The first of the three army ambulances had by this time come close to the boys. Attracted by their khaki uniforms, and possibly their bright eager faces, the man who was driving held up his team. A woman of middle-age, garbed as a nurse, jumped to the ground, and approached the boys. They saw that undoubtedly she must be the one in charge of the Red Cross detachment.
At sight of the little American flag which Tubby wore on the lapel of his coat her eyes glistened.
"That is a glorious sight to my eyes in this foreign land," she told them, "for I, too, am American-born. My profession is that of a trained nurse. A wealthy patient I brought abroad died in Antwerp; and as the war had broken out I determined to offer my services to the Government, so that I was immediately given a position of trust and responsibility.
We are short-handed with men, you can see. I happen to know what Boy Scouts over in America have to learn about taking care of wounded persons. It is a terrible thing to ask, but this is a case of necessity.
Would you be willing to help us out; and do you think you could stand the awful sights and sounds of the battlefield?"
Rob and Merritt exchanged glances; while their flushed faces told the nurse what their answer would be, even before they spoke a single word.
"We were just wondering whether you would let us join you," Rob said quickly, "for we want to do something to help those poor fellows over there. Yes, if you can make room for us aboard your ambulance we"ll gladly go along."
Poor Tubby had lost all his color. He was as white as a ghost; but with tightly shut teeth he pushed up, to allow the nurse to fasten a bit of muslin, stamped with a vivid red cross, upon his left arm, and then he climbed into the ambulance.
CHAPTER XVIII.
AFTER THE FIGHTING WAS OVER.
The horses had been urged on at considerable speed, in order to arrive upon the scene of action, for the animals began to show evidences of exhaustion long before they reached a position back of the Belgian trenches. That may have been one of the reasons why they were halted temporarily, at the time the head nurse talked with the three Boy Scouts.
As they approached the battle line Rob and his friends became intensely interested. They saw the heads of the defenders of the trenches thrust up to observe their coming, and heard the hearty ringing cheers with which the Red Cross nurses were greeted.
Men sprang out to a.s.sist them, so that apparently it would be no hard task to find plenty of recruits to handle the stretchers upon which the wounded could be carried to the hastily constructed field hospital in the rear, where the surgeons would soon be busily employed.
Tubby was still looking very white, but he had made up his mind that he would go through with this wonderful experience even if he fainted dead away. All that was stubborn in his nature had come to the surface; and Rob, after noticing this, made up his mind Tubby was going to take a long step forward before another sun had set.
Now they were on the other side of the trenches. There was considerable bustle. Nurses commenced to spread out over the field, on which some men lay groaning and others very still.
The a.s.sistants with the stretchers, upon whose arms had been fastened badges bearing the sacred red cross, began to carry off such of the wounded as they found needed urgent attention.
"Come on, boys, let"s see where we can help out!" said Rob, trying to appear perfectly cool and collected, but at the same time knowing that his knees were inclined to knock together, so that he could not blame poor Tubby for feeling as he did.
They started out. At first all of them stuck together, for the sights they soon saw filled them with a sense of horror, as well as compa.s.sion.
Never were Boy Scouts placed in a position where they had more reason to be thankful for what little knowledge of surgery they had attained.
The American nurse may have felt considerable doubt as to whether she had done a wise thing in affording these boys a chance to a.s.sist the Red Cross upon the battlefield. Rob saw that she hovered near them, as though keeping an eye on what they did.
It was a dreadful experience for those boys, to be thus brought in close contact with the dead and the dying; they could never forget what they saw there that day.
Even Tubby braced up when he found that he could be useful in helping the others. He had secured a bucket of water, and when he heard some poor fellow cry out, or saw him make frantic gestures, it was his business to hurry over and supply his wants. No matter what uniform the wounded man wore, it did not make a bit of difference; since the Red Cross recognizes neither friend nor foe, but treats all alike.
It is possible to get accustomed to almost anything in this world. Not one of those boys would have imagined a short time before this that they could find courage and nerve enough to walk in the midst of such carnage; and yet they were actually doing it now.
As Rob and Merritt finished binding up the leg of a poor fellow who would soon have bled to death but for their coming, the nurse who had meanwhile come up behind them commended their work.
"It was excellently done, I want you to know," she told them, "and I can plainly see that I need have no further fears concerning your ability to be of much a.s.sistance here. Do all you can, my brave boys, but remember not to go too far. You are not accustomed to such sights, and it may affect you in the end."
She hurried away to take up her own labors, leaving the boys with a proud sense of having done their duty as genuine scouts should, trying to be of use to others in sore need.
