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i TTTE ATLANTA GEORGIAN’ AND NEWS. MONDAY, APRIL 28, 191 Fir FR Bo' A ft tt bf Tb< not ft ut nut l.-iu iK ' i-i 1 Ire c< ,* il f.s-1 Si *foi d.t v ti I ib« f«i rh' An Bi ce re wl m th Hi «* >*0 th tli • t* 1? T il a i a ]>« » t* n* IT. d< r w Ol b If m i c f t c THE BAPTISM OF FIRE To-day's Complete Short Story I T had »e©m©d to m© At the time that I could do fhe thing in entire safe ty. Our troops were ordered out to tAke and destroy a village whloh lay fn the valley by the riverside, and their operations would bo confined to the lower ground. The heights above would be entirely nnttoubled, unoccupied. And so I had gained these, after walk ing five miles over gentle slopes of short scrub grass, and then had lain me down on fhe ridge and watched the skirmish ing. the attack, and the capture through a pair of glasses. From a distance it had all seemed very tame. There were little puffs of gray smoke, men fell, others came on at run, zigzagging in and out in entire disorder, made their weapons and ac coutrements glitter in the sun, and they disappeared under cover of the mud and bamboo tillage More armoke aroee in puffs from fhe lanes between the houses And then a stream of Black Flag Chinese* began to pour out at the run, some of them pWched forward and lay still, and tlV 1 Others opened out to pass these by. apd others limped and lagged behind thj j general pace; and quite irregular crack- j 1© from the village, like the burning of brush-wood, told me what was cauaing these things. Blit when the Ralck Hags were out of nmge and th© firing ceased th© val ley dropped into dread quietude and there "was nothing more to see. I yawped over it for another half-hour and then walked a dozen yards down the slop©, smoked a couple of cigarettes and began my dejeuner The regiment of Black Flags which came down upon me muse have started climbing th© hill face the very minute I quitted the ridge Ran Like a Dog. irisrtinct. as I say. jerked me to my feet, and Inatinct must have given me a prodigious start, for when first my wits came to me I found myself run ning like a frightened dog. It seemed as if ten million bullets whisked past me. and I had a notion I was hit in twenty places But nothing clogged my legs, and although my heart was trying to Jump clear of its moor ings I ran on at a freshened pace. There wasn't a. more terrified man In Asia that minute The shots came drop ping after me; shots and cries in bar barous Chinese, and the world swam In fnont. Tarror, undiluted, made me a running automaton. Beyond a doubt the most cowardly Frenchman In the East that moment was myself. I did not attempt to con trovert this fact; I ran on, cringing from every bullet that rustled past me or spurted up the ground beside my leaping feet; but I sought to find ex cuses for my conduct. For good behavior they had raised ' me from the ranks to a non-Commin- ] sioned officer How long I ran on In this blinded slat© 1 cannot tell; but a sharp sting of pain set my wits a-going rt felt like the soar of hot metal burning and frying, and the hurt came somewhere from the round of the left shoulder. Instantly my mood woke a^aln For j the first time there grew upon me a vague resentment against the crew who were yelping and firing in chase; and j as I scurried on, and the ill-aimed bul- | lets threw their rushing halo of sound around my head and limbs, this in creased to a wild, poisonous hate. Remembered My Revolver. Then, for th.- first time, I remem bered my revolver With bungling fingers l unholstered it, and. turning, fired six rapid shots One man clapped hands to his face, screamed shrilly like a child and pitched to the earth, his pigtail swung up in the air as thought it had been a black whiplash. 1 was no longer a French gentle man then I was a savage beast, lust ful to tear my enemies' throats. I turned again and fired on. A whole fusillade of vengeful shots wore ex changed in return, but none of them found a mark in me, and I laughed aloud in triumph. Whatever happened now I had killed my own weiglu of enemy. But, as I say, I .wanted desperately to do more, and now that the paralysis of terror and excitement had flashed away my mind was beginning to work with craft and cunning Ahead of me and running athwart my course was a muddy wallow they called the roed and which our troops had pass ed along barely three hours before to the capture of the village To th© left were the French lines and safety. In front, and a ball's throw beyond the road. was the yellow turbid stream of the river. Tt was Impossible !o reach the camp pven had l risked it The Black Rags had