Adventure Magazine Cover, June 20, 1925 — page 66: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

48 Golly! All them guys gone, just for a little. town, an’ then we didn’t get it after all!” | ‘When did they bump off the captain?” asked Nell. “Why, they got him when we first started out. Some guys were going to carry him out, but he says to leave him in a shell hole. So they left him. An’ he props himself up on a jerry knapsack an’ hollers, ‘You don’t let me see you runnin’ away! You may think I’m out of it, but if any man starts to beat it he’ll find he’s mistaken.’ I don’t know what happened to him after that, because things got warm, but he stopped hollerin’ after a while, an’ I guess they croaked him.’ “T see you managed to save your vase after all?” “Now ain’t that ——,” cried Curran. “After all that trouble I took and bringin’ it safe in an’ everythin’, an’ then last night some great big mule-footed jughead goes an’ tramps on it. I think I can fix it, though,” he continued, bending over the shell solici- tously. . “I c’n put a block or somethin’ in there an’ maybe pound the dent out of it that way.’ A man came out of one of the doors about the farm yard and was going out the gate when he noticed Nell. He stopped and looked again, and then came over to him. “ve been wondering about you,” said the man. “I was beginning to be afraid that the boche had gotten you after all.” It was the lieutenant that had led the last dash into the town. “T guess they didn’t get me, sir,” said Nell, grinning, ‘“‘although I thought they were going to once or twice in that town.” “How did your outfit make out?” asked the lieutenant. “T guess they’re pretty well shot. I was just talking with Curran here about the captain.” “Why, this man’s in my battalion,” said the officer in perplexity. “So.am I,” said Nell. “I’m out of G Company.”’ 3) “Out of G Company,” cried the officer, “why I thought I knew all the lieutenants in that company. Let’s see, there’s Noble and Trelawney, and 7 “T’m not an officer,” said Nell, sorely em- barrassed. “I’m just a buck private.” The officer was speechless. ‘“You’re just a private!”’ he gasped. ‘““That’s all,”’ said Nell. Adventure ‘An’ he’s a John, too,” spoke up Curran. “He just joined the night we went up.” The officer’s mouth shut like a trap. “Come with me!” said he, and seizing Nell’s arm, rushed him through the little door into the farmhouse. There was a table in there, and a lot of maps and papers, and a mob of officers sitting and standing. The division com- mander was making the rounds, and this was the P. C. of Nell’s regiment. The heutenant shoved his way to the table and saluted the white-mustached man with the gold and the two stars on his over- seas cap that sat there. “General,” said he, “‘you’ll pardon me for interruption, but I have just found the officer I was telling you about. He’s the man that led the counter attack and saved us all,from being wiped out. He isn’t an officer, he’s just a private, but he ought to be one, and so I’m going to recommend him for a commission for gallantry in action!” The general bent a lowering gaze on Nell. “Hurrumph!” said he. “Write mea letter about it, put your recommendation through channels, and we'll see about it.” Then he proceeded with his inspection of a pile of papers. ‘““Meanwhile,” said the lieutenant, as they went out, “I’m in command of the battalion. We won’t have any officer re- placements until tomorrow, when we get to the railhead, so you’ll command G Com- pany. ‘There are some corporals that you'll rank, but you needn’t mind that. Have your company on the road by seven o’clock.” NELL_ had no trouble with his company. ‘There weren’t many more men there than he had had in his platoon in the old regi- ment. A war strength company goes into action with about two hundred and forty men and Nell had forty-eight survivors to command. The men accepted him without question. His uniform was creased and dirty, but still it was plainly tailor-made and Nell’s appearance and actions were such as to command respect. ‘Who the is that guy?” asked some. ““He’s the guy that brung back the pa- trol,” said others, or “‘He’s the guy that led the counter attack when we was gettin’ ready to pull outta the wheat,” or “If it hadn’t a been fcr him there wouldn’t none of us got out of that field.” COMIGDIOOKSEEO