THE CAMP FIRES OF AN ARMY.
"Here, it's getting well along into the afternoon," remarked Tubby with
a forlorn look on his face, "and I'm so knocked out that if you told me
you meant to make a start for the little Belgian town right away I'd
faint, sure I would."
"Don't think of doing it, then, Tubby," Rob told him, "because the rest
of your chums are feeling in pretty much the same box themselves."
"We've had a terribly hard day of it, for a fact," agreed Merritt, as he
looked around upon the scene, and shuddered in spite of his well known
nerve.
"Then please tell me what's the program?" pleaded the fat scout. "That
munch of black bread was good enough to keep a fellow from starving to
death; but I certainly do hope there's a better prospect ahead of us for
supper."
"Rob, you've got a scheme!" asserted Merritt.
"What makes you think so?" asked the other, smiling languidly; for he
was very nearly exhausted from the hard work he had done acting as an
assistant field surgeon in the service of the Red Cross corps, doing
temporary work in binding up wounds, and giving stimulants to those who
were weak through loss of blood.
"Oh! I can tell it from the way you act," replied Merritt. "I haven't
been your closest chum all this time without getting to know what
different things mean. Now give us a pointer; what about getting some
supper, and finding a place to sleep to-night?"
"Well, do you think you could stand for another night in the hay?"
demanded Rob.
"Just try me, that's all!" whimpered Tubby. "And, say, if you're
thinking of going back to that village again, I only hope they'll be
good to us, and feed us like they did this morning."
"That's what I had in mind," the patrol leader told them. "So the sooner
we make a start that way the sooner we can rest up."
It was weary work tramping all the way back to the little village where
they had first met the ambulances of the Red Cross corps, and joined
hands with the workers. Rob would have liked to say good-by to the
American nurse who had taken so much interest in their welfare. He knew,
though, that it would be too much for Tubby to approach that terrible
field hospital, where undoubtedly the nurses were still busily engaged
helping the surgeons in their labors.
Whenever Tubby groaned and gave signs of dropping, they called a
temporary halt and, in this way, made it as easy for the fat scout as
possible.
Somehow the very thought of that sweet-scented hay appealed to Tubby
very nearly as much as a good feed might; and that was saying a great
deal.
"I don't wonder at hoboes liking haystacks when they're wandering around
the country, if only they're as nice as that mow we struck," he told the
others more than once. "Why, things couldn't be better. Now I understand
what they mean when they say 'hitting the hay.' It means a sweet sleep.
But we're really getting there, ain't we, Rob?"
"We're right on top of the village now, Tubby," Merritt told him.
"Yes," added Rob, "there you can see the elevation we stood on when we
watched the terrible battle. The village is here on our left. One more
tug, and we'll arrive, so brace up, Tubby."
"Oh! I'm getting along quite decent, thank you, Rob. But I'll be glad
when we're sitting on that bench under the shade of the tree."
As they entered the village they found that it was quite a different
place from the time of their previous visit. Streams of wounded men had
been brought in, and every other cottage was turned into a temporary
hospital.
Of course the injured Belgians were given the first choice, as was
perfectly natural; but Rob was pleased to see that after all these
humble villagers had human traits in their make-up. Misery makes the
whole world akin, and although they had no reason to love any German
invader, the sight of stalwart young Teutons suffering agonies touched
many a mother's heart; their own sons might any day be in need of the
same attention from strangers, and they could not refuse to aid these
wounded foes.
So into many a Belgian home a sorely stricken German was carried, to be
cared for until the time came when he could be removed, either to his
own lines, or to Antwerp.
The boys first of all sought that shady spot where the bench mentioned
by Tubby offered an inviting seat. Here they sat down, and observed the
many stirring sights that were taking place all around them.
"I've seen two men taken to the barn," remarked Merritt, half an hour
later, "and so I reckon we'll have neighbors in our hay-mow to-night."
Tubby made a grimace, and then seemed to be ashamed of his selfishness.
