CHAPTER XIII.
THE FIELD HOSPITAL.
"Do we get into our saddles again now, Rod?" asked Josh, as a halt wascalled.
The other glanced around. So far as he could see there did not seem tobe any reason for delaying their departure further. Certainly anypersons who may have been in ambush on the hillside could not havemanaged to get further along the road so as to waylay them.
"Yes, you start the ball rolling, Josh; and Hanky will follow. I'll keepour new friend engaged until you get going, when I'll start after youboth."
"Then you expect to leave Oscar here, do you, Rod?" questioned Josh.
"Oh! he'll find assistance, if his sore feet get to hurting himdreadfully again," replied the leader, whimsically. "But I'd advise himto sit down by the roadside, and not attempt to bother me any. He knowshow well his gun is loaded; and I think I could hit that top button ofhis coat, even when on the move, the first clip!"
Oscar, as they would still have to call him for want of a better name,shrugged his shoulders at hearing this declaration.
"Believe me, young M'sieu, I do not mean to give you the chance. I knowwhen I have enough. Things have not gone to my liking at all. And thisis a very comfortable seat, I assure you."
He sat down and folded his hands while Josh started off, Hanky Pankyspeedily following him, and calling back:
"Don't trust him too far, Rod, please; really, I hardly like the look ofhis eye."
"That's all right," laughed Rod, unconcernedly, "Oscar can't help hislooks; but he knows enough to sit tight sometimes, and this is one ofthem."
Rod moved his machine far enough away from the seated man to prevent anypossibility of the other playing him any treacherous trick. Then he gothimself ready to mount.
Even as he started off, holding the weapon still in his right hand so asto be in a position to use it on Oscar, he had a glimpse of the fellowtumbling backward; and at the same instant his voice rang out in loudshouts. Perhaps he was calling to his comrades, hoping to hasten theirarrival so that they might yet cut off the flight of the last boy, whoevidently had on his person the paper they were after.
So Rod passed down the road, with the late prisoner still whooping it upin the rear. Taking a fleeting look behind him, Rod could see that Oscarhad now managed to scramble to his feet, doubtless deeming the dangerpoint passed. He was wildly accentuating his extravagant gestures byrenewed shouting; and Rod even imagined he could catch some movementfurther back, as though those who were being summoned might be hurryingto the spot.
Well, let them come. He and his two comrades could afford to laugh,because the game had turned so nicely in their favor after all. And thenthey were ahead one bulky revolver in the bargain.
Rod was at first tempted to toss this weapon away, but on secondthoughts concluded to retain it for the present. That wily schemer JulesBaggott might have yet another ambuscade prepared for them a littlefurther on, and such a tool was apt to come in handy in case of asurprise.
Although no mention has been made of the fact, because other stirringevents continued to face the boys, they knew that they must be steadilydrawing nearer the scene of warfare, because the roaring of big gunsbecame more and more insistent with every mile they covered.
It would not surprise Rod in the least should they come in sight of somespirited action at almost any time now. Realizing that it was his dutyto be in the van at such a critical juncture, so as to occupy a positionto decide on their course of action, he gave the signal so well known tothe others, and which meant that they were to hold up.
They were several miles away from the spot where Oscar had been left inthe lurch, so no danger hung over their heads from that source. Rod soonexplained just why he had called the temporary halt; and then once morethe journey was resumed, this time in their regular order, with HankyPanky bringing up the rear.
Rod knew they must be drawing near the bank of the Marne, which riverflowing from the east empties into the Seine. He had been given tounderstand that it was along the banks of this river that the vastGerman host had retreated after their bold plan for taking Paris hadbeen frustrated, and their flanks were threatened by the Allied forces.
Looking ahead when there came a more than usually fierce outburst ofcannonading, he believed he could see where the battle was progressing,though the distance was still too great to make out which side mannedthe guns that were being fired. It was just then that in turning a bendof the road he suddenly came upon a most interesting sight, though atthe same time it struck his soul with a feeling akin to awe, and sent ashiver through his frame.
