Henry C. Rowland

“ Thin came the battle av the Marne, and that was the end o' me active service, for 'twas on the second day av the heavy fightin' that I got me disablin' wound be rayson av a piece o' shrapnel that came soarin' out o' the sky wit' nivir an Alleboche in sight, thus demonstratin' what I afterwards preached to scores o' rookies that the safest place for the rale soldier that loved his bayonet was at close quarters wit' the enemy and not half-way to the rear, sittin' under a shower o' scrap-iron wit' his head stuck in a hole, like an ostritch. ”

“ In wan front room I heard the wailin' o' childer and it struck into me like a bayonet t'rust in the bowils, but I did not stop. 'I will get ye on me way down, me little dears,' I hollered, and kept on me coorse comforted be the fact that the childer could be reached from below or from the street. Ye may wonder, sorr, that I had not dashed into the house and up-stairs at the very firrst? Well, sorr, maybe that was the soldier av it. Me juty for the moment was below, to organize the helpers, for ayther me little girrl was killed or I yet had time to fetch her. ”

“ Who are you?'
"I loosed me grip av the girrl's wrist like a drownin' sailor might loose the spar to which he clung and came to attention. 'Sergeant Mike Casey, sorr,' says I, 'doorman at Garrod's and late corp'ral av the ——shire Rifles as was.'
"'Ah, a soldier. I thought so,' says he. 'Good for you, Sergeant. Take your people to the ambulance beyant. Some av you men pick up the childer,' says he.
"So that is how I found her, Doctor, be the grace av God and His swate instrument, me brave merle wit' his yellow eye and beak and inspirin' call. ”

“ But anny man, be he high or low, can sinse the feelin's av anny woman when she wills it, and I was not long in discoverin' that her interrest was far more in the ranker, who for two long years had been true to the memory av a girrl he had seen but a couple av hours and nivir heard from since, than in the problem of how she might best help him find her again. ”

“ You must get back to your regiment and fight. Take this,' says she, in a wild voice, and shoves the hatchet into me hand. 'Wear it in your belt,' says she, 'and the next time you are in battle leave it in the head of an Alleboche.' And at that moment there comes from the cage she had set down beside her the loud, clear whistle av the merle. 'Aux armes, citoyens—' he sings, and wit' the last note we hear the sudden scufflin' av hoofs and looks up to see four big divils av Uhlans bearin' down upon us. ”

“ Thinks I to mesilf, the walkin' is poor and the runnin' is worse, especially wit' a sprained ankle. If the Proosians are that close in our wake that the motor-cars are breakin' the speed limit, small chance for a Tommy wit' an ankle the size and color av a blue balloon. ”

“ So, bein' known for a bit av an artist wit' the bayonet, I was not discharged, but set to drillin' rookies in the handlin' o' that finest av soldiers' tools av craft.
"But wit' all me good luck I was not happy, sorr. If a man has the wan thing in all the wurruld he wants, he can do nicely wit'out thim manny other things; but if he has not that, thin the divil take all the rest. ”

“ I told her that 'twas no wound I had, but only a wrench of the ankle got in leppin' out the way av a racin' car, and explained me raysons for thinkin' that a man so crippled stood a better chance of connectin' wit' the base be strikin' 'cross country off the main route. ”

“ I seemed to see her lovely face grown worn and weary wit' sufferin' and the big eyes tormented, while the body av her, which I remembered as trim and round and shapely as an August pheasant, had grown thin and worn as if from worry and want. 'Tis odd, Doctor, the different ways a man will t'ink av a woman. There are some he may want for himsilf alone, his own happiness, and there will be another whom he wants to make happy for hersilf alone, himsilf rankin' small in importance. ”

“ Maybe if the Crown-Prince had been borrn wit' a chin like hers he might have shoved it over the fortifications av Paris about the time I was lookin' for me knee-cap.
'We were nearly av a height, which is the right height for a woman if nor for a man, though handy in this war, as could be sworn to by anny sawed-off Tommy wit' a bullet-hole in the crown av his cap. And in form she looked slinder while bein' yet a solid girrl, as I had found when puttin' her upon the Uhlan sergeant's horse. Much more than that I could not say, but I was cheered at t'ought av the merle. ”

“ But with the speed we was makin' in that direction there was always the chance we might beat 'em to it, so I tightened up the puttee around me ankle and stepped out briskly on me bare heel and layin' a coorse for the steeple av a big church where I knew there must be a town. It must ha' been five miles away, but the goin' was good, and I raysoned that it was likely our rear-guard might rally and make a stand there. ”

“ I will get me breat' and thin be makin' a daytour from the broad highway and strike 'cross country for wan o' the many heads o' the column. It was raysonable to suppose that the first o' the pursuit would come in the form o' Uhlans be the big road, trimmin' up the fringes like. ”

“ And so a year passed, and nearly two years, and me still at me 'right high parry—left high parry—at the head, thrust—' and the reputation av a drrill-sergeant whose timper was not always av the best. 'Tis tryin' to the disposition av a strong man to give all wimmen the go-by and smoother the longin's av his natur', sorr ”