave us to inhale made us worse -rather than better, but that was only their imagination. If there was -any real ground for complaint it might have been on the score that the -doctors tried a good many experiments on us because this was the first -chance they had had to study gas poisoning on a large scale, but that -was no more than we could have expected. Probably our own doctors -would have been glad of some "dogs," in the shape of Huns, to "try it -on" when they first began to study "gassing." - -But the doctors were always attentive, and the nurses always -kind--more than kind, most of them. But I already had learned that a -nurse's best stock-in-trade is her "sympathy," and those I met in -Germany were no exception to the rule. I think it was the way that -those plump blonde _fräuleins_ looked after us poor devils in that -steaming-hot ward that kept me from trying to run amuck and commit -murder as soon as I was well enough to be sure that my memory of those -two Huns tinkering at our machine-gun with my old monkey-wrench was no -"fevered vision." - -I have been told often since returning to England that it will be just -as well not to say too much about my hardships in the German prison -camps, as it might be the way of making things all the worse for those -still doomed to remain there. So I shall touch lightly on this side of -my experiences, and, to be on the safe side, will try not to mention -any camps or other German localities by name. I was sent to what, had -I but known it, was the most liberally run prison camp in Germany -after my discharge from the hospital, but even at that the treatment -was so abominable in comparison with what I had been receiving and had -a right to expect that it undid at once the "soothing" effect the kind -nurses and doctors had had on me. I don't mean that I went back -physically a great deal--my constitution was too strong for that--but -only that my old hate of the Hun redoubled. This would have been all -very well if I had only been back in the trenches, but in a prison -camp it could only have one end. I dropped in his tracks with my -fist--mighty hard it was his shaved head felt to my half-healed -"right"--the first guard that tried to hustle me into line with the -toe of his boot. Then I used up what strength I had left in a rough -and-tumble with three or four others, until one of them finally put me -to sleep with the butt of his rifle. In at least three other camps I -could name I would have been shot then and there (it has happened to -many a lad whose pride made him turn loose on a brutal guard), and I -can count myself very lucky that I got off with no more than a bit -more of a beating up and two weeks' solitary confinement on black -bread and water. Perhaps the worst consequence of my action was my -transfer, a few weeks later, to a camp that has since become notorious -for both its unhealthfulness and its inhumanity. - -The first glimmerings of sense (regarding the situation that I was -going to have to face as a prisoner of war in Germany) was let into my -rather thick head by the blow it got from that rifle-butt; the -rest--enough to start me on the right course, at least--filtered in -during my two weeks of solitary confinement on bread and water. I was -of no use to myself or any one else in a German prison camp, I told -myself. I had no chance there either to kill Huns or destroy Hun -property. Once outside I might well be able to do both--perhaps even -get back to England and join my regiment if any of it was left. How to -get out?--that was the question. From that time on I turned my every -thought and act to that one end. - -What makes it almost hopeless for a prisoner of war to get out of -Germany is not so much the actual escape from his prison--that is -comparatively easy, especially if he is on outside work--as the lack -of clothes and money, and the difficulty of avoiding giving himself -away by being unable to speak the language. These things make the odds -a thousand to one against the average prisoner having more than -twenty-four hours' freedom at the outside. The chances against success -are so big that few attempt it. Luckily, I had one advantage over the -general run of the prisoners in my ability to speak fairly good -German. I must have had a lot of accent, of course, but I still -understood all that was said to me in German, and was also able to say -all that I wanted to. This would be good enough, I told myself, to run -a bluff with the ordinary run of people I might meet about my being a -returned German-American come back to work for my Fatherland; that is -to say, I ought to be able to prevent such people from being -suspicious of me, where they would have attacked or reported a man who -could not speak German at once. Anything in the way of police or -officials I should have to fight shy of, and, as I foresaw there must -be all kinds of checks on strangers and travellers, I knew I should -have to steer clear of trains and hotels. I felt sure of myself on the -score of language, therefore; clothes and money were things to be -provided as opportunity offered. Fortunately, Fate was very kind to me -in this respect. - -One little incident I must mention before I go on with my story. In -the prison I was transferred to most of the English prisoners, after a -while, began to receive parcels from home, even some of the Canadians -coming in on the deal. I, having no friends either in Canada or -England, got nothing direct, but all sorts of nice little odds and -ends of dainties came my way in the final "divvy." One lad from the -south of England, who was dying with a sort of slow blood-poisoning -and lack of care of a never-healed wound at the back of his neck, was -especially generous to me with the things he got from home, and when -he finally went under I managed to get permission to write a few words -to his family, telling them, among other things, how kind he had been -to me with his parcels. And what should they do--his brokenhearted -mother and sisters in Devonshire--but "adopt" me in his place and keep -right on sending the chocolate and cigarettes and other "goodies" just -as regularly as before. And now they've been to see me here, and tell -me they are going to keep sending me things when I return to the Front -just the same as though I was the boy they had lost. - -As soon as I had fully made up my mind what I wanted to do, I went on -my good behaviour, got into the "trusty" class, and was one of the -first picked for outside work when the call came for English prisoners -to help in harvesting and road-making. I had a good chance to practise -my German during the harvest work, but the prospects for making good -after a "get-away" were not very promising, and I had sense enough to -bide my time. But when I got switched on to road work, and when almost -the first thing I saw was a bunch of Huns clustered round an old Holt -"Caterpillar" tractor that had got stalled on them, I felt that time -was drawing near. - -Now a "Caterpillar" is just about the finest tractor in the world for -general purposes, provided it is run by a man that has had plenty of -experience with its funny little ways; in the hands of any one -else--even a first-class engineer that is quite at home with a wheel -tractor--it is the original fount of trouble. To me the machine was an -old friend, however, for I had run one for two or three seasons in the -West and worked for a winter in one of the company's factories in -Illinois. I took the first opportunity to let the Huns know my -qualifications, and when they saw me start in to true up the wobbly -"track," they just about fell on my neck then and there. They had -seized the machine in a Belgian sugar-beet field a few days after the -outbreak of the war, they explained, and it had been used for a while -to haul heavy artillery in the drive into France. After a time the -hard usage had begun to tell on the "track," and--as they had no new -parts to replace worn ones with--it had been giving about as much -trouble as it was worth ever since. When I told them that it was -adjustment rather than replacement that was needed, and that in a few -days I could have the machine as good as new, they fairly tumbled over -themselves to "borrow" me for the job. - -As a matter of fact, the old "crawler" was just about on its last -legs, but I knew in any case that I could tinker it into some kind of -running shape, and the comparative freedom of the job was what I -wanted. This worked out even better than I expected, for after the -first day or two, in order to save the time taken up by returning me -to the prison camp at night and bringing me back in the morning, they -arranged for me to bunk in in the road camp. They were too much -occupied in hustling the job along to think about asking me for my -parole--a lucky thing, for I should have had a hard time to keep from -breaking it. - -With two men to help me, I took the tractor all down, "babbitted" up -the bearings, readjusted the gears, and had it up and running at the -end of a week. With a string back to the seat to open up the throttle -for the sharp pulls, I had it snaking a string of ten waggon-loads of -crushed rock where it had been stalling down on three before the -overhauling. During that week I had also managed to pick up--no -matter how--several marks in money, and had succeeded in concealing so -effectually the greasy jacket of one of my assistants that he gave up -hunting for it and got a new one. A machinist's cap had already been -given me, and the evening that the other helper washed out his -overalls and flung them over his tent to dry, I--seeing a chance to -complete my wardrobe--decided promptly that the time had come to make -a move. They had offered me a steady job running the old -"Caterpillar," and at something better than ordinary "prisoner's pay," -but as it would have kept me in the same neighbourhood, I could not -figure how it would help my chances in the least to "linger on." - -There was supposed to be a sentry watching the road machinery, and -also keeping a wary eye on the tent where I bunked with a half-dozen -of the engineers, but he did not take his job very seriously, and I -knew I would have no difficulty avoiding him. We had had a hard day of -it, and my tent mates were in bed by dark--about 8 o'clock--and -asleep, by their deep breathing, a few minutes later. They all slept -in their working clothes, else I could have made up my outfit then and -there. But it did not matter, for within half a minute of the time I -had slipped noiselessly under the loosened tent-flap, I was making off -down the road with a full suit of German machinist's togs under my -arm. Five minutes later I stopped in the darker darkness under a tree -by the roadside and slipped them on over my prison suit, rightly -anticipating that the extra warmth of the latter might be very welcome -if I had much sleeping out to do. - -It was partly bravado, probably, and partly because I felt that, if -missed, I would be searched for in the opposite direction, that caused -me to head for the two-mile-distant town of X----. And it was probably -the same combination which led me, after passing unchallenged down the -long main street, to march up to the wicket of a "movie" show, pay my -twenty-five pfennig and pass inside. Had there been a "hue and cry" -that night (which there was not), this was undoubtedly the last place -they would have looked for me in. - -The films were mostly war views--cracking fine things from both the -Russian and French fronts--and other patriotic subjects, but among -them was one of those "blood-and-thunder thrillers" from California. I -don't recall exactly how the story went, but the thing that set me -thinking was the way the heroine pinched the lights off the automobile -they had kidnapped her in, and afterwards pawned them for enough to -get a ticket home with. What was to prevent my going back and getting -busy on my old "Caterpillar"? I asked myself. The magneto was worth -something like a hundred dollars, and even if I had no chance to sell -it, it was a pity to overlook so easy a bit of "strafing." I concluded -that my steps had been guided to that "movie" show by my lucky star, -and promptly got up and started back for the road-making camp. On the -way some tipsy villagers passed me singing the "Hymn of Hate," the air -and most of the words of which I had already picked up, and, out of -sheer happiness at being again (if only for a few hours) at liberty, I -joined in the explosive bursts of the chorus, booming out louder than -any of them on "England!" Evidently, unconsciously, I had done quite -the proper thing, for they raised their voices to match mine, gave a -"Hoch" or two, and passed on without stopping. That also gave me an -idea. During the whole following two weeks of my wanderings in Germany -every man, woman or child that I passed upon the road, in light or in -darkness, might have heard me humming "The Hymn of Hate," "Die Wacht -am Rhein," or, after I had mastered it toward the end, "Deutschland -über Alles." - -It was plain that my flight had not been discovered, for I found the -camp as quiet as when I left it three hours before. I could just make -out the figure of the sentry pacing along down the line of tractors -and dump-waggons, but the canvas which had been thrown over the -"Caterpillar" to protect it from possible rain made it easy for me to -escape attracting his attention. Of light I had no need; I knew the -old "65" well enough to work on it in my sleep. A wrench and pair of -nippers, located just where I had left them in their loops in the -cover of the tool-box over the right "track," were all I needed. First -I cut the insulated copper wires running to the magneto with the -nippers, and then (placing my double-folded handkerchief over them to -prevent noise) unscrewed with the wrench the nuts from the bolts which -held the costly electrical contrivance to the steel frame of the -tractor. Then I cut off with a knife a good-sized square of the canvas -paulin that covered the machine, wrapped the magneto in it, and tied -up the bundle with a piece of the insulated copper wire, leaving a -doubled loop for a handle. Then I threw out some of the more delicate -adjustments, dropped some odds and ends of small tools and bits of -metal down among the gears where they would do the most "good," -pocketed the knife and nippers, and, with the magneto in one hand and -the biggest wrench I could find in the other, set off for X---- again. -The wrench was my last and greatest inspiration; it was to take the -place of the one the Huns had robbed me of in the trenches. I am glad -to be able to write that I have it by me at the present moment, and -that it is slated to go back to the Front with me--, I hope to do a -bit of the "strafing" that Fate denied the other. - -Probably no prisoner of war was ever loose in the interior of Germany -with a clearer idea of what he wanted to do, and how he intended to do -it, than I had at this moment. I knew that my only chance of escaping -capture within the next twenty-four hours was in putting a long way--a -hundred miles or more--between myself and that place by daylight, when -the "alarm" would go out. I knew the only way this could be done was -by train; but I also knew that the quickest way to instant arrest was -to try to enter a station and take a train in the ordinary way. To any -but one who had "hoboed" back and forth across the North American -Continent as I had the game would have seemed a hopeless one. - -I was far from despairing, however; in fact, I never felt more equal -to a situation in my life. The whole thing hinged on my getting my -first train. After that I felt I could manage. I had studied German -passenger cars as closely as possible in watching them pass at a -distance, and was certain they offered fairly good "tourist" -accommodation on the "bumpers" or brake beams; but I did not feel that -I yet knew enough of their under-slung "architecture" to board them -when on the move. This meant that I was going to have to start on my -"maiden" trip from a station or siding, where I could find a train at -rest. A siding would, of course, have been vastly preferable, but as I -had none definitely located, and knew that I might easily waste the -rest of the night looking for one, the X---- _bahnhof_ was the only -alternative. Because this was so plainly the _only_ way, I was nerved -to the job far better than if I had had to decide between two or three -lines of action. - -Nor was I in any doubt as to how the thing would have to be done. At -the ticket windows, or at the gates to the train shed, I was positive -I would be challenged at once--even if no word had yet gone to the -police of my escape--and held for investigation. Besides, I had not -money enough to take me a quarter the distance I felt that I should -have to go to be reasonably safe. The only way was to follow the -tracks in through the yards and make the best of any opportunity that -offered. The ten or twelve-pound magneto would be a good deal of a -nuisance, but, as the possible sale of it at some distant point -offered an easy way to the money I was sure to need I decided not to -let it go till I had to. - -I already knew the general lay of the X---- station, and decided that -it would be best to go to the tracks by crossing a field just outside -of the town. My road crossed the line a half-mile further away, but I -felt sure a bridge over a canal which would have to be passed if I -took to the ties at this point would be guarded by soldiers. A stumble -through a weed-choked ditch, a trudge across a couple of hundred yards -of rye stubble, a climb over the wire fencing of the right-of-way, and -I was once more crushing stone ballasting under my brogans, as I had -done so often before. Ten minutes later I passed unchallenged under -the lights of a switching-tower and was inside the X---- yards. Almost -at the same moment a bright headlight flashed out down the line ahead, -and before I reached the station a long passenger train had pulled in -and stopped. "Just in time," I muttered to myself; "that's _my_ train, -wherever it's going." - -Entering the train-shed, I avoided the platforms and hurried along -between the passenger train and a string of freight cars standing on -the next track. Two or three yard hands brushed by me without a -glance, for there was practically no difference between my greasy -machinist's rig-out and their own. But as I stopped and began to peer -under one of the _erstige_ coaches I saw, with the tail of my eye, a -brakeman of the freight train pause in his clamber up the end of one -of the cars and crane his head suspiciously in my direction. Scores of -times before (though never with so much at stake) I had faced the same -kind of emergency, and, without an instant's hesitation and as though -it was the most natural thing in the world to be doing, I started -tapping one of the wheels with my big steel wrench. Heaven only knows -if they test for cracked car wheels that way in Germany! I certainly -have never seen them do it, at any rate. Anyhow, it served my purpose -of making the brakeman think I was there on business, for he climbed -on up on to his train and passed out of sight. Two seconds later I was -snuggled up on the "bumpers" with my wrench and magneto in my lap. - -The brake-beams of a German _schlafwagen_ are not quite as roomy as -those of an American Pullman, but they might be much worse. The train -was a fairly fast one, making few stops, and I believe would have -taken me right in to Berlin if I had remained aboard long enough. I -was getting rather cramped and stiff after four or five hours, -however, and not caring to run the risk of being seen riding by -daylight, I dropped off as the train slowed down at a junction on the -outskirts of what appeared, and turned out, to be a large -manufacturing city. The magneto slipped out of my two-fingered hand as -I jumped off, and brought up in the frog of a switch with a jolt that -must have played hob with its delicate insides, but I wasn't doing any -worrying on that score. Here I was, safe and sound, a good hundred -miles beyond any place they would ever think of looking for me. -Moreover, I had money in my pocket, as well as the possible means of -getting more. I couldn't have wished for a better start. - -There are a number of reasons why it would not be best for me to go -into detail at this time regarding the various ways in which I steered -clear of trouble in getting beyond the German frontiers, not the least -of them being that it might make it harder in the future for some -other poor devil trying to do the same thing. I do not think, however, -there would be one chance in a thousand for a British prisoner less -"heeled for the game"--a man unable to speak the language and to steal -rides on the "brake-beams" of the trains, I mean--than I was to win -through from any great distance from the frontier. But however that -may be, I am not going to make it harder for any one who may get the -chance by telling just how I did it. - -Money--to be obtained by selling the magneto of the tractor I had -brought along with me--was the first thing for me to see to after -getting well clear of the country in which I was likely to be searched -for, and it was in going after this that I was nearest to "coming a -cropper." I made the mistake--in my haste to get rid of the burden of -the heavy thing--of offering it to the first electrical supply shop I -came to. The proprietor wanted the thing very badly, but while he -seemed to accept readily enough my story that I was a returned -German-American working in munition factories, he said that the law -required him to call up the police and ask if anything of the kind had -been reported as stolen. I was not in the least afraid that the -magneto would be reported at a point so distant from the one I had -taken it from, but I did know that I couldn't "stand up" for two -minutes in any kind of interview with the police. So I told old Fritz -to go ahead and telephone, and as soon as his back was turned grabbed -up the magneto and slipped out to the street as quietly as possible. - -Whether the police made any effort to trace me or not I never knew. -There was no evidence of it, anyhow. I headed into the first side -street, and from that into another, and then kept going until I came -to a dirty little secondhand shop with a Jew name over the door. -Luckily the old Sheeny had had some dealing in junk and hardware, and -knew at once the value of the goods I had to offer. As a matter of -fact, indeed, the magneto was a "Bosch," made in Germany in the first -place, and imported to the U.S. by the makers of the tractor from -which I had taken it. I was a good deal winded from quick walking--I -hadn't a lot of strength at that time anyhow--and the shrewd old -Hebrew must have felt sure that I had stolen the thing within the -hour. He said no word about 'phoning the police, however, but merely -looked at me slyly out of the corner of one eye and offered me fifty -marks for an instrument that was worth four or five hundred in -ordinary times, and probably half again as much more through war -demands. I could probably have got more out of him, but I was in no -temper for bargaining, and the quick way in which I snapped up his -offer must have confirmed any suspicions the old fox may have had -concerning the way I came by the "goods." The joint was probably -little more than a "fence"--a thieves' clearing-house--anyhow, and I -was dead lucky to stumble on to it as I did. - -I had two hearty meals that day in cheap restaurants--taking care to -order no bread or anything else I felt there might be a chance of my -needing a "card" for--and that night swung up on to the "rods" of a -passenger train that had slowed down to something like ten miles an -hour at a crossing, and rode for several hours in a direction which I -correctly figured to be that of the Dutch frontier. I spent the -following day moving freely about a good-sized manufacturing city, and -the next night "beat" through to a town on the border of Holland. As -this was not a place where there were any factories, my machinist's -rig-out didn't "merge into the landscape" in quite the same way it did -in the places where there was a lot of manufacturing, and I stayed -there only long enough to make sure that the frontier was guarded in a -way that would make the chances very much against my getting across -without some kind of help. Such help I knew that I could get in -Belgium, and therefore, as the whole of the German railway system -seemed to be at my disposal for night excursions, I decided to try my -luck from that direction. I wanted to take a look at Essen and Krupps' -while I was so near, but finally concluded it would not be best to -take a chance in a district where there were sure to be more on the -watch than anywhere else. The distant tops of tall chimneys and a -cloud of smoke in the sky were all that I saw of the "place where the -war was made." - -The Germans boast of a great intelligence system, yet not once--so far -as I could see--was I under suspicion during the several days in which -I made my leisurely way, by more or less indirect route, into Belgium. -As a matter of fact, I did not give them very much to "lay hold of." I -kept closely to my original plan of steering clear of railway stations -and hotels, and of asking for nothing in shops or restaurants that -might require "tickets." The weather was good, and most of my sleeping -was done in about the same quiet sort of outdoor nooks as the American -"hobo" seeks out in making his way across the continent. The only -difference was that it was safer, if anything, in Germany, and many -times when, in the States, I would have been greeted by a policeman's -club on the soles of my boots, I saw, from the tail of my eye, the -"arm of the law" strut by without a second glance at the tired -machinist, with his wrench beside him, dozing under a tree in a park -or by the roadside. I had half a dozen good meals with kind-hearted -peasants, and one night--it was raining, and I was pretty well played -out--I accepted the offer of a bed in a farmhouse, the owner of which -had a son who had a sheep ranch in Montana, near Miles City, a place -where I had run a threshing outfit one season. He said he was very -sorry that the boy had not been as clever as I was in evading the -"Englanders" and getting home to help the Fatherland. He was a kind -old fellow, and I tinkered up his mowing-machine and put a new valve -in his leaking pump to square my account. There were a number of -little incidents of this kind, and the simple kindliness of the old -peasants I met--mostly fathers and mothers and wives with sons or -husbands in the war--was responsible for the fact that I did not feel -quite as harshly against Huns in general when I left their country as -when I entered it. Still, I know very well that their good treatment -of me was only because they thought I was one of themselves, and that -they would probably have given me up to a mob to tear to pieces if -they had suspected for a minute what I really was. - -I went through into Belgium on the brake-beams of a fast freight -which, from the way it seemed to have the right-of-way over -passengers, I concluded was carrying munitions urgently needed at the -front. It was slowed down in some kind of a traffic jam at a junction -when I boarded it, but when I left it--when I thought I was as far -into Belgium as I wanted to go--it was hitting up a lively thirty -miles an hour or more, and all my practice at the game could not save -me from a nasty roll. Luckily, I dropped clear of the ties; and as the -fill was of soft earth, with a ditch full of water at the bottom, I -was not much the worse for a fall that would have brained me a dozen -times over on most American lines. - -Of how I got out of Belgium into Holland, and finally on to England, -it would not do for me to write anything at all at this time, beyond -saying that it was entirely due to aid that I had from the Belgians -themselves. One of the most interesting chapters of the war will be -the one--not to be published till all is over--telling how Belgian -patriots in Belgium not only kept touch with each other during the -German occupation, but also contrived to send news--and even go and -come themselves--to the outer world. Even the "electric fence" along -the Holland boundary has no terrors for them, and I am giving away no -secret when I say that there are more ways of getting safely under or -over that fence than there are wires in it. It will probably do no -harm for me to say that _I_ crossed this barrier on a very cleverly -made little folding stairway which when not in use, was kept hidden -under a square of sod but a few feet away from the fence itself. The -genial old German sentry who spread it for me--he had, of course, been -liberally bribed, and probably had some regular "working arrangement" -with my Belgian friends--confided to me at parting that, when he had -accumulated enough money to keep him comfortably the rest of his life -in Holland, he intended to climb over that little stairway himself and -never go back. I have often wondered how many other Germans feel the -same about leaving "the sinking ship." - - - - -THE SINGING SOLDIER - - -I - -There was something just a bit ominous in the brooding warmth of the -soft air that was stirring at the base of the towering cliffs of the -Marmolada, where I took the _teleferica_; and the tossing aigrettes of -wind-driven snow at the lip of the pass where the cable-line ended in -the lee of a rock just under the Italian first-line trenches signalled -the reason why. The vanguard of one of those irresponsible mavericks -of mountain storms that so delight to bustle about and take advantage -of the fine weather to make surprise attacks on the Alpine sky-line -outposts was sneaking over from the Austrian side; and somewhere up -there where the tenuous wire of the _teleferica_ fined down and merged -into the amorphous mass of the cliff behind, my little car was going -to run into it. - -"A good ten minutes to snug down in, anyhow," I said to myself. And -after the fashion of the South Sea skipper who shortens sail and -battens down the hatches with his weather eye on the squall roaring -down from windward, I tucked in the loose ends of the rugs about my -feet, rolled up the high fur collar of my _Alpinio_ coat, and buttoned -the tab across my nose. - -But things were developing faster than I had calculated. As the little -wire basket glided out of the cut in the forty-foot drift that had -encroached on its aerial right-of-way where the supporting -cables cleared a jutting crag, I saw that it was not only an -open-and-above-board frontal attack that I had to reckon with, but -also a craftily-planned flank movement quite in keeping with the fact -that the whole affair, lock, stock, and barrel, was a "Made in -Austria" product. Swift-driven little shafts of blown snow, that tried -hard to keep their plumes from tossing above the sheltering -rock-pinnacles, were wriggling over between the little peaks on both -sides of the pass and slipping down to launch themselves in flank -attack along the narrowing valley traversed by the _teleferica_ and -the zigzagging trail up to the Italian positions. Even as I watched, -one of them came into position to strike, and straight out over the -ice-cap covering the brow of a cliff shot a clean-lined wedge of -palpable, solid whiteness. - -One instant my face was laved in the moist air-current drawing up from -the wooded lower valley, where the warm fingers of the thaw were -pressing close on the hair-poised triggers of the ready-cocked -avalanches; the next I was gasping in a blast of Arctic frigidity as -the points of the blown ice-needles tingled in my protesting lungs -with the sting of hastily-gulped champagne. Through frost-rimmed -eyelashes I had just time to see a score of similar shafts leap out -and go charging down into the bottom of the valley, before the main -front of the storm came roaring along, and heights and hollows were -masked by swishing veils of translucent white. In the space of a few -seconds an amphitheatre of soaring mountain peaks roofed with a vault -of deep purple sky had resolved itself into a gusty gulf of spinning -snow blasts. - -My little wire basket swung giddily to one side as the first gust -drove into it, promptly to swing back again, after the manner of a -pendulum, when the air-buffer was undermined by a counter-gust and -fell away; but the deeply grooved wheel was never near to jumping off -the supporting cable, and the even throb of the distant engine coming -down the pulling wire felt like a kindly hand-pat of reassurance. - -"Good old _teleferica_!" I said half aloud, raising myself on one -elbow and looking over the side: "you're as comfy and safe as a -passenger lift and as thrilling as an aeroplane. But"--as the picture -of a line of ant-like figures I had noted toiling up the snowy slope a -few moments before flashed to my mind--"what happens to a man on his -feet--a man not being yanked along out of trouble by an engine on the -end of a nice strong cable--when he's caught in a maelstrom like that? -What must be happening to those poor Alpini? Whatever can they be -doing?" - -And even before the clinging insistence of the warm breeze from the -lower valley had checked the impetuosity of the invader, and diverted -him, a cringing captive, to baiting avalanches with what was left of -his strength, I had my answer; for it was while the ghostly draperies -of the snow-charged wind-gusts still masked the icy slope below that, -through one of those weird tricks of acoustics so common among high -mountain peaks, the flute-like notes of a man singing in a clear tenor -floated up to the ears I was just unmuffling from a furry collar:-- - - "Fratelli d'Itali, l'Italia, s'è desta; - Dell' elmo di Scipio s'è cinta la testa!" - -It was the "Inno di Mameli," the Song of 1848--the Marseillaise of the -Italians. I recognised it instantly, because, an hour previously my -hosts at luncheon in the officers' mess below had been playing it on -the gramophone. Clear and silvery, like freshly minted coins made -vocal, the stirring words winged up through the pulsing air till the -"sound chute" by which they had found their way was broken up by the -milling currents of the dying storm. But I knew that the Alpini were -still singing,--that they had been singing all the time, indeed,--and -when the last of the snow-flurries was finally lapped up by the warm -wind, there they were, just as I expected to find them, pressing -onwards and upwards under their burdens of soup-cans, wine-bottles, -stove-wood, blankets, munitions, and the thousand and one other things -that must pass up the life-line of a body of soldiers holding a -mountain pass in midwinter. - - -II - -This befell, as it chanced, during one of my early days on the Alpine -front, and the incident of men singing in a blizzard almost strong -enough to sweep them from their feet made no small impression on me at -the moment. It was my first experience of the kind. A week later I -should have considered it just as astonishing to have encountered, -under any conditions, an Alpino who was _not_ singing; for to him--to -all Italian soldiers, indeed--song furnishes the principal channel of -outward expression of the spirit within him. And what a spirit it is! -He sings as he works, he sings as he plays, he sings as he fights, -and--many a tale is told of how this or that comrade has been seen to -go down with a song on his lips--he sings as he dies. He soothes -himself with song, he beguiles himself with song, he steadies himself -with song, he exalts himself with song. It is not song as the German -knows it, not the ponderous marching chorus that the Prussian Guard -thunders to order in the same way that it thumps through its -goose-step; but rather a simple burst of song that is as natural and -spontaneous as the soaring lark's greeting to the rising sun. - -Discipline of any kind is more or less irksome to the high-spirited -Alpino, but he manages to struggle along under it with tolerable -goodwill so long as it is plain to him that the military exigencies -really demand it. But the one thing that he really chafes under is the -prohibition to sing. This is, of course, quite imperative when he is -on scouting or patrol-work, or engaged in one of the incessant -surprise attacks which form so important a feature of Alpine warfare. -He was wont to sing as he climbed in those distant days when he scaled -mountains for the love of it; and, somehow, a sort of reflex action -seems to have been established between the legs and the vocal chords -that makes it extremely awkward to work the one without the other. If -the truth could be told, indeed, probably not a few half-consummated -_coups de main_ would be found to have been nearly marred by a joyous -burst of "unpremeditated melody" on the part of some spirited Alpino -who succumbed to the force of habit. - -I was witness of a rather amusing incident illustrative of the -difficulty that even the officer of Alpini experiences in denying -himself vocal expression, not only when it is strictly against -regulations, but even on occasions when, both by instinct and -experience, he knows that "breaking into song" is really dangerous. It -had to do with passing a certain exposed point in the Cadore at a time -when there was every reason to fear the incidence of heavy avalanches. -Your real Alpino has tremendous respect for the snow-slide, but no -fear. He has--especially since the war--faced death in too many really -disagreeable forms to have any dread of what must seem to him the -grandest and most inspiring finish of the lot--the one end which he -could be depended upon to pick if ever the question of alternatives -were in the balance. In the matter of the avalanche, as in most other -things, he is quite fatalistic. If a certain _valanga_ is meant for -him, what use trying to avoid it? If it is not meant for him, what use -taking precautions? All the precautions will be vain against _your_ -avalanche; all of them will be superfluous as regards the ones _not_ -for you. - -It chances, however, that this comforting Oriental philosophy entered -not into the reckoning of the Italian General Staff when it laid its -plans for minimising unnecessary casualties; and so, among other -precautionary admonitions, the order went out that soldiers passing -certain exposed sections, designated by boards bearing the warning -_Pericoloso di Valanga_, should not raise the voice above a speaking -tone, and, especially, that no singing should be indulged in. This is, -of course, no more than sensible, for a shout, or a high-pitched note -of song, may set going just the vibrations of air needed to start a -movement on the upper slopes of a mountain side which will culminate -in launching a million tons of snow all the way across the lower -valley. The Alpino has observed the rule as best he could,--probably -saving not a few of his numbers thereby,--but the effort is one that -at times tries his stout spirit almost to the breaking point. - -On the occasion I have in mind it was necessary for us, in order to -reach a position I especially desired to visit, to climb diagonally -across something like three-quarters of a mile of the swath of one of -the largest and most treacherous slides on the whole Alpine front. -There had been a great avalanche here every year from time out of -mind, usually preceded by a smaller one early in the winter. The -preliminary slide had already occurred at the time of my visit, and, -as the early winter storms had been the heaviest in years, the -accumulated snows made the major avalanche almost inevitable on the -first day of a warm wind. Such a day, unluckily, chanced to be the -only one available for my visit to the position in question. Although -it was in the first week in January, the eaves of the houses in the -little Alpine village where the colonel quartered had been dripping -all night, and even in the early morning the hard-packed snow of the -trail was turning soft and slushy when we left our sledge on the main -road and set out on foot. - -We passed two or three sections marked off by the "Pericoloso" signs, -without taking any special precautions; and, even when we came to the -big slide, the young major responsible for seeing the venture through -merely directed that we were to proceed by twos (there were four of -us), with a 300-metre interval between, walking as rapidly as -possible and not doing any unnecessary talking. That was all. There -were no dramatics about it--only the few simple directions that were -calculated to minimise the chances of "total loss" in case the slide -did become restive. How little this young officer had to learn about -the ways of avalanches I did not learn till that evening, when his -colonel told me that he had been buried, with a company or two of his -Alpini, not long previously, and escaped the fate of most of the men -only through having been dug out by his dog. - -The major, with the captain from the Comando Supremo who had been -taking me about the front, went on ahead, leaving me to follow, after -five minutes had gone by, with a young lieutenant, a boy so full of -bubbling mountain spirits that he had been dancing all along the way -and warbling "Rigoletto" to the tree-tops. Even as we waited he would -burst into quick snatches of song, each of which was ended with a gulp -as it flashed across his mind that the time had come to clamp on the -safety-valve. - -When his wrist-watch told us that it was time to follow on, the lad -clapped his eagle-feather hat firmly on his head, set his jaw, fixed -his eyes grimly on the trail in front of him, and strode off into the -narrow passage that had been cut through the towering bulk of the -slide. From the do-or-die expression on his handsome young face one -might well have imagined that it was the menace of that engulfing mass -of poised snow which was weighing him down, and such, I am sure, would -have been my own impression had this been my first day among the -Alpini. But by now I had seen enough of Italy's mountain soldiers to -know that this one was as disdainful of the _valanga_ as the _valanga_ -was of him: and that the crushing burden on his mind at that moment -was only the problem how to negotiate that next kilometre of beautiful -snow-walled trail without telling the world in one glad burst of song -after another how wonderful it was to be alive and young, and climbing -up nearer at every step to those glistening snow peaks whence his -comrades had driven the enemy headlong but a few months before, and -whence, perchance, they would soon move again to take the next valley -and the peaks beyond it in their turn. If he had been alone, slide or -no slide, orders or no orders, he would have shouted his gladness to -the high heavens, come what might; but as it was, with a more or less -helpless foreigner on his hands, and within hearing of his superior -officer, it was quite another matter. - -It was really very interesting going through that awakening -_valanga_,--so my escorting captain told me when we rejoined him and -the major under a sheltering cliff at the farther side--especially in -the opportunity that the cutting through of the trail gave to study a -cross-section of the forest that had been folded down by the sliding -snow. Indeed, they had told me in advance of this strange sight, and I -had really had it in mind to look out for these up-ended and crumpled -pine trees. Moreover, it is quite probable that I did let the corner -of an eye rove over them in a perfunctory sort of way; but the fact -remains that the one outstanding recollection I have of that -thousand-yard-wide pile of hair-poised snow is of the hunched -shoulders and comically set face of my young guide as revealed to me -when he doubled the zigzags of the tortuous trail that penetrated it. - -Time and again, as his eyes would wander to where the yellow -light-motes shuttled down through the tree-tops to the snow-cap on the -brow of the cliff toward which we toiled, I would hear the quick catch -of his breath as, involuntarily, he sucked it in to release it in a -ringing whoop of gladness, only--recollecting in time--to expel it -again with a wheezy snort of disgust. For the last two or three -hundred yards, by humming a plaintive little love lilt through his -nose, he hit upon a fairly innocuous compromise which seemed to serve -the desired purpose of releasing the accumulating pressure slowly -without blowing off the safety-valve. When we finally came out on the -unthreatened expanse of the glacial moraine above, he unleashed his -pent-up gladness in a wild peal of exultation that must have sent its -bounding echoes caroming up to the solitary pinnacle of the _massif_ -still in the hands of the slipping Austrians. - -That afternoon, as it chanced, the _teleferica_ to the summit, after -passing the captain and myself up safely, went on a strike while the -basket containing the young lieutenant was still only at the first -stage of its long crawl, and he had full opportunity to make up, -vocally, for lost time. It was an hour before the cable was running -smoothly again, and by then it was time, and more than time, for us to -descend if we were to reach the lower valley before nightfall. I found -my young friend warbling blithely on the _teleferica_ terrace when I -crawled out at the lower end, apparently no whit upset by the way his -excursion had been curtailed. - -"What did you do while you were stuck up there in the basket?" I -hastened to ask him; for being stalled midway on a _teleferica_ cable -at any time in the winter is an experience that may well develop into -something serious. I had already heard recitals--in the quiet -matter-of-fact Alpini way--of the astonishing feats of aerial -acrobatics that had been performed in effecting rescues in such -instances, and, once or twice, grim allusions to the tragic -consequences when the attempted rescues had failed. - -"Oh, I just sang for a while," was the laughing reply in Italian; "and -then, when it began to get cold up there, I dropped over on to the -snow and slid down here to get warm." - -I have not yet been able to learn just how far it was that he had to -drop before he struck the snow; but, whatever the distance, I am -perfectly certain that he kept right on singing all the way. - - -III - -As regards the spirits of the Alpini, song is a barometer; as regards -their health, a thermometer. An experienced officer will judge the -mental or physical condition of one of his men by noting the way he is -singing, or refraining from singing, just as a man determines his -dog's condition by feeling its nose to see if it is hot or cold. I -remember standing for a half-hour on the wind-swept summit of a lofty -Trentino pass with a distinguished major-general who had taken me out -that afternoon in his little mountain-climbing motor to give me an -idea of how the winter road was kept clear in a blizzard. The wind was -driving through the notch of the pass at fifty miles an hour; the air -was stiff with falling and drifting snow; and it was through the -narrowed holes in our _capuchos_ that we watched a battalion filing by -on its way from the front-line trenches to the plains for a spell of -rest in billets. Packs and cloaks were crusted an inch thick with -frozen snow, eyebrows were frosted, beards and moustaches icicled; -but, man after man (though sometimes, as a wind-blast swallowed the -sound, one could only guess it by the rhythmically moving lips), they -marched singing. Now and then, as the drifts permitted, they marched -in lusty choruses of twos and threes; but for the most part each man -was warbling on his own, many of them probably simply humming -improvisations, giving vocal expression to their thoughts. - -Suddenly the general stepped forward and, tapping sharply with his -Alpenstock on the ice-stiff skirt of one of the marchers, brought him -to a halt. The frost-rimmed haloes fringing the puckered apertures in -the two hoods came close together and there was a quick interchange of -question and answer between wind-muffled mouths. Then, with a clumsy -pat of admonition, the general shoved the man back into the passing -line. - -"That boy wasn't singing," he roared into my ear in response to my -look of interrogation as he stepped back into the drift beside me. -"Knew something was wrong, so stopped him and asked what. Said he got -thirsty--ate raw snow--made throat sore. Told him it served him quite -right--an Arab from Tripoli would know better'n to eat snow." - -Three or four times more in the quarter-hour that elapsed before the -heightening storm drove us to the shelter of a _rifugio_ the general -stopped men whose face or bearing implied that there was no song on -their lips or in their hearts, and in each instance it transpired that -something was wrong. One man confessed to having discarded his flannel -abdominal bandage a couple of days before, and was developing a severe -case of dysentery as a perfectly natural consequence of the chill -which followed; another had just been kicked by a passing mule; and a -third had received word that morning that his newly-born child was -dead and its mother dangerously ill. The two former were shoved none -too gently back into line with what appeared to be the regulation -prescription in such cases: "Serves you right for your carelessness"; -but I thought I saw a note slipped into the third man's hand as the -general pressed it in sympathy and promised to see that leave should -be arranged for at once. - -I was no less struck by the efficacy of this novel system of diagnosis -than by the illuminative example its workings presented of the -paternal attitude of even the highest of the Alpini officers toward -the least of the men under them. - -But it is not only the buoyant Alpini who pour out their souls in -song. The Italian soldier, no matter from what part of the country he -comes or on what sector of the front he is stationed, can no more work -or fight without singing than he can without eating. Indeed, a popular -song that is heard all along the front relates how, for some reason or -other, an order went out to the army that there was to be no more -singing in the trenches, and how a soldier, protesting to his officer, -exclaimed, "But, captain, if I cannot sing I shall die of sadness; and -surely it is better that I should die fighting the enemy than that I -should expire of a broken heart!" - -On many a drizzly winter morning, motoring past the painted Sicilian -carts which form so important a feature of the Italian transport on -the broken hills of the Isonzo front, I noted with sheer astonishment -that the drivers were far and away likelier to be singing than -swearing at the mules. To one who has driven mules, or even lived in a -country where mules are driven, I shall not need to advance any -further evidence of the Sicilian soldier's love of song. - -And on that stony trench-torn plateau of the Carso, where men live in -caverns under the earth and where the casualties are multiplied two- -or three-fold by the fragments of explosive-shattered rock; even -there, on this deadliest and most repulsive of all the battle-fronts -of Armageddon, the lilting melodies of sunny southern Italy, -punctuated, but never for long interrupted, by the shriek and -detonation of Austrian shells, are heard on every hand. - -There was a trio of blithe rock-breakers that furnished me with one of -the most grimly amusing impressions of my visit. It was toward the end -of December, and Captain P----, the indefatigable young officer who -had me in charge, arranged a special treat in the form of a visit to a -magnificent observation-post on the brink of a hill which the Italians -had wrested from the Austrians in one of their late advances. We -picked our way across some miles of this shell-churned and still -uncleared battlefield, and ate our lunch of sandwiches on the parapet -of a trench from which one could follow, with only a few breaks, the -course of the Austrian lines in the hills beyond Gorizia, to where -they melted into the marshes fringing the sea. - -"There's only one objection to this vantage-point," remarked the -captain, directing his glass along the lower fringe of the clouds that -hung low on the opposite hills. "Unless the weather is fairly thick -one is under the direct observation of the Austrians over there for -close to an hour, both going and coming. It would hardly be pleasant -to come up here if the visibility were really good." - -And at that psychological moment the clouds began to lift, the sun -came out, and, taking advantage of the first good gunnery weather that -had offered for a long time, the artillery of both sides opened up for -as lively a bit of practice as any really sober-minded individual -could care to be mixed up with. I have seen quieter intervals on the -Somme, even during a period when the attack was being sharply pushed. -A hulking "305," which swooped down and obliterated a spiny pinnacle -of the ridge a few hundred yards farther along, also swept much of the -zest out of the sharpening panorama, and signalled, "Time to go!" A -large-calibre high-explosive shell is a far more fearsome thing when -rending a crater in the rock of the Carso than when tossing the soft -mud of France. - -Work was still going on in the half-sheltered _dolinas_ or -"sink-holes" that pock-marked the grisly plateau; but on the remains -of a cart-road which we followed, and which appeared to be the special -object of the Austrians' diversion, none seemed to be in sight save a -few scattered individuals actively engaged in getting out of sight. It -was an illuminating example of the way most of the "natives" appeared -to feel about the situation, and we did not saunter any the more -leisurely for having had the benefit of it. - -We stepped around the riven body of a horse that still steamed from -the dying warmth of the inert flesh, and a little farther on, there -was a red puddle in the middle of the road, a black, lazily smoking -shell-hole close beside it, with a crisply fresh mound of sod and rock -fragment just beyond. A hammer and a dented trench helmet indicated -that the man had been cracking up stone for the road when _his_ had -come. - -"One would imagine that they had enough broken stone around here -already," observed Captain P---- dryly, glancing back over his -shoulder to where a fresh covey of bursting shell was making the -sky-line of the stone wall behind us look like a hedge of pampas -plumes in a high wind. "Hope the rest of these poor fellows have taken -to their holes. A little dose like we're getting here is only a good -appetiser; to stick it out as a steady diet is quite another matter." - -Half a minute later we rounded a bend in the stone wall we had been -hugging, to come full upon what I have always since thought of as the -Anvil Chorus--three men cracking rock to metal the surface of a -recently filled shell-hole in the road and singing a lusty song to -which they kept time with the rhythmic strokes of their hammers. -Dumped off in a heap at one side of the road was what may have been -the hastily jettisoned cargo of a half-dozen motor-lorries, which had -pussy-footed up there under cover of darkness--several hundred -trench-bombs, containing among them enough explosive to have lifted -the whole mountain-side off into the valley had a shell chanced to -nose-dive into their midst. Two of these stubby little "winged -victories" a couple of the singers had appropriated as work-stools. -The third of them sat on the remains of a "dud 305," from a broad -crack in which a tiny stream of rain-dissolved high explosive -trickled out to form a gay saffron pool about his feet. This -one was bareheaded, his trench helmet, full of nuts and dried -figs,--evidently from a Christmas package,--lying on the ground within -reach of all three men. - -The sharp roar of the quickening Italian artillery, the deeper booms -of the exploding Austrian shells, and the siren-like crescendo of the -flying projectiles so filled the air, that it was not until one was -almost opposite the merry trio that he could catch the fascinating -swing of the iterated refrain. - -"A fine song to dance to, that!" remarked Captain P----, stopping and -swinging his shoulders to the time of the air. "You can almost _feel_ -the beat of it." - -"It strikes me as being still better as a song to march to," I -rejoined meaningly, settling down my helmet over the back of my neck -and suiting the action to the word. "It's undoubtedly a fine song, but -it doesn't seem to me quite right to tempt a kind Providence by -lingering near this young mountain of trench-bombs any longer than is -strictly necessary. If that Austrian battery 'lifts' another notch, -something else is going to lift here, and I'd much rather go down to -the valley on my feet than riding on a trench-bomb." - -The roar of the artillery battle flared up and died down by spells, -but the steady throb of the Anvil Chorus followed us down the wind -for some minutes after another bend in the stone wall cut off our view -of the singers. How often I have wondered which ones of that careless -trio survived that day, or the next, or the one after that; which, if -any, of them is still beating time on the red-brown rocks of the Carso -to the air of that haunting refrain! - -I was told that the wounded are sometimes located on the battlefield -by their singing; that they not infrequently sing while being borne in -on stretchers or transported in ambulances. I had no chance to observe -personally instances of this kind, but I did hear, time and time -again, men singing in the hospitals, and they were not all -convalescents or lightly wounded either. One brave little fellow in -that fine British hospital on the Isonzo front, conducted with such -conspicuous success by the British Red Cross, I shall never forget. - -An explosive bullet had carried away all four fingers of his right -hand, leaving behind it an infection which had run into gaseous -gangrene. The stump swelled to a hideous mass, about the shape and -size of a ten-pound ham, but the doctors were fighting amputation in -the hope of saving the wrist and thumb, to have something to which -artificial members might be attached. The crisis was over at the time -I visited the hospital, but the whole arm was still so inflamed that -the plucky lad had to close his eyes and set his teeth to keep from -crying out with agony as the matron lifted the stump to show me the -"beautiful healthy red colour" where healing had begun. - -The matron had some "splendid" trench-foot cases to show me farther -along, and these, with some interesting experiments in disinfection by -"irrigation," were engrossing my attention, when a sort of a crooning -hum caused me to turn and look at the patient in the bed behind me. It -was the "gaseous gangrene" boy again. We had worked down the next row -till we were opposite him once more, and in the quarter-hour which had -elapsed his nurse had set a basin of disinfectant on his bed in which -to bathe his wound. Into this she had lifted the hideously swollen -stump and hurried on to her next patient. And there he lay, swaying -the repulsive mass of mortified flesh that was still a part of him -back and forth in the healing liquid, the while he crooned a little -song to it as a mother rocks her child to sleep as she sings a -lullaby. - -"He always does that," said the nurse, stopping for a moment with her -hands full of bandages. "He says it helps him to forget the pain. And -there are five or six others: the worse they feel, the more likely -they are to try to sing as a sort of diversion. That big chap over -there with the beard,--he's a fisherman from somewhere in the -South,--he says that when the shooting pains begin in his frozen feet -he has to sing to keep from cursing. Says he doesn't want to curse -before the _forestiere_ if it can possibly be helped." - - * * * * * - -On one of my last days on the Italian front I climbed to a -shell-splintered peak of the Trentino under the guidance of the son of -a famous general, a Mercury-footed flame of a lad who was aide-de-camp -to the division commander of that sector. Mounting by an interminable -_teleferica_ from just above one of the half-ruined towns left behind -by the retreating Austrians after their drive of last spring, we -threaded a couple of miles of steep zigzagging trail, climbed a -hundred feet of ladder and about the same distance of rocky -toe-holds,--the latter by means of a knotted rope and occasional -friendly iron spikes,--finally to come out on the summit, with nothing -between us and an almost precisely similar Austrian position opposite -but a half-mile of thin air and the overturned, shrapnel-pitted statue -of a saint--doubtless erected in happier days by the pious -inhabitants of ---- as an emblem of peace and goodwill. An Italian -youth who had returned from New York to fight for his country--he had -charge of some kind of mechanical installation in a rock-gallery a few -hundred feet beneath our feet--climbed up with us to act as -interpreter. - -To one peering through the crook in the lead-sheathed elbow of the -fallen statue, the roughly squared openings of the rock galleries -which sheltered an enemy battery seemed well within fair revolver -shot; and, indeed, an Alpino sharpshooter had made a careless Austrian -gunner pay the inevitable penalty of carelessness only an hour or two -before. One could make one's voice carry across without half an -effort. - -Just before we started to descend my young guide made a megaphone of -his hands, threw his head back, his chest out, and, directing his -voice across the seemingly bottomless gulf that separated us from the -enemy, sang a few bars of what I took to be a stirring battle-song. - -"What is the song the captain sings?" I asked of the New-York-bred -youth, whose head was just disappearing over the edge of the cliff as -he began to lower himself down the rope. "Something from _William -Tell_, isn't it?" - -Young "Mulberry Street" dug hard for a toe-hold, found it, slipped -his right hand up till it closed on a comfortable knot above his head, -and then, with left leg and left arm swinging free over a 200-foot -drop to the terraces below, shouted back,-- - -"Not on yer life, mista. De capitan he not singa no song. He just -tella de Ostrichun datta Italia, she ready fer him. Datta all." - -I looked down to the valley where line after line of trenches, fronted -with a furry brown fringe that I knew to be rusting barbed wire, -stretched out of sight over the divides on either hand, and where, for -every gray-black geyser of smoke that marked the bursting of an -Austrian shell, a half-dozen vivid flame-spurts, flashing out from -unguessed caverns on the mountain-side, told that the compliment was -being returned with heavy interest. - -"Yes, Italy is ready for them," I thought; and whether she has to hold -here and there--as she may--in defence, or whether she goes forward -all along the line in triumphant offence--whichever it is, the Italian -soldier will go out to the battle with a song on his lips, a song that -no bullet which leaves the blood pulsing through his veins and breath -in his lungs will have power to stop. - - - - -BLOWING UP THE CASTELLETTO - - -It was about the middle of last July that the laconic Italian bulletin -recorded, in effect, that the blowing of the top off a certain -mountain in the Dolomite region had been accomplished with complete -success, and that a considerable extension of line had been possible -as a consequence. - -That was about all there was to it, I believe; and yet the wonder -engendered by the superb audacity of the thing had haunted me from the -first. There was no suggestion of a hint of how it was done, or even -why it was done. All that was left to the imagination, and the -result--in my own case at least--was the awakening of a burning -interest in the ways of the warriors who were wont to throw mountain -peaks and fragments of glacier at one another as the everyday -plains-bred soldier throws hand-grenades, which, waxing rather than -waning as the weeks went by, finally impelled me to attempt a visit to -the Austro-Italian Alpine Front at a time of year when the weather -conditions threatened to be all but, if not quite, prohibitive. - -"With twenty-five degrees of frost at sea-level in France," observed a -French officer at Amiens to whom I confided the plan, "what do you -expect to find at 10,000 feet on the Tyrol?" - -"A number of things which they don't do at sea-level in France or -anywhere else," I replied, "but especially _why_ they blow the tops -off mountain peaks, and _how_ they blow the tops off mountain peaks." - -Even in Rome and Milan (though there were some who claimed social -acquaintance with the Titans who had been conforming Alpine scenery to -tactical exigency), they still spoke vaguely of the thing as -"_fantastico_" and "_incredibile_," as men might refer to operations -in the Mountains of the Moon. - -But once in the Zona di Guerra, with every rift in the lowering -cloud-blanket that so loves to muffle the verdant plain of Venezia in -its moist folds revealing (in the imminent loom of the snowy barrier -rearing itself against the cobalt of the northern sky) evidence that -the "mountain-top" part of the story had at least some foundation of -fact, whether the "blowing off" part did or not, things took on a -different aspect. On my very first day at General Headquarters I met -officers who claimed to have seen with their own eyes a mountain whose -top had been blown off; indeed, they even mentioned the names of the -_montagna mutilati_, showed me where they were on the map, pointed out -the strategical advantages which had already accrued from taking them, -and those which might be expected to accrue later. - -They were still there, I was assured, even if their tops had been -blown off. They were still held by the Alpini. Two of the most -important of them were not so far away; indeed, both could be plainly -seen from where we were--if other and nearer mountains did not stand -between, and, of course, if the accursed storm-clouds would only lift. -And so, at last, the names of Castelletto and Col di Lano took -sharpened shape as something more than mystic symbols. - -"But can I not go and see them?" I asked. "You have told me _why_ you -blew them up, but not _how_; yet that is the very thing that I came -out to find about at first hand." - -They shook their heads dubiously. "Not while this weather lasts," one -of them said. "It has snowed in the Alps every day for over a month. -The _valangas_ are coming down everywhere, and (even if you were -willing to risk being buried under one of them) the roads in places -will not be open for weeks. You might wait here a month or so, and -even then be disappointed so far as getting about on the Alpine Front -is concerned. Best see what you can of the Isonzo Front now and come -back for the Alps in the spring." - -That seemed to settle it so far as seeing the Castelletto and Col di -Lano was concerned. Regarding the way in which they were mined, -however, one of the officers at the Ufficio Stampa said that he would -endeavour to arrange to have the Castelletto--much the greater -operation of the two--report put at my disposal, as well as a set of -photographs which had been taken to show the progress of this mighty -work. - -"We have never given out any of the photographs before," he said, "and -only portions of the report; but since you came to Italy on purpose to -learn about the mountain whose top was blown off, the Comando Supremo -may be moved to make a special dispensation in your favour." - -Exclusive permission to make use of both report and photographs was -granted me in due time, and since the former makes clear both the -"why" and the "how" of the unprecedented Castelletto operation, it -will perhaps be best to summarise it first as a sort of drab -background for the more vivid and intimate personal details which a -lucky turn of the fitful weather vane made it possible for me to -obtain later. - -The first part of the report, by the Colonel commanding the Alpini -Group, makes plain why the mining of the Castelletto became a _sine -quâ non_ to further progress in this important sector. - -"In the month of October, 1915," he writes, "I was charged with the -carrying out of an attack with two battalions of Alpini against the -positions of Castelletto and Forcella Bois. This was the fourth time, -if I am not mistaken, that an attempt on these positions had been -made. In spite of the fact that the artillery preparation of the -opening day had been excellently performed I discovered, on the -evening of October 17, when I moved with my troops to the attack, that -its work had been absolutely of no avail. - -"Having received orders at midnight to proceed to Vervei, where the -two battalions above mentioned were to take part in another operation, -I was forced to abandon the attack. I am convinced, however, that I -would not have succeeded in capturing the Castelletto position." - -"As known," the report continues, "the Castelletto is a sort of a spur -of the Tofana (about 12,000 feet high), with a balcony shaped like a -horse-shoe, and with a periphery consisting of numerous jagged peaks. -In the rear of the balcony, and within this rocky spur, the enemy had -excavated numerous caverns in which machine-guns and light artillery -pieces, handled by isolated but able gun-crews, furnished an invisible -and almost impregnable position of defence, giving extraordinary -confidence and encouragement to the small forces occupying them. - -"Costeana Valley was accordingly at the mercy of the enemy's offence -and actually cut in two. From Vervei on, all movements of troops had -to be carried on only at night and with great difficulty. The conquest -of the Castelletto was rendered necessary not only for tactical but -for moral reasons as well, since our troops came to regard it as -absolutely imperative that such an obstacle should be overcome. After -completing my observations and researches regarding the Castelletto -position, I reached the conclusion that the only means of dislodging -the enemy therefrom was to blow it up. - -"On November 19 I formally presented my plan to Headquarters, and -about the middle of December I was authorised to attempt it. The -unusual enterprise was a most difficult one, not only on account of -its magnitude, but also on account of the particularly unfavourable -conditions of the winter season. Having prepared the necessary -material for construction and excavation work, I began, on January 3, -1916, fortifying the position (entirely unprotected at the time) from -which we would have to work, and completing the construction of the -necessary buildings. - -"Second Lieutenant Malvezzi, in his report on the subject, describes -concisely and modestly the development of the work. The accomplishment -of the enterprise, considered by many as chimerical, is due not only -to the technical ability of Lt. Malvezzi, and Lt. Tissi, his -assistant, but to their special military qualifications as well; also -to the courage and goodwill of the Alpini who, in a very short time, -became a _personnel_ of able miners and clever mechanics. - -"The vicissitudes during more than six months' work, at a distance of -only a few metres from the enemy, and under an incessant artillery -fire and shelling by _bombardas_, could well form the subject for a -book devoted to the study of character. Although fully aware of the -attendant dangers, including those of falling rocks due to the -counter-mining of the enemy, the Alpini of the Castelletto, during the -period of more than six months, gave proofs of brilliant valour and -unflinching perseverance. They were calm at all times, and moved only -by the spirit of duty. - -"In transmitting to Your Excellency the enclosed copy of the report -compiled exclusively by Lt. Malvezzi (Lt. Tissi is at present lying -wounded in the hospital), I desire to recommend to you these two -officers (both as excellent engineers and brave soldiers), as well as -the Alpini who were co-operating with them. Without any exaggeration, -I consider their achievement as absolutely marvellous, both on account -of the great technical difficulties surmounted and the military -results obtained. The Austrian officers taken prisoner unanimously -confirm the fact that only by springing a mine could the Italians have -taken this position so important to the enemy." - - * * * * * - -Lt. Malvezzi's appended report launched at once into the "how" of the -titanic task which was set for him. - -"On January 3, 1916," he writes, "work was begun on the approach to -Castelletto, on the Tofana di Roches slope, levelling the soil and -enabling the construction of lodging quarters for officers and troops. -This work required the cutting of 660 cubic metres of rock. Next the -construction of quarters, and the concealing them was quickly -accomplished. Finally, there was garrisoned at this post the -Castelletto Detachment, commonly called the 'T.K.,' consisting of the -necessary _personnel_ for labour and the defence of the position. - -"Our first work was to examine and disclose the enemy lines of -communication about the Castelletto and Tofana sides, and to gain full -knowledge of their position in detail. In order to accomplish this, -observation points were established which allowed us to carry out such -investigation and to make topographical sketches of the zone. Being as -we were always in the proximity of the enemy, this was a long and -fatiguing work. After a month, however, we succeeded in constructing a -series of positions at short distances from those of the enemy (from -50 to 150 metres). These were provided with cables and rope ladders to -enable us the more rapidly and easily to study (from all possible -points of vantage) the enemy's positions and the development of his -works. - -"The topographic work was begun by taking as a plan metric base -measurement 116 metres of ground on a four-triangle table, which -method enabled making all other drawings based on it. By basing our -findings on this table, we were able to draw up a series of points of -the enemy's positions. Using the method of successive intersections, -we thus obtained all points of interest to us, as regards direction, -distance and height. - -"In addition to this work, executed with the greatest care and -accuracy, we made two independent drawings of the enemy's positions by -simpler but less exact methods. The first was made with a topographic -compass and Abney level; the other with a Monticole field-square. By -these means we obtained excellent checks on the base system, and so -grounded our work entirely on the trigonometric table and on the -drawings by intersections. - -"From the middle of February to the end of March the tools used for -piercing consisted only of mallets and chisels. Our progress was -necessarily slow, yet it was sufficient in this time to give us, -besides 14 metres of tunnel, room for installing the perforating -machinery. At the end of March, notwithstanding heavy snowstorms, the -machinery--some pieces of it weighed as much as 500 and 600 kilos--for -beginning work was installed. This was all brought up by hand, and -without incident. - -"The mechanical work was begun on April 2. We utilised two plant as -follows: - -"(1) A complete group of benzo-compressors, consisting of a 30-40 -horse-power kerosene motor adjusted to a Sullivan compressor by means -of a belt. This machinery was installed, on a solid base of cement, at -the beginning of the tunnel, in a 5 × 8 metre space dug out in the -side of the mountain for that purpose. - -"(2) An Ingersoll compressor mounted on a four-wheel truck. - -"Both machines were of American manufacture, and gave complete -satisfaction at all times. Each compressed the air to a density of -about seven atmospheres, injecting it into an air-chamber, whence, by -means of a rigid tube, ending in one of flexible rubber, it was -conveyed to the respective drills. - -"Four squads worked at a time, each one consisting of a foreman and -from 25 to 30 miners. Each squad worked six hours without -interruption. This shift, apparently light, was found, on the -contrary, to be very heavy, owing principally to the development of -nitric gases which poisoned the air, and to the dust caused by the -drills. - -"At first the only explosive used was military gelatine; later, -dynamite-gelatine. The system of over-charging the holes was always -adopted, in order to reduce the _débris_ to minute particles, easier -to be transported and unloaded. The work was carried on in sections, -varying from 1·80 by 1·80 metres to 2 by 2. The flat stretches of the -tunnel were laid with Decauville rails. All material was carried out -in cars and dumped into a hopper discharging into a large pipe. (The -dump was accumulated at a point beyond the observation of the -Austrians.) The average rate of progress was 5·10 metres per day." - -It may be well to explain here that it was not possible to begin -tunnelling on the same level at which the mine was to be exploded, but -considerably more than 150 feet below that level. The tunnel, had, -therefore, to be driven on a steep gradient. Another point which the -report does not make clear should be borne in mind, viz., that the -tunnel divided in the heart of the Castelletto, the main bore being -driven on to where the mine was to be exploded, while a smaller -branch--referred to below as the "Loop-holed Tunnel"--was run up to a -point where favourable exit could be obtained for charging into and -occupying the crater of the exploded mine. In all 507 metres of tunnel -had to be driven, involving the excavation of 2,200 cubic metres of -rock. The details of this work are given in the report as follows: - -(A) Chamber for Sullivan Compressor: Dimensions: 5 × 8 metres; average -height 2·20 metres. - -(B) First part of gallery to second dump of material. Length 72 -metres; inclination 38·70 per cent.; elevation gained 25·90 metres. - -(C) Second dump of material, established in order to free space for -further work and reduce the length of transportation. - -(D) Ingersoll Group chamber. Dimensions: 4 × 6·50 metres; average -height 2 metres. - -(E) Cut from the gallery of the second dump of material to the -beginning of the ascent to the mining chamber. Length 136 metres; -inclination 4·70 per cent.; elevation gained 6·40 metres. - -(F) Ascent to mining chamber. Length 22 metres; inclination 36·30 per -cent.; elevation gained 10·75 metres. (This ascent, in order to -facilitate tamping, was worked by dividing it into three sections of 1 -× 1·60 metres, at nearly right angles.) - -(G) Mining chamber. Dimensions: 5 × 5·50 metres; average height 2·30 -metres. - -(H) Loop-holed tunnel. Length 162 metres; inclination 60 per cent.; -elevation gained 83·50 metres in this tunnel itself, or a total of -168·50 from the second dump. This tunnel (the one through which the -men were to pass for the attack after the explosion of the mine) had -to be strictly confined to the rocky stratum between the Tofana and -the Castelletto; its planimetry appears (see map), therefore, rather -uneven due to the constant elevation of the rock. - -(I) Line of communication--partly in a natural cavern--measuring about -250 metres in length and giving access from the lodging quarters to -the works. - -(J) Tunnel dug out to the extreme south end of the Castelletto, 30 -metres long, with two portholes (each 4 metres wide) for two Depfort -guns, with closed cavern for the guns and ammunition. - -"It was originally intended to divide the explosive charge between two -chambers, each having a mining line of resistance of 20 metres, with a -16-ton explosive charge of 92 per cent. gelatine. However, owing to -the countermining work carried on by the enemy--we were only a few -metres from one of his positions during the charging of the mine -chamber--we were obliged to confine the entire charge to a single -chamber. - -"The enemy meanwhile, with a view to avoiding the effects of our mine -beneath the peaks of the Castelletto, had transferred most of his -shelters to the side of the Tofana and the Selletta. This necessitated -a considerable alteration in the location of the mine as originally -planned, in order that it should act against the enemy shelters on -both the Castelletto and Tofana flanks. - - [Illustration: PLAN OF THE CASTELLETTO MINING OPERATION. - The worm-like tunnel on the left had to be driven in this way in - order to avoid fissures in the rock which would have revealed - what was going on. It was this tunnel through which the Alpini - were to pass to occupy the crater after the explosion of the - mine, but this plan was defeated through the presence of gas - from detonated Austrian asphyxiating bombs.] - -"The charge was computed on a basis of minimum resistance of 20 -metres, taking into consideration the nature of the rock (which was -fissured) and the existence of numerous splits and caverns. The -co-efficient of overcharge was, therefore, rather high. In order to -obtain the maximum effect under these conditions, only 92 per cent. -explosive nitro-glycerine was used. The total charge was 35 tons. - -"The method of priming adopted was suggested by Lieut.