"Why? So you can get captured and--"
The general interposed. "Even if the message is a bit garbled the intent should be obvious to the lieutenant if he has any intelligence."
The captain regarded the general balefully and then snapped at Wims, "What are you waiting for? Move out! ON THE DOUBLE!"
Wims trotted away and as soon as he was out of sight the general said abruptly to Aronsen, "I"m going over to the Red lines and watch your Blue attack from there."
_Sure_, the captain snarled inwardly, _now that he"s set the fuse he"s running for the hills_.
The general climbed into his command car and waited while one of his majors dashed into the woods along the path that led to the attack group"s staging area. Less than a minute later he returned, followed by a colonel. They jumped into the command car which roared off immediately. As the captain was trying to puzzle out the incident"s meaning, three of his runners came out of the woods along the same path.
"Where have you goldbricks been? You should"ve been back long ago!"
"Sir," one of them spoke up, "there was a colonel a little way back there wouldn"t let us pa.s.s. Said the gen"ral was havin" a secret conf"rence and for us to wait."
The captain tucked away the strange information for later consideration.
Right now there was no time to be lost. "You! Get over to the attack group and tell the lieutenant in command to hold up until a white flare is fired from the spur of woods on his left. All other orders remain the same. If Wims has already been there, the lieutenant is to disregard any message Wims might have given him. If you see Wims, tell him to get back here. All right, move out!
"You! Get over to the second platoon in the reserve area and tell them to rush a replacement machine gun with support riflemen to the tip of the spur; base of fire to be maintained twenty minutes. Signal end of firing with white flare."
The captain dispatched his last runner with additional tactical revisions and then took time to consider the odd fact that the general had one of his colonels delay his messengers. Was he only testing his ability to improvise? Yet he seemed unduly anxious to have him use Wims.
Why? Suddenly, into his mind flashed the scene of the general calling Wims from behind the tree and he knew what it was that had been screaming for attention at the back of his mind these last hectic minutes. _No one had mentioned Wims" name within earshot of the general and yet Fyfe had called Wims by name!_
Wims had not been included in the company briefing and he wished he had had the courage to ask the captain where the jump-off area was, but the captain had been so angry with him he had not wanted to provoke him further. After a while of wandering he came upon two of his own company"s flank pickets nested in a deadfall a short distance beyond the edge of the woods. They greeted him with hearty hostility. "Git outta here, Wims. You ain"t got no business here."
"But Ah"m lookin" fer the lieutenant. Ah got a message fer "im from the captain."
"He"s over there on that hill," one of them replied, spitefully indicating the hill occupied by the Red force.
"Thanks," Wims said gratefully and in all innocence headed for the enemy hill. He lost his bearings in the woods and when he finally came upon the hill he had made a wide swing around the left flank and was approaching its rear slope. Immediately he was spotted by several trainees of the defending force foxholed on the lower slope. Since he came so openly from their rear area and alone, they a.s.sumed he was one of their own men.
As they let him come within challenging distance, they saw, pinned to his tunic, the green cardboard bar that identified him as a messenger.
The bars were worn so that noncoms wouldn"t be s.n.a.t.c.hing for other duties, messengers idling between missions. As had always been done, both sides in this exercise were using the same device to identify their messengers, never expecting them to be delivering messages behind enemy lines.
The challenged Wims explained his mission and he was pa.s.sed through with the information that most of the junior officers were on the forward slope. Wims climbed up the hill, inconspicuous among others scurrying about on various missions, many of whom did not wear the identifying red armband of the defenders.
He reached the crown of the wooded hill without finding a second lieutenant who was not a referee. He had almost reached the bottom of the forward slope when a small bush jumped up and yelled, "Hey, jerk!
Why"n"t ya watch where ya goin"?"
Wims pulled back just in time to avoid falling into a well camouflaged machine-gun nest. One of the foliage-covered gunners, thinking Wims was about to topple on him, jumped aside. His ankle twisted under him and he fell, catching the barrel of the machine gun just under the edge of his helmet and sagging into unconsciousness.
A platoon sergeant heard the steely clatter and rushed over. "That"s funny," he growled ominously, "I coulda sworn I set up a machine-gun emplacement here but it"s makin" noises like a boiler factory."
The a.s.sistant gunner pointed to the unconscious gunner. "He fell an" hit his head. He"s breathin" but he ain"t movin"."
The chattering of a machine gun from the woods opposite the hill was noted by the sergeant and he knew the Blues would be coming soon. He turned to the gunner. "Get up the hill an" snag one of our looeys or a referee. Tell "im we got a man hurt here, needs lookin" at."
The gunner dashed off and the sergeant jerked his thumb at Wims. "You!
Get on that gun!"
"But Ah got an important message fer the lieutenant," Wims protested.
The sergeant, annoyed, glanced at the green bar. "What lieutenant?"
"The captain said the lieutenant in charge."
"Gimmee the message. I"ll tell "im."
Wims started to protest but the sergeant"s eyes crackled. "Well, the captain said fer the lieutenant not to move out "til he saw the white flare fired outta the woods on his left."
"Not to move out?" the sergeant echoed doubtfully. "That don"t sound right. Are ya sure he didn"t say not ta _fire_ until we saw the white flare?"
"Maybe that"s it," Wims said agreeably.
"Maybe!" the sergeant roared, "whaddaya mean, maybe?" He grabbed Wims by the collar and pushed his face against the boy"s as if he were about to devour him. "Is it YES or NO?"
"Y-yes," Wims agreed nervously.
"What"s your name, soldier?" the sergeant asked.
"Dolliver Wims."
"You don"t happen to be a gen"ral do ya?"
Wims looked confused. "No," he ventured.
"Well then say so!" the sergeant screamed.
"Ah"m not a gen"ral," Wims said, desperately trying to please.
"Are ya tryin" ta get wise with me? WHAT IS YOUR RANK?"
"Private."
"Now, what"s your name, soldier."
Wims finally understood. "Private Wims, Dolliver."
"That"s better." The sergeant"s eyes narrowed as he searched his memory.
"I don"t r"member seein" ya "round this company before."
"Ah don"t recall seein" you "roun" here either," Wims said in suicidal innocence.
"Y"ARE GETTIN" WISE WITH ME!" the sergeant roared. "I"ll take care of ya later." He thrust Wims into the pit with the machine gun. "Now stay there on that gun "til I get back. I"m goin" ta find the lieutenant."
Wims squatted behind the gun, squinting experimentally through the sights and swinging the barrel to and fro.