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cbuR! 3e6 things, that looked like flies
swar hg over it
He Saw squads of men come down
the hill and wander about craziiy,
though, with a purpose. Spinning
webs of .barbed wire; he. was certain
He saw two treeless belts, one three-
quarters of the way iip the hill, and
the bther right at the top5
Night.came after centuries, of wait
ing and he left his shelter. He walked
a mile, perhaps. Then he crouched
. and cradled at times, selddm stand
ing erect. Always he kept his eyes on
the wavering lights above him; at fre
quent intervals he paused and strain
ed his ears. The. lights died, But, one
at a time, and bugles blew the army
before him to sleep. He went on.
From the top of the rise above him
shot a blinding eye of light. It pierced
the distance to the. northward for an
instant, settled td the ground with a
jerk and' swept in a gigantic arc over
the country, slowly, scouring the
open places', iUuminatihg the brush.
Jimmy dropped just before it reached
him, flattened his face in the sand.
He could see the white glare ail about
him for a time.. Theq it became dark
'again and he looked tip tb see the
finger of white drilllrig the night far
away.
The man took a long chance on1 the
open country and made, a cautious
run for it. He went quietly until his
foot slipped and' he went down, bang
ing his head on a rock.. Thj blow
made him dizzy and, the noise he
made terrified him. But he got up
and stumbled along in the darkness,
ready to flop to. the ground, the in
stant the searchlight turned his" way
' again. He gained the . timbered
stretch that was "above and breathed
easier. It was more difficult to travel,
of course,, for the brush was stiff and
thick, but he was under cover at least.
Jimmy reached out his hand to draw
aside what, in. the darkness, looked
like a vine. The points- of barbed
wire dug into the flesh of his hands
rod he Stood very still for a long time,
isteuing for footsteps. Once more j
came the finger of light ami he squat
ted In the Hushes while it made the
stunted forest glow.
With great difficulty Jiittnry worm
ed his way through the wire. It cut
his clothing and It pricked his flesh,
but, he did not heW. On he went
again,, making every, move take him
nearer the crest of, the hili arid mak
ing every move take him nearer the
crest of the hill and making every
movement as near noiseless as was
possible. He worked his way through
another wire net, worse than the first.
Then tie light came back and he lay
for a long time. Perhaps it was a
fortunate thing that he did not feel
compelled to lay still, for he heard
something a faint and regular
sound. He pressed his ear to the
ground and strained tb listen. It grew
stronger, . stopped, receded, and died
away. After a time it came back
again, growing stronger but not
strong, stopping, and, after a deliber
ate interval, resuming, only to, die off.
After he had crawled fifty yards more
and stopped to listen, he heard the
sound plainly. In fact, he could hear
the boots that made it swishirig
through the grass. He waited uritil
the. sentry reached the. end of his post
and turned back. 4With utmdst cau
tion, then, he hurried along for iriahy
yards, stopped, Scarcely breathing,
and waited while the soldier came
and, went again.
Thus he proceeded. Two mbre wire
webs riotied his clothing and haggled
his flesh; three more sentries patroled
the path he took. Out or tbe. brush
he worked, into the open strips not
four hundred yards from the ridge,
where low bushes arid heavy grasses
grew thickly. He ci-awled a shbrt way
into this ana tnen sat up, looKing
about boldly.
Jimmy laughed crazlly. War! This.
was it! This was that for which He
had worked ahd' waited and-deserted
and broken from the guardhouse! He
wanted just one thing now. He want
ed to gain the top and see wnat was
there. Then well, they could shoot
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