-Col. Tatoli, of -the Engineers Corps. This consisted of five priming groups, each of -three friction tubes. One of the groups ran along the central axis of -the chamber, while the other four, parallel with the first, were -disposed symmetrically facing the four corners of the chamber. Each -tube (1-1/4 inches inside diameter by 4·50 metres in length) was -alternately charged with gelatine and gun-cotton and pierced by picric -acid detonating fuse, ending in a gun-cotton cartridge with electric -percussion cap. In the very centre of the charge there were inserted -two cases of gun-cotton, with electric percussion cap and detonating -fuse, with a view to securing a second springing of the mine to follow -the first. - -"We thus had in all seventeen electric circuits divided into three -groups, each formed by the circuits of five tubes, connected with the -five groups of friction tubes. Two of these electric groups were -composed of six circuits each, by adding the two circuits of the -above-mentioned cases containing the gun-cotton. Each of these -electric groups ended with a Cantone exploder, placed at about 4·50 -metres distance from the mine-chamber. - -"The tamping was effected with cement and with sandbags, with heavy -wooden beams between the latter. It was made more effective by -dividing into sections at right angles to each other. The theoretical -length of the tamping was 25 metres. - -"The charging of the mine chamber began July 3, 1916, at 5 p.m., and -was completed at 3 p.m. of July 9 this work including tamping, -priming, and laying of electric circuits. The final connections -between the latter and the exploders, by means of wires suspended in -the air, were made on July 10. The mine was sprung on July 11 at 3.30 -p.m., and responded fully to our calculations and expectations. - - "(Signed) L. MALVEZZI, - 2nd Lieut. 7th Regiment Alpini." - - * * * * * - -A week of unspeakable weather went by--an interval the days of which I -spent among the "Cave-men" of the Carso, and the nights of which were -largely devoted to puzzling through the mysteries of the Castelletto -report with the aid of my Italian dictionary--and then the unexpected -miracle happened. Rain and snow ceased, the sky cleared, and a spell -of sparkling days succeeded the interminable months of storm and -lowering clouds. From the high Alps came word that the grip of the -frost had paralysed the avalanches for the moment, and that rapid -progress was being made in opening up the roads for traffic. - -"Now is your chance to see the Castelletto," they told me at -headquarters. "If you start at once you ought to be able to get -through without much trouble; and, if the weather holds good, you may -even be able to get back without long delay, though on that score -you'll have to take your chances. Doubtless they will be able to get -you out in some way whatever happens." - -And so it chanced that on a diamond-bright morning in early January I -found myself, after a couple of days of strenuous motoring, speeding -in a military car past the old custom-house and up into the heart of -that most weirdly grand of all Alpine regions, the Dolomites. Already -we were well over into what had once been Austrian territory, and the -splintered pinnacles which notched the skyline ahead of us were, as my -escorting officer explained, held in part by both the Italians and -the enemy. As we coasted down into Cortina di Ampezzo--which in its -swarming tourist hotels of motley design rivals St. Moritz or -Chamonix--Capt. P---- pointed to where a clean-lined wall of -snow-capped yellow rock reared itself against the deep purple of the -western sky. - -"That high mountain ridge is the Tofana _massif_," he said, "and that -partly isolated mass of lighter-coloured rock (crowned with towers -like a mediæval stronghold) at its further end is what is left of the -famous Castelletto. It is twenty kilometres or more away, but you can -see even from here how it dominated the valley and road, the latter -the much-pictured Dolomite road, which is also a route of great -military importance. - -"Now look at the end of the Castelletto toward the wall of the Tofana. -Do you see where it seems to have been sliced off smoothly at an angle -of about forty-five degrees? Well, that is the part they blew off last -July. Up to then that end, like the other, was crowned with a lofty -spire. That spire, the base from which it sprung, the Austrian -barracks and munition depôts, together with the men stationed -there--all were blown up and destroyed in the explosion. - -"Take a good look at it while you have a chance, for the skyline view -is better from a distance than from close at hand, where we shall go -this afternoon if the way is open. To see the effect of the explosion -at its best," he added, "one should look at it from the Austrian -lines, as it was the blowing out of the other side of the mountain -which undermined and let down the top. If you come back here in the -spring doubtless we will be in occupation of a number of interesting -observation points over there." - -Viewed even from a distance of a dozen miles or more the alteration -wrought in the skyline by the explosion was not difficult to imagine. -It was, indeed, literally true--what I had never been fully able to -make myself believe until that moment--that a mountain peak had been -blown off--hundreds of feet of it, and thousands of tons. My eyes -remained focussed in awed fascination on the unnaturally even profile -of the wound until our snorting car skidded round a bend of the frozen -road and the thick-growing pine forest shut it from sight. - -It was not until, after ten miles of precarious climbing and clawing -up the ice-paved, snow-walled road, our car brought up in the midst of -a neat little group of Alpine buildings nestling in the protection of -the last of the timber, that Capt. P---- revealed the surprise that -had been prepared for me. - -"Our host here," he said, "will be Colonel X----, who conceived and -directed the Castelletto project, and at dinner to-night you will -meet, and can talk as long as you like, with Lieutenant Malvezzi, who -did the work. He is still quartered here, and will be glad to tell you -all that he can about Alpine military engineering. We have already -sent him word that you came to Italy expressly to see him." - -After a hasty lunch Capt. P---- and I, accompanied by an officer of -Alpini from the camp, started for the Castelletto. Our powerful -military car, which, in spite of the fact that it had non-skid tyres, -had been giving a good deal of trouble on the ice, was left behind, -and a smaller but heavily-engined machine, with sharp spikes clamped -over the rims to grip the glassy surface of the road, was taken for -the few miles of the latter which were still open. Abandoning this in -a snow-bank at a little advanced camp well up under the towering wall -of the Tofana, we took our alpenstocks and started on the 2,000-foot -climb up to the base of the Castelletto. - -The hard-packed snow on the thirty to forty degree slope must have -averaged from ten to twenty feet deep all the way, while, for a -half-mile or so midway, it was humped up in crumpled fold where, a -fortnight before, one of the largest and most terrible slides ever -known in the Alps had plunged down on its sinister mission to the -bottom of the valley. The full story of that avalanche will hardly be -told until after the war. - -Slightly softened by the brilliant sun, the snow gave good footing; -but even so it was a stiff pull to the little ice and rock-begirt -barracks at the base of the cliff, and I gained some idea of the -titanic labour involved in getting guns, munitions, machinery, food, -and thirty-five tons of high explosive up there, all by hand, in every -sort of weather, and much of it (to avoid enemy observation and fire) -at night. - -Midwinter was not, of course, the time to see anything of the real -effects of the great explosion, for the huge crater torn by the latter -was drifted full of snow, and snow was also responsible for the -complete obliteration of the countless thousands of tons of _débris_ -that had been precipitated down the mountain side. A dizzy climb up -the ladder-like stairway, and a crawling clamber through a hundred -yards of the winding tunnel from the rock chambers which had housed -the compressors, revealed about all that was visible at the time of -the preparations and consequences of the mighty work; but a peep from -the observation port of a certain cunningly concealed gun-cavern -discovered a panorama which gave illuminative point to the concluding -words of the artillery officer who, pointing with the shod handle of -an ice-pick, explained the situation to me from that vantage. - -"So you see," he had said, "that the Castelletto in the enemy's hands -was a stone wall which effectually barred our further progress; while -in our hands it becomes a lever which--whenever we really need to take -them--will pry open for us positions of vital importance. We simply -_had_ to have it; and so we took it in the one way it could be taken. - - * * * * * - -"Save for his Alpini uniform Lieutenant Malvezzi, when I met him at -dinner that evening, might well have passed for the typical musician -of drama or romance. His skin and hair and eyes were dark, and his -long nervous fingers flitted over the paper on which he sketched -various phases of the Castelletto work very much as those of a pianist -flit above his ivory keys. The dreamy, far-away look in his eyes was -also suggestive of the musician, but that I had long come to recognise -as equally characteristic of all great engineers, the men whose -tangible achievements are only the fruition of days and nights of -dreaming. - -"Where shall I begin the story?" he had asked as the diners in the -regimental mess began to resolve into little knots of threes and fours -over coffee and cigars; and I had suggested that he take it up where -his report left off. "That stopped just as things began to happen," I -said. "Now tell what _did_ happen." - -The Tenente laughed a laugh suggestive of rueful reminiscence, and a -smile ran round among those of the officers who had heard and -understood my words. "So far as I am concerned," he replied, "that -covers about five minutes of activity--five minutes for which we had -been preparing for six months. You understand that we had constructed -a branch tunnel through which our men were to rush and occupy the -crater as soon after the explosion as possible. - -"_Ecco._ The men were all massed ready on and under the terrace, and -nothing remained but the making of the connection firing the mine. I -took one long look around and then threw over the electric switch -closing the circuit. Every one seemed to be holding his breath as he -waited. One, two, three seconds passed in a silence so intense that I -heard the sharp 'ping' of the water dripping from the roof of the -chamber and striking the pool it had formed below. - -"Then, before any other sound was audible, the whole mountain gave a -quick convulsive jerk, strong enough to throw some of the men off -their feet. A heavy grinding rumble in the earth came with a shivering -that followed the jerk, but the real roar of the explosion (from the -outside) was not audible for a second or two later. Only those -watching from a distance of several kilometres saw the right-hand -pinnacle of the Castelletto give a sudden heave, and then sink out of -sight in a cloud of dust and smoke. - -"In addition to the honour of firing the mine that of leading my men -into the crater had also been reserved for me, and as soon as I heard -the roar of the explosion I gave the order for them to follow me up -into the tunnel. Well----" he paused and ran his laughing eyes around -the grinning circle of his fellow officers, "that is about as far as -my evidence is good for anything. As I went clambering up the slippery -steps of the tunnel an almost solid wall of choking fumes struck me in -the face, and I--and all of my men except those near or outside of the -portal--dropped coughing in my tracks." - -"Had the mine blown back through the tamping?" I asked. - -"Not exactly," he replied, his rueful smile becoming almost sheepish, -as of one who had allowed himself to become the victim of a prank. -"The Austrians had a big store of asphyxiating bombs on hand to use -against us, and these, exploded by our mine, vented their spite on -friend and foe alike. We were not able to occupy the crater for -twenty-four hours. - -"I am glad to say that I spent what would otherwise have been an -intolerably anxious interval unconscious in the hospital. By the time -I had been revived a friendly breeze had thinned the gas sufficiently -to allow our Alpini to move into the crater and reap--in spite -of the delay--every advantage we had at any time counted -upon from the operation. Our most cherished capture was the -'perforator'--practically intact--with which the Austrians were -driving an almost completed counter-mine directly under us." - -"The nervous tension must have been rather strong toward the end, -wasn't it?" I asked; "especially when you knew the enemy had at last -got your work definitely located and was rushing his counter-mine?" - -The smile of whimsical ruefulness died out of the dark sensitive face, -leaving behind it lines I had not noticed before--lines that only -come on young faces after weeks or months of incessant anxiety. The -backward cast shadows of a time of terrible memory were lurking behind -his eyes as he replied: - -"For seven days and nights before the mine was sprung neither I nor -the officers working with me slept or even rested from work." - -That was all he said; but I saw the eyes--brimming with ready -sympathy--of his fellow officers turn to where he sat, and knew the -time for light questionings was past. Not until that moment did a full -appreciation of the travail involved in the blowing up of the -Castelletto sink home to me, and I nodded fervent assent to the words -of the English-educated Captain of Alpini next me when he observed -that "Malvezzi's little 'Order of Savoie' was jolly well earned, eh?" - - - - -WONDERS OF THE TELEFERICA - - -"Jolly good work, I call that, for a 'basket on a string,'" was the -way a visiting British officer characterised an exploit of the -Italians in the course of which--in lieu of any other way of doing -it--they had shot the end of a cable from a gun across a flooded river -and thus made it possible to rig up a _teleferica_ for rushing over -some badly-needed reinforcements. - -The name is not a high-sounding one, but I do not know of any other -which so well describes the wonderful contrivance which played so -important a part in enabling the Italians to hold successfully their -three hundred miles and more of high Alpine front during the first two -years they were in the war. And in this connection it should be borne -well in mind that the Austrians never were able to break through upon -the Alpine front, where--until the _débâcle_ upon the Upper -Isonzo--the Italians, peak by peak, valley by valley, were slowly but -surely pushing the enemy backward all along the line. Nor should it be -forgotten that up to the very last the Alpini had their traditional -foe mastered along all that hundred and fifty miles of sky-line -positions--from the Carnic Alps, through the Dolomites to the -Trentino--which ultimately had to be abandoned only because their rear -was threatened by the Austro-German advance along the Friulian plain -from the Isonzo. The loss of this line under these conditions, -therefore, detracts no whit from the magnificent military skill and -heroism by which they were won and held. - -The Italians' conduct of their Alpine campaign must remain a supreme -classic of mountain warfare--something which has never been approached -in the past and may never be equalled in the future. According to the -most approved pre-war strategy, the proper way to defend mountain -lines was by implanting guns on the heights commanding the main passes -and thus rendering it impossible for an enemy to traverse them. The -fact that these commanding positions were in turn dominated by still -higher ones, and these latter by others, until the loftiest summits of -the Alps were reached, was responsible for the struggle for the -"sky-line" positions which the Austro-Italian war quickly resolved -itself into. - -This kind of war would have been a sheer impossibility two decades -ago, from the simple fact that no practicable means of transport -existed capable of carrying men, munitions, guns and food up to -continuous lines of positions from ten thousand to thirteen thousand -feet above sea-level. The one thing that made the feat possible was -the development of the aerial tramway, or the _teleferica_, as the -Italians call it, which gave transport facilities to points where the -foot of man had scarcely trod before. Regular communication with the -highest mountain-top positions would have been absolutely out of the -question without this ingenious device. - -As I have said, the "basket-on-a-string" description fits the -_teleferica_ exactly, for the principle is precisely similar to that -of the contrivance by which packages are shunted around in the large -stores and factories. The only points which differentiate it in the -least from the overhead ore-tramways is the fact that--in its latest -and highest development--it is lighter and more dependable. For the -ore-tramway--always built in a more or less protected position--had -only the steady grind of the day's work to withstand; the _teleferica_ -has not only the daily wear and tear racking it to pieces, but is also -in more or less perennial peril of destruction by flood, wind, and -avalanches, to say nothing of the fire of the enemy's artillery or of -bombs from his aeroplanes. That the Italians have evolved a -contrivance more or less proof against the ravages of these -destructive agents is, perhaps, the best evidence of their genius for -military engineering. Nothing more perfect in its way than the -_teleferica_ has been produced by any of the belligerents. - -Theoretically, a _teleferica_ can be of any length, though I think the -longest on the Italian front is one of three or four miles, which -makes a good part of the eight-thousand-foot climb up to the summit of -the Pasubio, in the Trentino, and which--at the time of writing--is -still in Italian hands. The cable may run on a level--as when it spans -some great gorge between two mountain peaks--or it may be strung up to -any incline not too great to make precarious the grip of the grooved -overhead wheels of the basket. I was not able to learn what this limit -is, but I have never seen a cable run at an angle of over forty-five -degrees. Wherever a cable does not form a single great span it has to -be supported at varying intervals by running over steel towers to -prevent its sagging too near the earth. - -A _teleferica_ has never more than its two terminal stations. If the -topography of a mountain is such that a continuous cable cannot be run -the whole distance that it is desired to bridge by _teleferica_, -two--or even three or four--separate installations are built. This is -well illustrated in the ascent of the Adamello, the highest position -on the Austro-Italian front. One goes to the lower station of the -first _teleferica_ by motor, if the road is not blocked by slides. At -the upper station of this two-mile-long cableway a tramcar pulled by a -mule is taken for the journey over three or four miles of practically -level narrow-gauge railway. Leaving this, a hundred-yard walk brings -one to another _teleferica_, in the basket of which he is carried to -its upper station, on the brow of a great cliff towering a sheer three -thousand feet above the valley below. Three hundred yards farther up -another _teleferica_ begins, which lands him by the side of the frozen -lake at Rifugio Garibaldi. Three more _telefericas_--with breaks -between each--and a dog-sled journey figure in the remainder of the -climb to the glacier and summit of the Adamello. - -The engine of a _teleferica_--its power varies according to the weight -and capacity of its basket and the height and length of the lift--is -always installed at the upper station. The usual provision is for two -baskets, one coming up while the other goes down. As with the -ore-tramways, however, an installation can be made--if sufficient -power is available--to carry two or three or even a greater number of -baskets. As this puts a great strain on the cableway the Italians have -only resorted to it at a few points where the pressure on the -transport is very heavy. - -The two greatest enemies of the _teleferica_ are the avalanche and the -wind--the latter because it may blow the baskets off the cable, and -the former because it may carry the whole thing away. As the tracks of -snow-slides--the points at which they are most likely to occur--are -fairly well defined, it is usually possible to make a wide span across -the danger-zone with the cable and thus minimise the chance of -disaster on this score. It is only when the dread _valanga_--as -occasionally happens--is launched at some unexpected point that damage -may be done to an aerial tramway. A great slide--perhaps the worst -which has occurred on the Italian side of the lines during the -war--which came down, a mile wide, from the summit of the Tofana -_massif_ to the Dolomite road in the valley five miles below, carried -away a block of barracks and a battery of mountain guns, in addition -to burying a considerable length of _teleferica_ a hundred feet deep -in snow and _débris_. Visiting this slide in December, 1916, a few -days after it happened, I saw--at a point where a cut had been run in -an endeavour to save some of the several hundred Alpini who had been -buried--the twisted tower of the _teleferica_, inextricably mixed up -with the body of a mule and a gun-carriage and overlaid with a solid -stratum of forest trees, two miles below the point at which it had -formerly stood. - -Though the number of disasters of this kind from avalanches may be -counted upon one's fingers, trouble from high wind is always an -imminent possibility. In the early days of the _teleferica_ accidents -traceable to the blowing off of the baskets were fairly common; in -fact, it was feared for a time that the difficulty from this source -might be so great as materially to limit the usefulness of the -cableway system. The use of more deeply-grooved wheels, however, did -away with this trouble almost entirely, so that now the only menace -from the wind is when it comes from "abeam" and blows hard enough to -swing the baskets into collision when passing each other in mid-air. - -Though I have had many a _teleferica_ journey that was distinctly -thrilling--what ride through the air on a swaying wire, with a torrent -or an avalanche below, and perhaps shells hurtling through the clouds -above, would not be thrilling? --I have never figured in anything -approaching an accident, and only once in an experience which might -even be described as "ticklish." This latter occurred through my -insistence on making an ascent in a _teleferica_ on a day when there -was too much wind to allow it to operate in safety. It was on the -Adamello in the course of an ascent which I endeavoured to make toward -the end of last July. - -There was a sinister turban of black clouds wrapped around the summit -of the great peak, and before we were half-way up what had only been a -cold rain in the lower valley was turning into driving sleet and snow. -We ascended by the first _teleferica_--a double one--without -difficulty, but the ominous swaying of the cables warned us that the -next line, which was more exposed, might be quite another matter. This -latter is the one I have mentioned as running from an Alpine meadow to -the brow of a cliff towering three thousand feet above it. It was one -of the longest--if not the longest--unsupported cable-spans on the -whole Alpine front. It was also the steepest of which I had had any -experience. The fact that it was exposed throughout its whole length -to a strong wind which blew down from an upper valley was responsible -for putting it "out of business" during bad weather and thus made it -the weak link in the attenuated chain of the Adamello's -communications. - -As we had feared, we found this _teleferica_ "closed down" upon our -arrival at the lower station, ample reason for which appeared in the -fifteen or twenty-foot sway given to the parallel lines of cable by -the powerful "side-on" wind gusts which assailed it every few moments -from the direction of the glacier. Fortunately, as the storm was only -coming in fitful squalls as yet and had not settled down to a steady -blow, the _tenente_ in charge thought that it might be possible to -send us up in one of the quieter intervals. - -"There's no danger of the baskets blowing off the cable," he said; -"it's only a matter of preventing them striking one another in -passing, of which there is always risk when the wires are swaying too -much." - -As there were three of us and the carrying capacity of the basket was -limited to two hundred kilos, it was necessary to attempt two trips. -As the heaviest of the party, it was decided that I should ride alone, -starting after the two others had gone up. Taking advantage of a brief -quiet spell, my companions were started off. There was still a good -deal of sway to the cables, but a look-out above kept the engineer -advised as to conditions as the baskets approached each other, and -the passage was made without incident. When my turn came to start, -however, the storm had settled down to a steady gale, and the -_tenente_ said he did not dare take the responsibility of trying to -send me through. Ordinarily I should have been only too ready to -acquiesce in his ruling, but as my companions had just 'phoned -word that they were going on by the next _teleferica_--a -comparatively-protected one--to the Rifugio Garibaldi, where they -would await me before starting on the following stage of the ascent, I -realised at once that my failure to appear would throw out the whole -itinerary and make the trip (which had to be finished that day or not -at all) a complete failure. It was plainly up to me to get through if -there was any way of doing it, and I accordingly suggested to the -young officer that I would gladly sign a written statement taking the -whole responsibility for an accident on my own shoulders. - -"That would not help either you or me very much if things happened to -go wrong," he said, with a laugh. "If you really must go, you must; -that is all, and we shall simply do our best not to have any trouble. -I shall send one of the linemen along with you to fend off the other -basket in case it swings into yours in passing. There is a returned -American here who ought to be able to do the job and talk to you in -your native tongue at the same time." - -And so it was arranged. I took my place--lying on my back in the -bottom of the basket--as usual, after which Antonio--grinning -delightedly at the prospect of keeping watch and ward over a -"fellow-countryman"--climbed in and knelt between my feet, facing up -the line. Then the "starter" banged three times on the cable to let -the engineer at the top know that all was ready, and presently we were -off along the singing wire. - -The ordinary motion of a _teleferica_ is not unlike that of an -aeroplane--though it is not quite so smooth and vastly slower. On this -occasion, however, the swaying of the cable furnished a new sensation -which, while mildly suggestive of the sideslip of an aeroplane on a -steep "bank," was rather more like the "yawing" of a "sausage" -observation balloon in a heavy wind. The swinging of the basket itself -was also a good deal more violent than I had ever experienced before, -though at no time great enough to make it difficult to keep one's -place. Both motions were, of course, at their worst out toward the -middle of the span, so that one had an opportunity to get used to -them gradually in the quarter of an hour which elapsed before that -point was reached. - -I took the occasion to ask Antonio a question I had been making a -point of putting to every _teleferica_ man I had a chance to talk -with. "Is it really true," I said, "that no one has been killed since -the war began while riding in a _teleferica_?" - -"A large number of men have been injured," he replied; "but no one has -been killed outright," and he went on to tell of a friend of his who -had coasted down a thousand feet because the pulling-cable jerked -loose from the place where it was attached to the basket when the -latter had fouled a "down" basket in passing. He was badly injured -from the jolt he received when the basket brought up short at the -bottom, and it had taken three months in the hospital to put him right -again. He would never walk again without a stick, but he was so far -from being killed that he was the engineer of the very _teleferica_ on -which we were riding. He was a very careful man, said Antonio, for he -fully understood the consequences of letting two loaded baskets bump -in mid-air. - -A chill current of spray began to enfold us at this juncture, and -Antonio was just in the midst of an explanation of how it was carried -by the wind from a thousand-foot-high quarter-mile-distant waterfall -coming down behind the curtain of the lowering clouds, when I suddenly -saw him bring the point of his alpenstock over the edge of the basket -and, with his eyes fixed intently ahead, hold himself poised in an -attitude of tense readiness. Just above our heads the descending -basket was swaying to and fro in the strong wind. A collision seemed -imminent when, with a quick lunge of his alpenstock, Antonio turned it -aside, and in that fraction of a second we passed it unharmed. It had -been easy this time, explained Antonio, because the engineer at the -top had slowed down the baskets to under half-speed at the moment of -their passing. - -All sorts of freight--from ducks and donkeys to shells and -cannon--have been carried by the _teleferica_, and one of the best -stories I heard on the Italian front had to do with a pig--the mascot -of a battalion of Alpini holding a lofty position on a Dolomite -glacier--which found its way up there by means of the cable. He was a -sucking-pig, and was sent up alive to be reared for the major's -Christmas dinner, when the _teleferica_ basket in which he was -travelling got stuck in a drift which had encroached upon one of the -steel towers. Twelve hours elapsed before it was shovelled free, and -the sucking-pig, when it finally reached the top, was frozen as hard -and stiff as one of his cold-storage brothers. It was only after he -had lain in the hot kitchen for several hours that an indignant grunt -revealed the astonishing fact that his armour of fat had kept -smouldering a spark of life. They reared him on a bottle, and at the -time I saw him he was a hulking porker of two hundred pounds or more, -drawing a regular ration of his own. They called him _Tedesco_--on -account of his face and figure rather than his disposition, they -said--but all the same, I would be willing to wager that, if that -brave battalion of Alpini were able to save anything more than their -rifles and their eagle-plumes in their retreat, he was not allowed to -fall into the hands of his brother _Tedeschi_ from the other side of -the Alps. - -But the most noteworthy service of the _teleferica_ is the way in -which it facilitates the handling of the wounded at points where other -ways of transporting them are either too dangerous or too slow. It was -on a sector of the upper Isonzo, where at that time the Austrians had -not yet been pushed across the river. A rather wide local attack was -on at the moment, and to care the more expeditiously for the wounded -a very remarkable little mobile ambulance--the whole equipment of -which could be taken down in the morning, packed upon seven motor -lorries, moved from fifty to a hundred miles, and be set up and ready -for work the same evening--had been pushed up many miles inside the -zone of fire to such protection as the "lee" of a high ridge afforded. - -"We have found," said the chief surgeon, "that many wounds hitherto -regarded as fatal are only so as a consequence of delay in operating -upon them. This little hospital unit, which is so complete in -equipment that it can do a limited amount of every kind of work that -any base hospital can perform, was designed for the express purpose of -giving earlier attention to wounds of this kind, principally those of -the abdomen. From the first we saved a great number of men who would -otherwise never have survived to reach the base hospitals; but even so -we found we were still losing many as a consequence of the delay that -would often arise in transporting them over some badly exposed bit of -road on which it was not deemed safe to risk ambulances or -stretcher-bearers. Then we devised a special basket for wounded, to be -run on the _teleferica_ (as you see here), with the result that we -are now saving practically every man that it is humanly possible to -save." - -While he was speaking the _teleferica_, which ended beside the tent of -the operating theatre, began to click, and presently an oblong box, -almost identical in size and shape with a coffin, appeared against the -sky-line of the ridge and began gently gliding toward us along the -sagging cable. "In that box," continued the surgeon, "there will be a -man whose life depends upon whether or not his wound can be operated -upon within an hour or so of the time he received it. He was probably -started on his way to us within ten minutes of the time he arrived at -the advanced dressing station, and if he was not left lying out too -long the chances are we will pull him through. All up the other slope -of the ridge he came across ground that is being heavily shelled (as -you can see from the smoke and dust that are rising), but that basket -is so small a mark that the Austrians might fire all day at it without -hitting it. One of them occasionally runs into the 'pattern' of a -shrapnel burst (with disastrous results, of course), but the only -danger worth bothering about is of having the _teleferica_ laid up -from a shell on the engine-house or one of the supporting towers. -Although the man is probably unconscious he is coming alone, you see. -No other life, and not even an ambulance, is risked in bringing him -here. Except for the _teleferica_, he could not have been sent over -until after dark, and the delay would have been fatal. We estimate -that from one to three per cent. of the men wounded on a battlefield -which, like this one, lies so exposed that they cannot be sent back at -once by stretchers or ambulance, owe their lives directly to the -_teleferica_." - -When the cover of the basket was lifted off in the station, the body -of a man swathed in a blanket was revealed. He was unable to speak, -but a note pinned to the blanket stated that he had been struck in the -stomach with a shell fragment just outside the engine-house, and that -nothing had been done save to wrap enough gauze around his middle to -hold the riven abdomen together and bundle him into the waiting -_teleferica_ basket. "He must have been wounded not over fifteen -minutes ago, and within less than a mile in an air-line from here," -commented the chief surgeon. "We might have heard the detonation of -the shell that did it. Five minutes one way or the other in operating -may mean the difference between life and death in a case of this kind, -and the chances are that the _teleferica_ has given us the necessary -margin." - -Before I left the hospital, an hour later, the operation was over, and -the man was resting comfortably, with every hope of recovery. - -On several occasions, going up by a _teleferica_, I have passed a -little Red Cross basket going down with a _ferito_, or wounded man -(indeed, the occupant of one of these to whom I endeavoured to shout a -few words of good cheer in Italian reported below that he had been -accosted by an unmistakable _Tedesco_); but by far the queerest -passenger it was my lot to "balance" against was one I encountered -during an attempt I made to get up the Pasubio on a stormy day last -January. It was snowing at the rate of four or five inches an hour, -and the air was thick with the driving flakes, when, as a consequence -(as I learned later) of a drift being piled right up against the cable -where the latter crossed a jutting ledge, the steady "tug-tug" of the -pulling wire ceased and my basket came to a quivering standstill. I -knew that I had been approaching the halfway point, but the first -evidence I had that the "down basket" had stopped near by was a sudden -pulsing blast which cut athwart the besom of the storm and assailed my -ears like the crack o' doom. Except that it was ten times louder than -any human being could make, it was just such a wail of agony as would -be wrung from the throat of a man who was being stretched on the rack. - -Again the throbbing blast came hurtling through the storm, and this -time I noticed that, starting with a raucous bass note, it kept on -rising in a sirenic crescendo until it was suddenly broken short, as -though the air which drove it was cut off rather than exhausted. -Turning down the high collar of my storm coat, I squirmed around and -peered back over my shoulder in the direction of the "Thing of -Terror," but only an amorphous grey shape in the line of the opposite -cable indicated the position of the other basket. It didn't seem -possible that a two-feet-wide-by-six-feet-long wire basket could -possibly hold anything large enough to make a sound like that, and yet -the fact that the cable at this point was five hundred feet or more in -the air made it certain that the sound could come from nowhere else. - -A brisk shiver was running up and down my spine as I slithered down -again in the bottom of the basket, but I told myself that it was from -the cold and set my wits to work to find a "rational" explanation of -the weird phenomenon. A great bird--perhaps an eagle--roosting on the -cable? Impossible. Nothing on wings since the time of the -"pterodactyl," or whatever it was called, could have the lungpower -for a wail like that. A fog-horn? Not a hundred miles from the sea. -A--ah, I had it now! I told myself--gas-alarm signal out of order; -Alpino taking it down to have that broken-off note put right--playing -it for his own amusement. "What a fool I had been not to think of it -before!" I said to myself as I settled back with a sigh of relief and -an easy heart to wait for the "train to start." - -When, after a half-hour wait, punctuated at pretty regular intervals -by the wail of the "gas alert," the gentle "tug-tug" began again, and -the basket started on its way, I pulled myself up on my elbow to give -the indefatigable serenader a hail in passing. Presently the "down" -basket, filled with some sprawling shape, took form in the hard-driven -snow, but it was not until it was almost upon me that I saw that the -nose of a donkey, stretched a foot over the side, threatened to foul -the side of my swaying car in passing. The vigorous punch of my -mittened fist with which I fended it clear set another of those -air-shivering blasts going, and I had just time to see, before the -curtain of the snow dimmed down and swallowed up the fantastic sight, -that the sudden cut-off I noticed at the end was caused by the -swelling windpipe being brought into sharp contact with the side of -the basket as the beast's neck was stretched out to establish the -proper air columns to form the sirenic higher notes. - -The donkey, they told me in the engine-house at the top, had colic -from eating fresh snow on top of the contents of a box of dried figs -he had broached, and they had tied his legs and sent him down on his -way to the "Blue Cross" hospital to be put right. He was a plains -donkey, and didn't have good "Alpine sense," else they would have -driven him down by the path on his own legs. If they had known that a -guest was coming up, however, they said, they wouldn't have sent down -an ass in the _teleferica_. It wasn't quite safe for either passenger -on account of the way the animal sprawled. The last donkey they had -sent down got his hind legs tangled in a load of firewood that was -coming up, and they had lost a good deal of the precious fuel at a -time when they were at the bottom of their pile, with a storm coming -on. The "up" car always got the worst of a collision, but if they were -only warned that anyone of importance was coming, they took great care -that there shouldn't be any collision. No one ever got much hurt on a -_teleferica_, anyhow. - -It seems to be a plain fact that no man has yet lost his life on the -Italian front as a consequence of riding in a _teleferica_. Many have -been killed in constructing them, and even more in patrolling the -lines and keeping them in repair. Men have fallen or have jumped out -of the baskets, often from considerable heights, and men have been -brought in stiff with cold after two or three hours of exposure to a -blizzard in a stalled car. Stations and engines have been carried away -and buried, with all serving them, a hundred feet beneath an -avalanche; but in these, as well as in all other mishaps connected -with _telefericas_, inquiries which I pursued during the whole time I -spent on the Italian front failed to reveal a single instance in which -an actual passenger had lost his life. Hairbreadth escapes and rescues -I heard of by the score. The story of one of the most remarkable of -the latter was related by no less a personage than the brave and -distinguished Colonel--now General--"Peppino" Garibaldi, grandson of -the Liberator, and hero of the famous capture of the peak of the Coli -di Lano. - -While I was staying with Colonel Garibaldi in the Dolomites last -winter the station of a _teleferica_ which I had been expecting to use -on the morrow in going up to the lines on the glacier of the -Marmolada was carried away by an avalanche, which also killed one of -the engineers. It was the receipt of the news of this disaster which -led my host to remark that one of the most spectacularly brave feats -he had ever heard of had been performed by an Alpino the previous -winter in connection with putting right a stalled car on this very -span of cableway which had just been destroyed. - -"At this stage of the game," said Colonel Garibaldi, who is fluent in -American idiom as a consequence of his many revolutionary campaigns in -both North and South America, "they were not grooving the wheels of -the _teleferica_ basket deeply enough, with the result that they were -occasionally blown off the cables by strong winds. So far as we could, -the carrying of passengers was suspended during blizzards, but of -course every now and then an occasion would arise when the chance had -to be taken. That was how it happened that a staff officer from the -Comando Supremo, who had never been on a _teleferica_ before, was in a -basket which was blown from the cable of the first Marmolada span at -the height of a heavy storm last March. The basket was within a couple -of hundred metres of the end of its journey when the derailment of its -two forward wheels occurred--in fact, it was a good deal nearer -'land' in that direction than downwards, where there was a clear drop -of three or four hundred metres on to frozen snow. - -"If the air is quiet, a basket (going up, of course; the 'down' one -runs by gravity) with only one pair of wheels off can usually be -'nursed' along the cable by gentle tugs from the engine, and that was -what the engineers tried to do in this instance. The side pressure of -the wind was too strong, however, and within a metre or two the cable -wedged in beside the wheels and jammed hard. If there had not been a -man in the basket, they would simply have sped up the engine and gone -on pulling until either the basket came up or something broke. If the -former, all was well; if the latter, they picked up the pieces as soon -as the weather permitted, rushed their repairs, and started up again. -With a passenger--and especially a staff officer--to reckon with, it -was a different proposition. - -"Luckily the chap kept his nerve, and between snow flurries they could -see him working hard trying to get the wheels on again. An expert -_teleferica_ lineman can, with luck, occasionally put a pair of wheels -back on the track alone; but unless one understands exactly how to -take his weight off the basket by hanging over the cable the job is -as hopeless as trying to lift yourself by your boot-straps. This chap -was anything but an expert, and, after fumbling with numbing fingers -for ten or fifteen minutes, he waved his hand with a gesture of -despair and sank back into the bottom of the heeled-over basket. - -"The Alpino has lived among blizzards all his life, and is able to -figure pretty closely how much resistance is left in a man exposed to -wind and cold under any given conditions. They knew that a man tucked -in comfortably in a basket on an even keel waiting for engine repairs -is good for several times as long as one hanging on for dear life to -the sides of an apparently hopelessly stalled and half-upset basket. -Most of the men watching from the station gave the poor chap from -fifteen to twenty minutes; it was only the most optimistic who said -half an hour. In any case, there was only one thing to do--to send a -man down to the disabled basket; and a lineman who had shortly before -performed a similar feat successfully when a load of badly needed -shells was stalled on the cable volunteered to do it. - -"Suspending the intrepid fellow from the cable in a hastily rigged -harness hung from a spare pair of wheels, they tied a long line round -his waist and let him coast down by gravity to the basket. The line, -paid out slowly, kept him from gaining too much momentum. The -journey--an easy feat for a man with a good head--was made without -mishap. The officer's mind was still clear and his nerve unbroken, -but, numb with cold and on the verge of physical collapse, he was -unable to lift a finger to save himself. The most he could do was to -maintain his hold, and even that he could not be expected to do for -long. - -"For some time the Alpino, still suspended in his harness, put forth -all his strength in an endeavour to lift the basket sufficiently to -allow the displaced wheels to slip back on to the cable, but there was -no way to bring enough force to bear to be of any use, and, after -nearly spilling out the man he was trying to save, he gave it up. Next -he tried to lighten the basket of the weight of the officer by passing -a couple of hitches of the bight of the line around him and tricing -him up to the cable immediately overhead. He succeeded in his -immediate end, but in doing so defeated his ultimate one. The body of -the officer swung clear of the bottom of the basket, but hung in such -a way that the Alpino could not himself get in the proper position to -lift from. - -"By now it was evident to the would-be rescuer that nothing could be -accomplished unless the helpless officer were got clear of the car -entirely, and this could be effected only by changing places with him. -How the resolute fellow did it Heaven and the special providence which -always sees the Alpino through only know. They paid him out a couple -of metres more of line when they felt him tugging for it, and then -they had a snow-blurred vision of him scrambling about the tilted car -for three or four busy minutes. Finally they got the short, sharp, -double tug which was the signal he had arranged to give in the event -that he failed in his attempt and wanted to be drawn back. - -"Not a little cast down over this development, they began hauling in -from the station, only to feel the more apprehension when they saw it -was a limp and apparently lifeless body that was coming up to them out -of the storm. A reassuring yodel rolled up from the misty depths at -this juncture, however, and the sharpest-eyed of them announced that -he could see his comrade 'jack-knifed' over the cable jerking the -basket straight. Even before the body of the swooned officer, with its -wind-blown arms and legs flopping like those of a scarecrow, was swung -on to the landing and released from its harness, the ringing bang of -a steel spanner on the cable gave the familiar signal of 'Haul away!' - -"He came up (so his captain told me later)," concluded Colonel -Garibaldi, "sitting on the rim of the basket with his eagle's feather -rasping right along the sagging cable all the way, his hobnailed boots -drumming a tattoo on the steel bottom, and singing the Alpini marching -song in a voice that set the echoes ringing above the howling of the -storm." - -The expedient of shooting a _teleferica_ cable across an otherwise -unbridgeable space was not tried for the first time on the occasion -referred to in the opening paragraph of this chapter--when it was -resorted to in running a line across a flood-swollen river. The same -plan had been successfully followed a year previously in carrying -succour to a band of Alpini who, through the destruction of their -_teleferica_ by an avalanche, were left "marooned" on the side of a -glacier with only a few days' supply of food and munitions. The one -path leading up to their eyrie had also been scoured away by the -slide, so that a month or more of labour would have been required to -open communications in this way. For the same reason even a longer -period would have had to elapse before the _teleferica_ could be -restored; that is, if the cable were to be carried up as when it was -first built. The mountaineering genius of the Alpini would undoubtedly -have been equal to the problem of finding their way back to safety by -letting each other down by ropes, but this would have involved the -abandonment of a position which it was vitally important to hold. - -The expedient of shooting the cable up from a gun was the only one of -the many alternatives considered which promised any chance of success. -The first attempt nearly proved a "boomerang," for the weight of the -cable deflected the chargeless six-inch shell to which it was attached -nearly sixty degrees and sent it crashing through a mule stable, -fortunately empty at the moment. A shell attached to a lighter cable -went almost equally wide of its mark; in fact, all attempts with -high-velocity guns were dismal failures, and it was not until one of -the new long-range trench-mortars was brought up that the experiment -took an encouraging turn, though success was not won until the -cable-line was displaced by a light manila rope. This was fired to its -goal--an eminence half a mile distant and a thousand feet high--at the -first shot, and afterwards served to drag up a light cable which, in -turn, dragged up the heavy one. The single-span _teleferica_ installed -at this time--quite free from the menace which had overwhelmed its -lower predecessor--was still in use when I visited this sector nine -months later. - -Perhaps the most spectacular exploit ever carried out from a -_teleferica_ was that by which a troublesome nest of Austrian -machine-gunners were cleared off one of the pinnacles of the great -M---- _massif_ in the fall of 1916. At that time the lofty ridge was -divided between the Italians and Austrians. The latter had access to -one splintered pinnacle which, although there was no room to establish -a permanent position on, offered a splendid vantage from which to -observe all Italian movements in the valley beneath. The situation was -irritating enough for the Italians even when the activities of the -enemy were confined only to observation, but when he took to bringing -up a machine-gun and peppering--almost from its rear--the headquarters -of an Alpini battalion which held an important pass three thousand -feet below, it became well-nigh intolerable. What happened was related -to me some months later, when I asked the major of this battalion how -it chanced that the roof of the officers' mess, in which we were -dining, was armoured with sheets of steel. - -"Against machine-gun bullets," was the reply; "there was a time of -accursed memory in which the enemy used to bring a gun out on a -little splinter of rock, not fifteen hundred metres from here in an -air line, and spray the whole of our little terrace with 'dum-dums.'" - -"It must have been a bit trying," I observed. "How did you manage to -stick it?" - -"By keeping out of sight as much as possible," he replied; "that is, -until the day we went after him from the _teleferica_. After that he -left us alone until we had time to get a gun rigged up to make him -keep his distance." - -"Went after him from the _teleferica_!" I repeated, in surprise. "What -do you mean by that?" - -"Just what I said," he answered, with a smile. "We were working day -and night to excavate a gun-cavern, the fire from which would make -that troublesome position untenable for the Austrian machine-gunners. -In the meantime we had to stick it out as best we could, for the least -weakening of our force at this point would have been the signal for an -Austrian attack which might well have left them in possession of the -pass. By doing most of our moving about at night we were getting on -fairly well until, opening up at an unexpectedly early hour one -morning, they killed a good many more of us than I like to think of. - -"It was at this juncture that Captain X---- over there, who had had a -bullet through his hat, came to me with a drawing in his hand, and -said that he had just figured out that, between the third and fourth -towers of the _teleferica_, there was a point from which the Austrian -machine-gun position could be enfiladed with deadly effect. - -"If our position had not been really serious I should probably never -have listened to such a mad proposal. As it was, I entered into it -heart and soul. We hung the platform of the machine-gun on to the -cable at an angle which would make it easy to elevate and range on the -Austrian position above. Then--as a happy afterthought--we bent a -sheet of bullet-proof steel for a shield on the exposed side, erected -a low platform on which the gun would rest securely, and--the first -and last armoured _teleferica_ was complete. Between X---- and his -helper, the armour and the gun, the weight was about double that which -the _teleferica_ was supposed to carry, but I knew there was a wide -margin of safety allowed for, and had no misgivings on that score. -With X---- and his assistant crouched low on either side of the gun, -and with a black tarpaulin thrown loosely over the whole, she looked -as much like an ordinary load of junk going down for repairs as anyone -could wish. - -"The Austrians, who had been busy for an hour peppering the zigzags of -the path up to the trenches at the lip of the pass, took no notice of -the innocent-looking load slipping down the _teleferica_. The relieved -men from above, dodging in quick rushes past the exposed stretches of -the zigzags, offered them far more exciting practice than a load of -old gear. The latter disappeared from our sight at the second tower, -reappeared at the third, and was in full view when X---- 'unmasked' -and opened up. We could even follow the line of brown dust-spurts on -the face of the cliff as the bullets ranged upward to their mark. The -fire of the two Austrian machine-guns ceased instantly, and never -resumed. Probably the gunners were killed before ever they had a -chance to turn round their guns and reply to the sudden attack from -the air. - -"After spraying the pinnacle for five minutes X---- signalled to be -drawn up. He arrived at the station to report his job finished. -Against possible further use for her, we improved our 'aerial -dreadnought' considerably in the next day or two, but there was never -occasion to send her into action again. When the Austrians _did_ -venture up our big gun was in place, and we scoured them off the top -with high explosive." - - - - -THE GARIBALDI FIGHT AGAIN FOR FREEDOM - - -Once or twice in every winter a thick, sticky, hot wind from somewhere -on the other side of the Mediterranean breathes upon the snow and -ice-locked Alpine valleys the breath of a false springtime. The Swiss -guides, if I remember correctly, call it by a name which is pronounced -nearly as we do the word "fun"; but the incidence of such a wind means -to them anything but what that signifies in English. To them--to all -in the Alps, indeed--a spell of _fun_ weather means thaw, and thaw -means avalanches; avalanches, too, at a time of the year when there is -so much snow that the slides are under constant temptation to abandon -their beaten tracks and gouge out new and unexpected channels for -themselves. It is only the first-time visitor to the Alps who bridles -under the Judas kiss of the wind called _fun_. - -It was on an early January day of one of these treacherous hot winds -that I was motored up from the plain of Venezia to a certain sector -of the Italian Alpine front, a sector almost as important -strategically as it is beautiful scenically. What twelve hours -previously had been a flint-hard ice-paved road had dissolved to a -river of soft slush, and one could sense rather than see the ominous -premonitory twitchings in the lowering snow-banks as the lapping of -the hot moist air relaxed the brake of the frost which had held them -on the precipitous mountain sides. Every stretch where the road curved -to the embrace of cliff or shelving valley wall was a possible ambush, -and we slipped by them with muffled engine and hushed voices. - -Toward the middle of the short winter afternoon the gorge we had been -following opened out into a narrow valley, and straight over across -the little lake which the road skirted, reflected in the shimmering -sheet of steaming water that the thaw was throwing out across the ice, -was a vivid white triangle of towering mountain. A true granite Alp -among the splintered Dolomites--a fortress among cathedrals--it was -the outstanding, the dominating feature in a panorama which I knew -from my map was made up of the mountain chain along which wriggled the -interlocked lines of the Austro-Italian battle-front. - -"Plainly a peak with a personality," I said to the officer at my -side. "What is it called?" - -"It's the Col di Lana," was the reply; "the mountain that Colonel -'Peppino' Garibaldi took partially in a first attempt, and afterwards -Gelasio Caetani, the Italo-American mining engineer, blew up and -captured completely. It is one of the most important positions on our -whole front, for whichever side holds it not only effectually blocks -the enemy's advance, but has also an invaluable sally-port from which -to launch his own. We simply _had_ to have it, and it was taken in -what was probably the only way humanly possible. It's Colonel -Garibaldi's headquarters, by the way, where we put up to-night and -to-morrow; perhaps you can get him to tell you the story." - - * * * * * - -Where his study window looks out on the yellow Tiber winding through -the Rome for which his father had fought so long and so bravely, I had -listened one afternoon, not long previously, to that fiery old -warrior, General Ricciotti Garibaldi, while he spoke of the war and of -Italy's part in it. "All of my boys are fighting," he had said, "and -my daughters and my wife are nursing. Two of the boys are gone--killed -in France--but the other five are with the Italian army. They are all -good fighters, I think; but one of them--Peppino, the eldest--is also -an able soldier. Or at least he ought to be, for he has been trained -in the 'Garibaldi' school. There hasn't been a war (save only that -between Russia and Japan) or revolution in any part of the world in -the last twenty years that he hasn't drawn a sword, carried a rifle, -or swung a machete. You must make a point of seeing him if you are -visiting his part of the front, for he is a good little fellow, is our -Peppino." - -"And you'll fare well if you put up with Peppino, too," his little -English mother had added: "He is sure to have a good cook; and then -the dear boy was always so fond of sweets that I can't imagine his -doing without them. Besides, Sante is with him, and Sante was running -a co-operative creamery when the war broke out. You may be sure that -he has foraged his share of the good things too." - - * * * * * - -We found the grandson and namesake of the great Giuseppe Garibaldi -quartered in a little string of an Alpine village which occupied the -last bit of ground open enough to enjoy even comparative immunity from -the snow sliding from either flank of the deep valley which the road -followed up to the pass. The "good little fellow" who sprang up from -his map and report-littered desk to bid us welcome turned out to be -six feet of vigorous manhood, with a powerful pair of shoulders, a -face red-bronzed from the sun-glint on the snow, and a grip which -fused my fingers in the galvanic pressure of its friendly clasp. The -high, narrow forehead, the firm line of the mouth, the steady serious -eyes--all were distinctly Garibaldian, recalling to me the words of -his mother: "Ricciotti is my handsomest boy, but Peppino is the one -most like the old General, his grandfather." - -His greeting was warm and hearty, and only in the grave eyes was there -hint of the terrible responsibility accumulating through the fact that -a hot, moist wind was playing upon the heaviest fall of snow the Alps -had known for many winters. - -"I have sketched you out a tentative programme for the next -twenty-four hours," he said, speaking English with an accent which -plainly revealed that it had come to its fluency under American--and -probably Western American--skies "which is as far (and a good deal -farther, in fact) ahead than there is any use in planning while this -accursed weather lasts. There are still a couple of hours of daylight, -so we will begin by taking sledges to the upper valley and making a -survey of our lines from below. To-morrow--God willing!" (he said it -with the same quick fervency with which the pious Mohammedan -interpolates "Imshallah" into any outline of his future plans) "you -and Captain X---- will go to the summit and glacier of the Marmolada, -perhaps the most spectacular position on all our front. That will -depend upon whether or not we can keep the _telefericas_ going." - -As the sledge threaded its way between deep-cut snow-banks up the -narrowing gorge, Colonel Garibaldi spoke briefly of the difficulties -of Alpine transport in midwinter. - -"On the ordinary battle front, like those of France and Russia," he -said, "it requires rather less than one man on the line of -communications to maintain one man in the first-line trenches. For the -whole Italian front the average is something over two men on the -communications to one in the first line; but at points in the Alps (as -on this sector of mine), it may run up to six, or even eight or ten in -bad weather. It isn't just keeping the roads clear from falling and -drifting snow, it's the _valangas_, the slides. And with the slides -the worst trouble isn't just the men you may lose under them (though -that's terrible enough, Heaven knows), but rather the men who are -holding the lines up beyond the slides that have to be fed and -munitioned whatever happens. By an unkind trick of fate (just as bad -for the enemy as for ourselves, however), the snows of this year have -been among the heaviest ever known. This means that the slides are -also bad beyond all precedent, and especially that they are coming in -unexpected places, places where they have never been known before. -Slides in new places mean--what you saw where that swath was cut -through the lower end of the little village down the valley, and -problems like this!" - -We had just come out of a narrowed section of the gorge where, to get -through at all, the road had to run on a sort of trestle built above -the now frozen river, and where the ice-sheathed walls above us -interlocked like the jaws of a wolf-trap. Ahead of us the road was -blocked by a towering barrier of crumpled snow, piled a hundred feet -or more high from wall to wall. Rocks and snapped-off and up-ended -pine trees peppered through the amorphous mass furnished unmistakable -evidence that the avalanche which formed it had come down out of a -"track." - -"We couldn't go over it, and we couldn't have shovelled it away in ten -years," said my companion; "so we simply had to follow the only -alternative left and go through it. Here we go into the tunnel now. My -great worry is as to whether the new slide that the next day or -two--or the next hour or two, for that matter--may bring down upon -this will crush in my little tunnel or only pile up harmlessly above. -Hard-packed as it is, the snow" (I felt him lurch away from me in the -darkness, and heard the soft swish of something brushing against the -side of the tunnel) "is slushy even in under here. I'm rather afraid -that it won't stand much more weight, even if it doesn't fall in of -its own. But--ah" (we were out of the tunnel now, and a fluted yellow -cliff of staggering sheerness loomed through the notch ahead), -"there's the Marmolada! Doesn't look like an easy place to dislodge -the enemy from, does it? Well, my men--my brother, Major Ricciotti -Garibaldi, leading them--took the most of the 13,000-foot _massif_ -from the Austrians with the loss of so few men that I am still being -accused of having thrown my dead in the _crevasses_ of the glacier and -filling their places with smuggled recruits!" - -An Alpino passed singing, and the Colonel took up the air as he -returned the salute. - - "O Marmolada, tu es bella, tu es grana - ina in peo e forta in guerra." - -"It's a song the men have made," he said. "The Marmolada was famous -even in peace time, but up to a year or two before the war it had -never been climbed from this side. The Captain of Alpini in the post -at that pass on the left was the first Italian to make the ascent. It -took him two days, and cost him several hundred _lira_ for guides. -Well, it was from this very side that we took it (I can't tell you -exactly how, as we want to use the same method again), and now we are -sending fuel and food and munitions up there every day. To-morrow, if -the _telefericas_ are still running, you will go up there to that -snow-cap on the top in less than an hour." - -On the way back to the village in the gathering dusk I had an -illuminative example of the famous Garibaldi _sang froid_. The -conversation had turned--as it seemed to persist in doing during all -of my visit--to common friends and haunts in South America, and I -mentioned a meeting with Castro in Venezuela some years previously. -"Just what month was that?" Colonel Garibaldi queried. "March," I -replied. "Then at that very moment," said he, "I was chained to a ring -in the wall of the jail at Ciudad Bolivar. A little later," he -continued, "I and a fellow-_revolutionista_ chained up with me broke -out and started to swim the Orinoco to----". - -At that moment the sledge chanced to be worrying by a long pack train -on the trestle in the bottom of the overhung gorge I have referred to, -and just as my companion reached this point in his story a big icicle, -thawed loose somewhere above, came crashing down on the back of one of -the mules. The pack-load of provisions was riven as by a knife, and -the mule, recoiling from the sudden shock, shied back into the animal -immediately behind him. This one, in turn, backed into the animal next -in line, so that the impulse went back through the train by what I -once heard an old Chilkat packer call "mu-leg-raphy." The consequence -was that the hundred yards of gorge (in passing through which one was -cautioned even to lower one's voice for fear of starting vibration -that might break loose one of the thousand or so Damoclean swords -suspended above) was thrown into an uproar that set the echoes -ringing. The temperamental Alpini swore at the mules, and at each -other from the depths of their leather lungs, while the mules simply -did the mulish thing by standing on their forelegs and lashing out -with their hind ones at whatever fell within their reach. - -But, unruffled alike by the kinetic energy released below and the -potential energy which menaced from above, the imperturbable scion of -the Garibaldi simply leaned closer to my ear and went on with his -story. - -"Poor Y---- never reached the bank. Shark got him, I think. I headed -off into the jungle----" That was about all the story I remember, -except the finish, which had to do with racing a couple of Castro's -spies for a British steamer lying alongside the quay at La Guayra. -This latter part, however, was related after we had come out from -under the icicles and the heels of the mules to the open road beneath -the awakening stars. - - * * * * * - -There were several interruptions during dinner that evening. Once a -wayfaring Alpino, whose lantern had gone out, and who had turned in to -the nearest house to relight it, appeared at the door. That he -stumbled upon his Colonel's mess did not appear to disturb him a whit -more than it did the Colonel, who gave the smiling chap a box of -matches and sent him on his way with a cheery "_a rivederci_." A -little later the door was opened in response to a timid knock, to -reveal a little old lady who wanted to borrow a tin of condensed milk -and five eggs. Her son was coming home on leave on the morrow, she -said, and she was going to make a _pannello_ for his dinner. The -little village shop was out of eggs and milk for the moment, and as -the _Colonello's_ cook had refused to lend them to her, she had come -straight to the _Colonello_ himself. She had heard he was very kind. - -"See that she has all she wants; fill up her basket," was the order -sent out to the cook. And then, as the grateful little old dame -backed, bowing, out of the door: "Feed him up well, _madre_; a man has -to have something under his belt to fight in these mountains, doesn't -he?" - -"Brother Sante usually looks after callers of this kind for me," said -my host with a laugh; "but Sante is away for a day or two, and I have -no buffer. You will observe, by the way, that I am not quite at one -with my distinguished grandfather in the matter of rations. What was -it he said to the men who had assembled to follow him in his flight -after the unsuccessful fight for the Roman Republic? 