Central High School - Mirror Yearbook (Birmingham, AL)

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ing themselves in a circle, they repulsed the first attack. But, the enemy outnumbered them two to one. There was no escape unless succor came. At a hurried council of war “Silent 19 was chosen to make an attempt to creep past the Arabs ami go for aid. He silently crawled away from his companions. He passed the first Arab picket in safety and slowly crept nearer to their horses. Crawling on all fours, he reached the animals. As he was about to mount he was discovered. The sentinel fired. Hastily swinging into the saddle he lashed the horse into a mad run. He reached the fort in the early hours of the morning and waking the commandant, he told of the Legionaries' plight. In a short time the regiment was on the march. “Silent 49 rode hack with the soldiers and aided in the dispersion of the bandits. All went well until the troopers started back. A small hand of Arabs ventured one more attack and in the melee “Silent 49 was severely wounded. They carried him back to the fort. Fever set in and in a few days the silent one was a raving maniac. Day by day he wasted away. At last, as a final attempt to effect a cure, they sent him to Marseilles, where he was placed in the government hospital. The excellent facilities at hand began, under the guidance of a competent physician, to bring the wounded man back to health. Mr. Mackenzie paced the lobby of a Marseilles hotel. He held in his hand a message from the government physician which, after following him through ten cities, found him here. He read on paragraph again: A man who claims to he vour son is in the government hospital here. He belongs to the Foreign Legion in Africa. He was wounded in a skirmish and was brought here for treatment. I would advise you to investigate. Mr. Mackenzie put the letter away. Could it be Jack? No. impossible. Nevertheless. T will see the man. The next day he went to the hospital and was ushered into the room where a man tossed upon a cot. The sick man’s head was turned from him. hut as he reached the bedside, the man turned over. “Tack.” cried the old man, throwing himself on the figure under the white cover. “My boy. mv hoy.” Father.” said Jack in a whispering voice. “How is Marjorie? His father looked away with tears in his eyes. “She’s married. She married James Terry.” The sick man closed his eves. Three weeks later the soldier left the hospital, not as Jack Mackenzie, however, but as Caotain Forty-Nine.” The happiness of seeing his father gave wav to the sadness of a wounded heart. He was still “Silent 10.” Jack,” said his father, a few days after his release from the hospital, are you ready to go home?” No. T am going hack to the Sahara.” Mr. Mackenzie left a few davs later for merica when he found Jack’s decision final, and Captain Fortv-Nine returned to Africa. One night Jack sat under the palm before the station. He musingly looked across the silent wastes « f the desert. 31

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'flic commandant. Jean Duvagne, looking at the number on the card, asked Jack his name. I wish my name to be kept a secret,” answered Jack. “It makes no difference who you are, just so you obey orders and light.” Duvagne said as he turned and walked away. That night Jack sat on a bench under a palm some distance away in front of the barracks. The moon illuminated everything around. Sounds familiar to soldier life issued from the barracks. The lazy hum of conversation floated on the silent air. Dreamily watching the beetles on the sand at his feet, thoughts of home came to him. What was his father doing now? Was his mother worried? Did they talk of him at the dinner table? Had they told Marjorie of his action? All these questions came to haunt him in a silent procession. Far away came the roar of a lion in a distant jungle. The moon glanced deathly white on the sand dunes to the south and they lent an uncanny light to the night. About eleven o’clock lie went into the library of the station and wrote t » his father and mother, and to his betrothed. Leaving these for the morning mail, he retired. After a wait of three weeks he received a letter from Marjorie telling him that their engagement was off until he made good, and that upon second thought, she never had loved him. She mentioned the name of his rival. James Terry. Jack slowly folded the letter and placing it in the envelope, stuck it into his coat pocket. Slowly he went out into the sunlight, and stumbling made his waj to the bench under the palm, his favorite retreat. Throwing himself heavily on the bench he bent his head on his breast and ran his fingers through his hair, as though trying to brush away the shock of the girl's fickleness. His mess mates noted a great change in Jack after that day. Where he had been gay and witty before, he was now morose, silent. I hey could not imagine what was wrong, and. when this condition continued, they began to fear for his mind. When they questioned him he would evade their thrusts and go to his quarters. By his silence he earned the name of “Silent 10.” When he went to the town for his supplies with his comrades, he would wait for them at the commissary while they visited the women of their acquaintance about the town. No one could imagine why Silent in” never spoke to any of the Arab girls or even, for that matter, to the white women about the town. When invited to attend the dance halls he would decline with a shake of the head. On the return from one of these trips the supply train was attacked by desert bandits. The camels were drawn up in a circle and the men. using the beasts as a breastwork, replied to the fire of the dark men of the Sahara. Fighting silently. Silent 10 loaded and fired his rifle with mechanical regularity. For a while it looked as though the attackers would get the best of the fight, but the men of the Legion, by accurate marksmanship so depleted the enemy’s force that thev retired. But that night as the moon rose they returned. No one heard them approach. With a wild veil they burst upon the sleeping men. Taken unawares, the soldiers formed in confusion. Oroup- 80

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CURRY LITERARY SOCIETY