TALES FROM A DUGOUT TALES FROM A DUGOUT BY ARTHUR GUY EMPEY Author of "Over the Top," etc. [Illustration] NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1918 Copyright, 1918, by The Century Co. _Published, October, 1918_ I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO THE "Army of the People Who Stay at Home": _the overaged, the women, the physically unfit and the children. These are the ones to be pitied, the ones who suffer most, because their hearts are on the battlefields of France, although their bodies must stay at home_. FOREWORD Picture a dugout in one of the front line trenches of France, damp and evil smelling, hardly deep enough to protect the inmates from a three-inch shell-burst. This hole in the ground will comfortably house four soldiers. Put seven of them with full equipment and a machine gun in it, and what results? I dare say in civilian life there would be only one outcome--TROUBLE. Well, in the army on the Western Front, this situation spells GOOD FELLOWSHIP. If it were only possible for a giant dictograph to be invented, the transmitter being placed in any dugout of the American Army in France, while at the receiver, across the Atlantic, the American Public "listened in," many a heartache would disappear, worry for the "boys at the front" would more or less vanish in mist. If the mothers, fathers, wives, sweethearts, sisters and friends, could only hear these conversations, their hearts would be filled with joy and pride for the fighting men of America. Of course, at times, few and far between, they would be slightly shocked, as most eavesdroppers are, but on the whole, they would listen to wonderful sentiment, clean and wholesome Americanism. It has been my misfortune not to have occupied an American dugout as yet, but I have crowded into one with the Britisher, with good old Tommy Atkins. We are of the same family, the same blood runs through our veins, so Tommy's ideas and conversations are identical with those of our brave American boys. Therefore, I hope that in a way these Tales from a Dugout will help fill the void of the absent dictograph. It is only a matter of time before our boys and our Allies, God bless them all, will victoriously return to "Blighty," and be received in the arms of their waiting dear ones. PREAMBLE There were seven of them composing the crew of Gun No. 2, of the ----th Brigade Machine Gun Company. Their gun was the Vickers, light, .303, watercooled. They were nicknamed as follows: Curly, a Scotchman. Dubbed Curly on account of a cute little Delia Fox curl. He gave more attention to this curl than to his rifle. Many girls wrote to him, and he wrote to many girls. Happy, a Londoner. He earned his title from his happy disposition. He helped Curly with his correspondence. Hungry. His nickname needs no explanation. He was. Once Mr. Hoover dined with him, hence his food conservation idea. Hungry hailed from London.