AFTER THE FIGHTING WAS OVER.
The horses had been urged on at considerable speed, in order to arrive
upon the scene of action, for the animals began to show evidences of
exhaustion long before they reached a position back of the Belgian
trenches. That may have been one of the reasons why they were halted
temporarily, at the time the head nurse talked with the three Boy
Scouts.
As they approached the battle line Rob and his friends became intensely
interested. They saw the heads of the defenders of the trenches thrust
up to observe their coming, and heard the hearty ringing cheers with
which the Red Cross nurses were greeted.
Men sprang out to assist them, so that apparently it would be no hard
task to find plenty of recruits to handle the stretchers upon which the
wounded could be carried to the hastily constructed field hospital in
the rear, where the surgeons would soon be busily employed.
Tubby was still looking very white, but he had made up his mind that he
would go through with this wonderful experience even if he fainted dead
away. All that was stubborn in his nature had come to the surface; and
Rob, after noticing this, made up his mind Tubby was going to take a
long step forward before another sun had set.
Now they were on the other side of the trenches. There was considerable
bustle. Nurses commenced to spread out over the field, on which some men
lay groaning and others very still.
The assistants with the stretchers, upon whose arms had been fastened
badges bearing the sacred red cross, began to carry off such of the
wounded as they found needed urgent attention.
"Come on, boys, let's see where we can help out!" said Rob, trying to
appear perfectly cool and collected, but at the same time knowing that
his knees were inclined to knock together, so that he could not blame
poor Tubby for feeling as he did.
They started out. At first all of them stuck together, for the sights
they soon saw filled them with a sense of horror, as well as compassion.
Never were Boy Scouts placed in a position where they had more reason to
be thankful for what little knowledge of surgery they had attained.
The American nurse may have felt considerable doubt as to whether she
had done a wise thing in affording these boys a chance to assist the Red
Cross upon the battlefield. Rob saw that she hovered near them, as
though keeping an eye on what they did.
It was a dreadful experience for those boys, to be thus brought in close
contact with the dead and the dying; they could never forget what they
saw there that day.
Even Tubby braced up when he found that he could be useful in helping
the others. He had secured a bucket of water, and when he heard some
poor fellow cry out, or saw him make frantic gestures, it was his
business to hurry over and supply his wants. No matter what uniform the
wounded man wore, it did not make a bit of difference; since the Red
Cross recognizes neither friend nor foe, but treats all alike.
It is possible to get accustomed to almost anything in this world. Not
one of those boys would have imagined a short time before this that they
could find courage and nerve enough to walk in the midst of such
carnage; and yet they were actually doing it now.
As Rob and Merritt finished binding up the leg of a poor fellow who
would soon have bled to death but for their coming, the nurse who had
meanwhile come up behind them commended their work.
"It was excellently done, I want you to know," she told them, "and I can
plainly see that I need have no further fears concerning your ability to
be of much assistance here. Do all you can, my brave boys, but remember
not to go too far. You are not accustomed to such sights, and it may
affect you in the end."
She hurried away to take up her own labors, leaving the boys with a
proud sense of having done their duty as genuine scouts should, trying
to be of use to others in sore need.
For an hour, yes two of them, they continued to work there, while the
stretcher bearers and the ambulances bore the victims of the late
conflict back in apparently an unending procession. Those poor fellows
who had no further need of attention were of course allowed to remain
just as they had fallen; and by degrees the wounded were weeded out, to
be taken care of back of the desperately defended lines, where the Red
Cross floated from the canvas field hospital.
Tubby had about reached the end of his endurance. They could see that he
was certainly getting very wabbly on his feet, for often he stumbled as
he moved around with his bucket and dipper, seeking a stray wounded
soldier who might have been overlooked, so as to supply water to quench
his raging thirst.
