CHAPTER XXIII
LOYAL UNTO DEATH
What happened next, Jimmy Blaise never forgot. The instant Voissardwas out of the plane he strode over to Schnitzel. Laying a handaffectionately on the German-American's shoulder, he addressed inFrench the group of aviators crowded about him.
"My comrades," he said, "here is indeed a gunner!" Then he went on torelate to his fellow flyers the details of the fight with the Aviatik,speaking rapidly and gesticulating in true French fashion. Going backfurther, he next cited Jimmy up for honors. When he had concludedhis account, Jimmy and Schnitzel underwent the embarrassment of eachbeing saluted on both cheeks by Cousin Emile. Nor did it stop there.The enthusiastic French flyers proceeded to do them honor in the sameway. Afterward both solemnly swore to each other in private never todo anything again in France that would put them in line for another"kissing bee."
Outwardly they behaved very well, considering the ingrained prejudicea sturdy American lad has to being thus saluted by his own sex. Whenit was all over, they accompanied Voissard to headquarters. Both wereimmeasurably relieved to find that the squadron commander made noattempt to kiss them. He shook hands with them, however, and said somehighly complimentary things to each.
Both Schnitzel and Jimmy were longing with all their hearts for achance to talk things out. While in the plane the noise of the enginehad made exchange of speech quite impossible.
Of his own accord, however, Jimmy could have cheerfully hugged CousinEmile when the aviator tactfully cut short the interview with thesquadron commander and marshalled his heroic charges to the quarters ofa friend, a _Communique_ of that particular escadrille.
"Here we shall have the hot bath. Afterward the breakfast atL'escadrille mess. My friend, Pierre, is not within. Always hisquarters are mine, when I chance to visit here," Voissard explained asthey entered the _Communique's_ snug little quarters.
"I guess you knew, sir, that we were dying to talk," burst forth Jimmygratefully.
"I had the suspicion." Voissard smiled at impetuous Blazes. "Soon theopportunity will be ours. May I suggest that you have the patienceuntil after the bath? At breakfast there will be no one to interrupt."
The luxury of a hot bath was greatly appreciated by the threeadventurers. Schnitzel, however, deplored the dilapidated condition ofhis uniform.
"It's been dragged all through Bocheland," he mourned. "Guess I'll keepmy rags covered with this big coat. I'll have to go on borrowing thiscap, too, until I get back to Sammy headquarters."
Seeking the escadrille mess, they were glad to find it practicallydeserted of occupants. The members of the escadrille had alreadybreakfasted and were either out in the field or on various details.
"Now, Schnitz, for Heaven's sake tell us what happened to you out therein No Man's Land," sighed Jimmy, when the trio had taken seats at atable and ordered breakfast.
"It seems about a hundred years since then." Schnitzel paused. For aninstant he was silent.
"I hadn't gone six yards from that shell crater when I ran full tiltinto a Boche patrol," he began. "I put up a fight and croaked two of'em. They were too many for me. One of the brutes hit me over the headand I went to sleep. When I came to I thought for a minute I was backin our own trenches and that I'd been dreaming. My head hurt likesixty. I put my hand up to the back of it and when I looked at it itwas covered with blood. Then I saw a couple of Sammies a little waydown the trench. They looked all banged up, too. I started to yell at'em and a Boche sentry came up and kicked me and spit on me and orderedme to shut up. I felt for my identification tag and it was gone. Then Iknew where I was all right enough.
"That sentry was dying for me to say something so he could kick me somemore, but I fooled him. I shut up like a clam. I stayed there all daywithout so much as a drink of water. The sentry, the fellow that kickedme, was on the job every minute till he was relieved. His relief wasworse. He kept walking by the three of us and every time he passed ushe'd either strike or kick us. Our hands were tied behind our backs andour feet were tied together, so we couldn't do a thing to him. Wheneverwe tried to talk to one another we got a clip from him.
"After dark a couple of Boches came and untied my feet. They walked meto a dugout. There were half a dozen Hun officers there. One of 'em,a Boche captain, began talking to me in German. I pretended I didn'tunderstand. He got raving mad and said he knew I was a German by myidentification tag. I didn't fall for him, though.
"Then he turned to an Unteroffizier and ordered: 'Question him inEnglish.' The fellow saluted. Then he asked me in English if myname was Franz Schnitzel. I said it was and he asked me if I couldunderstand German. I said I was ashamed to say that I could. He toldthe captain and the brute got up and hit me across the mouth.
"He hit me a good one. It made me dizzy, but I pulled myself togetherand laughed in his face. Then I turned on the Unterdog and let himhave it. I told him I hated the Boches like poison and that I was allAmerican and not a bit Hun and a lot of other things that weren'texactly complimentary to the Kaiser and his brood.
