THE CHILD DESPATCH BEARER
"You already have heard of some of the heroic little despatch bearers
of France," said Captain Favor. "I shall now tell you of little Henri,
one of the bravest and most resourceful of them all.
"Despatch carrying is a desperate business, all of it exposing the
bearers to enemy fire at least part of the time, for most of the work
of these brave men is in the open where the enemy can see them. Some
go on foot, others on fast motorcycles. Ordinarily they travel in
pairs, so that in case one be killed the other may take the message
and hasten on with it to its destination. Henri, however, traveled
alone.
"The Germans, at some distance from the principal battle line and at
one end of it, had advanced several miles into French territory, and,
spreading out, had covered considerable ground. They were making
themselves a nuisance, as they usually did, and a French force was
sent in to drive them back. The French, too, had spread out and the
officer in command, after becoming a little more familiar with
conditions, had made his plans.
"'Now,' said the French colonel, 'what I wish is a man of undoubted
courage, familiar with all this surrounding country, to carry letters
to the commanders of our various units.'
"'I fear you will not find such a man,' answered one of his
lieutenants. 'All the men of this section, of course, are fighting.'
"'Young Henri can do it,' suggested another officer.
"'A civilian who has been attached to the army unofficially for some
few weeks.' Henri had made himself so useful that his presence with
the army was not only permitted, but welcomed. While he was but
thirteen years of age, he was very strong, alert and active. The
colonel told his aide to summon the boy so the commander might look
him over.
"'Why do you follow the army?' demanded the colonel, after observing
the boy critically.
"'Our home has been destroyed by the Germans, my father has been taken
prisoner by them and my sisters have fled to other provinces,' he
answered simply. 'That is why I am trying to serve my country in every
way I can.'
"The colonel nodded approvingly.
"'It is a most important mission and a very dangerous one on which I
must send a man. Do you think you can go through with it?'
"'Yes, sir.'
"'You may fall into the hands of the Prussians. In that event what
would you do with the letters I shall entrust to your care?'
"'Swallow them, sir,' was the reply.
"'Good! You will do. You are a real Frenchman and while you are a mere
child, I have full confidence that you will somehow manage to carry
out my orders.'
"'I shall do my best, sir.'
"'That is all that any man can do. Give careful heed to what I tell
you.' The colonel gave Henri careful instructions, after which he
handed the letters to the lad and bade him God-speed.
"Henri set out quietly, slouching along with a carelessness not in
keeping with his all-important mission. He was soon lost sight of in
the undergrowth that covered many miles of territory in that section
of the country, and that finally merged with a dense forest. The lad
reasoned that the Germans would be found in this forest, as well as in
the more open country, but somehow he must manage to get through their
lines and reach the French on the other side. It was not an easy task,
as he well knew, yet he was undaunted.
"He was following a course close to the edge of the forest when all at
once he saw a Prussian soldier just outside the forest line. The boy
plunged deeper into the woods and was unseen and unheard by the
soldier, who evidently was a sentry.
"Later in the day Henri heard voices--German voices. By the sound he
judged there must be a great many of them. He imagined he could hear
commands.
"'I must be close to a nest of them,' he muttered. 'I must find out
about those fellows, for the commanders will wish to know about them.'
Creeping cautiously ahead he came to the edge of a clearing, a vast
open space where the timber had, he judged, been cut off some time
since, and the brush growth that followed the cutting of the trees had
by now been well trampled down by the Germans, who appeared to be
making this out-of-the-way place a sort of headquarters for their
operations. He was amazed at what he saw.
"There, before Henri's eyes, was a small German army, all branches of
the service being represented. His association with the French Army
enabled him to observe very closely and understand what he saw. And in
this instance his observation told him that the Prussians were
preparing for battle; he knew, too, that the orders he was carrying
had to do with the very preparations he was witnessing. After fully
satisfying his curiosity Henri plunged again into the forest, using
great caution and watching keenly for stray Prussians. Finally he
reached the brush again, being now free of the forest itself.
"'Halt!'
"The command brought him up standing. He rarely had been caught
napping, but drew a breath of relief when he saw that the sentry who
had halted him was in the uniform of his own army.
"'France!' was the boy's answer to the challenge. 'I have a letter for
your commander.'
"'Pass!'
"Henri easily found his way to the commander's headquarters and
delivered the letter intended for him.
"'You are going further?' questioned the officer.
"'Yes, sir. I have other orders to deliver.'
"'You had better watch closely that you are not captured,' warned the
commander. 'The country through which you go is full of Prussians, and
they are ugly. Be cautious.'
"Assuring the officer that he would use due caution, Henri went on his
way, apparently without a care in the world. He was a most innocent
appearing boy and it would be keen eyes indeed that would suspect him
of being other than what he appeared, an irresponsible child.
