The Verdun Salient
It was three nights after that on which Henri and his friends had
reached Louvain--that deserted city wrecked by German violence--and had
so fortunately and so literally hit up against a Belgian patriot, that
four figures crept from a tenement which had escaped the general
wreckage.
"You will walk along beside me, my friends, as though we were just
inmates of the city," said the Belgian, just before they left the house
in which he had given the three fugitives a resting-place. "If we pass
German soldiers, take your hats off to them, and if they challenge,
leave me to answer. Now let us be going, and I think that we may hope
for success."
Those four figures, Henri and his friends, now dressed in rough
civilian clothing, crept off along the deserted streets, and, threading
their way through the outskirts of the ruined city, and passing on
occasion groups of German soldiers whom they obsequiously saluted, at
length reached the open country. Tramping on through the night, they
sheltered, just before the dawn broke, in a ruined house in another
city, and repeated a similar process on the following morning. It was
on the third night that the Belgian led them into what had once been a
peaceful country village, and which was now merely a mass of tumbled
masonry.
"We are close to the Dutch frontier, my friends," he told them, "but
the way there is not so easy as it might seem, for the Germans have
stretched a barbed-wire fence between Belgium and Holland, and on it is
suspended an electric wire, charged with a high voltage, which kills
instantly; many a poor fellow endeavouring to escape from this unhappy
country has been electrocuted. But there are ways to avoid such
dangers, and here is one. Give a help, you, my friend Stuart, who are
the Hercules of the party."
A huge grating, which he endeavoured to lift, was a mere plaything in
the hands of the burly Englishman. It was a big grating above an open
sewer, and heavy enough to try the strength even of Stuart, yet it
yielded to the first tug he gave, and lifted upwards.
"Now, descend," said the Belgian, "there is a pit down here some twenty
feet in depth, and iron rungs in the wall. Descend, my friends; I
follow."
In a trice they were at the bottom of what felt like a deep, cold well,
and were standing in utter darkness listening to the sounds made by the
Belgian as he too entered and dropped the grid behind him. Then all
four stood listening for a while.
"Not a sound; no one has followed--that is good," giggled the Belgian,
for he was an amiable little fellow. "One has to be careful in these
day, messieurs; for there are spies throughout Belgium, and they know
well that there are people, like myself, patriots, my friends, who
carry on this traffic. But none have seen us, and therefore we are not
likely to be disturbed. Now, on, messieurs, and have no fear, for
there are no holes and gullies into which you can tumble, while, seeing
that it has been dry weather, there is no water in the sewer."
Feeling their way by stretching out their hands, and stumbling along in
the darkness, Henri following immediately after the Belgian, then
Jules, and last of all Stuart, the party traversed a long stretch of
the sewer, their fingers every second or so touching the brick walls on
either side, while occasionally their feet splashed through puddles.
Then the narrow path they trod swung to the left, and for a moment a
breath of cold air blew in upon them, and, glancing overhead, Henri
caught just a fleeting glimpse of stars far above, and of the iron bars
of a grid stretching between him and the sky.
"Now to the left, messieurs, and we descend. Listen, we are nearly
under the Dutch frontier, and overhead stretch those highly-charged
electric wires which have been erected by the Germans, and on which
many a poor fellow has been electrocuted. But even fear of
electrocution cannot keep the brave sons of Belgium from endeavouring
to leave this invaded country, and from joining those Belgian troops
now fighting with the French and the British. No, I who lead you now
have led hundreds of young fellows by this path or a similar one, and
have taken them to safety. Now on, messieurs; in a little while we
shall ascend to the surface."
It was perhaps a quarter of an hour later that Henri felt that the path
under his feet was ascending, and presently, having in the meanwhile
been half stifled, he began to appreciate the fact that fresh air was
reaching him, and that he could breathe more easily. A warning cry
from the man who led them now brought him to a halt, and five minutes
later the whole party had clambered up the rungs of a ladder and had
gained the Open.
"Messieurs," said the Belgian, "beyond there, straight ahead, you will
find a town with friendly Dutchmen in it, who will feed you and clothe
you and send you to your people. Adieu! You will fight all the better
for these adventures, and all the more fiercely for having seen what
poor Belgium is like under the Germans. Adieu! And good luck go with
you."
