Produced by Al Haines.
Cover art]
THE CANADIANS WERE MASTERFUL FIGHTERSIN THE EARLY STAGES OF THE WAR.(The Canadians at Vimy Ridge)]
OVER THERE
WITH THE CANADIANS AT VIMY RIDGE
_By_
CAPT. GEORGE H. RALPHSON
Author of OVER THERE WITH PERSHING'S HEROES AT CANTIGNY, OVER THERE WITH THE DOUGHBOYS AT ST. MIHIEL, OVER THERE WITH THE MARINES AT CHATEAU THIERRY
M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YORK
Copyright, 1919 M. A. DONOHUE & CO. CHICAGO
*CONTENTS*
CHAPTER
I Shells and MinnenwerferII Irving's IdeaIII In No Man's LandIV "Kamerad!"V The Turtle Is WoundedVI A Little HistoryVII Tourtelle ApologizesVIII Cubist ArtIX Bob's LetterX Dots and DashesXI Irving Tells the SergeantXII Quizzing a SpyXIII Tourtelle AdmitsXIV Tourtelle's StoryXV Irving an OrderlyXVI A Startling AnnouncementXVII Parachute PracticeXVIII Studying to Be a SpyXIX Last PreparationsXX "Second Looie Ellis"XXI The Blowing Up of Vimy RidgeXXII Behind the German LinesXXIII Off for BerlinXXIV In BerlinXXV The Reading of the CryptogramXXVI FollowedXXVII The Spy's DecisionXXVIII Making Progress with the BaronXXIX Orders for Money and ClothesXXX Before BreakfastXXXI At Work in the Spy OfficeXXXII A Startling RecognitionXXXIII A Surprising OfferXXXIV Skin GraftingXXXV The Tapping on the WindowXXXVI A RevelationXXXVII The SubmarinesXXXVIII "Kamerad!" AgainXXXIX "Accidents Will Happen"
*Over There with the Canadians at Vimy Ridge*
*CHAPTER I*
*SHELLS AND MINNENWERFER*
"Look out! There she comes."
These words were whispered, for it would have been a serious militaryoffense if the speaker had lifted his voice to a resonant tone inaddressing his companion. Both were in khaki uniform, and had helmetson their heads. They had been crouching in a camouflaged pit out in NoMan's Land in the Vimy Ridge sector of the western battle front inPrance.
It was dusk of evening, a mist-laden dusk, quite as serviceable forsecret movements as the darkness under a clear sky. One could not seean object as large as a man twenty yards away because of the fog.
All day it had been raining, just a slow drizzle, but nevertheless, agood deal of water had fallen, and the chief characteristic of thetrenches was mud. "Second Looie" George Tourtelle and Private IrvingEllis had been sent out through the communication trench to thelistening post, in which they were crouched when Irving whispered thewords "Look out! There she comes!"
There was really no need of his offering any such warning to hiscompanion, for the latter could hear the whistle of the approachingshell just as well as he, but there was also no call for the punishmentthat the second lieutenant administered. The shell passed harmlesslyover their heads and exploded behind the front line trenches of theCanadian company, of which the occupants of the spy pit were members,and almost simultaneously with the explosion, Lieut. Tourtelle struckIrving a sharp blow in the face with the back of his hand.
"There!" he said viciously, with apparently no effort to subdue the toneof his voice in accord with the strict precautionary rules of suchpositions. "See that you keep your thoughts to yourself hereafter orI'll send you back to report to the captain."
Irving was astonished, as well as angered at this treatment. He wassure there was no call even for a reprimand, whereas the officer hadspoken in tones quite loud enough for the enemy to hear fifty, orpossibly a hundred, yards away. In fact, he was sure that if the "secondlooie" had any reflection in him at all, he must have experienced athrill of apprehension very soon afterward lest the sound of his voicehad been heard by some of his superior officers in the front trenches.If so, an inquiry into its meaning most certainly would follow.
