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JOHN SKALLY TERRY 
 MEMORIAL COLLECTION 
 
 ESTABLISHED BY 
 
 THE FAMILY IN HONOR OF 
 
 JOHN S. TERRY 
 
 CLASS OF 1918 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARY 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00022093477 
 
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 &7 * y 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 — JOTT 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CAVLORD 
 
 
 
 PRINTED IN O.l A. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/khakiboysatfrontOObate 
 

 SAMMY MACHINE GUNS AND RIFLES MOWED THEM DOWN. 
 The Khaki Boys at the Front. Page 12/ 
 
The Khaki Boys 
 At The Front 
 
 or 
 Shoulder to Shoulder in the Trenches 
 
 By 
 
 Capt. GORDON BATES 
 
 Author of "The Khaki Boys at Camp Sterling' 1 
 "The Khaki Boys on the Way," etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY 
 
THE KHAKI BOYS SERIES 
 
 By CAPT. GORDON BATES 
 
 l2mo. Cloth. Frontispiece 
 Price per Volume, 50 Cents 
 
 THE KHAKI BOYS AT CAMP STERLING 
 or Training for the Big Fight in France 
 
 THE KHAKI BOYS ON THE WAY 
 
 or Doing Their Bit on Sea and Land 
 
 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 or ShouldeT to Shoulder in the Trenches 
 
 Other Volumes in Preparation 
 CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York 
 
 Copyright, 191 8, by 
 Cupples & Leon Company 
 
 The Khaki Boys at the Front 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I A Joyful Reunion 1 
 
 II Meeting Cousin Emile 10 
 
 III Trailed 20 
 
 IV An Unseen Foe 27 
 
 V A Wild Goose Chase 32 
 
 VI The Unforeseen 38 
 
 VII ''At Home" 45 
 
 VIII A Boche Testimonial 51 
 
 IX On the March 59 
 
 X The Last Lap 68 
 
 XI In the Fire Trench 75 
 
 XII Getting Used to It 85 
 
 XIII Under Fire 94 
 
 XIV Detailed to Scouting Duty 104 
 
 XV Out in No Man 's Land 114 
 
 XVI Forewarned Is Forearmed 122 
 
 2 H8 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XVII Missing : a Brother 128 
 
 XVIII "It's a Great Life' ' 139 
 
 XIX Out of the Air 144 
 
 XX The Keturn of Cousin E mile 155 
 
 XXI Up Above the Clouds 167 
 
 XXII The Unspeakable Crime 178 
 
 XXIII Loyal Unto Death 188 
 
 XXIV Waiting for Zero Hour 197 
 
THE KHAKI BOYS 
 AT THE FRONT 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A JOYFUL REUNION 
 
 44 T SUPPOSE we might as well be hiking 
 along, ' ' announced Roger Barlow re- 
 ■*■ gretfully, as he consulted his watch. 
 "We've lots of time yet, but we'd better be 
 early than late back to camp. We are strangers 
 in a strange land and we 've quite a long way to 
 go." 
 
 "I'm satisfied to go. I came up here to see 
 Paris and I 've seen it. That is, a scrap of it. I 
 guess it would take a long while to get really 
 wise to it. I sure would like to use up a little 
 time poking around la belle Paree. My, but this 
 hash house is a dead place, though! Nobody 
 alive here but us. ' ' 
 
 Bob Dalton glanced disapprovingly about the 
 unassuming little cafe in which he and his four 
 
2 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Brothers had elected to dine. Its hushed at- 
 mosphere oppressed him. 
 
 ''Oh, Paris is altogether different from what 
 it used to be," informed Sergeant Jimmy 
 Blaise. "It's lost a lot of pep since this war 
 began. Can you wonder ? ' ' 
 
 ''It's lost more than pep," cut in Franz 
 Schnitzel. "It's lost a whole lot of its best citi- 
 zens. Almost every woman one sees is dressed 
 in black. That tells its own story." 
 
 "So think I no many Franche solder more," 
 sighed Ignace Pulinski. "Mos' is died." 
 
 ' ' Oh, there are probably a dozen or two left, ' ' 
 was Bob's cheering reassurance. "I guess they 
 need the Khaki Boys over here all right enough, 
 though. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I wish we 'd get orders to move on, ' ' grum- 
 bled Jimmy. "I'm dying to take a ride in one 
 of those 'Eight Horses' affairs — not." 
 
 "We've been in training here longer than I 
 expected." This from Roger. "I guess we 
 needed it. When the war began, before the 
 TJ. S. got into it, they used to rush the Tommies 
 to the front pretty fast. They got about ten 
 days ' or two weeks ' training and that was all. ' ' 
 
 "The war game's been systematized a lot 
 since then," commented Bob. "We have fared 
 better than those fellows did. They had to put 
 up with most any old thing. So far we've led 
 a peaceful, happy life over here. ' ' 
 
 Several weeks had passed since those of the 
 
A JOYFUL REUNION 
 
 Khaki Boys who had come safely through the 
 disastrous sinking of the Columbia had been 
 landed "somewhere in France." 
 
 Readers who have followed the fortunes of 
 the quintette of Khaki Boys, known among 
 themselves as the five Brothers, will at once re- 
 member them as old friends. What happened 
 to these young soldiers during the period in 
 which they were in training at an American can- 
 tonment has already been set down in "The 
 Khaki Boys at Camp Sterling. ' ' 
 
 It was while on the way to Camp Sterling that 
 Jimmy Blaise, Roger Barlow, Bob Dalton and 
 Ignace Pulinski met and instantly became 
 friendly. From being merely friendly they soon 
 grew to be bunkies, loyal to one another through 
 thick and thin. 
 
 Later they took into their little circle a young 
 German-American, Franz Schnitzel, who had 
 had the misfortune to be entirely misunderstood 
 by his comrades. Suspected of being in sym- 
 pathy with Germany, Schnitzel was accused of 
 poisoning a number of men in his own bar- 
 racks. 
 
 Due to the untiring efforts of the four Broth- 
 ers, his innocence was proven, and his good 
 name restored. Afterward Schnitzel himself 
 was responsible for bringing the real poi- 
 soner, a German spy, Johann Freidrich, to 
 justice. 
 
 Their fortunes firmly linked to Schnitzel's by 
 
4 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 trouble, he had become a real brother to the four 
 Khaki Boys, who decided that thereafter they 
 would call themselves the five Brothers. 
 
 After an exhaustive course of training at 
 Camp Sterling, the five Brothers had been sent 
 with a large detachment of their comrades to 
 Camp Marvin, a southern cantonment. While 
 at this camp they met with at least one exciting 
 adventure, which was the forerunner of a series 
 of amazing events. 
 
 In "The Khaki Boys on the Way" will be 
 found the details of that adventure, which had 
 to do with an attempt made by an unknown man 
 to blow up a bridge near the camp. Readers of 
 this story will recall Jimmy Blaise 's fight with 
 the miscreant under the bridge, and his narrow 
 escape from death. 
 
 This narrative also contains a full account of 
 the Khaki Boys' journey to the seacoast, where 
 they boarded a transport for France, and of 
 the hazardous voyage over, which ended in the 
 torpedoing, by a U-boat, of their transport the 
 Columbia. 
 
 Though many of their comrades perished at 
 sea, the five Brothers were spared. Briefly sep- 
 arated by the catastrophe, they were re-united 
 in Ireland. From there they had gone on to a 
 rest camp in England, from which, re-uniformed 
 and re-equipped, they had at last set sail across 
 the channel for France. 
 
 Landed in France, they had gone directly to 
 
A JOYFUL REUNION 
 
 a training camp, there to receive the final neces- 
 sary instruction which would fully prepare them 
 for the strenuous life of the trenches. 
 
 Since arriving in the French town where a. 
 concentration camp had been established, they 
 had been kept constantly busy learning new 
 things about trench warfare. 
 
 At Camp Sterling and Camp Marvin they had 
 undergone considerable instruction along this 
 line. Compared to the experience they were 
 daily gaining, their past training seemed a trifle 
 rudimentary to the Khaki Boys. 
 
 Under the competent direction of French of- 
 ficers who had seen service at the front, the 
 Khaki Boys were rapidly acquiring fresh knowl- 
 edge concerning bomb-throwing, reconnoitering, 
 listening posts, methods in attack and defense, 
 wiring parties, mass formation, and the proper 
 procedure for poison gas attacks. 
 
 They had learned to construct and repair 
 barbed wire entanglements. They had now be- 
 come familiar with the intricate inner construc- 
 tion of the trenches. They knew how best to 
 shelter themselves when in these trenches. 
 They had learned trench cooking and sanita- 
 tion, and were now beginning to feel that they 
 were really ready to live at the front. 
 
 Their camp being situated in a village not 
 many miles from Paris, the five Brothers had 
 been most eager to spend a few hours in the 
 beautiful city. Although they had seen much 
 
6 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 to interest them since coming to France, their 
 minds were set on seeing Paris. 
 
 For one reason or another, however, they had 
 put off the trip until Roger had declared that 
 if they didn't "make a break" at seeing Paris 
 soon, they were not likely to see it until the end 
 of the war, if ever. 
 
