Ruth Fielding In the Red Cross Part 13

The girl of the Red Mill could not see Helen at this time, but she believed her chum and Mr. Cameron would look her up, wherever the supply unit to which Ruth belonged was ultimately a.s.signed.

She received a letter from Tom Cameron about this time, too, and found that he was hard at work in a camp right behind the French lines and had already made one step in the line of progress, being now a first lieutenant. He expected, with his force of Pershing's boys, to go into the trenches for the first time within a fortnight.

She wished she might see Tom again before his battalion went into action; but she was under command of the Red Cross; and, in any case, she could not have got her pa.s.sport viseed for the front. Mr. Cameron, as a representative of the United States Government, with Helen, had been able to visit Tom in the training camp over here.

Ruth wrote, however-wrote a letter that Tom slipped into the little leather pouch he wore inside his shirt, and which he would surely have with him when he endured his first round of duty in the trenches. With the verities of life and death so near to them, these young people were very serious, indeed.

Yet the note of cheerfulness was never lost among the workers of the Red Cross with whom Ruth Fielding daily a.s.sociated. While she waited for her unit to be a.s.signed to its place the girl of the Red Mill did not waste her time. There was always something to see and something to learn.

When congregated at the headquarters of the Supply Department one day, the unit was suddenly notified that their new chief had arrived. They gathered quickly in the reception room and soon a number of Red Cross officials entered, headed by one in a major's uniform and with several medals on the breast of his coat. He was a medical army officer in addition to being a Red Cross commissioner.

"The ladies of our new base supply unit," said the commissioner, introducing the workers, "already a.s.signed to Lyse. That was decided last evening.

"And it is my pleasure," he added, "to introduce to you ladies your new chief. She has come over especially to take charge of your unit. Madame Mantel, ladies. Her experience, her executive ability, and her knowledge of French makes her quite the right person for the place. I know you will welcome her warmly."

Even before he spoke Ruth Fielding had recognized the woman in black.

Nor did she feel any overwhelming surprise at Rose Mantel's appearance.

It was as though the girl had expected, back in her mind, something like this to happen.

The man who spoke like Legrand and the one who looked like Jose, appearing at the Paris Red Cross offices, had prepared Ruth for this very thing. "Madame" Mantel had crossed the path of the girl of the Red Mill again. Ruth crowded behind her companions and hid herself from the sharp and "snaky" eyes of the woman in black.

The question of how Mrs. Mantel had obtained this place under the Red Cross did not trouble Ruth at all. She had gained it. The thing that made Ruth feel anxious was the object the woman in black had in obtaining her prominent position in the organization.

The girl could not help feeling that there was something crooked about Rose Mantel, about Legrand, and about Jose. These three had, she believed, robbed the organization in Robinsburg. Their "pickings" there had perhaps been small beside the loot they could obtain with the woman in black as chief of a base supply unit.

Her first experience with Mrs. Mantel in Cheslow had convinced Ruth Fielding that the woman was dishonest. The incident of the fire at Robinsburg seemed to prove this belief correct. Yet how could she convince the higher authorities of the Red Cross that the new chief of this supply unit was a dangerous person?

At least, Ruth was not minded to face Mrs. Mantel at this time. She managed to keep out of the woman's way while they remained in Paris. In two days the unit got their transportation for Lyse, and it was not until they were well settled in their work at the base hospital in that city that Ruth Fielding came in personal contact with the woman in black, her immediate superior.

Ruth had charge of the linen department and had taken over the supplies before speaking with Mrs. Mantel. They met in one of the hospital corridors-and quite suddenly.

The woman in black, who still dressed so that this nickname was borne out by her appearance, halted in amazement, and Ruth saw her hand go swiftly to her bosom-was it to still her heart's increased beat, or did she hide some weapon there? The malevolent flash of Rose Mantel's eyes easily suggested the latter supposition.

"Miss Fielding!" she gasped.

"How do you do, Mrs. Mantel?" the girl of the Red Mill returned quietly.

