New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 4, July, 1915: April-September, 1915Various
History
New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 4, July, 1915: April-September, 1915
Various
World War, 1914-1918
Then we sat down together in the station master's room, and without
more ado Mücke began to narrate his Robinson Crusade by water and
land. Between times he opened letters. "Have I the Cross?" he suddenly
exclaimed, as he found newspapers that brought him the news that he
had been decorated with the Iron Cross, First Class, a Bavarian and a
Saxon order. He laughed, got red in the face, and was happy as a child
over Christmas presents. "It's really too much," he said, "but I am
most pleased over the Saxon order; my father also wore it." In between
he asked questions about Captain Müller's fate, about the Carpathians
and the Dardanelles, and then threw in scraps about the Emden and the
Ayesha. Presently another caravan was reported. "I must ride out to
meet my men," he said, and we approached a big caravan. Thirty
Bedouins, with the Turkish flag at the head of the column; then, all
mixed up, sturdy German blond sailors in disguise, with fez or turban,
all on camels, among them dusky, melancholy looking Arabs. "Children!"
their Captain called out to them, "you've all got the Cross, and you,
Gyssing, have a Bavarian order to boot." "Hurrah!" resounded through
the red desert. The German flag was raised. Handshaking all around.
"Children, here is Paradise; come, here flows champagne! And here,
these are real railroad tracks!"
"How soon do you want to travel?" a Turkish Major asked.
"In three hours, as quick as possible, through night and day," Captain
Mücke replied. Even before he had reported his safe arrival to his
parents at home, he files a telegraphic request for a new command
before the enemy. Never have I seen so much modesty alongside so much
glory as among these fifty Emden men.
"Have you papers here?" one of them asks.
"A heap."
"How is it with Germany?" comes a voice from the crowd.
That's what they all want to know. The men bathe, and then look
happily at the special train in the desert.
THE SURVIVORS.
TABUK, (via Damascus,) May 8, noon.--They're still asleep. Last night
the joy lasted a long while. But I couldn't help admiring the
discipline, which did not break down even on that well-deserved joy
day. Earnestness, the basic characteristic of the soldier, lay under
all their merriment. As the engine was reported to be ready to start,
Mücke called out: "All abroad! Youngsters, only once in my life do I
command a railroad train." Then he and the officers sat down among the
sailors. At every station they made jokes, because they were real
stations that followed one another automatically and without the
danger of adventures!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account