Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross

  CHAPTER VII

  ON THE FIRING LINE

  Next morning they were all wakened at an early hour by the roar ofartillery, dimly heard in the distance. The party aboard the _Arabella_quickly assembled on deck, where little Maurie was found leaning overthe rail.

  "They're at it," he remarked, wagging his head. "The Germans are atNieuport, now, and some of them are over against Pervyse. I hear soundsfrom Dixmude, too; the rattle of machine guns. It will be a grandbattle, this! I wonder if our Albert is there."

  "Who is he?" asked Patsy.

  "The king. They told me yesterday he had escaped."

  "We must get the ambulances out at once," said Beth.

  "I'll attend to that," replied Uncle John, partaking of the generalexcitement. "Warp up to the dock, Captain Carg, and I'll get some ofthose men to help us swing the cars over the side."

  "How about a chauffeur?" asked Dr. Gys, who was already bringing outbandages and supplies for the ambulances.

  "If we can't find a man, I'll drive you myself," declared Ajo.

  "But you don't know the country."

  Gys turned to the little Belgian.

  "Can't you find us a driver?" he asked. "We want a steady, competent manto run our ambulance."

  "Where are you going?" asked Maurie.

  "To the firing line."

  "Good. I will drive you myself."

  "You? Do you understand a car?"

  "I am an expert, monsieur."

  "A waiter in a restaurant?"

  "Pah! That was five years ago. I will show you. I can drive any car evermade--and I know every inch of the way."

  "Then you're our man," exclaimed Mr. Merrick, much relieved.

  As the yacht swung slowly alongside the dock the Belgian said:

  "While you get ready, I will go ashore for news. When I come back--veryquick--then I will know everything."

  Before he ran down the ladder Patsy clasped around his arm a bandbearing the insignia of the Red Cross. He watched her approvingly, withlittle amused chuckles, and then quickly disappeared in the direction ofthe town.

  "He doesn't seem injured in the least by his accident," said the girl,looking after him as he darted along.

  "No," returned Gys; "he is one of those fellows who must be ripped topieces before they can feel anything. But let us thank heaven he candrive a car."

  Mr. Merrick had no difficulty in getting all the assistance required tolower the two ambulances to the dock. They had already been set up andput in order, so the moment they were landed they were ready for use.

  A few surgical supplies were added by Dr. Gys and then they lookedaround for the Belgian. Although scarce an hour had elapsed since hedeparted, he came running back just as he was needed, puffing a littlethrough haste, his eyes shining with enthusiasm.

  "Albert is there!" he cried. "The king and his army are at Nieuport.They will open the dykes and flood all the country but the main road,and then we can hold the enemy in check. They will fight, those Germans,but they cannot advance, for we will defend the road and the sanddunes."

  "Aren't they fighting now?" asked Jones.

  "Oh, yes, some of the big guns are spitting, but what is that? A fewwill fall, but we have yet thousands to face the German horde."

  "Let us start at once," pleaded Maud.

  Maurie began to examine the big ambulance. He was spry as a cat. In tenminutes he knew all that was under the hood, had tested the levers,looked at the oil and gasoline supply and started the motor.

  "I'll sit beside you to help in case of emergency," said Ajo, taking hisplace. Dr. Gys, Dr. Kelsey and the three girls sat inside. Patsy hadimplored Uncle John not to go on this preliminary expedition and he hadhesitated until the last moment; but the temptation was too strong toresist and even as the wheels started to revolve he sprang in and closedthe door behind him.

  "You are my girls," he said, "and wherever you go, I'll tag along."

  Maurie drove straight into the city and to the north gate, Jonesclanging the bell as they swept along. Every vehicle gave them the rightof way and now and then a cheer greeted the glittering new Red Crossambulance, which bore above its radiator a tiny, fluttering Americanflag.

  They were not stopped at the gate, for although strict orders had beenissued to allow no one to leave Dunkirk, the officer in charge realizedthe sacred mission of the Americans and merely doffed his cap insalutation as the car flashed by.

  The road to Furnes was fairly clear, but as they entered that town theyfound the streets cluttered with troops, military automobiles, supplywagons, artillery, ammunition trucks and bicycles. The boy clanged hisbell continuously and as if by magic the way opened before the Red Crossand cheers followed them on their way.