Of course,-Irving resented the uncalled-for exhibition of brutality justexhibited by Lieut. Tourtelle, but he had too much military sense toshow his resentment by look or act. Instead, he decided to take hispunishment and the accompanying rebuke as provocative of a littleself-discipline and to profit from the experience, in spite of theinjustice that went with it.
"I never did like that fellow from the first day I met him," PrivateEllis told himself, grinding his teeth with rage under the first impulseof revenge. "Now I know him to be the very sort I thought he was.Nobody but a coward would do what he did. He knows he'd never dare tomeet me on even terms. I'd clean him up so thoroughly there wouldn't beanything for a minnenwerfer to smell if one came along and dropped ontothe spot where he ought to be. Goodness! there's one now."
The "minnie" referred to in Irving's soliloquy lighted right in thecommunication trench not more than 200 feet from the outlook pit inwhich the officer and the private were stationed. The explosion threw upa mass of earth, several bucketfuls of which came down into the pit asif from a giant pepper-box. One stone about the size of two fistsstruck Irving on his left shoulder, and for several minutes the boyfeared some of the bones were broken or the joint dislocated.
But it proved to be only a bruiser and presently the young soldier wasusing his arm confidently, although with considerable pain. In theexcitement that followed almost immediately after the explosion of thisshell, he forgot the injury, although under ordinary circumstances,every movement of his left arm must have been more or less painful.
There was no shriek of warning preceding the next explosion fifty feetto the right, such as had called forth the whispered "look out" fromPrivate Ellis that was rebuked with a blow of the hand and an equallyunmilitary reprimand from the second lieutenant. But it was much moremighty in force and sound. It tore up the ground almost, it seemed, tothe very edge of the pit in which the outpost was located. Strangeenough, too, not nearly as much of the upheaved earth fell back into thepit as had fallen there after the explosion of the first shell. Irvingfelt that he knew the reason.
"That was a minnie dead sure," he told himself with a shudder. "I likethe others much better. You know when they're coming and maybe candodge 'em. But a minnie never gives any warning. They've spotted thisoutpost and the next one'll probably wipe us out. We'll never know whathit us."
Evidently something of this sort was going on in the mind of Lieut.Tourtelle, for suddenly he darted back through the communication trenchtoward the front line.
"That's funny," Irving muttered under his breath. "He's ducked withoutgiving any order to me. What'll I do--stick? I feel like sticking justto show him that I'm made of different stuff. But no, I guess I hadn'tbetter. He's just mean enough to report that he ordered me back, but Idisobeyed his order."
*CHAPTER II*
*IRVING'S IDEA*
Private Ellis had not been back in the front line trench long before hehad good cause to congratulate himself for resisting the temptation tooffer himself as an example of bravery in the face of the cowardlyactions of the second lieutenant. A second minnenwerfer droppedunannounced right into the pit they had just left and the size of thebowl-shaped listening post was increased many times.
"Now, if I were an officer and in position to make suggestions, I'dadvise that that pit be remanned in about half an hour," Irv
ing mused."The boches, no doubt, have a report of the success of their last shot,and will naturally assume that the place has been put out of commissionas a lookout, and the occupants reduced to their original elements. Ibelieve that hole in the ground is just as serviceable as it ever was toplay peek-a-boo at Heinie."
Lieut. Tourtelle was in the trench within a few feet of Irving and thelatter would have made an effort to get the proposition to him if it hadnot been for the experience he had had with the insufferable nature ofthe officer in the listening pit.
"I wish it weren't against orders to whisper in the front trenches--thatis, when you have something of importance to communicate to thehigher-up," the boy continued to himself. "I'd really like to go outthere and try it again."
