True Stories of the Great War, Volume 3 (of 6): Tales of Adventure--Heroic Deeds--Exploits Told by the Soldiers, Officers, Nurses, Diplomats, Eye Witnesses
History
True Stories of the Great War, Volume 3 (of 6): Tales of Adventure--Heroic Deeds--Exploits Told by the Soldiers, Officers, Nurses, Diplomats, Eye Witnesses
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
I was prospecting around for another place when Art Pratt hailed me.
"Why don't you come with me," he said, "instead of digging another
place?"
I went to where he was and looked at the dugout. It wasn't very wide,
and I said so. Together we began widening and deepening the dugout,
until it was big enough for the two of us. It was grueling work, but
by supper time it was done. The night before, a fatigue party had gone
down to the beach and hauled up a big field kitchen. Our cooks had made
some tea, and we had been issued some loaves of bread. Art unrolled a
large piece of cloth with all the pomp and ceremony of a man unveiling
a monument. He did it slowly and carefully. There was a glitter in his
eyes that one associates with an artist exhibiting his masterpiece. He
gave a triumphant switch to the last fold and held toward me a large
piece of fresh juicy steak.
"Beefsteak!" I gasped. "Sacred beefsteak! Where did you get it?"
Art leaned toward me mysteriously. "Officers' mess," he whispered.
"I've got salt and pepper," I said, "but how are you going to cook it?"
"I don't know," said Art, "but I'm going up to the field kitchen;
there's some condensed milk that I may be able to get hold of to spread
on our bread."
II--STORY OF THE ROYAL ENGINEERS
While Art was gone, I strolled down the ravine a little way to where
some of the Royal Engineers were quartered. The Royal Engineers are the
men who are looked on in training as a non-combatant force, with safe
jobs. In war-time they do no fighting, but their safe jobs consist of
such harmless work as fixing up barbed wire in front of the parapet and
setting mines under the enemy's trenches. For a rest they are allowed
to conduct parties to listening posts and to give the lines for advance
saps. Sometimes they make loopholes in the parapet, or bolster up some
redoubt that is being shelled to pieces.
The Turks were sending over their compliments just as I came abreast
of the Engineers' lines. One of the engineers was sifting some gravel
when the first shell landed. He dropped the sieve, and turned a back
somersault into some gorse-bushes just behind him. The sieve rolled
down, swayed from side to side, and settled close to my head, in the
depression where I was conscientiously emulating an ostrich. I gathered
it to my bosom tenderly and began crawling away. From behind a boulder
I heard the engineer bemoaning to an officer the loss of his sieve, and
he described in detail how a huge shell had blown it out of his hands.
Joyfully I returned to Art with my prize.
"What's that for?" said Art.
"Turn it upside down," I said, "and it's a steak broiler."
"Where did you get it?" said Art.
I told him, and related how the engineer had explained it to his
officer.
Up at the field kitchen a group was standing around.
"What's the excitement?" I asked Art.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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