THE WAY OF THE HUN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1601, 22 August 1916, Page 4

THE WAY OF THE HUN.

A TALE OE THE RED CROSS

A RUSSIAN HERO

The following incident is narrated in M. Petroil’s (war correspondent of the Russkoye Slovo, Moscow) account of a battle on the eastern front:—

One of our soldiers brought with him a German officer, who could hardly stand on his feet. His leg had been pierced by a bayonet, his shoulder was bleeding from a bullet and his arm had been bruised by the butt end of a rifle. He was losing consciousness from pain and loss of blood. As soon as the soldier led him to our place he dropped with his whole weight' on the ground. The doct or bandaged him, exclaiming: “What luck! Three wounds, and in spite of all of them he will be well. soon. The wound in the leg is only a flesh wound, his arm is badly bruised but not broken, did only his collarbone at his shouifler is broken. In a month he Avill be all right again. Just "look! what a handsome fellow, and what expensive underwear!"

The bandaged officer came to himself, looked around the yard, and, seeing the farmhouse in the

background on fire, he sharply seated himself.

“Now, be quiet, onba yourself,” said the doctor, speaking in German, and taking the man gently by the shoulder’s. “My wife! my wife!” cried the German, tearing himself forward. “Where is the wife?”

“There, in the house, in the lire!" He made an effort to get off the stretcher from under the doctors hands. “Is he delirious, or what?” muttered the doctor in Russian. “There is no one in the house,” he added soothingly in German. “Your German wounded were there, but they were saved in time.” “But my wife? My wife!” cried the captive in terror. “What wife? How did she come here ? ”

‘‘She is a nurse. She was there with the wounded. We loved each other, we married only a year ago. She became a nurse. Our regiment happened to he near their hospital. Your offensive was unexpected. There was no time to remove the hospital. The other nurses left, Imt she would not leave when I was so near. Where is she? My wife!” “Did anyone see a German nurse in the house or yard?” asked the doctor, Burning to the Russian soldiers and telling them briefly what the prisoner had said. “There was no woman,” came the response. “The house was»empty. Look at the fire within. Even mice would have ran out hy now.” At this moment something' metallic shrilled through the air above our heads'. A heavy German shell few over ns.

“Scoundrels!” cursed tlie doctor. “They ore tiring’ on u* —nnd their own wounded! We must get out of this. Two or three more shells nnd they will begin dropping in the yard. Carry our wounded first, then theirs. Hurry, or we shall remain here for eternity!”

The captive officer, apparently powerless, could not rise from the .stretcher, where lie was lying with one of his soldiers who had been wounded before him. He gazed devouringly at the blazing house. Suddenly he shouted savagely; “There, at the window, under the roof! Look, she is breaking the window —where the smoke is pour-

ing ont!”

We looked a t the roof of the blazing house, and, in truth, there was a woman’s figure in white, with a red cross on her breast. The doctor shouted: “Eh, fellows, it is true! A woman was left in the house —a nurse —his wife!” “What can he done ’” asked the si mined soldiers. “The whole house is on fire, and she is not strong enough to break through the window frame. She must be weak from fright. But why did she go up? Why no! down?” “There’s no use guessing!” shouted a bearded fellow, evidently from the reserves, 1 browing off his overcoat. “When 1 are you going?” cried the soldiers. But he was already oui of reach of their voices. He rushed into the house. AH were stupifled, fearing to breathe. A minute passed, another, a third. Then at the window appeared the bearded face of the (Russian soldier. There come the sound of broken glass and wood. Above our heads something was shrilling, but no one paid attention to the German shells. The soldier broke the windoAV, dragged the woman into the open air. She was unconscious. “Catch!” rang from above, and a big white parcel came down. The soldiers caught it successfully on the herd’s outspread overcoat. Only one of them was hurt in the eye by the heel of her shoe. “Carry her to her husband!” ordered tlie doctor, and get out from here immediately. The Germans are

shelling us. Take away the rest, and don’t forget, the couple,” remarked the doctor, jokingly, happy over the incident. ‘*l will wail for our hero. He may bo burned.” The soldiers caught the remaining stretchers, and nearly ran out of the yard. At that moment a big German shell struck the burning house. A deafening explosion shook the air. The walls trembled, shook, and fell. The heroic soldier had not time to get out. He remained buried under the ruins. When the woman recovered consciousness near her wounded husband she did not understand where she was. She murmured in perplexity: “Dream, death? Otto, is that you? Are we together in heaven?”

“On earth and both elite,” calmed the doctor.

“How did you get to the upper storey?” asked the husband. “I saw Russian soldiers run info the house. I feared violence, so I ran upstairs. I thought I would run down later, but then came the fire. ... A soldier appeared

behind me and I was terrified to death.”

“Bui that soldier saved you!” sighed the doctor.

“Where is he?” asked the nurse,

“In heaven, if there is such a place for heroes.” The doctor then told them all. The German officer and his wife both cried. “But how was it that our guns were firing at a farm which you were occupying?” suddenly asked the prisoner. “Our guns?” exclaimed the doctor, who was already bandaging a new victim. “It was your guns that were shelling a house over which flew a Genian Red Cross flag. Our soldiers were saving the lives of firing at both ours and yours. They killed the man who saved you. That’s the way the Kaiser makes war.”