CHAPTER XVII
PERPLEXING PROBLEMS
Although the famous battle of Nieuport had come to an end, the fightingin West Flanders was by no means over. All along the line fierce andrelentless war waged without interruption and if neither side couldclaim victory, neither side suffered defeat. Day after day hundreds ofcombatants fell; hundreds of disabled limped to the rear; hundreds weremade prisoners. And always a stream of reinforcements came to take theplaces of the missing ones. Towns were occupied to-day by the Germans,to-morrow by the Allies; from Nieuport on past Dixmude and beyond Ypresthe dykes had been opened and the low country was one vast lake. Theonly approaches from French territory were half a dozen roads built highabove the water line, which rendered them capable of stubborn defence.
Dunkirk was thronged with reserves--English, Belgian and French. TheTurcos and East Indians were employed by the British in this section andwere as much dreaded by the civilians as the enemy. Uncle John noticedthat military discipline was not so strict in Dunkirk as at Ostend; butthe Germans had but one people to control while the French town was hostto many nations and races.
Strange as it may appear, the war was growing monotonous to those whowere able to view it closely, perhaps because nothing important resultedfrom all the desperate, continuous fighting. The people were pursuingtheir accustomed vocations while shells burst and bullets whizzed aroundthem. They must manage to live, whatever the outcome of this struggle ofnations might be.
Aboard the American hospital ship there was as yet no sense of monotony.The three girls who had conceived and carried out this remarkablephilanthropy were as busy as bees during all their waking hours and thespirit of helpful charity so strongly possessed them that all theirthoughts were centered on their work. No two cases were exactly alikeand it was interesting, to the verge of fascination, to watch theresults of various treatments of divers wounds and afflictions.
The girls often congratulated themselves on having secured so efficienta surgeon as Doctor Gys, who gloried in his work, and whose judgment,based on practical experience, was comprehensive and unfailing. Theman's horribly contorted features had now become so familiar to thegirls that they seldom noticed them--unless a cry of fear from somenewly arrived and unnerved patient reminded them that the doctor wasexceedingly repulsive to strangers.
No one recognized this grotesque hideousness more than Doctor Gyshimself. When one poor Frenchman died under the operating knife, staringwith horror into the uncanny face the surgeon bent over him, Beth wasalmost sure the fright had hastened his end. She said to Gys thatevening, when they met on deck, "Wouldn't it be wise for you to wear amask in the operating room?"
He considered the suggestion a moment, a deep flush spreading over hisface; then he nodded gravely.
"It may be an excellent idea," he agreed. "Once, a couple of years ago,I proposed wearing a mask wherever I went, but my friends assured me theeffect would be so marked that it would attract to me an embarrassingamount of attention. I have trained myself to bear the repulsioninvoluntarily exhibited by all I meet and have taught myself to take aphilosophic, if somewhat cynical, view of my facial blemishes; yet inthis work I can see how a mask might be merciful to my patients. I willexperiment a bit along this line, if you will help me, and we'll seewhat we can accomplish."
"You must not think," she said quietly, for she detected a littlebitterness in his tone, "that you are in any way repulsive to those whoknow you well. We all admire you as a man and are grieved at themisfortunes that marred your features. After all, Doctor, people ofintelligence seldom judge one by appearances."
"However they may judge me," said he, "I'm a failure. You say you admireme as a man, but you don't. It's just a bit of diplomatic flattery. I'ma good doctor and surgeon, I'll admit, but my face is no more repellentthan my cowardly nature. Miss Beth, I hate myself for my cowardice farmore than I detest my ghastly countenance. Yet I am powerless to remedyeither defect."
"I believe that what you term your cowardice is merely a physicalweakness," declared the girl. "It must have been caused by the sufferingyou endured at the time of your various injuries. I have noticed thatsuffering frequently unnerves one, and that a person who has once beenbadly hurt lives in nervous terror of being hurt again."
"You are very kind to try to excuse my fault," said he, "but the truthis I have always been a coward--from boyhood up."
"Yet you embarked on all those dangerous expeditions."
"Yes, just to have fun with myself; to sneer at the coward flesh, so tospeak. I used to long for dangers, and when they came upon me I wouldjeer at and revile the quaking I could not repress. I pushed myshrinking body into peril and exulted in the punishment it received."
Beth looked at him wonderingly.
"You are a strange man, indeed," said she. "Really, I cannot understandyour mental attitude at all."
He chuckled and rubbed his hands together gleefully.
"I can," he returned, "for I know what causes it." And then he went awayand left her, still seeming highly amused at her bewilderment.
In the operating room the next day Gys appeared with a rubber mask drawnacross his features. The girls decided that it certainly improved hisappearance, odd as the masked face might appear to strangers. It hid thedreadful nose and the scars and to an extent evened the size of theeyes, for the holes through which he peered were made alike. Gys washimself pleased with the device, for after that he wore the mask almostconstantly, only laying it aside during the evenings when he sat ondeck.
It was three days after the arrival of Mrs. Denton and her mother--whoseadvent had accomplished much toward promoting the young Belgian'sconvalescence--when little Maurie suddenly reappeared on the deck of the_Arabella_.
"Oh," said Patsy, finding him there when she came up from breakfast,"where is Clarette?"
He shook his head sadly.
"We do not live together, just now," said he. "Clarette is by naturetemperamental, you know; she is highly sensitive, and I, alas! do notalways please her."
"Did she find you in Dunkirk?" asked the girl.