'I offer neither -pay, quarters nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst forced marches, -battle, and death.' Well, I too have plenty of fighting to offer my -men, but no more of the other 'inducements' than I can possibly help. -And when they have to die, I like to feel that it's on a full stomach. - -"Perhaps you heard," he went on, "what a stir it made up here when I -first asked for marmalade for my men. They started out by laughing at -me. 'Of course,' they said, 'we know that your mother is English; but -that is no reason why, much as _you_ may crave it, your _men_ should -need marmalade!' Then they said that _marmellata_ would cost too much, -and finally tried to prove that it would be bad for the men's health. -But I had seen what troops had done in South Africa on a generous -marmalade allowance; also what they were doing in France. So I stuck -to it, and--well, we took the Marmolada on _marmellata_, and a good -many Austrians besides." - -We were still laughing over the little joke when the door opened, and -the telephone operator from the room across the hall entered to report -in a low voice some news that had just reached him. The Colonel's face -changed from gay to grave in an instant; but it was with voice and -manner of quiet restraint that he asked a couple of quick questions -and then gave a brief order, evidently to be transmitted back whence -the news had come. - -"It must have been either A---- or B----," he said musingly, turning -again to the big slice of caramel cake he had just cut for himself -when the interruption occurred. "Oh I beg pardon; but I've just had -word that the middle _teleferica_ serving the Marmolada has been -carried away by an avalanche, and that one of the engineers is -killed. I was just speculating as to which one it was. They were both -good men--men I can ill afford to lose. This puts an end, by the way, -to the trip we had planned for you for to-morrow. You will have to go -to the position at the---- instead; providing, of course, _that -teleferica_ doesn't meet a like fate." - -South American revolution (in vivid reminiscence) had raised its -hydra-head many times before I saw my way clear to turn the -conversation into the channel where I was so interested to direct its -flow. - -"Won't you tell me, Colonel," I said finally, "something of how the -young Garibaldi have carried on the tradition of the old Garibaldi in -this war? Tell me how it came about that you all foregathered in -France in the early months of the war, what you did there, and what -you have done since; and, especially, tell me how you took the Col di -Lana." - -"That's (as you Americans say) rather a tall order," was the laughing -reply; "but I'll gladly do what I can to fill it." - -He drained his glass of cognac, waited till the occult rite of -lighting his "Virginia" over its little spirit-lamp was complete, and -then began his story (as I had hoped he would) at the beginning. The -narration which follows was punctuated by the steady drip of the eaves -and the not infrequent rumble of a distant avalanche as the hot south -wind called _fun_ breathed its relaxing breath on a half winter's -accumulation of hanging snow. - - * * * * * - -"My father--and even my grandfather--had foreseen that Europe must -ultimately fight its way to freedom through a great war; that the two -irreconcilable forces (fairly represented by what France, England, -Italy, and the United States stood for, on the one hand, and what -Prussia and its satellites stood for on the other) made no other -alternative possible. The same feelings which led my father and -grandfather to fight for France in 1870 led me and my brothers to -offer ourselves to fight for France and her Allies in 1914. - -"As the eldest of seven sons, and the namesake of my grandfather, my -father felt that it was up to me to carry on the Garibaldi tradition, -and when I was scarcely out of my teens he sent me out to train in the -only school that the old General ever recognised--that of practical -experience. 'Some day you will be needed in Europe,' he said. 'Until -then, see that you make yourself ready by taking part in every war -that you can find. Learn how men follow, and then learn how men lead. -If there is any choice between two causes, fight for the one you think -your grandfather would have fought for; but don't miss a fight because -you can't make up your mind on that score. The experience is the -thing, and the only way you can get it is in real battles, not sham -ones.' - -"Well, I did the best I could, considering the day and age we live in, -to follow out my father's idea. With what success (so far as a -comprehensive experience was concerned) you may judge from the fact -that, up to the outbreak of the present war, I had--counting -skirmishes--fought on 132 battlefields. That I had not been wounded -was not, I trust, entirely due to not having been exposed to fire. - -"The preparation of my brothers had been rather less drastic--less -'Garibaldian'--than my own. In their cases, it was my father's idea -that it would be sufficient if they simply knew the world and how to -get on with men; and to this end he encouraged them, as fast as they -became old enough, to seek work abroad, preferably something of an -outdoor character, such as that in connection with engineering -projects. None of us was overburdened with book-learning or technical -training, myself least of all. Indeed, I have often wished I had a -bit more of both. - -"So it was that it happened that the outbreak of the war found all but -the two youngest of us scattered to the ends of the earth. I was in -New York (not long before I had gone through the first Mexican -revolution as Chief of Staff to General Madero), and with me was my -second brother, Ricciotti, who had joined me there for a trip to South -America. Menotti was in China, on the engineering staff of the -Canton-Kowloon Railway, and Sante, also an engineer, was working on -the Assuan Dam in Upper Egypt. Bruno was in a sugar 'central' in Cuba, -and Costante and Ezia, the two youngest of us, were at their studies -in Italy. My sister, Italia, was organising Red Cross work in Rio de -Janeiro. - -"As the war clouds began to gather, my father sent a letter to each of -the five of us abroad, saying that when we received a cable from him -we were to start at once for whatever place was mentioned in it. I -forget what the cables received by Ricciotti and myself were about; -but the rendezvous was Paris, and we were away by the next boat. We -found Ezia and Costante already awaiting us in Paris, and Bruno and -Sante arrived a few days later. Menotti could not arrange to get away -from China until his own country entered the war, some months -subsequently. - -"Word had already gone out that an Italian Legion was to be formed to -fight for the Allies, but in what theatre had not yet been decided -upon. All my own training had been for guerilla warfare, and, figuring -that this could be turned to the best use in the Balkans, I was in -hopes that my legion could be landed in Albania, to co-operate with -the Servians and Montenegrans against Austria. This was not to be, -however; indeed, Ezia, who was sent to drive a _camion_ at Salonika -after being wounded on this front a few months ago, has so far been -the only Garibaldi to reach the Balkans. I am sorry, in a way, for I -still think that that would have been my sphere of greatest -usefulness. - -"Recruits flocked to us from all over the world, among them being many -men who had fought with me in South and Central America. We were quite -the typical band of soldiers of fortune, and except for the fact that -we were all Italians, there wasn't a great deal to differentiate us -from the Foreign Legion into which we were incorporated. Side by side -with the several scions of Italian nobility who had joined us marched -men who had ridden as _gauchos_ on the pampas of Argentina or hammered -drills in the mines of Colorado and the Transvaal. Nor was I by any -means the only one who had peered hungrily outward through barred -gratings and was familiar with the clank and tug of the ankle chain. -But whatever we were, and whoever we were, we had come to fight, and -we did fight. Yes, all in all, I think we lived up to the traditions -of the _Légion Étrangère_ quite as well on the score of fighting as we -did on that of pedigree. It isn't where you come _from_ that counts on -the battle line, but only where you _go to_; and if there was a man in -the Italian Legion who wasn't ready to fight until he dropped, I can -only say that he did not come under my notice. - -"Considering the fact that we began with practically raw material -(though, of course, many of the men had seen previous service), and -that there were no _cadres_ to build upon, I think our work with the -_Legion Italienne_ was about a record for quick training. It was -October before we were well started, and by the end of December we -were not only on the first line, but had already gone through some of -the bloodiest fighting the war has seen. My grandfather used to say -that proper military training was nine-tenths a matter of applied -common sense and one-tenth a matter of drill. Well, I employed what -common sense and experience I had, and made up the rest with drill. -Inside of two months we had 4,000 men at the front, where the French -Higher Command was so well impressed with their quality that it was -but a week or two before they were deemed worthy of the place of -honour in an attack upon the Prussian Guard, which had been pressing -steadily forward in the hope of cutting the communications between -Chalons and Verdun. No regiment ever had a warmer baptism of fire. We -drove back the Guard two and a half kilometres, but lost a thousand -men in the effort. - -"I don't recall anything that was actually said between us on the -subject, but it seemed to be generally understood among us brothers -that the shedding of some Garibaldi blood--or, better still, the -sacrifice of a Garibaldi life--would be calculated to throw a great, -perhaps a decisive, weight into the wavering balance in Italy, where a -growing sympathy for the cause of the Allies only needed a touch to -quicken it to action. Indeed, I am under the impression that my father -said something to that effect to the two younger boys before he sent -them on to France. At any rate, all three of the youngsters behaved -exactly as though their only object in life was to get in the way of -German bullets. Well--Bruno got _his_ in the last week in December, -ten or twelve days ahead of Costante, who fell on January 5. Ezia--the -youngest of the three fire-eaters--though, through no fault of his -own, had to wait and take his bullet from the Austrians on our own -front. (It occurred not far from here, by the way.) - -"The attack in which Bruno fell was one of the finest things I have -ever seen. General Gouraud sent for me in person to explain why a -certain system of trenches, which we were ordered to attack, _must_ be -taken and held, no matter what the price. We mustered for mass at -midnight--it was Christmas, or the day after, I believe--and the -memory of that icicle-framed altar in the ruined, roofless church, -with the flickering candles throwing just light enough to silhouette -the tall form of Gouraud, who stood in front of me, will never fade -from my mind. - -"We went over the parapet before daybreak, and it was in the first -light of the cold winter dawn that I saw Bruno--plainly -hit--straighten up from his running crouch and topple into the first -of the German trenches, across which the leading wave of our attack -was sweeping. He was up before I could reach him, however (I don't -think he ever looked to see where he was hit), and I saw him clamber -up the other side, and, running without a hitch or stagger, lead his -men in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. I never saw him again alive. - -"They found his body, with six bullet-wounds upon it lying where the -gust from a machine-gun had caught him as he tried to climb out and -lead his men on beyond the last of the trenches we had been ordered to -take and hold. He had charged into the trench, thrown out the enemy, -and made--for whatever it was worth--the first sacrifice of his own -generation of Garibaldi. We sent his body to my father and mother in -Rome, where, as you will doubtless remember, his funeral was made the -occasion of the most remarkable patriotic demonstration Italy has -known in recent years. From that moment the participation of our -country in the war became only a matter of time. Costante's death a -few days later only gave added impulse to the wave of popular feeling -which was soon to align Italy where she belonged, in the forefront of -the fight for the freedom of Europe. - -"Further fighting that fell to the lot of the Legion in the course of -January reduced its numbers to such an extent that it had to be -withdrawn to rest and re-form. Before it was in condition to take the -field again, our country had taken the great decision, and we were -disbanded to go home and fight for Italy. Here--principally because -it was thought best to incorporate the men in the units to which they -(by training or residence) really belonged--it was found impracticable -to maintain the integrity of the fourteen battalions--about 14,000 men -in all--we had formed in France, and, as a consequence, the _Legion -Italienne_ ceased to exist except as a glorious memory. We five -surviving Garibaldi were given commissions in a brigade of Alpini that -is a 'lineal descendant' of the famous _cacciatore_ formed by my -grandfather in 1859, and led by him against the Austrians in the war -in which, with the aid of the French, we redeemed Lombardy for Italy. - -"In July I was given command of a battalion occupying a position at -the foot of the Col di Lana. Perhaps you saw from the lake as you came -up the commanding position of this mountain. If so, you will -understand its supreme importance to us, whether for defensive or -offensive purposes. Looking straight down the Cordevole Valley toward -the plains of Italy, it not only furnished the Austrians an -incomparable observation post, but also stood as an effectual barrier -against any advance of our own toward the Livinallongo Valley and the -important Pordoi Pass. We needed it imperatively for the safety of any -line we established in this region, and just as imperatively would we -need it when we were ready to push the Austrians back. Since it was -just as important for the Austrians to maintain possession of this -great natural fortress as it was for us to take it away from them, you -will understand how it came about that the struggle for the Col di -Lana was perhaps the bitterest that has yet been waged for any one -point on the Alpine front. - -"Early in July, under cover of our guns to the south and east, the -Alpini streamed down from the Cima di Falzarego and Sasso di Stria, -which they had occupied shortly before, and secured what was at first -but a precarious foothold on the stony lower eastern slope of the Col -di Lana. Indeed, it was little more than a toe-hold at first; but the -never-resting Alpini soon dug themselves in and became firmly -established. It was to the command of this battalion of Alpini that I -came on July 12, after being given to understand that my work was to -be the taking of the Col di Lana regardless of cost. - -"This was the first time that I--or any other Garibaldi, for that -matter (my grandfather, with his 'Thousand,' took Sicily from fifty -times that number of Bourbon soldiers)--had ever had enough (or even -the promise of enough) men to make that 'regardless of cost' formula -much more than a hollow mockery. But it is not in a Garibaldi to -sacrifice men for any object whatever if there is any possible way of -avoiding it. The period of indiscriminate frontal attacks had passed -even before I left France, and ways were already being devised--mostly -mining and better artillery protection--to make assaults less costly. -Scientific 'man-saving,' in which my country has since made so much -progress, was then in its infancy on the Italian front. - -"I found many difficulties in the way of putting into practice on the -Col di Lana the man-saving theories I had seen in process of -development in the Argonne. At that time the Austrians--who had -appreciated the great importance of that mountain from the outset--had -us heavily out-gunned, while mining in the hard rock was too slow to -make it worth while until some single position of crucial value hung -in the balance. So--well, I simply did the best I could under the -circumstances. The most I could do was to give my men as complete -protection as possible while they were not fighting, and this end was -accomplished by establishing them in galleries cut out of the solid -rock. This was, I believe, the first time the 'gallery-barracks'--now -quite the rule at all exposed points--were used on the Italian front. - -"There was no other way in the beginning but to drive the enemy off -the Col di Lana trench by trench, and this was the task I set myself -to toward the end of July. What made the task an almost prohibitive -one was the fact that the Austrian guns from Corte and Cherz--which we -were in no position to reduce to silence--were able to rake us -unmercifully. Every move we made during the next nine months was -carried out under their fire, and there is no use in denying that we -suffered heavily. I used no more men than I could possibly help using, -and the Higher Command was very generous in the matter of reserves, -and even in increasing the strength of the force at my disposal as we -gradually got more room to work in. By the end of October my original -command of a battalion had been increased largely. - -"The Austrians made a brave and skilful defence, but the steady -pressure we were bringing to bear on them gradually forced them back -up the mountain. By the first week in November we were in possession -of three sides of the mountain, while the Austrians held the fourth -side and--but most important of all--the summit. The latter presented -a sheer wall of rock, over 200 metres high, to us from any direction -we were able to approach it, and on the crest of this cliff--the only -point exposed to our artillery fire--the enemy had a cunningly -concealed machine-gun post served by fourteen men. Back and behind, -under shelter in a rock gallery, was a reserve of 200 men, who were -expected to remain safely under cover during a bombardment, and then -sally forth to repel any infantry attack that might follow it. The -handful in the machine-gun post, it was calculated, would be -sufficient, and more than sufficient, to keep us from scaling the -cliff before their reserves came up to support them; and so they would -have been if there had been _only_ an infantry attack to reckon with. -It failed to allow sufficiently, however, for the weight of the -artillery we were bringing up, and the skill of our gunners. The -apparent impregnability of the position was really its undoing. - -"This cunningly conceived plan of defence I had managed to get a -pretty accurate idea of--no matter how--and I laid my own plans -accordingly. All the guns I could get hold of I had emplaced in -positions most favourable for concentrating on the real key to the -summit--the exposed machine-gun post on the crown of the cliff--with -the idea, if possible, of destroying men and guns completely, or, -failing in that, at least to render it untenable for the reserves who -would try to rally to its defence. - -"We had the position ranged to an inch, and so, fortunately, lost no -time in 'feeling' for it. This, with the surprise incident to it, was -perhaps the principal factor in our success; for the plan--at least so -far as _taking_ the summit was concerned--worked out quite as -perfectly in action as upon paper. That is the great satisfaction of -working with the Alpin, by the way: he is so sure, so dependable, that -the 'human fallibility' element in a plan (always the most uncertain -quantity) is practically eliminated. - -"It is almost certain that our sudden gust of concentrated gun-fire -snuffed out the lives of all the men in the machine-gun post before -they had time to send word of our developing infantry attack to the -reserves in the gallery below. At any rate, these latter made no -attempt whatever to swarm up to the defence of the crest, even after -our artillery fire ceased. The consequence was that the 120 Alpini I -sent to scale the cliff reached the top with but three casualties, -these probably caused by rolling rocks or flying rock fragments. The -Austrians in their big 'funk-hole' were taken completely by surprise, -and 130 of them fell prisoners to considerably less than that number -of Italians. The rest of 200 escaped or were killed in their flight. - -"So far it was so good; but, unfortunately, taking the summit and -holding it were two entirely different matters. No sooner did the -Austrians discover what had happened than they opened on the crest -with all their available artillery. We have since ascertained that the -fire of 120 guns was concentrated upon a space of 100 by 150 metres -which offered the only approach to cover the barren summit afforded. -Fifty of my men, finding some shelter in the lee of rocky ledges, -remained right out on the summit; the others crept over the edge of -the cliff and held on by their fingers and toes. Not a man of them -sought safety by flight, though a retirement would have been quite -justified, considering what a hell the Austrian guns were making of -the place. The enemy counter-attacked at nightfall, but in spite of -superior numbers and the almost complete exhaustion of that little -band of Alpini heroes, were able to retake only a half of the summit. -Here, at a ten-metres-high ridge which roughly bisects the _cima_, the -Alpini held the Austrians, and here, in turn, the latter held the -reinforcements which I was finally able to send to the Alpini's aid. -There, exposed to the fire of the guns of either side (and so, -comparatively, safe from both), a line was established from which -there seemed little probability that one combatant could drive the -other, at least without a radical change from the methods so far -employed. - -"The idea of blowing up positions that cannot be taken otherwise is by -no means a new one. Probably it dates back almost as far as the -invention of gunpowder itself. Doubtless, if we only knew of them, -there have been attempts to mine the Great Wall of China. It was, -therefore, only natural that, when the Austrians had us held up before -a position it was vitally necessary we should have, we should begin to -consider the possibility of mining it as the only alternative. The -conception of the plan did not necessarily originate in the mind of -any one individual, however many have laid claim to it. It was the -inevitable thing if we were not going to abandon striving for our -objective. - -"But while there was nothing new in the idea of the mine itself, in -the carrying out an engineering operation of such magnitude at so -great an altitude, and from a position constantly exposed to intense -artillery fire, there were presented many problems quite without -precedent. It was these problems which gave us pause; but finally, in -spite of the prospect of difficulties which we fully realised might at -any time become prohibitive, it was decided to make the attempt to -blow up that portion of the summit of the Col di Lana held by the -enemy. - -"The choice of the engineer for the work was a singularly fortunate -one. Gelasio Caetani--he is a son of the Duke of Sermoneta--had -operated as a mining engineer in the American West for a number of -years previous to the war, and the practical experience gained in -California and Alaska was invaluable preparation for the great task -now set for him. His ready resource and great personal courage were -also incalculable assets. (As an instance of the latter, I could tell -you how, to permit him to make certain imperative observations, he -allowed himself to be lowered over the side of a sheer cliff at a -point only partially protected from the enemy's fire.) - -"Well, the tunnel was started about the middle of January, 1916. Some -of my men--Italians who had hurried home to fight for their country -when the war started--had had some previous experience with hand and -machine drills in the mines of Colorado and British Columbia, but the -most of our labour had to gain its experience as the work progressed. -Considering this, as well as the difficulty of bringing up material -(to say nothing of food and munitions), we made very good progress. - -"The worst thing about it all was the fact that it had to be done -under the incessant fire of the Austrian artillery. I provided for the -men as best I could by putting them in galleries, where they were at -least able to get their rest in comparative safety. My own -headquarters were in a little shed in the lee of a big rock. When the -enemy finally found out what we were up to they celebrated their -discovery by a steady bombardment which lasted for fourteen days -without interruption. During a certain forty-two hours of that -fortnight there was, by actual count, an average of thirty-eight -shells a minute exploding on our little position. With all the -protection it was possible to provide, the strain became such that I -found it advisable to change the battalion holding our portion of the -summit every week. Did I have any respite myself? Well, hardly; or, -rather, not until I had to. - -"We were constantly confronted with new and perplexing -problems--things which no one had ever been called upon to solve -before--most of them in connection with transportation. How we -contrived to surmount one of these I shall never forget. The Austrians -had performed a brave and audacious feat in emplacing one of their -batteries at a certain point, the fire from which threatened to make -our position absolutely untenable. The location of this battery was so -cunningly chosen that not a single one of our guns could reach it, and -yet we _had_ to silence it--and for good--if we were going to go on -with our work. The only point from which we could fire upon these -destructive guns was so exposed that any artillery we might be able to -mount there could only count on the shortest shrift under the fire of -the hundred or more 'heavies' that the Austrians would be able to -concentrate upon it. And yet (I figured), well employed, these few -minutes might prove enough to do the work in. As there was no other -alternative, I decided to chance it. - -"And then there arose another difficulty. The smallest gun that would -stand a chance of doing the job cut out for it weighed 120 -kilos--about 260 pounds; this just for the gun alone, with all -detachable parts removed. But the point where the gun was to be -mounted was so exposed that there was no chance of rigging up a -cable-way, while the incline was so steep and rough that it was out of -the question trying to drag it up with ropes. Just as we were on the -verge of giving up in despair, one of the Alpini--a man of Herculean -frame who had made his living in peace-time by breaking chains on his -chest and performing other feats of strength--came and suggested that -he be allowed to carry the gun up on his shoulder. Grasping at a -straw, I let him indulge in a few 'practice manoeuvres'; but these -only showed that while the young Samson could shoulder and trot off -with the gun without great effort, the task of lifting himself and his -burden from foothold to foothold in the crumbling rock of the seventy -degree slope was too much for him. - -"But out of this failure there came a new idea. Why not let my strong -man simply support the weight of the gun on his shoulder--acting as a -sort of ambulant gun-carriage, so to speak--while a line of men pulled -him along with a rope? We rigged up a harness to equalise the pull on -the broad back, and, with the aid of sixteen ordinary men, the feat -was accomplished without a hitch. I am sorry to say, however, that -poor Samson was laid up for a spell with racked muscles. - -"The gun--with the necessary parts and munition--was taken up in the -night, and at daybreak it was set up and ready for action. It fired -just forty shots before the Austrian 'heavies' blew it--and all but -one or two of its brave crew--to pieces with a rain of high-explosive. -But it had done its work, and done it well. The sacrifice was not in -vain. The troublesome Austrian battery was put so completely out of -action that the enemy never thought it worth while to re-emplace it. - -"That is just a sample of the fantastic things we were doing all of -the three months that we drove the tunnel under the summit of the Col -di Lana. The last few weeks were further enlivened by the knowledge -that the Austrians were countermining against us. Once they drove so -near that we could feel the jar of their drills, but they exploded -their mine just a few metres short of where it would have upset us for -good and all. All the time work went on until, on April 17, the mine -was finished, charged, and 'tamped.' That night, while every gun we -could bring to bear rained shell upon the Austrian position, it was -exploded. A crater 150 feet in diameter and sixty feet deep engulfed -the ridge the enemy had occupied, and this our waiting Alpini rushed -and firmly held. Feeble Austrian counter-attacks were easily repulsed, -and the Col di Lana was at last completely in Italian hands." - - * * * * * - -Colonel Garibaldi leaned back in his chair and gazed thoughtfully at -the cracks in the ceiling as one whose tale is finished. The end had -come rather abruptly, I thought, and I was inclined to press for -further details. - -"It must have been a grand sight," I ventured--"that mountain-top -blowing off into the air with hundreds of shells bursting about it. -Where were you at the great moment?" - -The grave face grew a shade graver, and a wistful smile softened the -lines of the firm mouth. - -"Not in sight of the Col di Lana, I am sorry to say," was the reply. -"My health broke down a fortnight before the end, and another officer -was in command at the climax. It was one of the greatest -disappointments of my life. I would have given my right hand to have -been the first man into that crater. But never mind," he concluded, -rising and squaring his broad shoulders; "bigger things than the Col -di Lana are ahead before this war is over, and I feel that I am not -going to miss any more of them. It's the Garibaldi way, you know, to -be in at the death." - - * * * * * - -THE WHITEFRIARS PRESS, LTD., LONDON AND TONBRIDGE. - - -BY BOYD CABLE. - -"Boyd Cable is already one of the Prose Laureates of the -War--no one can describe more vividly the fierce confusion of -trench-fighting."--_Punch._ - - AIRMEN O' WAR. 6s. net. - -Thrilling examples, derived from personal war experience, of the high -courage and ready humour of our intrepid airmen. - - FRONT LINES. 6s. net. - -"There is a rush and swing in Mr. Cable's narrative that get us close -to the reality of war. He makes us see the war with the soldier's -eyes, and know something of the suffering and indomitable cheerfulness -of the man in the firing line."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - - BETWEEN THE LINES. - New and Cheaper Edition. 2s. 6d. net. - -"For a conspectus of daily routine within the limited area of -first-line trenches we think Mr. Boyd Cable's book the most fully -informing we have read. If one cannot see the life of the trenches -going on by reading this book, it must be that one cannot derive a -true impression from any printed page. Will enable many people to read -the newspapers with new eyes."--_The Spectator._ - - GRAPES OF WRATH. 5s. net. - -"A very graphic account of what a Big Push is like from the point of -view of our infantry private."--_The Times._ - -"The real thing--absolutely and penetratingly alive."--_The Outlook._ - - ACTION FRONT. 5s. net. - -"The atmosphere, the very scent and noise of it, Mr. Boyd Cable gives -with sure touch. Full of insight into the stark reality of war."--_The -Nation._ - -JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1. - - -BY BENNET COPPLESTONE. - - - THE SECRET OF THE NAVY - 7s. 6d. net. - -"Gives an excellent impression of the spirit of the Navy, and the part -which a high tradition has played in bringing it to its present -efficient state. Mr. Copplestone's series of articles will, if such a -thing be possible, heighten our confidence in the ability and devotion -of the Service to which we are so deeply indebted."--_Everyman._ - - THE LOST NAVAL PAPERS - FOURTH EDITION. 6s. net. - -"William Dawson is a great surprise, a sheer delight. The inimitable -Sherlock Holmes will soon be rivalled in popularity by the inscrutable -William Dawson."--_Daily Telegraph._ - -"A keen sense of humour and clever character suggestion."--_Punch._ - - JITNY AND THE BOYS. - FOURTH IMPRESSION. 6s. net. - -"In the father of this family Mr. Bennet Copplestone has scored an -unqualified success. The book is full of the thoughts which make us -proud to-day and help us to face to-morrow. Yes, Jitny has my -blessing."--_Punch._ - -"A clinking motor-car story."--_Daily Chronicle._ - -JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1. - - -BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE - - HIS LAST BOW. 6s. net. - -"The experiences will be read with breathless interest by tens of -thousands who will revel in the mysteries, admire the ice-cold -reasoning of Holmes, and marvel at the ease with which he unravels the -seemingly clueless crimes. They are of the first vintage, sparkling, -rich, and very palatable."--_Daily Graphic._ - -UNIFORM ILLUSTRATED EDITION, 6s. NET EACH. - - 1. MICAH CLARKE. - 2. THE CAPTAIN OF THE "POLE STAR." - 3. THE SIGN OF FOUR. - 4. THE WHITE COMPANY. - 5. THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - 6. THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - 7. THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - 8. THE REFUGEES. - 9. THE STARK MUNRO LETTERS. - 10. THE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER GERARD. - 11. RODNEY STONE. - 12. UNCLE BERNAC: A MEMORY OF THE EMPIRE. - 13. THE TRAGEDY OF THE "KOROSKO." - 14. A DUET, WITH AN OCCASIONAL CHORUS. - 15. THE GREEN FLAG, AND OTHER STORIES OF WAR AND SPORT. - 16. THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. - 17. THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD. - 18. SIR NIGEL. - 19. THROUGH THE MAGIC DOOR. - 20. ROUND THE FIRE STORIES. - 21. THE LAST GALLEY. - 22. THE LOST WORLD. - 23. ROUND THE RED LAMP. - -ALSO AT 2s. NET EACH. - - THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - THE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER GERARD. - -TWO VOLUMES OF VERSE, 5s. NET EACH. - - SONGS OF ACTION. - SONGS OF THE ROAD. - -JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1. - - -MURRAY'S LIBRARY. - -=2s.= net each. - - ÆSOP'S FABLES--Woodcuts by Tenniel & Wolf - BARKLEY--Studies in the Art of Rat-catching - BATES--The Naturalist on the River Amazons - BENSON, A. C.--The House of Quiet - BENSON, A. C.--The Schoolmaster - BENSON, A. C.--The Thread of Gold - BISHOP--A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains - BISHOP--Unbeaten Tracks in Japan - BORROW--Lavengro - BULLEN--Cruise of the "Cachalot" - CARTWRIGHT--The Painters of Florence - CUMMING--Lion Hunter of South Africa - DARWIN--Origin of Species - FITCHETT--Deeds that Won the Empire - FITCHETT--Fights for the Flag - GORE--The Sermon on the Mount - GRANT DUFF--Notes from a Diary. First Series - HOARE--Our English Bible - HOUSMAN--An Englishwoman's Love Letters - LIVINGSTONE, THE LIFE OF DAVID. With Portrait - LIVINGSTONE--First Expedition to Africa - LUBBOCK--Round the Horn before the Mast - MALMESBURY & BROOKE-HUNT--Golden String - NAPIER--Battles and Sieges in the Peninsula - PHILLIPPS--Frescoes of the Sixtine Chapel in Rome - SMILES--James Nasmyth, Engineer - SMILES--Character - SMILES--Life and Labour - SMILES--Self-Help - STANLEY, DEAN--Memorials of Canterbury - STANLEY, DEAN--Sinai and Palestine - TAYLOR--Running the Blockade - THE LETTERS OF QUEEN VICTORIA, 1837-1861. 3 vols. (2/- net each - volume.) - -JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Many Fronts, by Lewis R. 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Freeman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Many Fronts - -Author: Lewis R. Freeman - -Release Date: March 31, 2013 [EBook #42446] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANY FRONTS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42446 ***</div> <div class="figcenter"> <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="577" alt="" /> @@ -7222,382 +7184,6 @@ rich, and very palatable.”—<cite>Daily Graphic.</cite></p></blockquo <p class="centered-block">JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1.</p> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Many Fronts, by Lewis R. Freeman - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANY FRONTS *** - -***** This file should be named 42446-h.htm or 42446-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/4/4/42446/ - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Many Fronts - -Author: Lewis R. Freeman - -Release Date: March 31, 2013 [EBook #42446] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANY FRONTS *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist, Matthew Wheaton and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - MANY FRONTS - - - - - MANY FRONTS - - BY - LEWIS R. FREEMAN - - - LONDON - JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. - 1918 - - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - THE FIGHT FOR THE GARDEN OF EDEN 7 - - IT'S A WAY THEY HAVE IN THE AIR CORPS 38 - - SHARKS OF THE AIR 66 - - TO BRITISH MERCHANT CAPTAINS 96 - - THE PASSING OF A ZEPPELIN 112 - - FIGHTING FOR SERBIA 128 - - BEATING BACK FROM GERMANY 156 - - THE SINGING SOLDIER 192 - - BLOWING UP THE CASTELLETTO 219 - - WONDERS OF THE TELEFERICA 246 - - THE GARIBALDI FIGHT AGAIN FOR FREEDOM 280 - - -My grateful acknowledgments are due to the several magazines in which -these stories and sketches have appeared:--_The Cornhill Magazine_, -_Land and Water_, and _The World's Work_ in England; and in America, -_The Atlantic Monthly_, _The World's Work_, and _The Outlook_. - - L. R. F. - _October, 1918._ - - - - -MANY FRONTS - -THE FIGHT FOR THE GARDEN OF EDEN - - -I - -I had known F---- through years of hunting and sports in India, but -never until the night that our old British-India coaster lay off the -Shat-el-Arab bar waiting for the turn of the tide to run up to -Bassorah, did I hear him speak of the things that were really next his -heart. Then it was that I was vouchsafed transient vision of the outer -strands of the previsionary web England was weaving beyond the marches -of India against events to come. I will give his story, as nearly as I -can remember, in his own words. - - * * * * * - -For the best part of the last five years [said he], I have been coming -to Arabia and Mesopotamia on "language study." In all of that time I -have not been back to England, and I am almost a stranger to the -officers of my own regiment. I talk like an Arab, I am beginning to -think like an Arab, and, what with sunlight and dirt that have gone so -deep under my epidermis that they will never come out, I shall soon -look like an Arab. Perhaps in time--you'd never believe the appeal of -the Koran till you've bowed toward Mecca, with a Bedouin on either -side of you, morning and evening, for six months at a stretch--I shall -pray like an Arab. I have had smallpox, dysentery,--which has become -practically chronic,--and a dozen varieties of fevers and skin -diseases, and I'm mottled from head to foot with "Aleppo button" -scars, two of which have never healed. I've been alone so much that I -talk to myself even in Calcutta and Simla. The Persians in this region -distrust me, the Russians and Germans hate me, and the Turks are -perfectly frank in saying that they will send me on "the long -pilgrimage" if ever a fair chance offers. - -All that my Government does is to allow my pay to go on and to provide -me with a passport that will land me at Koweit, Bassorah, or Bagdad. -If I get into trouble they will not--cannot, in fact--do as much for -me as they would for a spindle-legged Hindu coolie. And all this on -the chance that, some time before I am retired for old age or -invalided from the Indian army, the Great White Bear will try to come -down to the Persian Gulf to slake his age-long thirst. In this -contingency, of course, there is no denying the fact that I shall be -very much in demand, especially if operations are carried on in my own -"sphere," that of North-Eastern Arabia and Southern Mesopotamia, up to -a line drawn from Bagdad to Hitt. - -Afoot, or by horse or camel, I have traversed almost every square mile -of this region. There is not a bazaar from Kerbela to Koweit in which, -disguised, I cannot mingle unsuspected in the throng, or, in case of -need, call upon friends who will do anything, from giving me a -cigarette or a handful of dates to risking their lives to save my own. -I also know every one of the greater, as well as most of the lesser, -Bedouin sheikhs whose peoples roam the deserts between Bassorah and -Damascus; and with one of the most powerful of these--his camels are -over 100,000 in number and his sheep and goats three times that--I -have gone through the "blood brotherhood" ceremony. The blood of our -arms has actually mingled, and each is pledged to stop at no act to -serve the other. My friends, I need hardly say, are all Arabs, -Chaldeans, Syrians, Jews, or people of one of the other subject races -of this region; to the Turk, courteous as he is to me socially in -Bagdad and Bassorah, my name is anathema. A week hence, for instance, -I shall exchange Oriental amenities with the Vali of Bagdad in his -garden on the banks of the Tigris. He will toast me in scented coffee -and drink to the success of my visit; and all the while a double guard -of police will be watching the gates to prevent my getting away to the -desert and my Arab friends. Personally, I know it would pain him if I -were to be shot in the dark for neglecting to answer a sentry's -challenge; but officially he is dead keen for it, and there is no -doubt that it would do him a lot of good in Stamboul, where he is not -in very high favour at present. - -The whole thing, when all is said and done, resolves itself down to -about this: If a war involving operations in this "sphere" comes -within the next twenty years, I,--and a couple of other chaps who are -doing the same sort of work,--provided I do not lose my life, or my -health, or the best of my faculties in the interim, will probably -break all records outside of a Central American revolution for quick -promotion. I should probably be a brigadier-general at forty, with ten -or a dozen letters after my name. But if, as is likely, there is no -war, I shall probably continue these little jaunts into the desert -until my health gives out, when, at best, I shall be invalided home -and retired on the half-pay of a captain or a major. - -So, you see, my future depends entirely upon whether or not some of -our neighbours, or would-be neighbours, see fit to "start something" -in this little neck of Central Asia within the next decade or two. And -now that Russia is in the Entente, and we are acting so entirely in -concert with her in Persia, I'm very much afraid that it's going to be -a case of the "hope deferred which maketh the heart sick." - - -II - -The following day we caught the river steamer at Bassorah, and four -days later arrived at Bagdad, F---- putting up at the grim brown fort -which housed the British Consulate, post office, and telegraph -station. I saw him on and off for a week, usually at tiffins or -dinners given for him by some of his British friends. At other times -he was not to be found. "F---- _Sahib_ gone to bazaar," his Pathan -bearer invariably answered my inquiries; and F---- himself volunteered -no more than that he was spending a good deal of time "renewing old -acquaintances." Then, at the end of about ten days, without a good-bye -to anybody, so far as I could learn, he dropped from sight. "F---- is -off again to his Arabs," said his friends. - -"I am much relieved," the Consul whispered to me. "They hung on him -like leeches this time, but F---- got away by togging up as an -Armenian _arabana_ driver when they were expecting him as an Arab. The -Armenian came here, F---- stained his face, got into the chap's -clothes, and actually drove the _arabana_, with a load of passengers, -to Kerbela. The Turks nabbed the real driver when they caught him -going out on foot, but got little out of him, and I don't think they -know yet exactly what happened. F---- is far into the desert by this -time." - -This was in 1912, and at that time no one--least of all F----, who had -the most to gain by such an event--appeared to dream that the -blood-drenched plains of Babylonia and Assyria were likely to echo ere -many years to the tramp of hostile armies. The broad scope of -Germany's activities, extending far beyond the mere construction of -the Bagdad Railway, was evident to every one; but, this -notwithstanding, the general impression seemed to be that the -whip-hand in this region was Russia's. This feeling was aptly -expressed by an old Turkish officer with whom I discussed Near Eastern -politics at Mosul. "The Germans may build railroads," he said, -punctuating his measured speech with puffs from a gurgling _hookah_, -"and the British may build ships, and the Turks may build dams and -canals,"--referring to the reclamation work at Hindia on the -Euphrates,--"but in the end the Great White Bear will come down to the -Persian Gulf and have his drink of warm water." - -That the Germans had ambitious plans for controlling the commerce of -the incalculably rich Tigro-Euphrates Valley no one doubted, or even -that the Kaiser aimed at some sort of political control. But that -German influence should prevail over that of Britain and Russia in -Constantinople, to the extent of aligning the Porte on the side of the -Kaiser against the Triple Entente, was not dreamed of in Mesopotamia, -even by the Turks themselves. The price to the Entente, however, of -alienating Italy from the Triple Alliance by acquiescing in that -Power's conquest of Tripoli, was the irretrievable loss of Turkey's -friendship; and with the succession of Enver Pasha to the War Ministry -at the end of the first Balkan conflict, there is no doubt that the -Porte stood absolutely committed to action with Germany. After the -outbreak of the present war, Turkey's participation on the side of the -Central Powers was only a matter of the Kaiser's nod. Enver Pasha, -educated in Berlin and always actively anti-Russian, had spent nearly -two years in preparation for the struggle which the Germans had -doubtless assured him was inevitable; and the making ready for a fight -to the death at the Dardanelles was not allowed to interfere with a -general stiffening of the Eastern defences. This, briefly, was the way -in which it came about that Britain is facing Turkey instead of the -long-prepared-against Russia in the Mesopotamian "theatre." But I will -let my friend F----, to whom it was given to help set and stage the -opening scenes of the play, tell something of what happened up to the -moment of his tragic exit. - -Late in the fall of 1914, a hastily scribbled card reached me in -California. "Things looming large at last," it read. "Am off for the -'P.G.'[1] to-morrow with big work in prospect. Will write when I can -get anything of interest passed." The card was post-marked Karachi, -and dated but a few days previous to Turkey's official entry into the -war. I took it, therefore, that the Indian Government had discounted -this action, and that at the moment the Turks opened hostilities by -bombarding the Russian coast, F----, doubtless with considerable -forces, was on the way to his "sphere." - - [1] Persian Gulf. - -The promised letter was long delayed, and when it came bore the -post-mark Bassorah, not in the pothook Turkish characters, but in -plain English letters, while the blue two-and-a-half anna stamp of -India appeared in the corner formerly sacred to the narrow, pink, -half-gummed one-piastre sticker which you had often to affix with a -pin to keep it from falling off. Thus ran the letter:-- - -"I am writing you this from the one-time home port of 'Sinbad the -Sailor,' which, I am rejoiced to say, has been under our flag for some -days. The Turks had considerable forces of seasoned troops -here,--doubtless you remember how much of the old town was taken up by -barracks,--but, evidently because they did not expect us so soon, or -in such force, had done little in the way of outpost defence. This, -coupled with the facts that our naval strength was overwhelming and -the river very ineffectively mined, made what might have been an -operation of tremendous difficulty comparatively easy. The guns of our -cruisers outranged those of the old forts at the mouth of the -Shat-el-Arab, and, with sweepers working ahead of them, the -light-draught gunboats peppered so hotly those dense palm groves which -fringe the river banks that we had little difficulty in fighting our -way through them without great loss. - -"Co-operating with the advance up the river, our main force was landed -above Koweit and marched across the open desert to attack Bassorah on -the west, threatening the rear of the Turkish positions on the left -bank. Here the Turk could have made us no end of trouble had he been -in sufficient force, for the lowlands were partly inundated and a -defence of the practicable routes could have been made very effective. - -"It was the weakness of the opposition met here that first led us to -hope that Bassorah was not going to be strongly defended. Although the -advance resolved itself into little more than a series of outpost -actions, the period was an anxious one for us--and especially for -me--in that it put to the acid test the result of our work, not only -in forecasting the capricious and variable overflow, but also in -conciliating the no less capricious and variable Arabs of a region -nominally subject to Turkey. I can only tell you now that things -turned out, and are continuing to turn out, even better than we had -any reason to hope they would. There was no suggestion of a menace to -our exposed left flank from the hordes of curious but in no wise -hostile Arabs who showed themselves all along the way, and the censor -will probably not allow me to tell you that our transport and -commissariat, if nothing more, will probably be much helped by active -assistance from this source. [Here several sentences, doubtless -telling something more of the attitude of the Arabs, were obscured by -the censor's brush.] So you will see that the Turk is reaping the -harvest he deserves from his sowing of harshness and duplicity among -the Bedouins, and that the time and efforts of us 'language students' -who have worked this sphere will not have been spent in vain. - -"The Turks have undoubtedly been quite sound in deciding not to make a -stand at Bassorah. With the sea approaches in our hands, and with the -city entirely encompassed by desert and marsh, the holding of it for -any time would have hinged upon command of either the Tigris or the -Euphrates all the way to the rich agricultural region to the west of -Bagdad. As the cutting of this line by us was only a matter of time, -the city would have been isolated and forced to withstand a siege -which could only have ended in the capture of whatever forces were -locked up there. As it is, the most of these forces are now at liberty -to dispute our advance, through a very difficult country, to -Mesopotamia and Bagdad. Here it seems certain we shall have all the -fighting we care for. - -"I have not mentioned the fact that I have received my captaincy and -am assigned to the general staff. In an ordinary campaign the latter -circumstance would mean a lot of dreary consultations at headquarters, -and no action. Here, Allah be praised, the case is quite different. -R----, K---- (the two chaps who have also worked this sphere), and I -are always called in, if we chance to be on hand, when the maps are -unrolled; but most of the time the whole lot of us are off on -something else. R---- has been through the Turkish lines twice, once -spending three days in Kurna, their advanced base, and I have been off -on a week's journey to receive renewed assurances of the friendship of -my Bedouin 'blood-brother.' It is going to be a jolly amusing game." - - -III - -Another letter came from F---- a month later, this being in answer to -one I had rushed off on receiving the card announcing his departure -for the Persian Gulf:-- - -"You ask what we are driving at here, by which I suppose you mean, -'What is our plan of campaign?' This, obviously, is a question I can -answer only in the most general way. Our principal purpose in the -present campaign will be the occupation of southern and central -Mesopotamia up to and including the cities of Bagdad and Kerbela, a -region roughly corresponding to what might be called ancient Babylonia -proper. Our objective in this is twofold. First, to gain control of -all the irrigated--and hence highly productive--portion of the -Tigro-Euphrates Valley, and, second, to establish ourselves strongly -upon the flank of Persia in the event that that country should show a -disposition to make common cause with our enemy. - - [Illustration: MAP OF THE TIGRO-EUPHRATES VALLEY, Where the - operations against Bagdad were carried out.] - -"There is little doubt that the advance to Bagdad will be a fight all -the way. The most difficult country will be that between here and -about fifty miles north of where the Tigris and Euphrates come -together. Most of this area is marshy all the year, and practically -all of it will be under water from the spring floods by the time we -are ready to get into it. An endless network of 'canals' and backwater -channels makes it practically impossible to advance on foot even -across much of the overflow country, and one of the main reasons for -our long halt in Bassorah has been the training of our men in the use -of the various native craft which will have to figure in our -transport. Luckily, the Turks will be under the same handicap as -ourselves in this region, and our superior artillery and organisation -are sure to give us the 'edge.' The real fighting is going to come -when we emerge upon the level alluvial plains of Central Mesopotamia. -Here the enemy will have the Bagdad railway at his back, and, without -doubt, a pretty complete little system of German-made light railways -to keep him in munitions and food. - -"It may be that it will take us to the end of 1915 to attain our first -goal. Then, if a decision in Europe has not been reached in the -meantime, our next general advance would be up the Tigris to Samara, -Tekrit, and Mosul, and up the Euphrates to Hitt and Deyr; this advance -would place in our hands an upland grain-growing region of -considerable productivity. Still another campaign would have to be -launched to occupy the country up to a line from Aleppo to Mardin or -Diarbekir; but Russia should reach this region from the Caucasus -before we can get there from the south. Upon the guns and munitions -which the Germans are able to send through to Bagdad will depend the -character of the stand that the Turk is going to make in Babylonia. - -"But what a game it is going to be, this fight for the old Garden of -Eden,--with the high-banked canals and the crumbling walls of Babylon -and Hitt serving for trenches and forts, and the _khans_ which -sheltered Ali Baba and Haroun-al-Raschid as outposts! Why, the -'G.C.C.' and I have even discussed how we are going to use that -isolated old _tepe_ of Birs Nimrud--which some call the 'Tower of -Babel'--when the time comes! - -"Our transport for the new campaign will probably be the most -remarkable thing of the kind ever assembled. The fact that the -country into which we are advancing will be largely under water will -compel us to become practically amphibious. On land we are using -camels, horses, mules, and donkeys, while on the water the services of -everything, from the native _balems_, _gufas_, and _kaleks_ to -shallow-draught gunboats and river-steamers, will be in demand. The -old Bagdad side-wheelers have all been converted into gunboats, but -even their slight draught of five or six feet is too great for all but -the main river-channels. One of these, by the way, went into action -the other day with an armour improvised from mats of dried dates. Of -course the Turkish shrapnel made an awful mess of it, and, I am sorry -to say, also of the chaps behind it. - -"The direction of the training of our men in the use of the native -watercraft has been one of my recent duties. The _balem_ is a -gondola-like sort of boat which has long been used for passenger -transport on the canals and rivers of this region. It may be rowed, -sculled, or paddled, and since it is of fairly stable equilibrium, the -men are not long in mastering it. The _gufa_, however, is quite -another matter. It is a slightly flattened ball of woven reeds covered -with pitch, having a hole from five to ten feet across at the top to -receive passengers and freight. It is propelled by paddling, now on -one side, now on the other, and two or three old hands can make very -fair progress with it. A novice, however, can do little more than make -the thing spin on its own axis. Moreover, he invariably renders -himself still more helpless by laughing at his own uselessness; and -although some of the more serious-minded Sepoys have made considerable -progress in handling the _gufa_, I am afraid we shall never be able to -make Thomas Atkins, or his equally frivolous comrade-in-arms, the -Ghurka, take it as other than a perpetual joke. - -"A score of miles to the north of here, a few days ago, a dozen -dismounted troopers, in lieu of anything better to hand, tried to -cross a broad back channel of the Shat-el-Arab in a _gufa_, in order -to dislodge some troublesome Turkish snipers. Their best efforts, -however, served only to send the contrary craft bobbing down their own -bank, the finest kind of a mark for the enemy's sharpshooters. The -latter (I have this on the word of the sergeant whose misplaced -enthusiasm was responsible for the trouble), evidently highly amused, -held their fire until after the 'marines,' as they have since been -dubbed by their comrades, had kicked a hole in the bottom of the -_gufa_ and been compelled to take to the water. The few scattering -shots fired even then were apparently sent only with the intent of -'shooing' several belligerent Tommies back to their own side, for the -only casualty reported was the drowning of a man who, in the language -of one of his surviving comrades, 'caught 'is bloomin' spur in the -bally goofy an' got 'eld under water.' - -"Which incident reminds me to say a word for our old friend, the Turk, -as a sporting fighter. Of course, we knew all the time that he was a -first-class offensive fighter and a superlative defensive one; but, -because for years we have known him under such characterisations as -'The Terrible,' and 'The Unspeakable,' we had come to expect from him -a programme of 'frightfulness' quite in keeping with that of his -allies of the Occident. That nothing of this character has been in -evidence is one of the most refreshing surprises of the campaign. I -can only set down here one of a number of instances in point which -have fallen under my observation. - -"You doubtless read in the papers that the Turks made an attempt in -some force to recover Bassorah a few weeks ago, going by boats to -Nasire, on the Euphrates, and marching from there around the -inundation area to approach this point from the west. Fortunately, one -of our 'friends' sent us word of what was afoot, and we were able to -prepare a proper reception at Shaiba. It was after we had beaten them -back at this point, and while they were fighting rearguard actions in -a most cleverly conducted retreat, that the incident I have in mind -occurred. I was out with, though not in command of, a troop of cavalry -which was pressing the pursuit a considerable distance ahead of our -main force. About eleven o'clock in the morning we found our way -blocked by a small detachment of the enemy which had been left to make -a stand at an isolated _khan_, one of those walled desert -halting-places of the caravanserai order,--really more of a fort than -a tavern. - -"There was no use in trying to dislodge the Turks until the guns came -up, but, unluckily, about a dozen chaps, out of touch with their -officer, attempted to rush the gate 'on their own.' The enemy coolly -let them come on to about a hundred yards from the _khan_, and then, -unmasking a machine-gun, dropped them all in a space not fifty feet -square. A rifle volley brought down the three or four reckless spirits -who, in spite of wounds, staggered to their feet and lurched ahead. -Taking advantage of the cover afforded by a pair of old canal banks, -we managed to get up within about three hundred yards of the _khan_ -gate without exposing ourselves dangerously, there to wait for our -field guns and to be ready to make it lively for our Turkish friends -in case they tried to evacuate in the meantime. - -"For a while we thought that, mercifully, no life remained in any of -the still, sprawling brown figures in front of the _khan_; but -presently, with his face covered with the dirt a sniper's bullet had -thrown on it as he put his head up for a look, a man crawled back to -report to Major S---- that he had seen a hand feebly raised as though -trying to attract our attention. Verifying the truth of the statement -at the risk of his big new _shikar_ helmet, S---- promptly called for -volunteers to try to bring the wounded man in. 'It's a slim chance,' -he said, 'but this noonday sun would kill an unwounded man lying on -his face for an hour out there. We've got to make the attempt.' - -"Passing down the line, S---- picked the four spryest and wiriest -looking of the sprawling row of grimy Tommies, each of whom had raised -an appealing hand as the word for volunteers passed along. 'Make the -best of the cover of that strip of date-palms, and bring in the -man--he's the one nearest us--the same way,' he ordered just about as -he would have sent them out on patrol. 