CHAPTER XVI AT THE FRENCH HOSPITAL
They were soon at the border of the French field hospital. It was onlynatural that Thad and his comrades should survey the scene with a wonderclosely approaching awe. They had passed through a good many strangeexperiences during the past two years, as we happen to know, but neverbefore had their eyes taken in such a remarkable picture as that nowspread out before them.
The French Red Cross Corps had picked out this position for theemergency hospital with an eye both to convenience and safety. While itwas close enough to the battle line to prove of vast service, andwounded men could be carried to the operating tables without much lossof precious minutes; at the same time it was at an angle where thenumerous white flags with the sacred Red Cross might easily be seen fromthe German lines.
No cannon were allowed near by, so that every excuse for shells droppingin that sector had apparently been avoided.
It was a busy scene that the boys gazed upon. Streams of men withstretchers passed back and forth, those coming in bearing burdens andthose going out after others.
Ambulances, vans and all manner of wheeled vehicles were moving this wayand that, loading up with their human freight that was to be transportedforthwith to the hospitals of Paris and beyond.
Bustling surgeons could be seen. Bumpus quailed at the sight of theirstained aprons. He felt as though he were in close touch with a butchershop; but not by a word or a whimper did he disclose the dreadfulfeeling that so nearly overwhelmed his rapidly beating heart.
In the midst of all this apparent confusion haste seemed to be the onlypredominant requisite. The wounded were streaming in so fast that onlysuperficial attention could be paid to individual cases. Machine-likework was the order of the day. Army surgeons, when the battle is on,cannot appear humane. They must do their necessary work methodically,for they are engaged in a wholesale business where sympathy can havelittle part.
But the boys did not mean to stand there gaping for long. Thad and Allanwere resolved to find some part in the great work of serving sufferinghumanity. This was a task that even neutrals could engage in. They wouldjust as readily assist in binding up the wounds of a German prisoner asa French hero; it made no difference.
So Thad led the way into the midst of those grewsome sights, dodgingseveral moving vans that were coming or going, their drivers shouting atthe top of their voices, for even here the roar of the raging battle wasstrenuous.
Perhaps Bumpus would have liked to stand a bit and cast his eyes faracross the open country to where the smoky pall was hovering and theopposing armies struggled in a death grip; but Thad meant business, andthe time for watching stirring events had temporarily passed.
The field hospital had been laid out on rising ground. This was to allowthe enemy a full chance to mark the spot, so that their guns might notdrop shells in that particular quarter.
“Listen!” exclaimed Allen just then, “some one is talking good oldUnited States over yonder, Thad! Think of our running across an Americanhere of all places, will you?”
“It must be one of the surgeons!” the scout leader declared. “Perhaps hewas in Paris at the time and volunteered to come out and work under theRed Cross. That is always permissible, you know. Even neutrals can helpthe wounded, which is why we’re here right now. There, I’ve placed theparty, and from the way others consult him I guess he’s the headsurgeon, in this section of the hospital, anyway.”
Of course it was the sensible thing for Thad to do to try and get intouch with the English-speaking operator, who would much more readilyunderstand their desire to do something than a French doctor could.
The busy surgeon looked up at their approach. He was, of course,considerably surprised at seeing three lads clad in faded khaki; abustling field hospital did not seem to be just the place for youngstersof this type. His astonishment jumped to a still higher notch, however,when the foremost boy spoke to him in English.
“We are American Boy Scouts, sir, who by accident happen to be caughtover here between the two armies. One of our number has even now takenan ambulance on to Paris, for the regular driver was sorely wounded. Therest of us fixed up his hurts and sent him on board a loaded van. Thatgave us the idea we might make ourselves useful while trapped herebetween the lines. We’ve been trained as Scouts to give first aid, yousee, sir, and if you could tell us what to do we’d be ready to start inright away.”
There happened to be a temporary lull in business. The hard-worked headsurgeon could afford to give these remarkable boys a minute or two ofhis precious time. His grim face broke into a half-smile, as thoughtheir coming had been in the nature of a breath of fresh air.
“Good for you, my boy,” he said energetically. “I’m also an American,from New York City. Just now I’m devoting my whole energies to lookingafter these poor fellows who come out of the shambles; no matter onwhich side they fought, it is all the same to me. A surgeon has no rightto be partisan at a time like this. To be sure I can make you useful,for we are suffering from a lack of attendants.”
He immediately assigned them to a certain work that he expected theycould attend to, and which in a measure would relieve his assistants. Asudden fresh rush of new patients caused the head surgeon to leave thethree scouts to their work; but ever and anon as he labored feverishlyhe found occasion to glance toward where Thad, ably backed by Allan andBumpus, was bandaging less severe wounds, and from the gleam in thesurgeon’s eye and the faint smile on his face it looked as though hefelt highly pleased with their methods of procedure.
Thad put his whole soul into his work. His previous experience profitedhim now to a certain extent, and by the time half an hour had passed hefelt as though he were a veteran along the line of wrapping up cuts andabrasions.