 The upshot of the matter was a concerted re- 
 quest for passes on the part of the five Sam- 
 mies. Mid-afternoon of a cold, though glor- 
 iously sunshiny day, saw them invading the 
 city they had so earnestly wished to visit. 
 Strangers in a strange land, they had, neverthe- 
 less, hugely enjoyed poking about the French 
 metropolis, constantly drawing comparisons be- 
 tween it and their own "big town" in Amer- 
 ica. 
 
 Long familiar with the French language, it 
 fell to Jimmy to do most of the talking. For 
 once Bob did not take the lead in this respect. 
 Both he and Roger were able to carry on a halt- 
 ing conversation in French and that was about 
 all. Schnitzel knew even less of it than they, 
 while Ignace had added but little to the "six 
 word by Franche," of which he had earlier ad- 
 mitted as being his entire French vocabulary. 
 
 Content to follow their own bent, the five 
 bunkies had asked few questions of the friendly 
 passersby, who invariably beamed on them in 
 passing. The Sammies were at any time a very 
 welcome sight to the French people, but the five 
 
A JOYFUL REUNION 
 
 Brothers were an especially striking example 
 of stalwart young American manhood, and at- 
 tracted an amount of attention of which they 
 were quite unaware. 
 
 Toward six o'clock steadily growing hunger 
 had prompted them to drop into one of the 
 many excellent restaurants of which Paris 
 boasts. Having ordered a most delectable din- 
 ner, they had taken their time about eating it. 
 In consequence, it was now after seven o'clock 
 and, as Roger had reminded, "time for us to be 
 hiking along. ' ' 
 
 "There's always a calm before a storm, you 
 know. ' ' 
 
 It was Jimmy who spoke. The remark fol- 
 lowed Bob's assertion regarding the peaceful- 
 ness of the life they had been leading since their 
 arrival in France. 
 
 "Yes, it's the last lull before we get into the 
 real thing," nodded Roger. "We'll soon be 
 getting up in the morning and turning in at 
 night to the music of the big guns." 
 
 "I hope it'll be Allied artillery that'll make 
 the most of that music, ' ' put in Schnitzel. 
 
 "Yes, and / hope a Fritzie trench gets it in 
 the neck with every blamed tune our fellows 
 hammer out," was Bob's vengeful rejoinder. 
 "What I've heard since I came over here about 
 the way those Boche brutes have treated the 
 Belgians makes me hot under the collar." 
 
 "They say the Fritzies have it in for us Sam- 
 
8 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 mies," shrugged Roger. "They're crazy to 
 take us prisoners. They want to make an ex- 
 ample of us. Think they '11 scare the U. S. into 
 putting up a big yell for peace. Wonder what 
 they'll do if they do manage to grab any of our 
 men?" 
 
 "Hard to tell. Crucify some poor fellow, 
 maybe." Bob's dark brows drew sharply to- 
 gether. "That's one of their pleasant little 
 methods of getting even." Bob's tones quiv- 
 ered with loathing. "If it ever came to that 
 with me, I'd die game. I'd never let 'em think 
 they'd got my goat." 
 
 "Oh, can the croak!" exclaimed Jimmy im- 
 patiently. "We came out to enjoy ourselves. 
 What's the use in dragging up the horror 
 stuff?" 
 
 "So think I," agreed Ignace, who had been 
 listening round-eyed to Bob's dire surmising. 
 "We ver' smart, so then we don' be it that 
 prisonar. I no like. ' ' 
 
 "You don't? I'm surprised," bantered Bob. 
 "I thought you were just aching to be run in by 
 a Boche patrol." 
 
 ' ' Now you mak ' the f on to me, ' ' snickered Ig- 
 nace. "Only you wait. Som' day I mak' the 
 fon to you." 
 
 " Go as far as you like, ' ' challenged Bob, grin- 
 ning benevolently at his Polish Brother. 
 
 1 i Come on, ' ' urged Jimmy. ' ' Let 's settle with 
 the garcon, and beat it. Where did he go to, 
 
A JOYFUL REUNION 9 
 
 anyhow? He was standing right over there a 
 minute ago." 
 
 Five pairs of eyes immediately busied them- 
 selves in an effort to locate the waiter. 
 
 "He's in the kitchen, I guess. Don't see him. 
 He'll show up in a minute." 
 
 Leaning back in his chair, Eoger continued 
 idly to survey the few diners scattered about 
 the cafe. His eyes rested amusedly upon a pair 
 of elderly Frenchmen, who appeared to be con- 
 ducting a vigorous argument. Their wagging 
 heads, shrugging shoulders, and the almost con- 
 tinual play of their hands entertained him im- 
 mensely. 
 
 "Look at those two old grandpas over there 
 near the door," he said to Bob, who was seated 
 beside him. " I '11 bet you most anything they 're 
 arguing about the war. They're not a bit huffy 
 with each other; just dead in earnest." 
 
 Bob's gaze obediently traveled toward the 
 two ancients. It interrupted itself on the way, 
 however, to take stock of three men who were 
 just entering the cafe. 
 
 "For the love of Mike!" 
 
 His shrewd, black eyes widening with amaze- 
 ment, Bob leaped to his feet. 
 
 "Look who's here!" he exclaimed so loudlv 
 that his voice reached the entering trio. "Oh, 
 vou Twinkle Twins!" 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 MEETING COUSIN EMILE 
 
 ((TT THERE, where ? ' ' 
 
 V Y/ Seated with his back to the 
 door, Bob's gleeful announcement 
 brought Jimmy also to his feet. By this time 
 Bob had deserted his bunkies and was making 
 straight for two young men in the uniform of 
 the U. S. Aviation Corps, who were advancing 
 to meet him. 
 
 "Well, well, well! If it isn't old Bob and 
 Blazes!" 
 
 The blue-eyed, broadly-smiling youth who ut- 
 tered this jubilant recognition, now had Bob's 
 hand in a firm grip, and was shaking it vigor- 
 ously. Standing beside him, his brother, an 
 exact counterpart of himself, was engaged in 
 greeting Jimmy with equal cordiality. 
 
 "Let me in on this," commanded a laughing 
 voice, as Roger joined the delighted quartette. 
 ' ' I believe I 've seen the famous Twinkle Twins 
 before to-day." 
 
 10 
 
MEETING COUSIN EMILE 11 
 
 " You'd better believe it," retorted Jack 
 Twinkle ton. "How are you, Bodge? You're 
 looking all to the mustard." 
 
 ' ' Put her there ! How 's the good old scout ? ' ' 
 
 Jerry Twinkleton now claimed Eoger 's atten- 
 tion. 
 
 "Oh, we're simply fine. You can't lose us. 
 It isn't being done, don't you know, with this 
 gang." 
 
 Roger's face glowed with friendliness as he 
 greeted the illustrious twins. They were truly 
 a welcome sight. 
 
 "How long have you been over, and where 
 do you go from here?" were Jimmy's quick 
 questions. "We 've been keeping an eye out and 
 an ear open ever since we landed in France. 
 Thought we'd see you or, maybe, hear news of 
 you." 
 
 "You're the great little scribes, you are," 
 declared Bob. "We haven't had a line from 
 you since just before we left Sterling. ' ' 
 
 "When was that?" promptly asked Jack. 
 
 "Oh, early in February. You fellows wrote 
 that you were expecting most any day to go 
 across." 
 
 "Well, we went; right after that," grinned 
 Jack. "We've written you gazabos three let- 
 ters since then, and never got even a post card 
 in return. We've abused you to each other for 
 fair. Slackers; that's our pet name for you." 
 
 "Yes, that's it," immediately chimed in 
 
12 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Jerry, always his twin brother's faithful re- 
 peater. 
 
 "We never got 'em." Bob shook a disgusted 
 head. "We didn't get half of our mail at Camp 
 Marvin. I suppose it's chasing us around yet. 
 We'll get it some day if we live long enough." 
 
 "We wrote you fellows a couple of letters, 
 too," informed Jimmy, frowning. 
 
 "Then we've got something coming to us, 
 too," was Jack's cheerful retort. "Now let's 
 flop and have a chewing-bee. Come on over to 
 our table. We've a fine surprise for you. We 
 want you to meet " 
 
 "Cousin Emile," supplied Bob. "I spotted 
 him right away. We have a couple of fellows 
 with us. They belong to the gang. One of 
 'em is Iggy. You remember? We told you 
 about him. The other is a new pal of ours. 
 We're the five Brothers now. Oh, maybe we 
 haven 't a bag of beans to spill ! ' ' 
 
 "Get your two Buddies and bring 'em over 
 to that table," directed Jack, pointing to an 
 alcove table, larger than the others. "I'll steer 
 Emile to it, by the time you round up your 
 strays." 
 
 With this he and his brother turned and 
 bolted for their table, at which the famous avia- 
 tor had already seated himself. An amused 
 smile touched his firm mouth, as he watched his 
 lively cousins and their friends. 
 
