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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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thither in all ways. The artillery booming, forward, rearward, and on the flanks made jumble of ideas of direction. Landmarks had vanished into the gathered gloom. The youth began to imagine that he had got into the center of the tremendous quarrel, and he could perceive no way out of it. From the mouths of the fleeing men came a thousand wild questions, but no one made answers. The youth, after rushing about and throwing interrogations at the heedless bands of retreating infantry, finally clutched a man by the arm. They swung around face to face. "Why--why--" stammered the youth strug- gling with his balking tongue. The man screamed: "Let go me! Let go me!" His face was livid and his eyes were roll- ing uncontrolled. He was heaving and panting. He still grasped his rifle, perhaps having for- gotten to release his hold upon it. He tugged frantically, and the youth being compelled to lean forward was dragged several paces. "Let go me! Let go me!" "Why--why--" stuttered the youth. "Well, then!" bawled the man in a lurid rage. He adroitly and fiercely swung his rifle. It crushed upon the youth's head. The man ran on. The youth's fingers had turned to paste upon the other's arm. The energy was smitten from his muscles. He saw the flaming wings of light- ning flash before his vision. There was a deaf- ening rumble of thunder within his head. Suddenly his legs seemed to die. He sank writhing to the ground. He tried to arise. In his efforts against the numbing pain he was like a man wrestling with a creature of the air. |
