CHAPTER XVIII MAKING HISTORY
The three chums exchanged looks when the surgeon made this extraordinaryrequest. At least it proved what confidence he had in their ability tocarry out the work of delivering the interrupted dispatches. Had therereally been any one else handy in whom he could trust possibly theAmerican surgeon would never have thought of imposing such an arduousduty upon Thad and his comrades. It was really a Frenchman’s task andhardly fitted for those who considered themselves neutral in the battlethat was going on.
Somehow or other Thad quite forgot that just then. The mere fact that hehad been asked to do this thing appealed to all that was valiant in him;and we happen to know that times without number he had proven himselfthe possessor of red blood in his veins.
“Say yes, Thad!”
That was Allan urging him to accept, and yet in times past this sameAllan had often betrayed unusual signs of caution. He, too, must havebeen overwhelmed with a sense of the high honor thus suddenly thrustupon them; though, for that matter, the tragic events of the day wouldhave been quite enough to make those lads feel that they were enlistedheart and soul in the cause of the Allies.
“How did he come to be hurt, sir?” asked Thad, first of all.
“He was riding a motorcycle at mad speed when a van crossed in the way,”explained the surgeon promptly. “The result was bad for the messenger,since his machine was smashed and he himself hurled against the van.They found him there, doubled up in the road, and carried him back tous. That is all I have learned, except that he has plain directionswhere Headquarters can be found. He will give them to me as soon as anyone swears to carry his dispatches through.”
“Thad, we ought to do it, sure as anything!”
Why, if it wasn’t Bumpus himself who was saying that; and surely if thestout chum felt that a duty had been thrust upon them that they oughtnot attempt to shirk, Thad should be the last one to hold back.
“We’ll undertake to deliver the dispatches, sir, though of course it’snone of our business what their nature is,” he immediately told thewaiting surgeon.
“That’s fine of you, but no more than I expected, son,” the otherhastened to tell him; and then, once more bending down closer to thewounded officer, he commenced to talk with him.
They guessed that he was asking for the directions as well as where hewould find the dispatches secreted about the person of the wounded man.Presently the surgeon stood up again. He was holding a small packet inhis hand, and it looked as though it might be of importance, seeing thatit was wrapped in yellow, water-proof material such as Thad rememberedsailors’ garments were made of.
“Here is the packet you are to place in the hands of General Joffrepersonally and as quickly as you can get to Headquarters. If they couldhave been sent by aeroplane it would have been done, but that means wasnot available. I am putting a great trust in your hands, my boy; seethat you carry it through as becomes a true-hearted American Scout.”
Thad without any hesitation accepted the packet and hastened to concealit upon his person. It must have struck him that in so doing he wastaking more or less risk, for should he happen to be caught by anyraiding German column he would be treated harshly, and might even belooked upon as a spy.
“And now, sir, how about the directions?” he asked quietly, trying tokeep his voice well under control.
“I will give them to you plainly, and I request all of you to listencarefully, so that if one should forget another can remedy the defect.”
Then the surgeon proceeded to describe just how the course was to befollowed; telling how many miles they would proceed along a certainroad, how they were to know where to branch off, and, finally, takingthem to an obscure spot far in the rear of the French battle-line, wherethe great General Joffre had his headquarters, sending most of hisorders forth by telephone, or it might be aeroplanes, which, it appears,is the modern way of conducting a great engagement between hundreds ofthousands of combatants on either side.
“Do you think you can remember it all clearly now?” demanded thesurgeon, when he had finished his instructions.
“I’ve got it printed like a map in my mind,” said Thad. “Scouts aretaught to do that sort of thing, you know, sir; and unless something wedon’t count on hits us a hard blow we’ll get to General Joffre’sheadquarters all right. Now please make some arrangement for a vehicle.Can you get us a car, sir?”
“I suppose you are used to driving one?” queried the other with a smile;he had apparently taken a most decided fancy to Thad, and deep down inhis heart believed the wide-awake lad could do almost anything that waspossible for the best of them to attempt.
“Oh! yes, we know a whole lot about such things, sir;” Thad assured him;“but I hope we have better luck than with an old rattletrap affair wegot hold of along the Rhine when we heard war had broken out and triedto break through the lines so as to reach Antwerp.”
“I’ll see what can be done,” said he.
His word was law in the field hospital, and hence Thad was not at allsurprised when he saw him take possession of the best car in sight. Theowner, an old though patriotic Frenchman, who had been urgent in tryingto do all he could to assist in taking care of the wounded, even torisking his own life in the cause, upon hearing why his car was wanted,instantly handed it over to the good American surgeon, to whom allFrance would later give praise for his wonderful work during those darkdays along the Marne.
“He’s beckoning to us, Thad!” called out Bumpus, who seemed to beintensely interested in the adventure, which appealed to that naturallove for excitement such as dwells in the heart of the average boy.
When they hurried over to where the surgeon waited he gave them each hishand.
“Here you are, boys, a pretty decent car placed at your service by thisgallant citizen of France. If you live to get through, let us hear fromyou. As for the car, turn it over to the military authorities to use asthey see best. Its owner has already dedicated it to the service of hiscountry and does not expect to ever see it again.”
“Get in, Bumpus, and hurry!” urged Allan, impatient to be off on the runwhich might mean so much for the French cause.
“Yes, get away quick as you can, boys,” said the surgeon, “before I havea chance to change my mind. Even now my heart misgives me, and I beginto feel doubts as to whether I am doing just the right thing in lettingyou go.”
Upon hearing him talk in that strain both the others scrambled aboardwith all haste. They did not mean to give him a chance to go back on hisword if it could possibly be avoided.
“Don’t fear for us, sir,” Thad told him, as he grasped the wheel andtook a look so as to familiarize himself with the working of the car,which, of course, differed from any other which he had ever handled,being of French make. “We’re accustomed to getting whatever we go after,and this sort of thing doesn’t feaze us one whit. Good-bye, sir!”
“Good-bye, boys, and the best of luck go with you!”
Then they were off, for Thad had started the motor going while talking,and it required only a simple movement of his hand to complete theoperation.
Allan and Bumpus might look back and wave their hands to the kindlysurgeon, but Thad, as the pilot at the wheel, had his work cut out forhim elsewhere. It was no easy task to thread his way in among thenumerous vehicles in motion without a collision of some sort. The roadwas close at hand, however, and once on that he would have thingseasier. At times fair speed might be made, though often they must followin the wake of a clumsy laden van because the other side of the road wastaken up completely with vehicles going to the front.
And now they could no longer see the field hospital, since a spur ofland hid it from the view of those who looked back; but they would oftenhave distinct visions of that amazing picture in days to come, andalways must find indelibly stamped upon the picture the face of thatnoble American surgeon who gave all that was in him for the cause ofsuffering humanity.
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??Well, we’re off at last!” said Bumpus, when they found themselvesgliding along the road smoothly, dodging trouble as it loomed up in theshape of puffing motor trucks and lorries, both French and English, allpacked to the limit with such supplies as a vast army must have day byday.
“And say, this machine is a big improvement on that old shebang we ranup there in Belgium a while back,” added Allan with a smack ofsatisfaction in his manner.
“The proof of the pudding is in the eating of it,” Thad told him. “Don’tcrow too soon, boys. It may turn out that I’ll wreck the car in some waybefore I’m done, though you can bet your last cent I’m going to bemighty careful. We’re making history right now, come to think of it, andcan’t afford to take chances.”