anticipated tlie move and had de- ailed off a party to outflank me in 'hat direction By turning oft to the ■*jght I might very well bring down the enemy upon our expeditionary force on their march back from the village. They might he prepared to •» * ve them, and again thc> might ri i and I would have died ten tlm£s • «*m*r than any move of mine for my < n safety should bring disaster on n comrades. Oflr branch of the -ervicc gets sneered at enough as it is. Shots Thick and Fast. So T raced on for the road and passed it. and labored down to ’he river The shots came fast and thick now, and two more bullets galled me, but 1 waded through the shallows without further hurt and gained the deep, tawny river beyond A sain pan was moored a hundred yards out and a little downstream. I made for it with long, bursting dives. There w-ere half a dozen men on board, jumping, gesticulating, anti crying warnings; and once, when 1 came up from an underwater swim, one of them let fly a match lock at me Another dive and f was upon them, and they received me with knife-stabs —and how the fight turned next 1 could not tell. But of a sudden, with a blink and p gasp and a downward blow l came by my wits again, and found that 1 was on board the sampan with a curv ed Chinese sword in my band; and one man lay dead and bleeding at my feet, another was dead and floating face downwards with a current astern vnd the rest were swimming to the shore, and twenty Black Flags were bring over their heads as fast as they could Mv pistol was gone and 1 could do no more on the offensive Tin wish for fight had »ef« me; the lust for life alone remained. 1 rut the painter and lav on the sampan's bottom, whilst site drifted down with the cur rent info our own lines And vet nr-* officers were pleased to call me brave. and the general gave me the war-medal. I tried to refuse it. but they la’ gitcd at mo A vedette *it seen.ed» Lad watched me through a glass from the moment of the first shot being fired, and the\ •aid no man could have behaved more ttlucluiy. The Dingbat Family The Juice Raised the Deuce By Herriman Polly and Her Pals Even the Worm Will Hide Copyright, 1993, Intenixtiooal Now* Barrio*. By Cliff Sterrett t>T4WD up An' Lemme fit This Skirt oj VOu, FOLLV I ■ \>«4UUA Wt4R. IT To MORROW/ ( Tragedy and the Movies By MALCOLM DOUGLAS {il WAS with Booth, the mighty. I But Booth, alas, is dead! So now 1 am with the mo vies, ” The old tragedian said “In Chanibersburg and Fottstown, And likewise Kokomo. You can view me classic features At 6 and 10 a throw “1 was with Booth, the mighty. But Booth has long been dust, So l get me cakos and coffee From tiie moving-picture trust. “Shakespeare, thou wast me Idol, But thee 1 harlst to can; Me. oh. Bard, for the movies. Me for the camera-man!" CLEEK OF THE FORTY ] FAC! ES| The Habit of Lying Not What Fa Meant. Host's Youngest—Don't your shoes feel very uncomfortable when you walk, Mrs. Xuryche? Mrs. Nurych—Dear me. what in extraoVdinar> question! Why do you ask. child? Host's Youngest—Oh. only Vos jm said the other day. since you'd come into your money you'd got far too big for your boots. By T. W HANSHAW Copyright by Doubledav. Page & Co. TO-DAY S INSTALLSEXT. H E did so forthwith; and the mo ment the dry leaves fell on the remnants of the fire which the caravanners had used to cook their evening meal, there was a gush of aromatic smoke, a sudden puff and then a broad ribbon of light rushed upward and dispelled every trace of darkness And by the aid of that rib bon of light Mr. Nippers >aw *oim - thing w hich made him almost collapse with astonishment and chagrin. Recognition. The great of the world nm> and often do—forget their meetings with the small fry. but the ©mail fry never eeas* to remember their meetings with the great or to treasure a vivid remembrance of that immortal day when they were privileged to rub e - bows with the elect. Fiv* > cars had passed since Mrs Maverick Xarkom. >-ecking a place wherein to spend the summer holidays with the little Xarkoms and their nurses, had let her choice fall upon Eynhaven-Oid-Bridges and had dwelt there for two whole months. Three times during her sojourn her liege lord had come down for a week-end with his wife and children, and during one of these brief visits, meeting Mr. Ephraim Nippers, the village consta ble. in the public highway, had deigned to stdp and s*peak to him and to presvnt him with a sixpenny cigar. Times had changed since then; Mr. Nippers was now head constable for the district, but he still kept that cigar under a glass shade on the drawing room what-not, and he still treasured a vivid recollection of the great man who had given it to him and whom he now eaw silting on the ground with his coat off and his waistcoat unbuttoned, his mustache uncurled and wisps of tjried grass v tinging to his touseled hair and n 1! the dignity of office conspicuous by its absence. '‘h. lummy.' said Mr. Nippers with a g’Ep. 