"How-- I had no idea you had come across. And in my unit?"

"I was equally surprised when I discovered you, Mrs. Mantel," said the girl.

"You-- How odd!" murmured the woman in black. "Quite a coincidence. I had not seen you since the fire--"

"And I hope there will be no fire here-don't you, Madame Mantel?"

interrupted Ruth. "That would be too dreadful."

"You are right. Quite too dreadful," agreed Mrs. Mantel, and swept past the girl haughtily.

CHAPTER XIV-A CHANGE OF BASE

Ruth's daily tasks did not often bring her into contact with the chief of her unit. This was a very large hospital-one of the most extensive base hospitals in France. There were thousands of dollars' worth of supplies in Ruth's single department.

At present the American Red Cross at this point was caring for French and Canadian wounded. As the American forces came over, were developed into fighting men, and were brought back from the battlefield hospitals as _grands blesses_, as the French call the more seriously wounded, this base would finally handle American wounded only.

Ruth went through some of the wards in her spare hours, for she had become acquainted with several of the nurses coming over. The appeal of the helpless men (some of them blinded) wrenched the tender heart of the girl of the Red Mill as nothing she had ever before experienced.

She found that in her off hours she could be of use in the hospital wards. So many of the patients wished to write home, but could do so only through the aid of the Red Cross workers. This task Ruth could perform, for she could write and speak French.

n.o.body interfered with her when she undertook these extra tasks. She saw that many of the girls in her own unit kept away from the wards because the sight of the wounded and crippled men was hard to bear. Even Clare Biggars had other uses for her spare moments than writing letters for helpless _blesses_.

Ruth was not forced into contact with the chief of her unit, and was glad thereof. Her weekly reports went up to Madame Mantel, and that was quite all Ruth had to do with the woman in black.

But the girl heard her mates talking a good deal about the woman. The latter seemed to be a favorite with most of the unit. Clare Biggars quite "raved" about Madame Mantel.

"And she knows so many nice people!" Clare exclaimed. "I wish my French was better. I went to dinner last night with Madame Mantel at that little cafe of the Chou-rouge. Half the people there seemed to know her.

And Professor Perry--"

"Not the man who came over on the steamer with us?" Ruth asked with sudden anxiety.

"The very same," said Clare. "He ate at our table."

"I don't suppose that little Italian chef, Signor Aristo, was among those present, too?" Ruth asked suspiciously.

"No. The only Italian I saw was not lame like Signor Aristo. Madame said he was an Italian commissioner. He was in uniform."

"Who was in uniform? Aristo?"

"Why, no! How you talk! The Italian gentleman at the restaurant. Aristo had a short leg, don't you remember? This man was dressed in an Italian uniform-all red and green, and medals upon his coat."

"I think I will go to the Chou-rouge myself," Ruth said dryly. "It must be quite a popular place. But I hope they serve something to eat besides the red cabbage the name signifies."

Again her suspicions were aroused to fever heat. If Professor Perry was Legrand disguised, he and Mrs. Mantel had got together again. And Clare's mention of the Italian added to Ruth's trouble of mind, too.

Jose could easily have a.s.sumed the heavy shoe and called himself "Aristo." Perhaps he was an Italian, and not a Mexican, after all. The trio of crooks, if such they were, had not joined each other here in Lyse by accident. There was something of a criminal nature afoot, Ruth felt sure. And yet with what evidence could she go to the Red Cross authorities?

Besides, something occurred to balk her intention of going to the cafe of the Chou-rouge to get a glimpse of the professor and the Italian commissioner. That day, much to her surprise, the medical major at the head of the great hospital sent for the girl of the Red Mill.

"Miss Fielding," he said, upon shaking hands with her, "you have been recommended to me very highly as a young woman to fill a certain special position now open at Clair. Do you mind leaving your present employment?"

"Why, no," the girl said slowly.

"I think the work at Clair will appeal to you," the major continued. "I understand that you have been working at off hours in the convalescent wards. That is very commendable."

"Oh, several of the other girls have been helping there as well as I."