CHAPTER XXVI THE BADGE OF COURAGE AND HONOR
Bumpus failed to make any reply to this taunt on the part of Giraffe. Hedid sit up very straight, however, and cast an anxious look toward thelittle group of soldiers, one of whom had stepped upon the road and halfraised his gun in a suggestive way.
“Get out!” snapped the determined looking man who seemed to be incommand of the squad, and wore chevrons on his sleeve to indicate thathe was a non-commissioned officer.
Of course he said this in French, but Thad knew what the words stoodfor. Even without that knowledge the commanding gesture with which theywere accompanied must have told what was wanted.
“But we are Americans, and this is our car. We expect to go to Paris,M’sieu. We carry a permit also.”
“Get out; your car is needed by the French Government. We are takingevery one we can find. No words now, or you may be sorry for it!”
Thad did not seem to be shocked when he heard the other say this sobrutally. He knew that the man had been sent out to round up all themeans of transportation possible, and that his orders were to let noneescape, whether the cars of the very rich, or the vans of business men.
Indeed, what surprised Thad most of all was to hear himself addressed insuch excellent English. Apparently, this man then had not spent hiswhole life within the borders of his native country, but must have livedabroad.
“Please do not be in so great a hurry, M’sieu,” he went on to saypleasantly, as he put his hand to his pocket in search of the papergiven to him by the obliging colonel. “Listen, we have been servingFrance with the Red Cross. See, even now one of my comrades still wearsthe band about his arm. Then, too, we had the happiness of assisting tocarry dispatches to the front. For doing this we received a paper toshow to any one like yourself who might wish to detain us, or take ourcar away. Kindly glance your eye over this, and then decide, M’sieu.”
With that he flashed the magical document in front of the bluffsergeant, who had no other recourse but to read what was there written.It was wonderful what a change came over the man as soon as he saw thename at the bottom. He looked up into the face of Thad wonderingly.
“What does it all mean?” he demanded in a subdued tone. “I see a nameall France loves to honor, the man who this very day has saved ourcountry. Do you mean to tell me you have been with General Joffre at thefront, you boys?”
“We have entered his Headquarters, we have shaken hands with him, and hehas thanked us for what we did. More than that he gave us this paper youcan see, with his name at the bottom. Is it enough, M’sieu? Can we go onto Paris, where we have promised to turn this car over to the militaryauthorities for their service?”
The bluff sergeant snatched off his cap.
“I salute you, comrades. Pardon the little inconvenience we have put youto. I envy you your good fortune. The road is open to you, and here isyour wonderful paper. Would that I had such a proud heritage to handdown to my children.”
He stood at attention, with his hand upraised, as did the othersoldiers, who while possibly not understanding everything, had heardenough to know that these wonderful American boys clad in those fadedkhaki uniforms had been in the company of the Great Commander.
Thad would have liked to converse longer with the man, for he saw thathe must be an uncommon character, but time was too valuable to wastejust then. Bumpus was grieving, and wanting to learn the truth as to thesafety of his mother.
So Thad returned the soldier’s salute, and started up his engine, whichhad been suffered to stop working while they were detained, as gasoleneor petrol was valuable. The last they saw of the sergeant he was wavinghis hand after them.
Bumpus drew a long breath.
“Another narrow escape!” he ventured, with a vein of relief in hisvoice.
“Oh! a miss is as good as a mile!” sang Giraffe. “Some way or other weseem to get around every difficulty that crops up. Sometimes it’s Thad’sknowledge of mechanics that saves us; and then again it turns out wehave in our possession a little magical document that makes friends outof enemies.”
“Yes,” added Bumpus, drily, “you forget one important thing that hassaved at least one member of the crowd a tanning, and that’s thepossession of a good pair of running legs, and the ability to use thesame.”
“I guess you’re right there, Bumpus,” acknowledged the other. “Now, ifit had been you that same mob was chasing after, I can see your finish,because they’d have grabbed you in less’n no time.”
“Then it was lucky you got hungry instead of me,” chuckled the stoutboy, as he once more settled himself back comfortably in his seat.
The soldiers had been stationed at a commanding point, for it was at thejunction of the two roads. No doubt they had been able to commandeernumerous cars and other vehicles; for certain wealthy old men in Parishaving learned about the victory won by the French army were beginningto come out, with the desire to gaze upon the scene; and this gave thewatchers a chance to stop them and send a soldier back in charge of thecar.
“On the home-stretch at last, Bumpus!” exclaimed Giraffe. “I recognizethis section, and we can’t be more’n ten miles out of the city. Beforelong we’ll begin to catch glimpses of the distant Eiffel Tower and someof the higher buildings. But there are still a number of pretty littlevillages to pass through.”
“Thad, I’m going to ask a favor of you!” called out Bumpus just then.
“Go ahead, then,” floated back over the shoulder of the pilot at thewheel.
“Now we could easily get another back here in the tonneau of this widecar by squeezing a little. I’ve noticed several wounded soldiers walkingtoward the city, and there’s one right now ahead of us. Why couldn’t weoffer to take him in, and give him a lift? I’d be willing to hang onoutside, if need be, so’s to assist one or two of those noble chaps.”