 "Now listen to the howl Iggins'll put up," 
 
MEETING COUSIN EMILE 13 
 
 laughed Jimmy, as the three Brothers returned 
 to their table. "This time he can't fade away 
 and disappear, the way he did when the Twin- 
 kle Twins came to see ns at Sterling. ' ' 
 
 "I can no go," was the prompt refusal Jimmy 
 met with. 
 
 Half rising from his chair, Ignace showed 
 signs of making a quick retreat from the cafe. 
 
 "I can no go," mimicked Jimmy. "You're 
 going, you old clam, if I have to lead you along 
 by the ear. ' ' 
 
 Noting signs of refusal on the German- Amer- 
 ican's face, he next warned: "Don't you get 
 panicky, either, Schnitz!" 
 
 "If you two mules go to balking, we'll turn 
 you out to shift for yourselves," threatened 
 Bob. ' * Cousin Emile won't eat you. He 's care- 
 ful about what he eats. ' ' 
 
 Bob 's last flippant assertion caused Ignace to 
 snicker. It also brought a faint smile to Schnit- 
 zel's somber face. 
 
 "All right. I'll be good," he assented, and 
 obligingly got to his feet. 
 
 "If Iggy doesn't want to be a good fellow, 
 just let him sit here all by his lonesome while 
 we have a good time," suggested Roger slyly. 
 "We'll tell the Twinkles and Cousin Emile that 
 he's very particular about whom he meets." 
 
 Roger winked at Bob, as he made this inno- 
 cent suggestion. 
 
 " No ! " Ignace fairly bounced from his chair. 
 
14 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 "You say so, you ver' mean! I go by you. So 
 is it." 
 
 "Oh, just as you please," teased Roger. 
 
 "I please!" 
 
 "With the expression of a martyr on the way 
 to execution, Ignace followed in the wake of 
 his bunkies, as they toured the length of the 
 room to the alcove. 
 
 Already there, and seated on either side of 
 their illustrious cousin, the Twinkle Twins rose 
 to do the honors. 
 
 Each one of the five Brothers experienced a 
 thrill of excitement, as, in turn, he shook hands 
 with the great aviator. They saw a rather 
 tall, thin-faced man of perhaps thirty, with 
 bright, dark eyes, and very black hair. They 
 admired his strong chin and close-lipped, pleas- 
 ant mouth. Neither could they fail to note his 
 litheness of movement, as he rose from his chair 
 when the Khaki Boys were introduced to him 
 by his cousin Jack. 
 
 "Have you been long in France?" he ques- 
 tioned courteously, as the party took seats at 
 the round table. 
 
 "Only a few weeks, sir." Jimmy became 
 
 spokesman. "We are in training at R . 
 
 "We hope to go to the front soon." 
 
 "You are eager for a taste of the fighting, 
 I suppose." The aviator smiled. "That seems 
 to be the prevailing spirit among the Ameri- 
 can soldiers. We of France admire it." 
 
MEETING COUSIN EMILE 15 
 
 "France has set us an example, sir, that we 
 glory in following. The whole world knows 
 what France has done in this war. ' ' 
 
 Jimmy's face lighted into glowing enthus- 
 iasm. 
 
 "I thank you, in the name of my country. " 
 
 The aviator's hand lightly touched his fore- 
 head in salute. 
 
 Instantly seven hands went up in prompt re- 
 turn of the salute. 
 
 "Now let's drop the form and ceremony act," 
 proposed Jack Twinkleton. "I'll salute you, 
 Emile, when I have to, but I'll be blamed if I 
 will when I can get out of it. I've a great deal 
 of respect for you up in the air, and some when 
 we're down on the ground. Don't forget that, 
 will you?" 
 
 "I will endeavor to remember." The 
 Frenchman showed white teeth in an indulgent 
 smile. "It will be, perhaps, a trifle difficult," 
 he slyly added. 
 
 "Ha, ha! Emile 's onto you, Jack!" rejoiced 
 Jerry. 
 
 "You're my twin," flashed back his brother, 
 with the wide, jovial grin that so characterized 
 the Twinkle Twins. 
 
 "I'm sorry, but it can't be helped," retal- 
 iated Jack, duplicating Jerry's grin. "Now 
 let's side-track these playful little compliments 
 and get down to business. I'm crazy to know 
 what you fellows have been doing since you left 
 
16 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Sterling. You tell your tale and then we'll tell 
 ours. Wait a minute till I shoo this waiter 
 away. We don't want to order yet. We want 
 to talk." 
 
 "We were down south at Marvin for a while, 
 then one day we started out on a hike with a 
 big detachment of Sammies, and we never went 
 back any more," began Bob, when Jack had 
 temporarily banfshed the waiter from their vi- 
 cinity. " First thing we knew we were piling 
 into a train and after we rode awhile in that 
 we got tired of it, and switched off to a trans- 
 port for a change. It was the Columbia, and I 
 guess " 
 
 "The Columbia!" exclaimed three voices in 
 unison. 
 
 "Yes, I guess we do know what happened to 
 the Columbia," emphasized Jack. "And you 
 fellows were in that mix-up and came out 0. K. ! 
 Well, what do you think of that?" 
 
 "How'd you get away from her, and what 
 happened to you?" was Jerry's excited ques- 
 tion. 
 
 "Three of us were taken off her by a de- 
 stroyer. Bob got into a lifeboat, and another 
 destroyer picked up that crew. I was the only 
 one who got wet. I had a swim in the nice cold 
 water, and a trawler took me in when I got 
 tired," ended Jimmy whimsically. 
 
 "That's the way he tells it," sniffed Bob. 
 "Now let Bobby speak his piece," 
 
MEETING COUSIN EMILE 17 
 
 Whereupon Bob launched forth into a vivid 
 account of Jimmy's adventures on that terrible 
 night, to which the Twinkle Twins and Cousin 
 Emile listened with ever-deepening interest. 
 
 Quite naturally Bob was obliged to go further 
 back than the torpedoing of the Columbia in 
 order to explain the events that had led up to 
 the murderous attack made upon Jimmy by 
 the German wireless operator. Inevitably, too, 
 he made a hero of his bunkie, regardless of the 
 warning signals that the irate Blazes flashed 
 at him from two resentful gray eyes. 
 
 "Some little hero!" was Jack's verdict, his 
 deep blue eyes resting admiringly on Jimmy, 
 who was looking embarrassed and a trifle sulky. 
 
 "Oh, I'm not so much," he muttered. 
 
 "Always he say!" broke in a solemn voice. 
 
 Temporarily bereft of speech in the presence 
 of the Twinkle Twins and their distinguished 
 relative, Iggy rallied to the cause of his beloved 
 Brother. 
 
 "So is it Jimmy think," continued Ignace 
 stolidly, now bound to be heard. ' ' He have the 
 much do, ver' good, ver' brave." 
 
 "I agree with you." The aviator bent a 
 kindly glance on Ignace that caused him sud- 
 denly to realize that this wonderful "fly man" 
 had "the kind heart." In consequence, he for- 
 got his awe of the great Voissard and beamed 
 genially upon him. 
 
 "Just to be even with you, Ignace So Pulin- 
 
18 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 ski, I 'm going to tell what you did, ' ' announced 
 Jimmy. 
 
 "No-a!" Ignace raised a protesting hand. 
 
 Nevertheless, Jimmy recounted the incident 
 relating to his Polish bunkie's firm faith in the 
 destroyer, which immediately raised a laugh. 
 
 "Now you even, you don' say no more 
 nothin'," decreed Iggy, very red in the face. 
 
 "All right, I won't," promised Jimmy. "I 
 haven't anything more to say, anyway, except 
 that we all got together again in Ireland. We 
 went to England to a rest camp and from there 
 to France. Now let's hear what happened to 
 the Twinkle Twins since we saw 'em last. ' ' 
 
 "Just a minute and we'll tell you," nodded 
 Jack. "Did you ever hear whether the body 
 of this bridge fellow was recovered? A good 
 many of the bodies of those poor Sammies were 
 washed ashore." 
 
 "This fellow isn't dead." Jimmy's eyes 
 grew briefly troubled. "Bob forgot to say in 
 his wonderful story that I saw him afterward 
 in Belfast. We were on the train just getting 
 ready to pull out of Belfast. I was watching 
 the crowd on the station platform from the win- 
 dow. I saw him, sure as .guns. He saw me and 
 he recognized me. He gave me one awful look 
 and beat it through the crowd." 
 
 "Quite remarkable!" Voissard's dark eyes 
 were fixed reflectively on Jimmy. "Describe 
 the appearance of this man. I may be able to 
 
MEETING COUSIN EMILE 19 
 
 place him. The Prefect of Police, here in Paris, 
 is my personal friend. Through him I have 
 learned much regarding criminals. I have 
 seen photographs of many Germans badly 
 wanted by the Allied powers, either for par- 
 ticularly serious crimes, or because they are 
 known to be spies of unusual cleverness and 
 daring. ' ' 
 
 "This Charles Black, as he called himself, is 
 no common criminal," began Jimmy, then con- 
 tinued with a detailed description of the "tiger 
 man. ' ' 
 
 The aviator listened attentively, a slight 
 frown contracting his dark brows. 
 
