A WAR WITHIN A WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 96, 16 January 1918, Page 5

A WAR WITHIN A WAR

HUNTING DOWN THE FRENCH RATS

WITH GERMAN RATS AS A]

SIDE-LINE

(By Captain H. B. C. Pollard.) [Published by authority of the War Office, per favour of the Hoyal'Colomal Institute.] Peter was by way of being something of a sportsman, and i 6 is probable that in remote aboriginal days his tribe had prayed,'to a cat totem, for Peter i\as catlike in his hatred of cold, wet, and rats and mice. Trench life had merely familiarised him with these vile discomforts, but it had in no way induced a, greater tolerance. Cold and wet were unavoidable, but rats and mice might be subdued. Various traps had been tried, Army Orders had even been issued upon the subject, but the rats and mice were insnbordinate, and ceased not their infesting of the trenches, dug-outs, and billets. Everywhere that the troops frequented seemed to be alive with tho beasts. Brother officers had tried wonderful rat-devouring dogs without success. Peter tried a powerful and ex-parienced-looking derelict cat that he acquired in a shell-shocked village. For twenty-four hours puss .proved a success, killing four rats and intimidating many others, but success proved the undoing of the-cat, as it so often bas of men. Peter's platoon petted snd made much of the victorious animal, and it adapted itself as if by instinct to the life of a regimental pet, that is to say, it ate as much as it could of the men's rations, took tho warmest corner in the billet and did no work of any kind.

peter Buys Ferrets. Then Peter went on ten days' leave with the twin ambitions of having a riotous good time in London and bringing hack three or four good ferrets. Being a youth of enterprise, he acquired the ferrets on the second day of his leave, buying them at a celebrated animal dealer's near the docks. He kept them in his hotel bedroom for two days, and then the problem of feeding them became acute. Nothing if not resourceful, Peter purchased a couple of live tamo rabbits from tho dealer, conveyed them back to the hotel in a leather handbag, and tho ferrets, who lived an unhygienic existence in an old uniform case, were assured of two grisly meals. The following day saw Peter expellnd from the hotel "by k disgusted and vociferous staff, for'his secret and one, at least, of his ferrets had leaked out, and in the dull corridors of that respectable hotel had been dread scenes —women iu disarrtiy and men in violent tempers—till the fugitive had been discovered and captured. ■ Sobered by this experience, Peter loarded the ferrets at the dealer's till his leave expired. "Faugh!" Wβ will pass over in silence the horrors of tlie ■ joiirney to France, the long voyage iu the crawling leave train, tho comment of the other officers in the carriage about the perfume that distinguishes ferrets. Peter rejoined l'is ■unit with three live ferrets and the remains of a dead rabbit, introduced his little friends to the mess, and was forbidden to bring them inside the place again. "As a sport," said tho CO., "ferreting may bo useful and amusing, but as a domestic animal I prefer the rats, because their natural odour is less pungent. You had better find a man to take charge of 'em." The platoon sergeant found a suitable man at once. Private Thomas Merry-field emerged from obscurity into his proper place in the scheme of the European war, and became O.C. Hats. 0.0. was merely a courtesy prefix. Within a day the whole battalion knew Private Merryfield as "Rats." The little man took his now duties seriously, and admitted that he understood about "raabetts," "ratten," and the like. He was a typical South Country Englishman, stocky, pink-cheeked, and straw-haired. A cow-keeper aud stockman by breeding, instinct, and heritage, it is a matter for doubt whether a Merryfield had ever dono aught else since the days of King Oft'a til: this Merryfield became in JTianders "O.C. Hats." . The prevalence of rats in trenches is a plague that needs to be suffered before it can be realised. Nobody ever likes rats, but when they steal your food off the table, run: over your face at night, chew the laces off your boots, and eat the corpses out in No Man's Land, they become even more of a trial than amid loss rural surroundings. Garbage eaters, scavengers, unclean beasts always—in war time they became an even more revolting vermin; gross and bloated with the plentitudo of their ghastly victuals.

The War On. "Piats" and Peter put up' great hunts. There were delirious moments of excitement when the vermin bolted and were clubbed to death in the trench by etuhu&isastic men. And there were moments of breathless anxiety, when one of the priceless ferrets emerged from a bolt hole somewhere below tho wire, and was reported steering for tho German trenches, -where it would probably be killed, cooked, ,-nd eaten. The whole brigade knew the tala of '"Hats's" devotion and heroism in retrieving a loose ferret from No Man's Land in daylight, and under fire; a deed honoured by the rank and file, but regarded as reprehensible by the authorities.

Little by little the gentle art of tat hunting was learned by tho whole battalion. Men became wise on ferret lore, cunning about interpreting the noises oi the underground struggle between the antagonists. Then came- the day that the battalion had to go "over the tup," and Peter's half-company were cast for the job of moppers-up. Their duty it was to bomb and clear out dug-outs and tidy up such Bodies as survived the barrage and tho assault, whan these fierce scourers had passed over the first line of the enemy position. Tho attack went well, and Peter and his men were busy among the wreckage of the enemy line. Fritz was surrendering nimbly when caught in the open, biit the narrow mouths of the deep dug-onts were still centres of sporadic resistance. The system of dealing with them was simple; if the challenge to surrender was disregarded a bomb was thrown down the stairs, and its effect in the confined space was such as to abolish all human resistance. Complex series of connected dug-outs ivero cleared out, and were investigated by meu using electric flash lamps to illuminate tho darkness. One such burrow had been disposed of, and Peter, supported by a corporal, "Rats," and one other man, entered the narrow gallery to explore. At the end of the steps, some twenty feet underground, a rude door gave entry to a lateral passage. Light in one hand, revolver in the other, Peter kicked open the door and walked on into the dug-out chamber. In front of him he sensed movement, and almost before tho words of his command to surrender were out of his mouth, a pistol cracked in the darkness, and a bullet pierced his jinn above the flashlight, which dropped, extinguished, to the lloor ( .

"We've Settled 'Un." He fired li is own pistol instincttVßly in the direction of tho flash, and his men pushed past him, leaping to tho attack. In an instant the narrow vault was in a turmoil; shouts, curies and cries of "Kamarad" intermingled.

Shots exploded at close quarters, their detonations strangely mull'icd by their oloso contact with human flesh. A body lurched towards Peter, pressing him against the rough beam lime formed the upright of tlio door, lift v.-ent down under the- impact, and hearing the German words, lircd into tho bulk that pressed him. There was silonco for a moment, then groans and a soft lapping sound as of splashing water. Then came the voice of "Rats": "Are you hurt, sir? We've sottlotl 'mi.'" Followed the rasp of a. match, the streak of light on the bos, nnd then tho stoad.v flame. Pet«r struggled to ill's feet, and saw dimly the bodyguards grin and menacing, still staiiding over the bodies of tho slain, and "Rats," blood smeared and anxious, holding his dulled bayonet knifewise in his hand. They regained the trench level, and Peter submitted to a first field dressing before making his way back to the dressing station. "It's a fair pity, sir,' , said "Rats, "you being 'It so early like, 'causo you will miss the sport in all these 'era burrows. I'nir 'uman ferreliv-a. I cfl ",s it, 'unting these 'ore Boclin rats out." "Sate" meditated for a moment, j hen added: "Yus, blooming rats _ these 'Uns are. Run in the opprt, fiir/ii. m a corner, just like rats. But we are ferrets, we are! Good old D Company ferrets!'" He turned to sniff at anotlv;- dugout door, and quipped his bayonet more carefully. , , "Come on, corpril," he said : ere s another 'ole and I can 'ear 'eir: inovinc.'* D Company ferrets grinned and went down.