active 1909-1917 Herbert Carter

“ Hence every time the train slackened speed Bumpus would glue his eyes on the landscape as seen through the open window, just as if he more than half-expected to discover a horde of Uhlans, with their lances and pennons and prancing horses, waiting to take the fugitives into camp as prisoners.
Finally as the afternoon began to wear away they did come to a halt in a small town. Thad announced that he believed they must now be on the border between Belgium and France. Here, if anywhere, they ought to be able to learn what the immediate future held in store for them. ”

“ Apparently the man understood, and his sense of gratitude caused him to push through the throng of admiring villagers until he reached the side of the car. His wife and children clung to him as though they feared he was about to be whisked out of their sight again before they had hardly seen him.
“We are going on, Jaques,” said Thad, “and would shake hands with you first.”
“Willingly, young M’sieu!” cried the soldier, “though my neighbors have almost taken the life out of my fingers already. If this is what it means to be reckoned a hero I do not know how much of it I may stand. ”

“ All my life I have been told that I had no spirit, that I would never stand the test when it came to war; that the heart of a timid man dwelt under my uniform. So I too had come to believe it, even I, Jaques Leforge, who should have known better. I often told myself I was meant for only a poltroon, a coward; and when the war came I went to my place in my regiment believing that I should die of fright when the guns rang in my ears, and the shells, burst all around me. ”

“ Giraffe laughed scornfully.
“Why, Bumpus,” he hastened to say in a patronizing way, “you must know that Paris is something more than an overgrown village. Next to our own New York, and then London, it’s called one of the biggest cities in the world. Of course, right now the people have flocked out of the same burg, thinking Von Kluck meant to break through and gobble up the same; but still there were plenty of folks on the avenues, I noticed, tens of thousands, in fact. No, Bumpus, I’m sorry to say I didn’t chance to run across your mother.” ”

“ The French field battery had done its utmost to inflict more or less damage upon the advancing German hosts, but evidently the time had come for discretion to take the part of desperate valor.
They had no orders to stick it out until every gun was smashed or the enemy had come swarming up to bayonet each reckless gunner. “Those who fight and run away may live to fight another day”; and the policy of these clever Frenchmen was to pester and annoy the oncoming invaders as much as possible in order to delay their progress, since every hour counted in the gathering of a force to defend Paris. ”

“ Even as he sat there in that peaceful dining room of the monastery, with those earnest Brothers gathered about the long table, leaning on their elbows and listening to the answers he made to the many questions, Bumpus could hear an increasing uproar outside.
The heavy reverberation of great guns shook the massive walls of the building; those insistent sounds of cruel warfare invaded the peaceful dwelling, where strife was not supposed to ever come. Half a million men in uniform were about inaugurating another day of buffeting and killing in the struggle for the mastery. ”

“ The very ground seemed quaking under the feet of the boys. They could see the havoc this German missile had wrought almost alongside one of the operating tables. Bumpus turned as white as a ghost and looked as though ready to collapse.
Immediately consternation bordering on a panic took possession of all in that unlucky field hospital. No one could understand why the German gunfire had been so suddenly raised and sent in this quarter. Thad glanced hurriedly toward the little rise. ”

“ It certainly looked as though already the sudden and violent demands made upon all the railways of Northern France for transportation on account of the mobilization of the troops, with their batteries, and horses, had caused a tremendous drain on their limited resources. They did not have these things “down pat” to the minutest detail, as in Germany, where every man, young and old, knew exactly what was expected of him when a certain order went forth, and the whole nation moved like a gigantic machine, in unison. ”

“ His resolution to be of some use to those in need grew stronger all the while. The procession of ambulances and vans filled with stricken humanity kept that determination fresh in his mind. While Bumpus of course did not pretend to know a quarter of the things connected with surgery that Thad, for instance, was able to practice, at the same time he had been drilled in the rudiments of the art, and could act as an assistant when called upon, bind up ordinary cuts, stop the flow of blood, fetch cool water to parched throats, and in many similar ways prove of service about a field hospital. ”

“ All the time the boys noticed that they were passing through heavy masses of troops eager for action. Temporary trenches had been thrown up, a mere shadow of an excuse when compared with the wonderful concrete creations that later on became such a part of warfare along the Aisne. Behind these ridges of earth the soldiers in blue lay, watching and waiting for the coming of their enemies, and ready to do their duty with gun and bayonet after the customary gallant French style. ”