'We'll give the Turks what -diversion we can in the meantime.' - -"Then we began peppering the ports of the old _khan_ in a blind and -large sort of way that had little effect, as a consequence of the fact -that the machine-gun fire which came in reply made it impossible to -put our heads up to aim. Enough of a diversion was created, however, -to allow the volunteers to make their way, apparently unobserved, to -the farther end of the palm clump. But a hail of bullets met them as -they left cover, and the last of them dropped while he was still a -dozen yards from the object of his rush. The three first to fall lay -still,--shot dead, as we learned later,--but the last one, in spite of -a punctured femur, presently pulled himself together and began to -crawl forward. It was not until this moment, I am certain, that the -Turks fully comprehended what we were driving at; for now, although -they continued to keep us under cover with sweeping jets from their -machine-gun, not another shot was directed at the man on the ground. -Nor was there any attempt to check his painful progress as he dragged -the man he had been sent after back to the palm grove. Nor yet, finest -of all, did the Turks try to wing a single one of another brave four, -who, disdaining the cover of the palm trunks, dashed out to relieve -their comrade of his burden. - -"Encouraged by the forbearance of the enemy, we were about to send out -a squad under a white flag to see if any more of the wounded were -alive, when dust clouds on the southern horizon warned the Turkish -leader that our field-guns were coming up; and, with his task of -delaying the pursuit well fulfilled, he made ready to retire by -sweeping our cover with a fresh fusillade. The only gate of the -_khan_, opening to the south, was completely covered from our -position; but the resourceful Turk coolly breached the northern wall -with a flake or two of gun-cotton, and, the first thing we knew, the -whole troop--machine-gun and all--went scurrying off across the -desert. For two or three minutes they were fair marks for us, and, as -they sent several Parthian volleys themselves, there was no military -reason why we should not have tried to bring down a few of them. As a -matter of fact, we did send a few perfunctory volleys; but if its -shooting on that occasion was any criterion of the marksmanship of -S----'s troop, Allah have mercy on it when it comes to real grips -with the Turk! Not one of the fugitives dropped from his saddle, and -I don't think one of them was hit. If we had done for even a man of -them, imagine what our feelings would have been when, on taking -possession of the _khan_, we found, hung carefully in a thick-walled -crypt well beyond all danger from our rifle fire, three goatskins of -clear, cold water, while scrawled on the wall, in both French and -Turkish, was the direction, 'For the Wounded.' As we had been out of -water for hours ourselves, and as a few cups sufficed for the two or -three wounded who had survived the withering sun heat, you may surmise -that our hostility toward the 'unspeakable Turk' was not materially -increased by this latter incident. - -"The chap who was rescued at so great a cost died a few hours later, -but rather from exposure to the sun than from his wound, which was -slight. The man who brought him in is well on the road to recovery -and, I trust, a V.C." - - -IV - -My next, and what proved to be my last, letter from F---- reached me -in London:-- - -"Our general advance has begun, and we have attained our first -important objective in the occupation of the 'Garden of Eden.' Not -the greater 'Garden of Eden,' which name Sir William Willcocks applies -to all of Mesopotamia south of Hitt and Samara, but the traditional -site of the Garden at the meeting of the Tigris and Euphrates. This -was surely one of the strangest engagements in history. The country -was under water for miles around, and the Turks had fortified and -elected to make their stand on the only dry ground in the whole -region, a series of low rises--hardly to be called hills--in the rear -of Kurna. Fortunately, their available artillery was not powerful. We -had prepared for the assault by emplacing batteries of heavy howitzers -at every point sufficiently solid to support them, while lighter guns -were mounted on the river-steamers and on barges. - -"After a heavy shelling of the Turkish positions our troops, in -everything from _balems_ and _gufas_ to _kaleks_ and gunboats, were -rowed, paddled, poled, and steamed forward to the limit of the draught -of their respective craft. Then over they went into the water, and the -assault commenced. Luckily the Turkish guns had been pretty well put -out of action by our howitzers, else that half-mile or more through -mud and water would have been a very costly business for us. As it -was, some barges and _kaleks_ with machine-guns on them were brought -up close to the enemies' lines, and, the fire of these and the -gunboats having made the Turkish positions practically untenable, the -troops had to do little more than go and round up a very sizeable -bunch of prisoners who had been cut off by a swift flanking movement -of a column of Sepoys. Some of our men, in their eagerness, went -overboard into deep water, and, as a consequence, had to chuck their -accoutrements and swim for it. A number of them, in fact, lost more -than their arms; and a bevy whom I saw later helping to shepherd some -Turkish prisoners aboard a gunboat had little to differentiate them, -sartorially, from Father Adam in the earliest days of this same -'Garden of Eden.' - -"I had a rather interesting job a few days ago. This was to lead a -small picked force across country and destroy a bridge of boats which -the Turks were endeavouring to maintain across the Tigris at the Tomb -of Ezra, for the use of any stragglers who might still be drifting -back from the south. - -"You recall the Bible story of this famous structure. The Prophet -Ezra, faring about this region in his old age, feeling the hand of -Death upon him, directed his followers to bind his body to a camel, -drive the animal into the desert, and where it finally lay down to -rest, there to make the holy man's burial-place. The camel headed -straight for the nearest reach of the Tigris, and there the -brilliantly-tiled tomb which was reared above the Prophet's remains -stands to this day, a mecca for Jews and Mohammedans alike. - -"I didn't make a very brilliant success of my job with the bridge of -boats. We got into a marsh in the darkness and waded about in it until -too late to make the night surprise I had counted upon at Ezra's Tomb. -We did get there at dawn, however, and, principally because the Turks -must have thought we had strong support coming up, managed to induce -the latter to evacuate his very good position about the Tomb and -retire to the east bank of the river. We established ourselves in one -of the Tomb gardens, but could go no farther for the moment on account -of the brisk and accurate fire of the enemy from the other side. - -"Most of the day I lay on my back in a bed of petunias under the -garden wall, and gorged myself on the ripe pomegranates which the -Turkish bullets cut down from the trees above. But about mid-afternoon -they knocked a couple of bee-hives off the wall into the very midst of -us, and, as we were wearing 'shorts,' with nothing to protect the leg -from calf to knee, the sequel was a very unpleasant one. So dead sure -were those bees that our inoffensive little party was responsible for -upsetting their homes that they divided themselves into just as many -bands as we were men, and started, impartially and systematically, to -sting us to death. My men were out of hand in an instant, and I really -believe that, had not a modern miracle been wrought, another -minute would have seen the whole pack of us, careless of such -trifles as Turkish rifle and machine-gun fire, wallowing in the -fifty-yard-distant Tigris. - -"The miracle was performed by a little pink-cheeked, bare-footed angel -of a Jewess, evidently the 'shepherd of the bees.' Unconcernedly -tripping out among the writhing 'casualties,' oblivious alike to the -threat of Turkish bullets and the roaring masses of bees, she set up -the punctured hives in a safe place under the wall, and then began to -beat sharply with a stick upon an old bronze gong which was suspended -from her neck by a thong. Instantly the bees stopped stinging, and -inside of five minutes the last of them was settling back with a -contented buzz into its hive. I could have kissed the stubby brown -toes of the pink-cheeked little angel of mercy. And here again let me -record to the credit of the Turks that, although her head and -shoulders must have been visible to them above the low wall, they made -no attempt to stop with a bullet the work which, had they only known -it, was all that prevented the whole lot of us from falling into their -hands. - -"Every man of us was, of course, in beastly shape from the stings. My -own agony from this source was infinitely worse than that from a -bullet which ploughed up my scalp when we cut the bridge of boats -after darkness had fallen; in fact, if the truth were known, I think -the desperate pain all of the boys were in had a good deal to do with -the absolute recklessness they displayed when the time came for us to -try to fulfil our mission. I heard one chap tell another he was afraid -that he _wasn't_ going to get shot, and the whole bunch acted as if -they felt the same way. Luckily, the Turks had no searchlight, and it -is probable their own fire helped not a little in breaking up the -bridge. At any rate, it went off down the yellow Tigris in a score of -sections, and we--or what was left of us--with it. A half-dozen -impetuous Turks who, in their eagerness to get at close quarters, had -come out to welcome us half-way, were also carried along when the -bridge broke up. After that it was a case of _sauve qui peut_ for all -of us, and I'm sorry to say that only about a third of the force I -started out with has, so far, straggled back to Kurna." - - -V - -I was still chuckling over F----'s account of his experience with the -bees when, opening the latest issue of the _Sphere_ the following -afternoon, I saw his familiar face smiling back at me from the corner -of one of the first pages. "Been getting mentioned in dispatches," I -said to myself; and then the title of the page, on which appeared a -score of other portraits, met my eye: "Dead on the Field of Honour; -Officers Killed in Action." There were no particulars, not even a -date; nor was anything further to be learned behind the tape-bound -portals of Whitehall. To the officers of F----'s regiment, now -fighting in Flanders, some few details were ultimately vouchsafed; and -from one of these, whom I encountered a few days ago, during his leave -in London, I learned all that I have so far been able to gather -concerning the death of my friend. - -"F----'s work in cutting the bridge of boats across the Tigris," he -said, "is spoken of as one of the most daring things of the -Mesopotamian campaign. Undoubtedly he deserved a V.C. for it, and it -is just possible one may be awarded posthumously. He was slightly -wounded there, but must have been out on duty again within a very few -days. According to the account we have received, he was off on some -special detail when he came upon a number of imbeciles of the -transport trying to ferry several camels and machine-guns across a -back channel of the Euphrates on a _kalek_, a sort of raft consisting -of a light platform resting on inflated sheepskins. One of the camels -had kicked a hole in the platform and was rapidly demolishing the -supporting skins, when F----, fearing the loss of the guns, swam off -to try and set things right. In endeavouring to extricate the camel, -he ducked under the _kalek_, where, it seems likely, his wounded head -was struck by one of the brute's sharp hoofs, and he let go his grip -and sank before any one could get hold of him. Glorious death, wasn't -it,--for a man who had led the life F---- had, and who, for that -particular region, was the most nearly indispensable man with the -expedition?" - -Two months have gone by since F----'s last letter was written, and -the Mesopotamian campaign has been prosecuted along the general lines -he forecasted at the outset. Nasire and Amara have fallen, and the -early winter will see the armies drawn up for the final fight for -Bagdad, probably upon that same Plain of Shinar where the scarlet -desert flowers still keep alive the old belief that - - Never blows so red - The rose as where some buried Caesar bled. - -For destiny has decreed that once more the might of two rival races -shall lock in death-grips for the possession of that age-old prize, -the Garden of Eden. Eve was put without the gates when she tasted of -the Forbidden Fruit, and right on down through the ages the same -undeviating penalty has been inflicted upon the Babylonian, Mede, -Assyrian, and other empires that gorged themselves upon the Forbidden -Fruit of Corruption. Brave foeman that he is, the Turk, cloyed with -the same Forbidden Fruit, has long been marked for the inexorable -justice of the ages, and every precedent of tradition, history, and -strategy points to the conclusion that the closing hour of his -stewardship of the Garden of Eden is about to strike. - - - - -"IT'S A WAY THEY HAVE IN THE AIR CORPS" - - -I - -It had been all of nine years since I first met Horne at an _estancia_ -house-party in the heart of the Argentine Pampas, and fully seven -since I last saw him at a banquet given at the Buenos Aires Jockey -Club in his honour, a day or two after he had led his four to victory -in the finals of the River Plate polo championships. Yet, in spite of -the pallor of a face I had always remembered as bronzed, and a slight -hitch in his once swinging gait, I recognised him instantly--it was -the keen, piercing glance, I think, and the sudden flash of white -teeth in the quick smile--when he hailed me from a passing taxi and -came hobbling back along the broad pavement of Whitehall to meet me. - -"What does this mean?" I asked, indicating his jaunty Flying Corps -uniform, after we had shaken hands. "I thought it was the army you -were in before you resigned to become an opulent _estanciero_ and -'man-about-the-Pampas.'" - -"It was the army I came back to," he replied, "and I was with my old -regiment at Neuve Chapelle when a fragment of hand-grenade effected a -semi-solution of the continuity of one of my Achilles tendons and put -a period on my further usefulness in that branch of the service. The -'air' was still open to me, however, and, as I had already dabbled in -flying,--I was the first man to pilot an aeroplane across the Plate -estuary,--I got a commission almost immediately, and so lost very -little time." - -"But your 'lily-white' face and hands," I pressed. "I never heard that -the air had a bleaching effect on the complexion." - -"Oh--that--" (Horne looked absently at a blue-veined hand and shuffled -uneasily), "that must have come from my spell of 'C.H.'--confined in -hospital. Got knocked up a bit again. Flying over Belgium. Got shot -down and hit the edge of Holland a trifle too hard when I volplaned -over the boundary. Telescoped a few vertebrae, that's all. Now, be a -good chap and stop asking questions and jump in with me and come along -to the Club." - -Horne waited for me while I picked up a few promised figures at the -"Lloyd-Georgery," as he facetiously called the new Ministry of -Munitions in Whitehall Gardens, and then took me up to one of the -Service clubs in Piccadilly. There, without giving me further chance -to "get him up into the air," he launched at once into news and -reminiscence of the Plate and the Pampas. When I left him at six, we -had talked for close on two hours without more than the most casual -reference to events of the war. - -"A keen patriot, like all the rest of these young Britons who have -flocked home from overseas to fight for their country," I reflected as -I sauntered down through Green Park; "but certainly not keen on his -work." I even speculated as to whether or not Horne might be in some -sort of trouble in the service. Nothing else seemed to account for the -man's reticence regarding everything connected with his special -activities. - -A few days later Horne called me up to ask me to dine with him that -evening at a famous old restaurant in the Strand. - -"'S----'s' is a bit more 'merry and bright' than this old tomb of a -Club," he said, "and a few of the Flying Corps chaps who are in the -habit of rendezvousing there while in London on leave you'll find well -worth knowing." - -The gathering was even more informal than I had anticipated. One of -the long tables, it appeared, was set aside for "R.F.C." officers and -their friends, and these dropped in by twos and threes, as suited -their convenience, all the way from seven to ten o'clock. - -There were half-a-dozen men at the table when Horne and I entered, and -all of these--they had stalls for a new "revue"--presently took their -leave. One of the group was a South African, one a New Zealander, and -two Australians. The latter we found bent over the racing page of the -Sydney _Bulletin_, while the New Zealander was evidently trying to -persuade the Africander that a dairy herd near Wellington offered -better prospects than a general farm in Rhodesia. One of the -Australians, whose family was interested in an importing house, -lingered behind a moment to ask me if I thought the war was going to -force up the price of American agricultural machinery in foreign -markets. None of them said a word about flying, and Horne volunteered -no more than that they were all "good men--that little chap from New -Zealand really 'topping.'" - -Horne, with the fleshpots of Argentina in his mind, ordered solidly -and lengthily, and three or four more officers had "wolfed" hasty -meals of roast beef and whisky-and-soda before our _Chateaubriand_ -(which represents the nearest Anglo-French equivalent to the _carne -asado_ of the Pampas) had been done to its proper turn over the -coals. These, like the others, rattled on about the music-halls, the -homeland, the "rotten London weather"--anything and everything, in -fact, save the war in general and the war in the air in particular. - -One, it is true,--he had come from France only that afternoon,--in -accounting for a bandaged hand, did mention something about getting a -finger jammed under the belt of his machine-gun; but it seemed to -occur to no one to inquire what he had been shooting at, or whether or -not he had hit it, or any of a dozen or so other things concerning -which I, for one, was at once consumed with interest. - -By nine all of those with theatre or other engagements had come and -gone, and the eight or ten still seated at the table were leisurely -diners with the evening on their hands. Yet not even among these -unhurried ones was there evident any inclination to talk of their -work. On the contrary, I fancied I discerned an inclination to avoid, -to "side-step" it. When they were reminiscent, it was the friends and -events of their old life--"trekking," "caravanning," "hiking," -"mushing"; Arctic midnights and tropic dawns; strange odds and ends of -adventure by land and sea--that they called up. And when they spoke -of the present, it was in connection with little happenings incident -to their leaves--with the comparative merits of "kit" shops, Turkish -baths, "revue" favourites, the pros and cons of drink restriction, and -the extortionate charges of dentists. - -Yet every man of them appeared true to what I have since come to -recognise as a rapidly-developing type--the "Flying Type." The army -aviator of to-day is picked for his quickness of mind and body, and -the first thing that strikes you about him is a sort of feline, -wound-up-spring alertness. Then you note his reticence, the cool -reserve of a man whose lot it is to express himself in deeds rather -than words. And lastly there is the quiet seriousness, verging almost -on sadness, of the man who must hold himself ready to look Death -between the eyes at any moment, and yet keep his mind detached for -other things. - -It was the youngest, and therefore the least "formed," officer of the -lot--a lad who had left his cacao plantation in Trinidad to come home -and fight--who was responsible for the only "shop" discussion of the -evening. Noting that he was eating but little, and constantly passing -his hand over his temples, some one asked him banteringly if he was -"homesick or only lovesick." - -"Neither," he answered, relaxing his set lips in a forced smile. "Had -a bit of an accident yesterday, and have had a deuce of a headache -ever since. Can't for the life of me make out whether it comes from -going up too high or coming down too quick. I went up higher and came -down faster than ever before in my experience. Landed all right, but -ever since I've felt as though I were being blown up by a tire-pump -that was driving air into every capillary and nerve-tip. My head feels -as though some one was opening up a jack-screw inside of it. Suppose I -should have gone to the hospital and found out what was wrong, but I -didn't want to spoil my leave. Maybe some of you chaps can tell me why -I feel as though I had to keep holding my head together to stop its -flying to pieces," he concluded, pressing the heels of his hands to -his temples to offset the seeming pressure from within. - -Every one stopped talking and leaned forward with interest, and for an -instant I thought the curtain was going to drop and reveal something -of the experiences, if not the minds, of those khaki-clad sphinxes of -the air. Horne's coldly professional diagnosis dashed the hope. -"Altitude," he pronounced laconically. "Got over twelve thousand, -didn't you? Over thirteen thousand? That accounts for it. And you -went up wide-open, trying to take 'pride of place' away from a Fokker, -I suppose? Of course. And when you got there you began to feel like a -deep-sea fish looks when you bring him up out of the kelp-beds and his -own air-bladders blow him up? A man can go up fifteen thousand feet by -rail or on foot without more than a shortness of breath and occasional -nose-bleed. But not every man--and not even every seasoned flyer--can -stand jumping up to twelve thousand feet in the half-hour that some of -the new machines can negotiate that height in. The difficulty's almost -entirely physical, and it all depends upon how a man is made whether -or not his flesh and blood will accommodate themselves to the suddenly -reduced pressure of the atmosphere. There's no growing used to it. If -it 'gets' you once, it's pretty sure to do it again. At the best you -may only have a bad headache and a sort of 'boiled-owl' feeling for a -week. At the worst you faint, lose control of your machine, and are -listed among the casualties of 'cause unknown.' Did _you_ lose -control, by any chance?" - -"I think not," was the reply. "It was a second German machine--one -that I hadn't seen--that brought me down. It came nose-diving down -out of a cloud, shaking its tail, and giving me a regular shower-bath -of bullets--the usual Fokker trick. I'm almost positive I can remember -all the way down. Fact is, with my machine in the shape that it was -after its peppering, any 'lapse' on my part would have started it -somersaulting at once. No. Rotten as I felt, I'm sure I kept -'connected up' mentally all the way down." - -Horne shook his head dubiously. "You may be able to stick it," he -said; "but before you try any more big-game shooting among the high -places, best have a few practice flights in the upper empyrean. The -sooner a man learns his altitude limit the better. There's plenty of -useful work below twelve thousand feet for the man who begins to -'blow-up'--mentally or physically--above that height." - -Conversation became general again even before Horne had finished -speaking, for to most of them there was nothing new in what he was -saying. None but the man on the left of the young West Indian ventured -an inquiry as to the details of what had happened, and it was only by -straining my ears that I was able to catch the drift of the -low-voiced, almost monosyllabic exchange. - -"Get your petrol tank?" - -"No, for a wonder. Got about everything else, though. Propeller all -chewed up; wings a pair of sieves. Bumped the bumps all the way down. -Ground was about the softest thing I hit." - -"Any one get the Hun?" - -"None of us. Got himself, though. He came breezing out of a tuft of -cirro-cumuli all of fifteen thousand feet up, and seemed to be going -wild; sort of running amuck. Seemed to be trying to ram me when he -nose-dived, and the reason he bored me so full of holes was that he -didn't sheer off to give me a berth. Missed me by a hair, and almost -upset me with his wind. But he never recovered from his dive. Just -seemed to lose control and started going end over end. Fell almost -into some of our trenches. I landed five miles away from the wreck of -him with nothing shot up but my machine and my nerves." - -"Any one get the first machine--the one you went up after?" - -"No. It had the heels of all of us. The Hun's 'Archies'[2] brought -down one of our machines that tried to follow it." - - [2] Soldiers' slang for anti-aircraft guns.--THE EDITORS. - -"Shop" interest waned at this juncture, and the conversation upon -which I had been eavesdropping veered off _via_ headache-remedies and -a pretty Scotch nurse at a hospital in France to the comparative -merits of the "Empire" and "Alhambra" choruses; and I was able to turn -both ears to Horne, who had been holding forth learnedly for some -minutes on the points of the Andean pony-thoroughbred cross as a polo -mount. - - -II - -Our fellow diners drifted away as they had come--singly, and in twos -and threes--and by ten o'clock Horne and I were alone in the deserted -lounge with our cigars and coffee. He was expecting to be rung up at -ten-thirty, he said, and as the time approached I could not help -noticing that he became _distrait_ and nervous, palpably anxious. The -call came promptly, and it was with a look of ill-concealed -apprehension on his face that he rose to follow the summoning flunkey -to the telephone booth. A minute later he returned walking on air. -Twice or thrice he tried to take up the dropped thread of Argentine -reminiscence, finally giving it up as a bad job. - -"I can't help telling you that I've just had some very good news," he -exclaimed, with beaming face. "For six weeks now I have been haunted -by a fear that that last jarring up I got was going to put me out of -the game for good. Yesterday I had the doctors go over me, and now, -after being kept all day on tenterhooks, comes word that, so far as -flying is concerned, I'm going to be as right as rain. Nothing -whatever likely to occur to prevent my going back in a fortnight. I -think I must be just about the happiest man in London to-night. I----" - -He checked himself with a deprecatory gesture. "Really, you'll have to -pardon my outburst, old chap; but I wasn't half sure that I wasn't in -line for invaliding out. Besides, I've been fairly itching to be 'up' -all day. There's been witchery in the air ever since sunrise. I've -never known more perfect flying weather. Which reminds me, by the way, -that the Zepps are expected in this vicinity to-night. They were on -the 'East Coast' last night, you know. It's just a little too clear -for their purposes; but the air itself is perfect--_perfect_. There -haven't been more than one or two other such days for flying as this -one since the war began. You can't understand it till you've been in -the air yourself. It was in the blood of all those chaps at dinner -this evening. They talked about everything on earth except flying; and -were thinking about nothing else but that. Didn't you notice that they -were as restive as the lions in the Zoo an hour before feeding time?" - -Throwing aside all reserve, Horne began to speak of his work--his love -of it, the fascination of it, the great and increasingly important -part it was playing in the war. This was precisely what, hoping -against hope, I had been trying to draw him out on all the evening; -and so, lighting a fresh cigar, I sank back contentedly in my armchair -to play the part of the appreciative auditor. Scarcely was I well -settled, however, when Horne abruptly ceased speaking and leaned -forward with his head cocked in an attitude of attentive listening. - -"Did you hear that?" he whispered; "and that, and that?" - -"Nothing but the chatter of the first dribble of the supper crowd," I -answered. "What is it?" - -"Bombs," was the reply; "three or four of them. And, I think, -gun-fire. The Zepps must be nearer London than they have been at any -time since last October. Let's get down to the Embankment. We can see -from there, if anywhere. They never wander far from the 'river road.'" - -The Strand, packed with the crowds from the emptying theatres, was -plainly oblivious and unalarmed, and I promptly taxed Horne with -letting either the wine or the "perfect air conditions" go to his -head. He said nothing, but, all the way down the black little canyon -of a street along which we threaded our way, appeared to be listening -intently. Not until we were about to emerge into the brighter -blankness of the Embankment did he speak again. - -"There have been no more bombs," he said, "but I think the guns are -going right along. If the sound is too faint for your 'unattuned' ear, -perhaps the fact that you hear no shunting of trains or whistling at -Charing Cross or Waterloo (you know of the new order which halts all -trains during air-raids) will convince you that the Zepps are about. -Or if not that, then come along here and have some ocular evidence. -What do you say to that?" And Horne pointed off down past the looming -mass of St. Paul's to where the stationary beam of a single -searchlight laid low along the eastern horizon. - -"I see the searchlight plainly enough," I said, "but where's the -Zepp?" - -"Take my glass," said Horne, handing me a small pair of -semi-collapsible binoculars which was evidently a constant companion. -"Now focus on that point of brighter glow, with a shadow behind it, -half-way down the shaft--right there, straight over the back of the -right-hand lion at the foot of the Obelisk." - -I did as directed, fairly to gasp with astonishment as a tiny blur, so -indistinct as to go unnoticed by the passers-by on the Embankment, -sharpened to a long, yellow-ribbed pencil, with pin-points of -light--fireflies escorting a glow-worm--flashing out and disappearing -above and below and round about it. - -"The first Zepp to get over London in six months," I ejaculated -excitedly. "How long will she take to get here? Hadn't we better get -away from the river and under cover? But no," I went on, peering -through the glass again; "I don't think she's coming this way. Seems -to be standing still. Probably hovering over W----, the old -objective." - -"London! W----!" laughed Horne. "Do you realise that _you_ didn't hear -any bombs, and that none of these people have any idea that there's a -raiding Zeppelin, with shells bursting about it, squarely in their -range of vision? That fellow's all of twenty-five miles away, and as -for its 'hovering,' you may rest assured that when you see a Zepp with -incendiary shells bursting _above_ it, it is either badly hit or else -doing seventy miles an hour toward the home hangars. As a matter of -fact, I've been expecting to see this fellow begin to drop at any -moment. He's evidently run into better guns and gunners than he -counted on. Ah! No hope!" (Horne snatched his glass and turned it -quickly on the now agitated searchlight beam.) "He's gone. Even the -light's lost him." - -Horne turned around disgustedly, led the way to a bench by the curb, -pushed along a somnolent "match dame" to make room for him, and -wearily sat down. - -"He's slippery game--the Zepp," he observed presently, after watching -the futile flounderings of the questing searchlight. "I didn't tell -you, did I, that it was through trying to get a Zepp that I came that -last cropper of mine over Belgium?" - -"You know perfectly well you didn't," I replied, folding a corner of -the old match-seller's straggling cloak back over her knees and -sitting down in the space vacated. "Go to it." - -"I was starting on a reconnaissance over a corner of Belgium just as -the Zepp was returning from a raid over France. I got above him, and -just after I dropped my first bomb the 'Archies' opened up on me from -the ground and put me out at just about the first shot. Jolly nervy -work, with my machine only a couple of hundred feet above the Zepp. A -little too nervy, perhaps, for I've never been quite certain in my -own mind whether it was my bomb or one from the German guns which sent -the Zepp--not wrecked but pretty badly messed up--down into a -sugar-beet field. I headed----" - -"Just a moment," I interrupted, anticipating the end of the tale at -the end of Horne's next breath. "You're dumping over your story just -the way a Zeppelin under fire dumps over its bombs. Now please back up -and tell it properly. The night is young, the raiders are now headed -out to sea, and the lady and I are here to follow you to the end." - - -III - -Horne laughed uneasily, fumbled through his pockets in a vain search -for matches, filched a box from the tilted tray of our nodding -companion,--leaving a sixpence in its place,--lit his pipe, puffed -pensively for a minute or two; and even after all that preparation -made his beginning apologetic. - -"I don't know that I've ever told the yarn from the beginning," he -said, "and I'm dead sure I've never said much about the end. If I -chatter a bit to-night, you'll please check it up against the good -news I had a while ago--and the air. A man could pretty nearly walk on -the air as it has been to-day, and a machine would slide through it -like tearing silk. Funny thing, but it was in the dawn following -almost just such a night as this that I went off on the flight I have -spoken of. - -"There are three main factors in flying,"--Horne spoke more freely -again as he digressed upon generalities,--"the man, the machine, and -the atmosphere. Theoretically, man and machine are supposed to be sent -out in perfect order, ready to take the air as they find it. There -_are_ days, of course, when you are 'off', your machine 'cranky,' and -the air all 'heights' and 'hollows,' and at such times there is pretty -sure to be a 'stormy passage,' if nothing worse. Usually, however, -it's a fairly fit man and machine against indifferent air. But once or -twice a year there comes a period, like the last eighteen hours, when -the air is almost absolutely 'homogeneous,' and then, with his engine -running 'sweet,' the man has spells of fancying himself an 'air god' -in fact as well as in name, and acts accordingly,--invariably either -to his own or his enemy's sorrow. - -"It was like that on the morning I am telling you about--man, machine, -and air all in harmony--yes, and with the usual result. I would have -remembered this flight for several reasons, even if the Zepp hadn't -come along; for one, because of our ride down the wake of a '42' -shell; for another, on account of the terrific shelling they gave, or -tried to give us, as we passed over the German lines. - -"The meeting with the shell was merely one of those freak experiences -that might happen to any one, or, just as well, never happen at all. -It was during the time I am speaking of that the Germans were amusing -themselves by a long-distance bombardment of N---- with their biggest -guns, and we--(I had an observation officer along, a chap named K----, -whom you may have heard of as a long-distance runner)--simply chanced -to meander into the path of one shell somewhere about the last quarter -of its trajectory. Watching from a distance, you can always see one of -these brutes go hurtling along, but this one we only heard,--and -felt,--and it was like two express trains, going in opposite -directions, passing at full speed. There was a strange soft sort of a -buzz, growing into a rushing roar inside of two or three seconds, a -blow from a solid wall of air that was like colliding with the side of -a house, and then, for two or three minutes, a series of bumps like -going over a corduroy road in a springless cart. - -"I don't know whether we interfered very much with the course of that -shell, but the shell pretty nearly brought _our_ flight to an end then -and there. Only the fact that we met the first big rush of air head-on -saved us. I wouldn't have had one chance in a thousand of 'correcting' -if it had caught us sideways--and even as it was, the machine, in -spite of its seventy-miles-an-hour headway, was stood up on its rudder -like a rearing horse. After that first 'collision,' our fluttering -flight down the wake of the '42' was only 'queer,' but withal a -different sensation from anything I had ever experienced. - -"I have no idea how close we passed to each-other. My impression of -the moment was that the distance was inside of fifty yards, though it -was doubtless really much greater. We were not, of course, going in -exactly opposite directions, for the shell must have been coming down -at a considerably greater angle than that at which we were going up. -Yet the 'aerial surf' stirred up by the passage of the Hun's little -messenger of goodwill in that smooth stretch of atmosphere was heavy -and persistent enough to keep my machine wallowing for over a mile. - -"The air was going by us in a swift, steady river as we neared the -German lines, and I never recall having been able to climb so quickly -and easily. Lucky it was, too, for the enemy--probably in anticipation -of a pursuit of their returning raiders--had their whole trench -'hinterland' planted with anti-aircraft guns, both stationary and -movable. There was one little strip that blossomed out like a poppy -garden as they opened up on us, and for a minute or so the smoke from -the spreading shell-bursts formed a good-sized little cloud of its -own. But they never had any real chance of getting us. My good little -engine, singing like the wind in the telephone wires, had enabled me -to get up over fourteen thousand feet without turning a hair and at -that height you're a lot safer from shells in an aeroplane than from -taxis in crossing the Strand. K---- was feeling the altitude a bit, I -think; I saw him wiping blood from his nose and pressing his hands to -his ears, but he gave no signs of real distress. As for myself, beyond -a little swelling of the fingers and a drumming at the temples, I was -quite as usual. - -"We passed over the main 'bouquets' of the 'Archies' without even -feeling the kick of the shells bursting beneath us; but in dropping -down to ten thousand feet a few miles beyond, we encountered an -unexpected 'plant' of them and the shrapnel bullets were flying all -about us for a minute or two. A score of neat little holes winked out -in the wings, and one friendly bit of a bullet--spent, but still hot -from its sharp flight--dropped gently into my lap and slightly singed -the fold of my coat in which it found lodgment. Then we left that -mare's nest behind and the going grew smoother once more. - -"It was only a few minutes later, and before any beginning had been -made on the work we had come for, that K---- picked up a Zepp through -his glass and began reporting its progress to me over the telephone. -At first it was flying very high, doubtless to keep above gun-fire in -crossing our lines. Once over, however, it came down rapidly, -probably, as K---- suggested, with the purpose of luring the pursuing -aeroplanes into easy range of the German 'Archies.' If that was the -plan, it was eminently successful; for K---- presently reported one of -our 'chasers' falling in flames, another planing for our own lines, -and two or three others turning back. I could see the marauder myself -by this time, and noted that it appeared to be heading off about -twenty-five degrees to the west of me, and flying already at a level -considerably lower than the twelve thousand feet I had run up to in -getting away from the last spasm of gun-fire. - -"It was this commanding height, together with the fact that my engine -was running as sweetly as when it started, that determined me to take -a hand in the game at this juncture. Still keeping well up, I promptly -headed across to cut off the returning prodigal. For a minute or two -the Zepp either didn't recognise me as 'enemy,' or else ignored me -entirely. But presently a sharp speeding up of its engines was -apparent, and for a moment I thought that it was going to challenge me -for a climbing contest, generally a Zepp's first resort. But a few -seconds later it had altered its course through nearly half a quadrant -and headed off at top speed, at the same time beginning to descend at -what I figured was about an angle of ten per cent., or five hundred -feet to the mile. The ruse--to draw me down over some concealed line -of 'Archies' in that direction--was plain as day; but I had three -thousand feet of altitude to the good, power to burn, and, moreover, -was bitten deep for the moment with that 'air-god' bug I have spoken -of. It seemed as natural that I should chase Zepps as that a -fox-terrier should chase chickens. Without further thought, I accepted -the challenge and launched off in pursuit of the speeding 'sausage.' - -"It really never occurred to me to discuss the thing with K----, but, -like the trump he was, he never showed by word or sign that tilting at -airships had not been included in our orders. He, also, twigged the -game at once. - -"'Guns probably in that thick clump of trees by the little pond,' his -far-away voice said over the telephone. 'Best catch him as far this -side there as you can. One of his engines missing badly, and he's not -going very fast.' - -"With a quarter of an hour instead of a couple of minutes to work in, -I would have preferred to keep along on a comparatively high level, -and only descend, to drop my bombs, at an angle that would have kept -me pretty well out of the range of the Zepp's guns. But K----'s -warning was too sound to be disregarded and, in this case, the -quickest way was also the only way. As it was, it was really almost a -nose-dive, and I did the first half of it with the throttle wide open. -So fast did we come up with the Zepp that it seemed almost as if a -giant had taken the big gas-bag in his hand and thrown it at us. - -"The patter of machine-gun bullets sounded only for a second or -two--it wasn't unlike walking over a lawn-sprinkler--and, so far as I -could see, did no harm. Then, cold as ice for the work in hand, I shot -straight down along the yellow spine of the airship, letting go a -couple of bombs before my terrific speed carried me beyond my mark. - -"Now a perfect torrent of shrapnel burst out around me--the -smoke-tufts made the still distant clump of trees look like a cotton -field--and almost at the same instant there was a strong rush of air -from below. The machine teetered giddily on one wing-tip for a moment, -and I just managed to right it in time to free a hand to grab the tail -of K----'s coat as he, apparently unconscious, started to lurch over -the side. I don't seem to have any very clear recollection of being -able to get him back into his seat at all. - -"I didn't have a chance for another good look at the Zepp; I only know -that it descended rapidly, although apparently not entirely out of -control. My machine, badly shot up as it was, still seemed to have a -good deal of 'kick' left, though the reek of petrol in the air wasn't -an encouraging indication that its 'vitality' would continue. The -impetus of my descent quickly carried me out of range of that spiteful -but isolated little battery of 'Archies'--luckily, too, in just the -direction I wanted to go. - -"Just before I flew over the Zepp--it was while the machine-gun -bullets were still pattering, I have since recalled--K---- 'phoned me -the compass bearing of the nearest point of the Dutch boundary, and -said something about it being our only chance if things went wrong. -(That they had already 'gone wrong' with him he gave no hint.) -Strangely, the figures had stuck in my head, and it was in that -direction I sheered as soon as the machine was on an even keel again. -It was not far, thank heaven, and, partly planing, partly under the -power of that brave little half-fed engine, I somehow managed to keep -up long enough to clear the top wire of the boundary fence and pile up -in a heap in the hospitable silt of good old Holland." - -A dozen questions tumbled after each other off the tip of my eager -tongue, and the old "match dame," who had snored peacefully all -through Horne's even narration, stirred and muttered petulantly at the -unwonted disturbance. But Horne, rising and working his stiff joints, -essayed to answer all in a single breath. - -"I don't know how much harm was done to the Zepp, or whether it was I -or the Hun's own 'Archies' that did it. K---- died in a Dutch -hospital, without regaining full consciousness, two days later. (It -was a bullet from one of the Zepp's machine-guns that did for him.) I -can't tell you how I managed to get out of Holland; and"--as a low -whistle sounded from Charing Cross and a hooded eye peeped cautiously -out of the black shed--"the trains are running again; so we may take -it that the little visitor we were watching is now out over the North -Sea and on its way home to bed. I think it's high time that we -followed its good example on the latter score. Good-night and sweet -dreams, mother." And he took my arm and began piloting me back to the -Strand to waylay a taxi. - - * * * * * - -Horne has been back at work for a month now, and, so far as I have -heard, with no recurrence of ill luck. Last week I met another friend -from Argentina--a doctor, returned to "do his bit" with the Red Cross. -"Horne has made a brilliant success of his flying," he said; "did he -tell you anything of his exploits?" - -"Only a little about a brush with a Zeppelin," I replied, "and scant -details of that." - -"That's all he has ever told any one. Yet the Dutch patrol swear that -he came down in Holland with the tail of his half-dead observation -officer's coat in his teeth (only thing that kept the chap from -falling out); and there is also every reason to believe that it was -his bombs that brought that Zepp down, and badly knocked up, too. -Either one of them would bring him anything from the Military Cross to -the V.C. if he would tell even the plain, unvarnished tale of it. But -the quixotic idiot made his report so confoundedly non-committal that -there was simply nothing for his commander to go by. Was hardly enough -to merit mention in dispatches the way it stood, much less to award a -decoration on. Queer thing, but they say they've had the same sort of -trouble with a number of the flying chaps. Seems to be a sort of cult -with them. Can't say it's a wholly bad one, either." - - - - -SHARKS OF THE AIR - - -The sea raid, the land raid, the airship raid--this was the trio of -bugaboos under the menace of which Britain, uninvaded, almost -unthreatened, for a thousand years, stirred uneasily at the outbreak -of the war and turned anxious eyes toward the leaden mist curtain -which veiled the North Sea. Then the bulldog of the Navy after a -tentative snap or two, set its teeth in an ever-tightening -strangle-hold, and with the dying gasps of German sea-power the threat -of the sea and land raids disappeared for good. So far as England was -concerned, only the ways of the air were left open to Germany; only -the menace of the Zeppelin remained. - -And when weeks had lengthened to months, and summer had given way to -autumn, and autumn to winter, without the threatened bombing from the -sky, the name of Zeppelin ceased to have interest for the stolid -Briton, now just awakening to the fact that he had a mighty task to -perform beyond the sea. Continued immunity bred contempt, and even the -fore-running aids of the spring of 1915 failed to stir London from -her impassive calm. By midsummer she was showing signs of being bored -with the whole subject, and the sky-searching antics of the comedians -in her packed music halls began to be greeted with yawns from the -stalls. She was becoming impatient of her darkened streets, and -captious "Pro Bono Publicos" wrote to the papers demanding more -illumination and a general return to "Business as Usual." - -The "authorities" still kept up a pretence of preparedness. The -so-called anti-aircraft guns--really a nondescript lot of ordnance, -left over after the fittest of the few available pieces had been -requisitioned for use in France, on the coast, or by the Navy--still -had their crews of half-trained amateurs, and the golden beams of the -searchlights continued to whirl and dip and curtsey in their nocturnal -minuets. Buckets of water and boxes of sand stood ready for emergency -use in the art galleries and museums, and on the hoardings conspicuous -posters gave with meticulous articularity instructions as to how one -should act if Zeppelin bombs began raining in his vicinity. At the -first sight of a hostile airship, we were told, we should repair at -once to the nearest cellar, and in case a smarting sensation in the -nostrils indicated the release of deleterious gas, the mouth and nose -should be covered with a moist double bandage containing a layer of -carbonate of soda. Some of the pharmacies displayed patent anti-gas -respirators in their windows, but none would admit ever having had an -inquiry for one. - -"We've got a war to fight. Zepps ain't war; fergit 'em." So a London -bus conductor summed up the situation to me, and so seemed to feel the -majority of his fellow townsmen of all classes. - -Such, as regards Zeppelins, was the spirit of "London and the Eastern -Counties"--to use the official phrase--as the summer of 1915 waxed and -began to wane. Something of how this spirit met the trying events of -the months which followed, I shall try to show by a few extracts from -my journal. In deference to the wishes of the British Censorship the -names of several points in London have been slightly altered. - - -I - - On Board Yacht ---- - _en voyage,_ - Wroxham Broad to Hickling Broad. - - _August--._ - -We sailed and poled along the river and canal yesterday, and in the -afternoon moored to the bank at this point, which is but a mile or two -from the North Sea. The morning papers, which we picked up as we -passed through the little village of Potter Heigham, contained an -official bulletin telling of a Zeppelin raid on the "Eastern Counties" -the previous night; and later in the day word was brought us that -Lowestoft, the great trawlers' port about twenty miles to the -south-east, had been heavily bombed. A second raid in this vicinity -seemed, therefore, anything but likely. - -The afternoon closed in one of those characteristic butterfly chases -of sunshine and showers so familiar to the August _voyageur_ on The -Broads, and, lounging at ease on deck after dinner, we had watched the -twilight aeroplane patrol, stencilled in black silhouette against the -glowing western clouds, pass north from Yarmouth to meet its fellow -from the Cromer hangars. A half-hour later the sharp staccato of its -engine, rather than its blurred image against the paling afterglow, -told us of its homeward flight. - -It was a good two hours after the drumming of the aeroplane's engine -had ceased to be heard that a strange new sound became audible, first -distantly, in the puffs of the quickening night breeze, soon more -imminent and with steady insistence. It was apparently the booming -explosions of powerful gas engines, and presently, blending with this, -could be distinguished a buzzing clackity-clack that suggested -whirring propellers. - -"Another aeroplane," suggested one. "A fleet of aeroplanes," hazarded -another. "A dirigible threshing-machine," opined a third. And, judging -by the now almost overpowering rush of sound, the latter was nearest -to the truth. - -The whole universe seemed to have resolved itself into one mighty -roar, and I distinctly recall that the mainsail halyard by which I -steadied myself vibrated to the beat of the pulsating grind from -above. For a moment--sensing rather than seeing--I was aware of a -great black bulk blotting out the stars above the river, and then, -stabbing the darkness like a flaming sword, the yellow flash of a -search light leapt forth from the dusky void and ran in swift zigzags -back and forth across the marshes and canals beneath. Now a herd of -cows could be seen staggering dazedly to their feet, now the startled -bridge-players on the deck of the houseboat moored above were -revealed, and now our own eyes blinked blindly in the yellow glare -before the questing shaft darted on down the river to spot-light an -eel-fisher's shanty on the dyke and the gaunt frame of a towering -Dutch windmill beyond. - -Now it found the sharp right-angling bend of the river, quivered there -for a second or two and then flashed out, leaving a blanker blackness -behind. At almost the same instant the "Thing of Terror"--a hurtling -mass of roaring engines and clattering propellers--shot by overhead, -followed by a confused wake of conflicting air-currents. It passed -straight down above the middle of the river at a height of not over -300 feet, and beneath the dimly guessed bulk of it bright chinks and -squares of light, broken by the shadows of moving men, plotted the -lines of two under-slung cars. A Zeppelin had passed almost within a -stone's throw. - -The lights of the car leaped sharply upward almost as soon as the bend -of the river was reached, and at the end of a couple of minutes the -roar of the engines dwindled to a distant buzz and died away -completely. Ten minutes passed, during which the old eel-fisher went -on stringing his traps across the river and the house-boaters resumed -their interrupted bridge. Then a red signal light flashed out in the -heavens in the direction of Yarmouth, and at almost the same moment, -clear and sharp, came the sound of furious light-artillery fire. This -lasted for only a minute or two, and there was another eight- or -ten-minute interval before a still more distant sound of gun-fire -became faintly audible. Drowning the crack of these latest shots -suddenly came the roll of a heavy boom, quickly to be followed by -another, and another, and another, until a dozen or more had sounded. -Then the peaceful silence of the early evening resumed its sway. - -The eel-fisher finished sinking his traps before paddling up the -gangway of the yacht and venturing a casual inquiry as to whether or -not we had "chanct to see the Zepp." "'Er do this onct befoor," he -chirruped. "'Er gets bearin's from 'e' riv'r an' then 'eds off fu -No'ich o' Ya'muth. I be thinkin' if 'er knowed this grouse moor -b'longed tu Ser Edderd Grey, 'er'd a bombed it good as 'er goed by." - -This morning the London papers have the bulletin of still another raid -on the "Eastern Counties," with a good many casualties; also an -account of how a Zeppelin was brought down in the North Sea and -destroyed by aeroplanes from Nieuport. - - -II - -LONDON, _September_--. - -Yesterday's papers had the usual account of an air raid on the -"Eastern Counties," and during the day word was passed round that -this had consisted of an attempt to bomb the Woolwich Arsenal. This -morning they have finally had to add "and London" to the regular -formula, as last night, for the first time, bombs were dropped upon -the heart of the city and seven million people watched the whole -performance. It was the nearest thing to their promised "big raid" -that the Germans have yet brought off, and to-day London--in the -defence of the metropolitan area of which guns were fired for the -first time in many hundreds of years--appears to have declared a sort -of informal half-holiday to note the consequences. - -To Londoners, a Zeppelin raid appears to be a good deal like the -paradoxical "man-sitting-on-the-pin" joke--it is funniest to those who -miss the point. To the ones in the swath of the raid, like the one who -sits on the pin, it is anything but a laughing matter. "But the swath -of the raid is so narrow, London so broad; the killed so few, -Londoners so many. If this is the worst the Huns can do, on with -'Business as Usual!'" There is no denying that this epitomises the -spirit of London--even as it mourns its dead--on the morrow of the -first great air raid of history. For myself, I must admit that I was -rather too near the point of the pin, and have since seen rather too -many of the "pin-pricks," to be able to look at the diversion from -quite the standpoint of the great majority. - -Last night was clear, calm, and moonless--ideal Zeppelin -conditions--and walking down from my hotel to the Coliseum at eight -o'clock, I noticed that the searchlights were turning the dome of the -sky into one great kaleidoscope with their weaving bands of -brightness. The warming-up drill was over as I entered the music hall, -and, returning home at the end of the "top-liner's" act, I picked my -precarious way by the light of the stars and the diffused halos of -what had once been street lamps. I was in bed by a quarter to eleven, -and it was but a few moments later that the distant but unmistakable -boom of a bomb smote upon my unpillowed ear. I was at my east-facing -window with a jump, and an instant later the opaque curtain of the -night was being slashed to ribbons by the awakening searchlights. - -For a minute or two, all of them seemed to be reeling blind and large -across the empty heavens, and then, guided by the nearing explosions, -one after another they veered off to the east and focussed in a great -cone of light where two or three slender slivers of vivid brightness -were gliding nearer above the dim bulks of the domes and spires of -the "City." - -Swiftly, undeviatingly, relentlessly, these little pale yellow dabs -came on, carrying with them, as by a sort of magnetic attraction, the -tip of the cone formed by the converged beams of the searchlights. -Nearer and louder sounded the detonations of the bombs. Now they burst -in salvos of threes and fours; now singly at intervals, but with never -more than a few seconds between. Always a splash of lurid light -preceded the sound of the explosion, in most instances to be followed -by the quick leap of flames against the skyline. Many of these fires -died away quickly,--sometimes through lack of fuel, as in a -stone-paved court; more often through being subdued by the firemen, -scores of whose engines could be heard clanging through the -streets,--others waxed bright and spread until the yellow shafts of -the searchlights paled against the heightening glow of the eastern -heavens. - -The wooden clackity-clack of the raiders' propellers came to my ears -at about the same moment that the sparkling trail of the fuse of an -incendiary bomb against the loom of a familiar spire roughly located -the van of the attack as now about half a mile distant. After that, -things happened so fast that my recollections, though photographically -vivid, are somewhat disconnected. My last "calmly calculative" act was -to measure one of the on-coming airships--then at about twenty-five -degrees from directly overhead--between the thumb and forefinger of my -outstretched right hand, these, extended to their utmost, framing the -considerably foreshortened gas-bag with about a half-inch to spare. - -Up to this moment, the almost undeviating line of flight pursued by -the approaching Zeppelins appeared as likely to carry them on one side -of my coign of vantage as the other; that is to say, they _seemed_ not -unlikely to be going to pass directly overhead. It was at this -juncture, not unnaturally, that it occurred to me that the -basement--for the next minute or two at least--would be vastly -preferable, for any but observation purposes, to my top-floor window. -Before I could translate this discretionary impulse into action, -however, a small but brilliant light winked twice or thrice from below -the leading airship, and a point or two of change was made in the -course, with the possible purpose (it has since occurred to me) of -swinging across the great group of conjoined railway termini a -half-mile or so to the north. This meant that the swath of the bombs -would be cut at least a hundred yards to the north-east, and, impelled -by the fascination of the unfolding spectacle, I remained at my -window. - -During the next half-minute the bombs fell singly at three-or -four-second intervals. Then the blinking light flashed out under the -leader again,--probably the order for "rapid fire,"--and immediately -afterwards a number of sputtering fire-trails--not unlike the wakes of -meteors--lengthened downward from beneath each of the two airships. (I -might explain that I did not see more than two Zeppelins at any one -time, though some have claimed to have seen three.) - -Immediately following the release of the bombs, the lines of fire -streamed in a forward curve, but from about halfway down their fall -was almost perpendicular. As they neared the earth, the hiss of cloven -air--similar to but not so high-keyed as the shriek of a shell--became -audible, and a second or two later the flash of the explosion and the -rolling boom were practically simultaneous. - -Between eight and a dozen bombs fell in a length of five blocks, and -at a distance of from one to three hundred yards from my window, the -echoes of one explosion mingling with the burst of the next. Broken -glass tinkled down to the left and right, and a fragment of slate -from the roof shattered upon my balcony. But the most remarkable -phenomenon was the rush of air from, or rather to, the explosion. With -each detonation I leaned forward instinctively and braced myself for a -blow on the chest, and lo--it descended upon my back. The same -mysterious force burst inward my half-latched door, and all down one -side of the square curtains were streaming outward from open or broken -windows. (I did not sit down and ponder the question at the moment, -but the phenomenon is readily explained by the fact that, because the -force of the explosives used in Zeppelin bombs is invariably exerted -upwards, the air from the lower level is drawn in to fill the vacuum -thus created. This also accounts for the fact that all of the window -glass shattered by the raiders has fallen on the sidewalks instead of -inside the rooms.) - -Tremendous as was the spectacle of the long line of fires extending -out of eyescope to the City and beyond, there is no denying that the -dominating feature of the climax of the raid was the Zeppelins -themselves. Emboldened perhaps, by the absence of gun-fire, these had -slowed down for their parting salvo so as to be almost "hovering" when -the bombs were dropped opposite my vantage point. Brilliantly -illuminated by the searchlights, whose beams wove about below them -like the ribbons in a Maypole dance, the clean lines of their gaunt -frameworks stood out like bas-reliefs in yellow wax. Every now and -then one of them would lurch violently upward,--probably at the -release of a heavy bomb,--but, controlled by rudders and planes, the -movement had much of the easy power of the dart of a great fish. -Indeed, there was strong suggestion of something strangely familiar in -the lithe grace of those sleek yellow bodies, in the swift swayings -and rightings, in the powerful guiding movements of those hinged -"tails," and all at once the picture of a gaunt "man-eater" nosing his -terribly purposeful way below the keel of a South-Sea pearler flashed -to my mind, and the words "Sharks! Sharks of the air!" leaped to my -lips. - -While the marauders still floated with bare steerage-way in flaunting -disdain, the inexplicably delayed firing order to the guns was flashed -around, and--like a pack of dogs baying the moon, and with scarcely -more effect--London's "air defence" came into action. Everything from -machine-guns to three-and four-inchers,--not one in the lot built for -anti-aircraft work,--belched forth the best it had. Up went the -bullets and shrapnel, and down they came again, down on the roofs and -streets of London. Far, far below the contemptuous airships the little -stars of bursting shrapnel spat forth their steel bullets in spiteful -impotence, and back they rained on the tiles and cobbles. - -Suddenly a gruffer growl burst forth from the yelping pack, as the -gunners of some hitherto unleashed piece of ordnance received orders -to join the attack. At the first shot a star-burst pricked the night -in the rear of the second airship, and well on a line with it; a -second exploded fairly above it; and then--all at once I was conscious -that the searchlights were playing on a swelling cloud of white mist -which was trailing away into the north-east. The Zeppelin had -evidently taken a leaf from the book of the squid. - -The tinkle of shrapnel bullets on the roof sent me down at this -juncture to join the gathering of my fellow guests on the ground -floor, where, on the manager's calling attention to the fact that my -knees were shaking from the cold, I was glad to avail myself of the -loan of his overcoat. I was not unappreciative of his delicacy in -attributing the undeniable shiver in my frame to the cold, and I have -not yet entirely made up my mind just to what extent the chill night -air, standing in a twisted and cramped position in order to look up, -and sheer funk shared the responsibility for it. - -I have been under shell-fire on several occasions, and I confess quite -frankly that I never before felt anywhere near so "panicky" as during -that long half-minute in which the airships appeared certain to pass -directly overhead. The explanation of this, it seems to me, may be -found in the fact that, in the trenches or in a fort which is under -fire, one is among cool, determined, and often callous men who are -meeting the expected as a part of the day's work, while in a Zeppelin -raid one is more or less unconsciously affected by the unexpectedness -of it, and by the very natural terror of the unhardened -non-combatants. At any rate, to say that there was not a very -contagious brand of terror "in the air" in the immediate vicinity of -the swath of last night's raid would be to say something that was not -true of my own neighbourhood. - -As soon as the firing ceased I slipped into my street clothes and -hurried out, reaching the "Square" perhaps ten minutes after the last -bomb had fallen. That terror still brooded was evident from the white, -anxious faces at street doors and basement gratings, but a mounting -spirit was recorded in the gratuitous advice shouted out by the -"Boots" at a hotel entrance to a portly and not un-Teutonic-looking -gentleman who went puffing under a street-light. - -"No use hurryin', mister," chirped the young irrepressible. "Last Zepp -fer Berlin's just pulled out." - -At the end of a block my feet were crunching glass at every step, and -a few moments later I was in the direct track of the raid. By a -strange chance--it is impossible that it could have happened by -intent--that last fierce rain of bombs had descended upon the one part -of London where the hospitals stand thicker than in any other; and -yet, while every one of these was windowless and scarred from -explosions in streets and adjacent squares, not one appeared to have -been hit. One large building devoted entirely to nervous disorders was -a bedlam of hysteria, and the nurses are said to have had a terrible -time in getting their patients in hand. From another, given over to -infantile paralysis, hip-disease, and other ailments of children, came -a pitiful chorus of wails in baby treble. The other hospitals, -including one or two foreign ones, appeared to be proceeding quietly -with their share of the work of succour, receiving and caring for the -victims as fast as they could be hurried in. - -The fires, except for a couple of wide glows in the direction of the -City and a gay geyser of flame from a broken gas main in the next -block, had disappeared as by magic, and most of the places where bombs -had dropped in this vicinity could be located only by the little knots -of people before the barred doors, or by following a line of hose from -an engine. - -Except for an occasional covered stretcher being borne out to a -waiting ambulance, the killed and maimed were little in evidence; and -but for a chance encounter with a friend who was doing some sort of -volunteer surgical work, I should have failed entirely to have an -intimate glimpse of the grimmer side of the raid. I jostled him at a -barrier where the crowd was being held back from a bombed tenement, -and he pressed me into service forthwith. - -"They are trying to uncover some kiddies on the second floor. Four of -them--all in one room," he explained. "Two floors above smashed in on -them. Everybody fagged out, and I'm after some brandy to buck 'em up. -You're fresh. Take this armlet and tell the police at the door I sent -you." - -The little lettered khaki band passed me by the police cordon, and I -found myself in the lantern-lighted hallway of a rickety brick -building such as they erected as tenements in London thirty or forty -years ago. Two blanket-covered bodies lay on the floor waiting to be -removed to the morgue, and a third, hideously mangled, but still -breathing, was being hastily bandaged by a doctor before sending on to -the hospital. A dozen children were crying in a room which opened off -the hall, and there, too, a hysterical woman in a nightgown, her face -and hands streaming blood, was being restrained by a couple of -uniformed police-women from rushing up the sagging stairway. - -A fireman who had collapsed on the floor gave me his axe, and a -special constable with a lantern guided me up the quaking stairs to a -little back flat, where several men, distinguished by armlets as some -kind of volunteers, were hacking away at the pile of _debris_ which -filled most of one of the rooms. Four children had been sleeping in -that room, explained the policeman, and one of them had been heard -whimpering a while back. There was no light but a lantern and a flash -torch, he added, and every one was dead played out; but just the same, -they were going to stick to it as long as there was a chance that the -"nipper" was alive. - -This must have been somewhere around midnight, and it was by the first -light of dawn leaking in through the shattered beams and rafters that -we reached the last of the little bruised bodies buried under the -_debris_. The ghastly interval between was in many respects the most -trying I have ever experienced. Somebody's strength, or nerves, or -courage was giving way every few minutes, and there was one dreadful -quarter hour during which we all had to knock off and help hold down -the now stark-mad mother who had somehow escaped from the room below. -For our reward we found that the youngest child was breathing, and -might continue to do so, according to the doctor, for several hours. -Its two brothers and its sister had mercifully been killed outright in -the first crash. - - * * * * * - -_Same day_, 7.30 P.M. - -I wrote the foregoing after a couple of hours of sleep; then went out -and spent the rest of the day back-tracking the raiders. As the swath -was largely cut through the tenement and slum districts of the East -End, the property damage was not great, but, for the same reason, the -loss of life must have been considerable. Pathetic little -funerals--the kind one sees advertised on posters of enterprising -Shoreditch and Whitechapel undertakers as costing two pounds ten -shillings, with hearse and two carriages, with an extra carriage -added for an even three pounds--were to be seen here and there; but -withal there was a remarkable absence of "hate" observable in the -crowds that thronged from far and near to view the work of the -nocturnal visitors from beyond the North Sea. - -It is, indeed, well said that the Briton is a poor hater, and almost -the only evidence that I could see of his being stirred by the events -of last night was in the heightened activity of recruiting. The astute -authorities, quick to see the advantage of taking the tide at flood, -kept speakers--both civilians and soldiers--all day at the barriers -where the crowds were held back in the vicinities of the points -bombed, and many hitherto wavering volunteers were gathered in as a -consequence. Here and there threatening crowds gathered in front of -bakeries and butcher shops which bore German names; but their leaders -were half-tipsy cockney dames whom the ever imperturbable "Bobbies" -had no trouble in hustling on out of the way. No, stubborn fighter -that he is, the Briton is only the most indifferent of haters. - - -III - -From the time of the big raid, in early September, until the second -week in October there was not a single night on which the moon, wind, -clouds, or some combination of meteorological conditions was not -unfavourable to Zeppelin action, and it was not until this date that -they tried to come again. Although rather nearer than before to two or -three of the explosions, I had no such opportunity to view the -progress of the raid as on the previous occasion, and this latest -bombing is, perhaps, most memorable to me as having served to shake -the monumental calm of two of the most famous and impressive of all -London's institutions, the "Bobby" and the Frivolity chorus girl. I -turn again to my journal. - - * * * * * - -LONDON, _October_-- - -I was at the Frivolity last night with my friend Captain J----, of the -Royal Artillery, home from France on a week's leave, to see an -oculist. About nine-thirty the nearing boom of heavy explosions -heralded another Zeppelin attack. I started for the door at once, but -J----, an old Londoner, pulled me down into my stall by the coat-tail, -dryly observing that, right before us under the Frivolity footlights, -there was transpiring an infinitely more epochal event than anything -that could possibly be seen outside. - -"We have had other Zeppelin raids," he shouted close to my ear, to -make himself heard above the uneasy bustle which filled the theatre as -the bombs boomed more imminent, "but never before in history has man -beheld the Frivolity chorus shaken from its traditional languor. But -now look! They faint to left and right, and I'm jolly certain that -M---- doesn't get her cue to embrace G---- until the next act. 