 "I cannot place him," he said when Jimmy 
 had finished. "My friend, the Prefect, may be 
 able to do so. I intend to remain in Paris for 
 a day or two. I expect to dine with him to- 
 morrow evening. I will make inquiry of him. 
 In case I should learn anything of interest I 
 will communicate it to you either in person or 
 by letter. It is possible that I may soon visit 
 your camp at R . ' ' 
 
 "I wish you would sir," Jimmy responded 
 with a fervor that conveyed his utter delight 
 of the prospect. 
 
 "Merci." The one simple word was spoken 
 as only a Frenchman can say, "Thank you." 
 
 Their eyes meeting levelly, boy and man each 
 realized that he had found a friend. 
 
CHAPTER ni 
 
 TRAILED 
 
 OU made us tell our troubles first, now 
 it's time the Twinkle Twins took a 
 turn at talking," Bob presently sug- 
 gested. 
 
 The garcon having at last been allowed to 
 take the dinner order of the new arrivals, a 
 brief lull in conversation had ensued. 
 
 "Oh, we haven't much to tell," Jack re- 
 sponded lightly. "We made good in a hurry at 
 Berkley. You can't keep a good man down, you 
 know. * ' 
 
 "A couple of good men," insinuated genial 
 Jerry. 
 
 "Twins that are equal to the same twin, are 
 equal to each other," supplied Jimmy, smil- 
 ingly misquoting a well-known axiom in ge- 
 ometry. 
 
 "That's us." Jack beamed widely. "We 
 hunt in couples. There's only one drawback. 
 Some day when I go up in a Nieuport and bring 
 
 20 
 
TRAILED 21 
 
 down a Zep, Jerry '11 probably get the credit for 
 it." 
 
 1 ' You mean it '11 be just the other way round, ' ' 
 retorted Jerry. 
 
 "It's a sore subject. Let's can it. Where 
 was I when my beloved twin butted in? Oh, 
 yes. We did pretty well at Berk. As soon as 
 we showed 'em, we put up a howl to go over. 
 We kept it up, too. They got so sick of us, they 
 shipped us out of the States to get rid of us. 
 
 "We had a peach of a voyage over. Fine 
 weather, and neither of us seasick. We were 
 used to the old pond, you know. When we 
 landed we were sent to an American aviation 
 station near Paris. We've been there ever 
 since. That 's only a few weeks, though. We Ve 
 been studying like anything, and making a few 
 flights. Haven't yet had a chance to go out on 
 a real fighting expedition. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Emile 's trying to get us transferred to the 
 French Flying Corps," put in Jerry eagerly. 
 "We pestered him about it until he promised 
 in self-defense. We want to fly a Farman or 
 a Nieuport. It's hard to get on the Nieuport 
 squad. We '11 have to do a lot of practice work 
 before we're ready to handle one." 
 
 "Emile thinks we can make good," Jack de- 
 clared jubilantly. "Don't you old coz?" 
 
 "Yes. These two have greatly surprised 
 me." Voissard directed this last to the Khaki 
 Boys. "I did not know they had enlisted in 
 
22 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 the aviation corps until they wrote me from the 
 American station in France. I am not sure that 
 a transfer to the French Flying Corps can be 
 arranged. However, these boys were born iii 
 France, and of French and English parents. 
 This fact will, perhaps, be of much help in ar- 
 ranging the transfer. ' ' 
 
 "We feel nearer to France, somehow, than 
 to the U. S., even though we've lived in the 
 States a good deal/' explained Jack. "We 
 should have piked over here and signed up with 
 the French Flying Corps in the first place. It 
 would have saved a lot of red tape." 
 
 "Leave it to old Emile," was Jerry's dis- 
 respectful^ affectionate comment. "We should 
 worry. Let Emile do it. " 
 
 "You see!" Cousin Emile 's eyebrows and 
 shoulders went into amused play. 
 
 "They're a lucky pair of twins," was Bob's 
 hearty rejoinder. 
 
 "Not yet," demurred Jack. "Wait until 
 we're 'aces.' " 
 
 "And after that 'Communiques/ " added 
 Jerry soulfully. 
 
 "To be an 'ace' you have to kill five Boche 
 flyers, and bring down their planes," explained 
 Jack. "Ten is the number to be a 'Com- 
 munique/ Emile is four times a 'Communique' 
 and five to boot. He's clipped forty-five Boche 
 birds of their wings and lives. Some record! 
 He has medals enough to cover his chest, only 
 
TRAILED 23 
 
 lie won't wear 'em. He's the 'Flying Terror 
 of France,' all right." 
 
 With one accord the Khaki Boys fixed won- 
 dering eyes on the ' ' Flying Terror of France. ' ' 
 His sky-blue uniform flaunted but two of the 
 many emblems of valor he had daringly won. 
 
 His honors appeared not to trouble him in 
 the least. He merely smiled and said in his in- 
 imitable way : 
 
 "I have been fortunate. It cannot continue. ' ' 
 He shrugged faintly. ' ' Our career in the air is, 
 of a truth, brief. The danger is great, but the 
 reward greater. When we have, as the English 
 say, 'done our bit,' France has many more 
 ready to replace us. That is, indeed, of a satis- 
 faction. ' ' 
 
 A momentary silence reigned as the aviator 
 ceased speaking. His calm disregard of self 
 brought home anew to the Khaki Boys the gal- 
 lant, indomitable spirit of France in the great 
 war. Each cherished the secret hope that he, 
 too, should never be found wanting in the high 
 quality of loyalty to the cause which Voissard 
 possessed to such a degree. 
 
 Apparently desirous of leading the conversa- 
 tion away from himself, Cousin Emile began 
 asking the Khaki Boys numerous interested 
 questions concerning their training in America. 
 Though his eyes frequently rested on Jimmy, 
 to whom he had taken a decided fancy, he 
 slighted no one of them. 
 
\ 
 
 24 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Bob's humorous manner and breezy speecli 
 evidently amused him considerably. Quick to 
 note this, Bob laid himself out to be entertain- 
 ing, and succeeded to the extent of making the 
 great man laugh in a delightfully boyish fash- 
 ion that put his somewhat awed group of soldier 
 admirers quite at their ease. Voissard was, 
 after all, "just a good fellow." 
 
 The reappearance of the waiter with the din- 
 ner, ordered by the Twinkle Twins and Cousin 
 Emile, reminded the five Brothers that consid- 
 erable time had passed since they had finished 
 their own meal. 
 
 "It's after eight," Jimmy Blaise announced 
 regretfully, after a glance at his wrist watch. 
 "We'll have to be moving along. If we were 
 back in the U. S. now, we'd hang on till the 
 last drop of the hat and then hot-foot it. But 
 not in gay Paree, with the gay knocked out of 
 it by the Boche scrap. If we get back to the 
 station 0. K., and on the right train, we'll think 
 ourselves some smart little Sammies." 
 
 "Oh, that's too bad!" exclaimed Jack rue- 
 fully. "Why beat it so soon? You don't have 
 to be back in camp before midnight, do you?" 
 
 "We're free till then, but we'd rather not risk 
 starting any later," Roger answered. "Wr 
 don 't know Paris as well as you do. ' ' 
 
 "It's a blooming shame," deplored Jerry. 
 "We wanted to take you around with us for a 
 while after dinner.' ' 
 
TRAILED 25 
 
 "Maybe we'll have a chance to come up to 
 Paris again," was Bob's hopeful reply. 
 
 The Khaki Boys had now risen most reluct- 
 antly, and were about to say good-bye. 
 
 "We'll try to run down to your camp to see 
 you," promised Jack. "We'll send you a line 
 beforehand. ' ' 
 
 The twins and their distinguished cousin were 
 now on their feet. 
 
 "Make it soon, then," stipulated Jimmy.. 
 "We think we're going to start for the front 
 before long. 509th Infantry's ours, you know. 
 You won't have much trouble finding us." 
 
 "If it happens that we don't see you again 
 there, we '11 hope to meet you somewhere back of 
 the firing line," declared Schnitzel earnestly. 
 "I've surely enjoyed meeting the Twinkle 
 Twins. 
 
 ' ' And you, sir. ' ' He turned to Voissard. ' ' It 
 has been a great honor to me to shake your 
 hand. ' ' 
 
 "Merci. I have also much enjoyed this hour 
 with my American Allies, ' ' responded Voissard 
 graciously. 
 
 He offered his hand to Schnitzel, then in turn 
 to each of the other four Brothers, all of whom 
 expressed their warm pleasure of the meeting. 
 
 Jimmy came last. As the two men clasped 
 hands their eyes again met and again ex- 
 changed that silent message of friendliness. A 
 general hand-shaking with the Twinkle Twins 
 
26 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 followed, then the Khaki Boys said a last 
 good-bye and left the restaurant. 
 
