Adventure Magazine Cover, June 20, 1925 — page 37: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A Sergeant of Cavalry 19 “Yeh,” said the corporal. ‘They have a big piece of chicken wire on a slant, held‘up by poles, and when you throw a grenade at it, it bounces back. The harder you throw it, the harder it bounces. Then when you jump up to rush, they let you have a fistful of bullets.” “Gee, they nailed young Bottle to the mast all right!’ said one of the men. “He stopped about six bullets.” Nell looked around in astonishment. Sure enough, one of the men was gone, the man called Bottle, and there were only six and the corporal left. “Well,” went on the corporal, ‘‘we’d have been there yet, only some one in the other company got word to a trench mortar an’ they come up and put the skids to ’em. One o’ them bombs is worser than a shell. It knocks everything within twenty yards for a crape. Here comes the old man, how’s every one fixed for reserve rations and ammunition?” The captain, accompanied by the platoon commander, was going along the line in- inspecting the men. _ “Every man have plenty of ammuni- tion,” said he. “I want you corporals to be on the job. We've got a battle ahead of us and any man that lays down I’ll speak to him about it. God help any one that gets gassed or has shell shock. He’ll wish he was dead and no mistake. You might as well eat a meal now, but don’t waste any food; you’ll wish you had it later.” - THE men thereupon took out their cans of hardtack and opened some beans, which, spread on the hardtack, went very well. This was breakfast and dinner combined, and they had for accompaniment the shells bursting between them and the riverbank. “Wouldn’t you think they’d have brains enough to shell the woods?” asked Nell. “They must know we’re in here.”’ “That’s Fritz’ way of tellin’ us we’ll be all right if we stay where we are,” said the corporal. “If they shelled us here it wouldn’t make no difference whether we stayed here or went out and chased across the field, but when a guy knows that he ain’t goin’ to get shelled in the woods, he ain’t too eager to run out of ’em and once he gets out he’ll come back right priesa the first minute he gets the chance. I don’t think we'll have any trouble, though. Fritz is yS moving back his guns and won’t have very many to bother us with.” “‘Here’s action!’’ cried Spagett. He pointed back in the woods a way, where a group of officers were standing together. “That’s the battalion P. C.,” said the corporal. “Every one remember where they saw it, we may need to send a runner back some time.” ‘“There’s a runner just come in to them,” said Spagett. ‘I bet he brought an attack order.” ‘“That’s what,” agreed every one. ‘“There go the company runners.”’ Men began to run from the group to all points of the compass, forward to the as- sault companies and back to the support. All the men began hastily to strap up their haversacks, look to their rifles and the ad- justment of helmet and gas mask. There was a long moment of tense wait- ing, then the soft trill of the whistle, and the line went forward at the platoon com- mander’s signal. They marched to the edge of the woods, they left the woods and entered the field, they proceeded through the field. ‘‘No business,” said the corporal hope- fully. “Betcha they’re settin’ their s-s-sights!”’ remarked Curran, his voice shaking ever so slightly. Machine-guns began to mutter over on the left. The gunners in the town were firing on the troops in that section of the advance, but in front of Nell’s company there was no excitement. Then, suddenly, like the first drops of rain before a thunder shower, a few shells burst here and there. While the smoke of them still curled about, the enemy barrage began. The shells sounded like a horse walking on a hard pavement, and they fell with about the same speed and regularity as the sup- posed horse would put down his feet one after the other. Nell noticed that the men were not lying down for the shells now. Indeed, if they did they would spend all their time lying down and getting up and would have none left for the advance. Nell kept his eyes straight to the front and ‘kept his feet moving. | When he heard a man cry out, he did not look to see what had happened to him. When a fountain of dirt and smoke leaped up in front of him, and the dust of it nearly COMIGDIOOKSEEO