CHAPTER XIV
GRIT
PUT your guns low in the niches, instead of on top of the rocks; thatkeeps your heads lower. See your front sights fine and shoot low,low, low! Don’t over aim! Make every shot count! But don’t fire untilthe word is given, or it is necessary! This may mean the end, anyway,fellows, but if so, we’ll make it a glorious one and our memory--itwill do some good; leave a record behind of what Americans can do.” Sospoke Lieutenant Whitcomb, crawling about among the squad, as a platoonof Huns approached the position and rifle and machine-gun bullets begancutting through the spruce branches, flattening or ricocheting with asinging whir against the rocks. After the first deluge of fire, lastingperhaps twenty minutes, the Germans, unable to note a result, or tobring an answering shot, determined to know something of their enemy.And so, quickly chosen by lot, eight or ten soldiers rapidly drew near,carrying hand grenades and rifles and the eight or ten--they were notcounted--died when half way up the hill. Whereupon the entire platoon,with fixed bayonets, charged. And then quick work was needed. Herbertcalled out:
“The Browning! Give it to ’em, McNabb! Sweep the line! Hold your riflefire, boys, until I say ‘now’--now, fire! Shoot low; low! Don’t miss!Steady! Keep cool! They mustn’t reach us! Never!”
They did not. In the face of a stream of machine gun bullets thatscored fearfully from one end of the line of men to the other and backagain, seeking spots untouched, and rifle bullets that counted a farhigher percentage of hits than the Hun knew how to score, the enemywavered, stopped, fell back, hunted cover and at once a messenger wassent for more men. This fellow started up the valley and Don, knowingwhat Herbert could do with a rifle, now shouted:
“Don’t let him go, Herb! Stop him from getting away!”
To make a shot of the kind the marksman had to rise a little tohave a clear sight over the rocks and among the trees and he had tochoose his time. The others of the squad, the few who could see thehastening German messenger, watched him. The crack of the rifleoccurred simultaneously with the collapse of two of those thus noted;the ambling Hun went down and lay still; the lieutenant, his weaponslipping from his hand, gave a little gasp and lay back as quietly asthough merely tired. Don, the corporal and Gill saw his white faceand crawled to him. He was insensible; across his temple there was ablue-black scar, but not a sign of blood.
“Stunned only,” Don said, in a relieved voice. “I thought he waskilled. He’ll come to in a minute. Be all right, I think.” The boy hadseen more than one similar case of glancing blow when in the Red Crossservice.
“Thank the good Lord!” Farnham said again.
“He got it just as he pulled trigger; a dozen bullets came over hisway, but he got his man with one bullet; did you see that? He’s onedandy shot! Best I ever did see, or ever expect to.” So enthused thecorporal.
“I’d like to take him once after deer in Sullivan County,” Jenningsremarked. “There goes anothor messenger; I reckon mebbe I kin gethim.” And rising to his full height the big mountaineer let fly threeshots in rapid succession, the last of which tumbled the seconddispatch bearer into a silent heap. Whereupon Jennings got down again,untouched, though the bullets had been singing all about him.
“Sho! My turn next!” declared Gill, between whom and Jennings there wasalways a good-natured rivalry. “If I don’t get my man with the firstshot and tie with the lieutenant, you can take me out and give me tothe Jerries for a barbecue.”
“Better do that, anyway, so’s to kill ’em. Ain’t nobody kin eat polecatan’ live through it,” Jennings countered.
But Gill didn’t get his shot. The squad did not see the next messengerleave; he must have got away through the thickets in a roundabout way.
With the added rocks that had been piled up to strengthen theirposition the men could stoop low on their feet, or kneel erect. Themachine gun was placed at a hole and above it McNabb and Wilson, thelively crew, had managed deftly to place a wide, flat stone as a shieldbeneath which they could sight very well, indeed. This rendered thechance of getting hit a comparatively slight one, but who can tellwhat direction the flight of bullets will take? The Huns were keepingup a constant fire, uselessly wasting ammunition on stones imperviousto anything but heavy cannon and except the glancing blow that thelieutenant had received and a flesh wound in Judson’s right cheek, notone of the Americans had been hurt.
But it appeared as though the Huns were getting ready for anothercharge and so McNabb was going over the mechanism of the Browning gunagain when a bullet, among a dozen or more sent over in the past halfminute, entered the space between the flat stone and the gun barrel andthe cheery, brave little Irishman sank down, without a groan. Wilsonleaped to his place and sent a volley into the very spot from where theshots had come and several Huns were seen to drop, but it could neverbe known whether the death of McNabb was avenged.
Meanwhile Don was working over Herbert and soon had the satisfaction ofhearing that lad’s voice: “Huh! Got hit, eh? Not as bad as gas; headaches, though, some. We are still alive; are we? Don’t pay to show somuch as a finger; does it?”
Then they told him about Jennings’ risk and what had happened to themachine gunner and Herbert came to his senses in a jiffy. But his werenot the only tear-dimmed eyes that gazed upon the body of the sturdylittle scrapper.
“We can only lay him aside there, boys, now. Make his temporary bierpretty and fragrant, anyhow, with some spruce boughs, just as though hewere asleep and had laid down to rest. Now, watch out, fellows; we needevery man to hold off those weasels. I wonder what they will do next?”