 "Shall we walk or hail a taxi?" asked Bob, 
 as they stepped out into the street. "The full 
 moon is on the job to-night. We can see our 
 way along even though this burg is shy on 
 street lights. " 
 
 Since the beginning of the war Paris had 
 shown few street lights after nightfall. Due to 
 the fiendish Boche practice of making nocturnal 
 air raids for the purpose of dropping bombs, 
 principally upon defenseless women and inno- 
 cent little children, every possible precaution 
 had been taken to guard this city against the 
 inhuman cruelty of an ignoble foe. 
 
 "We'd better ride," decided prudent Roger. 
 "It will be quicker and we'll run no chance of 
 losing our way. Here comes a taxi now. Hail 
 it, Blazes. You know how to parles-vous." 
 
 Immediately complying, Jimmy signaled the 
 driver of the machine. A moment's shrewd 
 "bargaining with the latter regarding the fare 
 to the station, and Jimmy motioned his bun- 
 kies to step into the motor car. 
 
 None of the five observed, as they entered 
 the vehicle, that a man had emerged from the 
 shadows of a neighboring building and signal- 
 ed another taxicab just driving up to the curb. 
 In consequence, they were not aware that the 
 second taxicab was sedulously keeping on the 
 trail of their own. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 AN UNSEEN FOE 
 
 IT was not a long journey to the station for 
 which the Khaki Boys were bound. During 
 the ride they had plenty to say in regard 
 to the interesting trio they had left behind 
 them. What had been rather a dull afternoon 
 had suddenly turned into a red-letter evening. 
 Not only were they jubilant at having again 
 encountered the Twinkle Twins. They had 
 also met one of the great heroes of France, and 
 they could not readily get over it. 
 
 Arrived at the station, they were obliged to 
 spend half an hour there before getting a train 
 back to camp. Still absorbed in enthusiastic 
 talk concerning their absent friends, they were 
 not impatient over this little wait. 
 
 With the train on time, the five Brothers cal- 
 culated reaching camp in good season. Once 
 there a few moments' brisk walking would see 
 them safely back in quarters. 
 
 All now being non-commissioned officers they 
 27 
 
28 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 had found it comparatively easy to make ar- 
 rangements to be together. They were now 
 well aware, however, that when they reached a 
 village back of the firing line this state of af- 
 fairs could not continue. Each would probably 
 be quartered in a separate residence with a 
 number of privates in his charge. 
 
 " We've barrels of time," announced Bob, as 
 the train stopped in front of the camp station. 
 "Where's our jailer? It's time he came and 
 let us out of the jug." 
 
 By "jug" Bob humorously referred to the 
 compartment which the guard had locked at the 
 beginning of the journey. As it happened, the 
 guard was at that moment engaged in unlock- 
 ing another compartment from which issued a 
 solitary man, heavily bearded, his hat pulled 
 over his eyes. 
 
 Almost coincidental with Bob's inquiry the 
 "jailer" appeared and opened the door for his 
 temporary prisoners. The Khaki Boys skipped 
 nimbly out of the compartment and started off 
 at a leisurely pace across the station platform. 
 
 "A fine evening for a hike," pronounced 
 Roger presently, drawing in a long breath of 
 the crisp night air. ' ' Just enough cold to make 
 a fellow feel brisk and snappy." 
 
 "Don't you get ' snappy' with me," warned 
 Bob jokingly. "I'm in a real good humor and 
 I'd hate to have to snap back." 
 
 Now well away from the station, the hikers 
 
AN UNSEEN FOE 29 
 
 were tramping along five abreast in the middle 
 of a street of a little French village, which 
 they had to traverse in order to reach their 
 camp. 
 
 ''It's almost as light as day," Jimmy 
 squinted up at the round moon. "This would 
 be a fine night for a Boche air raid on Paris." 
 
 "Too light," disagreed Schnitzel. "A Zep 
 would be spotted in a hurry and the Archies 
 would get busy and smash it." 
 
 By "Archies" Schnitzel referred to the 
 anti-aircraft guns, a part of the defenses of 
 Paris against air raids. 
 
 "Did you hear what Voissard was telling 
 me about the megaphones posted outside the 
 city?" asked Eoger. 
 
 Ignace, Schnitzel and Bob answered in the 
 affirmative. 
 
 "I only caught part of it. I was talking to 
 Jack," replied Jimmy. "What was it he 
 said?" 
 
 "Well, they call these megaphones 'the ears 
 of Paris.' They are recording reversed ma- 
 chines with microphone attachments. They're 
 set up in clusters of four at different points 
 just outside the city. Through them the sound 
 of an airship's engine and propellers can be 
 heard five miles away. There's a look-out for 
 every bunch of 'em. The minute they begin to 
 hum he sends warning. Then, bing! The 
 searchlights blaze up in the sky and a flock 
 
30 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 of aeroplanes get busy and attack the Boche 
 raiders.'' 
 
 "Good work!" approved Jimmy. "I won- 
 der if it's the same in London! There seem 
 to be more raids there than any place else. 
 Almost every big raid yon read about 's on 
 London. ' ' 
 
 "I suppose the fog gives the brutes more of 
 a show to drop bombs," reflected Schnitzel. 
 
 "It's a horrible business," growled Bob. 
 "I'm glad the Allies are beginning to give the 
 dogs some of their own dope. I wish they'd 
 wipe Germany off the map." 
 
 "She'll do that for herself if she keeps on 
 trying a little longer. I'd hate to be deutschy 
 Deutschland when our Allies get through with 
 her. She '11 sure be out in the cold, ' ' predicted 
 Eoger. 
 
 "Let her freeze. She deserves it," was 
 Jimmy's vengeful opinion. 
 
 "So think I," echoed Ignace, who had been 
 plodding tranquilly along with his Brothers in 
 his usual silent fashion. 
 
 "Poland at last heard from!" exclaimed 
 Bob. "I thought it had been struck dumb by 
 Cousin Emile." 
 
 "No yet," flung back Ignace. "So much I 
 hear I feel to keep the shut up. So mebbe I 
 learn som'thin'." 
 
 "Oh, my conversation is always highly in- 
 structive," Bob patronizingly assured. "You 
 
AN UNSEEN FOE 31 
 
 can learn something from Bobby every time lie 
 opens his mouth. He's a walking compendium 
 of knowledge and a spouting fount of useful 
 information. ' ' 
 
 "We'll let Bobby tell it," jeered Jimmy. "I 
 wouldn't be caught dead " 
 
 Walking next to Bob, something suddenly 
 cut the narrow space between the two with the 
 peculiar whistling whine which belongs only 
 to a speeding bullet. 
 
 ' ' Drop ! ' ' yelled Jimmy, suiting the action to 
 the word. ' ' Some Boche has it in for us ! " 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 A WILD GOOSE CHASE 
 
 LIKE a flash, five uniformed figures flat- 
 tened themselves to the ground as sev- 
 eral more bullets whistled above them. 
 Though they heard no report, a peculiar sound 
 as of an almost silent concussion accompanied 
 the whine of each winging bullet. 
 
 For a moment or two the Khaki Boys pressed 
 close to the cold earth, too greatly flabbergasted 
 for speech. 
 
 It was Jimmy who first cautiously raised him- 
 self a little from the frozen ground. A bullet 
 promptly sang past his head causing him to 
 quickly duck and resume his former position. 
 
 " Where are they coming from?" breathed 
 Bob. 
 
 "On the left. That gateway," muttered 
 Roger. 
 
 The Khaki Boys had been in the act of pass- 
 ing an apparently deserted house on the out- 
 skirts of the village. It was surrounded by a 
 
 32 
 
A WILD GOOSE CHASE 33 
 
 high stone wall, but the gate was missing, leav- 
 ing a wide aperture. 
 
 Roger's alert eyes had noted it just as they 
 came abreast of it. On the other side of the 
 road a little above it stood another house, dark 
 like the first. 
 
 "Then charge it," came impatiently from 
 Jimmy. 
 
 Up in a flash, the quintette made a bold dash 
 toward the danger spot. Strangely enough not 
 a single bullet more was directed at them by 
 their unknown foe. 
 
 Reaching the gateway, no one was to be seen. 
 The clear moonlight shone whitely down upon 
 it, bathing the darkly outlined wall with radi- 
 ant light. 
 
 "Whoever ambushed us has cut and run 
 along close to the wall and down among those 
 trees and outbuildings," surmised Bob. 
 
 "Come on, let's after 'em," proposed Jimmy 
 sharply. "We're losing time. We'll never 
 nab 'em at this rate. Hug the wall, though. 
 It's safer." 
 
 Led by impetuous Jimmy the party traversed 
 on the run a long stretch of bare ground that 
 sloped gradually down to a small orchard at 
 the end of the grounds. Their eyes were 
 sharply trained ahead to catch a first glimpse 
 of their quarry, hidden perhaps behind the 
 trunk of a tree. 
 
 Against the moon's silver rays the trees 
 
34 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 stood out sharply, their bare branches afford- 
 ing little shadow in which the fugitive enemy 
 might seek concealment. 
 
 First impulse toward self-protection under 
 fire had been completely routed by the desire 
 to give chase. The hunters now darted reck- 
 lessly in and out among the trees, oblivious to 
 the possibility of a fresh attack from a new 
 quarter. 
 