"Almost, mamselle, but not quite. It was this way: I knew if I permittedher to follow me she would finally succeed in her quest, for she and thedear children have six eyes among them, while I have but two; so Ireposed within an ash-barrel until they had passed on, and then Ifollowed them, keeping well out of their sight. In that way I managed toescape. But it proved a hard task, for my Clarette is very persistent,as you may have noticed. So I decided I would be more safe upon the shipthan upon the shore. She is not likely to seek me here, and in any eventshe floats better than she swims."
Patsy regarded the little man curiously.
"Did you not tell us, when first we met you, that you were heart-brokenover the separation from your wife and children?" she inquired in severetones.
"Yes, of course, mamselle; it was a good way to arouse your sympathy,"he admitted with an air of pride. "I needed sympathy at that time, andmy only fear was that you would find Clarette, as you threatened to do.Well," with a deep sigh, "you did find her. It was an unfriendly act,mamselle."
"They told us in Ostend that the husband of Clarette is a condemned spy,one who served both sides and proved false to each. The husband ofClarette is doomed to suffer death at the hands of the Germans or theBelgians, if either is able to discover him."
Maurie removed his cap and scratched the hair over his left earreflectively.
"Ah, yes, the blacksmith!" said he. "I suspected that blacksmith fellowwas not reliable."
"How many husbands has Clarette?"
"With the blacksmith, there are two of us," answered Maurie, brightly."Doubtless there would be more if anything happened to me, for Claretteis very fascinating. When she divorced the blacksmith he wasdisconsolate, and threatened vengeance; so her life is quite occupied inavoiding her first husband and keeping track of her second, who is tookind-hearted to threaten her as the blacksmith did. I really admireClarette--at a distance. She is positively charming w
hen her mind isfree from worry--and the children are asleep."
"Then you think," said Ajo, who was standing by and listening toMaurie's labored explanations, "that it is the blacksmith who iscondemned as a spy, and not yourself?"
"I am quite sure of it. Am I not here, driving your ambulance and goingboldly among the officers? If it is Jakob Maurie they wish, he is athand to be arrested."
"But you are not Jakob Maurie."
The Belgian gave a start, but instantly recovering he answered with asmile:
"Then I must have mistaken my identity, monsieur. Perhaps you will tellme who I am?"
"Your wife called you 'Henri,'" said Patsy.
"Ah, yes; a pet name. I believe the blacksmith is named Henri, and poorClarette is so accustomed to it that she calls me Henri when she wishesto be affectionate."
Patsy realized the folly of arguing with him.
"Maurie," said she, "or whatever your name may be, you have beenfaithful in your duty to us and we have no cause for complaint. But Ibelieve you do not speak the truth, and that you are shifty and artful.I fear you will come to a bad end."
"Sometimes, mamselle," he replied, "I fear so myself. But, _peste_! whyshould we care? If it is the end, what matter whether it is good orbad?"
Watching their faces closely, he saw frank disapproval of his sentimentswritten thereon. It disturbed him somewhat that they did not choose tocontinue the conversation, so he said meekly:
"With your kind permission, I will now go below for a cup of coffee,"and left them with a bow and a flourish of his cap. When he had gonePatsy said to Ajo:
"I don't believe there is any such person as the blacksmith."
"Nor I," was the boy's reply. "Both those children are living images ofMaurie, who claims the blacksmith was their father. He's a crafty littlefellow, that chauffeur of ours, and we must look out for him."
"If he is really a spy," continued the girl, after a brief period ofthought, "I am amazed that he dared join our party and go directly tothe front, where he is at any time likely to be recognized."
"Yes, that is certainly puzzling," returned Ajo. "And he's a bravelittle man, too, fearless of danger and reckless in exposing himself toshot and shell. Indeed, our Maurie is something of a mystery and theonly thing I fully understand is his objection to Clarette's society."
At "le revue matin," as the girls called the first inspection of themorning, eight of their patients were found sufficiently recovered to bedischarged. Some of these returned to their regiments and others weresent to their homes to await complete recovery. The hospital ship couldaccommodate ten more patients, so it was decided to make a trip toDixmude, where an artillery engagement was raging, with the largerambulance.
"I think I shall go to-day," announced Gys, who was wearing his mask."Dr. Kelsey can look after the patients and it will do me good to getoff the ship."
Uncle John looked at the doctor seriously.
"There is hard fighting, they say, in the Dixmude district. The Germanscarried the British trenches yesterday, and to-day the Allies will tryto retake them."
"I don't mind," returned the doctor, but he shuddered, nevertheless.
"Why don't you avoid the--the danger line?" suggested Mr. Merrick.
"A man can't run away from himself, sir; and perhaps you can understandthe fascination I find in taunting the craven spirit within me."
"No, I can't understand it. But suit yourself."
"I shall drive," announced Maurie.
"You may be recognized," said Patsy warningly.
"Clarette will not be at the front, and on the way I shall be driving.Have you noticed how people scatter at the sound of our gong?"
"The authorities are watching for spies," asserted Ajo.
Maurie's face became solemn.
"Yes; of course. But--the blacksmith is not here, and," he added withassurance, "the badge of the Red Cross protects us from falseaccusations."
When they had gone Uncle John said thoughtfully to the girls:
"That remark about the Red Cross impressed me. If that fellow Maurie isreally in danger of being arrested and shot, he has cleverly placedhimself in the safest service in the world. He knows that none of ourparty is liable to be suspected of evil."