'Pon my -word, I never expected to live to see the waters of this fount of -brides for the British peerage so disturbed." J----'s voice trailed -off into wondering speechlessness. - -"Boom!" This time it was close at hand, and the rattle of falling -_debris_ could be heard above the discordant wail of the mechanically -labouring orchestra. Utterly unable to sit still any longer, I shook -off J----'s restraining arm, and reached a side exit just as two -bombs fell in quick succession, a hundred yards up the Avenue. Again I -was conscious of those strange rushes of air from the "wrong" -direction which I had experienced during the previous raid. The panes -of the upper windows shivered to bits, but the fragments, striking the -reinforced glass of the marquee, were robbed of their force before -they had caromed to the sidewalk. - -On both sides of the Avenue glass was falling in countless tons,--in -one great corner building alone 25,000 pounds of plate glass are -estimated to have been shattered,--and there is no doubt that many -were killed and injured by being caught under the vitreous avalanche. - -Almost immediately three or four more bombs fell beyond the Avenue, -there was another crescendo of falling glass, and then a lone -Zeppelin--apparently at the end of its ammunition--headed up and off -to the north-east pursued by a single searchlight beam and a -scattering gun-fire. - -The Frivolity chorus, having been soothed and revived, resumed its -wonted demeanour and took up the dropped thread of the performance, -and J----, no longer held a fascinated captor by the wonder of its -lapse, joined me on the sidewalk to see what had been happening -outside. It is a remarkable fact that the great majority of the -audience, many of whom had not stirred from their seat, elected to -remain and see the show out. From the three theatres opposite, -however, one of which had been struck, considerable numbers were -pouring forth. But not in all the now dense crowd in the Avenue were -there the symptoms of a panic. - -As we stepped from the curb something tinkled against my foot. Picking -it up, it turned out to be a still warm piece of torn steel which -J---- identified at once as a fragment of the casing of an incendiary -bomb. It was not over an eighth of an inch thick, but of such -superlative quality that it rang like a silver bell even to the tap of -a finger-nail. A far more murderous fragment of shivered metal, which -J---- kicked into a few minutes later, was a piece of shrapnel casing, -and there is no doubt that the casualties from anti-aircraft-gun -projectiles are very considerable. - -The police and fire department work was even more remarkable than in -the September raid. Not a single tell-tale glow marked the path by -which the Zeppelin had come, and the only fire in our immediate -vicinity was the spout from another sundered gas main. Barriers -already shut off the crowds from the points where the worst damage had -been done, and the work of removing the dead and wounded was being -carried on quickly and expeditiously. - -A bomb falling in the Avenue midway between a motor bus and a taxi had -taken a heavy toll of the passengers of both, while the two vehicles, -still standing upright, had been flattened until their appearance was -not unlike that of their respective "property" prototypes occasionally -employed to give perspective to the stage-setting of a street. A dozen -or more dead and wounded lay in a row in front of a gin palace which -had collapsed under a bomb; but, as far as we could see or learn, -there had been little, if any, loss of life in the historic old -theatre which had been struck. - -A sinister coincidence had landed one bomb on a temporary wooden -building occupied as Belgian Refugee headquarters. Miraculously -however, although the rickety frame was blown quite out of shape, no -fire was started among the small mountains of highly inflammable -baggage on which the bomb exploded. - -"The 'Uns ain't satisfied with wot they did to 'em in Belg'um," -snorted an indignant coster, viewing the wreck; "the baby-killers 'ad -to follow 'em to Lunnon." This was, I believe, about the nearest thing -to "hate" that I heard expressed during the several hours we mingled -with the crowds on the streets. - -Faring on down the "bomb-track" into that historic section of Old -London which lies to the east of the Avenue, we came upon an -apparition quite as astounding to me as the spectacle of the "panicky" -Frivolity girls had been to J----. It was nothing less than a London -police constable, hatless, breathless, and so little master of himself -that he was unable to respond with the customary "First to the right, -second to the left, and so on" formula when we asked him the way to -the B---- Court, where we had heard there had been heavy damage. -Slamming down on the pavement a heavy burden which he carried by a -loop of wire, he began jabbering something to the effect that the -"bloomin' pill" came down "'arf a rod" from where he stood, and that -orders called for the instant fetching of all "evidences" to the -nearest station. I switched on my electric-torch--everybody here has -carried them since the streets were darkened,--to recoil before the -sight of the pear-shaped cone of dented steel toppled over on the -cobbles at my feet. - -"Good heavens, man, you've got an unexploded bomb!" I gasped, backing -against the wall. "What do you mean by slamming it around in that -way?" - -"If she didn't go off after fallin' from the sky, I fancy she can -stand a drop of a few inches," was the reply. "It isn't 'avin' 'er -'ere, sir, that gets my nerves. They went to pieces when she came down -and bounced along the pavement in front of where I stood." - -"Perhaps she has a time fuse, set to go off when she gets a crowd -around her," said the irrepressible J---- by way of encouragement. -"The Huns are adepts at just such forms of subtlety. Better leave her -alone for a spell." - -Shaking in every limb, but still resolved to carry out "orders" to the -last, the doughty chap slipped his bleeding fingers through the wire -loop and trudged off on his way to the station, staggering under the -weight of half a hundred pounds of "T.N.T."[3] That he reached there -without mishap is evidenced by a flashlight in one of the "penny -pictorials" this morning showing both him and his booty at the wicket -of the B---- Street Police Station. - - [3] Trinitrotoluol. - -Two or three times during the next couple of hours searchlights -flashed out to the east and south, and the blink of shrapnel bursting -under barely defined patches of pale yellow indicated that the raid -was an ambitious one, participated in by many airships. The heart of -the city, however, was not reached again. I have it on good authority -this morning that a number of bombs were exploded on the works at -Woolwich, but, even if true, this only goes to show that Britain's -great arsenal, if not less, is at least not more vulnerable than the -non-military areas. - -If possible, London took this latest raid even more calmly than the -previous one, and the level-headed practicality of the remark of the -bus conductor I have quoted--"We've got a war to fight. Zepps ain't -war; fergit 'em!"--may be taken as fairly representing the frame of -mind in which the metropolis awaits the really frightful visitation -that Germany has promised. - -For three months following the October visitation there were no -further air raids on England, and it was known that this immunity was -due to one or more of four things: the strengthening of Britain's -anti-aircraft defences, unfavourable weather, the efficacy of the -Allies' reprisals on South German cities, or a dawning realisation on -the part of Germany that the maximum physical damage which can -possibly be inflicted on Great Britain by air raids can never be more -than an insignificant fraction of the damage done to the Teutonic -cause as a consequence of resorting to this form of terrorism. - -As weeks lengthened to months without an attack--even though incessant -reports from a score of sources told of feverish Zeppelin construction -in all parts of the Kaiser's dominions--there awakened a hope in the -breasts of Germany's enemies and her friends that the humanitarian -consideration had been the moving one. This hope was rudely -crushed by the mid-January aeroplane raid--evidently a scouting -reconnaissance--upon Kent, and the renewed Zeppelin attacks on Paris -and the Midland counties. Subject only to the weather, then, and to -such defensive measures as may be taken in France and England, we now -know that this least warranted and most cruel of all forms of Teutonic -"frightfulness" may be expected to continue until the end of the war. - - - - -TO BRITISH MERCHANT CAPTAINS - - -All yesterday evening I came upon little knots of sailor men gathered -along the quay or at the corners of the streets of Harwich and -Dovercourt. Their weather-beaten parchment-brown faces were drawn and -troubled, and they spoke in the jerkily lowered voices of men not wont -to hold their tongues or passions in restraining leash. There was -something in the half-stunned, half-angry looks suggestive of the -expressions I had seen on the faces of the sailors at a North Wales -port on the evening that a carelessly-framed despatch had tricked them -into transient belief that the British Fleet had been beaten by the -Germans in the North Sea. But I had been with naval men all afternoon, -and knew that there was nothing fresh to report from behind the grey -fog-curtain to the north. The trouble was of another kind, but from -past experience I knew that the moment when the British sailor man -spoke through clenched teeth in those jerkily lowered tones, with his -brow corrugated in mahogany wrinkles of perturbation and his blue eyes -fixed absently on the fingers of his working hands, was not the one -for even the most sympathetically curious to intrude upon him. - -Enlightenment came later, when I asked the maid who lowered the -shutters and drew the double curtains of my room in the little hotel -on the Dovercourt cliff, why it was that the children playing in a -narrow street that branched off diagonally below my window hushed -their voices and tiptoed as they came down toward the seaward end, and -why many of even belated and hurrying delivery carts were pulling up -and taking another way on their clattering rounds. - -"Is somebody sick?" I asked, "or is one of the neighbours dead?" - -"Didn't you know, sir?" faltered the girl. "That is Captain Fryatt's -'ome down there. It's the little red-brick 'ouse--the fourth or fifth -from the corner, sir. We all o' us 'ere knew 'im, sir, an' loved 'im; -an'--you'll excuse me, sir" (her voice broke for a moment and the -starting tears glistened in the flickering light of her candle)--"but -I was thinkin' o' the missus an' the nippers. They's waitin' down -there for more news from Belg'um. I hates to think o' 'em, sir. It -makes me want to scream an'--an' to fight. I'll be going now, sir; it -gets me all wrought up w'en I talks about it." - -It came to me all at once what those stunned angry sailors on the -street were talking of, and the hot wave of indignation--checked for -an hour or two by the excitement of meeting and boarding a returning -submarine--that had surged over me that afternoon when I first read -the news of Captain Fryatt's execution in the paper, welled up anew -inside me and throbbed against my temples. I was conscious of the -passing of one of a class of men whom I had learned to know and love -during many years of intimate association--in craft stout and frail, -on seas fair and stormy--and the fact that the death of this man had -been compassed with a cold-blooded cynicism scarcely paralleled in -modern history brought the significance of it home to me with especial -poignancy. In a dull sort of way I had been conscious of a similar -feeling every time I had read of the loss of merchant officers and -crews from the inauguration of the submarine campaign, but only now -had I come to understand how much of a hold these same sailor men had -on my affection, what parts they had played in scores of the vivid -incidents of my life that I cared most to dwell upon in memory. - -Three of the last ten years of my life had been spent upon the sea, I -reflected, and of this time perhaps six months had been put in on one -or another of the "floating palaces" of the main tourist routes, and -not more than that aboard ships under the German, French, Dutch, or -American flag. That left a good two years--more than seven hundred -days and nights--spent aboard the smaller British merchantmen--tramps, -coasters, colliers, traders, flat-bottomed river stern-wheelers--in -out-of-the-way water-lanes of the world. - -Two years of my life--and what treasured years they were, too!--spent -in the care of the bold, bluff, bronzed British merchant captains who -drove "the swift shuttles of an Empire's loom." What strange seas they -had steered me through, and what strange corners in the ports that -served those seas! And what adventures they had run me into, and what -scrapes got me out of! And what courtesy, what consideration--aye, -even what tenderness in times of misadventure and sickness--had I not -enjoyed at their hands! - -Pulling on my cardigan jacket, I "stood-by" at the hour of -one--midnight by the sun-time, by which the ships of the sea still -sail--and at the instant when the steamers in the harbour would have -been sounding "Eight bells" had there been no lurking Zeppelins to -guard against, leaned out of the open window till the indrifting fog -blew sharp against my face and began my "watch." - -Just so--with a rough blue sleeve brushing against my own--had I -leaned over the bridge or taffrail of a hundred steamers ploughing a -hundred sea-ways, and now, with the familiar breath of the sea in my -nostrils and the familiar mist of the sea damping my hair again, old -friends of other days strode down the corridors of memory and ranged -themselves, one at a time, by my side. At first I tried to muster them -chronologically, in the order I had known them from my first tentative -coastal voyages in the Pacific--(B----, of the Vancouver-Seattle -packet, who let me sleep on his cabin couch one night when the rooms -were all taken in order that I might be rested for the tennis -tournament I was engaging in at Tacoma on the morrow; R----, of the -old Alaska "Inland Passage" coaster, who taught me to "box" the -compass and awoke the slumbering love o' the sea in my blood with -tales of the Victoria sealing fleet; P----, of the Mexican trader, who -smuggled me out of Guaymas when the Sonora authorities were trying to -arrest me for landing on Tiburon without a permit)--but presently the -magnet of my quickened memory began drawing them forward out of turn, -and ere long they were crowding on like guests at a reception. - -Now I would think of the bravery of them, and instantly a series of -pictures took shape before my eyes, a score of names leapt to my lips, -a score of hands--hard brown hands, with a world of warmth in their -steady grip--reached out to clasp my own. Who was the bravest among -men that had all been brave? I asked myself; and then how the pictures -formed and dissolved as one stirring incident after another flashed -across my mind! What could have been finer than the way Captain K----, -of that cranky clipper-bowed old "C.N." steamer, had stuck out that -typhoon off Taiwan, lashed to the bridge for three days, and -subsisting on coffee and rum and pilot bread? I could see his -brine-white face (as I saw it when I took a timid peep up the -companion way on the day the "twister" began to die down) taking shape -out there in the drifting fog even as the recollection of that -fearsome storm crystallised in my memory, and then fancy turned -another cog, and it was a sun-blistered South Pacific trader that I -seemed to see, with a sallow, fever-wracked figure at the wheel, and -two or three dozen naked blacks writhing in agony on the forrard deck. -How old B----, of the _Cora Andrews_, took his load of plague-stricken -Papuans through the Barrier Reef and into the quarantine station at -Townsville is a South Sea epic. - -Then came memories with a more personal touch, and I dwelt for a few -moments over the shifting scenes of the mix-up I started the time I -tried to take a flashlight of the smokers in the "Opium Den" of the -old _Yo San_, plying on the Hongkong-Bangkok run. Some of the Chinese -crew were smuggling opium that voyage, and, taking me for a Secret -Service officer on search, started to wipe up the deck with my -protesting anatomy. Curled round my camera under a bunk in the corner -of the opium den, with nothing but the fact that my assailants were so -numerous that they got in each other's way saving me from instant -annihilation, and expecting every moment that one of them would gather -his wits together sufficiently to pounce down on me through the slats, -I cowered in terror, and was ever music sweeter than the raucous -bellow of bluff old Captain G---- when, cursing like a pirate and -banging right and left with the belaying pins he held in either hand, -he ploughed his way into the den and yanked me out by the scruff of -the neck. Poor old G----! he was lost with his ship two voyages later, -when the ancient _Yo San_ was piled up by a typhoon on the Tongking -coast. - -Then the recollection of the ignominious way in which old G---- had -pulled me out from under the bunk by the coat collar recalled the time -when another British skipper--his command was only a "P.S.N.C." tender -in Valparaiso, and I had long since forgotten his name--saved my life -by handling me in quite the same unceremonious manner. The schooner on -which I had planned to sail to Juan Fernandez had broken loose in a -violent "Norther" and was fast driving before the mountainous swells -upon the _malecon_ or seawall, when the "Navigation Company's" tender, -out to salve some drifting barges, came nosing cautiously in toward -where the hollow waves were curling over into crashing breakers. The -barges and their cargoes were probably worth more than our walty old -hooker, but the skipper of the tender, noting only that there were -lives to be saved on the latter, hesitated not an instant about -deciding to try and stand-by. Unfortunately, we had a lot of German -_colonistas_ aboard, and the panic among them prevented many from the -schooner being saved. I was one of the half-dozen who did not fail in -their leaps for the tender's outreaching starboard bow, but my hold on -the slippery rail was so precarious that only the mighty hand of the -skipper on my neck prevented my slipping back into the sea. For a -moment now, out in the drifting fog, I saw his round red face, under -its "sou'wester," just as I had peered up into it after he dragged me -over the rail and slammed me down on the heeling deck. - -At times memories crowded so that they became confused. I was not -sure, for instance, whether it was T----, of the _Eimoo_, or P----, of -the _Levuka_, whom I had seen go over the rail into shark-infested -Rotrura Lagoon to jerk the kink out of an air-hose before his diver -strangled; or which of two otherwise well-remembered "B.I." skippers -it was that waded in, barehanded, and floored every one of a bunch of -Lascars who were fighting with their knives; or whether it was the -mate or the skipper of the East African coaster who, with one of his -thighs being torn to ribbons by the beast's hind claws, kept his grip -on the throat of a young leopard that had slipped from its cage, and -which he was afraid might become panic-stricken and jump overboard -before it could be recaptured; or whether it was the captain of a -"Burns, Philips" or a "Union" steamer that I had seen put out through -the tortuous passage of Suva Bay when the wind was snapping the tops -from the coconut palms, and the barometer was at 28.50 and still -falling, just because the wife of the missionary on some obscure -little bit of the Fijian Archipelago to the north was expecting to -become a mother and needed the attention of the ship's doctor. - -I would have gone on to the end of my "watch" thinking of the -bravery--moral and physical--the ready nerve and the general -"sufficiency unto occasion" of my old friends, but most that had been -brave had also been kind and considerate, and every now and then I -found my mind occupied with recollections of the little things they -had done for me, or that I had seen them do for others. There was -B----, of the old _Changsha_, running from Yokohama to Sydney, who -went miles off his course just to satisfy my whim to pass over the -spot where _Mary Gloster_ was buried at sea. What an afternoon that -was! The Straits of Macassar "oily and treacly," just as Kipling had -described them, and the milk-warm land breeze wafting the odours of -the spice groves of Celebes. B---- had his volume of Kipling and I had -mine, and between us was the reef-freckled chart of Macassar Straits -with Borneo to starboard, Celebes to port, and a thousand dotted -lines indicating islets and reefs and rocks--mostly lurking, -half-submerged--in between. - - "By the Little Paternosters, as you come to the Union Bank, - We dropped her--I think I told you--and I pricked it off where she - sank-- - (Tiny she looked on the grating--that oily, treacly sea--) - Hundred and eighteen East, remember, and South just three. - Easy bearings to carry...." - -read B----, running his finger along the chart. - -"Aye, easy to carry. _Here's_ the spot," and he marked it with a -circled dot. Then we "dead reckoned" the latitude from the noon sight, -and "shot" for the longitude as we "came to the Union Bank." And -finally, when we were over the spot as near as might be determined -from hasty reckoning, nothing would do but B---- must start the lead -going to determine the depth. Never shall I forget the way his face -lit up when the leadsmen droned out "Fourteen," and there were tears -glistening in his eyes as he turned back a couple of pages and read-- - - "And we dropped her in fourteen fathoms; I pricked it off where - she sank." - -"I might have known that Kipling worked it out with a chart," he -exclaimed; "but what a thrill it gives one to find it exact, even to -the soundings!" - -The margins of "The _Mary Gloster_," in my "Seven Seas," bear the -pencilled records--now thumbed and fingered into dim blurs--of our -"mid-sea madness" to this day, and there is nothing that I treasure -more. B---- would never have taken his 5,000-ton freighter miles off -her course, at the cost of some hours of time and a number of tons of -good Nagasaki coal, had he been any less daft about Kipling than I -was. But all British sailors love Kipling; as a class, I have always -felt that they had a fuller appreciation of the message of "the -uncrowned Laureate" than have any others. - -For an hour at least I must have turned in fancy the pages of Kipling, -now with this well-remembered skipper, now with that, until the -recollection of how kind old N----, of a Liverpool Para-Manaos -freighter, had read to me "The Hymn Before Action" one night when I -was half delirious from the Amazon "black-water" fever he had been -nursing me through set the current of my thought on another tack. -N---- was only one of a dozen who had coddled me through some sort of -tropical illness or patched me up after some sort of a smash-up. - -It was R----, of the Valparaiso-Panama coaster, who had put my hand in -splints after it had been crushed between the gangway and a dug-out -full of ivory nuts off some pile-built village of Ecuador, and it was -my fault rather than his that the little finger was still crooked. -And it was H----, of the big White Star freighter on the -Australia-South Africa run, who laboured for an hour in helping the -ship's doctor worry back into place the shoulder I had dislocated in -the "sports" one afternoon; and it was D----, of the Rangoon-Calcutta -"B.I.," who had reduced with horse-liniment the ankle I had sprained -in dodging out of the path of a temperamental water-buffalo while -ashore at Akyab; and it was A----, of the Lynch river boat plying from -Basra to Bagdad, who stitched up my scalp after the Arabs of the -bazaar of then almost unheard-of Kut-el-Amara had amused themselves -with bouncing rocks off my head because (this was during the -Turco-Italian war) they imagined I looked like an "alien enemy." - -A---- was killed when the Turks shelled his ship--then a -transport--early in the Mesopotamian operations, I remembered, and -this led my thoughts off to the long watch I kept by the bedside of -poor old Y----, on whose "B.P." steamer I had been roaming in and out -among the Solomons, New Hebrides, Fijis and other islands of western -Polynesia for two months. Y----'s heart had been giving out for a -number of years, and now very hot weather following, the excitement of -seeing his ship through an unusually heavy hurricane had hastened an -end long inevitable. He knew his "number was up," and so he told me, -that night, of things he wanted me to explain and set right for him in -Australia. It was the thinking of these, and the visit that I -subsequently paid to his wife and children in the Illawara, that -finally brought my mind back to that other bereaved family in the -little red house beneath my window. - -The short night had passed, the fog had lifted, and now in the early -morning light I saw a milkman stop his cart a half-dozen doors from -the Fryatt home and go softly tip-toeing on his near-by deliveries to -avoid making unnecessary noise. Out of the retreating fog-bank to -seaward two small freighters took sharpened line and headed for the -harbour mouth. They were much of a size and type, but the gay red and -white splashes on the bows of the more northerly ones indicated she -sailed under the flag of an enterprising Scandinavian country, while -the unbroken black of the side of the other told just as plainly that -she was British. As I watched, the shifting of the shadows on the -sides of the Norwegian told me that she was altering her course -sharply every few hundred yards--"zigzagging" to minimise the danger -from submarine attacks. A wise precaution, I told myself; now what -about the other? I took up my glass and held it on the Briton. One, -two, three, four, five minutes passed. All the time the wave curled -evenly back from her forefoot; not a ripple of shifting light or -shadow told of deviation in her course of the fraction of a point. - -"Straight on to your goal, little ship," I said, saluting with my -glass. - -But I might have known as much. That was Fryatt's way, and that was -the way all my friends of the Red Ensign did, and always will do. -"Good luck, fair weather and snug berths to you all; aye, and a quiet -haven when the last watch, the long watch, is finally over!" - - * * * * * - -Knots of troubled sailor men still gathered along Harwich quay this -morning, but now that I understood by what they were moved I no longer -hesitated to mingle and talk with them. Their slow anger was steadily -mounting--gradually crowding out all other feelings--with every word -that was spoken, with every hour that passed; but among them were -still men who were stunned and dazed, who could not understand how a -thing so monstrous really could have happened. - -"But w'y, w'y ha' the 'Uns done it?" persisted a grizzled old salt, -turning his troubled eyes to mine after all the others had shaken -their heads perplexedly. - -"It is just possible," I said, "that the Germans believe that the -execution of one skipper who attempted to ram one of their submarines -will make the others think twice before trying to do the same thing." - -Two or three of the older men fairly snorted in their incredulity that -even the Germans should thus cheaply rate the British sailor, but the -plausibility of the theory soon convinced even these. - -"Do you re'ly believe the 'Uns think that o' us?" one of them finally -ventured. - -"I do," I replied, "for there is nothing else to think." - -The old man took a deep breath and turned his eyes away to sea. "God -pity all 'Uns!" he muttered, and "God pity 'em!" "God pity 'em!" -echoed his mates. - - - - -THE PASSING OF A ZEPPELIN - - -In the year that had gone by since the first great air-raid on London -we knew that much had been done in the way of strengthening the -defences. Just what had been done we did not, of course, and do not, -know. We knew that there were more and better guns and searchlights, -and probably greatly improved means of anticipating the coming of the -raiders and of following and reporting their movements after they did -come. At the same time we also knew that the latest Zeppelin had been -greatly improved; that it was larger, faster, capable of ascending to -a greater altitude, and probably able to stand more and heavier -gun-fire than its prototype of a year ago. It seemed to be a question, -therefore, of whether or not the guns could range the raiders, and, if -so, do them any vital damage when they did hit them. The aeroplane was -an unknown quantity, and, in the popular mind at least, not seriously -reckoned with. London knew that the crucial test would not come until -an airship tried again to penetrate to the heart of the metropolitan -area, and awaited the result calmly if not quite indifferently. - -The Zeppelin raids of the spring and early summer, numerous as they -had been, had done a negligible amount of military damage and scarcely -more to civil property. The death list, too, had, mercifully, been -very low. It seemed significant, however, that the main London -defences had been avoided during all of this time, indicating, -apparently, that the raiders were reluctant to lift the lid of the -Pandora's box that was laid out so temptingly before them for fear of -the possible consequences. Twice or thrice, watching with my glasses -after I had been awakened by distant bomb explosions or gun-fire, I -had seen a shell-pocketed airship draw back, as a yellow dog refuses -the challenge that his intrusion has provoked, and glide off into the -darkness of some safer area. "Would they try it again?" was the -question Londoners asked themselves as the dark of the moon came round -each month, and, except for the comparatively few who had had personal -experience of the terror and death that follow the swath of an -air-raider, most of them seemed rather anxious to have the matter put -to the test. - -Last night--just twelve "darks-of-the-moon" after the first great -raid of 1915--the test came. It was hardly a conclusive one, perhaps -(though that may well have come before these lines find their way into -print), but it was certainly highly illuminative. I write this on my -return to London from viewing--twenty miles away--a tangled mass of -wreckage and a heap of charred trunks that are all that remain of a -Zeppelin and its crew which--whether by accident, intent, or the force -of circumstances will probably never be known--rushed in where two -others of its aerial sisters feared to fly, and paid the cost. - -There was nothing of the surprise (to London, at least; as regards the -ill-starred Zeppelin crew none can say) in last night's raid. The -night grew more heavily overcast as the darkness deepened, and towards -midnight stealthy little beams of hooded searchlights pirouetting on -the eastern clouds told the home-wending Saturday night theatre crowd -that, with the imminent approach of the raiders, London was lifting a -corner of its mask of blackness and throwing out an open challenge to -the enemy. This was the first time I had known the lights to precede -the actual explosion of bombs, and the cool confidence of the thing -suggested (as I heard one policeman tell another) that the defence had -something "up their sleeves." - -It was towards one in the morning when I finished my supper at a West -End restaurant and started walking through the almost deserted streets -to my hotel. London is anything but a bedlam after midnight, but the -silence in the early hours of this morning was positively uncanny. -Now, with the last of the 'buses gone and all trains stopped, only the -muffled buzz of an occasional belated taxi--pushing on cautiously with -hooded lights--broke the stillness. - -Reaching my room I pulled on a sweater, ran up the curtain, laid my -glass ready and seated myself at the window, the same window from -which, a year ago, I had watched those two insolently contemptuous -raiders sail across overhead and leave a blazing wake of death and -destruction behind them. On that night, I reflected, I had felt the -rush of air from the bombs, and--later--had watched the firemen -extinguishing the flames and the ambulances carrying the wounded to -the hospitals. Would it be like that to-night? I wondered (there was -now no doubt that the raiders were near, for the searchlights had -multiplied, and far to the south-east, though no detonations were -audible, quick flashes told of scattering gun-fire), or would the -defence have more of a word to say for itself this time? I looked to -the eastern heavens where the shifting clouds were now "polka-dotted" -with the fluttering golden motes of a score of searchlights, and -thought I had found my answer. - -There was no wheeling and reeling of the lights in wide circles, as a -year ago, but rather a steady persistent stabbing at the clouds, each -one appearing to keep to an allotted area of its own. "Stabbing" -expresses the action exactly, and it recalled to me an occasion, a -month ago, when a "Tommy," who was showing me through some captured -dug-outs on the Somme, illustrated, with bayonet thrusts, the manner -in which they had originally searched for Germans hiding under the -straw mattresses. There was nothing "panicky" in the work of the -lights this time, but only the suggestion of methodical, ordered, -relentless vigilance. - -"Encouraging as a preliminary," I said to myself; "now" (for the night -was electric with import) "for the main event!" - -There was not long to wait. To the south-east the gun-flashes had -increased in frequency, followed by mist-dulled blurs of brightness in -the clouds that told of bursting shells. Suddenly, through a rift in -the clouds, I saw a new kind of glare--the earthward-launched beam of -an airship's searchlight groping for its target--but the shifting -mist-curtain intervened again even as one of the defending lights took -up the challenge and flashed its own rapier ray in quick reply. -Presently the muffled boom of bombs fleeted to my ears, and then the -sharper rattle of a sudden gust of gun-fire. This was quickly followed -by a confused roar of sound, evidently from many bombs dropped -simultaneously or in quick succession, and I knew that one of two -things had happened--either the raider had found its mark and was -delivering "rapid fire," or the guns were making it so hot for the -visitor that it had been compelled to dump its explosives and seek -safety in flight. When a minute or more had gone by I felt sure that -the latter had been scuttled, and that it was now only a question of -which direction the flight was going to take. - -Again the eastward searchlights gave me the answer. By twos and -threes--I could not follow the order of the thing--the lights that had -been "patrolling" the eastern sky moved over and took their station -around a certain low-hanging cloud to the south. The murky sheet of -cumulonimbus seemed to pale and dissolve in the concentrated rays, and -then, right into the focus of golden glow formed by the dancing light -motes, running wild and blind as a bull charges the red mantle -masking the matador, darted a huge Zeppelin. - -Perhaps never before in all time has a single object been the centre -of so blinding a glare. It seemed that the optic nerve must wither in -so fierce a light, and certainly no unprotected eye could have opened -to it. Dark glasses might have made it bearable, but could not -possibly have resolved the earthward prospect into anything less than -the heart of a fiery furnace. Indeed, it is very doubtful if the -bewildered fugitive knew, in more than the most general way, where it -was. Cut off by the guns to the south-east from retreat in that -direction, but knowing that the North Sea and safety could be reached -by driving to the north-east, it is more than probable that the -harried raider found itself over the "Lion's Den" rather because it -could not help it than by deliberate intent. - -What a contrast was this blinded, reeling thing to those arrogantly -purposeful raiders of a year ago! Supremely disdainful of gun and -searchlight, these had prowled over London till the last of their -bombs had been planted, and one of them had even circled back the -better to see the ruin its passing had wrought. But _this_ raider--far -larger than its predecessors and flying at over twice as great a -height though it was--dashed on its erratic course as though pursued -by the vengeful spirits of those its harpy sisters had bombed to death -in their beds. If it still had bombs to drop its commander either had -no time or no heart for the job. Never have I seen an inanimate thing -typify terror--the terror that must have gripped the hearts of its -palpably flustered (to judge by the airship's movements) crew--like -that staggering helpless maverick of a Zeppelin, when it finally found -itself clutched in the tentacles of the searchlights of the aerial -defences of London. - -All this time the weird, uncanny silence that brooded over the streets -before I had come indoors held the city in its spell. The watching -thousands--nay, millions--kept their excitement in leash, and the -propeller of the raider--muffled by the mists intervening between the -earth and the 12,000 feet at which it whirred--dulled to a drowsy -drone. Into this tense silence the sudden fire of a hundred -anti-aircraft guns--opening in unison as though at the pull of a -single lanyard--cut in a blended roar like the Crack o' Doom; indeed, -though few among those hushed watching millions realised it, it _was_ -literally the Crack o' Doom that was sounding. For perhaps a minute or -a minute and a half the air was vibrant with the roar of hard-pumped -guns and the shriek of speeding shell, the great sound from below -drowning the sharper cracks from the steel-cold flashes in the upper -air. - -It was guns that were built for the job--not the hastily gathered and -wholly inadequate artillery of a year ago--that were speaking now, and -the voice was one of ordered, imperious authority. Range-finders had -the marauder's altitude, and the information was being put at the -disposal of guns that had the power to "deliver the goods" at that -level. What a contrast the sequel was to that pitiful firing of the -other raid! Only the opening shots were "shorts" or "wides" now, and -ten seconds after the first gun a diamond-clear burst blinking out -through a rift in the upper clouds told that the raider--to use a -naval term--was "straddled," had shells exploding both above and below -it. From that instant till the guns ceased to roar, seventy or eighty -seconds later, the shells burst, lacing the air with golden glimmers, -and meshed the flying raider in a fiery net. - -For a few seconds it seemed to me that, close-woven as was the net of -shell-bursts, the flashes came hardly as fast as the roar of the guns -would seem to warrant, and I swept the heavens with my glasses in a -search for other possible targets. But no other raider was in sight; -there was no other "nodal centre" of gun-fire and searchlights. -Suddenly the reason for the apparent discrepancy was clear to me. The -flashes I saw (except for a few of the shrapnel bullets they were -releasing) were only the misses; the hits I could not see. The -long-awaited test was at its crucial stage. Empty of bombs and with -half of its fuel consumed, the raider was at the zenith of its flight, -and yet the guns were ranging it with ease. It was now a question of -how much shell-fire the Zeppelin could stand. - -In spite of the fact that the airship--so far as I could see through -my glasses--did not appear to slow down or to be perceptibly racked by -the gun-fire, I have no doubt what the end would have been if the test -could have been pressed to its conclusion in an open country. But -bringing a burning Zeppelin down across three or four blocks of -thickly settled London was hardly a thing the Air Defence desired to -do if it could possibly be avoided. The plan was carried to its -conclusion with the almost mathematical precision that marked the -preliminary searchlight work and gunnery. - -From the moment that it had burst into sight the raider had been -emitting clouds of white gas to hide itself from the searchlights and -guns, while the plainly visible movements of its lateral planes -seemed to indicate that it was making desperate efforts to climb still -higher into the thinning upper air. Neither expedient was of much use. -The swirling gas clouds might well have obscured a hovering airship, -but never one that was rushing through the air at seventy miles an -hour, while, far from increasing its altitude, there seemed to be a -slight but steady loss from the moment the guns ceased until, two or -three miles further along, it was hidden from sight for a minute by a -low-hanging cloud. Undoubtedly the aim of the gunners had been to -"hole," not to fire the marauder, and it must have been losing gas -very rapidly even--as the climacteric moment of the attack -approached--at the time increased buoyancy was most desirable. - -The "massed" searchlights of London "let go" shortly after the -gun-fire ceased, and now, as the raider came within their field, the -more scattered lights of the northern suburbs wheeled up and "fastened -on." The fugitive changed its course from north to north-easterly -about this time, and the swelling clouds of vapour left behind -presently cut off its foreshortened length entirely from my view. A -heavy ground mist appeared to prevail beyond the heights to the -north, and in the diffused glow of the searchlights that strove to -pierce this mask my glasses showed the ghostly shadows of flitting -aeroplanes--manoeuvring for the death-thrust. - -The ground mist (which did not, however, cover London proper) kept the -full strength of the searchlights from the upper air, and it was in a -sky of almost Stygian blackness that the final blow was sent home. The -farmers of Hertfordshire tell weird stories of the detonations of -bursting bombs striking their fields, but all these sounds were -absorbed in the twenty-mile air-cushion that was now interposed -between my vantage point and the final scene of action. - -Not a sound, not a shadow, heralded the flare of yellow light which -suddenly flashed out in the north-eastern heavens and spread -latitudinally until the whole body of a Zeppelin--no small object even -at twenty miles--stood out in glowing incandescence. Then a great -sheet of pink-white flame shot up, and in the ripples of rosy light -which suffused the earth for scores of miles I could read the gilded -lettering on my binoculars. This was undoubtedly the explosion of the -ignited hydrogen of the main gas-bags, and immediately following it -the great frame collapsed in the middle and began falling slowly -toward the earth, burning now with a bright yellow flame, above which -the curl of black smoke was distinctly visible. A lurid burst of -light--doubtless from the exploding petrol tanks--flared up as the -flaming mass struck the earth, and half a minute later the night, save -for the questing searchlights to east and south, was as black as ever -again. - -Then perhaps the strangest thing of all occurred. London began to -cheer. I should have been prepared for it in Paris, or Rome, or -Berlin, or even New York, but that the Briton--who of all men in the -world most fears the sound of his own voice lifted in unrestrained -jubilation--was really cheering, and in millions, was almost too much. -I pinched my arm to be sure that I had not dozed away, and, lost in -wonder, forgot for a minute or two the great drama just enacted. - -Under my window half a dozen Australian "Tommies" were rending the air -with "cooees" and dancing around a lamp-post, while all along the -street, from doorways and windows, exultant shouting could be heard. -For several blocks in all directions the cheers rang out loud and -clear, distinctly recognisable as such; the sound of the millions of -throats farther afield came only as a heavy rumbling hum. Perhaps -since the dawn of creation the air has not trembled with so strange a -sound--a sound which, though entirely human in its origin, was still -unhuman, unearthly, fantastic. Certainly never before in history--not -even during the great volcanic eruptions--has so huge a number of -people (the fall of the Zeppelin had been visible through a fifty-to -seventy-five-mile radius in all directions, a region with probably -from 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 inhabitants) been suddenly and intensely -stirred by a single event. - -It was undoubtedly the spectacularity of the unexpected _coup_ that -had made these normally repressed millions so suddenly and so -violently vocal. Many--perhaps most--stopped cheering when they had -had time to realise that a score of human beings were being burned to -cinders in the heart of that flaming comet in the north-eastern -heavens; others--I knew the only recently restored tenements where -some of them were--must have shouted in all the grimmer exultation for -that very realisation. I can hardly say yet which stirred me more -deeply, the fall of the Zeppelin itself or that stupendous burst of -feeling aroused by its fall. - - * * * * * - -By taxi, milk-cart, tram, and any other conveyance that offered, but -mostly on foot, I threaded highway and byway for the next four hours, -and shortly after daybreak scrambled through the last of a dozen -thorny hedgerows and found myself beside the still smouldering -wreckage of the fallen raider. An orderly cordon of soldiers -surrounding an acre of blackened and twisted metal, miles and miles of -tangled wire, and a score or so of Flying Corps men already busily -engaged loading the wreckage into waiting motor-lorries--that was -about all there was to see. A ten-foot-square green tarpaulin covered -all that could be gathered together of the airship's crew. Some of the -fragments were readily recognisable as having once been the arms and -legs and trunks of men; others were not. A man at my elbow stood -gazing at the pitiful heap for a space, his brow puckered in thought. -Presently he turned to me, a grim light in his eye, and spoke. - -"Do you know," he said, "that these" (indicating the charred stumps -under the square of canvas) "have just recalled to me the words Count -Zeppelin is reported to have used at a great mass meeting called in -Berlin to press for a more rigorous prosecution of the war against -England by air, for a further increase of frightfulness? Leading two -airship pilots to the front of the platform, he shouted to the crowd, -'Here are two men who were over London last night!' And the assembled -thousands, so the despatch said, roared their applause and clamoured -that the Zeppelins be sent again and again until the arrogant -Englanders were brought to their knees. Well"--he paused and drew a -deep breath as his eyes returned to the heap of blackened -fragments--"it appears that they _did_ send the Zeppelins again--more -than ever were sent before--and now it is _our_ turn to be presented -to 'the men who were over London last night.' I wonder if the flare -that consumed these poor devils was bright enough to pierce the black -night that has settled over Germany?" - - * * * * * - -The tenseness passed out of the night, and--the raid was over. Who -knows but what, so far as the threat to England is concerned, the -passing of _a_ Zeppelin marked also the passing of _the_ Zeppelin? - - - - -FIGHTING FOR SERBIA - - -I have had many strange meetings--strange in place and attendant -circumstance--in various and sundry odd corners of the world, but, -everything considered, I am inclined to think my encounter with -Radovitch, toward the end of last March, was the strangest of them -all. - -It was on the gorgeously flower-carpeted slope of a mountain-side -in----. But let that transpire in its proper place. - -There had been hint of gathering activity in the marching troops on -the roads, and I knew that some kind of a skirmish was on from the -scattering spatter of rifle-fire above and to my right; but that I had -actually blundered in between the combatants was not evident until the -staccato of a suddenly unmasked machine-gun broke out in the copse -below. I did not hear the familiarly ingratiating swish of speeding -bullets, and only an occasional twitching in the oak scrub told of a -skirmishing soldier, but it was plain that if the rifles were firing -in the direction of the machine-gun, and the machine-gun was firing in -the direction of the rifles, the position of my shivering anatomy -came pretty near to blocking a portion of the restricted little neck -of atmosphere along which the interchanged pellets must make their -way. One never learns it until he is under fire--especially -rifle-fire--for the first time, but the faculty for taking cover, for -making oneself inconspicuous at the approach of real or fancied -danger, is one of the few things in which the more or less degenerate -human of the present day suffers the least in comparison with that -fine and self-sufficient animal, his primitive ancestor. - -I hurdled neatly over a natural "entanglement" of magenta-blossomed -cactus, dived through a bosky tunnel in the gnarled oak scrub, and -landed comfortably in the matted mass of soft maiden-hair where the -water dripped from the side of a deep hole excavated by the village -brick-makers in taking out clay. There was ample cover from anything -but high-angle artillery fire on either side; so, picking out a bed of -lush grass with a cornflower and buttercup pillow, I stretched in -luxurious ease to let the battle blow over. - -The rifles spat back at the woodpecker drum of the machine-gun for a -minute or two, then quieted suddenly and gave way to the crashing of -underbrush and the chesty 'tween-the-teeth oaths that tell of -charging men. Scatteringly, in ones and twos and threes, they began -stumbling by above my head, now revealed by the quick silhouette of a -set jaw and forward-flung shoulders, and now by the glint of a bobbing -bayonet, but mostly by those guttural swearwords which mark the -earnest man on business bent. One of them--a gaunt-eyed Serb in the -faded horizon-blue uniform of a French _poilu_--who passed near enough -to the rim of my refuge to allow of a three-quarters length glimpse of -him, carried a squawking golden-hued hen by the feathers of her -hackle, and I was just reflecting how every other soldier that I had -ever known would have put a period on that tell-tale racket by -extending his grip round the windpipe, when Radovitch came down to -join me. Not that he had anything of the ulterior intention of seeking -cover that brought me there--quite to the contrary, indeed. I saw him -running hard and low (as every good soldier goes into grips with his -foe), burst out of the thicket, saw him straighten up and try to -swerve to the right as the hole suddenly yawned across his path, and, -finally, saw the quick tautening of the scaly yellow loop of -earth-running aloe root which deftly caught the toe of his shambling -boot and defeated the manoeuvre. - -There was little of the fine finesse of my own soft landing in the -whacking "kerplump" which completed the high dive executed by -Radovitch after his contact with the aloe root. His gun out-dived him -and cut short its parabola with the bayonet spiking a fern frond on -the opposite bank, but his broad, bronzed Slavic face was the first -part of Radovitch himself to reach the bottom, so that all the inertia -of the bone and muscle in his firmly-knit frame was exerted in driving -the ivory crescent of the teeth of his back-bent lower jaw in a swift, -rough gouge through the yielding turf. He pulled himself together in a -dazed sort of way, sat up, rubbed the grass out of his eyes, and -kneaded gently the strained joints of his jaw to see that they were -still swinging on their hinges. Reassured, he spat forth sputteringly -asphodel and anemone and the rest of his mouthful of flower-bed, -completing the operation by running an index finger around between the -lower teeth and lip to remove lurking bits of earth and gravel. - -There was something strangely familiar in that index-finger operation, -and it was the sudden recollection that was the identical way in which -we used to get rid of the gridiron clods that had been forced under -our football nose-guards which was responsible for my fervent -ejaculation of surprise. I don't recall exactly what I said, but it -was probably something akin to "I'll be blowed!" - -The look of dazed resentment on Radovitch's grass-and dirt-stained -face changed instantly to one of blank surprise. The poor strained jaw -relaxed, and he turned on me a stare of open-eyed wonder. - -"Where in 'ell d'you come from?" he gasped finally; and then, "You -speak English?" - -When, ignoring the former query, I grinned acquiescence to the latter, -he came back with, "Ain't 'Merican, are you? Don't know New York, do -you?" - -On my admission of guilt on both charges, he crawled over and gripped -my hand crushingly in his grimy paw. - -"My name's Radovitch. 'Merican citizen myself," he said proudly. "Took -out my last papers just 'fore I came over to fight for Serbia. Went to -school five years in New York when I was a kid. Ever been in Chicago?" - -"Of course." - -Radovitch's excitement, increasing when he found I had been in Omaha -(where he had worked in the stockyards), and Jerome, Arizona (where he -had "dumped slag" in the copper smelter), reached its climax when I -assured him that I had once played a game of baseball at Aldridge, a -little coal-mining town in Montana, near the northern portal of -Yellowstone Park. - -"I got a store there, and a half int'rest in the baseball grounds and -a dance-hall," he cried; and he was just in the midst of an excited -account of his rise to fortune in what he called the "hottest little -ol' camp in the Yellowstone," when the din of two or three fresh -machine-guns opening in unison drowned his voice, and a few minutes -later a half-dozen rifle muzzles were poked over the edge of our -refuge, while a gruff-voiced Serb corporal, in the khaki tunic of a -British Tommy and the baggy breeches of a French Zouave, informed us -that we were his prisoners. - -Radovitch, with a sheepish grin on his face, threw up his hands with -the classic cry of "Kamerad!" and then, shambling over opposite his -captors, coolly bade them toss down a box of cigarettes for him and -his "Merikansky" friend. - -"Smashed mine when I fell," he explained, sauntering back and offering -me a "Macedonia." "Wouldn't you reckon we'd had about enough fighting -in Serbia without these d---- d sham fights while we're supposed to be -resting up here in Corfu? It may be all right for new recruits; but -you'll have to admit that two years of the brand of scrapping we've -been getting over yonder in those mountains is not going to put us on -edge for play-fighting like this. But never mind, we'll be back to the -real thing again in a month or two. Come on along down to the camp and -meet my Colonel. We were kids together in Prilep. Now he's in command -of three thousand men and I'm only a corporal; but just the same I -could buy him out twenty times over." - -The bare outline of Radovitch's story he told me that evening (after -he had officially been "set free" again), as I trudged beside him -across the hills to his camp; but it was not until he obtained an -afternoon's leave three or four days later, and took me for a stroll -through the Serbian Relief Camp, that I learned he had been one of -that immortal band of heroes who, disdaining to take advantage of the -open roads to the Adriatic or Macedonia after Belgrade fell, made -their way to a mountain fastness in the heart of their own country and -stayed behind to wage such warfare as they could on the hated invader. -What sort of a warfare this was--indeed, what sort of a warfare it -_is_, for the band still survives, making up in an unquenchable -spirit what it has lost in numbers--I then learned for the first time. - -It was only the unexpected coming across a newly arrived comrade -(suffering--and it looked to me, dying--from an open bayonet wound and -an advanced and hitherto neglected attack of scurvy), that turned -Radovitch from wistful reminiscence of Aldridge, Montana, and set him -talking of the grim realities of the life he had been leading in -Serbia, a subject on which I had found him strangely reticent up to -that moment. The things he spoke of that afternoon covered only an -incident or two of his life with a body of men who, steadily depleted -and yet as steadily recruited from Heaven knows where, have furnished -an example of bravery and devotion to an all but lost cause almost -without a parallel even in a war in which bravery and devotion form -the regular grist of the day's work. - -Because this band in question, although its exploits are even now -being sung of by the Serbs along with those of the half-legendary -heroes of their early history, is still a "force in being," exercising -in its sphere an influence of its own on the course of the war, it is -necessary that the names of the villages and towns and mountains and -valleys and rivers to which Radovitch so constantly referred in his -narrative should be entirely suppressed. I may say, however, that -later inquiry which I made at Serbian Headquarters at Salonika -revealed ample evidence that the things he told me of--as well as -others scarcely less remarkable of which the time has not yet come to -write--occurred beyond the shadow of a doubt. - -The mood to talk did not seize Radovitch until after he had led me to -the summit of the hill behind the Relief Camp, from which lofty -vantage the eye roved eastward across a purple strait to the -snow-capped peaks of Epirus and Albania, westward to where what was -once the Kaiser's villa of Achilleon stood out sharply against the -sombre green of the backbone ridge of the island, northward to where -its twin castles flanked to right and left the white walls and red -roofs of Corfu town, and southward to the dim outlines of Leukas and -Cephalonia, thinning in the violet haze of late afternoon. Below, on -three sides, was the sea, with the storied Isles of Ulysses bracing -themselves against the flood-tide racing into the bay; above, a vault -of cloudless sky, and round about a thousand-year-old forest of -gnarled olives. It was the effect of all this, together with the sight -of his friend from Serbia in the little tented hospital of the Relief -Camp, which set Radovitch talking of things I had been vainly trying -to draw him out upon ever since I met him. While the mood lasted he -seemed to need no other encouragement than the attentive listener so -ready to hand; when it had passed he was back to the mines of Montana -again, deaf and blind to my every attempt to make him talk of Serbia -and what had befallen him there. - -"How did your band get together in the first place?" I had asked, "and -what sort of men was it made up of? Was there some kind of -organisation before the retreat, or did you simply drift together -afterwards?" - -"It must have been mostly 'drift,'" replied Radovitch. "Probably the -Government and our generals knew we'd have to give way when the -Austrians and Bulgars together came at us, but none of the rest of us -ever dreamed we couldn't wallop the whole bunch. So I don't think -there is much truth in the yarn about the band of 'blood brothers' -that had been formed in advance. We were about evenly made up at the -start of men who wouldn't leave the country and men who couldn't leave -the country. The first were mostly mountain men of the region we went -to. There were a lot of ex-brigands among them, and most of them had -been fighting the Turk, or the Bulgar, or the Government, or each -other, all their lives. It was to the way these fellows knew the -country, and how to live off it and fight in it, that we owed most of -our success. The rest of us were all sorts of odds and ends who had -fallen out of the retreat but had still been able to keep out of enemy -hands. - -"At first this particular mountain region--which later became our -stronghold, and is now the only part of Old Serbia in which the enemy -has never set foot--was but a refuge, and for a few weeks we were -pretty hard put to find enough to live on. It was touch and go for -food all of the first winter, and we lived mostly by night raids on -straggling Austrian supply trains. But before long we rounded up -enough sheep and goats to keep us going, and in the spring got one of -the little mountain valleys under cultivation. Since last -summer--except for vegetables, which we had no luck with--food was one -of our least troubles. - -"We had plenty of rifles from the first. A Serb will drop his clothes -before he will his gun, as you will find if you ever see our army in -action where a river has to be forded. Many a man straggled in to us -without pants or shirt, but never a one that I ever heard of without -his rifle, We were also tolerably well fixed for cartridges, because -a man don't use one in raiding or fighting from ambush to a hundred he -pots off in the trenches. We always managed to have enough for our own -regular army rifles, and after we got well started raiding, Austrian -rifles and munition came in faster than we ever had use for them. We -could have done with an extra machine-gun or two before we had our -stone-rolling defence organised, and before the Austrians had learned -that it didn't pay to try and crawl in and pull us out of our holes. -But before the winter was over we had enough spare 'spit-firers,' so -that we didn't mind risking the loss of one or two by taking them -along on raiding parties. - -"The lay of the mountains made the whole _mesa_[4] just one big -natural fort, and I miss my guess if in all the world there's another -place of the same kind so easy to defend and so hard to attack. The -mountains are steeper and rockier than that main range of Albania you -see across there against the sky, and that's going some. I never -struck anything half so rough in all the summers I put in prospecting -in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Only one of the passes had a cart-road -up to it, and only three had mule trails. At two or three other -places a man could scramble up by using his hands, but everywhere else -he would need to have ropes and scaling ladders. - - [4] Table-land. - -"At every one of the passes--including the one of the cart-road--a -half-dozen good rock-rollers, with plenty of 'ammunition,' could put -the kibosh on an army, and you may bet we saw to it that there was no -shortage of pebbles on hand. For the first week or two my fingers were -worn pretty near to the bone from handling rocks. The only way the -Austrians could have got the best of us, once we had made ourselves at -home, would have been with not less than a dozen regiments of their -Kaiser Jaeger, mountain batteries and all; but by the time this fact -sunk into them the Italians were keeping them so busy that they -probably figured they couldn't spare any such number of Alpine troops -for side-shows. Anyhow, they never even gave us a good run for our -money in the way of attacks, though of course some of the raiding -parties came in for pretty bad punishings every now and then. - -"The one thing that we needed most, first and last, was dynamite. If -we could have got hold of even half a ton of it in the first month or -two, before the Austrians got their patrols organised, we could have -done no end of harm in blowing up bridges and tunnels where they had -been missed in the rush of the retreat, and upsetting communications -generally. When we finally did begin to get hold of powder, all the -danger-points were so heavily guarded that we never got a fair chance -at them. Once, with fifty men armed with knives, we rushed the guard -at an important bridge and cleaned up the lot before a shot was fired. -But something must have been wrong with the fuse or caps, for the -dynamite placed under the near abutment never exploded, and there -wasn't time to go back and do the job over. The next time we tried the -same tactics it was on a tunnel, but here they had an ambush ready, -and only about a dozen of the hundred men who were in the raid ever -came back. The smoothest piece of tunnel work ever brought off was not -done by our gang at all, but by a much smaller one that worked in the -region of Uskub for a while, led by a Serbian Intelligence Officer -from Salonika who had been dropped there a month before from an -aeroplane. They descended into a very important pass in broad -daylight, seized a train of empty freight cars that was waiting on a -siding for a south-bound troop-train to go by, held it until a signal -arranged for in advance told them the troop-train was entering the -north end of the longest tunnel in that part of the country, and then -turned the freight loose into the other end. We had word later that -never a man was brought out alive, but the best effect of the job was -its setting afire the lime rock in the heart of the mountain and the -blocking of traffic for many months. - -"This southern band--after recruiting up to over a thousand men at one -time, and making life miserable for the Austrians for nearly four -months--ran short of food in mid-winter and had to break up. Its -leader, however, disguised as a Bulgar soldier, worked his way back -through the enemy lines, and after just missing being potted by the -first Serb patrol he ran into after crossing the Cerna, reached -Salonika in safety with a complete report of what he had seen during -five months in hostile territory. It was the slickest job of the kind -that has been put through in this neck of the war. The guy's name -is----, and, unless he's off on another lay of the same kind, you can -probably see him in Salonika.[5] - - [5] Through the courtesy of the Crown Prince of Serbia, the - writer, on his subsequent visit to Salonika, was granted an - interview with the Intelligence Officer in question, and expects - shortly to have permission to write a complete account of what - was undoubtedly not only one of the most daring, but also one of - the most successful exploits of the war. - -"As I was telling you," resumed Radovitch, "dynamite was the one thing -we felt the need of more than anything else, and yet--perhaps the one -big thing we did wouldn't have been half so big (and maybe it would -have failed completely) if we'd had the powder to go about the job the -way we planned to do it in the first place. Did you ever hear what -happened to the Austrian force that was camped in the ---- Valley last -spring?" - -"I remember reading one of their bulletins," I replied, "which -admitted losing a battalion or two in a flood in that region. But that -was due to 'natural causes,' wasn't it? Didn't a broken dam have -something to do with it?" - -"Natural causes and a busted dam did have something to do with it," -said Radovitch with a grin; "but nature in this case had some active -assistance, and that was where we came in. It wasn't just a battalion -that went down-stream, either; it was more like two of their big -regiments--the whole of the main force they had shivvied together to -bottle us up with. It was the best thing we did by a mile; and, as I -told you, it wouldn't have been half the clean-up it was if we'd had -in the first place the powder to do it in the 'regular way.' If we -_had_ had the powder, we'd never have given Providence a chance, and, -believe me, it was nothing but Providence that could have worked -things round the way they finally came out. - -"You see, it was this way," went on Radovitch, settling back -comfortably and smiling the pleased smile of reminiscence that sits on -the face of a man who recalls events in which he has taken keen pride -and enjoyment, "the most open approach to our mountain country was by -the gorge up which ran the cart-road. There was a good-sized area of -watershed draining out this way, so that the little river running -through the gorge was a pretty powerful stream even in low water--a -good bit bigger than the old Firehole in Yellowstone Park. This river -flowed out of the main mass of the mountains into a fine bowl of an -uplands valley, and then on out of that, through a rough range of -foothills, in another gorge. At the head of this last gorge is a -natural site to store water, and there--as a project of an old -Government reclamation scheme that had been held up halfway for lack -of money to go on with--a high dam had been built which backed up a -deep, narrow lake four or five miles long. - -"The Austrians had a small force in the little village in the valley -of the lake, and patrolled four or five miles of the cart-road into -the mountains, but the main lot of them were camped below the second -gorge in an open, triangle-shaped valley that ran up from the plain to -the foothills. It was a good, safe, healthy, well-drained camp, well -above the top marks of spring high-water. The only threat to it was -the lake behind the dam in the valley above, but, unluckily for them, -they didn't know all the facts about that dam. - -"The truth was that this dam was built to hold up a lake half again as -deep as the one then there, but poor engineering and scamp contracting -combined to make it too weak to stand the pressure up to the level -intended. The English engineer who came to inspect it put a mark about -two-thirds of the way up, and warned that it wouldn't be safe to ever -let the water rise above that height. As a precaution, it had been the -custom every February or March, before the spring thaw came, to drain -off the water of the lake during the month or two before the run-off -was the greatest, so that there was plenty of margin against the -floods shoving up the level above the danger-point. The Austrians were -good enough engineers to know that it was a rotten dam, but they -didn't seem to have the sense to start lowering the water level before -the spring freshets set in. - -"Of course we didn't have to set up nights to figure what a break in -the dam--if only it came sudden enough--would do to the main Austrian -camp; but the contriving of ways and means to bring about that 'sudden -break' seemed to have us guessing from the first. The simple and -natural thing would have been to try and work down a couple of raiding -parties on either side of the lake, rush the guards at the dam with -knives (as we did later at the bridge I told you of), plant two or -three charges of dynamite, touch off the fuses, and beat it back to -the hills. If we'd had enough powder, probably that's the thing we'd -have tried, but with what success it's hard to say. The chances -against anything like a 'clean job' were anywhere from ten to fifty to -one. In the first place, there was the chance of some of the raiders -running into an Austrian patrol or sentry and starting something -before they ever got near the dam. Then there was the chance that the -rush at the dam might not go off quietly enough to keep from bringing -the force in the village down on us and making it hopeless to try and -place the powder, even if we had cleaned up the guards. Or, if we did -get the powder placed, there was the chance that we might fail to -explode it (as happened at the bridge); or even if it did explode, it -was no cinch that the dam would go all at once, or that the camp below -wouldn't be warned in time to get clear. Yes, I'm sure it was a good -fifty-to-one that one of these things would have upset the apple-cart -if we'd happened to be in shape to try and do the job with dynamite. -And once we'd showed our hand, of course, the Austrians had only to -let the water out of the lake or move the lower camp, and the game was -up for good. - -"But the hundred or so sticks of forty per cent. 