 None came. Neither did they glimpse any 
 human beings other than themselves. The 
 enemy evidently had abandoned his or their 
 murderous project, and fled from the premises. 
 Continued search led to the discovery of a gap 
 in the lower end of the wall. 
 
 "Here's where they beat it!" Bob pointed 
 triumphantly to the gap. 
 
 "Looks like it. We've gone over every foot 
 of this orchard.' ' 
 
 Koger frowningly eyed the break in the wall. 
 
 "I don't believe it was they/' Jimmy shook 
 a decided head. "It was he. A one-man game. 
 He had a gun with a Maxim silencer, too. 
 That's why we heard only a queer muffled 
 sound instead of distinct reports." 
 
 "That's so," agreed Schnitzel. "Anyhow, 
 if there 'd been two or three of 'em the whole 
 bunch couldn 't have skiddooed without our see- 
 ing at least one of 'em. ' ' 
 
 "So think I mebbe scare som' Boche pretty 
 bad, we run after," offered Ignace. 
 
A WILD GOOSE CHASE 35 
 
 "Somebody was sure plugging for the 
 Fatherland,' ' asserted Bob. "Nearly plugged 
 us, too. The first shot zipped between Blazes' 
 head and mine." 
 
 "If we'd jumped up and started on we'd 
 have got another peppering. The sharpshooter 
 who couldn't shoot sharp didn't figure on our 
 rushing the gate. It gave him such a jolt that 
 he beat it." 
 
 "Where did he go?" demanded Jimmy. 
 
 "In an opposite direction to us, I suppose," 
 surmised Schnitzel. "While we were hiking 
 for that orchard he was hot-footing it along 
 the other way. Two of us should have gone 
 one way and three the other. ' ' 
 
 "Then he certainly didn't go through this 
 gap. We're a nice bunch of rookies," jeered 
 Bob. "All run in one direction like a flock of 
 sheep. ' ' 
 
 "Well, we were excited," excused Jimmy 
 with a sickly grin. 
 
 "You mean rattled," laughed Roger. 
 
 "It was all Bob's fault," accused Jimmy 
 jocularly. "If he hadn't gone and said that 
 our gunman had beat it along the wall and 
 into that orchard we wouldn't have been in such 
 a rush to beat it after him. ' ' 
 
 "Yes, and what did you sayf " retorted Bob 
 in the same joking spirit. "You were first man 
 to yell, 'Come on, let's after him.' Then away 
 you went and took us along." 
 
36 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 '•'Well, you didn't have to go, did youf" 
 countered Jimmy. 
 
 "Sure we did, else why are we Blazes' 
 bunkies?" 
 
 There was an earnest note "back of this 
 lightly uttered reply. Jimmy caught it. Slap- 
 ping Bob on the shoulder he said: "Good old 
 Bob. You're not so worse. I kind of like you. " 
 
 "So glad, I'm sure," simpered Bob, return- 
 ing the slap with interest. 
 
 "It's just as well that we kept together, I 
 guess," commented Roger soberly. "There's 
 safety in numbers, you know. I don't see that 
 there's any use in hanging around here. Our 
 man has given us the slip. It must have been 
 some stray Boche out on his own. Not a sol- 
 dier, but some secret sympathizer with the 
 Fatherland, perhaps. Else why would he be 
 slipping around behind gates to plug passing 
 soldiers? It's unusual for a party from camp 
 to be shot at like that so far back from the 
 fighting district." 
 
 "This yellow sneak might have been hang- 
 ing around the station when we got off the 
 train. ' ' 
 
 As usual, Bob was full of theories. "He 
 knew it was a straight road to camp and that 
 he couldn 't miss us. Very likely he knows this 
 part of the country like a book, so he just took 
 a cross-cut and waited at the gate for us. It 
 was a fine chance to get a whack at the ' Ameri- 
 
A WILD GOOSE CHASE 37 
 
 can dogs. ' Long live Bunco Bill — not ! I hope 
 he chokes !" anathematized Bob. 
 
 ' ' Some healthy little hate, ' ' snickered Jimmy. 
 
 "Oh, Bobby's a fine hearty hater," was the 
 light assurance. "Well, let's be on our way. 
 We'd better be traveling along to camp. Dou- 
 ble quick, fellows, when we hit the road. We 11 
 stand less chance of getting potted as we go." 
 
 Out on the road again an excited discussion 
 arose as they hurried campward. It pertained 
 to the motive for the unexpected attack. Un- 
 doubtedly a prowling Boche had fired on them. 
 They believed it was not usual for soldiers to 
 be thus attacked so far back of the fighting dis- 
 trict. Certainly they had not anticipated such 
 an ending to their peaceful pleasure jaunt. 
 
 Camp limits reached, they were challenged by 
 a sentry and allowed to go on to quarters after 
 making satisfactory response and being ad- 
 vanced to be recognized. 
 
 After he had turned in that night a swift, 
 unbidden thought popped into Sergeant Jimmy 
 Blaise's brain just as he was dropping off to 
 sleep. It left him wide awake and staring re- 
 flectively into the darkness. He wondered if, 
 by any possible chance, the "tiger man" had 
 succeeded in picking up his trail. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE UNFORESEEN 
 
 J^TVE got fine news here for you guys!" 
 
 Jimmy Blaise bolted into the midst of 
 A his bunkies, who were grouped together 
 in their own corner of barracks waiting for sup- 
 per call to blow. In his hand was an open 
 letter which he waved triumphantly at them. 
 
 "From Voissard, " he jubilantly informed 
 them. "He's coming down to see us on Satur- 
 day, along with the Twinkle Twins. Glad it's 
 a half-holiday. "We'll have more chance to 
 show 'em around. Wait a minute and I'll read 
 it to you." 
 
 Surrounded by an interested audience, 
 Jimmy spread open the letter and read: 
 
 " 'Dear Sergeant Blaise: 
 
 " 'With much pleasure I write to inform you 
 that my cousins and myself expect to pay you 
 and your friends the visit on Saturday after- 
 noon. I have something of importance to im- 
 
 38 
 
THE UNFORESEEN 39 
 
 part to you regarding the matter we discussed 
 in Paris. With best wishes I remain, 
 " 'Sincerely, 
 
 " 'EMILE VoiSSARD.' " 
 
 "Three whoops for Cousin Emile!" caroled 
 Bob. "We certainly are the original white- 
 haired boys. Think of a visit from the 'Flying 
 Terror of France'! This place won't hold us, 
 we '11 be so puffed up with pride and vanity ! ' ' 
 
 "He's not a bit particular about his com- 
 pany, ' ' grinned Roger. ' ' The humble non-com 
 and the president of France are all one to 
 Cousin Emile. That's the way it looks." 
 
 "That's the way it is" emphasized Jimmy. 
 "Voissard has earned the right to do as he 
 pleases. He knows it and that explains every- 
 thing. Anyway, he has business to talk over 
 with Blazes. Ahem!" 
 
 "See him puff out his chest." Bob wagged 
 a derisive head at Jimmy. "He throws that 
 old bluff, 'I'm not so much,' but he means, 
 'I'm it!'" 
 
 "Spotted at last," was Jimmy's grinning ad- 
 mission. "I knew you'd get wise to me some 
 day. ' ' 
 
 "We hated to tell you," teased Schnitzel, 
 joining in the banter. "Now you know it, don't 
 feel too bad about it." 
 
 "My heart's bruised but not broken," re- 
 taliated Jimmy. "I can stand a few more such 
 
40 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 shocks and still keep on going. What's the 
 matter with you, Iggy? Haven't you a gentle 
 little knock to hand me? Now's the time. I'm 
 in a real good humor." 
 
 "Never I hand you him that knock," re- 
 sponded Ignace with deep solemnity. 
 
 "He keeps 'em for Bobby, don't you 
 Iggins?" 
 
 "Ye-a. " Ignace snickered at Bob's accusa- 
 tion. "I like make the fon to you, 'cause al- 
 ways you make the fon to me." 
 
 Supper call broke in upon this good-humored 
 exchange of raillery. Loyal to the death the 
 five Brothers rarely took one another seriously. 
 Even solemn Ignace had learned the art of 
 "joshing" which is second nature to the Amer- 
 ican youth. 
 
 Several days had passed since the Khaki 
 Boys had made the eventful trip to Paris which 
 had ended in an attempt on their lives by an 
 unknown foe. They had reported the affair to 
 headquarters the next morning. Jimmy Blaise 
 had said nothing, however, to anyone, of his 
 own private suspicion concerning the "tiger 
 man." It was merely a vague supposition on 
 his part, and he was quite willing to "let 
 sleeping tigers lie." 
 
 Inquiry in camp among men who had been 
 there longer than themselves revealed to the 
 Khaki Boys the knowledge that occasionally 
 similar night attacks had been made upon sol- 
 
THE UNFORESEEN 41 
 
 diers going or coming from the village. In one 
 instance a Sammy had been wounded in the leg 
 and had lain groaning by the roadside until 
 picked up by a party of his comrades returning 
 to camp from the village. 
 
