"h.e.l.lo, boys! Glad to see you! Can we help you out?" asked Tom, as he and Jack joined the group.
The infantrymen whirled about.
"Well, for the love of the Mason an" Dixon line! is there somebody heah who can speak our talk?" cried one lad, his accent unmistakably marking him as Southern.
"Guess we can help you out," said Jack. "We"re from G.o.d"s country, too,"
and in an instant the were surrounded and being shaken hands with on all sides, while a perfect barrage of questions was fired at them.
Then, when the little misunderstanding at the candy shop had been straightened out, Tom and Jack told something of who they were, mentioning the fact that they were soon to fight directly under the stars and stripes, information which drew whoops of delight from the enthusiastic infantrymen.
"But say, friend," called out one of the new American soldiers, "can you sling enough of this lingo to lead us to a place where we can get ham and eggs? I mean a real eating place, not just a coffee stand. I"ve been opening my mouth, champing my jaws and rubbing my stomach all day, trying to tell these folks that I"m hungry and want a square meal, and half the time they think I need a doctor. Lead me to a hash foundry."
"All right, come on with us!" laughed Tom. "We"re going to eat, too. I guess we can fix you up."
The two aviators had been in Paris before and they knew their way about, as well as being able to speak the language fairly well. Soon, with their new friends from overseas, they were seated in a quiet restaurant, where substantial food could be had in spite of war prices. And then it was give and take, question and answer, until a group of Parisians that had gathered about turned away shaking their heads at their inability to understand the strange talk. But they were well aware of the spirit of it all, and more than one silently blessed the Americans as among the saviors of France.
The wonderful city seemed filled with soldiers of all the Allied nations, and most conspicuous, because of recent events, were the khaki-clad boys who were soon to fight under Pershing. Having seen that the little contingent they had taken under their protection got what they wanted, Tom and Jack, bidding them farewell, but promising to see them again soon, went to their hotel.
And, their baggage arriving, Jack proceeded to get ready for a bath and a general furbishing. He seemed very particular.
"Going out?" asked Tom.
"Why--er--yes. Thought I"d go to call on Bessie Gleason. This is her night off duty--hers and her mother"s."
"How do you know?"
"Well--er--she said so. Want to come?"
"Nixy. Two"s company and you know what three is."
"Oh, come on! Mrs. Gleason will be glad to see you."
"Well, I suppose I might," a.s.sented Tom, who, truth to tell, did not relish spending the evening alone.
Bessie and her mother had, of late, been a.s.signed as Red Cross workers to a hospital in the environs of Paris, and ant times they could come into the city for a rest. They maintained a modest apartment not far from the hotel where Tom and Jack had put up, and soon the two lads found themselves at the place where their friends lived.
"Oh, I"m so glad you both came!" exclaimed Bessie as she greeted them.
"We have company and--"
"Company!" exclaimed Jack, drawing back.
"Yes, the dearest, most delightful girl you ever--"
"Girl!" exclaimed Tom.
"Yes. But come on in and meet her. I"m sure you"ll both fall in love with her."
Jack was on the point of saying something, but thought better of it, and a moment later, to the great surprise of himself and Torn, they were facing Nellie Leroy.
CHAPTER VII. THE AMERICAN FRONT
Tom and Jack bowed. In fact, so great was their surprise at first that this was all they could do. Then they stared first at Bessie and then at the other girl--the sister of Harry, their chum, who was somewhere, dead or alive, behind the German lines.
"Well, aren"t you glad to see her?" demanded Bessie. "I thought I"d surprise you."
"You have," said Jack. "Very much!"
"Glad to see her--why--of course. But--but--how--"
Tom found himself stuttering and stammering, so he stopped, and stared so hard at Nellie Leroy that she smiled, though rather sadly, for it was plain to be seen her grief over the possible death of her brother weighed down on her. And then she went on:
"Well, I"m real--I"m not a dream, Mr. Raymond."
"So I see--I mean I"m glad to see it--I mean--oh, I don"t know what I do mean!" he finished desperately. "Did you know she was going to be here?
Was that the reason you asked me to come?" he inquired of Jack.
"Hadn"t the least notion in the world," answered Jack. "I"m as much surprised as you are."
"Well, we"ll take pity on you and tell you all about it," said Bessie.
"Mother, here are the boys," she called; and Mrs. Gleason, who had suffered so much since having been saved from the Lusitania and afterward rescued by air craft from the lonely castle, came out of her room to greet the boys.
They were as glad to see her as she was to meet them again, and for a time there was an interchange of talk. Then Mrs. Gleason withdrew to leave the young people to themselves.
"Well, go on, tell us all about it!" begged Tom, who could not take his eyes off Nellie Leroy. "How did she get here?" and he indicated Harry"s sister.
"He talks of me as though I were some specimen!" laughed the girl. "But go on--tell him, Bessie."
"Well, it isn"t much of a story," said Bessie Gleason. "Nellie started to do Red Cross work, as mother and I are doing, and she was a.s.signed to the hospital where we were."
"This was after I heard the terrible news about poor Harry at your escadrille," Nellie broke in, to say to Tom and Jack. "I--I suppose you haven"t had any--word?" she faltered.
"Not yet," Jack answered. "But we may get it any day now--or they may, back there," and he nodded to indicate the air headquarters he and Tom had left. "You know we"re going to be under Pershing soon," he added.
"So you wrote me," said Bessie. "I"m glad, though it"s all in the same good cause. Well, as I was saying, Nellie came to our hospital-I call it ours though I have such a small part in it," she interjected. "She was introduced to us as an American, and of course we made friends at once."
"No one could help making friends with Bessie and her mother!" exclaimed Nellie.
"Don"t flatter us too much," warned Bessie. "Now please don"t interrupt any more. As I say, Nellie came to us to do her share in helping care for the wounded, and, as mother and I found she had settled on no regular place in Paris, we asked her to share our rooms. Then we got to talking, and of course I found she had met you two boys in her search for her brother. After that we were better friends than ever."
"Glad to know it," said Tom. "There"s nothing like having friends.
I hadn"t any notion that I"d meet any when I started out with him tonight," and he motioned to Jack.
"Well, I like that!" cried Bessie in feigned indignation. "I like to know how you cla.s.s my mother and me?" and she looked at Tom.