ng them I found that one had been hit
right in the heart; two others were dying, one with his head in a pulp
and the other with his thigh broken and the calf of his leg torn to a
jelly. I helped the Sergeant to mend the telephone wire that had been
broken by the shell, and all the time we were having shells and bits of
brick breaking around us.

Then I went back to the mairie, and asked for some one who would not be
frightened to come with me. Two of us went off to the village for a
stretcher. I found one at the old ambulance, and was just leaving it
when I heard the scream of a shell, and took cover in the chimney--just
in time. A big black brute smashed half the house in. My comrade and I
hurried off after the wounded man. Our pals were watching us from the
mairie, wondering if we should ever get back. Old Gerome, (that's me,)
they said, will get back all right, and when back at the mairie I began
to give the wounded man first aid. Another shell came along, and the
place shook, window panes rained upon us, and dust blinded us, but at
last it cleared.

Left alone with my wounded man I went on dressing him, and when the
others got back I got them to help me take him to the schoolhouse near
by. I got congratulated by my comrades and the senior Sergeant, but the
Colonel and Lieutenant said nothing, though later I heard they were
pleased with me, but suddenly the Colonel said: "We can't stop here. Go
and see if there's room in the cellars of the castle for four officers
and thirty men. If there is don't come back, as we will follow you."

We got there at last, two of us, but the owner took a long time opening.
Meanwhile scraps of roofs and walls were raining on us, but with our
knapsacks on our heads we were a bit protected. At last our knocks were
answered, and we learned that there was room for four officers, but not
for thirty men! The Colonel and the men had to be warned, so my comrade
started running back and I followed about fifteen yards behind.

We passed a gap in the houses, with no cover, nothing but gardens. A
shell came along. I dropped, while the other man hid in a doorway. The
bits of it sang about our ears. I then sang out: "As you are nearly
there, go on, and I'll see if there is room in the farm near by." I
reached the houses and waited to see that he got through, because if
he'd fallen I should have had to go back to warn the rest. As he was
going two shells burst in the courtyard of the mairie, and I