 This rather put a crimp in Jimmy's theory 
 that his old enemy had trailed him from Paris. 
 He decided inwardly that he was an idiot to 
 allow such "crazy" ideas brain room and 
 promptly banished them from his mind. 
 
 It was on Thursday that Jimmy received the 
 letter from Voissard announcing his intention 
 of visiting the Khaki Boys' camp on Saturday. 
 The visit was destined not to be paid, however, 
 for on Friday morning the detachment of the 
 509th Infantry, to which the five Brothers be- 
 longed, received the longed-for order to move 
 on. 
 
 The selected men of the 509th Infantry were 
 to accompany part of another American regi- 
 ment, longer in training than themselves, on 
 this new move toward the front. None knew 
 whether the order meant a brief interval of rest 
 in a village near the fighting lines or if their 
 journey would lead them straight to the 
 trenches. The men of the 509th were hopeful 
 that this last would be their lot. They were 
 intensely eager to "get a whack" at the 
 Boches. As Bob soulfully remarked: "There 
 aren't any cold feet in the little old 509th." 
 
 There was only one drawback to the five 
 
42 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Brothers ' satisfaction. How were they to send 
 quick word to Voissard and the Twinkle Twins 
 of this new turn in their affairs? 
 
 In desperation Jimmy finally sought Major 
 Steadman, his commanding officer, and laid the 
 matter before him. Fortunately for all con- 
 cerned the major chanced to be well acquainted 
 with the aviator. Not only did he show evident 
 interest in Jimmy's story of how he and his 
 bunkies happened to be acquainted with Cousin 
 Emile. He very kindly volunteered to take the 
 responsibility on himself of sending the aviator 
 a personal dispatch. Thus it was arranged, but 
 five Sammies were deeply disappointed over the 
 sudden collapse of the ''Flying Terror's" pro- 
 posed visit. 
 
 Friday afternoon saw the selected detach- 
 ments marching to the station to entrain, look- 
 ing not unlike a herd of overloaded young cam- 
 els. Hiking about Camp Marvin under "full 
 pack" was easy compared to the amount of 
 equipment with which the Khaki Boys were now 
 loaded down. Each Sammy fairly bristled with 
 the paraphrenalia of war. 
 
 Everything needful for trench life was at- 
 tached to some part of his person. All the 
 worldly goods bestowed upon him by the Army, 
 he now carried with him, together with as many 
 of his own personal possessions as he could 
 make room for and bear the weight of. Un- 
 doubtedly few of these last treasured gifts 
 
THE UNFORESEEN 43 
 
 would go with him to the trenches. They would 
 have to be reluctantly cast aside or given away, 
 leaving him with only the absolutely necessary 
 articles and equipment provided by the Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Burdened as they were, it was a thrilling 
 moment for the Khaki Boys when late on Fri- 
 day afternoon the bugles called them to As- 
 sembly in front of barracks. All day they had 
 been impatiently waiting for the order. Every 
 young face glowed with patriotic fire as they 
 obeyed the call, "Fall in," and were marched, 
 company after company to the station, there 
 to entrain for the front. 
 
 All along the way they were cheered by the 
 inhabitants of the village who had come out to 
 catch a farewell view of the gallant Sammies 
 and send them into the fight with warm-hearted 
 expressions of their good will. Many a French 
 mother breathed a prayer and made the sign 
 of the cross as she saw these sturdy youngsters 
 taking the same stretch of the Glory Road over 
 which had passed a beloved son or sons of her 
 own, never to return. 
 
 Arrived at the station our Khaki Boys were 
 marshaled with the rest into the waiting "48 
 Men, Eight horses," which had been used to 
 convey so many Allied soldiers to the fighting 
 district. Entering "these cheerless and highly 
 uncomfortable box-cars, they were leaving be- 
 hind them the comparative ease and safety they 
 
44 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 had enjoyed since landing in France. From 
 now on the Glory Road would mean a succes- 
 sion of trials and hardships, with death always 
 lurking in the foreground. 
 
 Every mile the train ran meant a nearer ap- 
 proach to the goal for which they had so long 
 striven. At last they were on the way to strike 
 their first definite blow in the big war. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 AT HOME 
 
 £Qr J! iHIS is certainly some ride," grumbled 
 Corporal Bob Dalton to Sergeant 
 ■*" Jimmy Blaise. "I've had enough of 
 old Eight Horses and goodness knows how 
 many men to last me for a while. There are 
 supposedly forty-eight Sammies in this band- 
 box. I should say there were nearer ten thou- 
 sand. I'd have sure croaked standing up, if 
 you hadn't been along to take the curse off. " 
 
 "I'm glad we got in the same car, shoe-box 
 I mean. ' ' 
 
 Sergeant Jimmy's voice sounded decidedly 
 weary. Luckily for himself and Bob, they had 
 been assigned to the same car, Bob being cor- 
 poral of a squad in Jimmy's platoon. Roger, 
 Schnitzel and Ignace were scattered somewhere 
 through the train, though neither Bob nor 
 Jimmy knew which car their bunkies were in. 
 
 "Well, it'll soon be over." Jimmy breathed 
 a sigh of relief. "We've been two days and 
 
 45 
 
46 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 two nights on the road. It's now five o'clock, 
 we ought to be out of this dump soon. I never 
 believed I could sleep standing up, but I know 
 it now." 
 
 "Here, too. I hope we get a night's rest 
 stretched out before we hit the trenches," was 
 Bob 's wistful reply. 
 
 "Oh, we won't go straight to the trenches in 
 this train. We '11 probably be in rest billets sev- 
 eral days before we 're called to take our turn. ' ' 
 
 "Wonder how the fellows like it," mused 
 Bob. "I'll bet Iggy's slept most of the way. 
 Nothing f eazes him when he wants to sleep. He 
 could pound his ear standing on his head." 
 
 Both Khaki Boys snickered a little as they 
 imagined Ignace turned upside down and sleep- 
 ing peacefully, nevertheless. 
 
 "It seems a long while since we left Sterling, 
 doesn't it?" 
 
 Jimmy broke the silence that had fallen upon 
 both, succeeding Bob's humorous remark con- 
 cerning his Polish Brother. 
 
 "It certainly does. I had a funny standing- 
 up nightmare about old Sterling last night." 
 Bob grinned reminiscently. "I'd braced my 
 back against the wall of this box and was tak- 
 ing forty winks. I'd been thinking about that 
 Bixton affair and old Schnitz, and I dreamed 
 that good old Major Stearns was a Boche spy, 
 and that he was trying to finish me with a bay- 
 onet. He 'd just given me an awful punch in the 
 
'AT HOME" 47 
 
 chest and I was yelling: * What's eating you, 
 you rough neck ! ' 
 
 ' ' The sound of my own voice woke me up, and 
 I found that a man next to me had hauled off 
 and hinged me one in his sleep. It was a joke, 
 and we both laughed after we got wise to our- 
 selves. Wonder you didn't hear me yowl." 
 
 "I've heard so many different kinds of yowls 
 since I landed in this jug that I'm used to 'em. 
 Well, it's a great life if you don't weaken." 
 
 Jimmy yawned and, reaching for his water 
 bottle, took a long drink. 
 
 "Hope we stop somewhere soon," he ob- 
 served. "I've emptied this bottle, and I'm still 
 thirsty. ' ' 
 
 Shortly afterward his wish for a speedy de- 
 trainment was granted. A series of jolts, which 
 caused the imprisoned Sammies to behave like 
 nine-pins, except that they had not sufficient 
 space to topple over, and the famous "Eight 
 Horses" came at last to a full stop. 
 
 Freed at last, the Khaki Boys gladly hustled 
 from the ungracious box-cars to the platform of 
 a village station, dotted as usual with the 
 friendly French folk, whom the Khaki Boys had 
 noticed were always in evidence wherever they 
 went. 
 
 The two detachments of Uncle Sam's boys 
 had hardly left the train, however, before they 
 discovered that for once they were not the cen- 
 ter of attraction. Waiting on the platform to 
 
48 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 enter the train they had just left was a company 
 of slightly wounded French soldiers returning 
 from active service on the firing line. 
 
 Though these men were still able to walk, they 
 presented a pitiful sight. With arms or heads 
 bound up in blood-stained bandages, their faces 
 wan and racked by pain, they brought home to 
 the full the grim horror of the trenches. Yet 
 nearly every face wore an attempt at a smile. 
 Bandaged heads made gay attempts at nodding 
 to the villagers who were worshiping at their 
 shrine in true French fashion. 
 
 One man whose arms were both bound up, 
 blood trickling from his face, bent painfully 
 down to speak to a little boy who was shouting 
 lustily, "Vive la France/' and waving a little 
 French flag at the wrecked heroes. 
 
 "Watching the little scene in fascinated hor- 
 ror, it occurred briefly to Jimmy that for fight- 
 ers these men were a curious-looking lot. Ac- 
 customed to the olive drab uniform and the 
 usually clean-shaven face of the Sammy, these 
 whiskered poilus with their red trousers and 
 long blue coats pinned back from the front 
 seemed strangely unlike soldiers. Their ban- 
 daged heads and arms, and scratched, bleeding 
 faces told quite a different story, however. 
 They had known what it was to be under fire. 
 They had done their bit for France. 
 