"Well, if we do have to play nurse," he observed with the air of a
philosopher, "I suppose we can stand it. What are all our troubles, I'd
like to know, compared to those these poor people are suffering?"
"That's right, Tubby," said Merritt, "and we'll manage to pick up
plenty of sleep, I should think."
"It'll have to be in the early part of the night, then," Rob told them,
"because we want to get out of this a couple of hours before daylight."
"You mean to start then for Sempst, do you?" asked Tubby, with a sigh.
"Yes, because it might turn out to be dangerous work walking in broad
daylight, until we've managed to get around the Germans," Rob explained.
"I've already picked up considerable information about the country, and
the lay of the land. Between now and the time we turn in I hope to learn
still more, so that I can take you on a road by starlight that will make
a circuit around the German camps."
Apparently both his mates had the utmost confidence in Rob's ability to
do this, for there was no word of protest raised. Merritt asked a few
questions, and then they fell back upon their old occupation of watching
the movements of the villagers, mostly women, as they bustled to and
fro.
Pretty soon Rob sauntered over to the inn, and had a long talk with the
old man who ran the public house. They could see him doing considerable
pointing, and from this fact judged that Rob was keeping his word about
picking up all the information possible.
When he came back it was getting near sundown; and of course the first
thing Tubby asked was:
"Did he say we could have it, Rob?"
As both of the other scouts were so well acquainted with Tubby's weak
points they did not need a dictionary in order to understand what was on
his mind.
"I'm glad to tell you, Tubby," replied the other, "that the innkeeper
says we deserve the best supper he can get ready. It seems that they've
been talking about us here. Some of the nurses must have told how we
worked on the battlefield; or it may be the wounded soldiers mentioned
the fact that we did something to help them bear up till the stretchers
arrived. No matter what happened, the innkeeper thinks a heap of us all,
and we'll not go to our hay shake-downs hungry this night!"
"Hurray!" cried Tubby joyfully, "he's certainly a good fellow, Rob, I
tell you; and I'm never going to forget him. The man who keeps my body
and soul together has my eternal gratitude."
Later on they were called in, and found that a substantial meal had been
prepared for them. Tubby was fairly ravenous, and his chums found it
necessary to warn him not to founder.
"Remember, we've got to be up and doing by three in the morning at the
latest," Rob observed, "and if you make yourself sick the whole plan
will be knocked galley-west. We might have to leave you behind, after
all."
That last threat brought Tubby to his senses.
"Why, you see," he explained, as he pushed himself away from the table
and its temptations, "I was trying to fix it so that in case we had to
go without our breakfast to-morrow I'd be in shape to stand it."
"Sometimes," mused Merritt, "I think you're trying to fix it so that you
could do without eating for a week."
When they made their way outside again it was to find that night had
fallen. In the western sky a young moon looked down pityingly on the
field which had so lately been marked by the desperate charge of the
German hosts, only to fail in their effort to break through the Belgian
intrenchments with their barbed wire defenses.
"Look, over there are hundreds of little fires flickering!" exclaimed
Tubby.
"Those are the camp fires of the Germans," Rob told him. "I want to fix
them in my mind, because we will have to make a wide detour, so as to
avoid running across any patrol on the outskirts of their camp. I hope
by the time daylight comes we can be far enough around to get off
without being seen. The worst thing is this khaki uniform business. If
only we had on ordinary clothes we might be taken for Belgian boys. But,
as it is, they'll think we're soldiers, or at the least Belgian scouts,
and they treat them as if they were regular enlisted men."
Shortly afterward they again sought the barn. The lantern once more hung
on its accustomed hook, and by its friendly gleam Rob and his two chums
were enabled to find the place where on the preceding night they had
slept so well. The wounded men happened to be removed from them by some
little distance. They could be heard occasionally groaning, or talking
in low tones; but, as the boys were too tired to remain awake long, they
soon lost all consciousness of what was passing around them.
Perhaps the crowing of a rooster nearby may have told Rob that it was in
the neighborhood of three o'clock, for he aroused his chums close to
that time.