At this moment someone took hold of his arm--the sore one, as the painin his shoulder reminded him--and gave it a pull. This was as much asto say, "Follow me." He obeyed, and soon reached the communicationtrench that connected the first and second line trenches. His leader, afirst lieutenant named Osborne, led the way through this trench back tothe second line. During the passage, Irving became conscious of thefact that others were following along behind. What was up, young Elliswondered. It was not time for him to be relieved, for he had been inthe trenches only about fifteen hours.
He was not long kept in doubt. Immediately on their arrival at thesecond line, Lieut. Osborne gathered them together--one officer and fiveprivates--and gave the following instructions in low tones:
"I want you boys to go out beyond the barbed wire and see what you canfind out. Remember your stock instructions. Don't get into any fights.If you meet anybody, retreat. We want to find the location of anypatrols of theirs out in No Man's Land. Look out for evidences of theirwork laying mines, repairing barbed wire, sinking listening pits, oranything of the sort. Then get back as soon as possible, keeping yourbearings and the locations of your discoveries well in mind. If any'very lights' go up, you must lie or stand still, or remain unwaveringlyin your positions and attitudes until they go out, unless the light isdirectly between you and our trenches. In that case, you must duck andmake the best of your way back under a hail of bullets, for you'll beseen. You will be armed only with pistols, hand grenades, and trenchknives. Use the bombs or pistols only to save yourselves from death orcapture. Remember it is information we want from you, not scalps. Youwill be under charge of Second Lieutenant Tourtelle."
Irving's heart went "way down" in his hob-nailed shoes at this latterannouncement. He had had no idea who his companions during this patrolexcursion were to be, for the night had fallen heavy and it wasdifficult for those in the group to recognize identities in oneanother's dimly silhouetted forms. The last information handed to themwas almost enough to cause Private Ellis to do something desperate. As asubstitute for the impulse he did the thing that had been uppermost inhis mind most of the time since he left the listening post out in NoMan's Land.
"Lieutenant," he said; "may I offer a suggestion which, it seems to me,would be of service to us right now?"
"Certainly, Ellis," the officer responded encouragingly. "What is it?"
"It seems to me that that pit that was increased to the size of a smallvolcano crater since Lieut. Tourtelle and I left it could be used withalmost perfect safety now," the boy said eagerly. "The boches won't beexpecting anybody to use it now. They, no doubt, think they've settledthe question of its usefulness for all time to come. Now, if you'd senda couple of machine guns out there with some men to operate them, wecould report back at that point to them and they could do quickexecution. After they'd done their work, they could run back to ourfront line and the boches 'u'd have a merry time dropping some moreminnies into an empty bowl."
Lieut. Osborne was quick to see the value of the suggestion.
"That's a good idea, Ellis," he said in tone of hearty approval, "andI'm going to do that very thing. Lieut. Tourtelle, see that these menare supplied with pistols, grenades and trench knives, or persuasionsticks, as they prefer, while I get the machine gunners."
*CHAPTER III*
*IN NO MAN'S LAND*
Private Ellis felt fully compensated for the treatment he had receivedfrom the second lieutenant by the recognition and adoption of hissuggestion to utilize the "minnenwerfered listening pit" for the purposefor which it was originally intended. Fully an hour had elapsed sincethis pit had been converted into a miniature crater, and not anotherexplosion had taken place in the vicinity. It seemed, indeed, that hehad not erred in his surmise that the enemy had checked up the resultsof their firing and concluded that any more shells dropped at this pointwould be a waste of ammunition.
But Irving was not without misgiving as the party started out throughthe communication trench for their patrolling and machine gun batteryheadquarters out in No Man's Land. The fact that Lieut. Tourtelle hadbeen put in command of this expedition dampened his spirits and causedhim to fear disaster. He fought hard against this apprehension. It hadbeen too dark for him to discern from the "second looie's" countenancehow that officer received the adoption of Private Ellis' suggestion, buthe was certain it was not accepted with the best of grace. He couldwell picture in his mind a darkening of the countenance of "the turtle,"a clenching of his hands, and a dogged sullenness of demeanor as theill-natured officer contemplated the favor shown the boy whom heevidently hated for no good reason whatever.