Shaking hands with their deliverer, and thanking him most cordially,
Henri and Jules and Stuart saw him depart down the ladder, and then
turned their faces from unhappy Belgium into Holland. For, indeed,
they were now beyond the frontier, and, looking back, could see the
barbed-wire fence which separated Holland and Belgium, erected to keep
patriotic sons of the invaded country from escaping German control and
joining the Belgian forces under King Albert. Yes, they could see the
light shot from a small moon, which had now risen, shining on the
wires, shining on that lower one which was charged with an electric
current.
"Nasty thing to get up against, that," said Stuart, the big, hefty
Stuart, shuddering in spite of himself. "I expect many a poor devil
has been killed by that method. And what a method! Just the sort of
thing a German would do. Now isn't it a mean, underhand way of killing
people? But never mind, here are three of us who mean to get even with
them; and in the meanwhile what about getting forward? What about
something to eat? What about something to smoke? What about joining
people who ain't afraid of smiling, who've pot a friendly feeling for
British and French, and don't give a rap for the Germans?"
The warmest of welcomes indeed waited the three in that Dutch town
which they were approaching, and despite the late hour of their arrival
they were immediately accommodated in one of the houses, were given an
opportunity of bathing, and were provided with suitable clothing and
with a meal the like of which they had not seen for many a long day.
"And now," said Henri on the following morning, when they assembled in
the _salon_ of the house to which they had been invited, "and now,
Stuart, what happens? Naturally enough, Jules and I make for France by
the quickest route, and then join the army."
"Which looks to me as though you're suggesting that I'm going to do
something quite different," growled Stuart, looking impressively big in
the Dutch clothes which had been provided for him. "Just as naturally
enough as you two are going to join the French army, I am off to join
the British--Kitchener's, you know--to take a hand in the job of
smashing the Kaiser."
"Then we shall part," said Jules, not without a sigh of regret. "We
have had fine times together--eh, Stuart? And, looking back upon it,
even Ruhleben doesn't seem so bad. In any case, it was worth it to
have gone through such a long adventure as we have had together. But I
wish we could continue in one another's company. I wish somehow you,
too, could join the French army, or that our regiments in the French
and British armies might be set to fight side by side in Flanders."
"The next thing is how are we going to return?" said Henri. "I have
said that we shall take the quickest route, and I am not quite sure
that that won't be via London--eh, Stuart? What do you think? Coastal
services from Holland towards France, I expect, are disorganized, and
no longer possible."
That this was so, their host immediately informed them.
"You may take it from me," he said, "that it is no longer easy, and in
fact almost impossible, to obtain a steamer running between the Hook
and Havre as formerly, and indeed of late it has been a matter of
considerable difficulty to get a passage from Holland even to England;
for the German submarines infest these waters, and, careless whether
the boat belong to a neutral or to one of the combatants, utterly
indifferent to the fact that many of them are filled with women and
children and people who have nothing to do with the fighting, indeed
forgetful of all instincts of humanity, of all mercy, and of all the
usual customs and feelings which have in the past controlled the
actions of belligerents, are torpedoing vessels at sight without
warning, killing the crews and passengers, murdering both French and
British and Belgians, as well as Dutchmen and people of other
nationalities. Mon Dieu! they are beasts these Germans. They are
cowardly bullies. That Kaiser will surely rue the day that he ever
commenced this war, and will most certainly regret the frightfulness
which he has taught his subjects to show to the people of all nations."
"And so there is a difficulty about getting a boat to England--eh?"
said Henri, a little concerned. "But surely it should be possible.
Perhaps some English boat would take us; for I can hardly believe that
they have been scared from the water."
"Scared! Ha ha!" laughed the Dutchman. "No, no! The picture I have
painted is perhaps a little over-coloured. Though the menace of the
German submarines has been extreme, and though they have murdered
numerous individuals, and have sunk a number of vessels, yet they have
not gone scot-free themselves; understand that, messieurs. German
submarines have been trapped, have been sunk, have suffered themselves
to such an extent that it is said that there are scarcely crews left to
man them; only, just now, there is a recrudescence of the peril. There
are more of these boats about, and consequently there is more
difficulty in crossing to England."
Yet the impatience of Henri, Jules, and Stuart to rejoin their own
people was so great that no amount of danger could thwart them. A
visit to their respective consuls provided them with funds for the
journey, and the following morning they were on the sea and steaming
for England.
"'Pon my word, I can hardly believe it's true," chortled Stuart, now
clothed in different raiment, and looking indeed a very fine and
sturdy, if not respectably-dressed, member of the British nation.
"It's too good to be true; and I am sure I shall wake up to-night
imagining that I am still on board that train, or in the lodgings that
Belgian patriot provided us with, and in any case being chased by
Germans. Germans! Just you wait till I get a turn at 'em."
