Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 150, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 June 1913 — THRUST IN THE DARK [ARTICLE]

THRUST IN THE DARK

Servian- Soldier Teiis Story of Experiences in War. Encounter Between Bentry and Albanian in Blackness of Night and Btorm —Waiting In Pitchy Darkneaa for Unseen Enemy. Saloniki, Macedonia —A Servian soldier just returned from Albania related the following episode as his worst experience in the war: —“I was on night duty as a sentry on the Albanian hills, where rain and dark overtook us. All this region was unknown to us, but the tribes were Moslem, and supposed to be hostile.' I knew that thousands of lives depended on me; I stood motionless, weary, stone cold, and unable to see anything, glad to rest my back sometimes behind me. I got to thinking of home in spite of myself, till I was startled/ by a rustle some paces off. We were warned not to make any noise, so I did not touch my gun, but got my sword ready. “There was no other sound for a long time, except the pouring of the rain. Ido not know how many hours it was till a stone from above rattled past me and fell to the precipice below. I tried to persuade myself the rain had dislodged it, but the rustle began again, and I knew something living was near. I made the sign of the cross and held my sword straight in front of me. I strained my eyeß, but could not see a move or a gleam in the black night. “The muffled sound continued, ever s slightly, but distinguishable, and I had the horrid sensation of being seen by what I could not see. I made no move, but suddenly my sword encountered something, and I pressed hard, just taking one step forward. There was a strange gurgle. I was shivering and drenched, but some hot drops now fell on my hand. I pulled back my sword, and heard some heavy object tumble down the slope, wondering whether it was a dog or a wolf or a strayed mule —or a man. I felt the blade and found it wet with something thicker than rain. I held it near my eyes, in vain. I wiped it on the damp earth at my feet, and waited for another encounter, but there was no further sound till dawn approached and the cocks began to crow in some village far away. “I watched In agony for the coming of the round ball in the heavens that would bring relief, and I longed to lie down and sleep. With the first rays, however, our commander gave orders to march, as he had information we were surrounded by danger. We went down the same rugged path we had climbed the night before, and at the bottom of a ravine right beneath my post at the* rock lay the body of an Albanian, fully armed, in a pool of blood, with a hole iu his breast and a long two-edged knife in his closed fist. Four hours later we defeated his tribe and burned their village.”