'giant' we had in -stock were out of the question to tackle the job with, and so no move -was made that might have stirred the enemy's suspicions of what we had -in pickle for him. So, far from taking any precautions as the flood -season approached, he only let the water go on rising in the lake and -extended the main camp a hundred yards nearer the river. We talked -over a hundred plans in the long winter nights, but it was not till -the snow began to turn slushy at noonday, along towards the middle of -March, that we hit on one that seemed to promise a chance of success. - -"We had been hoping all along that the Austrians might let the water -go on piling up behind the dam until it gave way, but it was not till -one day when our scouts brought word that the gates had now been -opened, with the evident intention of holding the lake at a level -which they figured at about ten feet above the danger-point, that it -occurred to us that we might do something to help the good work along. -Nobody ever recalled afterwards whose idea it was, but a dozen of -us--officers and men together, in the Serbian fashion--suddenly found -ourselves waving our arms and getting red in the face discussing a -plan for building a little dam of our own, backing up as big a lakeful -of water behind it as we could, and then turning it loose on the big -lake below at the crest of the spring floods. If any of us had had any -engineering sense we'd have known that we couldn't build--with no -tools but a few axes and spades, and no materials but what nature had -put there--a dam in a year big enough to be of any use, let alone in a -month. But having no sense to speak of in things of that kind, we went -ahead with the job, and, with the luck of fools, pulled it off. - -"There was a fine site for a dam at the upper end of the cart-road -gorge, where it looked as though a solid barrier thirty feet high -would back up a lake something like three-quarters of a mile long and -from a quarter to half a mile wide. We began by building a 'crib' of -pine-trunks thirty feet wide--which was to be filled with boulders -and gravel. On our pencil plan of it, it was to be heavily buttressed -from below and slope from both sides till it was only ten feet wide at -the top. Our idea was to make it as much like a fort as possible, so -that if the Austrians piped it off from an aeroplane they would think -we were only working on defences. A hole was to be left in the middle -for the river to flow out through, as we didn't intend to store water -till the big rains and thaws set in. As it was rainy or windy every -day from the time we started to work, the Austrians--as far as we ever -knew--did no flying over the mountains, so that we had no worry on -that score. - -"Upwards of five hundred husky Serbs can do a deal of work, -but it didn't take more than three days of log-rolling and -rock-packing to show that--even at the pace we were hitting it--that -hundred-yard-long, thirty-feet-high dam wouldn't be finished before -the next season, and that, even if we did get it done some time, the -stuff we were putting in it was too loose to stop water. It was at -this stage of things that I had _my_ big idea. I had worked in -hydraulic mines in the West, and while we had nothing to rig up a pipe -and nozzle from, there _was_ a chance to divert a little mountain -torrent that came tumbling down from the snows only a few yards below -our dam site. Why not, I suggested, build up only a narrow crib of -boulders and pine logs to act as a barrier, and then bring over this -little torrent--it was flowing about a hundred miner's inches at this -time--and let it sluice down the loose 'conglomerate' from the -four-hundred-foot-high cliff through which it flowed? Because no one -had anything else to offer, we decided to try the thing. - -"We used up a good half of our poor little store of powder in making -the cut to bring over the stream, but the job was mostly easy digging, -and we finished it in three days. My young 'hydraulic' sure tore down -a lot of rock and gravel, but, as we couldn't rig up anything to -confine it properly, it only spread out in a big 'fan,' which in turn -was sluiced away by the river. That fairly stumped us, and when on top -of it a big storm came on and brought down a flood that washed away -all our cribbing, we chucked up in disgust our project of 'harnessing -nature' against the Austrian and began to plan raids again. - -"All that night it rained cats and dogs, and when I looked out of my -hut the next morning the river was over its banks and humping it like -a 'locoed' mustang. But the funny thing was that the cascade from the -little stream we had diverted seemed to have disappeared. At first I -thought it had bucked its way back into its old channel, but when I -went down to look I found that it had been 'swallowed' up by the -cliff. Five times as big as on the night before, it came tumbling down -over an up-ended stratum of slate, to disappear in a foamy -yellow-white spout into a deep crack it had sluiced into the soft -'conglomerate.' At the bottom of the cliff it came boiling out from -under the angling slate-layer in a stream that looked to be about -equal parts of gravel and water. My baby 'hydraulic' had evidently -undermined a sloping section of the cliff for a hundred feet or more, -and only the tough slate stratum was staving off a big cave-in. How -big a cave-in it was going to be, and what it was going to lead to, I -never guessed. - -"The warm rain kept plugging down all day, and was still pelting hard -when I went to sleep that night. Towards morning I was waked up with a -roar a hundred times louder than any snow-slide I ever heard, and then -came a jar that rocked the whole valley. I felt sure a piece of the -cliff had come down, but didn't have the least hunch that anything -like what the first daylight showed up had come off. The first thing I -saw as the dark slacked off was the shimmer of a flat stretch of -water in the bottom of the valley, a lake--just as if it had been -dropped from the sky--right where we'd been trying to start one -ourselves. - -"The cliff had broken back a couple of hundred feet or more all the -way to the top, and in falling had piled up clear across the head of -the gorge. On the near side it was about one hundred and fifty feet -high, on the farther side something like sixty. - -"With the rain still pouring pitchforks and the snow melting all over -the mountains, water was coming down at a rate that had the lake -rising at the rate of two feet an hour all morning, and better than -half that fast even when it began to spread out over the valley floor -in the afternoon. The storm kept right on for three days. The second -morning there was twenty-five feet of water at the dam, on the third -forty feet and on the fourth near to fifty. The lake by this time was -both bigger and deeper than the one we'd planned to make ourselves. - -"By good luck the streams ramping down from the mountains into the -gorge below the slide kept two or three times its average flow in the -river, and so the Austrians--who didn't know its habits very -well--failed to notice that anything unusual had come off up-stream. -Our scouts reported that the water in the lower lake had not risen -much, and that it seemed to stand at about fifteen feet above the -danger mark. The Austrians, they said, did not appear to be paying any -more attention to the dam than usual. - -"We were hoping that the storm would hold until enough water was -backed up to bust the dam on its own, but when it began to clear on -the fourth day it was plain the best way out of it was to give the -thing a push on our own account. We didn't have a hundredth of enough -'giant' to do the job, so had to rig the best makeshift we could by -turning the still husky stream of my 'hydraulic' right along the -sloping top of the slide and off down into the gorge. - -"It was about midday when we set it sluicing, and all afternoon it -licked off the loose earth as if it was sugar. By dark half the near -end of the slide had slushed away, and the wall that still held was -beginning to bulge and cave with the seep forced through from the -other side. Half an hour later our pitch-pine torches showed the water -bubbling through all the way along, and we knew it was time for us to -clear out. It was none too soon either, for the last man was just out -of the way when a heavy sort of rolling-grind started, and -then--whouf!--out she went. - -"I've been in 'Yankee Jim's' Canyon of the Yellowstone when the flood -behind the break-up of the ice-jam in the lake came down, but that was -a rat-a-tat to the roar that sounded now. The mountains themselves -were shaking, and the movement started the 'hanging' snow-slides all -the way down the gorge. It must have been a racket like that when the -world was made. The lake was drained of all but mud in ten minutes, -and it must have been about twice that long before a new sound broke -in--a roar so deep that it seemed to almost be a rumbling from under -the earth. But we knew that it was the big dam going--that our work -was done for that night. - -"The next morning at daybreak every man in shape to stand the climb -over a mountain path we knew--the road down the gorge had been scoured -out clean--dropped down from three sides on the little Austrian force -in the village where the dam had been, and killed or captured the -whole bunch. Then we pushed on to the top of the foothills looking -down to the plain. Where the main Austrian camp had been was a slither -of smooth mud, dotted with the stumps of snapped-off trees; and just -that, and no more, was all we could see as far as our eyes could -reach. - -"And just so," cried Radovitch, leaping to his feet and shaking a fist -toward the serrated sky-line to the north-east, beyond which ran the -roads to Monastir and Prilep and Uskub; "just so, when the time comes, -will the whole ---- ---- herd of the swine be swept out of Serbia!" - - - - -BEATING BACK FROM GERMANY - -(AS TOLD BY AN ESCAPED PRISONER). - - -I was born on a Wisconsin farm, almost within sight of Lake Michigan -and only a few miles from the Illinois State line. My father was Irish -and my mother German. Like my name, most of my qualities--both good -and bad--were those of my father rather than my mother. He died when I -was ten, and within a year my mother married our German hired-man. My -mother was never unkind to me, but my stepfather was a brute, and from -the day of his coming to live with us I date a steadily growing -dislike for his race, which has been made worse by a sort of fatality -which, in spite of myself, has seemed to work to throw me amongst them -all my life. - -My stepfather was always rough with me, but until I was sixteen -confined himself to a black-snake and horsewhip in beating me. I got -on as best I could with him, but when he celebrated my coming to what -he called "man's estate" by starting in on me with a hoe-handle, it -was more than I could stand. The second time he tried it I was ready -for him and caught him a blow behind the ear with an iron -monkey-wrench that laid him out across the chopping-block. Afraid that -I had killed him--he was really not hurt much--I ran away, taking -nothing with me but the wrench I had in my hand. I never parted with -that good old monkey-wrench during all my wanderings of the next ten -years, and I felt worse about losing it to the Germans in Flanders -than I did about the two fingers their shrapnel bashed off. - -For the next few years I did all kinds of farm work, always being -employed by Germans because nearly all of the farms in southern -Wisconsin are owned by those people. Possibly there were many good -people amongst them, but it always seemed to be my luck to get with -the others. Hard workers themselves, they were also hard drivers of -those who worked for them, and full of mean little tricks for getting -more time out of you or for giving you less money. Of course, being -quick-tempered and with a sort of standing grudge against all -"square-heads" growing up inside of me anyhow, I was in hot water most -of the time. The week that went by without a fight was very -exceptional. If they were content to go after me with their fists, I -usually kept to the same weapons, and hardly recall a time when I -didn't have the best of it. But if they ever tried anything else I -always fell back on my trusty monkey-wrench, which I generally carried -swung to my belt with a raw-hide. After a while, just as the Indians -used to tally their scalps on the handles of their tomahawks, I -started cutting a notch on the wooden grip of my monkey-wrench for -every time I had dropped--I don't think I ever killed one--a -"square-head" with it. At first--proud of what they stood for--I cut -them broad and long, but soon I saw I was using up my limited space -too fast, and, to provide for "future developments," began cutting -them smaller. It was surprising how much the notches improved the -grip. - -By the time I was twenty I was able to run both the engine and the -separator of a threshing-machine outfit, and started going west every -summer to the Dakotas and Montana to get the benefit of the high -harvest pay. My winters I spent in a big factory in Racine, learning -to repair and build threshers and tractors. Partly to save the money -that I would have had to pay for a ticket, but more for the lark of -it, I started beating my way back and forth between the east and the -west on the trains. Sometimes I stowed away with a week's food in an -empty furniture car, sometimes I rode the "blind baggage," but mostly -it was the old stand-by of the "bindle-stiff" called "riding the -rods." My nerve was good and my arms strong, and it wasn't long before -I could swing up and disappear inside the "bumpers" of a train doing -thirty miles an hour as easily as the conductor swung on to the tail -of the caboose by his hand-rail. It was little idea I had that the -tricks I learned in those days were going to make all the difference -between my starving in a German prison camp and (what is happening -now) being fed on chocolates and pink teas in London by way of -training for another go at the Huns. - -In 1913 I went to South America to set up and run threshing outfits -that had been sold to the ranchers by the Racine company I had been -working for winters. I had a two years' contract, and was supposed to -go to Uruguay or the Argentine. If I had done that, probably things -would have been all right. But at the last moment, as a result of some -one else dropping out, I was sent to Rio Grande do Sul, in the -southern "pan-handle" of Brazil. But don't believe that because it was -Brazil there were any Brazilians there, or leastways any that counted -for anything. The Germans have been swarming into Rio Grande and -Santa Catharina for thirty years, and to-day southern Brazil is as -"Dutch" as--southern Wisconsin. Probably, in fact, it is more so, for -there are over half a million Germans there, and hardly a third that -many Brazilians. - -I had been avoiding German farms for the last two or three years, but -in Rio Grande all the ranchers were Germans, and I had to go wherever -an outfit had been sold anyhow. The notches multiplied pretty fast on -my old monkey-wrench for about three weeks, but at the end of that -time I found myself in jail for knocking out the front teeth of a fat -German farmer after I had ducked a prod from his pitchfork. Our agent -at Santa Catharina and the American Consul at Santos got me clear, but -the former took the occasion to cancel my contract and ship me home -before, as he put it, I had ruined the company's trade in that end of -Brazil. - -I was breaking prairie with a big gasoline tractor outfit in northern -Manitoba when the European War started, and so sure I was that my -country was going to take some kind of a stand against the invasion of -Belgium that I got ready at once to go home and enlist in case we had -to back up the protest with force. I waited, with my grip packed, -until it was plain that there was no chance of any move from our -brave statesmen at Washington--it must have been three or four weeks -before I gave up hope--and then threw up my job, did sixty miles on -horseback in nine hours to the railway station, and went to the -nearest recruiting office. They would probably have taken me as an -American, but I was taking no chances on being rejected. I told them I -was an Irish-Canadian, and the next day was being put through the -paces by the drill-sergeant. I could have got much more pay and a -better billet generally by going into the transport service and -driving a motor truck, but I had suddenly become aware that I had been -nursing a sort of slumbering desire to kill Germans for the last -decade, and I wasn't going to miss the chance to let that desire wake -up. I sewed an extra loop on my belt so that I could have my good old -monkey-wrench always handy, and began looking anxiously forward to the -time when I should be able to complete my "register" of bashed-up -Dutchmen on the handle. I might have to use my rifle for long-range -work, I told myself, but for the close-in action in the trenches I was -going to do with my wrench what the other fellows did with their -bayonets. Lucky it was for my peace of mind in those days that I -couldn't look forward and see what the end of the next eight or ten -months had in pickle for me. - -The call was pretty persistent for men in those first months of the -war and, in spite of the shortage of all kinds of equipment, our -training was rushed from the very beginning. Most of the boys in my -regiment had seen service or had training--some had been in the South -African War, and others had been members of the English Territorials -or the Canadian Militia--already, and we made much better progress -than the rawer contingents that came later. We had about three months -in Canada, a little longer in England (where I had a touch of typhoid -on Salisbury Plain), and by the early spring of 1915 we were in -reserve in Flanders. By the time the Germans made their second attempt -to drive through Ypres to Calais we had been pushed up into the first -line. Until the big attack came, however, we had had no real fighting. -The Germans--I had begun to call them Huns by this time instead of -Dutchmen--made scattering raids on our trenches and we made scattering -raids on theirs, but I never figured in any of this to the extent of -mixing in hand-to-hand work. I had no chances to add any notches to -the handle of my old monkey-wrench, but from my always carrying it -around with me the English "Tommies" (who call a wrench a spanner) -had dubbed me "Spanner Mike." They pretended to believe I was a little -"cracked" about my trusty old friend, but I found that they were never -above borrowing it for everything, from opening boxes from home to -tinkering the gear of broken-down automobile trucks--"motor lorries," -they call them. It's really remarkable what a lot of things a man can -use a monkey-wrench for if only he happens to have it handy when he -needs it. - -For some days the shell-fire against us had been getting heavier--at -least they called it heavy then; it would be nothing now--and we knew -that the Huns were getting ready for some kind of an attack. What kind -it was going to be we little dreamed, for even our officers seem to -have known nothing about the gas they had been experimenting with over -in Germany. When it came--it rolled toward us in heavy clouds like the -morning mists in the Dakota "Bad Lands"--the word went round that the -Huns' munitions had got afire, and we were telling each other that we -ought to be sent across to take advantage of the confusion. It was -only when we began to notice that it was bubbling up at fairly regular -intervals--thick greasy yellow clouds of it--that it seemed they -might be putting up a game on us, and by that time one of the advanced -tongues of the stuff lapped over into our trench. - -I shall never forget the horrible agony and surprise in the eyes of -the men who got that first dose. It was the look of a dog being -suddenly beaten for something it hadn't done. They looked at each -other with questioning eyes--I only recall hearing one man start -cursing--then they began gulping and coughing, and then fell down with -their faces in their hands. All the time the shrapnel was popping -overhead and raining bullets about, and, just as the gas began to pour -over my parapet, a bullet knocked my rifle out of my hand, and I -slipped in the mud as I jumped back and went down in a heap. It must -have been all of six weeks before I stood on my feet again. - -My first sensation was of a smarting way up inside of my nose. This -quickly extended to my throat, and then, as my lungs suddenly seemed -filled with red-hot needles, I was seized with a spasm of coughing. -Coughing up red-hot needles is not exactly a pleasant operation, and -the pain was intense. Mercifully, it was only a few minutes before a -sort of stupor seemed to come on, but even as I passed into -half-consciousness I was aware of my outraged lungs revolting, in -heaves that shook my frame, against the poison that had swamped the -trench. With some of my comrades the fighting instinct was the last -thing that died, and I have a sort of a recollection of two or three -of them clutching at the parapet and firing from cough-shaken -shoulders off into the depths of the rolling yellow gas clouds. One -lad toppled over beside me and still kept pumping shots from the -bottom of the trench. I remember hazily trying to kick his rifle out -of his hand as he discharged it over my ear, and, failing to locate it -with my foot, recall groping instinctively for my old wrench and -trying to disarm him with that. My last recollection of this stage of -things was the shock of feeling the wrench-handle swing backward -harmlessly for lack of my two shrapnel-smashed fingers to steady it. - -I had rolled and writhed, in the agony of the pain of the gas in my -lungs, in a pool of slush in the bottom of the trench, and it must -have been the lying with my face buried in the shoulder of my wet -woollen tunic that saved my life. Most of my comrades were quite -unconscious when the Huns, with their heads protected by baggy -"snoots," came pouring into the trench, but I had enough of my senses -left unparalysed to be able to watch them in a hazy sort of way. The -horrible quietness of the thing was positively uncanny. Always before -the enemy had charged with yells (it is directed in their manual that -they do so, though, of course, a man "gives tongue" naturally on such -occasions from sheer excitement), but now they were hardly making a -sound. Probably this was by orders, so that no more air than was -necessary should be taken into the lungs, but even when some of them -did try to speak the words were so muffled that it must have been very -hard to make them out. - -The Huns were pretty excited at first, and started right down the -trench bayoneting one body after another. But before they got to me an -officer stopped them for a minute and evidently gave them to -understand that they were to confine their butchery only to those that -tried to resist. Two or three of our boys, who had not gone under -entirely but had not sense enough to understand the uselessness of -putting up a fight, made a few groggy passes at the Huns and paid the -penalty. I lay quiet and played "possum," but got a nasty prod in the -groin when one of them turned me over with his bayonet to see where I -was wounded. There was still a good deal of gas in the bottom of the -trench, and between that and loss of blood I must have lost -consciousness entirely about this time. - -My recollections covering the next day or two are very dim and -confused, but one thing was photographed so clearly on my mind that -the image of it has never faded; I even grow hot as I think of it now, -over a year later. This was the last thing I saw before I "went to -sleep" in the trenches--two Huns using my monkey-wrench (the tool I -had been "strafing" "Dutchmen" with for the last ten years, and which -I had brought along to continue that good work with) to tinker up one -of our own smashed machine-guns to use against our own men. I never -saw it again, and its loss rankled in my mind during the whole year -that I was doomed to spend in German hospitals and prison camps. - -I have some memory of being carried in a stretcher, and of passing -through one or two dressing-stations where my wounds were washed and -bandaged. My connected recollections begin after my waking up in a -hospital--well back from the Front, but still not out of the sound of -the guns--that was evidently devoted entirely to "gas" cases. The ward -I was in was filled with men from my own regiment, but what interested -me specially--as soon as I was able to take any interest in anything -beyond my own suffering--was to observe that a great many Germans -were also being treated in the same hospital. I never did find out -just how these happened to be "gassed," but presume it was either -through accidents to their apparatus or from their "snoots" being -faulty. - -At any rate, the Germans had evidently prepared in advance for "gas" -cases, and the chances are that they pulled through a good many of us -who might have died had we been taken back to our own hospitals, where -they had, at that time, small facilities for handling that kind of -trouble. The ward was kept as hot as a Turkish bath, and some of our -chaps thought this was done with the idea of making our agony worse. -One of them, who jumped out of bed, threw up a window, got a lungful -of cold air, and died the same night, gave us a proper object-lesson -in why the air had to be kept at close to blood heat. Some of them -also thought that a kind of stuff they gave us to inhale made us worse -rather than better, but that was only their imagination. If there was -any real ground for complaint it might have been on the score that the -doctors tried a good many experiments on us because this was the first -chance they had had to study gas poisoning on a large scale, but that -was no more than we could have expected. Probably our own doctors -would have been glad of some "dogs," in the shape of Huns, to "try it -on" when they first began to study "gassing." - -But the doctors were always attentive, and the nurses always -kind--more than kind, most of them. But I already had learned that a -nurse's best stock-in-trade is her "sympathy," and those I met in -Germany were no exception to the rule. I think it was the way that -those plump blonde _fraeuleins_ looked after us poor devils in that -steaming-hot ward that kept me from trying to run amuck and commit -murder as soon as I was well enough to be sure that my memory of those -two Huns tinkering at our machine-gun with my old monkey-wrench was no -"fevered vision." - -I have been told often since returning to England that it will be just -as well not to say too much about my hardships in the German prison -camps, as it might be the way of making things all the worse for those -still doomed to remain there. So I shall touch lightly on this side of -my experiences, and, to be on the safe side, will try not to mention -any camps or other German localities by name. I was sent to what, had -I but known it, was the most liberally run prison camp in Germany -after my discharge from the hospital, but even at that the treatment -was so abominable in comparison with what I had been receiving and had -a right to expect that it undid at once the "soothing" effect the kind -nurses and doctors had had on me. I don't mean that I went back -physically a great deal--my constitution was too strong for that--but -only that my old hate of the Hun redoubled. This would have been all -very well if I had only been back in the trenches, but in a prison -camp it could only have one end. I dropped in his tracks with my -fist--mighty hard it was his shaved head felt to my half-healed -"right"--the first guard that tried to hustle me into line with the -toe of his boot. Then I used up what strength I had left in a rough -and-tumble with three or four others, until one of them finally put me -to sleep with the butt of his rifle. In at least three other camps I -could name I would have been shot then and there (it has happened to -many a lad whose pride made him turn loose on a brutal guard), and I -can count myself very lucky that I got off with no more than a bit -more of a beating up and two weeks' solitary confinement on black -bread and water. Perhaps the worst consequence of my action was my -transfer, a few weeks later, to a camp that has since become notorious -for both its unhealthfulness and its inhumanity. - -The first glimmerings of sense (regarding the situation that I was -going to have to face as a prisoner of war in Germany) was let into my -rather thick head by the blow it got from that rifle-butt; the -rest--enough to start me on the right course, at least--filtered in -during my two weeks of solitary confinement on bread and water. I was -of no use to myself or any one else in a German prison camp, I told -myself. I had no chance there either to kill Huns or destroy Hun -property. Once outside I might well be able to do both--perhaps even -get back to England and join my regiment if any of it was left. How to -get out?--that was the question. From that time on I turned my every -thought and act to that one end. - -What makes it almost hopeless for a prisoner of war to get out of -Germany is not so much the actual escape from his prison--that is -comparatively easy, especially if he is on outside work--as the lack -of clothes and money, and the difficulty of avoiding giving himself -away by being unable to speak the language. These things make the odds -a thousand to one against the average prisoner having more than -twenty-four hours' freedom at the outside. The chances against success -are so big that few attempt it. Luckily, I had one advantage over the -general run of the prisoners in my ability to speak fairly good -German. I must have had a lot of accent, of course, but I still -understood all that was said to me in German, and was also able to say -all that I wanted to. This would be good enough, I told myself, to run -a bluff with the ordinary run of people I might meet about my being a -returned German-American come back to work for my Fatherland; that is -to say, I ought to be able to prevent such people from being -suspicious of me, where they would have attacked or reported a man who -could not speak German at once. Anything in the way of police or -officials I should have to fight shy of, and, as I foresaw there must -be all kinds of checks on strangers and travellers, I knew I should -have to steer clear of trains and hotels. I felt sure of myself on the -score of language, therefore; clothes and money were things to be -provided as opportunity offered. Fortunately, Fate was very kind to me -in this respect. - -One little incident I must mention before I go on with my story. In -the prison I was transferred to most of the English prisoners, after a -while, began to receive parcels from home, even some of the Canadians -coming in on the deal. I, having no friends either in Canada or -England, got nothing direct, but all sorts of nice little odds and -ends of dainties came my way in the final "divvy." One lad from the -south of England, who was dying with a sort of slow blood-poisoning -and lack of care of a never-healed wound at the back of his neck, was -especially generous to me with the things he got from home, and when -he finally went under I managed to get permission to write a few words -to his family, telling them, among other things, how kind he had been -to me with his parcels. And what should they do--his brokenhearted -mother and sisters in Devonshire--but "adopt" me in his place and keep -right on sending the chocolate and cigarettes and other "goodies" just -as regularly as before. And now they've been to see me here, and tell -me they are going to keep sending me things when I return to the Front -just the same as though I was the boy they had lost. - -As soon as I had fully made up my mind what I wanted to do, I went on -my good behaviour, got into the "trusty" class, and was one of the -first picked for outside work when the call came for English prisoners -to help in harvesting and road-making. I had a good chance to practise -my German during the harvest work, but the prospects for making good -after a "get-away" were not very promising, and I had sense enough to -bide my time. But when I got switched on to road work, and when almost -the first thing I saw was a bunch of Huns clustered round an old Holt -"Caterpillar" tractor that had got stalled on them, I felt that time -was drawing near. - -Now a "Caterpillar" is just about the finest tractor in the world for -general purposes, provided it is run by a man that has had plenty of -experience with its funny little ways; in the hands of any one -else--even a first-class engineer that is quite at home with a wheel -tractor--it is the original fount of trouble. To me the machine was an -old friend, however, for I had run one for two or three seasons in the -West and worked for a winter in one of the company's factories in -Illinois. I took the first opportunity to let the Huns know my -qualifications, and when they saw me start in to true up the wobbly -"track," they just about fell on my neck then and there. They had -seized the machine in a Belgian sugar-beet field a few days after the -outbreak of the war, they explained, and it had been used for a while -to haul heavy artillery in the drive into France. After a time the -hard usage had begun to tell on the "track," and--as they had no new -parts to replace worn ones with--it had been giving about as much -trouble as it was worth ever since. When I told them that it was -adjustment rather than replacement that was needed, and that in a few -days I could have the machine as good as new, they fairly tumbled over -themselves to "borrow" me for the job. - -As a matter of fact, the old "crawler" was just about on its last -legs, but I knew in any case that I could tinker it into some kind of -running shape, and the comparative freedom of the job was what I -wanted. This worked out even better than I expected, for after the -first day or two, in order to save the time taken up by returning me -to the prison camp at night and bringing me back in the morning, they -arranged for me to bunk in in the road camp. They were too much -occupied in hustling the job along to think about asking me for my -parole--a lucky thing, for I should have had a hard time to keep from -breaking it. - -With two men to help me, I took the tractor all down, "babbitted" up -the bearings, readjusted the gears, and had it up and running at the -end of a week. With a string back to the seat to open up the throttle -for the sharp pulls, I had it snaking a string of ten waggon-loads of -crushed rock where it had been stalling down on three before the -overhauling. During that week I had also managed to pick up--no -matter how--several marks in money, and had succeeded in concealing so -effectually the greasy jacket of one of my assistants that he gave up -hunting for it and got a new one. A machinist's cap had already been -given me, and the evening that the other helper washed out his -overalls and flung them over his tent to dry, I--seeing a chance to -complete my wardrobe--decided promptly that the time had come to make -a move. They had offered me a steady job running the old -"Caterpillar," and at something better than ordinary "prisoner's pay," -but as it would have kept me in the same neighbourhood, I could not -figure how it would help my chances in the least to "linger on." - -There was supposed to be a sentry watching the road machinery, and -also keeping a wary eye on the tent where I bunked with a half-dozen -of the engineers, but he did not take his job very seriously, and I -knew I would have no difficulty avoiding him. We had had a hard day of -it, and my tent mates were in bed by dark--about 8 o'clock--and -asleep, by their deep breathing, a few minutes later. They all slept -in their working clothes, else I could have made up my outfit then and -there. But it did not matter, for within half a minute of the time I -had slipped noiselessly under the loosened tent-flap, I was making off -down the road with a full suit of German machinist's togs under my -arm. Five minutes later I stopped in the darker darkness under a tree -by the roadside and slipped them on over my prison suit, rightly -anticipating that the extra warmth of the latter might be very welcome -if I had much sleeping out to do. - -It was partly bravado, probably, and partly because I felt that, if -missed, I would be searched for in the opposite direction, that caused -me to head for the two-mile-distant town of X----. And it was probably -the same combination which led me, after passing unchallenged down the -long main street, to march up to the wicket of a "movie" show, pay my -twenty-five pfennig and pass inside. Had there been a "hue and cry" -that night (which there was not), this was undoubtedly the last place -they would have looked for me in. - -The films were mostly war views--cracking fine things from both the -Russian and French fronts--and other patriotic subjects, but among -them was one of those "blood-and-thunder thrillers" from California. I -don't recall exactly how the story went, but the thing that set me -thinking was the way the heroine pinched the lights off the automobile -they had kidnapped her in, and afterwards pawned them for enough to -get a ticket home with. What was to prevent my going back and getting -busy on my old "Caterpillar"? I asked myself. The magneto was worth -something like a hundred dollars, and even if I had no chance to sell -it, it was a pity to overlook so easy a bit of "strafing." I concluded -that my steps had been guided to that "movie" show by my lucky star, -and promptly got up and started back for the road-making camp. On the -way some tipsy villagers passed me singing the "Hymn of Hate," the air -and most of the words of which I had already picked up, and, out of -sheer happiness at being again (if only for a few hours) at liberty, I -joined in the explosive bursts of the chorus, booming out louder than -any of them on "England!" Evidently, unconsciously, I had done quite -the proper thing, for they raised their voices to match mine, gave a -"Hoch" or two, and passed on without stopping. That also gave me an -idea. During the whole following two weeks of my wanderings in Germany -every man, woman or child that I passed upon the road, in light or in -darkness, might have heard me humming "The Hymn of Hate," "Die Wacht -am Rhein," or, after I had mastered it toward the end, "Deutschland -ueber Alles." - -It was plain that my flight had not been discovered, for I found the -camp as quiet as when I left it three hours before. I could just make -out the figure of the sentry pacing along down the line of tractors -and dump-waggons, but the canvas which had been thrown over the -"Caterpillar" to protect it from possible rain made it easy for me to -escape attracting his attention. Of light I had no need; I knew the -old "65" well enough to work on it in my sleep. A wrench and pair of -nippers, located just where I had left them in their loops in the -cover of the tool-box over the right "track," were all I needed. First -I cut the insulated copper wires running to the magneto with the -nippers, and then (placing my double-folded handkerchief over them to -prevent noise) unscrewed with the wrench the nuts from the bolts which -held the costly electrical contrivance to the steel frame of the -tractor. Then I cut off with a knife a good-sized square of the canvas -paulin that covered the machine, wrapped the magneto in it, and tied -up the bundle with a piece of the insulated copper wire, leaving a -doubled loop for a handle. Then I threw out some of the more delicate -adjustments, dropped some odds and ends of small tools and bits of -metal down among the gears where they would do the most "good," -pocketed the knife and nippers, and, with the magneto in one hand and -the biggest wrench I could find in the other, set off for X---- again. -The wrench was my last and greatest inspiration; it was to take the -place of the one the Huns had robbed me of in the trenches. I am glad -to be able to write that I have it by me at the present moment, and -that it is slated to go back to the Front with me--, I hope to do a -bit of the "strafing" that Fate denied the other. - -Probably no prisoner of war was ever loose in the interior of Germany -with a clearer idea of what he wanted to do, and how he intended to do -it, than I had at this moment. I knew that my only chance of escaping -capture within the next twenty-four hours was in putting a long way--a -hundred miles or more--between myself and that place by daylight, when -the "alarm" would go out. I knew the only way this could be done was -by train; but I also knew that the quickest way to instant arrest was -to try to enter a station and take a train in the ordinary way. To any -but one who had "hoboed" back and forth across the North American -Continent as I had the game would have seemed a hopeless one. - -I was far from despairing, however; in fact, I never felt more equal -to a situation in my life. The whole thing hinged on my getting my -first train. After that I felt I could manage. I had studied German -passenger cars as closely as possible in watching them pass at a -distance, and was certain they offered fairly good "tourist" -accommodation on the "bumpers" or brake beams; but I did not feel that -I yet knew enough of their under-slung "architecture" to board them -when on the move. This meant that I was going to have to start on my -"maiden" trip from a station or siding, where I could find a train at -rest. A siding would, of course, have been vastly preferable, but as I -had none definitely located, and knew that I might easily waste the -rest of the night looking for one, the X---- _bahnhof_ was the only -alternative. Because this was so plainly the _only_ way, I was nerved -to the job far better than if I had had to decide between two or three -lines of action. - -Nor was I in any doubt as to how the thing would have to be done. At -the ticket windows, or at the gates to the train shed, I was positive -I would be challenged at once--even if no word had yet gone to the -police of my escape--and held for investigation. Besides, I had not -money enough to take me a quarter the distance I felt that I should -have to go to be reasonably safe. The only way was to follow the -tracks in through the yards and make the best of any opportunity that -offered. The ten or twelve-pound magneto would be a good deal of a -nuisance, but, as the possible sale of it at some distant point -offered an easy way to the money I was sure to need I decided not to -let it go till I had to. - -I already knew the general lay of the X---- station, and decided that -it would be best to go to the tracks by crossing a field just outside -of the town. My road crossed the line a half-mile further away, but I -felt sure a bridge over a canal which would have to be passed if I -took to the ties at this point would be guarded by soldiers. A stumble -through a weed-choked ditch, a trudge across a couple of hundred yards -of rye stubble, a climb over the wire fencing of the right-of-way, and -I was once more crushing stone ballasting under my brogans, as I had -done so often before. Ten minutes later I passed unchallenged under -the lights of a switching-tower and was inside the X---- yards. Almost -at the same moment a bright headlight flashed out down the line ahead, -and before I reached the station a long passenger train had pulled in -and stopped. "Just in time," I muttered to myself; "that's _my_ train, -wherever it's going." - -Entering the train-shed, I avoided the platforms and hurried along -between the passenger train and a string of freight cars standing on -the next track. Two or three yard hands brushed by me without a -glance, for there was practically no difference between my greasy -machinist's rig-out and their own. But as I stopped and began to peer -under one of the _erstige_ coaches I saw, with the tail of my eye, a -brakeman of the freight train pause in his clamber up the end of one -of the cars and crane his head suspiciously in my direction. Scores of -times before (though never with so much at stake) I had faced the same -kind of emergency, and, without an instant's hesitation and as though -it was the most natural thing in the world to be doing, I started -tapping one of the wheels with my big steel wrench. Heaven only knows -if they test for cracked car wheels that way in Germany! I certainly -have never seen them do it, at any rate. Anyhow, it served my purpose -of making the brakeman think I was there on business, for he climbed -on up on to his train and passed out of sight. Two seconds later I was -snuggled up on the "bumpers" with my wrench and magneto in my lap. - -The brake-beams of a German _schlafwagen_ are not quite as roomy as -those of an American Pullman, but they might be much worse. The train -was a fairly fast one, making few stops, and I believe would have -taken me right in to Berlin if I had remained aboard long enough. I -was getting rather cramped and stiff after four or five hours, -however, and not caring to run the risk of being seen riding by -daylight, I dropped off as the train slowed down at a junction on the -outskirts of what appeared, and turned out, to be a large -manufacturing city. The magneto slipped out of my two-fingered hand as -I jumped off, and brought up in the frog of a switch with a jolt that -must have played hob with its delicate insides, but I wasn't doing any -worrying on that score. Here I was, safe and sound, a good hundred -miles beyond any place they would ever think of looking for me. -Moreover, I had money in my pocket, as well as the possible means of -getting more. I couldn't have wished for a better start. - -There are a number of reasons why it would not be best for me to go -into detail at this time regarding the various ways in which I steered -clear of trouble in getting beyond the German frontiers, not the least -of them being that it might make it harder in the future for some -other poor devil trying to do the same thing. I do not think, however, -there would be one chance in a thousand for a British prisoner less -"heeled for the game"--a man unable to speak the language and to steal -rides on the "brake-beams" of the trains, I mean--than I was to win -through from any great distance from the frontier. But however that -may be, I am not going to make it harder for any one who may get the -chance by telling just how I did it. - -Money--to be obtained by selling the magneto of the tractor I had -brought along with me--was the first thing for me to see to after -getting well clear of the country in which I was likely to be searched -for, and it was in going after this that I was nearest to "coming a -cropper." I made the mistake--in my haste to get rid of the burden of -the heavy thing--of offering it to the first electrical supply shop I -came to. The proprietor wanted the thing very badly, but while he -seemed to accept readily enough my story that I was a returned -German-American working in munition factories, he said that the law -required him to call up the police and ask if anything of the kind had -been reported as stolen. I was not in the least afraid that the -magneto would be reported at a point so distant from the one I had -taken it from, but I did know that I couldn't "stand up" for two -minutes in any kind of interview with the police. So I told old Fritz -to go ahead and telephone, and as soon as his back was turned grabbed -up the magneto and slipped out to the street as quietly as possible. - -Whether the police made any effort to trace me or not I never knew. -There was no evidence of it, anyhow. I headed into the first side -street, and from that into another, and then kept going until I came -to a dirty little secondhand shop with a Jew name over the door. -Luckily the old Sheeny had had some dealing in junk and hardware, and -knew at once the value of the goods I had to offer. As a matter of -fact, indeed, the magneto was a "Bosch," made in Germany in the first -place, and imported to the U.S. by the makers of the tractor from -which I had taken it. I was a good deal winded from quick walking--I -hadn't a lot of strength at that time anyhow--and the shrewd old -Hebrew must have felt sure that I had stolen the thing within the -hour. He said no word about 'phoning the police, however, but merely -looked at me slyly out of the corner of one eye and offered me fifty -marks for an instrument that was worth four or five hundred in -ordinary times, and probably half again as much more through war -demands. I could probably have got more out of him, but I was in no -temper for bargaining, and the quick way in which I snapped up his -offer must have confirmed any suspicions the old fox may have had -concerning the way I came by the "goods." The joint was probably -little more than a "fence"--a thieves' clearing-house--anyhow, and I -was dead lucky to stumble on to it as I did. - -I had two hearty meals that day in cheap restaurants--taking care to -order no bread or anything else I felt there might be a chance of my -needing a "card" for--and that night swung up on to the "rods" of a -passenger train that had slowed down to something like ten miles an -hour at a crossing, and rode for several hours in a direction which I -correctly figured to be that of the Dutch frontier. I spent the -following day moving freely about a good-sized manufacturing city, and -the next night "beat" through to a town on the border of Holland. As -this was not a place where there were any factories, my machinist's -rig-out didn't "merge into the landscape" in quite the same way it did -in the places where there was a lot of manufacturing, and I stayed -there only long enough to make sure that the frontier was guarded in a -way that would make the chances very much against my getting across -without some kind of help. Such help I knew that I could get in -Belgium, and therefore, as the whole of the German railway system -seemed to be at my disposal for night excursions, I decided to try my -luck from that direction. I wanted to take a look at Essen and Krupps' -while I was so near, but finally concluded it would not be best to -take a chance in a district where there were sure to be more on the -watch than anywhere else. The distant tops of tall chimneys and a -cloud of smoke in the sky were all that I saw of the "place where the -war was made." - -The Germans boast of a great intelligence system, yet not once--so far -as I could see--was I under suspicion during the several days in which -I made my leisurely way, by more or less indirect route, into Belgium. -As a matter of fact, I did not give them very much to "lay hold of." I -kept closely to my original plan of steering clear of railway stations -and hotels, and of asking for nothing in shops or restaurants that -might require "tickets." The weather was good, and most of my sleeping -was done in about the same quiet sort of outdoor nooks as the American -"hobo" seeks out in making his way across the continent. The only -difference was that it was safer, if anything, in Germany, and many -times when, in the States, I would have been greeted by a policeman's -club on the soles of my boots, I saw, from the tail of my eye, the -"arm of the law" strut by without a second glance at the tired -machinist, with his wrench beside him, dozing under a tree in a park -or by the roadside. I had half a dozen good meals with kind-hearted -peasants, and one night--it was raining, and I was pretty well played -out--I accepted the offer of a bed in a farmhouse, the owner of which -had a son who had a sheep ranch in Montana, near Miles City, a place -where I had run a threshing outfit one season. He said he was very -sorry that the boy had not been as clever as I was in evading the -"Englanders" and getting home to help the Fatherland. He was a kind -old fellow, and I tinkered up his mowing-machine and put a new valve -in his leaking pump to square my account. There were a number of -little incidents of this kind, and the simple kindliness of the old -peasants I met--mostly fathers and mothers and wives with sons or -husbands in the war--was responsible for the fact that I did not feel -quite as harshly against Huns in general when I left their country as -when I entered it. Still, I know very well that their good treatment -of me was only because they thought I was one of themselves, and that -they would probably have given me up to a mob to tear to pieces if -they had suspected for a minute what I really was. - -I went through into Belgium on the brake-beams of a fast freight -which, from the way it seemed to have the right-of-way over -passengers, I concluded was carrying munitions urgently needed at the -front. It was slowed down in some kind of a traffic jam at a junction -when I boarded it, but when I left it--when I thought I was as far -into Belgium as I wanted to go--it was hitting up a lively thirty -miles an hour or more, and all my practice at the game could not save -me from a nasty roll. Luckily, I dropped clear of the ties; and as the -fill was of soft earth, with a ditch full of water at the bottom, I -was not much the worse for a fall that would have brained me a dozen -times over on most American lines. - -Of how I got out of Belgium into Holland, and finally on to England, -it would not do for me to write anything at all at this time, beyond -saying that it was entirely due to aid that I had from the Belgians -themselves. One of the most interesting chapters of the war will be -the one--not to be published till all is over--telling how Belgian -patriots in Belgium not only kept touch with each other during the -German occupation, but also contrived to send news--and even go and -come themselves--to the outer world. Even the "electric fence" along -the Holland boundary has no terrors for them, and I am giving away no -secret when I say that there are more ways of getting safely under or -over that fence than there are wires in it. It will probably do no -harm for me to say that _I_ crossed this barrier on a very cleverly -made little folding stairway which when not in use, was kept hidden -under a square of sod but a few feet away from the fence itself. The -genial old German sentry who spread it for me--he had, of course, been -liberally bribed, and probably had some regular "working arrangement" -with my Belgian friends--confided to me at parting that, when he had -accumulated enough money to keep him comfortably the rest of his life -in Holland, he intended to climb over that little stairway himself and -never go back. I have often wondered how many other Germans feel the -same about leaving "the sinking ship." - - - - -THE SINGING SOLDIER - - -I - -There was something just a bit ominous in the brooding warmth of the -soft air that was stirring at the base of the towering cliffs of the -Marmolada, where I took the _teleferica_; and the tossing aigrettes of -wind-driven snow at the lip of the pass where the cable-line ended in -the lee of a rock just under the Italian first-line trenches signalled -the reason why. The vanguard of one of those irresponsible mavericks -of mountain storms that so delight to bustle about and take advantage -of the fine weather to make surprise attacks on the Alpine sky-line -outposts was sneaking over from the Austrian side; and somewhere up -there where the tenuous wire of the _teleferica_ fined down and merged -into the amorphous mass of the cliff behind, my little car was going -to run into it. - -"A good ten minutes to snug down in, anyhow," I said to myself. And -after the fashion of the South Sea skipper who shortens sail and -battens down the hatches with his weather eye on the squall roaring -down from windward, I tucked in the loose ends of the rugs about my -feet, rolled up the high fur collar of my _Alpinio_ coat, and buttoned -the tab across my nose. - -But things were developing faster than I had calculated. As the little -wire basket glided out of the cut in the forty-foot drift that had -encroached on its aerial right-of-way where the supporting -cables cleared a jutting crag, I saw that it was not only an -open-and-above-board frontal attack that I had to reckon with, but -also a craftily-planned flank movement quite in keeping with the fact -that the whole affair, lock, stock, and barrel, was a "Made in -Austria" product. Swift-driven little shafts of blown snow, that tried -hard to keep their plumes from tossing above the sheltering -rock-pinnacles, were wriggling over between the little peaks on both -sides of the pass and slipping down to launch themselves in flank -attack along the narrowing valley traversed by the _teleferica_ and -the zigzagging trail up to the Italian positions. Even as I watched, -one of them came into position to strike, and straight out over the -ice-cap covering the brow of a cliff shot a clean-lined wedge of -palpable, solid whiteness. - -One instant my face was laved in the moist air-current drawing up from -the wooded lower valley, where the warm fingers of the thaw were -pressing close on the hair-poised triggers of the ready-cocked -avalanches; the next I was gasping in a blast of Arctic frigidity as -the points of the blown ice-needles tingled in my protesting lungs -with the sting of hastily-gulped champagne. Through frost-rimmed -eyelashes I had just time to see a score of similar shafts leap out -and go charging down into the bottom of the valley, before the main -front of the storm came roaring along, and heights and hollows were -masked by swishing veils of translucent white. In the space of a few -seconds an amphitheatre of soaring mountain peaks roofed with a vault -of deep purple sky had resolved itself into a gusty gulf of spinning -snow blasts. - -My little wire basket swung giddily to one side as the first gust -drove into it, promptly to swing back again, after the manner of a -pendulum, when the air-buffer was undermined by a counter-gust and -fell away; but the deeply grooved wheel was never near to jumping off -the supporting cable, and the even throb of the distant engine coming -down the pulling wire felt like a kindly hand-pat of reassurance. - -"Good old _teleferica_!" I said half aloud, raising myself on one -elbow and looking over the side: "you're as comfy and safe as a -passenger lift and as thrilling as an aeroplane. But"--as the picture -of a line of ant-like figures I had noted toiling up the snowy slope a -few moments before flashed to my mind--"what happens to a man on his -feet--a man not being yanked along out of trouble by an engine on the -end of a nice strong cable--when he's caught in a maelstrom like that? -What must be happening to those poor Alpini? Whatever can they be -doing?" - -And even before the clinging insistence of the warm breeze from the -lower valley had checked the impetuosity of the invader, and diverted -him, a cringing captive, to baiting avalanches with what was left of -his strength, I had my answer; for it was while the ghostly draperies -of the snow-charged wind-gusts still masked the icy slope below that, -through one of those weird tricks of acoustics so common among high -mountain peaks, the flute-like notes of a man singing in a clear tenor -floated up to the ears I was just unmuffling from a furry collar:-- - - "Fratelli d'Itali, l'Italia, s'e desta; - Dell' elmo di Scipio s'e cinta la testa!" - -It was the "Inno di Mameli," the Song of 1848--the Marseillaise of the -Italians. I recognised it instantly, because, an hour previously my -hosts at luncheon in the officers' mess below had been playing it on -the gramophone. Clear and silvery, like freshly minted coins made -vocal, the stirring words winged up through the pulsing air till the -"sound chute" by which they had found their way was broken up by the -milling currents of the dying storm. But I knew that the Alpini were -still singing,--that they had been singing all the time, indeed,--and -when the last of the snow-flurries was finally lapped up by the warm -wind, there they were, just as I expected to find them, pressing -onwards and upwards under their burdens of soup-cans, wine-bottles, -stove-wood, blankets, munitions, and the thousand and one other things -that must pass up the life-line of a body of soldiers holding a -mountain pass in midwinter. - - -II - -This befell, as it chanced, during one of my early days on the Alpine -front, and the incident of men singing in a blizzard almost strong -enough to sweep them from their feet made no small impression on me at -the moment. It was my first experience of the kind. A week later I -should have considered it just as astonishing to have encountered, -under any conditions, an Alpino who was _not_ singing; for to him--to -all Italian soldiers, indeed--song furnishes the principal channel of -outward expression of the spirit within him. And what a spirit it is! -He sings as he works, he sings as he plays, he sings as he fights, -and--many a tale is told of how this or that comrade has been seen to -go down with a song on his lips--he sings as he dies. He soothes -himself with song, he beguiles himself with song, he steadies himself -with song, he exalts himself with song. It is not song as the German -knows it, not the ponderous marching chorus that the Prussian Guard -thunders to order in the same way that it thumps through its -goose-step; but rather a simple burst of song that is as natural and -spontaneous as the soaring lark's greeting to the rising sun. - -Discipline of any kind is more or less irksome to the high-spirited -Alpino, but he manages to struggle along under it with tolerable -goodwill so long as it is plain to him that the military exigencies -really demand it. But the one thing that he really chafes under is the -prohibition to sing. This is, of course, quite imperative when he is -on scouting or patrol-work, or engaged in one of the incessant -surprise attacks which form so important a feature of Alpine warfare. -He was wont to sing as he climbed in those distant days when he scaled -mountains for the love of it; and, somehow, a sort of reflex action -seems to have been established between the legs and the vocal chords -that makes it extremely awkward to work the one without the other. If -the truth could be told, indeed, probably not a few half-consummated -_coups de main_ would be found to have been nearly marred by a joyous -burst of "unpremeditated melody" on the part of some spirited Alpino -who succumbed to the force of habit. - -I was witness of a rather amusing incident illustrative of the -difficulty that even the officer of Alpini experiences in denying -himself vocal expression, not only when it is strictly against -regulations, but even on occasions when, both by instinct and -experience, he knows that "breaking into song" is really dangerous. It -had to do with passing a certain exposed point in the Cadore at a time -when there was every reason to fear the incidence of heavy avalanches. -Your real Alpino has tremendous respect for the snow-slide, but no -fear. He has--especially since the war--faced death in too many really -disagreeable forms to have any dread of what must seem to him the -grandest and most inspiring finish of the lot--the one end which he -could be depended upon to pick if ever the question of alternatives -were in the balance. In the matter of the avalanche, as in most other -things, he is quite fatalistic. If a certain _valanga_ is meant for -him, what use trying to avoid it? If it is not meant for him, what use -taking precautions? All the precautions will be vain against _your_ -avalanche; all of them will be superfluous as regards the ones _not_ -for you. - -It chances, however, that this comforting Oriental philosophy entered -not into the reckoning of the Italian General Staff when it laid its -plans for minimising unnecessary casualties; and so, among other -precautionary admonitions, the order went out that soldiers passing -certain exposed sections, designated by boards bearing the warning -_Pericoloso di Valanga_, should not raise the voice above a speaking -tone, and, especially, that no singing should be indulged in. This is, -of course, no more than sensible, for a shout, or a high-pitched note -of song, may set going just the vibrations of air needed to start a -movement on the upper slopes of a mountain side which will culminate -in launching a million tons of snow all the way across the lower -valley. The Alpino has observed the rule as best he could,--probably -saving not a few of his numbers thereby,--but the effort is one that -at times tries his stout spirit almost to the breaking point. - -On the occasion I have in mind it was necessary for us, in order to -reach a position I especially desired to visit, to climb diagonally -across something like three-quarters of a mile of the swath of one of -the largest and most treacherous slides on the whole Alpine front. -There had been a great avalanche here every year from time out of -mind, usually preceded by a smaller one early in the winter. The -preliminary slide had already occurred at the time of my visit, and, -as the early winter storms had been the heaviest in years, the -accumulated snows made the major avalanche almost inevitable on the -first day of a warm wind. Such a day, unluckily, chanced to be the -only one available for my visit to the position in question. Although -it was in the first week in January, the eaves of the houses in the -little Alpine village where the colonel quartered had been dripping -all night, and even in the early morning the hard-packed snow of the -trail was turning soft and slushy when we left our sledge on the main -road and set out on foot. - -We passed two or three sections marked off by the "Pericoloso" signs, -without taking any special precautions; and, even when we came to the -big slide, the young major responsible for seeing the venture through -merely directed that we were to proceed by twos (there were four of -us), with a 300-metre interval between, walking as rapidly as -possible and not doing any unnecessary talking. That was all. There -were no dramatics about it--only the few simple directions that were -calculated to minimise the chances of "total loss" in case the slide -did become restive. How little this young officer had to learn about -the ways of avalanches I did not learn till that evening, when his -colonel told me that he had been buried, with a company or two of his -Alpini, not long previously, and escaped the fate of most of the men -only through having been dug out by his dog. - -The major, with the captain from the Comando Supremo who had been -taking me about the front, went on ahead, leaving me to follow, after -five minutes had gone by, with a young lieutenant, a boy so full of -bubbling mountain spirits that he had been dancing all along the way -and warbling "Rigoletto" to the tree-tops. Even as we waited he would -burst into quick snatches of song, each of which was ended with a gulp -as it flashed across his mind that the time had come to clamp on the -safety-valve. - -When his wrist-watch told us that it was time to follow on, the lad -clapped his eagle-feather hat firmly on his head, set his jaw, fixed -his eyes grimly on the trail in front of him, and strode off into the -narrow passage that had been cut through the towering bulk of the -slide. From the do-or-die expression on his handsome young face one -might well have imagined that it was the menace of that engulfing mass -of poised snow which was weighing him down, and such, I am sure, would -have been my own impression had this been my first day among the -Alpini. But by now I had seen enough of Italy's mountain soldiers to -know that this one was as disdainful of the _valanga_ as the _valanga_ -was of him: and that the crushing burden on his mind at that moment -was only the problem how to negotiate that next kilometre of beautiful -snow-walled trail without telling the world in one glad burst of song -after another how wonderful it was to be alive and young, and climbing -up nearer at every step to those glistening snow peaks whence his -comrades had driven the enemy headlong but a few months before, and -whence, perchance, they would soon move again to take the next valley -and the peaks beyond it in their turn. If he had been alone, slide or -no slide, orders or no orders, he would have shouted his gladness to -the high heavens, come what might; but as it was, with a more or less -helpless foreigner on his hands, and within hearing of his superior -officer, it was quite another matter. - -It was really very interesting going through that awakening -_valanga_,--so my escorting captain told me when we rejoined him and -the major under a sheltering cliff at the farther side--especially in -the opportunity that the cutting through of the trail gave to study a -cross-section of the forest that had been folded down by the sliding -snow. Indeed, they had told me in advance of this strange sight, and I -had really had it in mind to look out for these up-ended and crumpled -pine