Homer Randall

“ Above everything else he was an American through and through. He was proud of his country, of its traditions, of its history, of its glorious flag. For that flag he had risked his life again and again. He loved it with a consuming passion. Old Glory! The tears came to his eyes as he thought of it. The flag that had always stood for human freedom and human rights, the flag that had never covered an ignoble cause, the flag that had never been sullied by stain, had never been smirched by defeat, had never been dragged in the dust. ”

“ But American blood and American fighting qualities were not to be denied. Gradually the Germans were pressed back, but as they retreated they kept up a stubborn resistance by means of machine gun nests posted in every conceivable place, at every turn in the forest paths, in clumps of bushes, in forks of trees. They made the Americans pay dearly for every foot of ground that they gained. ”

“ After one day of particularly grim and stubborn fighting, the Army Boys found themselves quartered in an unusually large clearing in the dense woods and underbrush that went to compose the Argonne Forest. Since early morning they had been engaged in clearing out trench after trench of Boches, menaced on every side by skillfully concealed machine gun nests, but making steady progress, in the face of almost insuperable obstacles. ”

“ A hail of bullets and of hand grenades met the assailants and tore great gaps in their lines. Men by the score threw up their hands and fell, but their comrades pressed on over them in a fierce determination to wipe out once for all the American detachment that had been holding them so obstinately at that point of the long battle line on the edge of the forest.
“They’re gluttons for punishment,” panted Tom, as he pumped bullets into the oncoming ranks until his gun grew hot in his hands.
“It’ll be hand to hand this time,” gritted Frank between his teeth. “Bullets won’t stop them. ”

“ But they had scarcely taken three strokes before a star shell rose from the enemy side of the canal and shed a greenish ghastly radiance over the scene. By its light, they saw a dozen or more Germans on the bank they had just left, and a volley of bullets that came singing over their heads and about the boat told them that they offered a good target.
But it was not this group of enemies that gave them the greatest concern. A more serious peril threatened them. For in that green flare of the star shell they saw two boats between them and the shore they sought. ”

“ Those infernal Germans have spies everywhere and we may be in a nest of them. We want to keep as mum as oysters about all military affairs.”
“It doesn’t seem as though a nice girl like that Helen could be a spy,” said Billy regretfully.
“Nor Alice,” put in Tom.
“Maybe they’re not,” admitted Frank. “In fact, I’m pretty sure they’re not, or Helen wouldn’t have made that break about living in Coblenz. It’s the last thing they’d have wanted us to know. But I’m not so sure of the mother. I caught her sending a warning to Helen with her eyes, but it was too late.” ”

“ For the rest of that day they took the ease and comfort that they had so richly earned. The camp rules were relaxed and it was a general holiday. They were conscious of an immense weariness of body, as the reaction came from the strain under which they had so constantly labored, but their mental exhilaration was so great that they were supremely happy. It was a curious experience to be able to walk erect in perfect security, without having to crouch behind a tree or a trench or throw themselves to the ground at the approach of a shell. ”

“ They’re the greatest self-kidders in existence. Their minds are cross-eyed. They never see anything straight. You see if when those fellows reach Germany the people don’t come out to meet them as conquering heroes. It’s a great system. You win when you lose.”
“They remind me of the story of the fellow who boasted that he had kept the other fellow down by firmly inserting his nose between his adversary’s teeth,” chuckled Billy. “But look at these fellows coming along the road in rags. By Jove, they’re Americans too!”
[162] “They’re prisoners, let loose by the Germans!” exclaimed Frank. ”

“ There was a deeper bass note than usual that the Army Boys’ trained ears detected in an instant.
“Those must be the naval guns we’ve been hearing so much about,” said Frank to Billy.
“That’s what,” replied Billy, “and they’re some guns, too. I hear that they throw nearly a ton of metal a distance of sixteen miles. They’re the biggest guns that have ever been used in battle, and they spell hard luck for the Heinies.”
“I wonder how we’re going to get across this canal,” pondered Tom, as they waited for the word to charge. ”

