PIERRE'S PRISONERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 August 1917, Page 8

PIERRE'S PRISONERS.

(By Private Patrick Maogffl, author of "The Great Push.") OH Shan Doherty put down his newspaper and looked at his son Doalty, home on ten days' leave from the trenches. Shan was a man •with hook leam--1112, and since the beginning of the war he had bought a paper daily just to see how things were *goin' on on the Western Front. In argument and debate lie held a hisrh head for nobody had any chance 'whin they argued asrin old Shan Doherfy." He eould quote chapter and verse to prove this or disprove that,"ud none of his neighbors would dare to contradict him. But now that his son was home from the war, «han. contrary thoueh it was to his scholarly dignity, condescended at times to a.* his son what he thought of topical events. Now. having put down his paper, the old man gave vent to a low, Tong-drawn cough, 'as an introduction to the remarks which he was going to make. "Well, Doalty," he said, tailing off the cough, "what d'ye think of thfm Canadians eomin' hero to Trelan'? They're Irish Canadians: half iy thim Catholics and the other half the other kind. D'ye think that it twill mafoi the. fellows about here, when they see these sodiers, join -up to go to the •wars?" "I mesolf wonder why they haven't joined up long ago," paid Doalty. "They conldn't do better, and there are Irish regiments waitin* for men. Then t!hosoparafcion allowances aren't to bolarorhed at. And there's plenty to ate ami good clothes to wear, and the trinches are not so tad after all." "Rut' ye don't think', surely. Doalty. that the Irish are afraid iv the trenches or iv fightin'?" said Shan. "Holy Mother! there are more Irish sodjers buried in France than there are iv any other nation. Ask the Frinch War Office, and what'll they toll ye? They'll tell ye from their documents that between the years IGDI and 1745 more than 430.000 Irishmen died in the lutrvice iv France. And isn't Franco 'wantin' us now, Doalty?" "There are Frinch Canadians as well' as Irish Canadians in the British Army," said Doalty. "Sf.rappin' divils they «re, and they like the Hermans just as the divil likes holy wather. At one time they were nixt us in the trinches, and its many a talk I had wifli tbim. "I met Pierre there. He was a corporal, and he used to talk funny. 'Zee only good Zherraan is a dead Sherman; he would say. 'I killed a dozen o' zem with me own band.' He would stop at notbin'. bein' a divil for ructions and fear was not known to him. "He could speak Oirman and half a do?cn other languases. One night ho put" on a Cirman hilmit. and overcoat "and out he joes to the Hlinnan lines. He even kept his own puttees on so it wouldn't take much to give him away if he was noticed. Well, over he goes ] and tumbles riaht into a flirman work- ! in' party that iwas unttin' up wires. He wasn't there long fill an officer comes up to him and says. 'Where's ycr sliov- j el?' 'So Pierre mumbles somethin' under his breath and ;>ick- up a. too! fbaf was lyin' near to band. Tie worked for about a onartcr of an ho.ir, saVin' nary a word. There wa=n't much said bo anyone, for they n ;l were afTa,;d that, we'd liear them, ami :hin our guns would have a lot to say. The Cirmam; don't like our guns: we've too many of Hum now. "Well. Pierre soon got tired iv sweatin' like a pig. v.-orkin' for the r.nimy, so be -i> le into their trineli and bad. a look round. There was another party workin - there oarryin' planks along to some place on their shoulders. Pierre finds a plank shoulders it, and follows the Gorman?. Thcv went out to the Ihaofc iv the trineli, and there in the most innocent " looki'n' placo in the wurld they were buildin' a redoubt, and it was festooned with no ind iv machine-guns. 'Twould be the divil's own wasp's nest to come across in a charge. ''Pierre must have laughed to himself whin he thought iv what our guns 1 would do to it when ho told where it was. Anvwav. he stole back suanint, just in time' to run into the (Urnians comin' bad; from the wirin' job. He met thini in a sap and be drawn liim- ' self up stiff asainst the side iv the ' parapet and allowed tbim to pass him. "So far, so good, until it como to the ! last man. Ho was a sergeant •"What arc ye doin' here? ho says . to Pierre. , " 'I forgot my shovel,' says my bould '. fellow, 'an' I'm goin' back for it.' '"Who are ve, anvwayV asks the ' servant, nolic'in' that Pierre bad •trance voice. "I misremember ye.' "Pierre had a revolver, a good one, tfor he has showed it to me himself. Well, he shovel it right agin the German's ear and says. 'Ye may be doubtful about me. but ye'U not mistake this, me buck. Oil' ye go in front iv „ over to the Knglish trinches, and if ye say one word I'll blow yer brains ■ over France.' '•"Well what could that poor t.ir- ! man do' but come along, and he did come along as meek as a lamb."