Even Bumpus no longer felt that horrid squeamishness such as hadattacked him at first. They say “familiarity breeds contempt,” but whilethis would hardly apply in the present case, at least it hardened thestout boy’s nerves to a wonderful extent, so that he could even do someof the bandaging himself.
The battle meanwhile ebbed and flowed by turns. They could not tell howthings were going, though at times loud yellings came floating to theirears, as though one side or the other might have found cause forrejoicing. Thad had some reason for believing that the French must beholding their ground wonderfully well; at least he had seen no directsigns of a retreat.
Batteries now and then swept past to take fresh positions. Theyrespected that magical flag flying there on the rise, though doubtlessmany a captain of a gun thought what a splendid position that would beto shell the distant lines of the enemy. Such an act, though, would havebeen contrary to all recognized rules of civilized warfare. They mustscrupulously observe these so as to avoid giving the German batteriesthe slightest excuse for turning their guns in this quarter and rainingfresh ruin and death upon the inmates of the emergency field hospital.
Once during another little lull in the almost constant succession ofpatients the noted American surgeon stepped over to where the threescouts were busily engaged. He gave them what he undoubtedly meant to bea smile of encouragement, although his face was so grim with histerrible work that it seemed almost out of place.
“I want to commend you boys for your ability in care of ordinarywounds,” he told Thad as he came up after glancing at the splendid wayin which the bandage had been placed around a torn arm. “It does greatcredit to the organization to which you belong. I never dreamed it couldbe doing such a grand work among our boys over in America. After this Ishall have only words of commendation for the Boy Scout movement. It hascome to stay as the greatest uplift ever devised for the risinggeneration.”
Thad reddened under this eloquent praise. It was certainly worth all thetrouble they had endured just to hear this splendid professional manutter such words.
“I only wish,” continued the tired surgeon, after Thad had thanked himas best he was able, “that I had the time to hear your story, for I
’mvery sure it must be worth listening to; perhaps later on I may do sowhile resting. But here comes another batch of poor fellows needingattention. Keep right on doing as you are, my boys. Grateful France willthank you for every wound you bind up.”
With that he left them and resumed his grewsome labors. Other cases cameto the three chums from time to time; in fact, they were kept constantlyemployed, for a constant stream of injured continued to flow to thefield hospital. Those German guns wrought terrific damage with theiraccurately placed fire, and when batallions of the blue came in contactwith others wearing the Kaiser’s gray and the machine guns spat outtheir deadly hail the list of casualties mounted higher and higher asthe day wore on.
Bumpus, in the midst of his work, found occasion to wonder how Giraffemight be coming on. Had he managed to reach the hospital in Paris anddeliver his human freight, and would he start back again toward thefront along that congested road to once more receive an allotment of thefreshly wounded?
And then Bumpus indulged in rainbow chasing or building air castles whenhe allowed himself to imagine an accidental meeting on the streets ofParis between Giraffe and his sick mother, Mrs. Hawtree.
“Course that’d be next door to a miracle,” Bumpus admitted to himselfcandidly: “but then it’s possible at that. And it’d be fine for Giraffeto let Ma know her darling boy was safe and sound and just now as busyas a beaver, helping poor chaps along! Oh! well, before a great while Ihope to be in Paris myself, when I can look her up. Sooner or laterthere’ll come along a chance to ride with a driver, and if Thad thinksit’s all right I guess I’ll go.”
Then he started in to labor with more vim than ever, as thoughdetermined to “make hay while the sun shone.” Truth to tell, few fellowscould put their whole soul into any work of mercy better than Bumpus,who was known among his mates as an exceedingly tender-hearted chap.
It was while these things were going on with the momentum and precisionof a great machine, the wounded coming and going in constant streams,that a sudden and startling interruption occurred.
Thad at the time had just finished bandaging the leg of a young Frenchsoldier, who bore the excruciating pain with the stoicism of a hero. Hehad made an especially decent job of the operation, according to his wayof looking at it, and the patient thanked him in voluble French, which,of course, Thad could only partly understand.
Thinking to get him in one of the vans that were loading, Thad had justturned and half-risen to his feet when he experienced a rude shock.Close by there came a most terrific explosion. The earth flew high inthe air in a shower that resembled a miniature geyser. No doubtconsiderable damage was done and a number of men either killed ormaimed, while several horses immediately tried to run away, adding tothe confusion.
Thad knew what this meant without being told. A German shell, the firstthat had been sent anywhere near the field hospital, had fallen in theirmidst and wrought much ruin. That was not the worst. For some reasonunknown the German gunfire had been suddenly raised, and there was astrong likelihood that other terrible shells would follow that leader,rendering the position untenable!
No wonder, then, that consternation filled the hearts of the workingsurgeons as they held their breath while waiting to see if the blowwould be repeated.
The Boy Scouts Afoot in France; or, With the Red Cross Corps at the Marne Page 16