The Camp Fire Girls in Glorious France

by Margaret Vandercook

  CHAPTER XIII A Pilgrimage Into France's Holy Land

  It was natural that David Hale, one of the young American secretaries ofthe Peace Conference, should come frequently to the charming house filledwith American girls at Versailles.

  Having won both Mrs. Burton's and Miss Patricia Lord's favor, he had beencordially invited. He had also plenty of time as his duties by no meanskept him constantly engaged.

  It was during the first week of March and President Wilson havingreturned to the United States for a brief period, there was a temporarylull in the activities of the Peace Conference.

  One morning, opening a note at the breakfast table, Miss Patricia Lordfrowned and glanced over toward Mrs. Burton. At the same instant the CampFire guardian was reading a letter of her own, and although aware of MissPatricia's gaze, made no effort to return it, or reply in any fashion.

  Under the present circumstances, which she chanced to understand, thefirst remark must emanate from Miss Patricia.

  "Young David Hale has written me to say that if we like he has been ableto obtain permission for us to make a day's journey along the edge of oneof the French battlefields. I presume this may be partly due to the factthat I told him the other evening it was my intention to devote the restof my life and fortune toward helping with the restoration work inFrance. I also told him that it was probably my wish to erect a monumentto the heroes who died for France near one of the battlefields, althoughI did not say what the character of the monument would be," Miss Patriciadeclared, finally breaking the silence.

  "Do you mean that it may be possible for any of the Camp Fire girls tomake the journey with you?" Bettina Graham demanded impetuously and thensubsided, observing that Miss Patricia was not in a mood at present toopen a discussion with her.

  "Yes," Mrs. Burton returned quietly, "it sounds like a remarkableopportunity, Aunt Patricia. I have a letter from Senator Duval saying hehas been pleased to use his influence to accomplish what Mr. Halerequested. And, although the French Government is not for the presentpermitting tourists to journey over her battlefields, a specialconcession has been made in view of your services and your desire to aidFrance. Senator Duval would like to travel with us, as it is necessary weshould have a Frenchman of authority and influence as our companion. Isuppose you do not mind, Aunt Patricia, as there is no danger from aGerman shell these days and I shall try to keep out of trouble?"

  Refusing to reply to Mrs. Burton's final remark, Miss Patricia arose.

  "We are to leave Paris at five o'clock next Thursday morning and travel anumber of hours by train. When we arrive at our first destination anautomobile belonging to the French government will meet us. We will thenmotor to whatever portion of the battleground we are to be permitted tosee. Our party can be made up of six persons. This will mean, besidesMrs. Burton and myself, four Camp Fire girls.

  "Polly, kindly decide who the four girls are to be."

  And Miss Patricia Lord departed, leaving Mrs. Burton to a by no meanssimple task.

  Notwithstanding, it was finally arranged that Bettina Graham, PeggyWebster, Yvonne Fleury and Marguerite Arnot should compose the number,two of them Americans and two French girls.

  Six days later, in the darkness and cold of an early spring morning, theparty of six women, accompanied by the French Senator and David Hale leftParis, arriving a little before noon at a French wayside station wherethe line of railroad communication direct from Paris had never beendestroyed throughout the war. Awaiting them was not one but two motors,each containing a French officer as well as the chauffeur. Into one MissPatricia Lord, Bettina Graham, Marguerite Arnot and David Hale enteredand the other was filled by Mrs. Burton, Senator Duval, Yvonne Fleury andPeggy Webster.

  By noon a little pale March sunshine had come filtering through theclouds, faintly warming the earth.

  A curious scene surrounded the wayside station. Stacked in long linesdown the road leading from it were broken and disused cannons and machineguns, German and French. There were also giant piles of steel helmets,pieces of shell, twisted and rusted bayonets, all the tragic refuse of acleared battleground after the fury of war has passed.

  The spectacle was too grim to inspire much conversation.

  Further along there were open spaces which showed where the French andAmerican camps had stood behind the fighting lines. But the tentsthemselves had been folded and the paraphernalia of life moved on withthe Army of Occupation to the left bank of the Rhine.

  In the present vicinity there were no birds to be seen, no trees, nosigns of vegetation, only the desolation which follows on the heels ofwar.

  Bettina Graham, who was sitting next David Hale in the rapidly movingFrench car, shivered and clasped her hands tightly together inside herfur muff.

  "Is this your first visit to the devastated French country, Miss Graham?I wonder if you won't regret the trip? It does not seem to me that girlsand women should look upon such things as we may see today, except ofcourse Miss Lord, who appears to have a special reason. Yet she insistsas many Americans as possible should visit the French battleground laterwhen peace is declared. Not until then can they realize what France hasendured. I don't know whether I agree with her."

  Bettina smiled, but not very gaily.