trees. Moreover, it is quite probable that I did let the corner -of an eye rove over them in a perfunctory sort of way; but the fact -remains that the one outstanding recollection I have of that -thousand-yard-wide pile of hair-poised snow is of the hunched -shoulders and comically set face of my young guide as revealed to me -when he doubled the zigzags of the tortuous trail that penetrated it. - -Time and again, as his eyes would wander to where the yellow -light-motes shuttled down through the tree-tops to the snow-cap on the -brow of the cliff toward which we toiled, I would hear the quick catch -of his breath as, involuntarily, he sucked it in to release it in a -ringing whoop of gladness, only--recollecting in time--to expel it -again with a wheezy snort of disgust. For the last two or three -hundred yards, by humming a plaintive little love lilt through his -nose, he hit upon a fairly innocuous compromise which seemed to serve -the desired purpose of releasing the accumulating pressure slowly -without blowing off the safety-valve. When we finally came out on the -unthreatened expanse of the glacial moraine above, he unleashed his -pent-up gladness in a wild peal of exultation that must have sent its -bounding echoes caroming up to the solitary pinnacle of the _massif_ -still in the hands of the slipping Austrians. - -That afternoon, as it chanced, the _teleferica_ to the summit, after -passing the captain and myself up safely, went on a strike while the -basket containing the young lieutenant was still only at the first -stage of its long crawl, and he had full opportunity to make up, -vocally, for lost time. It was an hour before the cable was running -smoothly again, and by then it was time, and more than time, for us to -descend if we were to reach the lower valley before nightfall. I found -my young friend warbling blithely on the _teleferica_ terrace when I -crawled out at the lower end, apparently no whit upset by the way his -excursion had been curtailed. - -"What did you do while you were stuck up there in the basket?" I -hastened to ask him; for being stalled midway on a _teleferica_ cable -at any time in the winter is an experience that may well develop into -something serious. I had already heard recitals--in the quiet -matter-of-fact Alpini way--of the astonishing feats of aerial -acrobatics that had been performed in effecting rescues in such -instances, and, once or twice, grim allusions to the tragic -consequences when the attempted rescues had failed. - -"Oh, I just sang for a while," was the laughing reply in Italian; "and -then, when it began to get cold up there, I dropped over on to the -snow and slid down here to get warm." - -I have not yet been able to learn just how far it was that he had to -drop before he struck the snow; but, whatever the distance, I am -perfectly certain that he kept right on singing all the way. - - -III - -As regards the spirits of the Alpini, song is a barometer; as regards -their health, a thermometer. An experienced officer will judge the -mental or physical condition of one of his men by noting the way he is -singing, or refraining from singing, just as a man determines his -dog's condition by feeling its nose to see if it is hot or cold. I -remember standing for a half-hour on the wind-swept summit of a lofty -Trentino pass with a distinguished major-general who had taken me out -that afternoon in his little mountain-climbing motor to give me an -idea of how the winter road was kept clear in a blizzard. The wind was -driving through the notch of the pass at fifty miles an hour; the air -was stiff with falling and drifting snow; and it was through the -narrowed holes in our _capuchos_ that we watched a battalion filing by -on its way from the front-line trenches to the plains for a spell of -rest in billets. Packs and cloaks were crusted an inch thick with -frozen snow, eyebrows were frosted, beards and moustaches icicled; -but, man after man (though sometimes, as a wind-blast swallowed the -sound, one could only guess it by the rhythmically moving lips), they -marched singing. Now and then, as the drifts permitted, they marched -in lusty choruses of twos and threes; but for the most part each man -was warbling on his own, many of them probably simply humming -improvisations, giving vocal expression to their thoughts. - -Suddenly the general stepped forward and, tapping sharply with his -Alpenstock on the ice-stiff skirt of one of the marchers, brought him -to a halt. The frost-rimmed haloes fringing the puckered apertures in -the two hoods came close together and there was a quick interchange of -question and answer between wind-muffled mouths. Then, with a clumsy -pat of admonition, the general shoved the man back into the passing -line. - -"That boy wasn't singing," he roared into my ear in response to my -look of interrogation as he stepped back into the drift beside me. -"Knew something was wrong, so stopped him and asked what. Said he got -thirsty--ate raw snow--made throat sore. Told him it served him quite -right--an Arab from Tripoli would know better'n to eat snow." - -Three or four times more in the quarter-hour that elapsed before the -heightening storm drove us to the shelter of a _rifugio_ the general -stopped men whose face or bearing implied that there was no song on -their lips or in their hearts, and in each instance it transpired that -something was wrong. One man confessed to having discarded his flannel -abdominal bandage a couple of days before, and was developing a severe -case of dysentery as a perfectly natural consequence of the chill -which followed; another had just been kicked by a passing mule; and a -third had received word that morning that his newly-born child was -dead and its mother dangerously ill. The two former were shoved none -too gently back into line with what appeared to be the regulation -prescription in such cases: "Serves you right for your carelessness"; -but I thought I saw a note slipped into the third man's hand as the -general pressed it in sympathy and promised to see that leave should -be arranged for at once. - -I was no less struck by the efficacy of this novel system of diagnosis -than by the illuminative example its workings presented of the -paternal attitude of even the highest of the Alpini officers toward -the least of the men under them. - -But it is not only the buoyant Alpini who pour out their souls in -song. The Italian soldier, no matter from what part of the country he -comes or on what sector of the front he is stationed, can no more work -or fight without singing than he can without eating. Indeed, a popular -song that is heard all along the front relates how, for some reason or -other, an order went out to the army that there was to be no more -singing in the trenches, and how a soldier, protesting to his officer, -exclaimed, "But, captain, if I cannot sing I shall die of sadness; and -surely it is better that I should die fighting the enemy than that I -should expire of a broken heart!" - -On many a drizzly winter morning, motoring past the painted Sicilian -carts which form so important a feature of the Italian transport on -the broken hills of the Isonzo front, I noted with sheer astonishment -that the drivers were far and away likelier to be singing than -swearing at the mules. To one who has driven mules, or even lived in a -country where mules are driven, I shall not need to advance any -further evidence of the Sicilian soldier's love of song. - -And on that stony trench-torn plateau of the Carso, where men live in -caverns under the earth and where the casualties are multiplied two- -or three-fold by the fragments of explosive-shattered rock; even -there, on this deadliest and most repulsive of all the battle-fronts -of Armageddon, the lilting melodies of sunny southern Italy, -punctuated, but never for long interrupted, by the shriek and -detonation of Austrian shells, are heard on every hand. - -There was a trio of blithe rock-breakers that furnished me with one of -the most grimly amusing impressions of my visit. It was toward the end -of December, and Captain P----, the indefatigable young officer who -had me in charge, arranged a special treat in the form of a visit to a -magnificent observation-post on the brink of a hill which the Italians -had wrested from the Austrians in one of their late advances. We -picked our way across some miles of this shell-churned and still -uncleared battlefield, and ate our lunch of sandwiches on the parapet -of a trench from which one could follow, with only a few breaks, the -course of the Austrian lines in the hills beyond Gorizia, to where -they melted into the marshes fringing the sea. - -"There's only one objection to this vantage-point," remarked the -captain, directing his glass along the lower fringe of the clouds that -hung low on the opposite hills. "Unless the weather is fairly thick -one is under the direct observation of the Austrians over there for -close to an hour, both going and coming. It would hardly be pleasant -to come up here if the visibility were really good." - -And at that psychological moment the clouds began to lift, the sun -came out, and, taking advantage of the first good gunnery weather that -had offered for a long time, the artillery of both sides opened up for -as lively a bit of practice as any really sober-minded individual -could care to be mixed up with. I have seen quieter intervals on the -Somme, even during a period when the attack was being sharply pushed. -A hulking "305," which swooped down and obliterated a spiny pinnacle -of the ridge a few hundred yards farther along, also swept much of the -zest out of the sharpening panorama, and signalled, "Time to go!" A -large-calibre high-explosive shell is a far more fearsome thing when -rending a crater in the rock of the Carso than when tossing the soft -mud of France. - -Work was still going on in the half-sheltered _dolinas_ or -"sink-holes" that pock-marked the grisly plateau; but on the remains -of a cart-road which we followed, and which appeared to be the special -object of the Austrians' diversion, none seemed to be in sight save a -few scattered individuals actively engaged in getting out of sight. It -was an illuminating example of the way most of the "natives" appeared -to feel about the situation, and we did not saunter any the more -leisurely for having had the benefit of it. - -We stepped around the riven body of a horse that still steamed from -the dying warmth of the inert flesh, and a little farther on, there -was a red puddle in the middle of the road, a black, lazily smoking -shell-hole close beside it, with a crisply fresh mound of sod and rock -fragment just beyond. A hammer and a dented trench helmet indicated -that the man had been cracking up stone for the road when _his_ had -come. - -"One would imagine that they had enough broken stone around here -already," observed Captain P---- dryly, glancing back over his -shoulder to where a fresh covey of bursting shell was making the -sky-line of the stone wall behind us look like a hedge of pampas -plumes in a high wind. "Hope the rest of these poor fellows have taken -to their holes. A little dose like we're getting here is only a good -appetiser; to stick it out as a steady diet is quite another matter." - -Half a minute later we rounded a bend in the stone wall we had been -hugging, to come full upon what I have always since thought of as the -Anvil Chorus--three men cracking rock to metal the surface of a -recently filled shell-hole in the road and singing a lusty song to -which they kept time with the rhythmic strokes of their hammers. -Dumped off in a heap at one side of the road was what may have been -the hastily jettisoned cargo of a half-dozen motor-lorries, which had -pussy-footed up there under cover of darkness--several hundred -trench-bombs, containing among them enough explosive to have lifted -the whole mountain-side off into the valley had a shell chanced to -nose-dive into their midst. Two of these stubby little "winged -victories" a couple of the singers had appropriated as work-stools. -The third of them sat on the remains of a "dud 305," from a broad -crack in which a tiny stream of rain-dissolved high explosive -trickled out to form a gay saffron pool about his feet. This -one was bareheaded, his trench helmet, full of nuts and dried -figs,--evidently from a Christmas package,--lying on the ground within -reach of all three men. - -The sharp roar of the quickening Italian artillery, the deeper booms -of the exploding Austrian shells, and the siren-like crescendo of the -flying projectiles so filled the air, that it was not until one was -almost opposite the merry trio that he could catch the fascinating -swing of the iterated refrain. - -"A fine song to dance to, that!" remarked Captain P----, stopping and -swinging his shoulders to the time of the air. "You can almost _feel_ -the beat of it." - -"It strikes me as being still better as a song to march to," I -rejoined meaningly, settling down my helmet over the back of my neck -and suiting the action to the word. "It's undoubtedly a fine song, but -it doesn't seem to me quite right to tempt a kind Providence by -lingering near this young mountain of trench-bombs any longer than is -strictly necessary. If that Austrian battery 'lifts' another notch, -something else is going to lift here, and I'd much rather go down to -the valley on my feet than riding on a trench-bomb." - -The roar of the artillery battle flared up and died down by spells, -but the steady throb of the Anvil Chorus followed us down the wind -for some minutes after another bend in the stone wall cut off our view -of the singers. How often I have wondered which ones of that careless -trio survived that day, or the next, or the one after that; which, if -any, of them is still beating time on the red-brown rocks of the Carso -to the air of that haunting refrain! - -I was told that the wounded are sometimes located on the battlefield -by their singing; that they not infrequently sing while being borne in -on stretchers or transported in ambulances. I had no chance to observe -personally instances of this kind, but I did hear, time and time -again, men singing in the hospitals, and they were not all -convalescents or lightly wounded either. One brave little fellow in -that fine British hospital on the Isonzo front, conducted with such -conspicuous success by the British Red Cross, I shall never forget. - -An explosive bullet had carried away all four fingers of his right -hand, leaving behind it an infection which had run into gaseous -gangrene. The stump swelled to a hideous mass, about the shape and -size of a ten-pound ham, but the doctors were fighting amputation in -the hope of saving the wrist and thumb, to have something to which -artificial members might be attached. The crisis was over at the time -I visited the hospital, but the whole arm was still so inflamed that -the plucky lad had to close his eyes and set his teeth to keep from -crying out with agony as the matron lifted the stump to show me the -"beautiful healthy red colour" where healing had begun. - -The matron had some "splendid" trench-foot cases to show me farther -along, and these, with some interesting experiments in disinfection by -"irrigation," were engrossing my attention, when a sort of a crooning -hum caused me to turn and look at the patient in the bed behind me. It -was the "gaseous gangrene" boy again. We had worked down the next row -till we were opposite him once more, and in the quarter-hour which had -elapsed his nurse had set a basin of disinfectant on his bed in which -to bathe his wound. Into this she had lifted the hideously swollen -stump and hurried on to her next patient. And there he lay, swaying -the repulsive mass of mortified flesh that was still a part of him -back and forth in the healing liquid, the while he crooned a little -song to it as a mother rocks her child to sleep as she sings a -lullaby. - -"He always does that," said the nurse, stopping for a moment with her -hands full of bandages. "He says it helps him to forget the pain. And -there are five or six others: the worse they feel, the more likely -they are to try to sing as a sort of diversion. That big chap over -there with the beard,--he's a fisherman from somewhere in the -South,--he says that when the shooting pains begin in his frozen feet -he has to sing to keep from cursing. Says he doesn't want to curse -before the _forestiere_ if it can possibly be helped." - - * * * * * - -On one of my last days on the Italian front I climbed to a -shell-splintered peak of the Trentino under the guidance of the son of -a famous general, a Mercury-footed flame of a lad who was aide-de-camp -to the division commander of that sector. Mounting by an interminable -_teleferica_ from just above one of the half-ruined towns left behind -by the retreating Austrians after their drive of last spring, we -threaded a couple of miles of steep zigzagging trail, climbed a -hundred feet of ladder and about the same distance of rocky -toe-holds,--the latter by means of a knotted rope and occasional -friendly iron spikes,--finally to come out on the summit, with nothing -between us and an almost precisely similar Austrian position opposite -but a half-mile of thin air and the overturned, shrapnel-pitted statue -of a saint--doubtless erected in happier days by the pious -inhabitants of ---- as an emblem of peace and goodwill. An Italian -youth who had returned from New York to fight for his country--he had -charge of some kind of mechanical installation in a rock-gallery a few -hundred feet beneath our feet--climbed up with us to act as -interpreter. - -To one peering through the crook in the lead-sheathed elbow of the -fallen statue, the roughly squared openings of the rock galleries -which sheltered an enemy battery seemed well within fair revolver -shot; and, indeed, an Alpino sharpshooter had made a careless Austrian -gunner pay the inevitable penalty of carelessness only an hour or two -before. One could make one's voice carry across without half an -effort. - -Just before we started to descend my young guide made a megaphone of -his hands, threw his head back, his chest out, and, directing his -voice across the seemingly bottomless gulf that separated us from the -enemy, sang a few bars of what I took to be a stirring battle-song. - -"What is the song the captain sings?" I asked of the New-York-bred -youth, whose head was just disappearing over the edge of the cliff as -he began to lower himself down the rope. "Something from _William -Tell_, isn't it?" - -Young "Mulberry Street" dug hard for a toe-hold, found it, slipped -his right hand up till it closed on a comfortable knot above his head, -and then, with left leg and left arm swinging free over a 200-foot -drop to the terraces below, shouted back,-- - -"Not on yer life, mista. De capitan he not singa no song. He just -tella de Ostrichun datta Italia, she ready fer him. Datta all." - -I looked down to the valley where line after line of trenches, fronted -with a furry brown fringe that I knew to be rusting barbed wire, -stretched out of sight over the divides on either hand, and where, for -every gray-black geyser of smoke that marked the bursting of an -Austrian shell, a half-dozen vivid flame-spurts, flashing out from -unguessed caverns on the mountain-side, told that the compliment was -being returned with heavy interest. - -"Yes, Italy is ready for them," I thought; and whether she has to hold -here and there--as she may--in defence, or whether she goes forward -all along the line in triumphant offence--whichever it is, the Italian -soldier will go out to the battle with a song on his lips, a song that -no bullet which leaves the blood pulsing through his veins and breath -in his lungs will have power to stop. - - - - -BLOWING UP THE CASTELLETTO - - -It was about the middle of last July that the laconic Italian bulletin -recorded, in effect, that the blowing of the top off a certain -mountain in the Dolomite region had been accomplished with complete -success, and that a considerable extension of line had been possible -as a consequence. - -That was about all there was to it, I believe; and yet the wonder -engendered by the superb audacity of the thing had haunted me from the -first. There was no suggestion of a hint of how it was done, or even -why it was done. All that was left to the imagination, and the -result--in my own case at least--was the awakening of a burning -interest in the ways of the warriors who were wont to throw mountain -peaks and fragments of glacier at one another as the everyday -plains-bred soldier throws hand-grenades, which, waxing rather than -waning as the weeks went by, finally impelled me to attempt a visit to -the Austro-Italian Alpine Front at a time of year when the weather -conditions threatened to be all but, if not quite, prohibitive. - -"With twenty-five degrees of frost at sea-level in France," observed a -French officer at Amiens to whom I confided the plan, "what do you -expect to find at 10,000 feet on the Tyrol?" - -"A number of things which they don't do at sea-level in France or -anywhere else," I replied, "but especially _why_ they blow the tops -off mountain peaks, and _how_ they blow the tops off mountain peaks." - -Even in Rome and Milan (though there were some who claimed social -acquaintance with the Titans who had been conforming Alpine scenery to -tactical exigency), they still spoke vaguely of the thing as -"_fantastico_" and "_incredibile_," as men might refer to operations -in the Mountains of the Moon. - -But once in the Zona di Guerra, with every rift in the lowering -cloud-blanket that so loves to muffle the verdant plain of Venezia in -its moist folds revealing (in the imminent loom of the snowy barrier -rearing itself against the cobalt of the northern sky) evidence that -the "mountain-top" part of the story had at least some foundation of -fact, whether the "blowing off" part did or not, things took on a -different aspect. On my very first day at General Headquarters I met -officers who claimed to have seen with their own eyes a mountain whose -top had been blown off; indeed, they even mentioned the names of the -_montagna mutilati_, showed me where they were on the map, pointed out -the strategical advantages which had already accrued from taking them, -and those which might be expected to accrue later. - -They were still there, I was assured, even if their tops had been -blown off. They were still held by the Alpini. Two of the most -important of them were not so far away; indeed, both could be plainly -seen from where we were--if other and nearer mountains did not stand -between, and, of course, if the accursed storm-clouds would only lift. -And so, at last, the names of Castelletto and Col di Lano took -sharpened shape as something more than mystic symbols. - -"But can I not go and see them?" I asked. "You have told me _why_ you -blew them up, but not _how_; yet that is the very thing that I came -out to find about at first hand." - -They shook their heads dubiously. "Not while this weather lasts," one -of them said. "It has snowed in the Alps every day for over a month. -The _valangas_ are coming down everywhere, and (even if you were -willing to risk being buried under one of them) the roads in places -will not be open for weeks. You might wait here a month or so, and -even then be disappointed so far as getting about on the Alpine Front -is concerned. Best see what you can of the Isonzo Front now and come -back for the Alps in the spring." - -That seemed to settle it so far as seeing the Castelletto and Col di -Lano was concerned. Regarding the way in which they were mined, -however, one of the officers at the Ufficio Stampa said that he would -endeavour to arrange to have the Castelletto--much the greater -operation of the two--report put at my disposal, as well as a set of -photographs which had been taken to show the progress of this mighty -work. - -"We have never given out any of the photographs before," he said, "and -only portions of the report; but since you came to Italy on purpose to -learn about the mountain whose top was blown off, the Comando Supremo -may be moved to make a special dispensation in your favour." - -Exclusive permission to make use of both report and photographs was -granted me in due time, and since the former makes clear both the -"why" and the "how" of the unprecedented Castelletto operation, it -will perhaps be best to summarise it first as a sort of drab -background for the more vivid and intimate personal details which a -lucky turn of the fitful weather vane made it possible for me to -obtain later. - -The first part of the report, by the Colonel commanding the Alpini -Group, makes plain why the mining of the Castelletto became a _sine -qua non_ to further progress in this important sector. - -"In the month of October, 1915," he writes, "I was charged with the -carrying out of an attack with two battalions of Alpini against the -positions of Castelletto and Forcella Bois. This was the fourth time, -if I am not mistaken, that an attempt on these positions had been -made. In spite of the fact that the artillery preparation of the -opening day had been excellently performed I discovered, on the -evening of October 17, when I moved with my troops to the attack, that -its work had been absolutely of no avail. - -"Having received orders at midnight to proceed to Vervei, where the -two battalions above mentioned were to take part in another operation, -I was forced to abandon the attack. I am convinced, however, that I -would not have succeeded in capturing the Castelletto position." - -"As known," the report continues, "the Castelletto is a sort of a spur -of the Tofana (about 12,000 feet high), with a balcony shaped like a -horse-shoe, and with a periphery consisting of numerous jagged peaks. -In the rear of the balcony, and within this rocky spur, the enemy had -excavated numerous caverns in which machine-guns and light artillery -pieces, handled by isolated but able gun-crews, furnished an invisible -and almost impregnable position of defence, giving extraordinary -confidence and encouragement to the small forces occupying them. - -"Costeana Valley was accordingly at the mercy of the enemy's offence -and actually cut in two. From Vervei on, all movements of troops had -to be carried on only at night and with great difficulty. The conquest -of the Castelletto was rendered necessary not only for tactical but -for moral reasons as well, since our troops came to regard it as -absolutely imperative that such an obstacle should be overcome. After -completing my observations and researches regarding the Castelletto -position, I reached the conclusion that the only means of dislodging -the enemy therefrom was to blow it up. - -"On November 19 I formally presented my plan to Headquarters, and -about the middle of December I was authorised to attempt it. The -unusual enterprise was a most difficult one, not only on account of -its magnitude, but also on account of the particularly unfavourable -conditions of the winter season. Having prepared the necessary -material for construction and excavation work, I began, on January 3, -1916, fortifying the position (entirely unprotected at the time) from -which we would have to work, and completing the construction of the -necessary buildings. - -"Second Lieutenant Malvezzi, in his report on the subject, describes -concisely and modestly the development of the work. The accomplishment -of the enterprise, considered by many as chimerical, is due not only -to the technical ability of Lt. Malvezzi, and Lt. Tissi, his -assistant, but to their special military qualifications as well; also -to the courage and goodwill of the Alpini who, in a very short time, -became a _personnel_ of able miners and clever mechanics. - -"The vicissitudes during more than six months' work, at a distance of -only a few metres from the enemy, and under an incessant artillery -fire and shelling by _bombardas_, could well form the subject for a -book devoted to the study of character. Although fully aware of the -attendant dangers, including those of falling rocks due to the -counter-mining of the enemy, the Alpini of the Castelletto, during the -period of more than six months, gave proofs of brilliant valour and -unflinching perseverance. They were calm at all times, and moved only -by the spirit of duty. - -"In transmitting to Your Excellency the enclosed copy of the report -compiled exclusively by Lt. Malvezzi (Lt. Tissi is at present lying -wounded in the hospital), I desire to recommend to you these two -officers (both as excellent engineers and brave soldiers), as well as -the Alpini who were co-operating with them. Without any exaggeration, -I consider their achievement as absolutely marvellous, both on account -of the great technical difficulties surmounted and the military -results obtained. The Austrian officers taken prisoner unanimously -confirm the fact that only by springing a mine could the Italians have -taken this position so important to the enemy." - - * * * * * - -Lt. Malvezzi's appended report launched at once into the "how" of the -titanic task which was set for him. - -"On January 3, 1916," he writes, "work was begun on the approach to -Castelletto, on the Tofana di Roches slope, levelling the soil and -enabling the construction of lodging quarters for officers and troops. -This work required the cutting of 660 cubic metres of rock. Next the -construction of quarters, and the concealing them was quickly -accomplished. Finally, there was garrisoned at this post the -Castelletto Detachment, commonly called the 'T.K.,' consisting of the -necessary _personnel_ for labour and the defence of the position. - -"Our first work was to examine and disclose the enemy lines of -communication about the Castelletto and Tofana sides, and to gain full -knowledge of their position in detail. In order to accomplish this, -observation points were established which allowed us to carry out such -investigation and to make topographical sketches of the zone. Being as -we were always in the proximity of the enemy, this was a long and -fatiguing work. After a month, however, we succeeded in constructing a -series of positions at short distances from those of the enemy (from -50 to 150 metres). These were provided with cables and rope ladders to -enable us the more rapidly and easily to study (from all possible -points of vantage) the enemy's positions and the development of his -works. - -"The topographic work was begun by taking as a plan metric base -measurement 116 metres of ground on a four-triangle table, which -method enabled making all other drawings based on it. By basing our -findings on this table, we were able to draw up a series of points of -the enemy's positions. Using the method of successive intersections, -we thus obtained all points of interest to us, as regards direction, -distance and height. - -"In addition to this work, executed with the greatest care and -accuracy, we made two independent drawings of the enemy's positions by -simpler but less exact methods. The first was made with a topographic -compass and Abney level; the other with a Monticole field-square. By -these means we obtained excellent checks on the base system, and so -grounded our work entirely on the trigonometric table and on the -drawings by intersections. - -"From the middle of February to the end of March the tools used for -piercing consisted only of mallets and chisels. Our progress was -necessarily slow, yet it was sufficient in this time to give us, -besides 14 metres of tunnel, room for installing the perforating -machinery. At the end of March, notwithstanding heavy snowstorms, the -machinery--some pieces of it weighed as much as 500 and 600 kilos--for -beginning work was installed. This was all brought up by hand, and -without incident. - -"The mechanical work was begun on April 2. We utilised two plant as -follows: - -"(1) A complete group of benzo-compressors, consisting of a 30-40 -horse-power kerosene motor adjusted to a Sullivan compressor by means -of a belt. This machinery was installed, on a solid base of cement, at -the beginning of the tunnel, in a 5 x 8 metre space dug out in the -side of the mountain for that purpose. - -"(2) An Ingersoll compressor mounted on a four-wheel truck. - -"Both machines were of American manufacture, and gave complete -satisfaction at all times. Each compressed the air to a density of -about seven atmospheres, injecting it into an air-chamber, whence, by -means of a rigid tube, ending in one of flexible rubber, it was -conveyed to the respective drills. - -"Four squads worked at a time, each one consisting of a foreman and -from 25 to 30 miners. Each squad worked six hours without -interruption. This shift, apparently light, was found, on the -contrary, to be very heavy, owing principally to the development of -nitric gases which poisoned the air, and to the dust caused by the -drills. - -"At first the only explosive used was military gelatine; later, -dynamite-gelatine. The system of over-charging the holes was always -adopted, in order to reduce the _debris_ to minute particles, easier -to be transported and unloaded. The work was carried on in sections, -varying from 1.80 by 1.80 metres to 2 by 2. The flat stretches of the -tunnel were laid with Decauville rails. All material was carried out -in cars and dumped into a hopper discharging into a large pipe. (The -dump was accumulated at a point beyond the observation of the -Austrians.) The average rate of progress was 5.10 metres per day." - -It may be well to explain here that it was not possible to begin -tunnelling on the same level at which the mine was to be exploded, but -considerably more than 150 feet below that level. The tunnel, had, -therefore, to be driven on a steep gradient. Another point which the -report does not make clear should be borne in mind, viz., that the -tunnel divided in the heart of the Castelletto, the main bore being -driven on to where the mine was to be exploded, while a smaller -branch--referred to below as the "Loop-holed Tunnel"--was run up to a -point where favourable exit could be obtained for charging into and -occupying the crater of the exploded mine. In all 507 metres of tunnel -had to be driven, involving the excavation of 2,200 cubic metres of -rock. The details of this work are given in the report as follows: - -(A) Chamber for Sullivan Compressor: Dimensions: 5 x 8 metres; average -height 2.20 metres. - -(B) First part of gallery to second dump of material. Length 72 -metres; inclination 38.70 per cent.; elevation gained 25.90 metres. - -(C) Second dump of material, established in order to free space for -further work and reduce the length of transportation. - -(D) Ingersoll Group chamber. Dimensions: 4 x 6.50 metres; average -height 2 metres. - -(E) Cut from the gallery of the second dump of material to the -beginning of the ascent to the mining chamber. Length 136 metres; -inclination 4.70 per cent.; elevation gained 6.40 metres. - -(F) Ascent to mining chamber. Length 22 metres; inclination 36.30 per -cent.; elevation gained 10.75 metres. (This ascent, in order to -facilitate tamping, was worked by dividing it into three sections of 1 -x 1.60 metres, at nearly right angles.) - -(G) Mining chamber. Dimensions: 5 x 5.50 metres; average height 2.30 -metres. - -(H) Loop-holed tunnel. Length 162 metres; inclination 60 per cent.; -elevation gained 83.50 metres in this tunnel itself, or a total of -168.50 from the second dump. This tunnel (the one through which the -men were to pass for the attack after the explosion of the mine) had -to be strictly confined to the rocky stratum between the Tofana and -the Castelletto; its planimetry appears (see map), therefore, rather -uneven due to the constant elevation of the rock. - -(I) Line of communication--partly in a natural cavern--measuring about -250 metres in length and giving access from the lodging quarters to -the works. - -(J) Tunnel dug out to the extreme south end of the Castelletto, 30 -metres long, with two portholes (each 4 metres wide) for two Depfort -guns, with closed cavern for the guns and ammunition. - -"It was originally intended to divide the explosive charge between two -chambers, each having a mining line of resistance of 20 metres, with a -16-ton explosive charge of 92 per cent. gelatine. However, owing to -the countermining work carried on by the enemy--we were only a few -metres from one of his positions during the charging of the mine -chamber--we were obliged to confine the entire charge to a single -chamber. - -"The enemy meanwhile, with a view to avoiding the effects of our mine -beneath the peaks of the Castelletto, had transferred most of his -shelters to the side of the Tofana and the Selletta. This necessitated -a considerable alteration in the location of the mine as originally -planned, in order that it should act against the enemy shelters on -both the Castelletto and Tofana flanks. - - [Illustration: PLAN OF THE CASTELLETTO MINING OPERATION. - The worm-like tunnel on the left had to be driven in this way in - order to avoid fissures in the rock which would have revealed - what was going on. It was this tunnel through which the Alpini - were to pass to occupy the crater after the explosion of the - mine, but this plan was defeated through the presence of gas - from detonated Austrian asphyxiating bombs.] - -"The charge was computed on a basis of minimum resistance of 20 -metres, taking into consideration the nature of the rock (which was -fissured) and the existence of numerous splits and caverns. The -co-efficient of overcharge was, therefore, rather high. In order to -obtain the maximum effect under these conditions, only 92 per cent. -explosive nitro-glycerine was used. The total charge was 35 tons. - -"The method of priming adopted was suggested by Lieut.-Col. Tatoli, of -the Engineers Corps. This consisted of five priming groups, each of -three friction tubes. One of the groups ran along the central axis of -the chamber, while the other four, parallel with the first, were -disposed symmetrically facing the four corners of the chamber. Each -tube (1-1/4 inches inside diameter by 4.50 metres in length) was -alternately charged with gelatine and gun-cotton and pierced by picric -acid detonating fuse, ending in a gun-cotton cartridge with electric -percussion cap. In the very centre of the charge there were inserted -two cases of gun-cotton, with electric percussion cap and detonating -fuse, with a view to securing a second springing of the mine to follow -the first. - -"We thus had in all seventeen electric circuits divided into three -groups, each formed by the circuits of five tubes, connected with the -five groups of friction tubes. Two of these electric groups were -composed of six circuits each, by adding the two circuits of the -above-mentioned cases containing the gun-cotton. Each of these -electric groups ended with a Cantone exploder, placed at about 4.50 -metres distance from the mine-chamber. - -"The tamping was effected with cement and with sandbags, with heavy -wooden beams between the latter. It was made more effective by -dividing into sections at right angles to each other. The theoretical -length of the tamping was 25 metres. - -"The charging of the mine chamber began July 3, 1916, at 5 p.m., and -was completed at 3 p.m. of July 9 this work including tamping, -priming, and laying of electric circuits. The final connections -between the latter and the exploders, by means of wires suspended in -the air, were made on July 10. The mine was sprung on July 11 at 3.30 -p.m., and responded fully to our calculations and expectations. - - "(Signed) L. MALVEZZI, - 2nd Lieut. 7th Regiment Alpini." - - * * * * * - -A week of unspeakable weather went by--an interval the days of which I -spent among the "Cave-men" of the Carso, and the nights of which were -largely devoted to puzzling through the mysteries of the Castelletto -report with the aid of my Italian dictionary--and then the unexpected -miracle happened. Rain and snow ceased, the sky cleared, and a spell -of sparkling days succeeded the interminable months of storm and -lowering clouds. From the high Alps came word that the grip of the -frost had paralysed the avalanches for the moment, and that rapid -progress was being made in opening up the roads for traffic. - -"Now is your chance to see the Castelletto," they told me at -headquarters. "If you start at once you ought to be able to get -through without much trouble; and, if the weather holds good, you may -even be able to get back without long delay, though on that score -you'll have to take your chances. Doubtless they will be able to get -you out in some way whatever happens." - -And so it chanced that on a diamond-bright morning in early January I -found myself, after a couple of days of strenuous motoring, speeding -in a military car past the old custom-house and up into the heart of -that most weirdly grand of all Alpine regions, the Dolomites. Already -we were well over into what had once been Austrian territory, and the -splintered pinnacles which notched the skyline ahead of us were, as my -escorting officer explained, held in part by both the Italians and -the enemy. As we coasted down into Cortina di Ampezzo--which in its -swarming tourist hotels of motley design rivals St. Moritz or -Chamonix--Capt. P---- pointed to where a clean-lined wall of -snow-capped yellow rock reared itself against the deep purple of the -western sky. - -"That high mountain ridge is the Tofana _massif_," he said, "and that -partly isolated mass of lighter-coloured rock (crowned with towers -like a mediaeval stronghold) at its further end is what is left of the -famous Castelletto. It is twenty kilometres or more away, but you can -see even from here how it dominated the valley and road, the latter -the much-pictured Dolomite road, which is also a route of great -military importance. - -"Now look at the end of the Castelletto toward the wall of the Tofana. -Do you see where it seems to have been sliced off smoothly at an angle -of about forty-five degrees? Well, that is the part they blew off last -July. Up to then that end, like the other, was crowned with a lofty -spire. That spire, the base from which it sprung, the Austrian -barracks and munition depots, together with the men stationed -there--all were blown up and destroyed in the explosion. - -"Take a good look at it while you have a chance, for the skyline view -is better from a distance than from close at hand, where we shall go -this afternoon if the way is open. To see the effect of the explosion -at its best," he added, "one should look at it from the Austrian -lines, as it was the blowing out of the other side of the mountain -which undermined and let down the top. If you come back here in the -spring doubtless we will be in occupation of a number of interesting -observation points over there." - -Viewed even from a distance of a dozen miles or more the alteration -wrought in the skyline by the explosion was not difficult to imagine. -It was, indeed, literally true--what I had never been fully able to -make myself believe until that moment--that a mountain peak had been -blown off--hundreds of feet of it, and thousands of tons. My eyes -remained focussed in awed fascination on the unnaturally even profile -of the wound until our snorting car skidded round a bend of the frozen -road and the thick-growing pine forest shut it from sight. - -It was not until, after ten miles of precarious climbing and clawing -up the ice-paved, snow-walled road, our car brought up in the midst of -a neat little group of Alpine buildings nestling in the protection of -the last of the timber, that Capt. P---- revealed the surprise that -had been prepared for me. - -"Our host here," he said, "will be Colonel X----, who conceived and -directed the Castelletto project, and at dinner to-night you will -meet, and can talk as long as you like, with Lieutenant Malvezzi, who -did the work. He is still quartered here, and will be glad to tell you -all that he can about Alpine military engineering. We have already -sent him word that you came to Italy expressly to see him." - -After a hasty lunch Capt. P---- and I, accompanied by an officer of -Alpini from the camp, started for the Castelletto. Our powerful -military car, which, in spite of the fact that it had non-skid tyres, -had been giving a good deal of trouble on the ice, was left behind, -and a smaller but heavily-engined machine, with sharp spikes clamped -over the rims to grip the glassy surface of the road, was taken for -the few miles of the latter which were still open. Abandoning this in -a snow-bank at a little advanced camp well up under the towering wall -of the Tofana, we took our alpenstocks and started on the 2,000-foot -climb up to the base of the Castelletto. - -The hard-packed snow on the thirty to forty degree slope must have -averaged from ten to twenty feet deep all the way, while, for a -half-mile or so midway, it was humped up in crumpled fold where, a -fortnight before, one of the largest and most terrible slides ever -known in the Alps had plunged down on its sinister mission to the -bottom of the valley. The full story of that avalanche will hardly be -told until after the war. - -Slightly softened by the brilliant sun, the snow gave good footing; -but even so it was a stiff pull to the little ice and rock-begirt -barracks at the base of the cliff, and I gained some idea of the -titanic labour involved in getting guns, munitions, machinery, food, -and thirty-five tons of high explosive up there, all by hand, in every -sort of weather, and much of it (to avoid enemy observation and fire) -at night. - -Midwinter was not, of course, the time to see anything of the real -effects of the great explosion, for the huge crater torn by the latter -was drifted full of snow, and snow was also responsible for the -complete obliteration of the countless thousands of tons of _debris_ -that had been precipitated down the mountain side. A dizzy climb up -the ladder-like stairway, and a crawling clamber through a hundred -yards of the winding tunnel from the rock chambers which had housed -the compressors, revealed about all that was visible at the time of -the preparations and consequences of the mighty work; but a peep from -the observation port of a certain cunningly concealed gun-cavern -discovered a panorama which gave illuminative point to the concluding -words of the artillery officer who, pointing with the shod handle of -an ice-pick, explained the situation to me from that vantage. - -"So you see," he had said, "that the Castelletto in the enemy's hands -was a stone wall which effectually barred our further progress; while -in our hands it becomes a lever which--whenever we really need to take -them--will pry open for us positions of vital importance. We simply -_had_ to have it; and so we took it in the one way it could be taken. - - * * * * * - -"Save for his Alpini uniform Lieutenant Malvezzi, when I met him at -dinner that evening, might well have passed for the typical musician -of drama or romance. His skin and hair and eyes were dark, and his -long nervous fingers flitted over the paper on which he sketched -various phases of the Castelletto work very much as those of a pianist -flit above his ivory keys. The dreamy, far-away look in his eyes was -also suggestive of the musician, but that I had long come to recognise -as equally characteristic of all great engineers, the men whose -tangible achievements are only the fruition of days and nights of -dreaming. - -"Where shall I begin the story?" he had asked as the diners in the -regimental mess began to resolve into little knots of threes and fours -over coffee and cigars; and I had suggested that he take it up where -his report left off. "That stopped just as things began to happen," I -said. "Now tell what _did_ happen." - -The Tenente laughed a laugh suggestive of rueful reminiscence, and a -smile ran round among those of the officers who had heard and -understood my words. "So far as I am concerned," he replied, "that -covers about five minutes of activity--five minutes for which we had -been preparing for six months. You understand that we had constructed -a branch tunnel through which our men were to rush and occupy the -crater as soon after the explosion as possible. - -"_Ecco._ The men were all massed ready on and under the terrace, and -nothing remained but the making of the connection firing the mine. I -took one long look around and then threw over the electric switch -closing the circuit. Every one seemed to be holding his breath as he -waited. One, two, three seconds passed in a silence so intense that I -heard the sharp 'ping' of the water dripping from the roof of the -chamber and striking the pool it had formed below. - -"Then, before any other sound was audible, the whole mountain gave a -quick convulsive jerk, strong enough to throw some of the men off -their feet. A heavy grinding rumble in the earth came with a shivering -that followed the jerk, but the real roar of the explosion (from the -outside) was not audible for a second or two later. Only those -watching from a distance of several kilometres saw the right-hand -pinnacle of the Castelletto give a sudden heave, and then sink out of -sight in a cloud of dust and smoke. - -"In addition to the honour of firing the mine that of leading my men -into the crater had also been reserved for me, and as soon as I heard -the roar of the explosion I gave the order for them to follow me up -into the tunnel. Well----" he paused and ran his laughing eyes around -the grinning circle of his fellow officers, "that is about as far as -my evidence is good for anything. As I went clambering up the slippery -steps of the tunnel an almost solid wall of choking fumes struck me in -the face, and I--and all of my men except those near or outside of the -portal--dropped coughing in my tracks." - -"Had the mine blown back through the tamping?" I asked. - -"Not exactly," he replied, his rueful smile becoming almost sheepish, -as of one who had allowed himself to become the victim of a prank. -"The Austrians had a big store of asphyxiating bombs on hand to use -against us, and these, exploded by our mine, vented their spite on -friend and foe alike. We were not able to occupy the crater for -twenty-four hours. - -"I am glad to say that I spent what would otherwise have been an -intolerably anxious interval unconscious in the hospital. By the time -I had been revived a friendly breeze had thinned the gas sufficiently -to allow our Alpini to move into the crater and reap--in spite -of the delay--every advantage we had at any time counted -upon from the operation. Our most cherished capture was the -'perforator'--practically intact--with which the Austrians were -driving an almost completed counter-mine directly under us." - -"The nervous tension must have been rather strong toward the end, -wasn't it?" I asked; "especially when you knew the enemy had at last -got your work definitely located and was rushing his counter-mine?" - -The smile of whimsical ruefulness died out of the dark sensitive face, -leaving behind it lines I had not noticed before--lines that only -come on young faces after weeks or months of incessant anxiety. The -backward cast shadows of a time of terrible memory were lurking behind -his eyes as he replied: - -"For seven days and nights before the mine was sprung neither I nor -the officers working with me slept or even rested from work." - -That was all he said; but I saw the eyes--brimming with ready -sympathy--of his fellow officers turn to where he sat, and knew the -time for light questionings was past. Not until that moment did a full -appreciation of the travail involved in the blowing up of the -Castelletto sink home to me, and I nodded fervent assent to the words -of the English-educated Captain of Alpini next me when he observed -that "Malvezzi's little 'Order of Savoie' was jolly well earned, eh?" - - - - -WONDERS OF THE TELEFERICA - - -"Jolly good work, I call that, for a 'basket on a string,'" was the -way a visiting British officer characterised an exploit of the -Italians in the course of which--in lieu of any other way of doing -it--they had shot the end of a cable from a gun across a flooded river -and thus made it possible to rig up a _teleferica_ for rushing over -some badly-needed reinforcements. - -The name is not a high-sounding one, but I do not know of any other -which so well describes the wonderful contrivance which played so -important a part in enabling the Italians to hold successfully their -three hundred miles and more of high Alpine front during the first two -years they were in the war. And in this connection it should be borne -well in mind that the Austrians never were able to break through upon -the Alpine front, where--until the _debacle_ upon the Upper -Isonzo--the Italians, peak by peak, valley by valley, were slowly but -surely pushing the enemy backward all along the line. Nor should it be -forgotten that up to the very last the Alpini had their traditional -foe mastered along all that hundred and fifty miles of sky-line -positions--from the Carnic Alps, through the Dolomites to the -Trentino--which ultimately had to be abandoned only because their rear -was threatened by the Austro-German advance along the Friulian plain -from the Isonzo. The loss of this line under these conditions, -therefore, detracts no whit from the magnificent military skill and -heroism by which they were won and held. - -The Italians' conduct of their Alpine campaign must remain a supreme -classic of mountain warfare--something which has never been approached -in the past and may never be equalled in the future. According to the -most approved pre-war strategy, the proper way to defend mountain -lines was by implanting guns on the heights commanding the main passes -and thus rendering it impossible for an enemy to traverse them. The -fact that these commanding positions were in turn dominated by still -higher ones, and these latter by others, until the loftiest summits of -the Alps were reached, was responsible for the struggle for the -"sky-line" positions which the Austro-Italian war quickly resolved -itself into. - -This kind of war would have been a sheer impossibility two decades -ago, from the simple fact that no practicable means of transport -existed capable of carrying men, munitions, guns and food up to -continuous lines of positions from ten thousand to thirteen thousand -feet above sea-level. The one thing that made the feat possible was -the development of the aerial tramway, or the _teleferica_, as the -Italians call it, which gave transport facilities to points where the -foot of man had scarcely trod before. Regular communication with the -highest mountain-top positions would have been absolutely out of the -question without this ingenious device. - -As I have said, the "basket-on-a-string" description fits the -_teleferica_ exactly, for the principle is precisely similar to that -of the contrivance by which packages are shunted around in the large -stores and factories. The only points which differentiate it in the -least from the overhead ore-tramways is the fact that--in its latest -and highest development--it is lighter and more dependable. For the -ore-tramway--always built in a more or less protected position--had -only the steady grind of the day's work to withstand; the _teleferica_ -has not only the daily wear and tear racking it to pieces, but is also -in more or less perennial peril of destruction by flood, wind, and -avalanches, to say nothing of the fire of the enemy's artillery or of -bombs from his aeroplanes. That the Italians have evolved a -contrivance more or less proof against the ravages of these -destructive agents is, perhaps, the best evidence of their genius for -military engineering. Nothing more perfect in its way than the -_teleferica_ has been produced by any of the belligerents. - -Theoretically, a _teleferica_ can be of any length, though I think the -longest on the Italian front is one of three or four miles, which -makes a good part of the eight-thousand-foot climb up to the summit of -the Pasubio, in the Trentino, and which--at the time of writing--is -still in Italian hands. The cable may run on a level--as when it spans -some great gorge between two mountain peaks--or it may be strung up to -any incline not too great to make precarious the grip of the grooved -overhead wheels of the basket. I was not able to learn what this limit -is, but I have never seen a cable run at an angle of over forty-five -degrees. Wherever a cable does not form a single great span it has to -be supported at varying intervals by running over steel towers to -prevent its sagging too near the earth. - -A _teleferica_ has never more than its two terminal stations. If the -topography of a mountain is such that a continuous cable cannot be run -the whole distance that it is desired to bridge by _teleferica_, -two--or even three or four--separate installations are built. This is -well illustrated in the ascent of the Adamello, the highest position -on the Austro-Italian front. One goes to the lower station of the -first _teleferica_ by motor, if the road is not blocked by slides. At -the upper station of this two-mile-long cableway a tramcar pulled by a -mule is taken for the journey over three or four miles of practically -level narrow-gauge railway. Leaving this, a hundred-yard walk brings -one to another _teleferica_, in the basket of which he is carried to -its upper station, on the brow of a great cliff towering a sheer three -thousand feet above the valley below. Three hundred yards farther up -another _teleferica_ begins, which lands him by the side of the frozen -lake at Rifugio Garibaldi. Three more _telefericas_--with breaks -between each--and a dog-sled journey figure in the remainder of the -climb to the glacier and summit of the Adamello. - -The engine of a _teleferica_--its power varies according to the weight -and capacity of its basket and the height and length of the lift--is -always installed at the upper station. The usual provision is for two -baskets, one coming up while the other goes down. As with the -ore-tramways, however, an installation can be made--if sufficient -power is available--to carry two or three or even a greater number of -baskets. As this puts a great strain on the cableway the Italians have -only resorted to it at a few points where the pressure on the -transport is very heavy. - -The two greatest enemies of the _teleferica_ are the avalanche and the -wind--the latter because it may blow the baskets off the cable, and -the former because it may carry the whole thing away. As the tracks of -snow-slides--the points at which they are most likely to occur--are -fairly well defined, it is usually possible to make a wide span across -the danger-zone with the cable and thus minimise the chance of -disaster on this score. It is only when the dread _valanga_--as -occasionally happens--is launched at some unexpected point that damage -may be done to an aerial tramway. A great slide--perhaps the worst -which has occurred on the Italian side of the lines during the -war--which came down, a mile wide, from the summit of the Tofana -_massif_ to the Dolomite road in the valley five miles below, carried -away a block of barracks and a battery of mountain guns, in addition -to burying a considerable length of _teleferica_ a hundred feet deep -in snow and _debris_. Visiting this slide in December, 1916, a few -days after it happened, I saw--at a point where a cut had been run in -an endeavour to save some of the several hundred Alpini who had been -buried--the twisted tower of the _teleferica_, inextricably mixed up -with the body of a mule and a gun-carriage and overlaid with a solid -stratum of forest trees, two miles below the point at which it had -formerly stood. - -Though the number of disasters of this kind from avalanches may be -counted upon one's fingers, trouble from high wind is always an -imminent possibility. In the early days of the _teleferica_ accidents -traceable to the blowing off of the baskets were fairly common; in -fact, it was feared for a time that the difficulty from this source -might be so great as materially to limit the usefulness of the -cableway system. The use of more deeply-grooved wheels, however, did -away with this trouble almost entirely, so that now the only menace -from the wind is when it comes from "abeam" and blows hard enough to -swing the baskets into collision when passing each other in mid-air. - -Though I have had many a _teleferica_ journey that was distinctly -thrilling--what ride through the air on a swaying wire, with a torrent -or an avalanche below, and perhaps shells hurtling through the clouds -above, would not be thrilling? --I have never figured in anything -approaching an accident, and only once in an experience which might -even be described as "ticklish." This latter occurred through my -insistence on making an ascent in a _teleferica_ on a day when there -was too much wind to allow it to operate in safety. It was on the -Adamello in the course of an ascent which I endeavoured to make toward -the end of last July. - -There was a sinister turban of black clouds wrapped around the summit -of the great peak, and before we were half-way up what had only been a -cold rain in the lower valley was turning into driving sleet and snow. -We ascended by the first _teleferica_--a double one--without -difficulty, but the ominous swaying of the cables warned us that the -next line, which was more exposed, might be quite another matter. This -latter is the one I have mentioned as running from an Alpine meadow to -the brow of a cliff towering three thousand feet above it. It was one -of the longest--if not the longest--unsupported cable-spans on the -whole Alpine front. It was also the steepest of which I had had any -experience. The fact that it was exposed throughout its whole length -to a strong wind which blew down from an upper valley was responsible -for putting it "out of business" during bad weather and thus made it -the weak link in the attenuated chain of the Adamello's -communications. - -As we had feared, we found this _teleferica_ "closed down" upon our -arrival at the lower station, ample reason for which appeared in the -fifteen or twenty-foot sway given to the parallel lines of cable by -the powerful "side-on" wind gusts which assailed it every few moments -from the direction of the glacier. Fortunately, as the storm was only -coming in fitful squalls as yet and had not settled down to a steady -blow, the _tenente_ in charge thought that it might be possible to -send us up in one of the quieter intervals. - -"There's no danger of the baskets blowing off the cable," he said; -"it's only a matter of preventing them striking one another in -passing, of which there is always risk when the wires are swaying too -much." - -As there were three of us and the carrying capacity of the basket was -limited to two hundred kilos, it was necessary to attempt two trips. -As the heaviest of the party, it was decided that I should ride alone, -starting after the two others had gone up. Taking advantage of a brief -quiet spell, my companions were started off. There was still a good -deal of sway to the cables, but a look-out above kept the engineer -advised as to conditions as the baskets approached each other, and -the passage was made without incident. When my turn came to start, -however, the storm had settled down to a steady gale, and the -_tenente_ said he did not dare take the responsibility of trying to -send me through. Ordinarily I should have been only too ready to -acquiesce in his ruling, but as my companions had just 'phoned -word that they were going on by the next _teleferica_--a -comparatively-protected one--to the Rifugio Garibaldi, where they -would await me before starting on the following stage of the ascent, I -realised at once that my failure to appear would throw out the whole -itinerary and make the trip (which had to be finished that day or not -at all) a complete failure. It was plainly up to me to get through if -there was any way of doing it, and I accordingly suggested to the -young officer that I would gladly sign a written statement taking the -whole responsibility for an accident on my own shoulders. - -"That would not help either you or me very much if things happened to -go wrong," he said, with a laugh. "If you really must go, you must; -that is all, and we shall simply do our best not to have any trouble. -I shall send one of the linemen along with you to fend off the other -basket in case it swings into yours in passing. There is a returned -American here who ought to be able to do the job and talk to you in -your native tongue at the same time." - -And so it was arranged. I took my place--lying on my back in the -bottom of the basket--as usual, after which Antonio--grinning -delightedly at the prospect of keeping watch and ward over a -"fellow-countryman"--climbed in and knelt between my feet, facing up -the line. Then the "starter" banged three times on the cable to let -the engineer at the top know that all was ready, and presently we were -off along the singing wire. - -The ordinary motion of a _teleferica_ is not unlike that of an -aeroplane--though it is not quite so smooth and vastly slower. On this -occasion, however, the swaying of the cable furnished a new sensation -which, while mildly suggestive of the sideslip of an aeroplane on a -steep "bank," was rather more like the "yawing" of a "sausage" -observation balloon in a heavy wind. The swinging of the basket itself -was also a good deal more violent than I had ever experienced before, -though at no time great enough to make it difficult to keep one's -place. Both motions were, of course, at their worst out toward the -middle of the span, so that one had an opportunity to get used to -them gradually in the quarter of an hour which elapsed before that -point was reached. - -I took the occasion to ask Antonio a question I had been making a -point of putting to every _teleferica_ man I had a chance to talk -with. "Is it really true," I said, "that no one has been killed since -the war began while riding in a _teleferica_?" - -"A large number of men have been injured," he replied; "but no one has -been killed outright," and he went on to tell of a friend of his who -had coasted down a thousand feet because the pulling-cable jerked -loose from the place where it was attached to the basket when the -latter had fouled a "down" basket in passing. He was badly injured -from the jolt he received when the basket brought up short at the -bottom, and it had taken three months in the hospital to put him right -again. He would never walk again without a stick, but he was so far -from being killed that he was the engineer of the very _teleferica_ on -which we were riding. He was a very careful man, said Antonio, for he -fully understood the consequences of letting two loaded baskets bump -in mid-air. - -A chill current of spray began to enfold us at this juncture, and -Antonio was just in the midst of an explanation of how it was carried -by the wind from a thousand-foot-high quarter-mile-distant waterfall -coming down behind the curtain of the lowering clouds, when I suddenly -saw him bring the point of his alpenstock over the edge of the basket -and, with his eyes fixed intently ahead, hold himself poised in an -attitude of tense readiness. Just above our heads the descending -basket was swaying to and fro in the strong wind. A collision seemed -imminent when, with a quick lunge of his alpenstock, Antonio turned it -aside, and in that fraction of a second we passed it unharmed. It had -been easy this time, explained Antonio, because the engineer at the -top had slowed down the baskets to under half-speed at the moment of -their passing. - -All sorts of freight--from ducks and donkeys to shells and -cannon--have been carried by the _teleferica_, and one of the best -stories I heard on the Italian front had to do with a pig--the mascot -of a battalion of Alpini holding a lofty position on a Dolomite -glacier--which found its way up there by means of the cable. He was a -sucking-pig, and was sent up alive to be reared for the major's -Christmas dinner, when the _teleferica_ basket in which he was -travelling got stuck in a drift which had encroached upon one of the -steel towers. Twelve hours elapsed before it was shovelled free, and -the sucking-pig, when it finally reached the top, was frozen as hard -and stiff as one of his cold-storage brothers. It was only after he -had lain in the hot kitchen for several hours that an indignant grunt -revealed the astonishing fact that his armour of fat had kept -smouldering a spark of life. They reared him on a bottle, and at the -time I saw him he was a hulking porker of two hundred pounds or more, -drawing a regular ration of his own. They called him _Tedesco_--on -account of his face and figure rather than his disposition, they -said--but all the same, I would be willing to wager that, if that -brave battalion of Alpini were able to save anything more than their -rifles and their eagle-plumes in their retreat, he was not allowed to -fall into the hands of his brother _Tedeschi_ from the other side of -the Alps. - -But the most noteworthy service of the _teleferica_ is the way in -which it facilitates the handling of the wounded at points where other -ways of transporting them are either too dangerous or too slow. It was -on a sector of the upper Isonzo, where at that time the Austrians had -not yet been pushed across the river. A rather wide local attack was -on at the moment, and to care the more expeditiously for the wounded -a very remarkable little mobile ambulance--the whole equipment of -which could be taken down in the morning, packed upon seven motor -lorries, moved from fifty to a hundred miles, and be set up and ready -for work the same evening--had been pushed up many miles inside the -zone of fire to such protection as the "lee" of a high ridge afforded. - -"We have found," said the chief surgeon, "that many wounds hitherto -regarded as fatal are only so as a consequence of delay in operating -upon them. This little hospital unit, which is so complete in -equipment that it can do a limited amount of every kind of work that -any base hospital can perform, was designed for the express purpose of -giving earlier attention to wounds of this kind, principally those of -the abdomen. From the first we saved a great number of men who would -otherwise never have survived to reach the base hospitals; but even so -we found we were still losing many as a consequence of the delay that -would often arise in transporting them over some badly exposed bit of -road on which it was not deemed safe to risk ambulances or -stretcher-bearers. Then we devised a special basket for wounded, to be -run on the _teleferica_ (as you see here), with the result that we -are now saving practically every man that it is humanly possible to -save." - -While he was speaking the _teleferica_, which ended beside the tent of -the operating theatre, began to click, and presently an oblong box, -almost identical in size and shape with a coffin, appeared against the -sky-line of the ridge and began gently gliding toward us along the -sagging cable. "In that box," continued the surgeon, "there will be a -man whose life depends upon whether or not his wound can be operated -upon within an hour or so of the time he received it. He was probably -started on his way to us within ten minutes of the time he arrived at -the advanced dressing station, and if he was not left lying out too -long the chances are we will pull him through. All up the other slope -of the ridge he came across ground that is being heavily shelled (as -you can see from the smoke and dust that are