CHAPTER XXV
DRIVEN BACK
Two weeks later and Frank had left the hospital and was back again withthe Army Boys. The injury to his head was found to be not serious, andthe leg although badly wrenched and strained had no bone broken. Ityielded rapidly to treatment, and Frank's splendid strength andvitality aided greatly in his cure.
There was immense jubilation among the Army Boys when their idolizedcomrade resumed his place in the ranks.
"You can't keep a squirrel on the ground," exulted Tom, as he gave hisfriend a tremendous thump on the back.
"Or Frank Sheldon away from the firing line," grinned Bart, looking athis friend admiringly.
"You didn't think I was going to stay in that dinky hospital when therewas so much doing, did you?" laughed Frank. "Say, fellows, if my leghad been broken instead of just sprained, I'd have died of a brokenheart. I've got to get busy now and get even with the boches for thatcrack on the head they gave me. It's a good thing it's solid ivory, orit would have been split for fair."
"You don't need to worry about paying the Germans back," chuckledBilly. "You paid them in advance. You don't owe them a thing. Say,what George Washington did to the cherry tree with his little hatchetwasn't a circumstance to what you did to the Huns with that axe ofyours. The axe is your weapon, Frank. A rifle doesn't run one, two,three, compared with it."
"I'll admit that the axe work was good as a curtain raiser," remarkedTom. "But the real show was when those machine guns and their crewswere blown to pieces. That made the work of the regiment easy."
"It was classy work," agreed Will Stone, who came along just then andheard what they were talking about.
"How are the tanks?" asked Frank of the newcomer. "I suppose old Jumbois just spoiling for a fight."
"I guess he is," replied Stone, with a touch of affection in his voicefor the monster tank that he commanded, "and from all I hear he's goingto get lots of it."
"I guess we all are," said Bart.
"All little pals together," hummed Billy.
"And it's going to be a different kind of fighting," went on Stone."The tide is turning at last. The Hun has been doing the driving. Nowhe's going to be driven."
"Glory hallelujah!" cried Billy.
"Do you think that General Foch is going to take the offensive?" askedBart eagerly.
"It looks that way," replied Stone. "Of course, I'm not in the secretsof the High Command, and only General Foch himself knows when and wherehe's going to strike. But by the way they're massing tanks here Ithink it will be soon. They're gathering them by the hundreds in thewoods, so that the movement can't be seen by enemy aviators. When theblow comes it will be a heavy one. And do you notice the way theAmerican divisions are being brought together here? That means thatthey'll take a big part in the offensive. Foch has been watching whatour boys have been doing, and he's going to put us in the front ranks."
"Better and better," chortled Billy. "That boy's got good judgment.He's a born fighter himself and he knows fighters when he sees them."
"Well, you boys keep right on your toes," said Stone, as he prepared toleave them, "and I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut that within three daysyou'll see the Heinies on the run."
Two days passed and nothing special happened. Then at dawn on thethird day, Foch struck like a thunderbolt!
He had gathered his forces. He had chosen the place. He had bided histime.
The German forces were taken utterly by surprise. Their General Staffwas caught napping. They had underestimated their enemy's daring andresources. Their flank was exposed, and it crumpled up under theterrific and unexpected blow.
Thousands of prisoners and hundreds of guns were taken on the firstday, and the success was continued for many days thereafter. TheAllies were elated and the Germans correspondingly depressed. Theirboasted drive had been held back, and now they themselves were thepursued, with the Allies, flushed with victory, close upon their heels.
The Army Boys were in their element, and they fought with a dash andspirit that they had never surpassed. Other volumes of this serieswill tell of the thrilling exploits, with the tanks and otherwise, bywhich they upheld the honor and glory of the Stars and Stripes.
"Well," said Frank one evening, after a day crowded with splendidfighting, "we've put a dent in the Kaiser's helmet."
"Yes," grinned Bart, as he wiped his glowing face. "Considering thatwe're green troops that were going to run like sheep before thePrussian Guards, we haven't done so badly."
"I guess the folks at home aren't kicking," remarked Tom. "They toldus to come over here and clean up, and so far we've been obeyingorders."
"We've held back the German drive," put in Billy, "but that's just thebeginning. Now we've got to tackle another job. We've got to drivethe Hun out of France----"
"And out of Belgium," added Tom.
"And back to the Rhine," chimed in Bart.
"Get it right, you boobs," laughed Frank. "Straight back to Berlin!"
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