Adventure Magazine Cover, June 20, 1925 — page 42: what you’re looking at

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

AWAY went the lieutenant and =e after him two more. The pla- 7X toon sergeant timed the advanc- m7 ing men and sent out the next two men when he thought proper. “These guys aren’t so wise after all,” thought Nell. ‘If they were sent to re- connoiter the north bank, then they’ve gone too far inland. And if they were sent to get contact with the enemy, the patrol is too weak. That looey is going to keep on until he gets himself into trouble.” ‘Nell looked about him for a way of re- treat in case of need. The wheat was no place to go, for, though it shielded a man from observation, 1t would not protect him from gun-fire and a little sweeping from machine-guns would dispose of all the men. hiding in it. It was Nell’s turn to go before he had made up his mind what to do. He had joined his squad and found himself beside Spagett. Neither spoke to the other, but crept across the field. ‘Fheir faces were strained and their eyes fixed on the railroad track as a man, Swimming and not very sure of reaching the shore keeps his eyes on the beach. Nell kept wondering what he could do in case of accident. He had come up to the front for a distinct purpose, but that pur- pose was not to get himself killed. At last they reached the railroad embankment and turning about in its shelter, they could lay on their backs agaiast it and look back at their own lines while they waited for the rest of the men to cross the wheat. The far bank of the river seemed a long way off. “Corporal,” said the lieutenant, “skip over the track and see what’s on the other side. We might as well be doing some- thing while we’re waiting for the rest of the men.”’ The corporal got up and crouching as low as he could, climbed the railroad bank. Nell’s roving eye discovered an arch of smoke-stained granite that was built into the side of the embankment. “Me for that place,” he thought, “when the fun begins.” There was a scurrying sound from the top of the embankment and a piece of bal- last rolled down, clattering. The corporal appeared with white face and bulging eyes. “Hey!” he cried. “The whole German army’s on the other side o’ this thing an’ comin’ like i Adventure The men leaped to their feet, but before the officer could utter a word, a mass of men poured over the track like a wave over a sandbar. The Germans looked like a lot. at first sight, ike a young army, but when the Americans leaped to their feet and be- gan shooting, they discovered that there were not so many after all. The Germans were considerably taken aback at seeing so many of their enemies and almost before the fight started it was over, the Germans going back across the © track and the Americans being pulled down off the bank by the officer. Nell had not fired a shot. “Come on,” cried the officer. ‘“They’ll be back with their friends in a minute; let’s be going! Now what the - In the field, the men who had been crawl- ing when the fight started, had leaped to their feet to come to their comrades’ assis- tance. Several of them lay plainly in view, but in that tossed-away, all-in-a-heap atti- tude that means but one thing. “Who the —— done that?” muttered the men. Two more men out in the field leaped to their feet and made a dash for the wheat. They threw themselves to earth after run- ning a short distance, but did not get up again, and the Americans under the rail- road could see that they were motionless. ‘Look at the wheat!’ said Nell. The wheat swayed and rippled as if it bowed before a strong breeze, but there was no breeze in that hot lifeless air. Nell lis- tened. The clatter of machine-guns was clear and distinct. They were searching that wheat and when they got through, there would not be so much as a field mouse alive in all that sector of riverbank. A stick bomb, a German contraption that looks like a potato masher, clattered down the stones of the embankment. The officer seized it and tossed it back, none too soon, for it exploded in air and one of the Yanks was hit by the fragments. “T say over there,’’ called a voice with a very British accent, ‘‘you’d better surren- der, you know, or we’ll make proper giblets out of you.” “Come on over and try it,” called the lieutenant. He hurled a bomb straight into the air as high as he could. “They won’t throw that back,” he cried. The ‘bomb rushed back to earth on the COMIGDIOOKSEEO