HANS, SHOWMAN.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 January 1918, Page 2

HANS, SHOWMAN.

STORY 'OF A TKJ-N MARKSMAN (By Second-Lieutenant J. P. Lloyd). In o.if ]>iirt of the trenches that, it was our privilege to occupy for a. time tlie Bociie boasted several exponents of the iii't or titrating, who lielped to make our life in tlie front line :'. little brighter and more cheery.

There was Black Fritz, the sniper, who was commonly supposed to dwell in a hollow tree in the, German second line, to w'iiieh point of vantage, so rumor had it, he would withdraw at dawn with sufficient sauerkraut, and beer to last him for the day, and from which ha would pot with great enthusiasm but littl success at any British periscope or. bead (the latter preferred) that he could snot in the neighborhood. { There was Ruins, the rilie grenade expert who plied hyi trade placidly at intervals throughout the day and traversed our trenches regularly and monotonously. A man of method, .Rufus. One could imagine him starting his day with a pile of rille grenades, Iwo pipes and a pouelifiil of tobacco. He. would then, we might suppose, lill a pipe, smoke it. Knock, out. the.ashen, lire a-rille grenade, light anqther pipe, and .continue this sequence of. actions throughout..,th#- day. A. gentieuiau, probably, >\ ith pot. very much initiative but a great deal of perseverance. . ,

The last member of this trinity was Marcus, who manipulated a Minnie from various petitions in the first and second fines. He did not possess the patience of Fritz or the philosophic qualities of Rufus. His was a more mercurial temperament, tie was extremely elusive, and believed in changing his address as often as possible. He must have been slightly unpopular amongst his own people for any display of bis was certain to bring instant and twofold retaliation on the heads, of his late neighbors. Now all the professors of trench tactics, though np doubt excellent fellows in them way, were perhaps a little crude in .their.methods. There was not much subtlety in their make-np_. But Hans, ov the Showman, as he was more, affection ately termed, was of a different.'stamp. He was .rather an. apostle oi. peaoeful penetration. Ho tried, during his brief career, to bring a little .ray of sunshine into our gloom.-and did what lay in, bjs power to.'.amuse us in his stolid Teuton way. ■;.< ■

His turn, which wa; unfortunately of short duration, came on punctually at S.Sfl ack emma, and f cannot kelp thinking.' though his appearance 'helled'it. that lie .«aeriliced some of hiso breakfast rather than allow us to be deprived of the light of his. presence. It Was always our -great regret that we did not °ee ; moite of him. 3-fe would risri like the s'nii from-behind the Boche parapet a genial figure in spectacles and a heavy walrus: moustache, take a comprehensive glance round the 'universe, and proceed : to fire two or three shots witlta'rille 'at tins and "bottles in Xo Man's' Land. Satisfied with this performance,-lie would "then retire until the following morning. fie. was oh -'the stage for' St'"little : jesa than a minute. And this lie did for two davs.. . ::; .'.

; Now ;!t happened on tlur third .day that'oiic €ilfet 'lhiekintoih, 'an anarchist, and one l vrno had "dealings with bi«iibs, being oincer of fjje watch during the breakfast hour was engaged in studying, the face of No Main's Laud through a periscope, when Tie caught sight' of our good friend Hans engaged in hir, enthralling pastime. His astonishment got the better of his discretion, and he [mounted the firestep to obtain an uninterrupted view of this phenomenon. When a bullet hit the parapet just below bis chin he descended rather more swiftly than .he had got up. Thinking of it afterwards, he came to the conclusion, as the reader has probably already dona, that the. genial Hans, so far -from being a disinterested sportsman, was in reality an ally to a friend of his in the trench with a rifle and telescopic sight?; to lie ibrief, that he was nothing more'nor less than a decoy. We tried to persuade him to think of Hans in a better light. We painted a harrowing picture of Hans, once the jolly proprietor of a shooting gallery in ' a travel ling fair, forced into the squalor and filth of the trenches by an unkind fate, and trying to. beguile the tedium of bis existence aiid .bring Lack memorcs of happier davs of a'little sliootinc practice at harmless Dome in i\ u Man's Land.

Hut Gilbert was a, man of little sympathy witn art, and judged, only' of cause and effect. He brooded all' dny over, his wrongs, and concocted seVmes for Hang' downfall. The afternoon found Mm seated on a firestep doinp wonderful ■ things witili some slabs, of runcotto'n, detonators, bits of old /iroii.awl a dilapidated biscuit tin. •■ When 'ho'hart finished his mysterious business he laid the whole contraption on the bunk in hi* ihijr-oiu, with strict injunctions to his batman on no account to touch it, if he wished, to avoid a sudden and painful death. When the shades of nip-hh mad fallen our hero, attended by a satellite from his platoon, who was probably unaware of the precarious nature of his errand, stole out bv way of a sap into, the darkness of Xo Alan's Land, and returned, after a due interval, having accomplished his nefarious designs. S.:)0 aek emina the next morninjf found our parapet bristling with periscopes, mid sharp eyes could have seen that there was a tin where there bad been no tin 'lie day befoiv. lyinir carelessly well inside the Jloehe wire, about fifteen feet or so from the parapet. Punctually at S.3ii the star artist auoeared, wiped the remains of his-ineaiuast-from his moustache, and looked round for an audience. Then t)i e eyes of the master fell upon the discarded tin. Here was a heavensent opportunity to prove his ma.rksukii-. ship. Tie could hardly miss it. The periscopes behind the'sandbars a hundred yards away quivered with the joy of anticipation. And he did not miss'it. As our Mr. Gilbert expressed it, as he turned away when all was oyer: "Everything; went oil' beautifully, inj eluding the tin."