DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Imagination, v. 1, issue 4, whole no. 4, January 1938

Transcribe
Translate

Imagination, v. 1, issue 4, whole no. 4, January 1938

Page 14

14

the town loosing leaflets.
   "When the immigration authoritys mobilized the borderpatrolmen I joind their ranks & went out to meet the Hazys. Tho hail of bullets that wiped out most of the borderpatrol fortunately left me unharmd & I rolld into a ditch by the wayside & lay still. I couldn't see except directly overhead -- & then but a naro strip of blu sky; but I heard the thundrous crash of exploding bombs as the Fed planes went into action. This lastd but a few mins tho at the time it seemd an eternity. I am not ashamed to say I was as terrifyd as a man can be, that I managed to crawl along the ditch & into the sheltr of a nrby culvert. Finaly there was a comparativ silence save for a monotonous creaking & tramping of feet. Several dead bodys carelessly were thrown aside & one spongy soldier fell nr the culvert. in which I croucht. I saw His face & for a moment thot shock had unseatd my reason. 
   "The face was long, the eyes dark, the brows balded.
   "I thot: I'm seeing things!
   "Then I got my nerv back & crept forward to examin the face more closely. Yes, there was a mole on the chin, to the left side, & the rite ear had that curious bulge in the lobe. But 2 mos. befor I had helpt identify the partialy chard body of Dr Spurgeon by such blemishes (tho his features had been recognizable enuf); I had seen his corpse in a coffin, witnest its interment --& yet here in the person of this dead soldier lay Dr Spurgeon!
   "I think I must'v made some betraying sound or motion for sudnly a bayonet point probed into the ditch & I leapt erect deeming myself in danger of instant death & yet transfixt in my place by the astounding fact that this startling soldier with the bloody bayonet like the dead one in the ditch also had the face & form of Dr Spurgeon!
   "& then I saw passing in their 100s, their 1000s, the ghostly grayclad infantry... & every man - jack of it that I could see -- in height, in face, in form -- was a replica of the dead doc!
   "I noted all this in a few secs--far fastr''n it takes to tell--in one wild glance it seemd; for there was death in the blank eyes of the soldier lunging at me with his weapon, fingr crookt on the trigr of the rifle. 
   "Then when it apeard the next moment would see me launcht into eternity...the fantom froze in his tracks. No other expression can describe the abruptness with which his ferocious attack ceast. I felt the prick of the point against my chest & cold perspiration bathed my body. So for pregnant seconds we stood. 
   "Then he drew back, othr blank-eyed soldiers came up, I was liftd bodyly into a motortruck, the truck turnd, retracing the course it had come, passing the long columns of steadyly marching men who turnd on me blank eyes & expressionless faces & brot me to this place. 
   "It was much as U see it now, save that the great doubl doors to those bldgs over there were open & from them issued a continuous stream of the translucent troops, m-guns, tanks. I saw the curious crimson planes taxi forth, turn to one side, speed across that level field yondr & take to the air. 
   "The bldgs were large & yet it seemd incredibl they could'v housed the amount of men & equipment I saw pouring from them. 
   "The motorlorry bearing me rounded those bldgs & came to a pause

Saving...

14 the town loosing leaflets. "When the immigration authoritys mobilized the borderpatrolmen I joind their ranks & went out to meet the Hazys. Tho hail of bullets that wiped out most of the borderpatrol fortunately left me unharmd & I rolld into a ditch by the wayside & lay still. I couldn't see except directly overhead -- & then but a naro strip of blu sky; but I heard the thundrous crash of exploding bombs as the Fed planes went into action. This lastd but a few mins tho at the time it seemd an eternity. I am not ashamed to say I was as terrifyd as a man can be, that I managed to crawl along the ditch & into the sheltr of a nrby culvert. Finaly there was a comparativ silence save for a monotonous creaking & tramping of feet. Several dead bodys carelessly were thrown aside & one spongy soldier fell nr the culvert. in which I croucht. I saw His face & for a moment thot shock had unseatd my reason. "The face was long, the eyes dark, the brows balded. "I thot: I'm seeing things! "Then I got my nerv back & crept forward to examin the face more closely. Yes, there was a mole on the chin, to the left side, & the rite ear had that curious bulge in the lobe. But 2 mos. befor I had helpt identify the partialy chard body of Dr Spurgeon by such blemishes (tho his features had been recognizable enuf); I had seen his corpse in a coffin, witnest its interment --& yet here in the person of this dead soldier lay Dr Spurgeon! "I think I must'v made some betraying sound or motion for sudnly a bayonet point probed into the ditch & I leapt erect deeming myself in danger of instant death & yet transfixt in my place by the astounding fact that this startling soldier with the bloody bayonet like the dead one in the ditch also had the face & form of Dr Spurgeon! "& then I saw passing in their 100s, their 1000s, the ghostly grayclad infantry... & every man - jack of it that I could see -- in height, in face, in form -- was a replica of the dead doc! "I noted all this in a few secs--far fastr''n it takes to tell--in one wild glance it seemd; for there was death in the blank eyes of the soldier lunging at me with his weapon, fingr crookt on the trigr of the rifle. "Then when it apeard the next moment would see me launcht into eternity...the fantom froze in his tracks. No other expression can describe the abruptness with which his ferocious attack ceast. I felt the prick of the point against my chest & cold perspiration bathed my body. So for pregnant seconds we stood. "Then he drew back, othr blank-eyed soldiers came up, I was liftd bodyly into a motortruck, the truck turnd, retracing the course it had come, passing the long columns of steadyly marching men who turnd on me blank eyes & expressionless faces & brot me to this place. "It was much as U see it now, save that the great doubl doors to those bldgs over there were open & from them issued a continuous stream of the translucent troops, m-guns, tanks. I saw the curious crimson planes taxi forth, turn to one side, speed across that level field yondr & take to the air. "The bldgs were large & yet it seemd incredibl they could'v housed the amount of men & equipment I saw pouring from them. "The motorlorry bearing me rounded those bldgs & came to a pause