Irving renamed the second lieutenant "the turtle" in a kind ofsubconscious way. It was not done with malice aforethought. The termjust came to his mind, like a flash, and was inspired, no doubt, by thecontemptible conduct of the "shave-tail," as flippant military fancy hasdubbed the "second looie," and by the play of idea suggested in thespelling of his name.
The communication trench was partly a tunnel. From the front line as faras the barbed-wire entanglements it was just a plain trench, seven oreight feet deep. Then it became a subterranean passage with about twofeet of earth overhead, continuing thus until beyond the wire belt, whenit opened overhead again. When the patrol reached the spot where thefirst "minnie" exploded, they found it necessary to proceed with specialcaution, for the passage was blocked there on both sides of the craterwith heaps of earth. However, they managed to pass this place safely,and presently were in the listening pit that had recently been very muchincreased in capacity with minnenwerfer aid.
A period of waiting and listening followed the arrival at this "crater."Not a word was uttered, not even a whisper. Everybody gave the keenestattention of which his senses were capable to everything that offeredstimulation to eye or ear. However, their careful looking and listeningwas unrewarded with aught save what appeared to be the most unwarlikesilence and inactivity in the immediate vicinity. Now and then in thedistance could be heard the thunder of heavy cannon or the nastyspit-snap of machine guns.
Conditions appearing to be satisfactory, Lieut. Tourtelle gave theagreed signal, which consisted of placing one hand on the left shoulderof each of the scouts, and the latter climbed up over the slopingembankment at several points in the big cup and crept cautiously outover No Man's Land.
By this time the fog had lifted, and stars were beginning to peep outthrough rifts in the cloud-swept sky. Added to the muddiness of theground, the chill of the atmosphere rendered life in this sectorexceedingly uncomfortable.
Each member of this patrol went alone out over the rising slope of landthat lay between the front line trenches of the Canadians and the commonenemy of the Allies. They either crouched low or crawled on all fours.Each scout was assigned to a section of the territory as clearly definedas possible in order that there might be no crossing of paths ormistaking one another for members of a boche patrol.
Irving took a course to the right, advancing with a cautious, lowcrouch. His instructions were to proceed about 100 yards along a lineparallel to the trenches and then advance toward the enemy line to seewhat he could discover.
He proceeded the distance stip
ulated southward as nearly as he couldestimate over a half-mud and half-sod surface and then found himselfclose to a thicket of low bushes, the extent of which he knew to be notvery great, for he had observed this feature of the terrain in thedaylight. He decided that he ought to examine these bushes carefully,but realized that he must not take much time for the investigation, aseach member of the patrol had been limited to half an hour in which togather material for his report.
Private Ellis, therefore, decided to make a detour around the bushes,listening meanwhile for any sound of moving bodies among the leaves andtwigs. The detection of such sounds would be ample reason for sweepingthe patch with machine gun bullets.
He made almost the entire circuit without detecting the faintest noisethat could command the respect of his suspicion, and was about to turnaround and creep back toward the enemy lines, when a bunch of "verylights," fired from boche pistols, threw their brilliance over thescene. The unwelcome illumination was prolonged in a manner that Irvinghad not witnessed before. The lights floated down slowly, beingsuspended in the air by small parachute arrangements that opened outwith the increasing resistance of the air.
But something else startled the boy even more than these lights.Instinctively he remained stock still in the crouching position in whichthe illumination caught him. But right in front of him, not more thantwenty feet away were the figures of two soldiers. They were standingerect and facing each other. One of the faces was turned well towardPrivate Ellis, who could hardly smother an exclamation of astonishmentas he recognized him.
It was Lieut. Tourtelle!
"What in the world does he think he's doing?" Irving questioned tohimself. "He doesn't seem to be very anxious to protect himself. Hehasn't a pistol, knife or bomb in his hand."