No wonder that Henri grinned at his huge companion; it delighted him to
hear the sturdy remarks of this gallant fellow, just as it delighted
Stuart to look down from his greater height at the dapper, spruce,
active, and now well-clad figures of his two most dashing French
comrades. Spruce, indeed, Henri looked, his little moustache lending a
certain amount of distinction to his face, his head held well on his
shoulders, his cigarette between his lips, and the most jaunty air
about him. There was a far-away look, however, in Henri's eyes, for he
was thinking of France--thinking of her as she was now, and as she had
been when he last saw his native country.
"Mon Dieu! What a change! What desperate changes!" he was saying to
himself. "Every man able to bear arms, and of a suitable age, a
soldier; every one of them living the life followed by our
ancestors--those cave-men--dwelling in trenches throughout the months,
fighting like tigers to beat down the Germans. Well, it will be good
to join them, good to wear a uniform and line up shoulder to shoulder
with our fellows."
"Yes, good," Jules admitted--for Henri's last remark had been uttered
aloud--his face flushing at the thought. "What'll they do with us,
Henri? Send us to some instruction-camp, do you think, and keep us
there fooling about, training, drilling, doing things that I hate--that
we all hate?"
"Poof! Not they. You seem to forget, Jules, that you and I have done
our training; and, although we may not be very skilful soldiers, we can
both of us shoot, know our drill sufficiently well, and if put to it
can dig with the best of them. No, I'm hopeful that we shall jump out
of these clothes into uniform, and shall almost as promptly jump into
the trenches and find ourselves engaged in fighting the enemy."
It was with real regret that the two Frenchmen parted with their
English companion on arrival in London.
"Of course, we'll all of us make the same sort of promises," laughed
Stuart, as he gripped their hands at parting. "We'll swear to look one
another up, to meet again shortly, and possibly, if we are rash, to
write to one another; and just as certainly we shall find it awfully
hard to meet, and, in fact, are more likely to knock across each other
by pure accident than by design. It's always like that in warfare, and
more than ever now in this conflict. Well, an revoir! That's the
word, isn't it, Henri? Au revoir! Here's wishing that we may meet
again soon; and, better than all, hoping that we shall rapidly whop the
Germans. Au revoir! We have had splendid times together."
They had had a wonderful adventure indeed, and that escape from Germany
was one which, almost at once, gave interest of quite considerable
degree to the public, both British and French. For journalists
ferreted out the fact that Jules and Henri were fresh from Germany, and
though the two young fellows were modest enough they did not hesitate
to tell their story. Thus, as they sat in the express train which took
them to the sea-coast on the following day, they read a full account of
their own doings. A few hours later they were in Paris, and at once
reported at the Ministry of War.
"Bravo! So you are back from Ruhleben, mes enfants. Welcome,
welcome!" cried the officer who interviewed them. "And now, of course,
like good sons of France, you have returned at once, at the very
earliest moment indeed, to fight France's enemies--the Boche, the Hun,
the despicable ruffian whom the Kaiser and his war lords have sent in
our direction to wreck the country. Now, tell me; you have had some
training?"
"Yes, mon Colonel, we have both done our course, and were on holiday in
Germany when war broke out and prevented us from returning. We are
very anxious, mon Colonel, to join in the fighting."
The old Colonel's eyes sparkled as he listened to Henri's rejoinder,
and, with Gallic enthusiasm, he smacked both young fellows heartily on
the back.
"Bon! It is fine to hear you, mes enfants. It is grand to know that
two of France's sons have gone through such adventures in order to
return to the country. And you wish to join in the fighting as soon as
possible? Bien! If I can contrive to arrange it, it shall be so.
But, first of all, you must go to an instruction-camp, from which you
will be drafted to regiments, and where, of course, your uniform will
be issued, as well as your kit. Au revoir! Good luck go with you!"
It was a case of incessant movement for Henri and Jules, and, indeed,
for weeks now they seemed to have been travelling; first those few
miles on foot in the neighbourhood of the camp at Ruhleben, and then in
the empty passenger train which had conveyed them from that dangerous
area. Later came their trip on the supply train, and here, once more,
they were packed in a French supply train running out of Paris en route
for one of the big army camps instituted by the French. By the
following morning, in fact, they had discarded plain clothes, and were
looking critically at one another in uniform.
Jules gave vent to a light whistle, indicative of surprise,
astonishment, and amusement--if, indeed, a whistle can indicate the
latter. Certainly it was not one which displayed any sort of tendency
to admiration; while the grin which followed it made Henri quite sure
that his appearance was a source almost of ridicule to his comrade.
