CHAPTER VIII
THE COWARD
"Great heavens!" gasped Mr. Merrick, running toward the doctor. "Are youhit?"
Gys looked up at him appealingly and nodded.
"Where did it strike you? Was it a bullet--or what?"
The doctor wrung his hands, moaning pitifully. Uncle John bent over him.
"Tell me," he said. "Tell me, Gys!"
"I--I'm scared, sir--s-s-scared stiff. It's that yellow s-s-s-streak inme; I--I--can't help it, sir." Then he collapsed, crouching lifelesslyclose to the sand.
Uncle John was amazed. He drew back with such an expression of scornthat Gys, lying with face upward, rolled over to hide his own featuresin the sand. But his form continued to twist and shake convulsively.
Patsy came up with her soldier, whose gaudy uniform proclaimed him anofficer. He had a rugged, worn face, gray hair and mustache, stern eyes.His left side was torn and bleeding where a piece of shell had raked himfrom shoulder to knee. No moan did he utter as Mr. Merrick and the girlassisted him to one of the swinging beds, and then Patsy, with white,set face but steady hands, began at once to cut away the clothing andget at the wound. This was her first practical experience and she meantto prove her mettle or perish in the attempt.
Uncle John skipped over to the sand bank and clutched Gys savagely bythe collar.
"Get up!" he commanded. "Here's a man desperately wounded, who needsyour best skill--and at once."
Gys pulled himself free and sat up, seeming dazed for the moment. Thenhe rubbed his head briskly with both hands, collected his nerve andslowly rose to his feet. He cast fearful glances at the firing line, butthe demand for his surgical skill was a talisman that for a time enabledhim to conquer his terror. With frightened backward glances he ran tothe ambulance and made a dive into it as if a pack of wolves was at hisheels.
Safely inside, one glance at the wounded man caused Gys to stiffensuddenly. He became steady and alert and noting that Patsy had now bareda portion of the gaping wound the doctor seized a thermos flask of hotwater and in a moment was removing the clotted blood in a deft andintelligent manner.
Now came Jones and Maurie bearing the man they had picked up. As theyset the stretcher down, Uncle John came over.
"Shall we put him inside?" asked Mr. Merrick.
"No use, I think," panted the Belgian.
"Where's the doctor?" asked Ajo.
Kelsey, who had been busy elsewhere, now approached and looked at thesoldier on the stretcher.
"The man is dead," he said. "He doesn't need us now."
"Off with him, then!" cried Maurie, and they laid the poor fellow uponthe sand and covered him with a cloth. "Come, then," urged the littlechauffeur, excitedly, "lots more out there are still alive. We get onequick."
They left in a run in one direction while Kelsey, who had come to theambulance for supplies, went another way. Mr. Merrick looked around forthe other two girls. Only Maud Stanton was visible through the smokyhaze. Uncle John approached her just as a shell dropped into the sandnot fifty feet away. It did not explode but plowed a deep furrow andsent a shower of sand in every direction.
Maud had just finished dressing a bullet wound in the arm of a youngsoldier who smiled as he watched her. Then, as she finished the work, hebowed low, muttered his thanks, and catching up his gun rushed back intothe fray. It was a flesh wound and until it grew more painful he couldstill fight.
"Where are the Germans?" asked Uncle John. "I haven't seen one yet."
As he spoke a great cheer rose from a thousand throats. The line beforethem wavered an instant and then rushed forward and disappeared in thesmoke of battle.
"Is it a charge, do you think?" asked Maud, as they stood peering intothe haze.
"I--I don't know," he stammered. "This is so--so bewildering--that itall seems like a dream. Where's Beth?"
"I don't know."
"Are you looking for a young lady--a nurse?" asked a voice beside them."She's over yonder," he swung one arm toward the distant sand dunes. Theother was in a sling. "She has just given me first aid and sent me tothe rear--God bless her!" Then he trailed on, a British Tommy Atkins,while with one accord Maud and Uncle John moved in the direction he hadindicated.
"She mustn't be so reckless," said Beth's uncle, nervously. "It's badenough back here, but every step nearer the firing line doubles thedanger."
"I do not agree with you, sir," answered Maud quietly. "A man was killednot two paces from me, a little while ago."
He shuddered and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief,but made no reply. They climbed another line of dunes and in the hollowbeyond came upon several fallen soldiers, one of whom was moaning withpain. Maud ran to kneel beside him and in a twinkling had her hypodermicneedle in his arm.
"Bear it bravely," she said in French. "The pain will stop in a fewminutes and then I'll come and look after you."
He nodded gratefully, still moaning, and she hurried to rejoin Mr.Merrick.
"Beth must be in the next hollow," said Uncle John as she overtook him,and his voice betrayed his nervous tension. "I do wish you girls wouldnot be so reckless."