It was soon very evident what they would do. Another contingent,perhaps two squads, came to reinforce them. No doubt the commander hadbeen reprimanded for not killing or capturing the Americans and moremen could not be spared for the task. At least forty men should be ableto clean out a dozen, the number of the Yanks having been correctlyestimated after noting the gun fire coming from their rocky stronghold.
So the Hun commander who meant to rid their very midst of those daringAmericans resolved upon strategy, which was immediately put intoeffect, but which Lieutenants Whitcomb and Richards at once foresaw.The Hun ranks became suddenly thinned, a number of the men going offthrough the trees, hastened by another round of machine-gun fireadmirably directed by Wilson. Back of trees, logs, stumps and moundsthe others waited for some little time; then, probably at a signal fromthe ridge above the Americans, they came charging again up the hill.
Jennings, Gill and Lieutenant Whitcomb, with the machine gun, receivedthe up-hill charge and stopped it. Don, the corporal and the other fivemen watched the ridge and presently, from among the dense shrubbery andthickets, gray-green clad forms began to emerge and most of them weresorry for it. But one Hun got far enough among the spruces to make thethrowing of a lighted grenade effective and back went his arm. Then hedropped, for Farnham had proved to be a wonderfully quick shot. Thegrenade, which had fallen with the man, exploded, blowing the body of abrave fellow to bits.
In this sort of Indian fighting, a heritage of their forefathers, theAmericans excelled; they proved it many times in the woodlands ofFrance and the Germans came to fear the Yanks accordingly. This casewas no exception. Though a young and enthusiastic officer urged themon down the hill, the Huns refused to face the accurate close rangeshooting that came from they hardly knew where. It is one thing tocharge a foe that can be seen and its powers of resistance estimatedupon and quite another to attack that which is an unknown quantity andproves itself stronger than any estimate.
Once again the squad was left alone for a time, barring the desultoryfiring that always occurs when one foe is besieging another; but tothis the Americans rarely responded, except when a Hun would carelesslyshow himself. At the two hundred yards intervening between besiegedand besiegers this was not safe, a fact that, after several of theirplatoon were hurt or killed, the enemy discovered.
There were several ways of reducing a weakly held position, or ofdestroying a small isolated force, b
ut before some of these methodsof modern murder could be brought into use, before the means of whichcould be obtained, the shades of night once more were falling fast,though no long and idle vigil was now looked forward to. The hours ofdarkness promised plenty of action, for the Yanks all knew the schemespracticed by the Germans.
“They’ll eat and rest a bit and wait until they think we believethey’re not going to bother us--probably two or three hours--thenwe’ll be ready for them,” Herbert reasoned. “If they have flares, theycan’t use them to advantage in this woodland and they can’t be sureenough of our position to waste ammunition on us. How do you regardthat, Don, Corporal? Come on, fellows, we want all your opinions. Don’tlet us make this so much a matter of leadership as is usual; we’re allfighting as man and man, now; shoulder to shoulder; brothers in a bigeffort to save our own and each other’s lives, so that we must all havea say. One of our teachers at school--good, old Brighton Academy, eh,Don?--when he would frequently consult the class on a difficult problemwould say: ‘in a multitude of counselors there is wisdom.’ Well,fellows, we’ve got to have all the wisdom there is amongst us trottedout here and now; we need it; we can’t make any blunders.”
Herbert was talking more than he had ever done before, but necessitywas prodding him. He continued:
“Because I am already your appointed leader I am willing to take theresponsibility of giving sudden orders when needed, but we must allhave a hand in the plans. Now, they can send a whole company here, aregiment perhaps, and rush us. Can we hold them off? Or they can try towear us out by continued attack and reduce our numbers. They may userifle grenades, trench mortars; they probably have to send for them,else they would have had them going before now. They might even findmeans of treating us to some gas, but I guess that’s difficult in asmall way. Then, there is the night attack--we must watch for that; wecannot see so well to repulse the considerable number that may make itand they can get some grenades over, which in this small place won’tbe comfortable. That is the situation as far as keeping up our defensegoes.”
The young officer paused for a moment; then, speaking very slowly, hisvoice a little lower, he propounded a question:
“I can hardly imagine it,” he said, “but--are there any among youwho would like to surrender? It would mean a big chance for life andhere--well, we might as well face it--you all know this means a bigchance for the beyond, or to be taken prisoner, anyway, after beingwounded perhaps and then to be neglected and suffer. We’ve got to faceit; to decide--now.”
“Durn them limberg chasers; they don’t get me livin’!” spoke upJennings.
“Here, too!” said Gill.
“We ought to accept your decision, Lieutenant,” declared young Farnham,“but as for me, I’d rather hang on and fight!”
“That’s me!” “I’ll say so!” “Good boy!” came from the other men.
“There are ways, Lieutenant, to meet pretty nearly everything theycan pull off. Can’t we make some rock and pole shelters here, againstgrenades and if the Heinies come up tonight, can’t we play a trick onthem?” Judson, merely a boy and showing some embarrassment, made thissuggestion.
“What kind of a trick?” Herbert asked, and Judson explained, an ideathat took with every one of the squad. Herbert was enthusiastic.
“You ought to get a commission for that, Judson! Oughtn’t he, Don? It’sa crackerjack and we all agree to it. Now, then, let’s get to workon the whole idea. Some of these flat stones will do for a couple ofdugouts; all we’ve got to do is to remove some of the stones to go downseveral feet. Each one ought to be big enough to hold five men, sittingdown; we’ve got to sleep any old way.”