The sun looked down from a cloudless September sky, and it was very hot
for the advanced season of the year. Far off in the distance those
never-ceasing German guns still kept up their muttering as they sent
shells into some fortified place. The battle in this particular field
was apparently not going to be renewed; for already some of the Belgian
batteries were being taken away, to face a new quarter where, according
to their air scouts, the enemy meant to next try a forward movement.
Terrible though the experience may have been to all the boys, none of
them had any regrets. The grateful looks and words they had received
repaid them tenfold for all the nerve-racking ordeals through which they
had gone.
"I think it's queer, though," Merritt was saying to Rob, as they walked
around in search of any wretched victim whom they might assist, "that
not a single German has been out on the battlefield to render first aid.
I don't understand it at all. They've got as fine surgeons as any in the
world, and the Red Cross works with their armies the same as with all
the rest."
"I was bothering my head about that, too, since you mention it," Rob
announced.
"What did you make up your mind was the cause of it?" continued Merritt,
who had considerable respect for the opinions and decisions of the Eagle
Patrol leader.
"It means either one of two things," he was told. "It may be the
settled policy of the Germans in their rush to push through Belgium and
Northern France to leave their wounded to be taken care of by the enemy,
whenever the battle has gone against them; or else a quick change of
front compels them to abandon the field."
"Still," argued Merritt, who secretly was much in favor of the Allies,
"you'd think there would be some parties out with stretchers, looking up
their wounded. I never will understand it."
"Well, they must have a good reason for acting that way," Rob told him.
"You know the Germans are great sticklers for sacrificing everything to
the good of the cause of the Fatherland. If necessary even the wounded
must be temporarily neglected until the end aimed at is attained. You
remember what we heard in Antwerp about those three British cruisers
that were just torpedoed in the North Sea by German submarines?"
"I can see what you mean, Rob. One was struck, and began to sink. The
other two hurried up to render assistance, and while their engines were
still they were hit by torpedoes and went down. If, instead of trying
to help their distressed comrades in the English way, they had let them
look out for themselves, and first of all smashed the conning towers of
the submarines, they would have saved themselves. I guess in war times
the German style counts best, though it seems cruel to me."
"I think we had better pull out of this before long," remarked Rob.
"Well, if you asked me I'd say I've had enough to last the rest of my
life," Merritt told his chum. "If ever I had any idea I'd like to be a
soldier I give you my word that's gone glimmering now. What I've looked
on this day has cured me."
"I was thinking more of poor Tubby than either of us," the patrol leader
remarked. "You can see he's pretty near the end of his rope. Twice now
I've seen him trip and fall flat, over some of the war material that's
scattered around so thick. And he could hardly get on his feet again,
he's that played out."
"But, Rob, Tubby has certainly shown up splendidly in this terrible
trial!"
"He's done a heap more than we have," Rob asserted, "because he always
has been a timid sort of chap with regard to seeing blood when any of us
got hurt. I remember how ghastly white Tubby grew that time one of the
scouts in the Owl Patrol cut his foot with the ax. I thought for a while
we'd have two patients on our hands. He had to sit down so as to get
over it."
"Yes, and see what he's stood to-day," said Merritt. "Many a boy who
boasts of having lots of nerve would have shrunk from doing what he has.
Tubby's all right, and that's a fact. But it's high noon, and I warrant
you he's feeling mighty hungry."
"He would, under ordinary conditions," said Rob, "but just now I don't
believe any of us could eat a mouthful. I know the very thought of it
makes me feel queer."
"That's because we're not used to such sights and sounds," Merritt
explained. "I expect to wake up many a night with a groan and a shiver,
dreaming I'm on a battlefield again, after those awful Maxims have been
doing their murderous work."
"Well, we might take one last turn around," suggested Rob, "and if we
fail to find any more wounded men, we'll call it a day's work, and
quit."
"For one thing, I'm glad I don't mean to follow this up as a
profession," his comrade continued. "I think I've had enough experience
of fighting to last me a lifetime, and yet, on second thought, if it
should happen again that they needed what little help I could give, why
I'd have to pitch in."