Adventure Magazine Cover, June 20, 1925 — page 51: what you’re looking at

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

A Sergeant - “They’re bound they’ll kill us, ain’t they?” said some one, after the captain had departed. There was profane assent, but no one made any further comment. The men who had lost their rifles hunted around until they had found others, and each made sure he had plenty of ammunition. There was a pile of belts that had been taken from casualties and those who were shy anything helped themselves from these. Suddenly there was a change in the sound of the bombardment, a new note had been struck, some new instrument”had joined the orchestra. Then whistles began to blow, and men spoke rapidly, ike the members of a football team encouraging each other before the kick-off. The men that were speaking here, how- ever, were the corporals and sergeants, urg- ing their men to their feet, and giving a few final directions. Nell rose with his rem- nant of a platoon. The captain suddenly appeared. “Where’s that cavalryman?” he cried. “Here! Show us that ford! Just show me the approximate place. We’ve got bridges up, but they may not last. Come on, men, forward!” The line moved over the narrow gage track. DAWN was. just _ breaking. Things that had been invisible 4 and black were now a light gray. |} Directly overhead was a patch of rosy a In front of the advance, on the opposite bank of the river, was a high white wall, formed by the barrage and a smoke screen. Out of this wall came rocket after rocket, green, red and white. The men got to the river before the counter barrage be- gan to fall. ‘““How’s your boil?’ Nell asked Goodrich, who was beside him. . “Boil? It ain’t bothered me since it bust. Cap’n, I got more on my mind than boils!” “Tf you guys keep on calling me captain,”’ said Nell, “Vil begin to think—look out!” The two went to earth, BLAM! Each looked to see if the other was hit, but they were both unscathed, although covered | with dirt. They got down to the river, tripping and falling about in the reeds of the marsh, and found a _ bridge there that the engineers had laid during the night. The pontoons pitched and heaved and the of Cavalry aa bridge swayed up and down, for the Ger- man shells were’ lashing the river into waves such as it had never before seen in all its thousands of years of existence. Many of the men were too impatient to await their turn to cross on the bridge, and plunged into the river, half wading, half swimming across. “Lookit our ford!’ said Goodrich, with a slight catch in his voice. Nell looked. There were guns guarding that ford, and they were whipping the river into foam. There was no reason now why they should hold their fire. This time they wanted to kill, and not to capture. “Why do you suppose they didn’t shoot at us when we were goin’ back?” asked Nell. “Those guns that are doin’ that may pe clear up in the town,” said Goodrich, “‘o back in the hills. I bet there ain’t — guns workin’ on this bank, not with that barrage goin’.”’ From down-stream came a tremendous explosion. Nell did not want to look, but he was unable to keep from turning his head. A bridge down there had just been destroyed and the river was black with the fragments of it, and men struggling in the water. Nell reached the farther bank and stum- bled through the rushes to hard ground. Things were getting lighter every minute, but there was so much smoke about that it was impossible to see more than a yard or’ two. Nell went into the wheat a way and looked around. The line had halted and was waiting un- til all were across the river before advanc- ing. The hard-boiled man appeared, drip- ping. He had swum the river and was plastered with mud and weeds. A hump- backed man came in from the smoke and fell on Goodrich’s neck. “What the !’” cried Goodrich. Nell took a second look at the newcomer. It was Curran. | “What the —— you got on your back?” cried Nell. “TI didn’t know you.” “My vase,” said Curran. “I got it strapped on to me and my blouse over it so’s 1t won’t shine nor get hurt. I ain’t takin’ no chance on losin’ it.” “IT thought you threw that away long “Well, I went and found it again while we was waitin’!”’ Some more men arrived, their eyes wide and their breath panting. MICLOOOK CO