“ With that he turned more fully toward them, and Thad saw to his great surprise that the private was actually wearing a glittering emblem. It was really the Cross of the Legion of Honor, only bestowed, like the English Victoria Cross, upon some man who has shown extraordinary valor in battle, performed some wonderful feat of bravery, in fact.
To see it on the breast of a humble wounded private trudging wearily along a dusty road near Paris naturally gave the boys a thrill. They looked upon the man now as an exalted hero, for he surely must have done something wonderful ”

“ At any minute now Thad expected to be halted by a vidette post, for of course the immediate vicinity of Headquarters would be heavily guarded to secure the safety of the commanding genius to whom the French armies must look for guidance.
“Slow up a bit, Thad,” suddenly cried Giraffe, poking the driver in the back.
“What did you see?” demanded Bumpus, at once alarmed.
“There are men waiting for us at that point ahead where the trees overhang the road; because I glimpsed the glint of gun-barrels in the sun. And we don’t want to be asked to explain who we are after they’ve made sieves out of us.” ”

“ Then the battery came to a pause. Thad guessed what it meant, so that he hardly had need to discover the captain making motions to him. They must jump down now and take care of themselves.
According, Thad left his seat, in which action he was speedily followed by the other three boys. Bumpus even grinned a little, as though pleased. It had been a regular nightmare for a time for the fat boy, clinging desperately to some frail support alongside, as the ammunition wagon bowled recklessly along the rutty road, and jolting the breath from his body with fits and starts. ”

“ When the vast German army smashed a way through Belgium and commenced that historic rush toward apparently doomed Paris, few there were who were bold enough to believe the French capital could be saved. History would repeat itself, Paris fall to the invading hosts, and, having subdued poor France, the Kaiser’s victorious legions could next turn on Russia and repeat the lesson in preparedness. ”

“ Thad never knew the truth about it; in fact, no one could learn the reason why. Just then the one main object they had in view was to put as great a distance between themselves and that harried ground as possible.
Amidst a jumble of wagons, vans, ambulances, motor lorries and ordinary cars, all striving to push along that one narrow thoroughfare, the three scouts pressed on. One shell had dropped squarely in the road and made such a yawning gap that it was necessary for each vehicle to go around the aperture. ”

“ It must be in the blood for human beings to wish to gaze upon terrible scenes of carnage and valor; for no one had before this ever accused either Thad or Allan of being the possessor of a blood-thirsty spirit. ”

“ As these immense masses of armed troops approached the region of the French capital, the desperation of the defenders increased. But, fortunately for them, there was a man who kept his head through the near-panic and never lost faith. This man was Joffre, the same commander-in-chief who, in after days, continuously baffled the efforts of the most astute German generals to again take the initiative in their hands, after they lost it at the great five-day battle of the Marne. ”

“ We found a chance to assist the Red Cross Corps at a field hospital. One of our number even drove an ambulance all the way to Paris with a load of wounded. There was an American surgeon who did wonders for your brave men. One was brought in terribly battered. It turned out that he had been on a motorcycle bearing important messages for General Joffre when he ran into a van, and had his machine crushed. He may die from his hurts; but the thing that grieved him most was the fact that his dispatches were being held up. ”

“ Recognizing that this was sound logic, Thad led his companions along another road, that he had learned had its other terminus in Paris itself. They might expect to meet many detachments of French recruits hastening toward the front, fresh batteries on their way, together with innumerable motor lorries, tractors drawing loads, ambulances, and other petrol-driven army vehicles laden with stores or ammunition, all heading toward the line where those men in the French blue waited calmly for a new phase of the fight to open. ”

“ Men in soldierly garments could be seen on the streets, all apparently hurrying toward some central point of mobilization. Twice the boys heard the clatter of many horses’ hoofs as their carriage was drawn hastily aside to allow a battery of field-pieces to pass by with a whirl. These were possibly heading for the front, where the Belgians still heroically resisted this forced invasion of their country by their powerful and unscrupulous northern neighbor, one of the countries guaranteeing the neutrality of Belgium at that. ”

“ The four scouts sat there and looked on with the keenest of interest. Why, even Bumpus for the time being utterly forgot that he was in a terrible hurry; for he wanted to share in the triumph of Jacques.
So it sometimes happens that men, as well as boys, bear the name of coward when it is not at all deserved. Poor Jaques had so long been accustomed to hearing his neighbors call him timid and weak-hearted that he had come to take it for granted he was really lacking in moral fiber. ”

