VENGEANCE IN NO MAN'S LAND

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 109, 25 January 1918, Page 5

VENGEANCE IN NO MAN'S LAND

"I WILL REPAY"

A TALE OF THE WEST FRONT

(By Lieutenant J. P. Lloyd.)

Inside the crazy dug-out, which leant drunkenly on its wooden supports, the tired men we're sleeping, stretched out full length on the sodden earth, the fumes from a charcoal brazier lined the place, and the smoke eddied out m little gusts-under the flap of the waterproof sheet which hung loosely over the entrance. The light of the guttering candle, stuck by :ts own grease to an upturned biscuit tin, lent the faces u. the sleeping soldiers a strange unearthly pallor against tho black floor. Occasionally ono stirred uneasily, and, still sleeping, rubbed the sting of tho smoke out of'his eyes. Their feet were all turned towards the brazier for warmth, and the steam rose thickly from the wet soles of their. boots. A soldier sat huddled against the wall in one corner of the dug-out, his knees drawn up against his chin, his cold hands deep in the pockets of his great coat. Ho had just been relieved from sentry duty on the fire step, andthe re was now no room for him to .1 ic> lull length in the dug-out &o he t, ncd o sleep as he was, Hunched up yndei tli, shadow of the tottering roof, and to add to his discomfort, whenever he moved, a little- cascade of earth irom a split sandbag above trickled down inside the neck of his coa . Over n | head the trench rats pattered to aU fro on some foul business of their iron. But he was soon asleep and oh mou to all these things, for he *m very weary after a hard day, and his recent turn on the fire step. . , In his dreams he was back again at home in the little Breconslure farm .hat W tho hillside. It was the lambinJeHßon.andheandhishrottor«ro tramoing in the darkness through the CZy towards La Pistyll (*!««*!. ewes wore), sending tho dew spinning in "listeni - showers from their boots ind S SS the early .primroses oeneath their feet. It was very dark n the wood, and the early morn ng mist ■ gripped his throat. H« hands Mtthm Übrittle in Ins pockets. His hrotooi wis walking n front with tbo Jn" tcr "» I his shadow danced amongst the trees as the lantern swung to and tro. Son? a to him. The vole was vW faint, and seemed very

far away. . "Eben Davios! . • The voice was nearer and mo c siZi, His brother turned-round anJ I, P ld the lantern up against his lace. HcJdtt see his. brother now; no could not see anything aeainst that re Thf flap over the entrap to the dugout 7as lifted aside, an »g faced corporal peered in, but, blinded by he sudden rush of hot yM could see nothing. His ahoulde™ wmn nvered by a ™.R fet. and as he leaned fo™««o boa "? of water raced down .his helnet J fell in shininc drops, with a little Jiiss, into the red eye of tho tow. "■Rben Daves "he called: but it. w.is like a ave of the dead. No one answered him. He ptacked a «>- » bhrinß wood out of the Lrawer, an'l held it out at arm's lenfitJi into 1„ The burning torch lit up h.s h nd Sam, and on> sleeve of his JStherefsacrnisonsniear blood. Crawling carefully oe. the jumble of feet and equipment, he lean ed over and shook tn ? _»ld>er ™ ho corner by the arm. "Ebon DavicK;raedfaCain..nomni..l.ftedi i I ph»

ipora's sko-vo, then read the truth X face. The m ,n in the corner st ill there for.a morn, t.* 1.J3 Wlcled were clenched savagely until SeS bTinto the rough palm. Ho Ktnhe^corporalasifhed.dnot there now, corporal," he said

the wooden duck-board of the trent , «<»%&£&£ stretcher-bearers halted ana wiu. burden down quietly on theJuck boards. Just then a and burst high over the parapet, throwing he shadows of the four men monstrous and grotesque W l *J» sandbag wall of the parados, and «Sft£ in° thl ghastly white face ■ on the stretcherrwith its tiny red hole m.the forehead, and the trickle of blood vimen ooted away into the ditch at the edge of the trench, and spread m a film over the water. Eben Danes looked down at his dead brother; looked into the irrev face that was so strangely use K and into the eyes thai.looked up into his with an unceasmg stare. Then as the light flickered out, he turned away, and walked on down the

he do take ■& calm quiet like, 'don't he?" said the forward stretcher-bearer to to mate as ne bent down to grip the handles of the "behind them, in the dark .trench, Ebon. Davies was leaning «ff alDSt ~? traverse clutching at the sandbags with his hands, staring into the niglt with dull eyes, seeing nothing, hearing no 1 Presently, he climbed onto the firestep in an empty bay, and looked out oil No Man's Land. J™t at thatnmment a light shot up from the German trench, and he could see the crumbled ruin of a house in No Man's Land outlined jaggedly against the sky. in tho same instant he saw the flash ot a rifle leap out from somewhere in the ruins, and a bullet smacked wciou y into the parapet beneath his chin, spurting mud into his face. Inen ne knew how his brother had died. Eben Davies unhooked his claspknife from the short chain to which it was suspended, opened the ong curved blade of it, and, clutching this weapon in his right hand, clambered over the parapet, and dropped his great bulk softly into No Man's Land. He crawled cautiously outwards, Heedless of the rusty wires that toro at him. and the wet grasses that brushed his face. He had eyes only for tho ruined house, and tho man whom lie knew ho should find there, concealed amongst the rubble. As lie crawled, his dream came back vivid y to ms mind, tho sprays of dew and the faint sweet scent of the primroses, and the dancing shadow of his brother as the lantern swung to and fro. And now they wore carrying him down the trench to bury him. Ho worked quietly round behind the house, and lay still in tho long grass, waiting. He had not long to wait. In tho light of a starshcll lie saw, a fow yards away, a man lying on his stomach behind a pile of bricks. His feet were wide apart, the heels touching tho ground.- Ho was drumming with his fingers on the bricks. A littlo to his right his rifle was resting on tho sill of a broken window, l'h© back sight' and butt pinto gleamed dully as tho light caught them. Eben Davies leapt upon the man, crushing him with the weight of his groat body. Gripping his throat with one huge'band he turned tho German face, upwards. It was tho face or a

hoy with big, frightened eyes and the smooth chin of a girl. It was pale with the fore knowledge of death. Eben Davic-s bent over him, his knife poised in the air. Suddenly ho dropped it tinkling among tho bricks. "You have killed my brother," he said, simply, "hut I cannot kill a bov."

He pulled the German roughly to his feet, picked up his rifle, and led him across No Man's Land to the British trenches. >'