"What's wrong?" he demanded rather shortly. For when you criticized
Henri's get-up--the cut of his coat and of his trousers, and in
particular the hang of the latter, the colour of his socks, and his
particular fancy in boots and hats--he was apt to become quite angry.
And it made no difference now that the smart clothes which he was wont
to wear had been changed for the peculiar blue uniform of France's
fighting forces, supported by a pair of army boots of sturdy pattern,
and capped by a steel helmet of distinctive style and of the same
peculiar blue colour. Yet, withal, putting cut aside, allowing the
fact that Henri, dressed as he was now, looked tall and strong and
active and upright, and quite martial too, armed with a rifle, one had
to admit that there was a huge difference between the Henri of that
moment and the dapper, elegant, well-groomed Henri of twenty months
before--a Henri who in London or Paris might quite fairly have been
termed a "knut".
"Well, you do look a 'one-er'!"
"And what about you?" demanded Henri a little warmly. "Now that
compliments are flying, what about you, mon ami? With that pack on
your back you look like a donkey laden for the market."
At that Jules grimaced, and jerked his pack higher; and, indeed, Henri
had not described him altogether unfairly. For your French
_poilu_--the gallant, sturdy French infantry soldier--is, when on the
line of march, if not actually overloaded, certainly apt to have the
appearance of being so. What with his pack, his mess tins, the
camp-kettle which one man among a certain number carries, his
entrenching-tools, and the little bundle of faggots for the camp-fire,
a French infantryman does indeed seem to have a vast quantity of
personal impedimenta.
A sounding bugle called the two, and in a little while they were
parading with a number of other men, some of whom had already seen
service, while others were new to warfare altogether--men who possibly
had been delayed from joining the colours by illness, who had contrived
to reach France from abroad, or who belonged to a younger
classification. A smart sergeant threw a knowing eye along the line,
and, striding down it, seemed to take in the appearance of every man
within a few seconds. Halting here for a moment to adjust a belt, and
there to tuck in the tag of a buckle, he soon reached the end of the
line, and, passing down behind it, adjusting packs, putting kettles in
the correct position, arranging helmets at the regulation angle, he
presently appeared in front again, and treated the squad to a smile of
commendation.
"Very good indeed, lads. Very good," he said. "Stand easy for a
moment."
Striding across the ground came a dapper officer--one of those smart,
tall, well-turned-out Frenchmen, who appear to be the essence of
soldierly composure. Halting in front of the squad, which was drawn up
at attention once more, he, too, ran his eye over the men, passed a
remark to the Sergeant which was essentially complimentary, and then
advanced a few paces nearer.
"Mes enfants," he said, "there are some among you, who are but new
recruits, who may have done your musketry course already, who doubtless
know something of soldiering, and yet who must needs undergo further
training; to you my remarks do not apply. But there are others among
you who have seen service, who have engaged the Boche, and who may
doubtless desire to return to the front at the earliest moment. Let
such men step a pace forward."
Henri did not even glance at Jules, seeing that, being on parade, he
must keep his eyes directly forward; while Jules, some files to his
left, did not dare to cast a look in Henri's direction. It was
strange, therefore, and yet not strange, when one remembers the spirit
which animated these two young fellows, that, without agreement,
without waiting to see what the other would do, each instantly took a
pace forward, and with them perhaps a dozen of their comrades.
"Bien! Very good! And now we will ask you all about it," said the
officer, smiling pleasantly. "Mon camarade, you who look so strong,
tell us of your experience."
He halted in front of a broad-shouldered, burly man, who was well past
thirty-five years of age, and whose chin was deeply scarred by a wound,
now healed completely.
"What experience, mon Capitaine?" the gallant fellow repeated. "Well,
at Ypres, in 1915, and before that, at Charleroi, in the great retreat
past Chateau Thierry, and so to the south of the Grand Morin."
"And afterwards, mon ami?" asked the officer, patting him in paternal
manner on the shoulder; for, though discipline is strict in the French
army, indeed stricter in no other, there is yet the best of feeling
between officers and men, a species of _camaraderie_ which unites them
closely. "You have seen much service, my friend. What then, after the
Grand Morin?"
