Fighting in France Part 11

The two boys muttered their thanks, too much embarra.s.sed to say anything.

"I shall see to it that you are mentioned in the dispatches," continued the captain.

"And Dubois," exclaimed Leon quickly.

"Yes," laughed the captain. "And Dubois."

Captain Le Blanc pa.s.sed on, leaving two very happy boys behind him. It was a great honor to be mentioned in the official dispatches and naturally the two brothers were proud.

"Jacques will be jealous of you," remarked the soldier who had been talking about the young Frenchman a few moments before.

"Jacques is jealous of n.o.body," exclaimed Leon warmly. "He never has been and he never will be. He is too fine a fellow and has too much sense."

"That's right," agreed another soldier nearby. "He is not the sort ever to begrudge another man an honor."

"Dubois is still out in that trench, Leon," Earl reminded his brother.

"I think we'd better go out to him, don't you?"

"I certainly do," exclaimed Leon readily. "All you men are coming too, aren't you?"

The little gathering thus addressed were very eager to go, and soon the process of shifting their position was under way. One by one the men crept forward to the captured trench and before many moments had elapsed Leon, Earl and Dubois were esconsed in their position with nine more of their companions.

"This is the safest place I've struck yet," exclaimed Dubois. "All the German sh.e.l.ls go over our heads here. We're just as safe here as we would be ten miles behind the firing line."

"Yon wouldn't be absolutely safe that far away," said Earl.

"Well pretty nearly so anyway," said Dubois.

"How about Dunkirk?" demanded Earl. "See what they did there."

"What did they do?" asked one of the men.

"They dropped a sh.e.l.l in the town from a distance of twenty-two miles.

What good would ten miles do you against a gun like that?"

"The Germans certainly have some wonderful guns all right," said Dubois. "They won't touch us here though I guess."

"We're sort of between the fires, aren't we?" remarked Leon.

"Yes," said one of the men, "and I'm afraid it is going to be tiresome here after awhile."

"Tiresome!" exclaimed Earl. "It seems to me there is enough going on around here to suit anybody."

"Not for me," said the man, Armande by name. "I think I'll go out and take a look around."

"You're crazy," exclaimed Dubois. "What's the use in doing a thing like that? You'll only get killed and what good will it do?"

"I won't be killed," laughed Armande. "Those Boches, they cannot shoot."

"Don't you fool yourself," said Dubois seriously. "Of course they can shoot and shoot well too. You are foolish, Armande."

"Perhaps," Armande admitted with a shrug. "At any rate I shall now crawl over and have a look at the German trenches while it is yet dark.

I shall be back before long."

"I hope so," muttered Dubois soberly.

Armande crept out of the trench and disappeared into the night. It is one of the remarkable things about war that men soon seem to lose all fear of death. The noise of the big guns and the sh.e.l.l fire terrifies them at first, but they rapidly become accustomed to it and it makes but small impression on them. Life in the trenches becomes very dull and the men do all kinds of foolhardy things just to experience a thrill. They laugh at death and even play with it.

Such a man was Armande and though Dubois had tried to prevent his leaving the trench, the fact that he insisted upon going did not make much impression upon him. Many others had done things equally foolish.

"He may get back," remarked Leon.

"Oh, yes," said Dubois lightly. "The night is dark and he may not be seen."

"How far is it to the German trenches from here?" asked Earl.

"A hundred yards I guess," said Dubois. "I'm not quite sure though."

"About that," said Leon. "What's he going to do?"

"He said he was going to go over and take a look at the German trenches," said Earl. "I suppose that's where he's gone."

Many moments pa.s.sed and Armande did not return. The roar of the cannonade seemed to be slackening as time went on but it was still violent. No orders had come to the men as to what they were expected to do and consequently they surmised that they were not to attack again that morning. Before a charge the soldiers were usually notified so that they could have full opportunity for preparation.

"What's that?" demanded Earl suddenly, during a slight lull in the artillery duel. Armande had been gone about an hour.

"What's what?" asked Leon.

"I thought I heard a bell ring."

"A bell! What kind of a bell?"

"It sounded like a cow-bell to me."

"How could that be? What would a cow-bell be doing out here on the battlefield? I suppose the Germans are grazing their cattle out there."

"Don't be silly, Leon," exclaimed Earl.

Suddenly the bell sounded again; there was no mistaking it this time and all the men heard it. It was immediately followed by a burst of violent machine-gun fire from the German trenches.

"What do you suppose it is?" demanded Leon excitedly.

"It's a bell," said Earl. "I told you that before."

"It's very strange," muttered Dubois. "I cannot understand it."

The men were all alert now, however, and on the watch for any trick that the Germans might try to play on them. Every one was mystified and at a complete loss to understand the strange occurrence. A half-hour pa.s.sed and the performance was not repeated.