THE BIG WAR
The next thing that Leon knew was when he opened his eyes to find
himself lying in a clean white cot with both Jacques and Earl standing
by the bedside.
"What happened?" inquired Leon dazedly.
"Nothing," laughed Earl, "except that you've been asleep for about
fifteen hours or so."
"How about our report?"
"That was made just about fifteen hours ago; just after you went to
sleep."
"But you said you'd stop for me."
"We did," smiled Earl. "We stopped for you all right, but you'd gone
and fainted and then you went to sleep and we thought we'd better not
wait."
"Did you make your report?" asked Leon eagerly. He was now sitting up
in bed and had almost forgotten his slightly wounded arm; in fact he
would have been entirely unconscious of it had it not been for the fact
that it was bandaged.
"We certainly did," said Jacques. "Major Villier seemed very much
pleased with what we had done and he said he would see to it that we
were mentioned at headquarters."
"Were they worried about us at all?"
"They were a little; they had expected us back sooner than we actually
did arrive."
"What did the major think of our blowing up that train?"
"It seemed to please him greatly," said Jacques. "In fact he was
almost as pleased about that as he was about our having delivered the
dispatches safely at Flambeau."
"I should think he'd been more glad about the train than the
dispatches," exclaimed Leon.
"We don't know what they were," Jacques reminded him. "Evidently they
were even more important than blowing up a munition-train."
"At any rate I'm glad Major Villier approved of what we did."
"He said we got into too many scrapes," laughed Earl. "He said that
unless we were careful we might get hurt."
"He was joking, wasn't he?"
"Of course he was; as though we went around looking for trouble."
"I want to get up," exclaimed Leon suddenly. "I want something to eat,
too, and I want it quick and I want an awful lot of it."
"Whew!" whistled Jacques smilingly. "You must be feeling better."
"I never felt so well in my life," cried Leon. "I feel like a king."
"Well, I wouldn't care to feel that way," laughed Earl. "As far as I
can see there aren't very many kings who are very well off these days."
"Well, then I feel the way kings used to feel," said Leon. "Have it
any way you want, but give me something to eat."
"How would you like to go automobiling after you eat?" inquired
Jacques. "Earl and I are going."
"What do you mean?"
"I've got to run an ambulance up to the front and we are to start in
about fifteen minutes. I need two helpers and if you feel strong
enough you may come along."
"Of course I'll go," exclaimed Leon. "What are they doing with you
anyway, Jacques? It seems to me you have a new job about every day."
"He's general utility man," laughed Earl, "and we're his assistants."
"It looks so," Leon agreed. "At any rate I don't mind it. I'm rather
fond of variety."
"Did you hear about the _douzième_?" asked Jacques.
"Tell me what has happened to them," demanded Leon quickly. "Where are
they?"
"There are not many of them left," said Jacques soberly. "Do you
remember that bombardment we saw as we flew over the firing line last
night?"
"I do. I remember we wondered if our regiment was in it."
"Well they were all right," said Jacques. "They bore the brunt of the
whole attack and if it hadn't been for them I don't know what would
have happened."
"Tell me about it," urged Leon eagerly.
"The Boches launched a terrible bombardment on that portion of the line
held by the _douzième_," continued Jacques. "Then they turned loose
one of those massed infantry attacks on our trenches and though the
_douzième_ was outnumbered nearly four to one they held fast. Not
without paying the price though and half of our comrades were either
killed or wounded so that they are out of it."
"Did the Germans take the trench?"
"They reached it at some points and even entered it; just as things
looked blackest, reënforcements arrived and drove them out and saved
the trench."
"Good!" cried Leon heartily. "It must have been splendid!"
"More bloody than splendid I guess," said Earl grimly. "I think we
were pretty lucky to have missed it."
"So do I," agreed Jacques. "Still I hate to be absent when the rest of
our regiment is fighting."
"Weren't you fighting all that time?" demanded Earl.
"Oh, yes, but somehow I feel so much safer up in the air than I do in
the trenches."
"There aren't many safe spots left in Europe now anyway, I guess,"
remarked Earl.
"Nor any other place in the world, for that matter," added Leon. "Just
stop a minute and think where there have been battles fought in this
war."
"Pretty nearly every place you can think of," said Earl.
"I know it; in France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, Austria, Italy,
Serbia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, China--"
"What was in China?" demanded Earl.
"Kiao Chau. Don't you know that port the Japanese and English took
from the Germans?"
"That's right. Then there is or has been fighting in Armenia, Persia,
Mesopotamia, Africa, the Marshall Islands and all those islands down
around Australia; Zeppelins have raided England."
"Yes," exclaimed Leon, "and sea fights in the Atlantic and Pacific, the
Mediterranean, in the North Sea and the Baltic, the Indian Ocean and
the Carribean Sea and I don't know where else."
"It's awful, isn't it?" said Earl. "And right at home in America the
Germans have been blowing up factories that were making arms for the
Allies; they've also been putting bombs on ships."
"Why doesn't your country stop that?" asked Jacques.
"Don't ask me," exclaimed Earl. "I wish they would; if they'd deal
with some of those plotters the way any European government would, I
think all that trouble would end. We're too good to people in the
United States."
"That's right," agreed Leon. "We offer them our hospitality and give
them a chance to earn a good living and then they turn on us."
"Some day the people of the United States will turn on them," said
Jacques solemnly.
"That's just what will happen," exclaimed Earl. "They will stand for a
lot over there and they don't get angry easily; people like that are
the worst kind when they do lose their tempers. One of these days
they'll all get mad and those trouble makers will wake up to find that
they've been playing with fire."
"There's our ambulance," said Jacques suddenly. "Come along."