"What, then? Mon Dieu! There was the Battle of the Marne, mon
Capitaine, when we drove the Boche before us; and there followed the
fight about the Aisne, when the British were just to the left of us;
and, later, yes later, for I have seen a great deal, mon Capitaine,
there was fighting near Arras, fighting to the north of the line later,
between Ypres and Nieuport, when the Germans assailed the British at
Ypres, and lost the flower of their Prussian Guard Corps. This is the
full tale, monsieur, for I have already mentioned the Second Battle of
Ypres, in which those Huns first nearly stifled me with asphyxiating
gas, and then took this chip out of my chin with a bullet."
"And you would repay that same chip, my friend?", laughed the officer.
"Bien! You may say that, Monsieur le Capitaine--repay it a hundredfold
if I am able."
From one to another the officer passed, questioning them in the same
friendly manner, inviting their confidence, listening to their stories,
extolling their actions with words which reached the ears of their
comrades.
"And you," he said at last, arriving at the gallant Henri, and tapping
him on the breast with a friendly finger, while he ran his eye over
this young soldier, admiring his clean, well-bred, active appearance,
the set of his figure, his healthy looks, and the perky little
moustache which Henri still boasted. "Well, you," he asked, "mon
enfant?"
"I, mon Capitaine? Well, I have seen but little more than the heart of
Ruhleben camp," Henri told him; "for I was there, a prisoner for many
weary months."
"And then, did our friend, the Hun, think so little of you that he set
you free?" asked the officer, his eyes twinkling. "Hardly that, I am
sure, my friend, for you look as though you could do some fighting."
Henri smiled back at him.
"No, Monsieur le Capitaine," he told him; "it was not because they
wished to set me free that I am here, but because they couldn't help
it. I escaped--I and two other comrades, one of whom was British."
"Ah! And you escaped--you and two comrades, one of whom was British;
and because you wished--all of you, no doubt--to fight for your
country?"
"That is so," Henri admitted at once. "We were eager to fight the Hun,
and we have joined the French army at the first opportunity."
It was the same when the officer questioned Jules, and in a trice he
realized that the two had made their escape from Ruhleben together.
"Tiens!" he cried; "one little moment. Two young Frenchmen who escaped
from Germany and an Englishman with them--mais oui! but--vraiment! I
have read this same story quite lately. Ah! I have it. You, then,
are Henri and Jules for certain?"
The two young soldiers admitted the fact with rising colour, while the
glances of every man in the squad were cast at them, and the Sergeant,
that smart little fellow who had first dressed the line and adjusted
every buckle and every accoutrement, turned a pair of admiring eyes on
them. As for the officer, he gripped each one by the hand and shook it
warmly.
"It's an example to us all, mes enfants," he told the squad. "There is
great honour to our big friend here who has seen such fighting
throughout the first days of the war, the Retreat, that Battle of the
Marne where we smashed the crowing German, the conflict near Arras and
round Ypres, which barred the progress of our enemy. To such a man
there is undying honour. But here we have two who, though wretched, no
doubt, while confined in a German prison, half-starved, by all
accounts, bullied and browbeaten, could yet have remained in that camp
safe from the danger of warfare. But they wished to help their
country; and see them here, joining up with our forces at the very
first moment. And so, Jules and Henri, you would wish to go to the
front almost immediately?"
The two nodded their assent.
"And you have had training?"
"Pardon, monsieur," said the Sergeant, opening a book and placing his
finger on the name first of Henri and then of Jules; "here is their
record. Three years ago they did their training and attended
manoeuvres, and were reported on as excellent conscripts. In the
ordinary way they would attend a few drills here, perhaps go through a
short instruction in musketry and bayonet exercises, and then be
drafted to the front."
"Bien! There is little else after that for them to learn but bombing
and the warfare peculiar to trench fighting--such as the conduct of
trench-mortars, catapults, and other weapons of a similar
description--that they can well learn at the schools of instruction
just behind the front. Pass them for the front, Sergeant. Put them
down to go with a new draft which leaves for Verdun to-morrow evening.
Good luck, my friends! I wish, indeed, that I could come with you."
"Re-form line!" bellowed the Sergeant, or, rather, he snapped the
order, and at his words those who had stood forward a pace stepped back
just as smartly, while every head turned as the men dressed the line.
"Dismiss!" bellowed the Sergeant, and in a moment the squad broke up,
each man going off to his own quarters. As for Henri and Jules, they
spent some busy hours in making ready for the coming journey; and,
boarding the train with a draft of men the following evening, they
found themselves behind the Verdun lines after a longish journey.
They were near the spot selected by the "All Highest", by the Kaiser,
the would-be lord of the world, who had determined to make one more
gigantic effort to crush the French and to defeat his enemies.