“ So engrossed was he in his thoughts that it was almost as in a dream that he exchanged cordial greetings with Colonel Pavet and the young lieutenant and started on his ride homeward. He had anticipated a hilarious time in narrating to Tom and Billy all he had felt and seen, but he was really glad when he arrived at [141] his quarters that they were sound asleep. Ordinarily he would have wakened them without ceremony, but just now he wanted to snuggle down in his blanket and go over and over again in his mind the events of that night of nights. ”

“ I’m glad that you’re our friends instead of our enemies as I should hate to have to face your soldiers in the field.”
“We’ll never meet except as brothers in arms,” returned Frank. “That’s what Washington and Lafayette were, and our nations have been the closest of friends ever since. The greatest republic of the old world and the greatest of the new have always stood and will always stand for liberty and civilization.” ”

“ The Allies are going to occupy a bridgehead eighteen miles in size on the other side of the Rhine at these crossings. That’ll cage up the Heinies so that they couldn’t get back into France and Belgium even if they wanted to.”
“Won’t they feel sore to have Allied soldiers on the sacred soil of Germany!” grinned Billy.
“And have to take off their hats every time the Star Spangled Banner is played,” laughed Frank. “I tell you it will be a bitter pill for those fellows to swallow.”
“It sure will,” agreed Tom. “But wait till you hear the rest of the armistice terms. ”

“ Without a pause, they leaped over this, and, using their revolvers with deadly effect, quickly despatched the Germans who formed its crew.
“So far, so good,” gritted Frank, the lust of battle in his eyes. “There’s another parapet over there, fellows, and it’s a cinch there’s one of these hornets concealed behind it. Let’s get after it before the crew discovers us. They’re not firing now, but they’re apt to begin any minute.”
“We’re with you!” shouted Tom and Billy, and the three fearless Americans raced for this new obstacle. ”

“ But his companion in serving the gun had risen to his feet at the same moment with Frank and had drawn his revolver to fire. Frank had no time to raise his rifle, but quick as lightning he swung it from the level of his waist against the upraised arm of his opponent. There was a sharp crack that told that the bone was broken, and the man sank to the ground with a groan.
Frank heard a shout just behind him and wheeled about. A helmeted head was emerging from a trench that had been dug in the rear of the machine gun, and in this a squad of Germans had been stationed to support the crew. ”

“ Frank was badly shaken by the news he had heard and it was fortunate for him that the work that yet lay before the army was such as to engross his mind and keep him from brooding.
For the Allied commanders were taking no chances. They knew too much of German duplicity to rely on their good faith in any matter. The nation that regarded solemn treaties as “scraps of paper” was not to be trusted in the slightest particular. Only when the mad dog of Europe should be finally tied and muzzled could [146] the Allies afford to relax their efforts in any degree. ”

“ A crackling rifle fire followed the shell, and a bullet ploughed through the scalp of the corporal, knocking him senseless.
There was no other officer at hand and Frank took command at once. His quick eye glancing about caught sight of a disabled and abandoned tank that was near by. It lay in such a position that its open door was on the side that faced the enemy.
“Quick!” he ordered. “Put the machine gun in that tank. Hurry now and bring all that ammunition along. But first put the corporal behind that tree where a bullet can’t get him. Hustle’s the word.” ”

“ The Americans had lost a considerable number of men, but not so many as the enemy, for the ground was covered with German dead.
Frank had come through unscathed, except for a slight ridge in the scalp that a bullet had barely [6] grazed, but Tom’s cut lip had swelled so that his mouth was twisted in a ludicrous shape and he could only speak with difficulty. At any other time Frank would have been inclined to “guy” him over the comical appearance he presented, but now, as always after a hot fight, his first thought was of Bart and Billy. ”

“ Deep gulches and ravines made it impossible for the troops to advance in any kind of regular formations, and in places there was only room for them to go in single file over ground swept by enemy bullets. Their heaviest batteries had been brought from other portions of the line and concentrated there.
It was the Germans’ last stand. If they failed to hold the Americans, their cause was lost. Back of the forest was the railway line that ran from Longuyon to Mezieres and Sedan. It was their chief artery of supplies for all their armies in France and Belgium. ”

