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Edgar Guest - Runner McGee: (Who Had "Return if Possible" Orders)
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YOU`VE heard a good deal of the telephone wires,"
      He said as we sat at our ease,
And talked of the struggle that`s taking men`s lives
     In these terrible days o`er the seas,
"But I`ve been through the thick of the thing
     And I know when a battle`s begun
It isn`t the `phone you depend on for help.
     It`s the legs of a boy who can run.

It isn`t because of the `phone that I`m here.
     Today you are talking to me
Because of the grit and the pluck of a boy.
     His title was Runner McGee.
We were up to our dead line an` fighting alone;
     Some plan had miscarried, I guess,
And the help we were promised had failed to arrive.
     We were showing all signs of distress.

"Our curtain of fire was ahead of us still,
     An` theirs was behind us an` thick,
An` there wasn`t a thing we could do for ourselves
     The few of us left had to stick.
You haven`t much chance to get central an` talk
     On the `phone to the music of guns;
Getting` word to the chief is a matter right then
     That is up to the fellow who runs.

"I`d sent four of `em back with the R. I. P. sign,
     Which means to return if you can,
But none of `em got through the curtain of fire;
     My hurry call died with the man.
Then Runner McGee said he`d try to get through.
     I hated to order the kid
On his mission of death; thought he`d never get by,
     But somehow or other he did.

"Yes, he`s dead. Died an hour after bringing us word
     That the chief was aware of our plight,
An` for us to hang onto the ditch that we held;
     The reserves would relieve us at night.
Then we stuck to our trench an` we stuck to our guns;
     You know how you`ll fight when you know
That new strength is coming to fill up the gaps.
     There`s heart in the force of your blow.

"It wasn`t till later I got all the facts.
     They wanted McGee to remain.
They begged him to stay. He had cheated death once,
     An` was foolish to try it again.
`R. I. P. are my orders,` he answered them all,
     `An` back to the boys I must go;
Four of us died comin` out with the news.
     It will help them to know that you know.`"
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