"Henri now began to see German uniforms on all sides. They were
increasing in numbers.
"'Henri never will get through, this with his letter,' grumbled the
lad. 'I must act while there is yet time.' Crouching down and
watching the Prussians a few moments, he finally drew the remaining
letter from his blouse; he read it carefully several times, read it
until he had memorized every word of it. Having done this, the child
tore the letter in bits and, munching them thoroughly, calmly
swallowed them with a great gulp.
"'Ugh!' he grunted, making a wry face. 'That is not pleasant food, but
if the Boches can read the letter now their eyes are sharp indeed.
Henri carries his knowledge in his stomach. A queer place for
knowledge, but a good place when there are Boches about. Now I shall
be going.'
"He did not get far. The lad was halted shortly after leaving his
cover. Germans sprang up on all sides of him. He saw that he had
stumbled into a nest of them and that there was no escape.
"'What would you of me? I have done nothing,' cried the boy when he
was roughly dragged before an officer. 'I go to my parents in yonder
village.'
"'Is it for that that you crawl along and hide yourself as a spy?'
demanded the officer sternly.
"'I saw the soldiers and I was afraid,' he whimpered.
"'Take him away!' ordered the officer.
"'Take me where? You can see I have nothing. I am but a poor peasant
boy who could do no harm even if he would.'
"'You are shamming. You are a spy and you should be shot. Search him!'
commanded the officer.
"They stripped the child, Henri, during the operation, weeping
bitterly, but such tears as he shed were forced, yet they appeared
real to the onlookers. His clothing was very thoroughly searched, the
soldiers even tearing out the lining of his blouse and ripping his
necktie apart to make certain that no despatches were concealed in
them. Of course, they found nothing.
"'You see, I have told the truth,' he whimpered, now addressing the
officer. 'Please let me go to my parents.'
"The officer laughed harshly.
"'Lock him up. He is a fraud, and we shall yet find him to be such.
The French resort to many tricks.'
"Henri was placed in charge of a soldier, by whose side he trudged
along, wiping his eyes frequently, apparently in great distress of
mind, as a boy naturally would be in his situation. Henri's eyes were
red, but they were red from rubbing rather than from the tears they
had shed, and were keenly on the alert; they missed nothing of what
was going on about them. He did not know where they proposed to take
him, but wherever it was he determined not to go, for the letter in
his stomach was a constant reminder of what was expected of him.
"There was much activity about them; it was a busy scene, and Henri's
guard was plainly interested in it--he was becoming more interested in
the activity than he was in his prisoner, which fact did not escape
the lad, who appeared to be so filled with despair.
"Soldier and prisoner finally came to the bank of a canal, along which
they walked, the soldier still watching the movements of the troops.
Now Henri saw his opportunity.
"All at once he sprang away from his guard, and, taking a long leap,
plunged head first into the canal. He dove deep and shot himself half
way across before coming to the surface.
"The soldier guard stood stupefied for a moment. Recovering his wits,
he began to shoot at the bobbing head of Henri that was now out of the
water then under it.
"Henri, by this time, was rapidly nearing the opposite bank of the
canal, taking little heed of the bullets that were splashing all about
him.
"'It is good luck to be little,' he chuckled as he scrambled up the
bank and dashed into the bushes. Bullets were singing all about him
now, showing that several soldiers had joined in the shooting, but the
plucky boy was not hit, though there were bullet holes in his jacket
and two through his cap.
"'Good bye, Mr. Boche,' he called back. 'Henri thanks you that you did
not hit him in the place where he carries his orders.' He then ran
swiftly over the remaining few miles that lay between him and his
destination. Reaching the French lines safely, he was led to the
commander of the detachment in his home village.
"'I have orders for you, sir,' he said, saluting the commander.
"'Very good. Where are they?'
"'In my stomach, sir.'
"The officer was puzzled for the moment, then he began to laugh. Henri
related the circumstances that had made necessary the destruction of
the letter, and at his dictation the commander wrote down the orders,
which the lad repeated to him exactly as they had been written in the
letter. Henri's mission had been faithfully carried out.
"'France has need of such as you,' said the commander approvingly.
'What shall you do now?'
"'I must return to my troops and make my report to my commanding
officer,' was the simple reply. 'I shall wait for the night before
starting, for the Boches this time cannot be so easily fooled.
Remember, I still have the orders in my stomach. Would it not be sad
if the Boches discovered them and took them from me?' Henri grinned
and the commander laughed heartily.
"Henri's return journey was made without disaster, though several
times he narrowly missed being captured. Late on the following morning
the plucky boy reached his regiment and made his report to his
colonel, who warmly commended the child for his patriotism and
courage."