  The eyes of the little Belgian were sparkling like jewels; his hands onthe steering wheel were steady as a rock; he drove with skill andjudgment. Just now the road demanded skill, for a stream of refugees wascoming toward them from Nieuport and a stream of military motors,bicycles and wagons, with now and then a horseman, flowed toward thefront. A mile or two beyond Furnes they came upon a wounded soldier, oneleg bandaged and stained with blood while he hobbled along leaning uponthe shoulder of a comrade whose left arm hung helpless.

  Maurie drew up sharply and Beth sprang out and approached the soldiers.

  "Get inside," she said in French.

  "No," replied one, smiling; "we are doing nicely, thank you. Hurryforward, for they need you there."

  "Who dressed your wounds?" she inquired.

  "The Red Cross. There are many there, hard at work; but more are needed.Hurry forward, for some of our boys did not get off as lightly as we."

  She jumped into the ambulance and away it dashed, but progress becameslower presently. The road was broad and high; great hillocks ofsand--the Dunes--lay between it and the ocean; on the other side thewater from the opened dykes was already turning the fields into aninland sea. In some places it lapped the edges of the embankment thatformed the roadway.

  Approaching Nieuport, they discovered the Dunes to be full of soldiers,who had dug pits behind the sandy hillocks for protection, and in themplanted the dog-artillery and one or two large machine guns. These weretrained on the distant line of Germans, who were also entrenchingthemselves. All along the edge of the village the big guns were inaction and there was a constant interchange of shot and shell from bothsides.

  As Maurie dodged among the houses with the big car a shell descendedsome two hundred yards to the left of them, exploded with a crash andsent a shower of brick and splinters high into the air. A little wayfarther on the ruins of a house completely blocked the street and theywere obliged to turn back and seek another passage. Thus partiallyskirting the town they at last left the houses behind them andapproached the firing line, halting scarcely a quarter of a mile distantfrom the actual conflict.

  As far as the eye could reach, from Nieuport to the sea at the left, andon toward Ypres at the right of them, the line of Belgians, French andBritish steadily faced the foe. Close to where they halted the ambulancestood a detachment that had lately retired from the line, their placeshaving been taken by reserves. One of the officers told Mr. Merrick thatthey had been facing bullets since daybreak and the men seemed almostexhausted. Their faces were blackened by dust and powder and theiruniforms torn and disordered; many stood without caps or coats despitethe chill in the air. And yet these fellows were laughing together andchatting as pleasantly as children just released from school. Even thosewho had wounds made light of their hurts. Clouds of smoke hovered low inthe air; the firing was incessant.

  Our girls were thrilled by this spectacle as they had never beenthrilled before--perhaps never might be again. While they still kepttheir seats, Maurie started with a sudden jerk, made a sharp turn andran the ambulance across a ridge of solid earth that seemed to be theonly one of such character amongst all that waste of sand. It broughtthem somewhat closer to the line but their driver drew up behind a greatdune that afforded them considerable protection. r />
  Fifty yards away was another ambulance with its wheels buried to thehubs in the loose sand. Red Cross nurses and men wearing the emblem ontheir arms and caps were passing here and there, assisting the injuredwith "first aid," temporarily bandaging heads, arms and legs or carryingto the rear upon a stretcher a more seriously injured man. Most of thiscorps were French; a few were English; some were Belgian. Our friendswere the only Americans on the field.

  Uncle John's face was very grave as he alighted in the wake of hisgirls, who paid no attention to the fighting but at once ran to assistsome of the wounded who came staggering toward the ambulance, some evencreeping painfully on hands and knees. In all Mr. Merrick's conceptionsof the important mission they had undertaken, nothing like the natureof this desperate conflict had even dawned upon him. He had known thatthe Red Cross was respected by all belligerents, and that knowledge hadled him to feel that his girls would be fairly safe; but never had hecounted on spent bullets, stray shells or the mad rush of a charge.

  "Very good!" cried Maurie briskly. "Here we see what no one else cansee. The Red Cross is a fine passport to the grand stand of war."

  "Come with me--quick!" shouted Ajo, his voice sounding shrill throughthe din. "I saw a fellow knocked out--there--over yonder!"

  As he spoke he grabbed a stretcher and ran forward, Maurie following athis heels. Uncle John saw the smoke swallow them up, saw Beth and Maudeach busy with lint, plasters and bandages, saw Patsy supporting a tall,grizzled warrior who came limping toward the car. Then he turned and sawDoctor Gys, crouching low against the protecting sand, his disfiguredface working convulsively and every limb trembling as with an ague.