“ One of their number had died, perhaps sacrificing his life for France; and the Brothers were now engaged in giving him a midnight burial, after some rule of the order.
Bumpus felt a whole lot better after coming to this conclusion, though he still continued to keep his eyes glued on what was passing below, and did not mean to miss the least portion of the ceremony.
That rising and falling chant thrilled him strangely. He would never forget it as long as he lived. Still it was a relief to know that he was watching real flesh and blood people, and not visitors from the other world ”

“ It was simply amazing to see how splendidly those ranks kept their formation even after all manner of machine-guns, and those of larger bore, opened a hailstorm of lead and iron.
If men went down, as they undoubtedly must have done here, there and everywhere, like leaves falling from the trees with the Autumn wind, the slight gaps were not noticeable at that distance, for others simply closed in, and the solid mass kept charging on and on like a machine that, once set in motion, could not be stopped by any power on earth. ”

“ And I, Jaques Leforge, did it.”
“You must get in here with us,” said Thad. “We will not take no for an answer. You are tired, you are almost spent, and your home may still be some miles away. Besides, we want to put you down there, so that we too may see what those neighbors will say, those who misjudged you all these years, when they see that splendid medal, and know that you have won it.”
“That’s the talk,” said Giraffe, promptly; and even Bumpus, much as he wanted to hurry along, would not have arranged it otherwise. ”

“ As for Giraffe, he shuddered a little to contemplate what might have happened had he ever allowed those excited peasants to surround him, unable to speak their language as he was. Going hungry might be bad enough, but it was not a circumstance to being man-handled by a mob.
“I wonder what next?” Bumpus was saying. “It seems that we just have to work our way along as we go. Didn’t I say the last lap was always the hardest of all to cover? We’re got time for a whole lot more adventures before we enter Paris.” ”

“ LANDED IN ANTWERP
“Well, here we are, up the River Schelde at last, and landing at old Antwerp, boys.”
“Yes, that’s right, Thad, and glad to set foot again on solid ground, after that long trip over the North Sea from Rotterdam, away up in Holland.”
“Of course Bumpus is happy, because he expects to join his mother here at the Sanitarium. We all hope you’ll find her much improved, and ready to start for the good old United States, where peace hangs out and folks don’t dream of lining up in battle array like they’re all doing over here in Europe.” ”

“ When, later on, the signal was given for the heavily laden train to start, there were numerous persons who had not been able to find accommodations aboard. This came through the ever-growing desire to get away from the city which undoubtedly sooner or later would hear the crashing detonations of the monster mortars that had already smashed the steel-domed defenses of Liege and Namur.
“Well, this is what I call rushing things some,” observed Giraffe, as he looked out from the window near his elbow and saw that they were already leaving the environs of the Belgian seaport behind them. ”

“ For aught some of these people knew tens of thousands of Germans might be covering the roads in that section of the country where their beloved homes lay, and their hearts were filled with dire forebodings whenever they thought of the innocent ones toward whom they were endeavoring to hasten.
“We’re mighty lucky to get even this ricketty old rig!” Allan declared as Bumpus and Giraffe were mounting to seats in the wagon. “It’ll help us on our way some miles, and when the horse lays down on us, why we’ll be that much closer to Paris. Then walking is good in the bargain, you know.” ”

“ Vans were being hastily loaded and driven away in mad haste, as if the ruling passion in each and every heart just then was to get beyond range of those constantly falling shells. There were several French female nurses in the camp. These brave women seemed ready to sacrifice their own lives in order to leave room in some of the vans for the wounded. ”

“ Of course every train that pulled out would be filled to overflowing with troops, and if there chanced to be room for any regular passengers those who lived in the French capital would be favored first of all.
Excitement filled the air. Music could be heard, for soldiers will show a certain amount of gaiety even though facing a terrible battle on the morrow. And whichever way one looked it was to see marching men in khaki. Bumpus reckoned that there must be thousands of them in Calais. ”

“ No matter how difficult the task may have seemed, we have been highly favored by good fortune. And we’ll come through this time with colors flying.”
“I ought to be ashamed to let myself have a single doubt, Thad,” Bumpus frankly admitted, as he turned his eyes upon the leader in whom he had such implicit faith, “when right now I’ve got the backing of the best pards that ever donned the khaki. Yes, I’m going to shut my teeth hard together, and tell myself that we’ve got to get to Paris, no matter if a whole German army corps stands in the way.” ”