Evidently a field hospital had been established in a spot where it wasout of range of the German guns beyond. He saw numerous shelters ofcanvas, with busy surgeons and attendants, both men and women nurses.Along the roads, and across the level fields were hurrying ambulancesand vans of every description, each bearing its load of wounded pickedup along the front.
Rod threw up his hand. It was the signal that he was about to stop, andwanted to let his chums know so that they might be prepared to followsuit.
A few seconds later and they were at his side, gaping at the strangepicture now spread before them. Josh was going to have his dearest wishrealized, for they had undoubtedly now reached the battle line, andcould see some of the desperate charges and counter-charges attempted onboth sides.
The Germans had evidently turned at bay in their great retreat, and wereseeking to hold back the pursuit of the furious French, whose ardor wasapt to carry them to desperate attempts to break that solid line ofgreen-gray.
Hanky Panky was almost holding his breath. He did not possess the samedisposition that Josh had, and all this dreadful suffering was apt tofill him with horror. Still, he had a boy's ordinary share of curiosity,and might even be morbid enough to run so as to see an injured man in arailway accident, even if he came near fainting immediately afterwards.
"It's a French field hospital, isn't it, Rod?" asked Josh.
"There's no mistaking the tri-color flag that waves near the one withthe Red Cross," replied the other, without the least hesitation.
"Oh! what a pity we lost our field glasses," continued Josh,disconsolately. "We could never have such a splendid chance again towatch the play of a real battle like that going on over there; and it'sa bit too far for the naked eye to get the full benefit of it all. I'dgive everything I own for binoculars right now. Rod, don't you think wemight push on a little nearer the firing line?"
Rod shook his head in the negative.
"The chances are we'd be rounded up in a hurry, and forced to turnback," he told the eager comrade. "As it is I'm surprised we've beenable to get as close as we have right now. It's a part of our luck, Iguess. But I was thinking that if we chose to go over to the fieldhospital perhaps after we'd made friends with some of the doctors andattendants, helped a little it might be, we'd find a chance to borrow apair of binoculars from some one."
"Bully for you, Rod; that sounds good to me!" exclaimed Josh; whileHanky Panky gave a little gasp, and was heard to say almost helplessly:
"Oh! my stars, do we have to run smack into that hospital business, whenoften the sight of blood gives me the creeps, and makes my kneeswobble?"
"You can squat down right here, and stay if you want to, Hanky Panky,"volunteered Josh; whereat the other seemed to make a swift mentalcalculation, after which he shut his teeth firmly together, and went onto say resolutely:
"I'm game if you both are; besides, something might happen to me here,if that miserable Jules and his crowd came along the road back of us.Yes, I'll go," but it could easily be seen that Hanky Panky was nottaking any great pleasure in the outlook.
They could use their machines for a short distance along the road; thenit became necessary for them to dismount, break down a fence, andtrundle the motorcycles across a field to where the temporary hospitalhad been established, in touch with the battle lines.
Motor vehicles were coming and going at speedy intervals. Rod noticedthat they all
used another road, which evidently must be the directcourse to Paris, where the wounded heroes were being hurried after theirinjuries had received first care; because that is usually all a fieldhospital is intended to accomplish, staunching the flow of blood, and inother ways holding the spark of life until operations can be attemptedfurther removed from the scene of action.
Every one inside the limits of the place seemed to be desperately busy.Men were rushing this way and that with stretchers, carrying woundedsoldiers back and forth. Vehicles were coming and going, and theseseemed of all descriptions, from the customary ambulance to big lorriesrun with a motor; and all of them bore the sign of the Red Cross ontheir sides, in order to protect them as much as possible from the fireof the enemy.
It was in this manner therefore that the three Motorcycle Boys foundthemselves entering a new phase of their extraordinary adventures, andone that would doubtless never be forgotten, even when they foundthemselves once again safe in their distant homes.