Yes; they found her in the next hollow, where several men were groupedabout her. She was dressing the shattered hand of a soldier, while twoor three others were patiently awaiting her services. Just beside her asweet-faced Sister of Mercy was bending over a dying man, comforting himwith her prayers. Over the ridge of sand could be heard the "ping" ofsmall arms mingled with the hoarse roar of machine guns. Another greatshout--long and enthusiastic--was borne to their ears.
"That is good," said a tall man standing in the group about Beth; "Ithink, from the sound, we have captured their guns."
"I'm sure of it, your Majesty," replied the one whom Beth was attending."There; that will do for the present. I thank you. And now, let us getforward."
As they ran toward the firing Uncle John exclaimed:
"His Majesty! I wonder who they are?"
"That," said a private soldier, an accent of pride in his voice, "is ourAlbert."
"The king?"
"Yes, monsieur; he is the tall one. The other is General Mays. I'm surewe have driven the Germans back, and that is lucky, for before ourcharge they had come too close for comfort."
"The king gave me a ring," said Beth, displaying it. "He seemed glad Iwas here to help his soldiers, but warned me to keep further away fromthe line. King Albert speaks English perfectly and told me he lovesAmerica better than any other country except his own."
"He has traveled in your country," explained the soldier. "But then,our Albert has traveled everywhere--before he was king."
Betwixt them Maud and Beth quickly applied first aid to the others inthe group and then Uncle John said:
"Let us take the king's advice and get back to the ambulance. We leftonly Patsy and Dr. Gys there and I'm sure you girls will be needed."
On their return they came upon a man sitting in a hollow and calmlyleaning against a bank of sand, smoking a cigarette. He wore a grayuniform.
"Ah, a German!" exclaimed Maud. She ran up to him and asked: "Are youhurt?"
He glanced at her uniform, nodded, and pointed to his left foot. It hadnearly all been torn away below the ankle. A handkerchief was twistedabout the leg, forming a rude tourniquet just above the wound, and thishad served to stay the flow of blood.
"Run quickly for the stretcher," said Maud to Uncle John. "I will staywith him until your return."
Without a word he hurried away, Beth following. They found, on reachingthe ambulance, that Maurie and Jones had been busy. Five of the swingingbeds were already occupied.
"Save the other one," said Beth. "Maud has found a German." Then shehurried to assist Patsy, as the two doctors had their hands full.
Jones and Maurie started away with the stretcher, Uncle John guidingthem to the dunes where Maud was waiting, and presently they had thewounded German comfortably laid in the last bed.
"Now, then, back to the ship," said Gys. "We
have in our care two lives,at least, that can only be saved by prompt operations."
Maurie got into the driver's seat.
"Careful, now!" cautioned Jones, beside him.
"Of course," replied the Belgian, starting the motor; "there are manysores inside. But if they get a jolt, now and then, it will serve toremind them that they are suffering for their country."
He began to back up, for the sand ahead was too deep for a turn, and theway he managed the huge car along that narrow ridge aroused theadmiration of Ajo, who alone was able to witness the marvelousperformance. Slowly, with many turns, they backed to the road, whereMaurie swung the ambulance around and then stopped with a jerk that drewseveral groans from the interior of the car.
"What's wrong?" asked Mr. Merrick, sticking his head from a window.
"We nearly ran over a man," answered Jones, climbing down from his seat."Our front wheels are right against him, but Maurie stopped in time."
Lying flat upon his face, diagonally across the roadway, was the form ofa man in the blue-and-red uniform of the Belgian army. Maurie backed theambulance a yard or so as Maud sprang out and knelt beside the prostrateform.
The firing, which had lulled for a few minutes, suddenly redoubled infury. There rose a wild, exultant shout, gradually drawing nearer.
"Quick!" shouted Gys, trembling and wringing his hands. "The Germans arecharging. Drive on, man--drive on!"
But Maurie never moved.
"The Germans are charging, sure enough," he answered, as the line ofretreating Belgians became visible. "But they must stop here, for we'veblocked the road."
All eyes but those of Maud were now turned upon the fray, which waspractically a hand to hand conflict. Nearer and nearer came the confusedmass of warriors and then, scarce a hundred yards away, it halted andthe Belgians stood firm.
"He isn't dead," said Maud, coming to the car. "Help me to put himinside."
"There is no room," protested Gys.
The girl looked at him scornfully.
"We will make room," she replied.
A bullet shattered a pane of glass just beside the crouching doctor, butpassed on through an open window without injuring anyone. In fact,bullets were singing around them with a freedom that made others thanDr. Gys nervous. It was chubby little Uncle John who helped Jones carrythe wounded man to the ambulance, where they managed to stretch him uponthe floor. This arrangement sent Patsy to the front seat outside, withMaurie and Ajo, although her uncle strongly protested that she had noright to expose her precious life so wantonly.
There was little time for argument, however. Even as the girl wasclimbing to her seat the line of Belgians broke and came pouring towardthem. Maurie was prompt in starting the car and the next moment theambulance was rolling swiftly along the smooth highway in the directionof Dunkirk and the sounds of fray grew faint behind them.