  "After all you realize, Mr. Hale, that your opinion will not affect AuntPatricia. And we of course have seen portions of the devastated Frenchcountry in our work on the Aisne, but nothing like this."

  In the few weeks of their acquaintance David Hale and Bettina had becomefairly intimate friends. Indeed the young man had confided to Bettina hisambition for the future. It seemed that he had not a large fortune of hisown, yet nevertheless wished to devote his time and energy not to themere making of money, but to becoming as he expressed it, "a soldier ofpeace" serving his country in times of peace as a soldier serves her inwar, for the honor rather than the material gain. He had been working ina diplomatic position in Washington before the entry of the United Statesinto the war and because his work was considered of too great importanceto resign, he had not been allowed to enter the army. Sent afterwards toFrance on a special mission he had been retained to serve as anunder-secretary of the Peace Congress. At present David Hale believedthat his future might depend upon the reputation he acquired among theolder and more celebrated men with whom he was associated.

  And for the first time in her life Bettina was enjoying an intimacy witha young fellow near her own age who was interested in the things in whichshe was interested.

  Without being handsome David Hale had a fine strong face with interestingdark gray eyes and a smile which illuminated his entire expression.

  During the next quarter of an hour he and Bettina talked but little, thegreater part of the time listening to the French officer who wasdescribing to Miss Patricia the fighting which had taken place in theneighborhood.

  "It was here that the German troops broke through three times and threetimes the French with one half their number repelled them. It ispossible, Madame, that the French government might be willing to allow aportion of this ground to be used for a monument should you or yourcountrymen and women desire so to honor France."

  But Miss Patricia answered nothing.

  They were approaching a piece of ground which had once been a field, butnow instead of the bare and upturned soil one saw little mounds andwooden and iron crosses set in long uneven rows. Springing up amid thecrosses were crocuses, the first shoots of hyacinths, of narcissus anddaffodils.

  The Frenchmen and the young American removed their hats.

  "A bit of France's holy ground," the French officer again explained toMiss Patricia. "Over in that field are buried the Allies, whom nodifference of opinion, no unfaith can ever estrange, Americans, Britishand French are sleeping side by side."

  It must have been through Mrs. Burton's request that at this moment hermotor which was in advance halted and its occupants climbed down.

  "Senator Duval wishes to see if a friend of
his lies here, AuntPatricia," Mrs. Burton explained.

  She then turned to Senator Duval:

  "No, I would rather not look with you if you don't mind. Some of theothers in the party will wish to. I find it too saddening to see morethan one must."

  Just beyond the hallowed ground there was a little hill, which by somestrange freak of circumstance was covered with a group of young fruittrees which had escaped the surrounding devastation.

  Mrs. Burton, Miss Lord, Yvonne Fleury and the two French officers movedover toward this hill and climbed to its summit.

  The others followed Senator Duval upon his quest. Purposely BettinaGraham had separated herself from David Hale, allowing him to take chargeof the young French girl, Marguerite Arnot. Several times Bettina hadbelieved they seemed unusually interested in each other and it was nother idea in any way to demand too much of the young man's attention.

  "From here one has a surprising view of the French country," CaptainLamont, who had been Miss Patricia's guide, explained.

  "Over there toward the southeast is Chateau-Thierry and not far off theForest of Argonne. I wonder if you know that until the American soldiersfought so gallantly and so victoriously in this same forest of Argonne ithad been thought throughout all French history an impossible place ofbattle. So you see you came, saw and conquered," the French officerfinished gallantly.

  "Nonsense!" Miss Patricia returned in her fiercest manner. "The one thingI am most weary of hearing discussed is which of the allied nations wonthe war, as if one had a greater claim than the rest, save the claim thatFrance has of having lost more of her men."

  "Polly Burton," suddenly Miss Patricia seemed to have forgotten the restof her audience, "I have been thinking not only today but for many dayswhat character of monument I should like to be allowed to build inFrance. Probably the government may not permit me to do what I wish, butthe idea I have been looking for has come to me, come from that restingplace of the allied soldiers over there."

  And Miss Patricia waved her hand toward the burying ground.

  "Here I should like on this very hill top to build a home for thechildren of the soldiers who have died in France, a home where they maylive, play and work together, speaking the same languages, thinking thesame thoughts. We are struggling for a better understanding, a deeperunity between the allied nations. It can come best through the childrenwhose fathers have died for the same cause. After we grow old I fear manyof us learn nothing and forget nothing. And I should like to inscribeabove the door of the home I shall build 'Glorious France, theBattleground of Liberty.'"

  Then a little abashed of her outburst and scarcely conscious of theimportance of her suggestion, Miss Lord turned and went her way apartfrom the others. She was not to know at that time how her idea spokenwith such impulsiveness and with her usual generosity was later to bearricher fruit than she then dreamed.

  However, neither Mrs. Burton, the two French officers, nor Bettina andYvonne failed to realize the significance of her utterance.