“Bully for you, Bumpus; you’re always thinking of some one else!”applauded Giraffe, who could appreciate these things even if they didnot seem to come to him in the same way they did to the other comrade.
“And we’ll do it, too!” exclaimed Thad, only too willing to be ofservice to one of those who trudged along through the dust, heading fora hospital.
So as they overtook the walking man Bumpus called out to him.
“Hey! there, don’t you want to get in, and ride to the city with us?” heasked.
Thad brought the car to a standstill, for the soldier had stopped uponhearing a voice hail him. They saw that he was a youngish sort of manwearing a short beard. He had his right arm bound up with bandages,showing that the busy workers at some field hospital must have takencare of him, after which he was to go to a base hospital for furtherattention and recovery.
“But I do not go to Paris just yet, young Messieurs,” he told them ingood English too, for many Frenchmen speak the language, as they come infrequent intercourse with the people across the Channel. “My home it isin a village outside the city. First I must show myself to my wife andfamily, that they may know I am yet alive. Then, too, I have somethingelse that they should see.”
With that he turned more fully toward them, and Thad saw to his greatsurprise that the private was actually wearing a glittering emblem. Itwas really the Cross of the Legion of Honor, only bestowed, like theEnglish Victoria Cross, upon some man who has shown extraordinary valorin battle, performed some wonderful feat of bravery, in fact.
To see it on the breast of a humble wounded private trudging wearilyalong a dusty road near Paris naturally gave the boys a thrill. Theylooked upon the man now as an exalted hero, for he surely must have donesomething wonderful; and yet if that were so how did it come that hestill occupied such a humble rank?
His eyes were glittering with happiness. He touched that emblem proudly,and with almost reverence.
“Ah! young Messieurs,” they heard him say, “it was mon colonel himselfwho tore this splendid medal off his own coat and pinned it there. ‘Itshall stay,’ he told me
, plain Jaques Leforge and but a private, ‘itshall stay until I see your own fastened there.’ And that too on thefield of battle, with men dying all around us. That was a most proudmoment for me, let me assure you. And as I walk along all this way to myhome I am telling myself that my Janet and the little ones they too willbe glad, for never again can any one point a finger at Jaques Leforgeand say he is a coward, and that his blood is water.”
“What! did they say that of you, then?” asked Thad, deeply interested inwhat he was hearing, for it seemed as though they were on the point oflearning how a miracle had been wrought in the nature of this man.
“It is too true, M’sieu,” the other replied, sadly. “All my life I havebeen told that I had no spirit, that I would never stand the test whenit came to war; that the heart of a timid man dwelt under my uniform. SoI too had come to believe it, even I, Jaques Leforge, who should haveknown better. I often told myself I was meant for only a poltroon, acoward; and when the war came I went to my place in my regimentbelieving that I should die of fright when the guns rang in my ears, andthe shells, burst all around me. Ah! that was a strange delusion,M’sieu, a most strange deceit.”
“Tell us all about it,” urged Giraffe; while Bumpus leaned over and kepthis eyes glued upon that wonderful medal which the dusty private boreupon the left bosom of his blue uniform.
“I do not know just how it happened,” continued the man, modesty. “Theysaid we would charge. I shut my eyes, thinking that I might be temptedto run away, and sooner than have such a disgrace come upon me I meantto die. Then we were going in, and all around me men were struggling andstriking and dying. I too gave and took and, most wonderful of all,found that I was not afraid. Then came the signal to retreat, for theenemy they were too many for us. As we fell back the cry arose that ourcolonel had fallen and was left behind. M’sieu, I do not know whatpossessed me to turn back and run into the mass of the enemy, strikingright and left. They swarmed about me, but somehow I always seemed toescape death. Then I saw my colonel there upon the ground, wounded. Hewaved his hand to me, seeing the blue there; but I did not stop onlylong enough to snatch him up. Just then I seemed to have the strength ofa dozen men. I fought my way through again, and staggering I reached ourlines, where my comrades nearly smothered me with caresses. And afterthat my colonel pinned this to my coat, and said I was a brave man. Thebest of it to me is that he will live to lead his men again. That isall. And I, Jaques Leforge, did it.”
“You must get in here with us,” said Thad. “We will not take no for ananswer. You are tired, you are almost spent, and your home may still besome miles away. Besides, we want to put you down there, so that we toomay see what those neighbors will say, those who misjudged you all theseyears, when they see that splendid medal, and know that you have wonit.”
“That’s the talk,” said Giraffe, promptly; and even Bumpus, much as hewanted to hurry along, would not have arranged it otherwise.
So the wounded hero was helped into the car, where they made room forhim on the rear seat. It was not more than five minutes later when hepointed ahead with his uninjured hand and called out:
“There, you see the little church, M’sieu—my house is at the corner, andthat woman who is coming out of the gate, she is my Janet, my wife!”
The Boy Scouts Afoot in France; or, With the Red Cross Corps at the Marne Page 26