"I wondered why they didn't all jump on me at once and finish me. Theywanted to, I guess, but they didn't. They had other plans for me. TheUnterdog told me I was a traitor to the Fatherland and that they weregoing to make an example of me. I said for them to go as far as theyliked, and that ended the seance. The two Boche watchdogs took me backto the trench and the one behind me kicked me all the way there.
"I didn't get anything to eat that night but next morning I got abit of black bread and a tin cup full of barley coffee. I was crazyfor water, but nothing doing. I got a little in the afternoon and apiece of bread and some sausage at night. That's a sample of whathappened every day for the next three days. I used to take a trip tothe captain's dugout once a day and he'd try to make me talk to himin German. The third time I went I slammed the Boches so hard to theinterpreter that when he told the captain what I said the brute gotcrazy and flew at me like a wild beast. He gave me a terrible wallopingwith a gun-barrel. I went to sleep and had to be dragged back to thetrench. It was one of the reserve trenches I was in. I had to make along hike through a com. trench every time I went to visit the captain.
"It went on like that until last night. Early in the evening I tookmy usual trip to the dugout. When I got there I saw a new face in theofficer crowd. It belonged to that beast you croaked, Blazes. He hadthe wickedest pair of eyes I ever saw in a man's head. I didn't knowhim from Adam, but he thought he knew me, it seemed. He kept staring atme for a while, then he started to talk a blue streak to the captain. Icaught most of it. Maybe I wasn't dazed to hear him telling all aboutthe bridge racket back at Marvin and the _Columbia_, and that I was oneof the friends of the American swine--that was you, Blazes--who haddone for him on the _Columbia_."
"How did he know that you were?" Jimmy cried out in excitement.
"He'd been hanging around the French training camp for a week,shadowing you. He knew every one of the five Brothers by sight. Hefollowed us to Paris and back and tried to shoot us up that night."
"I knew it was he!" exploded Jimmy. "What did I tell you?" He turnedtriumphantly to Voissard.
"You were indeed correct." With this smiling assurance, Cousin Emilemotioned to Schnitzel to continue.
"He went on about you, Blazes, to beat the band. He certainly calledyou some names. That wireless fellow on the _Columbia was_ his son.That came out in the talk. The fellow told about signaling a U-Boatthe night you got him. He had it all planned to jump overboard and bepicked up by a Boche boat. Then you queered his game. He didn't know athing about the real smash. His son put that over by himself, I guess.The father was picked up by a trawler and landed in L----. You saw himon the station platform. He told about that, too.
"That's about all of his history, except that he asked the captain toturn me over to him to deal with. You ought to have seen his eyes whenhe said it. Some healthy little hate they registered. I was turned overto him next morning. Before daylight he headed a gang that came forme and marched me off
to that barn. It was a long walk. You know therest. Your coming was a miracle. I'd made up my mind not to peep whenthey bayoneted me to that door. I was going to die game for the U. S."
"Oh, Glory, but I'm glad I croaked him!" Jimmy's exclamation rang withan intensity of hatred. "He was some spy, Schnitz. _Mon Captaine_,"he glanced mischievously at Cousin Emile, "found out all about him.His name was von Kreitzen. He was an Austrian spy; one of the biggestvillains going."
"I never heard his name," returned Schnitzel. "They never called himanything but captain. Guess he must have been lying low in the army.The other officers fairly groveled to him. You ought to be decoratedfor croaking him, Blazes."
"Oh, I'm not so much." Jimmy grinned cheerfully. "You've got somethingcoming to you, Schnitz, when you get back to headquarters. You stoppedthe raid that night, only you never knew it."
"France will also wish to honor you," declared Voissard. "You did thegreat work this morning with the machine gun. My poor, good Gastoncould not have done better. I would that you were my gunner."
"I thank you, _mon Captaine_." Schnitzel smilingly borrowed Jimmy'sfamiliar appellation in addressing Voissard. "I should like to be yourgunner. I'd accept the detail in a minute except for one thing. I can'tresign my job with Uncle Sammy."
Schnitzel's dark face was illuminated by a radiant flash of patriotismthat sprang from the depths of his soul.
"Never mind. If you cannot be my gunner, you can always be my honoredcomrade and friend." Across the table Voissard's hand went out toSchnitzel. "It is all one. We are linked by all that we hold highest torid the world of the curse of militarism."
"It's all the same old Glory Road, and it leads to Berlin and victoryfor the Allies," supplemented Jimmy. "Whether we're Sammies, Frenchies,Tommies or Wops, we're all doing our bit for the same old cause."