The Khaki Boys over the Top; Or, Doing and Daring for Uncle SamChase, Josephine
History
The Khaki Boys over the Top; Or, Doing and Daring for Uncle Sam
Chase, Josephine
World War, 1914-1918 -- Juvenile fiction
On they rushed--ever onward. About them swept the leaden hail of
death. Shoulder to shoulder, firing from the hip, rushed the four
Khaki Boys. And even in that terrible din of battle they spared a
thought for the gallant comrade who would have been with him if he
could.
With wild yells the Sammies swept over the first line of German
trenches. The Boches had deserted them in the face of a withering
rifle and machine-gun fire.
"Come on! Come on!" yelled the lieutenant again and again. "They're
laying down a perfect barrage for us! The Huns can't get through to
attack us!"
This was true, to a certain extent. Supported by the big guns in the
rear, the 509th Infantry was rushing onward. Before them, and ever
moving forward, was a never-ending curtain of fire--a hail of lead and
steel.
As this curtain advanced, caused by the continual but slow elevation
of the muzzles of the big guns, the infantry followed. And this fire
kept the German support from coming to save the lines that were under
attack.
"Wipe 'em out! Wipe out the Hun nests!" cried the lieutenant.
"It's our turn now!" grimly shouted Roger in Jimmy's ear.
Forward swept the company to which our heroes were assigned. For a
time, during which the two chums had had a chance to get Iggy from the
shell hole, there had been no advance. Now it came with a vengeance.
But the Germans were not idle. If their infantry was held back
from making a counter-attack, their heavy guns, and here and there,
machine-guns, were not idle. And these weapons tore big holes in the
ranks of the Sammies. But ever the holes were closed up--comparatively
closed up, that is, for the fighting of the Americans was not in close
order, such as that in which the Germans so often advanced to their
deaths.
At times the four Brothers would be close to one another, converging
to get out of the line of some trench or avoid a shell hole. Again
they would be yards apart But they kept in "contact," as it is called.
And ever as they advanced they fired their rifles into the German
lines. True they could only now and then catch a glimpse of the foe,
but they made those chances tell.
"Come on now, boys--a little farther and we'll have our objective!
Just a few yards more!" cried the lieutenant who was leading our
heroes. "Once we're at that barn, we can rest. Only a few feet
more--only a few--"
His yelling voice suddenly ceased, and Jimmy, who was nearest, saw the
gallant soldier crumple up, with a bullet through his head. And as he
fell his men behind him, leaped over his body with wild yells of rage.
"Come on! Come on!" screamed Jimmy, inflamed to the point of madness.
He was in command at this point now, following the death of the
lieutenant. "Come on! Make 'em pay for that!" He choked back his sobs,
for the lieutenant was well beloved.
On they rushed, on and on. The man on Jimmy's left was killed, and the
comrade on his right fell with a shattered leg.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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