rising), but that basket -is so small a mark that the Austrians might fire all day at it without -hitting it. One of them occasionally runs into the 'pattern' of a -shrapnel burst (with disastrous results, of course), but the only -danger worth bothering about is of having the _teleferica_ laid up -from a shell on the engine-house or one of the supporting towers. -Although the man is probably unconscious he is coming alone, you see. -No other life, and not even an ambulance, is risked in bringing him -here. Except for the _teleferica_, he could not have been sent over -until after dark, and the delay would have been fatal. We estimate -that from one to three per cent. of the men wounded on a battlefield -which, like this one, lies so exposed that they cannot be sent back at -once by stretchers or ambulance, owe their lives directly to the -_teleferica_." - -When the cover of the basket was lifted off in the station, the body -of a man swathed in a blanket was revealed. He was unable to speak, -but a note pinned to the blanket stated that he had been struck in the -stomach with a shell fragment just outside the engine-house, and that -nothing had been done save to wrap enough gauze around his middle to -hold the riven abdomen together and bundle him into the waiting -_teleferica_ basket. "He must have been wounded not over fifteen -minutes ago, and within less than a mile in an air-line from here," -commented the chief surgeon. "We might have heard the detonation of -the shell that did it. Five minutes one way or the other in operating -may mean the difference between life and death in a case of this kind, -and the chances are that the _teleferica_ has given us the necessary -margin." - -Before I left the hospital, an hour later, the operation was over, and -the man was resting comfortably, with every hope of recovery. - -On several occasions, going up by a _teleferica_, I have passed a -little Red Cross basket going down with a _ferito_, or wounded man -(indeed, the occupant of one of these to whom I endeavoured to shout a -few words of good cheer in Italian reported below that he had been -accosted by an unmistakable _Tedesco_); but by far the queerest -passenger it was my lot to "balance" against was one I encountered -during an attempt I made to get up the Pasubio on a stormy day last -January. It was snowing at the rate of four or five inches an hour, -and the air was thick with the driving flakes, when, as a consequence -(as I learned later) of a drift being piled right up against the cable -where the latter crossed a jutting ledge, the steady "tug-tug" of the -pulling wire ceased and my basket came to a quivering standstill. I -knew that I had been approaching the halfway point, but the first -evidence I had that the "down basket" had stopped near by was a sudden -pulsing blast which cut athwart the besom of the storm and assailed my -ears like the crack o' doom. Except that it was ten times louder than -any human being could make, it was just such a wail of agony as would -be wrung from the throat of a man who was being stretched on the rack. - -Again the throbbing blast came hurtling through the storm, and this -time I noticed that, starting with a raucous bass note, it kept on -rising in a sirenic crescendo until it was suddenly broken short, as -though the air which drove it was cut off rather than exhausted. -Turning down the high collar of my storm coat, I squirmed around and -peered back over my shoulder in the direction of the "Thing of -Terror," but only an amorphous grey shape in the line of the opposite -cable indicated the position of the other basket. It didn't seem -possible that a two-feet-wide-by-six-feet-long wire basket could -possibly hold anything large enough to make a sound like that, and yet -the fact that the cable at this point was five hundred feet or more in -the air made it certain that the sound could come from nowhere else. - -A brisk shiver was running up and down my spine as I slithered down -again in the bottom of the basket, but I told myself that it was from -the cold and set my wits to work to find a "rational" explanation of -the weird phenomenon. A great bird--perhaps an eagle--roosting on the -cable? Impossible. Nothing on wings since the time of the -"pterodactyl," or whatever it was called, could have the lungpower -for a wail like that. A fog-horn? Not a hundred miles from the sea. -A--ah, I had it now! I told myself--gas-alarm signal out of order; -Alpino taking it down to have that broken-off note put right--playing -it for his own amusement. "What a fool I had been not to think of it -before!" I said to myself as I settled back with a sigh of relief and -an easy heart to wait for the "train to start." - -When, after a half-hour wait, punctuated at pretty regular intervals -by the wail of the "gas alert," the gentle "tug-tug" began again, and -the basket started on its way, I pulled myself up on my elbow to give -the indefatigable serenader a hail in passing. Presently the "down" -basket, filled with some sprawling shape, took form in the hard-driven -snow, but it was not until it was almost upon me that I saw that the -nose of a donkey, stretched a foot over the side, threatened to foul -the side of my swaying car in passing. The vigorous punch of my -mittened fist with which I fended it clear set another of those -air-shivering blasts going, and I had just time to see, before the -curtain of the snow dimmed down and swallowed up the fantastic sight, -that the sudden cut-off I noticed at the end was caused by the -swelling windpipe being brought into sharp contact with the side of -the basket as the beast's neck was stretched out to establish the -proper air columns to form the sirenic higher notes. - -The donkey, they told me in the engine-house at the top, had colic -from eating fresh snow on top of the contents of a box of dried figs -he had broached, and they had tied his legs and sent him down on his -way to the "Blue Cross" hospital to be put right. He was a plains -donkey, and didn't have good "Alpine sense," else they would have -driven him down by the path on his own legs. If they had known that a -guest was coming up, however, they said, they wouldn't have sent down -an ass in the _teleferica_. It wasn't quite safe for either passenger -on account of the way the animal sprawled. The last donkey they had -sent down got his hind legs tangled in a load of firewood that was -coming up, and they had lost a good deal of the precious fuel at a -time when they were at the bottom of their pile, with a storm coming -on. The "up" car always got the worst of a collision, but if they were -only warned that anyone of importance was coming, they took great care -that there shouldn't be any collision. No one ever got much hurt on a -_teleferica_, anyhow. - -It seems to be a plain fact that no man has yet lost his life on the -Italian front as a consequence of riding in a _teleferica_. Many have -been killed in constructing them, and even more in patrolling the -lines and keeping them in repair. Men have fallen or have jumped out -of the baskets, often from considerable heights, and men have been -brought in stiff with cold after two or three hours of exposure to a -blizzard in a stalled car. Stations and engines have been carried away -and buried, with all serving them, a hundred feet beneath an -avalanche; but in these, as well as in all other mishaps connected -with _telefericas_, inquiries which I pursued during the whole time I -spent on the Italian front failed to reveal a single instance in which -an actual passenger had lost his life. Hairbreadth escapes and rescues -I heard of by the score. The story of one of the most remarkable of -the latter was related by no less a personage than the brave and -distinguished Colonel--now General--"Peppino" Garibaldi, grandson of -the Liberator, and hero of the famous capture of the peak of the Coli -di Lano. - -While I was staying with Colonel Garibaldi in the Dolomites last -winter the station of a _teleferica_ which I had been expecting to use -on the morrow in going up to the lines on the glacier of the -Marmolada was carried away by an avalanche, which also killed one of -the engineers. It was the receipt of the news of this disaster which -led my host to remark that one of the most spectacularly brave feats -he had ever heard of had been performed by an Alpino the previous -winter in connection with putting right a stalled car on this very -span of cableway which had just been destroyed. - -"At this stage of the game," said Colonel Garibaldi, who is fluent in -American idiom as a consequence of his many revolutionary campaigns in -both North and South America, "they were not grooving the wheels of -the _teleferica_ basket deeply enough, with the result that they were -occasionally blown off the cables by strong winds. So far as we could, -the carrying of passengers was suspended during blizzards, but of -course every now and then an occasion would arise when the chance had -to be taken. That was how it happened that a staff officer from the -Comando Supremo, who had never been on a _teleferica_ before, was in a -basket which was blown from the cable of the first Marmolada span at -the height of a heavy storm last March. The basket was within a couple -of hundred metres of the end of its journey when the derailment of its -two forward wheels occurred--in fact, it was a good deal nearer -'land' in that direction than downwards, where there was a clear drop -of three or four hundred metres on to frozen snow. - -"If the air is quiet, a basket (going up, of course; the 'down' one -runs by gravity) with only one pair of wheels off can usually be -'nursed' along the cable by gentle tugs from the engine, and that was -what the engineers tried to do in this instance. The side pressure of -the wind was too strong, however, and within a metre or two the cable -wedged in beside the wheels and jammed hard. If there had not been a -man in the basket, they would simply have sped up the engine and gone -on pulling until either the basket came up or something broke. If the -former, all was well; if the latter, they picked up the pieces as soon -as the weather permitted, rushed their repairs, and started up again. -With a passenger--and especially a staff officer--to reckon with, it -was a different proposition. - -"Luckily the chap kept his nerve, and between snow flurries they could -see him working hard trying to get the wheels on again. An expert -_teleferica_ lineman can, with luck, occasionally put a pair of wheels -back on the track alone; but unless one understands exactly how to -take his weight off the basket by hanging over the cable the job is -as hopeless as trying to lift yourself by your boot-straps. This chap -was anything but an expert, and, after fumbling with numbing fingers -for ten or fifteen minutes, he waved his hand with a gesture of -despair and sank back into the bottom of the heeled-over basket. - -"The Alpino has lived among blizzards all his life, and is able to -figure pretty closely how much resistance is left in a man exposed to -wind and cold under any given conditions. They knew that a man tucked -in comfortably in a basket on an even keel waiting for engine repairs -is good for several times as long as one hanging on for dear life to -the sides of an apparently hopelessly stalled and half-upset basket. -Most of the men watching from the station gave the poor chap from -fifteen to twenty minutes; it was only the most optimistic who said -half an hour. In any case, there was only one thing to do--to send a -man down to the disabled basket; and a lineman who had shortly before -performed a similar feat successfully when a load of badly needed -shells was stalled on the cable volunteered to do it. - -"Suspending the intrepid fellow from the cable in a hastily rigged -harness hung from a spare pair of wheels, they tied a long line round -his waist and let him coast down by gravity to the basket. The line, -paid out slowly, kept him from gaining too much momentum. The -journey--an easy feat for a man with a good head--was made without -mishap. The officer's mind was still clear and his nerve unbroken, -but, numb with cold and on the verge of physical collapse, he was -unable to lift a finger to save himself. The most he could do was to -maintain his hold, and even that he could not be expected to do for -long. - -"For some time the Alpino, still suspended in his harness, put forth -all his strength in an endeavour to lift the basket sufficiently to -allow the displaced wheels to slip back on to the cable, but there was -no way to bring enough force to bear to be of any use, and, after -nearly spilling out the man he was trying to save, he gave it up. Next -he tried to lighten the basket of the weight of the officer by passing -a couple of hitches of the bight of the line around him and tricing -him up to the cable immediately overhead. He succeeded in his -immediate end, but in doing so defeated his ultimate one. The body of -the officer swung clear of the bottom of the basket, but hung in such -a way that the Alpino could not himself get in the proper position to -lift from. - -"By now it was evident to the would-be rescuer that nothing could be -accomplished unless the helpless officer were got clear of the car -entirely, and this could be effected only by changing places with him. -How the resolute fellow did it Heaven and the special providence which -always sees the Alpino through only know. They paid him out a couple -of metres more of line when they felt him tugging for it, and then -they had a snow-blurred vision of him scrambling about the tilted car -for three or four busy minutes. Finally they got the short, sharp, -double tug which was the signal he had arranged to give in the event -that he failed in his attempt and wanted to be drawn back. - -"Not a little cast down over this development, they began hauling in -from the station, only to feel the more apprehension when they saw it -was a limp and apparently lifeless body that was coming up to them out -of the storm. A reassuring yodel rolled up from the misty depths at -this juncture, however, and the sharpest-eyed of them announced that -he could see his comrade 'jack-knifed' over the cable jerking the -basket straight. Even before the body of the swooned officer, with its -wind-blown arms and legs flopping like those of a scarecrow, was swung -on to the landing and released from its harness, the ringing bang of -a steel spanner on the cable gave the familiar signal of 'Haul away!' - -"He came up (so his captain told me later)," concluded Colonel -Garibaldi, "sitting on the rim of the basket with his eagle's feather -rasping right along the sagging cable all the way, his hobnailed boots -drumming a tattoo on the steel bottom, and singing the Alpini marching -song in a voice that set the echoes ringing above the howling of the -storm." - -The expedient of shooting a _teleferica_ cable across an otherwise -unbridgeable space was not tried for the first time on the occasion -referred to in the opening paragraph of this chapter--when it was -resorted to in running a line across a flood-swollen river. The same -plan had been successfully followed a year previously in carrying -succour to a band of Alpini who, through the destruction of their -_teleferica_ by an avalanche, were left "marooned" on the side of a -glacier with only a few days' supply of food and munitions. The one -path leading up to their eyrie had also been scoured away by the -slide, so that a month or more of labour would have been required to -open communications in this way. For the same reason even a longer -period would have had to elapse before the _teleferica_ could be -restored; that is, if the cable were to be carried up as when it was -first built. The mountaineering genius of the Alpini would undoubtedly -have been equal to the problem of finding their way back to safety by -letting each other down by ropes, but this would have involved the -abandonment of a position which it was vitally important to hold. - -The expedient of shooting the cable up from a gun was the only one of -the many alternatives considered which promised any chance of success. -The first attempt nearly proved a "boomerang," for the weight of the -cable deflected the chargeless six-inch shell to which it was attached -nearly sixty degrees and sent it crashing through a mule stable, -fortunately empty at the moment. A shell attached to a lighter cable -went almost equally wide of its mark; in fact, all attempts with -high-velocity guns were dismal failures, and it was not until one of -the new long-range trench-mortars was brought up that the experiment -took an encouraging turn, though success was not won until the -cable-line was displaced by a light manila rope. This was fired to its -goal--an eminence half a mile distant and a thousand feet high--at the -first shot, and afterwards served to drag up a light cable which, in -turn, dragged up the heavy one. The single-span _teleferica_ installed -at this time--quite free from the menace which had overwhelmed its -lower predecessor--was still in use when I visited this sector nine -months later. - -Perhaps the most spectacular exploit ever carried out from a -_teleferica_ was that by which a troublesome nest of Austrian -machine-gunners were cleared off one of the pinnacles of the great -M---- _massif_ in the fall of 1916. At that time the lofty ridge was -divided between the Italians and Austrians. The latter had access to -one splintered pinnacle which, although there was no room to establish -a permanent position on, offered a splendid vantage from which to -observe all Italian movements in the valley beneath. The situation was -irritating enough for the Italians even when the activities of the -enemy were confined only to observation, but when he took to bringing -up a machine-gun and peppering--almost from its rear--the headquarters -of an Alpini battalion which held an important pass three thousand -feet below, it became well-nigh intolerable. What happened was related -to me some months later, when I asked the major of this battalion how -it chanced that the roof of the officers' mess, in which we were -dining, was armoured with sheets of steel. - -"Against machine-gun bullets," was the reply; "there was a time of -accursed memory in which the enemy used to bring a gun out on a -little splinter of rock, not fifteen hundred metres from here in an -air line, and spray the whole of our little terrace with 'dum-dums.'" - -"It must have been a bit trying," I observed. "How did you manage to -stick it?" - -"By keeping out of sight as much as possible," he replied; "that is, -until the day we went after him from the _teleferica_. After that he -left us alone until we had time to get a gun rigged up to make him -keep his distance." - -"Went after him from the _teleferica_!" I repeated, in surprise. "What -do you mean by that?" - -"Just what I said," he answered, with a smile. "We were working day -and night to excavate a gun-cavern, the fire from which would make -that troublesome position untenable for the Austrian machine-gunners. -In the meantime we had to stick it out as best we could, for the least -weakening of our force at this point would have been the signal for an -Austrian attack which might well have left them in possession of the -pass. By doing most of our moving about at night we were getting on -fairly well until, opening up at an unexpectedly early hour one -morning, they killed a good many more of us than I like to think of. - -"It was at this juncture that Captain X---- over there, who had had a -bullet through his hat, came to me with a drawing in his hand, and -said that he had just figured out that, between the third and fourth -towers of the _teleferica_, there was a point from which the Austrian -machine-gun position could be enfiladed with deadly effect. - -"If our position had not been really serious I should probably never -have listened to such a mad proposal. As it was, I entered into it -heart and soul. We hung the platform of the machine-gun on to the -cable at an angle which would make it easy to elevate and range on the -Austrian position above. Then--as a happy afterthought--we bent a -sheet of bullet-proof steel for a shield on the exposed side, erected -a low platform on which the gun would rest securely, and--the first -and last armoured _teleferica_ was complete. Between X---- and his -helper, the armour and the gun, the weight was about double that which -the _teleferica_ was supposed to carry, but I knew there was a wide -margin of safety allowed for, and had no misgivings on that score. -With X---- and his assistant crouched low on either side of the gun, -and with a black tarpaulin thrown loosely over the whole, she looked -as much like an ordinary load of junk going down for repairs as anyone -could wish. - -"The Austrians, who had been busy for an hour peppering the zigzags of -the path up to the trenches at the lip of the pass, took no notice of -the innocent-looking load slipping down the _teleferica_. The relieved -men from above, dodging in quick rushes past the exposed stretches of -the zigzags, offered them far more exciting practice than a load of -old gear. The latter disappeared from our sight at the second tower, -reappeared at the third, and was in full view when X---- 'unmasked' -and opened up. We could even follow the line of brown dust-spurts on -the face of the cliff as the bullets ranged upward to their mark. The -fire of the two Austrian machine-guns ceased instantly, and never -resumed. Probably the gunners were killed before ever they had a -chance to turn round their guns and reply to the sudden attack from -the air. - -"After spraying the pinnacle for five minutes X---- signalled to be -drawn up. He arrived at the station to report his job finished. -Against possible further use for her, we improved our 'aerial -dreadnought' considerably in the next day or two, but there was never -occasion to send her into action again. When the Austrians _did_ -venture up our big gun was in place, and we scoured them off the top -with high explosive." - - - - -THE GARIBALDI FIGHT AGAIN FOR FREEDOM - - -Once or twice in every winter a thick, sticky, hot wind from somewhere -on the other side of the Mediterranean breathes upon the snow and -ice-locked Alpine valleys the breath of a false springtime. The Swiss -guides, if I remember correctly, call it by a name which is pronounced -nearly as we do the word "fun"; but the incidence of such a wind means -to them anything but what that signifies in English. To them--to all -in the Alps, indeed--a spell of _fun_ weather means thaw, and thaw -means avalanches; avalanches, too, at a time of the year when there is -so much snow that the slides are under constant temptation to abandon -their beaten tracks and gouge out new and unexpected channels for -themselves. It is only the first-time visitor to the Alps who bridles -under the Judas kiss of the wind called _fun_. - -It was on an early January day of one of these treacherous hot winds -that I was motored up from the plain of Venezia to a certain sector -of the Italian Alpine front, a sector almost as important -strategically as it is beautiful scenically. What twelve hours -previously had been a flint-hard ice-paved road had dissolved to a -river of soft slush, and one could sense rather than see the ominous -premonitory twitchings in the lowering snow-banks as the lapping of -the hot moist air relaxed the brake of the frost which had held them -on the precipitous mountain sides. Every stretch where the road curved -to the embrace of cliff or shelving valley wall was a possible ambush, -and we slipped by them with muffled engine and hushed voices. - -Toward the middle of the short winter afternoon the gorge we had been -following opened out into a narrow valley, and straight over across -the little lake which the road skirted, reflected in the shimmering -sheet of steaming water that the thaw was throwing out across the ice, -was a vivid white triangle of towering mountain. A true granite Alp -among the splintered Dolomites--a fortress among cathedrals--it was -the outstanding, the dominating feature in a panorama which I knew -from my map was made up of the mountain chain along which wriggled the -interlocked lines of the Austro-Italian battle-front. - -"Plainly a peak with a personality," I said to the officer at my -side. "What is it called?" - -"It's the Col di Lana," was the reply; "the mountain that Colonel -'Peppino' Garibaldi took partially in a first attempt, and afterwards -Gelasio Caetani, the Italo-American mining engineer, blew up and -captured completely. It is one of the most important positions on our -whole front, for whichever side holds it not only effectually blocks -the enemy's advance, but has also an invaluable sally-port from which -to launch his own. We simply _had_ to have it, and it was taken in -what was probably the only way humanly possible. It's Colonel -Garibaldi's headquarters, by the way, where we put up to-night and -to-morrow; perhaps you can get him to tell you the story." - - * * * * * - -Where his study window looks out on the yellow Tiber winding through -the Rome for which his father had fought so long and so bravely, I had -listened one afternoon, not long previously, to that fiery old -warrior, General Ricciotti Garibaldi, while he spoke of the war and of -Italy's part in it. "All of my boys are fighting," he had said, "and -my daughters and my wife are nursing. Two of the boys are gone--killed -in France--but the other five are with the Italian army. They are all -good fighters, I think; but one of them--Peppino, the eldest--is also -an able soldier. Or at least he ought to be, for he has been trained -in the 'Garibaldi' school. There hasn't been a war (save only that -between Russia and Japan) or revolution in any part of the world in -the last twenty years that he hasn't drawn a sword, carried a rifle, -or swung a machete. You must make a point of seeing him if you are -visiting his part of the front, for he is a good little fellow, is our -Peppino." - -"And you'll fare well if you put up with Peppino, too," his little -English mother had added: "He is sure to have a good cook; and then -the dear boy was always so fond of sweets that I can't imagine his -doing without them. Besides, Sante is with him, and Sante was running -a co-operative creamery when the war broke out. You may be sure that -he has foraged his share of the good things too." - - * * * * * - -We found the grandson and namesake of the great Giuseppe Garibaldi -quartered in a little string of an Alpine village which occupied the -last bit of ground open enough to enjoy even comparative immunity from -the snow sliding from either flank of the deep valley which the road -followed up to the pass. The "good little fellow" who sprang up from -his map and report-littered desk to bid us welcome turned out to be -six feet of vigorous manhood, with a powerful pair of shoulders, a -face red-bronzed from the sun-glint on the snow, and a grip which -fused my fingers in the galvanic pressure of its friendly clasp. The -high, narrow forehead, the firm line of the mouth, the steady serious -eyes--all were distinctly Garibaldian, recalling to me the words of -his mother: "Ricciotti is my handsomest boy, but Peppino is the one -most like the old General, his grandfather." - -His greeting was warm and hearty, and only in the grave eyes was there -hint of the terrible responsibility accumulating through the fact that -a hot, moist wind was playing upon the heaviest fall of snow the Alps -had known for many winters. - -"I have sketched you out a tentative programme for the next -twenty-four hours," he said, speaking English with an accent which -plainly revealed that it had come to its fluency under American--and -probably Western American--skies "which is as far (and a good deal -farther, in fact) ahead than there is any use in planning while this -accursed weather lasts. There are still a couple of hours of daylight, -so we will begin by taking sledges to the upper valley and making a -survey of our lines from below. To-morrow--God willing!" (he said it -with the same quick fervency with which the pious Mohammedan -interpolates "Imshallah" into any outline of his future plans) "you -and Captain X---- will go to the summit and glacier of the Marmolada, -perhaps the most spectacular position on all our front. That will -depend upon whether or not we can keep the _telefericas_ going." - -As the sledge threaded its way between deep-cut snow-banks up the -narrowing gorge, Colonel Garibaldi spoke briefly of the difficulties -of Alpine transport in midwinter. - -"On the ordinary battle front, like those of France and Russia," he -said, "it requires rather less than one man on the line of -communications to maintain one man in the first-line trenches. For the -whole Italian front the average is something over two men on the -communications to one in the first line; but at points in the Alps (as -on this sector of mine), it may run up to six, or even eight or ten in -bad weather. It isn't just keeping the roads clear from falling and -drifting snow, it's the _valangas_, the slides. And with the slides -the worst trouble isn't just the men you may lose under them (though -that's terrible enough, Heaven knows), but rather the men who are -holding the lines up beyond the slides that have to be fed and -munitioned whatever happens. By an unkind trick of fate (just as bad -for the enemy as for ourselves, however), the snows of this year have -been among the heaviest ever known. This means that the slides are -also bad beyond all precedent, and especially that they are coming in -unexpected places, places where they have never been known before. -Slides in new places mean--what you saw where that swath was cut -through the lower end of the little village down the valley, and -problems like this!" - -We had just come out of a narrowed section of the gorge where, to get -through at all, the road had to run on a sort of trestle built above -the now frozen river, and where the ice-sheathed walls above us -interlocked like the jaws of a wolf-trap. Ahead of us the road was -blocked by a towering barrier of crumpled snow, piled a hundred feet -or more high from wall to wall. Rocks and snapped-off and up-ended -pine trees peppered through the amorphous mass furnished unmistakable -evidence that the avalanche which formed it had come down out of a -"track." - -"We couldn't go over it, and we couldn't have shovelled it away in ten -years," said my companion; "so we simply had to follow the only -alternative left and go through it. Here we go into the tunnel now. My -great worry is as to whether the new slide that the next day or -two--or the next hour or two, for that matter--may bring down upon -this will crush in my little tunnel or only pile up harmlessly above. -Hard-packed as it is, the snow" (I felt him lurch away from me in the -darkness, and heard the soft swish of something brushing against the -side of the tunnel) "is slushy even in under here. I'm rather afraid -that it won't stand much more weight, even if it doesn't fall in of -its own. But--ah" (we were out of the tunnel now, and a fluted yellow -cliff of staggering sheerness loomed through the notch ahead), -"there's the Marmolada! Doesn't look like an easy place to dislodge -the enemy from, does it? Well, my men--my brother, Major Ricciotti -Garibaldi, leading them--took the most of the 13,000-foot _massif_ -from the Austrians with the loss of so few men that I am still being -accused of having thrown my dead in the _crevasses_ of the glacier and -filling their places with smuggled recruits!" - -An Alpino passed singing, and the Colonel took up the air as he -returned the salute. - - "O Marmolada, tu es bella, tu es grana - ina in peo e forta in guerra." - -"It's a song the men have made," he said. "The Marmolada was famous -even in peace time, but up to a year or two before the war it had -never been climbed from this side. The Captain of Alpini in the post -at that pass on the left was the first Italian to make the ascent. It -took him two days, and cost him several hundred _lira_ for guides. -Well, it was from this very side that we took it (I can't tell you -exactly how, as we want to use the same method again), and now we are -sending fuel and food and munitions up there every day. To-morrow, if -the _telefericas_ are still running, you will go up there to that -snow-cap on the top in less than an hour." - -On the way back to the village in the gathering dusk I had an -illuminative example of the famous Garibaldi _sang froid_. The -conversation had turned--as it seemed to persist in doing during all -of my visit--to common friends and haunts in South America, and I -mentioned a meeting with Castro in Venezuela some years previously. -"Just what month was that?" Colonel Garibaldi queried. "March," I -replied. "Then at that very moment," said he, "I was chained to a ring -in the wall of the jail at Ciudad Bolivar. A little later," he -continued, "I and a fellow-_revolutionista_ chained up with me broke -out and started to swim the Orinoco to----". - -At that moment the sledge chanced to be worrying by a long pack train -on the trestle in the bottom of the overhung gorge I have referred to, -and just as my companion reached this point in his story a big icicle, -thawed loose somewhere above, came crashing down on the back of one of -the mules. The pack-load of provisions was riven as by a knife, and -the mule, recoiling from the sudden shock, shied back into the animal -immediately behind him. This one, in turn, backed into the animal next -in line, so that the impulse went back through the train by what I -once heard an old Chilkat packer call "mu-leg-raphy." The consequence -was that the hundred yards of gorge (in passing through which one was -cautioned even to lower one's voice for fear of starting vibration -that might break loose one of the thousand or so Damoclean swords -suspended above) was thrown into an uproar that set the echoes -ringing. The temperamental Alpini swore at the mules, and at each -other from the depths of their leather lungs, while the mules simply -did the mulish thing by standing on their forelegs and lashing out -with their hind ones at whatever fell within their reach. - -But, unruffled alike by the kinetic energy released below and the -potential energy which menaced from above, the imperturbable scion of -the Garibaldi simply leaned closer to my ear and went on with his -story. - -"Poor Y---- never reached the bank. Shark got him, I think. I headed -off into the jungle----" That was about all the story I remember, -except the finish, which had to do with racing a couple of Castro's -spies for a British steamer lying alongside the quay at La Guayra. -This latter part, however, was related after we had come out from -under the icicles and the heels of the mules to the open road beneath -the awakening stars. - - * * * * * - -There were several interruptions during dinner that evening. Once a -wayfaring Alpino, whose lantern had gone out, and who had turned in to -the nearest house to relight it, appeared at the door. That he -stumbled upon his Colonel's mess did not appear to disturb him a whit -more than it did the Colonel, who gave the smiling chap a box of -matches and sent him on his way with a cheery "_a rivederci_." A -little later the door was opened in response to a timid knock, to -reveal a little old lady who wanted to borrow a tin of condensed milk -and five eggs. Her son was coming home on leave on the morrow, she -said, and she was going to make a _pannello_ for his dinner. The -little village shop was out of eggs and milk for the moment, and as -the _Colonello's_ cook had refused to lend them to her, she had come -straight to the _Colonello_ himself. She had heard he was very kind. - -"See that she has all she wants; fill up her basket," was the order -sent out to the cook. And then, as the grateful little old dame -backed, bowing, out of the door: "Feed him up well, _madre_; a man has -to have something under his belt to fight in these mountains, doesn't -he?" - -"Brother Sante usually looks after callers of this kind for me," said -my host with a laugh; "but Sante is away for a day or two, and I have -no buffer. You will observe, by the way, that I am not quite at one -with my distinguished grandfather in the matter of rations. What was -it he said to the men who had assembled to follow him in his flight -after the unsuccessful fight for the Roman Republic? 'I offer neither -pay, quarters nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst forced marches, -battle, and death.' Well, I too have plenty of fighting to offer my -men, but no more of the other 'inducements' than I can possibly help. -And when they have to die, I like to feel that it's on a full stomach. - -"Perhaps you heard," he went on, "what a stir it made up here when I -first asked for marmalade for my men. They started out by laughing at -me. 'Of course,' they said, 'we know that your mother is English; but -that is no reason why, much as _you_ may crave it, your _men_ should -need marmalade!' Then they said that _marmellata_ would cost too much, -and finally tried to prove that it would be bad for the men's health. -But I had seen what troops had done in South Africa on a generous -marmalade allowance; also what they were doing in France. So I stuck -to it, and--well, we took the Marmolada on _marmellata_, and a good -many Austrians besides." - -We were still laughing over the little joke when the door opened, and -the telephone operator from the room across the hall entered to report -in a low voice some news that had just reached him. The Colonel's face -changed from gay to grave in an instant; but it was with voice and -manner of quiet restraint that he asked a couple of quick questions -and then gave a brief order, evidently to be transmitted back whence -the news had come. - -"It must have been either A---- or B----," he said musingly, turning -again to the big slice of caramel cake he had just cut for himself -when the interruption occurred. "Oh I beg pardon; but I've just had -word that the middle _teleferica_ serving the Marmolada has been -carried away by an avalanche, and that one of the engineers is -killed. I was just speculating as to which one it was. They were both -good men--men I can ill afford to lose. This puts an end, by the way, -to the trip we had planned for you for to-morrow. You will have to go -to the position at the---- instead; providing, of course, _that -teleferica_ doesn't meet a like fate." - -South American revolution (in vivid reminiscence) had raised its -hydra-head many times before I saw my way clear to turn the -conversation into the channel where I was so interested to direct its -flow. - -"Won't you tell me, Colonel," I said finally, "something of how the -young Garibaldi have carried on the tradition of the old Garibaldi in -this war? Tell me how it came about that you all foregathered in -France in the early months of the war, what you did there, and what -you have done since; and, especially, tell me how you took the Col di -Lana." - -"That's (as you Americans say) rather a tall order," was the laughing -reply; "but I'll gladly do what I can to fill it." - -He drained his glass of cognac, waited till the occult rite of -lighting his "Virginia" over its little spirit-lamp was complete, and -then began his story (as I had hoped he would) at the beginning. The -narration which follows was punctuated by the steady drip of the eaves -and the not infrequent rumble of a distant avalanche as the hot south -wind called _fun_ breathed its relaxing breath on a half winter's -accumulation of hanging snow. - - * * * * * - -"My father--and even my grandfather--had foreseen that Europe must -ultimately fight its way to freedom through a great war; that the two -irreconcilable forces (fairly represented by what France, England, -Italy, and the United States stood for, on the one hand, and what -Prussia and its satellites stood for on the other) made no other -alternative possible. The same feelings which led my father and -grandfather to fight for France in 1870 led me and my brothers to -offer ourselves to fight for France and her Allies in 1914. - -"As the eldest of seven sons, and the namesake of my grandfather, my -father felt that it was up to me to carry on the Garibaldi tradition, -and when I was scarcely out of my teens he sent me out to train in the -only school that the old General ever recognised--that of practical -experience. 'Some day you will be needed in Europe,' he said. 'Until -then, see that you make yourself ready by taking part in every war -that you can find. Learn how men follow, and then learn how men lead. -If there is any choice between two causes, fight for the one you think -your grandfather would have fought for; but don't miss a fight because -you can't make up your mind on that score. The experience is the -thing, and the only way you can get it is in real battles, not sham -ones.' - -"Well, I did the best I could, considering the day and age we live in, -to follow out my father's idea. With what success (so far as a -comprehensive experience was concerned) you may judge from the fact -that, up to the outbreak of the present war, I had--counting -skirmishes--fought on 132 battlefields. That I had not been wounded -was not, I trust, entirely due to not having been exposed to fire. - -"The preparation of my brothers had been rather less drastic--less -'Garibaldian'--than my own. In their cases, it was my father's idea -that it would be sufficient if they simply knew the world and how to -get on with men; and to this end he encouraged them, as fast as they -became old enough, to seek work abroad, preferably something of an -outdoor character, such as that in connection with engineering -projects. None of us was overburdened with book-learning or technical -training, myself least of all. Indeed, I have often wished I had a -bit more of both. - -"So it was that it happened that the outbreak of the war found all but -the two youngest of us scattered to the ends of the earth. I was in -New York (not long before I had gone through the first Mexican -revolution as Chief of Staff to General Madero), and with me was my -second brother, Ricciotti, who had joined me there for a trip to South -America. Menotti was in China, on the engineering staff of the -Canton-Kowloon Railway, and Sante, also an engineer, was working on -the Assuan Dam in Upper Egypt. Bruno was in a sugar 'central' in Cuba, -and Costante and Ezia, the two youngest of us, were at their studies -in Italy. My sister, Italia, was organising Red Cross work in Rio de -Janeiro. - -"As the war clouds began to gather, my father sent a letter to each of -the five of us abroad, saying that when we received a cable from him -we were to start at once for whatever place was mentioned in it. I -forget what the cables received by Ricciotti and myself were about; -but the rendezvous was Paris, and we were away by the next boat. We -found Ezia and Costante already awaiting us in Paris, and Bruno and -Sante arrived a few days later. Menotti could not arrange to get away -from China until his own country entered the war, some months -subsequently. - -"Word had already gone out that an Italian Legion was to be formed to -fight for the Allies, but in what theatre had not yet been decided -upon. All my own training had been for guerilla warfare, and, figuring -that this could be turned to the best use in the Balkans, I was in -hopes that my legion could be landed in Albania, to co-operate with -the Servians and Montenegrans against Austria. This was not to be, -however; indeed, Ezia, who was sent to drive a _camion_ at Salonika -after being wounded on this front a few months ago, has so far been -the only Garibaldi to reach the Balkans. I am sorry, in a way, for I -still think that that would have been my sphere of greatest -usefulness. - -"Recruits flocked to us from all over the world, among them being many -men who had fought with me in South and Central America. We were quite -the typical band of soldiers of fortune, and except for the fact that -we were all Italians, there wasn't a great deal to differentiate us -from the Foreign Legion into which we were incorporated. Side by side -with the several scions of Italian nobility who had joined us marched -men who had ridden as _gauchos_ on the pampas of Argentina or hammered -drills in the mines of Colorado and the Transvaal. Nor was I by any -means the only one who had peered hungrily outward through barred -gratings and was familiar with the clank and tug of the ankle chain. -But whatever we were, and whoever we were, we had come to fight, and -we did fight. Yes, all in all, I think we lived up to the traditions -of the _Legion Etrangere_ quite as well on the score of fighting as we -did on that of pedigree. It isn't where you come _from_ that counts on -the battle line, but only where you _go to_; and if there was a man in -the Italian Legion who wasn't ready to fight until he dropped, I can -only say that he did not come under my notice. - -"Considering the fact that we began with practically raw material -(though, of course, many of the men had seen previous service), and -that there were no _cadres_ to build upon, I think our work with the -_Legion Italienne_ was about a record for quick training. It was -October before we were well started, and by the end of December we -were not only on the first line, but had already gone through some of -the bloodiest fighting the war has seen. My grandfather used to say -that proper military training was nine-tenths a matter of applied -common sense and one-tenth a matter of drill. Well, I employed what -common sense and experience I had, and made up the rest with drill. -Inside of two months we had 4,000 men at the front, where the French -Higher Command was so well impressed with their quality that it was -but a week or two before they were deemed worthy of the place of -honour in an attack upon the Prussian Guard, which had been pressing -steadily forward in the hope of cutting the communications between -Chalons and Verdun. No regiment ever had a warmer baptism of fire. We -drove back the Guard two and a half kilometres, but lost a thousand -men in the effort. - -"I don't recall anything that was actually said between us on the -subject, but it seemed to be generally understood among us brothers -that the shedding of some Garibaldi blood--or, better still, the -sacrifice of a Garibaldi life--would be calculated to throw a great, -perhaps a decisive, weight into the wavering balance in Italy, where a -growing sympathy for the cause of the Allies only needed a touch to -quicken it to action. Indeed, I am under the impression that my father -said something to that effect to the two younger boys before he sent -them on to France. At any rate, all three of the youngsters behaved -exactly as though their only object in life was to get in the way of -German bullets. Well--Bruno got _his_ in the last week in December, -ten or twelve days ahead of Costante, who fell on January 5. Ezia--the -youngest of the three fire-eaters--though, through no fault of his -own, had to wait and take his bullet from the Austrians on our own -front. (It occurred not far from here, by the way.) - -"The attack in which Bruno fell was one of the finest things I have -ever seen. General Gouraud sent for me in person to explain why a -certain system of trenches, which we were ordered to attack, _must_ be -taken and held, no matter what the price. We mustered for mass at -midnight--it was Christmas, or the day after, I believe--and the -memory of that icicle-framed altar in the ruined, roofless church, -with the flickering candles throwing just light enough to silhouette -the tall form of Gouraud, who stood in front of me, will never fade -from my mind. - -"We went over the parapet before daybreak, and it was in the first -light of the cold winter dawn that I saw Bruno--plainly -hit--straighten up from his running crouch and topple into the first -of the German trenches, across which the leading wave of our attack -was sweeping. He was up before I could reach him, however (I don't -think he ever looked to see where he was hit), and I saw him clamber -up the other side, and, running without a hitch or stagger, lead his -men in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. I never saw him again alive. - -"They found his body, with six bullet-wounds upon it lying where the -gust from a machine-gun had caught him as he tried to climb out and -lead his men on beyond the last of the trenches we had been ordered to -take and hold. He had charged into the trench, thrown out the enemy, -and made--for whatever it was worth--the first sacrifice of his own -generation of Garibaldi. We sent his body to my father and mother in -Rome, where, as you will doubtless remember, his funeral was made the -occasion of the most remarkable patriotic demonstration Italy has -known in recent years. From that moment the participation of our -country in the war became only a matter of time. Costante's death a -few days later only gave added impulse to the wave of popular feeling -which was soon to align Italy where she belonged, in the forefront of -the fight for the freedom of Europe. - -"Further fighting that fell to the lot of the Legion in the course of -January reduced its numbers to such an extent that it had to be -withdrawn to rest and re-form. Before it was in condition to take the -field again, our country had taken the great decision, and we were -disbanded to go home and fight for Italy. Here--principally because -it was thought best to incorporate the men in the units to which they -(by training or residence) really belonged--it was found impracticable -to maintain the integrity of the fourteen battalions--about 14,000 men -in all--we had formed in France, and, as a consequence, the _Legion -Italienne_ ceased to exist except as a glorious memory. We five -surviving Garibaldi were given commissions in a brigade of Alpini that -is a 'lineal descendant' of the famous _cacciatore_ formed by my -grandfather in 1859, and led by him against the Austrians in the war -in which, with the aid of the French, we redeemed Lombardy for Italy. - -"In July I was given command of a battalion occupying a position at -the foot of the Col di Lana. Perhaps you saw from the lake as you came -up the commanding position of this mountain. If so, you will -understand its supreme importance to us, whether for defensive or -offensive purposes. Looking straight down the Cordevole Valley toward -the plains of Italy, it not only furnished the Austrians an -incomparable observation post, but also stood as an effectual barrier -against any advance of our own toward the Livinallongo Valley and the -important Pordoi Pass. We needed it imperatively for the safety of any -line we established in this region, and just as imperatively would we -need it when we were ready to push the Austrians back. Since it was -just as important for the Austrians to maintain possession of this -great natural fortress as it was for us to take it away from them, you -will understand how it came about that the struggle for the Col di -Lana was perhaps the bitterest that has yet been waged for any one -point on the Alpine front. - -"Early in July, under cover of our guns to the south and east, the -Alpini streamed down from the Cima di Falzarego and Sasso di Stria, -which they had occupied shortly before, and secured what was at first -but a precarious foothold on the stony lower eastern slope of the Col -di Lana. Indeed, it was little more than a toe-hold at first; but the -never-resting Alpini soon dug themselves in and became firmly -established. It was to the command of this battalion of Alpini that I -came on July 12, after being given to understand that my work was to -be the taking of the Col di Lana regardless of cost. - -"This was the first time that I--or any other Garibaldi, for that -matter (my grandfather, with his 'Thousand,' took Sicily from fifty -times that number of Bourbon soldiers)--had ever had enough (or even -the promise of enough) men to make that 'regardless of cost' formula -much more than a hollow mockery. But it is not in a Garibaldi to -sacrifice men for any object whatever if there is any possible way of -avoiding it. The period of indiscriminate frontal attacks had passed -even before I left France, and ways were already being devised--mostly -mining and better artillery protection--to make assaults less costly. -Scientific 'man-saving,' in which my country has since made so much -progress, was then in its infancy on the Italian front. - -"I found many difficulties in the way of putting into practice on the -Col di Lana the man-saving theories I had seen in process of -development in the Argonne. At that time the Austrians--who had -appreciated the great importance of that mountain from the outset--had -us heavily out-gunned, while mining in the hard rock was too slow to -make it worth while until some single position of crucial value hung -in the balance. So--well, I simply did the best I could under the -circumstances. The most I could do was to give my men as complete -protection as possible while they were not fighting, and this end was -accomplished by establishing them in galleries cut out of the solid -rock. This was, I believe, the first time the 'gallery-barracks'--now -quite the rule at all exposed points--were used on the Italian front. - -"There was no other way in the beginning but to drive the enemy off -the Col di Lana trench by trench, and this was the task I set myself -to toward the end of July. What made the task an almost prohibitive -one was the fact that the Austrian guns from Corte and Cherz--which we -were in no position to reduce to silence--were able to rake us -unmercifully. Every move we made during the next nine months was -carried out under their fire, and there is no use in denying that we -suffered heavily. I used no more men than I could possibly help using, -and the Higher Command was very generous in the matter of reserves, -and even in increasing the strength of the force at my disposal as we -gradually got more room to work in. By the end of October my original -command of a battalion had been increased largely. - -"The Austrians made a brave and skilful defence, but the steady -pressure we were bringing to bear on them gradually forced them back -up the mountain. By the first week in November we were in possession -of three sides of the mountain, while the Austrians held the fourth -side and--but most important of all--the summit. The latter presented -a sheer wall of rock, over 200 metres high, to us from any direction -we were able to approach it, and on the crest of this cliff--the only -point exposed to our artillery fire--the enemy had a cunningly -concealed machine-gun post served by fourteen men. Back and behind, -under shelter in a rock gallery, was a reserve of 200 men, who were -expected to remain safely under cover during a bombardment, and then -sally forth to repel any infantry attack that might follow it. The -handful in the machine-gun post, it was calculated, would be -sufficient, and more than sufficient, to keep us from scaling the -cliff before their reserves came up to support them; and so they would -have been if there had been _only_ an infantry attack to reckon with. -It failed to allow sufficiently, however, for the weight of the -artillery we were bringing up, and the skill of our gunners. The -apparent impregnability of the position was really its undoing. - -"This cunningly conceived plan of defence I had managed to get a -pretty accurate idea of--no matter how--and I laid my own plans -accordingly. All the guns I could get hold of I had emplaced in -positions most favourable for concentrating on the real key to the -summit--the exposed machine-gun post on the crown of the cliff--with -the idea, if possible, of destroying men and guns completely, or, -failing in that, at least to render it untenable for the reserves who -would try to rally to its defence. - -"We had the position ranged to an inch, and so, fortunately, lost no -time in 'feeling' for it. This, with the surprise incident to it, was -perhaps the principal factor in our success; for the plan--at least so -far as _taking_ the summit was concerned--worked out quite as -perfectly in action as upon paper. That is the great satisfaction of -working with the Alpin, by the way: he is so sure, so dependable, that -the 'human fallibility' element in a plan (always the most uncertain -quantity) is practically eliminated. - -"It is almost certain that our sudden gust of concentrated gun-fire -snuffed out the lives of all the men in the machine-gun post before -they had time to send word of our developing infantry attack to the -reserves in the gallery below. At any rate, these latter made no -attempt whatever to swarm up to the defence of the crest, even after -our artillery fire ceased. The consequence was that the 120 Alpini I -sent to scale the cliff reached the top with but three casualties, -these probably caused by rolling rocks or flying rock fragments. The -Austrians in their big 'funk-hole' were taken completely by surprise, -and 130 of them fell prisoners to considerably less than that number -of Italians. The rest of 200 escaped or were killed in their flight. - -"So far it was so good; but, unfortunately, taking the summit and -holding it were two entirely different matters. No sooner did the -Austrians discover what had happened than they opened on the crest -with all their available artillery. We have since ascertained that the -fire of 120 guns was concentrated upon a space of 100 by 150 metres -which offered the only approach to cover the barren summit afforded. -Fifty of my men, finding some shelter in the lee of rocky ledges, -remained right out on the summit; the others crept over the edge of -the cliff and held on by their fingers and toes. Not a man of them -sought safety by flight, though a retirement would have been quite -justified, considering what a hell the Austrian guns were making of -the place. The enemy counter-attacked at nightfall, but in spite of -superior numbers and the almost complete exhaustion of that little -band of Alpini heroes, were able to retake only a half of the summit. -Here, at a ten-metres-high ridge which roughly bisects the _cima_, the -Alpini held the Austrians, and here, in turn, the latter held the -reinforcements which I was finally able to send to the Alpini's aid. -There, exposed to the fire of the guns of either side (and so, -comparatively, safe from both), a line was established from which -there seemed little probability that one combatant could drive the -other, at least without a radical change from the methods so far -employed. - -"The idea of blowing up positions that cannot be taken otherwise is by -no means a new one. Probably it dates back almost as far as the -invention of gunpowder itself. Doubtless, if we only knew of them, -there have been attempts to mine the Great Wall of China. It was, -therefore, only natural that, when the Austrians had us held up before -a position it was vitally necessary we should have, we should begin to -consider the possibility of mining it as the only alternative. The -conception of the plan did not necessarily originate in the mind of -any one individual, however many have laid claim to it. It was the -inevitable thing if we were not going to abandon striving for our -objective. - -"But while there was nothing new in the idea of the mine itself, in -the carrying out an engineering operation of such magnitude at so -great an altitude, and from a position constantly exposed to intense -artillery fire, there were presented many problems quite without -precedent. It was these problems which gave us pause; but finally, in -spite of the prospect of difficulties which we fully realised might at -any time become prohibitive, it was decided to make the attempt to -blow up that portion of the summit of the Col di Lana held by the -enemy. - -"The choice of the engineer for the work was a singularly fortunate -one. Gelasio Caetani--he is a son of the Duke of Sermoneta--had -operated as a mining engineer in the American West for a number of -years previous to the war, and the practical experience gained in -California and Alaska was invaluable preparation for the great task -now set for him. His ready resource and great personal courage were -also incalculable assets. (As an instance of the latter, I could tell -you how, to permit him to make certain imperative observations, he -allowed himself to be lowered over the side of a sheer cliff at a -point only partially protected from the enemy's fire.) - -"Well, the tunnel was started about the middle of January, 1916. Some -of my men--Italians who had hurried home to fight for their country -when the war started--had had some previous experience with hand and -machine drills in the mines of Colorado and British Columbia, but the -most of our labour had to gain its experience as the work progressed. -Considering this, as well as the difficulty of bringing up material -(to say nothing of food and munitions), we made very good progress. - -"The worst thing about it all was the fact that it had to be done -under the incessant fire of the Austrian artillery. I provided for the -men as best I could by putting them in galleries, where they were at -least able to get their rest in comparative safety. My own -headquarters were in a little shed in the lee of a big rock. When the -enemy finally found out what we were up to they celebrated their -discovery by a steady bombardment which lasted for fourteen days -without interruption. During a certain forty-two hours of that -fortnight there was, by actual count, an average of thirty-eight -shells a minute exploding on our little position. With all the -protection it was possible to provide, the strain became such that I -found it advisable to change the battalion holding our portion of the -summit every week. Did I have any respite myself? Well, hardly; or, -rather, not until I had to. - -"We were constantly confronted with new and perplexing -problems--things which no one had ever been called upon to solve -before--most of them in connection with transportation. How we -contrived to surmount one of these I shall never forget. The Austrians -had performed a brave and audacious feat in emplacing one of their -batteries at a certain point, the fire from which threatened to make -our position absolutely untenable. The location of this battery was so -cunningly chosen that not a single one of our guns could reach it, and -yet we _had_ to silence it--and for good--if we were going to go on -with our work. The only point from which we could fire upon these -destructive guns was so exposed that any artillery we might be able to -mount there could only count on the shortest shrift under the fire of -the hundred or more 'heavies' that the Austrians would be able to -concentrate upon it. And yet (I figured), well employed, these few -minutes might prove enough to do the work in. As there was no other -alternative, I decided to chance it. - -"And then there arose another difficulty. The smallest gun that would -stand a chance of doing the job cut out for it weighed 120 -kilos--about 260 pounds; this just for the gun alone, with all -detachable parts removed. But the point where the gun was to be -mounted was so exposed that there was no chance of rigging up a -cable-way, while the incline was so steep and rough that it was out of -the question trying to drag it up with ropes. Just as we were on the -verge of giving up in despair, one of the Alpini--a man of Herculean -frame who had made his living in peace-time by breaking chains on his -chest and performing other feats of strength--came and suggested that -he be allowed to carry the gun up on his shoulder. Grasping at a -straw, I let him indulge in a few 'practice manoeuvres'; but these -only showed that while the young Samson could shoulder and trot off -with the gun without great effort, the task of lifting himself and his -burden from foothold to foothold in the crumbling rock of the seventy -degree slope was too much for him. - -"But out of this failure there came a new idea. Why not let my strong -man simply support the weight of the gun on his shoulder--acting as a -sort of ambulant gun-carriage, so to speak--while a line of men pulled -him along with a rope? We rigged up a harness to equalise the pull on -the broad back, and, with the aid of sixteen ordinary men, the feat -was accomplished without a hitch. I am sorry to say, however, that -poor Samson was laid up for a spell with racked muscles. - -"The gun--with the necessary parts and munition--was taken up in the -night, and at daybreak it was set up and ready for action. It fired -just forty shots before the Austrian 'heavies' blew it--and all but -one or two of its brave crew--to pieces with a rain of high-explosive. -But it had done its work, and done it well. The sacrifice was not in -vain. The troublesome Austrian battery was put so completely out of -action that the enemy never thought it worth while to re-emplace it. - -"That is just a sample of the fantastic things we were doing all of -the three months that we drove the tunnel under the summit of the Col -di Lana. The last few weeks were further enlivened by the knowledge -that the Austrians were countermining against us. Once they drove so -near that we could feel the jar of their drills, but they exploded -their mine just a few metres short of where it would have upset us for -good and all. All the time work went on until, on April 17, the mine -was finished, charged, and 'tamped.' That night, while every gun we -could bring to bear rained shell upon the Austrian position, it was -exploded. A crater 150 feet in diameter and sixty feet deep engulfed -the ridge the enemy had occupied, and this our waiting Alpini rushed -and firmly held. Feeble Austrian counter-attacks were easily repulsed, -and the Col di Lana was at last completely in Italian hands." - - * * * * * - -Colonel Garibaldi leaned back in his chair and gazed thoughtfully at -the cracks in the ceiling as one whose tale is finished. The end had -come rather abruptly, I thought, and I was inclined to press for -further details. - -"It must have been a grand sight," I ventured--"that mountain-top -blowing off into the air with hundreds of shells bursting about it. -Where were you at the great moment?" - -The grave face grew a shade graver, and a wistful smile softened the -lines of the firm mouth. - -"Not in sight of the Col di Lana, I am sorry to say," was the reply. -"My health broke down a fortnight before the end, and another officer -was in command at the climax. It was one of the greatest -disappointments of my life. I would have given my right hand to have -been the first man into that crater. But never mind," he concluded, -rising and squaring his broad shoulders; "bigger things than the Col -di Lana are ahead before this war is over, and I feel that I am not -going to miss any more of them. It's the Garibaldi way, you know, to -be in at the death." - - * * * * * - -THE WHITEFRIARS PRESS, LTD., LONDON AND TONBRIDGE. - - -BY BOYD CABLE. - -"Boyd Cable is already one of the Prose Laureates of the -War--no one can describe more vividly the fierce confusion of -trench-fighting."--_Punch._ - - AIRMEN O' WAR. 6s. net. - -Thrilling examples, derived from personal war experience, of the high -courage and ready humour of our intrepid airmen. - - FRONT LINES. 6s. net. - -"There is a rush and swing in Mr. Cable's narrative that get us close -to the reality of war. He makes us see the war with the soldier's -eyes, and know something of the suffering and indomitable cheerfulness -of the man in the firing line."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - - BETWEEN THE LINES. - New and Cheaper Edition. 2s. 6d. net. - -"For a conspectus of daily routine within the limited area of -first-line trenches we think Mr. Boyd Cable's book the most fully -informing we have read. If one cannot see the life of the trenches -going on by reading this book, it must be that one cannot derive a -true impression from any printed page. Will enable many people to read -the newspapers with new eyes."--_The Spectator._ - - GRAPES OF WRATH. 5s. net. - -"A very graphic account of what a Big Push is like from the point of -view of our infantry private."--_The Times._ - -"The real thing--absolutely and penetratingly alive."--_The Outlook._ - - ACTION FRONT. 5s. net. - -"The atmosphere, the very scent and noise of it, Mr. Boyd Cable gives -with sure touch. Full of insight into the stark reality of war."--_The -Nation._ - -JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1. - - -BY BENNET COPPLESTONE. - - - THE SECRET OF THE NAVY - 7s. 6d. net. - -"Gives an excellent impression of the spirit of the Navy, and the part -which a high tradition has played in bringing it to its present -efficient state. Mr. Copplestone's series of articles will, if such a -thing be possible, heighten our confidence in the ability and devotion -of the Service to which we are so deeply indebted."--_Everyman._ - - THE LOST NAVAL PAPERS - FOURTH EDITION. 6s. net. - -"William Dawson is a great surprise, a sheer delight. The inimitable -Sherlock Holmes will soon be rivalled in popularity by the inscrutable -William Dawson."--_Daily Telegraph._ - -"A keen sense of humour and clever character suggestion."--_Punch._ - - JITNY AND THE BOYS. - FOURTH IMPRESSION. 6s. net. - -"In the father of this family Mr. Bennet Copplestone has scored an -unqualified success. The book is full of the thoughts which make us -proud to-day and help us to face to-morrow. Yes, Jitny has my -blessing."--_Punch._ - -"A clinking motor-car story."--_Daily Chronicle._ - -JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1. - - -BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE - - HIS LAST BOW. 6s. net. - -"The experiences will be read with breathless interest by tens of -thousands who will revel in the mysteries, admire the ice-cold -reasoning of Holmes, and marvel at the ease with which he unravels the -seemingly clueless crimes. They are of the first vintage, sparkling, -rich, and very palatable."--_Daily Graphic._ - -UNIFORM ILLUSTRATED EDITION, 6s. NET EACH. - - 1. MICAH CLARKE. - 2. THE CAPTAIN OF THE "POLE STAR." - 3. THE SIGN OF FOUR. - 4. THE WHITE COMPANY. - 5. THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - 6. THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - 7. THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - 8. THE REFUGEES. - 9. THE STARK MUNRO LETTERS. - 10. THE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER GERARD. - 11. RODNEY STONE. - 12. UNCLE BERNAC: A MEMORY OF THE EMPIRE. - 13. THE TRAGEDY OF THE "KOROSKO." - 14. A DUET, WITH AN OCCASIONAL CHORUS. - 15. THE GREEN FLAG, AND OTHER STORIES OF WAR AND SPORT. - 16. THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. - 17. THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD. - 18. SIR NIGEL. - 19. THROUGH THE MAGIC DOOR. - 20. ROUND THE FIRE STORIES. - 21. THE LAST GALLEY. - 22. THE LOST WORLD. - 23. ROUND THE RED LAMP. - -ALSO AT 2s. NET EACH. - - THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. - THE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER GERARD. - -TWO VOLUMES OF VERSE, 5s. NET EACH. - - SONGS OF ACTION. - SONGS OF THE ROAD. - -JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1. - - -MURRAY'S LIBRARY. - -=2s.= net each. - - AESOP'S FABLES--Woodcuts by Tenniel & Wolf - BARKLEY--Studies in the Art of Rat-catching - BATES--The Naturalist on the River Amazons - BENSON, A. C.--The House of Quiet - BENSON, A. C.--The Schoolmaster - BENSON, A. 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