For an hour, yes two of them, they continued to work there, while the stretcher bearers and the ambulances bore the victims of the late conflict back in apparently an unending procession. Those poor fellows who had no further need of attention were of course allowed to remain just as they had fallen; and by degrees the wounded were weeded out, to be taken care of back of the desperately defended lines, where the Red Cross floated from the canvas field hospital.
Tubby had about reached the end of his endurance. They could see that he was certainly getting very wabbly on his feet, for often he stumbled as he moved around with his bucket and dipper, seeking a stray wounded soldier who might have been overlooked, so as to supply water to quench his raging thirst.
The sun looked down from a cloudless September sky, and it was very hot for the advanced season of the year. Far off in the distance those never-ceasing German guns still kept up their muttering as they sent sh.e.l.ls into some fortified place. The battle in this particular field was apparently not going to be renewed; for already some of the Belgian batteries were being taken away, to face a new quarter where, according to their air scouts, the enemy meant to next try a forward movement.
Terrible though the experience may have been to all the boys, none of them had any regrets. The grateful looks and words they had received repaid them tenfold for all the nerve-racking ordeals through which they had gone.
"I think it"s queer, though," Merritt was saying to Rob, as they walked around in search of any wretched victim whom they might a.s.sist, "that not a single German has been out on the battlefield to render first aid.
I don"t understand it at all. They"ve got as fine surgeons as any in the world, and the Red Cross works with their armies the same as with all the rest."
"I was bothering my head about that, too, since you mention it," Rob announced.
"What did you make up your mind was the cause of it?" continued Merritt, who had considerable respect for the opinions and decisions of the Eagle Patrol leader.
"It means either one of two things," he was told. "It may be the settled policy of the Germans in their rush to push through Belgium and Northern France to leave their wounded to be taken care of by the enemy, whenever the battle has gone against them; or else a quick change of front compels them to abandon the field."
"Still," argued Merritt, who secretly was much in favor of the Allies, "you"d think there would be some parties out with stretchers, looking up their wounded. I never will understand it."
"Well, they must have a good reason for acting that way," Rob told him.
"You know the Germans are great sticklers for sacrificing everything to the good of the cause of the Fatherland. If necessary even the wounded must be temporarily neglected until the end aimed at is attained. You remember what we heard in Antwerp about those three British cruisers that were just torpedoed in the North Sea by German submarines?"
"I can see what you mean, Rob. One was struck, and began to sink. The other two hurried up to render a.s.sistance, and while their engines were still they were hit by torpedoes and went down. If, instead of trying to help their distressed comrades in the English way, they had let them look out for themselves, and first of all smashed the conning towers of the submarines, they would have saved themselves. I guess in war times the German style counts best, though it seems cruel to me."
"I think we had better pull out of this before long," remarked Rob.
"Well, if you asked me I"d say I"ve had enough to last the rest of my life," Merritt told his chum. "If ever I had any idea I"d like to be a soldier I give you my word that"s gone glimmering now. What I"ve looked on this day has cured me."
"I was thinking more of poor Tubby than either of us," the patrol leader remarked. "You can see he"s pretty near the end of his rope. Twice now I"ve seen him trip and fall flat, over some of the war material that"s scattered around so thick. And he could hardly get on his feet again, he"s that played out."
"But, Rob, Tubby has certainly shown up splendidly in this terrible trial!"
"He"s done a heap more than we have," Rob a.s.serted, "because he always has been a timid sort of chap with regard to seeing blood when any of us got hurt. I remember how ghastly white Tubby grew that time one of the scouts in the Owl Patrol cut his foot with the ax. I thought for a while we"d have two patients on our hands. He had to sit down so as to get over it."
"Yes, and see what he"s stood to-day," said Merritt. "Many a boy who boasts of having lots of nerve would have shrunk from doing what he has.
Tubby"s all right, and that"s a fact. But it"s high noon, and I warrant you he"s feeling mighty hungry."
"He would, under ordinary conditions," said Rob, "but just now I don"t believe any of us could eat a mouthful. I know the very thought of it makes me feel queer."
"That"s because we"re not used to such sights and sounds," Merritt explained. "I expect to wake up many a night with a groan and a shiver, dreaming I"m on a battlefield again, after those awful Maxims have been doing their murderous work."
"Well, we might take one last turn around," suggested Rob, "and if we fail to find any more wounded men, we"ll call it a day"s work, and quit."
"For one thing, I"m glad I don"t mean to follow this up as a profession," his comrade continued. "I think I"ve had enough experience of fighting to last me a lifetime, and yet, on second thought, if it should happen again that they needed what little help I could give, why I"d have to pitch in."