'Put down the hammer** of them guns, you two—put cm down quick! It's Mr. Xarkom Mr. Mav- j crick Xarkom, superintendent of | Scotland Yard!” ’Hullo!” exclaimed Mr. Xarkom. j shading his eyes from the firelight J and leaning forward to get a clearer j view of the speaker. “How the dick ens do you know that, my man? And . who the dickens are you, any way?} Can't say* that I remember ever see- I ing your face before.” Mr. Nippers hastened to explain that little experience of five years ago; but tiie circumstances which had impressed itself so deeply upon his memory had passed entirely out of the superintendent's. Just Discovered. "Oh, that's it, is it?” said he. "Can’t say that 1 recall the occasion; but Mrs. Xarkom certainly did stop at Lynhaven-Old-Bridge* some four *r five summers ago; so, of course. TVs possible. By the way. my man. what i caused you to make this sudd m ' descent upon u?” And what are these! chaps wno are with you bearing arms 1 lor? Anything up?” “Oh, lummy, sir. yes! A murder’s just been committed, sir—leastwise it's only just been discovered; bul it can’t have been long since it was committed. Mr. Xarkom. for Miss Renf ew. w ho found him. sir, and efl re the alarm, she says as the poor dear gentleman was alive at a quarter o t ight. 'cause siie looked into the room at that time to ask him if there was anything lie wanted, and he spoke up and told her no. and went on with his figgerin' just the same as usual.” "As usual?” dropped in Uleek. "Why do you say 'as usual.’ my friend? Was tiie man an accountant of some sort?” "Lummy! no, sir. A great inventor is what he is—or was. poor gentle man. Reckon you must a heard of him some time or another—’most ev erybody has Nosworth is the name, sir--Mr. Septimus Nosworth. of the Round House. You could see the tower of it over yon if you was to step out into the road and get clear of these trees.’’ To Be Continued To-morrow. “I DON'T know what on earth makes people lie!” sighed Me* Billip. “They just naturally do it. I suppose. That's the only way I can account for it. “Now, there's my own daughter, Annabel. She took a notion into her head that she would do some lying. She was staying down in the city and some neighbors of ours went down and called on Annabel there. "Annabel turned loose. Such a string of stuff as she told them! Every night, she said, she had been out joy riding until 2 o’clock in the morning! "‘Who did the chaperoning?' the neighbors asked, breathlessly. "‘Who did the what?’ asked Anna bel. " Why, the chaperoning. Didn't you have a chaperon?’ " 'Well, I should say not,’ said An- J nabel. "Then Annabel went on to tell that she had been having such a good time with actors and actresses. She knew Maude Adams well, had taken a joy ride with Maude, and Maude wanted to take her with her^and make an actress of her. and had promis'd her $100 a week as a starter. Anna bel had also met Sothern and had liked him very well, but she had beep obliged to treat him coolly because Julia Marlowe was »» jealous. "She had met a famous aeronaut v.wci^ru iit-1 anu coaxed her until she finally made a flight with him. and she enjoyed the ex perience very much and had received several letters and photographs from the aeronaut since he left town. "Soon after the ©leiglibors got back home with these thrilling tales of what was going on in the city I got word of it. I took the first train to the city. Every bird in the air I thought might be some aeronaut fly ing off with my daughter. I had mad© up my mind to yank her,out of her aunt’s house, where she was visiting without a word of explanation and get her home at once. '■But when I g-ot to the house I thought better of It. ‘What In tha world do you mean,' I said to her aunt, 'by allowing my daughter, a girl of tender years, to tly around with aeronauts and actors, and go out rid ing at all hours of the night without a. chaperon?’ "■Are you crazy." asked her aunt. 'Annabel ha? been with me every night and has always gone to bed at lft: 30. Tnere have been no aeronauts nor actors near her that I know of. I have been with that child every minute, too.' "When I saw Annabel she said slio had made up those yarns just for fun. She said she was bored and wanted to ?t ' t something. The neighbors had been so easily shocked when ♦> v called on her that she couldn'' *e;j» giving them the full voltage-.'' /.