Chapter IX: A Captured Trench

A short time later the two young Americans entered the French trenches and turned their prisoners over to the guard. Congratulations and praise for their exploit were heaped upon them and it was in vain that they protested that Dubois should receive all the credit. Leon, especially, for he had been in the regiment longer than Earl, had performed too many daring feats to be able to shift the praise to some one else. All his comrades were aware of his worth.

"Too bad Jacques could not be with you," said one of the men. "He will be furious when he hears what he missed."

"He doesn't miss many things in that line," laughed Leon. "It's a good thing for him to get some rest."

"Was he wounded badly?" inquired another soldier.

"No," said Leon. "A cut across his face merely."

"He will be back here to-morrow then," laughed the man. "You cannot keep that dare-devil away from the front for long."

At this moment Captain Le Blanc approached and stepping up to the two brothers shook each heartily by the hand. The informality and comradeship among the French troops is one thing that makes the army of France so wonderful. They are all working together for one common cause, and officers and men both have the same object. The men never take advantage of their superiors however and discipline is not interfered with.

"Fine work, boys," said Captain Le Blanc cordially. "That was a splendid and nervy thing you did."

The two boys muttered their thanks, too much embarrassed 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 passed 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 nobody," 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 shells 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 shell 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 shell 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 passed 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 passed and the performance was not repeated.

"Where can Armande be I wonder," said Earl.

"It certainly seems as if he ought to be back by this time, doesn't it?" exclaimed Leon anxiously.

"He's dead," said Dubois shortly.

"What makes you think so?" asked Earl.

"Well he hasn't come back yet, has he?"

"No."

"Then he must be dead and I believe that bell ringing had something to do with it too."

"In what way?" asked Leon.

"I don't know," said Dubois. "That's what I think though."

Armande was not dead however. A moment later Dubois heard his name called and the missing soldier slid over the parapet and into the trench once more. "Slid," expresses what he did exactly, for he shot forward head-first and fell in a heap on the bottom of the trench. He lay there moaning.

"Armande," cried Dubois bending over him. "What happened?"

"They got me," said the wounded soldier simply.

"Where? How?"

"In the leg. A machine-gun bullet."

"Where have you been?"

"Over to the German trenches. They shot me about half an hour ago and it has taken me all this time to get back here."

"Send word to the Red Cross," said Dubois to one of the men. "I wish I could do something for you," he added to his wounded comrade. "It is so dark here I cannot see a thing. Are you badly hurt?"

"No; just above the knee. It is painful and it was hard to walk but I doubt if it is serious."

"I hope not," exclaimed Leon heartily. "How did they happen to see you?"

"Did you hear a bell?" asked Armande.

"We certainly did," exclaimed Leon. "What was it?"

"It was my finish," said Armande. "It was a clever ruse on the part of the Boches however and I must give them credit for it."

"What was it?" asked Earl eagerly. "Can you tell us about it?"

"It was like this," said Armande. "I crawled out of the trench here and began to creep over towards the German positions. It was so very dark that I could see practically nothing, but I knew the general direction and so kept on. I traveled very slowly and no incident of importance took place for some time.

"Finally I could see the German barbed wire flickering faintly just ahead of me. I crept closer. I did not make a sound, and unnoticed I came directly up to the wire entanglements. I was so near I could hear the Boches talking to one another in their trenches."

He paused and uttered a low groan.

"What is it?" cried Dubois anxiously. "Can't I help you, Armande?"

"Will you tie something around my leg? It throbs badly."

"Perhaps you'd better not try to talk," suggested Leon.

"It is not that," exclaimed Armande. "It is just my leg. Ah, that is better," he sighed as Dubois wrapped the wound tightly with a long bandage produced by one of the men.

"Well, as I was saying or was about to say," he continued after a moment, "I could hear them talking. I crouched there and listened for a few moments trying to make out what they were saying. I know but little German however and I could only catch a word here and there and as they made no sense I quickly became tired of listening.

"It struck me as a fine chance to give the Boches a good scare however. I determined to wake them up with a hand-grenade. I took one in my hand and prepared to hurl it. I raised myself slightly from the ground and took hold of a strand of the barked wire to steady my aim. No sooner had I touched the wire than a bell rang."

"I heard it," cried Earl eagerly.

"I had touched the wire but lightly," continued Armande, "and the bell did not ring loudly. It startled me however and I drew back quickly. I also noticed that the Germans immediately ceased talking. It did not occur to me that my touching the wire had made the bell ring however. I thought it a mere coincidence.

"For some moments I lay there quietly and presently the Boches began to talk again. I waited what seemed to me a long time. Then once more I took the hand-grenade in my right hand and raised myself on one elbow. I determined to act quickly this time. Again I seized the wire with my left hand and hurled the grenade.

"Squarely into the trench it landed and I have the satisfaction of knowing that it did good work. I had not caught them napping however. I had seized the wire much more firmly the second time and at the same instant when I threw my missile the bell rang violently; much more so than formerly.

"It was probably hanging on the wire," exclaimed Earl.

"Exactly," agreed Armande. "As soon as anyone touched the wire the bell would ring. It warned the Germans and I must admit it was a clever trick."

"It surely was," agreed Leon. "What happened then?"

"I jumped to my feet and started to run," exclaimed Armande. "I had gone but a few steps however when they cut loose with their rapid-firers. A second later I was down, shot through the leg. I guess the Boches thought a whole regiment was making a surprise attack on them. They certainly used enough ammunition to wipe out two regiments."

"Funny no more bullets struck you, Armande," said Dubois. "How do you account for that? Was their aim poor?"

"When I fell I rolled into a shell-hole," said the wounded man. "That afforded me good protection from their bullets. After awhile, when they discovered that they were not being attacked, they ceased firing and I crawled back here. It was hard going I can tell you."

"I should think it might be," exclaimed Leon grimly. "I hope your wound won't prove to be serious, Armande."

At this moment two of the Red Cross men arrived with a stretcher and carried the wounded soldier away.

"Well," said Earl when they had gone, "I should say that Armande ought to be pretty glad that he got nothing worse than a bullet in his leg. I think he's lucky to be alive."

"I think so too," agreed Leon. "That was a great stunt for the Germans to hang that bell on the wire like that, wasn't it?"

"It was indeed," said Dubois. "I know what we can do to them though."