“ The first star shell had faded, but others followed in quick succession, so that [41] there was no chance to slip between the enemy boats in the darkness.
“Turn her head upstream,” ordered Wilson, and the boat swung round.
“Now, pull for your lives,” the corporal commanded. “Our only chance is to get far enough ahead of those fellows to cut into the shore. When you fellows are tired, Waldon and I will take the oars. Pull, now, pull!”
Frank and Tom obeyed, putting every ounce of strength into their strokes, until it seemed as though the oars must snap. ”

“ They’re putting all their eggs in one basket this time.”
“The more that come the more to fall,” muttered Frank, the light of battle coming into his eyes.
It seemed indeed as though the Germans were staking all the day’s results on a single throw, for they were in much greater force than before and they fell on the American lines like an avalanche. It was a form of fighting in which they were especially proficient and against weaker fighters they might have prevailed. ”

“ Nothing will be too good for us.”
“We’ll surely be It with a capital I,” agree Frank happily. “If only good old Bart could be with us,” he added, and a shadow came over his face.
“That’s the one fly in the ointment,” admitted Billy. “But he will be with us and don’t you forget it. He’s liable to turn up any minute.”
“And now that the fighting is over, we may have a chance to look for him ourselves,” put in Tom. “It stands to reason he can’t be very far from here. But now let’s go to chow. We ought to have an extra good meal this morning with a lot of victory sauce to season it.” ”

“ There were airplanes too, scores of them, some of them the famous “flying tanks,” so called because they had a metal armor about them to ward off enemy bullets. The Army Boys looked at them with great curiosity and would have liked to stop to examine them at leisure, but had to keep on in the steadily marching ranks.
They could look across into Germany now, where on the other side of the river, the German forces were withdrawing. It was a strange sensation to see a German and not snatch up a gun to hurry his movements. ”

“ Each owed a great deal to the other. Frank, as my old readers will remember, had saved the colonel’s life when the latter was lying wounded on the battlefield and had carried him off to safety amid a storm of bullets. The colonel, on the other hand, had been kindness itself in looking after the interest of Frank’s mother in property that had been left to her in France.
“Ah, Monsieur Sheldon, how glad I am to see you again,” said Colonel Pavet. ”

“ This last ditch business doesn’t go with the Huns. They’re all right when they’re winning, but they can’t stand losing. They don’t want their cities devastated in the same way that they’ve ruined the cities of France and Belgium. When the time comes they’ll cave in. You just wait and see what kind of a prophet little Billy is.”
“I think you’re both right,” said Frank. “I agree with Tom that we’re due for one big fight before Heinie will admit defeat. But I also think with Billy that when that defeat comes they’ll curl up and quit so quickly it will make your head swim. ”

“ A stretcher party working in that part of the field was signaled, and the men were taken away to the hospital.
“Some classy work!” exclaimed Billy, when at his eager urging Frank had told to him and Tom the incidents of the fight. “If you don’t get the Distinguished Service Cross for this, there’s no gratitude in the United States army.”
“Billy’s right,” declared Tom, as he clapped Frank on the shoulder. “There isn’t one man in a thousand who would have thought of it or done it if he had thought of it. Frank, old man, you’re a wonder.” ”

“ The boys sprang excitedly to their feet.
“Bart!” exclaimed Billy huskily.
“What makes you think that?” asked Tom.
“Of course, it’s just a guess,” explained Frank, “and I may be all wrong. But it seems to me it’s a reasonable guess. From what Dick says, the man seems to be out of his head. No sane man would go through all those drill motions all by himself. And you know that Bart was always a crank on the manual of arms. There wasn’t a quicker or smarter man at drill in the whole Thirty-seventh. We know that poor Bart was out of his head when he escaped from the hospital. ”

“ American officers were to be saluted when they passed. Hats were to be lifted when the American flag appeared and when the American national air was played. The people were warned that the rules were to be strictly obeyed and that any disorder would be sharply and instantly repressed.
“And they’re getting off mighty easy at that,” grumbled Tom. “What we ought to do is to give them a taste of their own medicine. We ought to post up the same regulations here that the Germans did in the towns of France and Belgium.”
“We couldn’t do that,” objected Frank. ”