 Ardent as was the admiration shown for 
 these wounded soldiers, the Khaki Boys were 
 
'AT HOME" 49 
 
 not slighted. As they formed into platoons and 
 marched away from the station, they were 
 wildly applauded by the gathered throng, part 
 of which followed along after them. 
 
 As they tramped along through the narrow 
 streets to headquarters, their progress was ac- 
 companied by a new sound — a steady, heavy 
 rumble that went on ceaselessly. They had now 
 come within the thunder of the big guns. Off to 
 the east of the village the fight against an un- 
 worthy foe was raging. With every heavy de- 
 tonation, war was taking its toll of lives. 
 
 Under his breath, Jimmy found himself re- 
 peating : 
 
 "At the front brave men are falling, 
 Now's your time to do and dare!" 
 
 He wondered if the man who, far back in 
 peaceful America, had composed the words of 
 the "Glory Eoad" song could possibly realize 
 the meaning of his own song. 
 
 A march of a little over a mile through the 
 village, and the long lines of soldier boys had 
 reached headquarters. Here began the work 
 of assigning them to temporary quarters. With 
 night approaching it was necessary to put the 
 men in lodgings with all possible despatch. 
 
 "Lodgings' ' for fighting men nearing the 
 front consist of anything from the odd, not 
 over-clean French farmhouses to stables and 
 
50 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 barns. The best horses naturally fall to the 
 officers; with the enlisted men it is a case of 
 Hobson's choice. 
 
 Jnst as the first stars of evening began to ap- 
 pear in the clear, wintry sky, Jimmy Blaise 
 marched his command into a stable. Ten min- 
 utes later he had begged the back cover of a 
 note-book from Corporal Bob Dalton, and 
 printed on it in large black letters : 
 
 AT HOME 
 SERGEANT BLAISE 
 
 AND 
 THIRTY-TWO MEN 
 
 Sergeant Jimmy Blazes was "at home" to all 
 comers. 
 
CHAPTER VIH 
 
 A BOCHE TESTIMONIAL 
 
 IT was after eight o'clock that night when 
 Ji mmy 's detachment finished a supper of 
 the inevitable bully beef and biscuit, 
 washed down with coffee furnished them by the 
 kindly French woman to whom the stable be- 
 longed, and whose farmhouse was situated only 
 a short distance from it. 
 
 Worn out by two-days ' sojourn in the narrow 
 confines of "Eight Horses," both Bob and 
 Jimmy were only too glad to resign themselves 
 to the doubtful comfort of the straw-strewn 
 stable floor. 
 
 It proved to be a restless night for all con- 
 cerned. "Sergeant Blaise and Thirty-Two 
 Men" had their first unpleasant experience 
 with the "cooties," a baleful gray vermin that 
 has been the perpetual bane of the soldier in 
 France since the beginning of the war. 
 
 Later, when trench life had taught the Khaki 
 Boys to accustom themselves to "most any old 
 
 Si 
 
52 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 thing," the ever-present "cootie" became insig- 
 nificant when compared to other trials they 
 were called npon to endure. That first night, 
 however, was one of such itching horror as they 
 were not likely to forget in a hurry. 
 
 In spite of this new trial they managed to 
 snatch a little sleep, though Jimmy stoutly de- 
 clared his intention of rolling up in his poncho 
 and sleeping outdoors thereafter. 
 
 Obliged to depend upon the rations pre- 
 viously issued them for breakfast the next 
 morning, Jimmy rebelled and made a quick hike 
 up to the farmhouse, returning with the glow- 
 ing information that "Madame" was quite will- 
 ing to furnish breakfast to such as desired to 
 partake of her hospitality. Her charges for 
 the same were low, and the majority of the men 
 were very willing to pay them. In consequence, 
 Sergeant Blaise's little flock feasted on bacon, 
 eggs, white bread, and preserves. 
 
 Breakfast finished, a hasty going over of 
 equipment ensued, and Jimmy marched his men 
 to a not far distant field for inspection, where 
 they had been ordered to report and parade. 
 Here they found the rest of their own detach- 
 ment. Inspection over, the entire unit put in 
 the morning in drill, with three ten-minute in- 
 termissions for rest, during which the newly 
 arrived Sammies had a chance to compare 
 notes. 
 
 The first of these intermissions saw the five 
 
A BOCHE TESTIMONIAL 53 
 
 Brothers engaged in a zealous hunt for one an- 
 other. Together, Bob and Jimmy made speedy 
 effort to locate their bunkies, managing to pick 
 them up just as the command came to "Fall 
 in." 
 
 "Meet us here, next break," called Bob over 
 his shoulder, as he ran back to his squad. 
 
 At the next order of "Fall Out," the five 
 made prompt rush for the spot which Bob had 
 designated. 
 
 "Well!" exclaimed Roger, as they grouped 
 themselves eagerly together. "Where did you 
 fellows get off at?" 
 
 "In a stable," was Jimmy's disgusted an- 
 swer. "It's not far from here. Our 'at home' 
 sign's out." 
 
 "Come and see us. You'll love the place. I 
 hate to think of leaving it," grimaced Bob. 
 
 "I'm in the same boat. I mean the same 
 sweet kind of a billet, ' ' grinned Roger. ' ' A nice 
 hard floor, straw, lots of 'cooties,' and all the 
 comforts of a cow barn. Schnitz lives in a 
 house that nobody else but Sammies wanted. 
 The folks moved away before the French Revo- 
 lution came off and took the furniture along." 
 
 "Nothing left but dust and rats," supple- 
 mented Schnitzel. "We haven't found any live 
 stock yet. That's something to brag of." 
 
 ' ' Iggy is the lucky guy. He 's in a real house 
 with real people, real eats, and real beds to 
 sleep in. He and his squad grabbed a cinch." 
 
54 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 "I don't like," objected Ignace mournfully. 
 "My Brothar sleep in stable, so would I there 
 be." 
 
 "Can the sob stuff, Iggy," railed Bob, though 
 his black eyes were very kind. "Never mind 
 about us. Be glad you landed soft. " 
 
 "I am no the pig," asserted Ignace with lofty 
 dignity. 
 
 "Sure you aren't. If you were you couldn't 
 camp in that nice billet. You 'd land in a pig sty, 
 and that would be worse than a cow barn. ' ' 
 
 Bob winked drolly at Roger. 
 
 "Where '11 we meet after drill?" broke in 
 Jimmy. "We'll have to decide right off the 
 bat. Our time's almost up." 
 
 "Eight here," suggested Schnitzel. "We'll 
 probably break ranks and be dismissed here on 
 account of being scattered all over the village." 
 
 "I wonder if we are going to have regular 
 mess kitchens set up. Don't believe we will, 
 though. I guess it's cook- wagons for ours or 
 buy our own grub if we want variety. I have 
 an idea we 're going to move on soon. ' ' 
 
 "I hope so," Bob said fervently. "These 
 Frenchies are very decent about not soaking a 
 fellow for his grub. They'd give it to you if 
 you'd let 'em. Even so, pay-day's a long way 
 off, and Bobby's no millionaire. I like to pay 
 as I go. These people can't afford to treat 
 after all they've been through. A franc in it- 
 self isn't much, but when it's a franc here, and 
 
A BOCHE TESTIMONIAL 55 
 
 two francs there, it counts up like the mis- 
 chief.' ? 
 
 "Wait till I hear from home and we'll have 
 money to burn," declared generous Jimmy. "I 
 had the nerve to ask Dad for five hundred. I'll 
 bet I get it, too. ' ' 
 
 "Keep the change," laughed Roger. "Your 
 money's no good with us. We spends our own 
 and goes broke. Blime if we gets so low as to 
 sponge off a pal!" 
 
 Roger imitated to perfection the tone of a 
 Tommy. The Khaki Boys had, by this time, 
 come to know and like many of England's 
 sturdy, fighting Tommies. 
 
 Command to again "Fall In" broke up the 
 brief reunion. Drill ending at noon, the Sam- 
 mies were given the rest of the day for their 
 own until Retreat, which was scheduled to take 
 place on the impromptu parade ground at the 
 usual hour. 
 
 Left to themselves, the five Brothers gathered 
 briefly together after dismissal. Agreeing to 
 meet again at the same place half an hour later, 
 they set off for their billets to put away their 
 rifles. 
 
 Meeting again promptly at the appointed 
 time, they started out to find some place where 
 they might obtain a substantial dinner. This 
 was rather hard to find, as almost every house 
 in the village had its quota of transient Sam- 
 mies to care for. By dint of inquiry they finally 
 
56 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 located a quaint little inn, and entered it to find 
 it overflowing with men of their own detach- 
 ment who had also been seeking a place to eat 
 real food, regardless of expense. 
 
 After standing about waiting for a time, they 
 at last managed to grab a table, and were pres- 
 ently served with a savory meal, cooked in true 
 French fashion. 
 
 Dinner over, they left the inn and wandered 
 about the village with its quaint gray stone 
 houses and winding streets. Close examination 
 of it showed that it had not escaped the enemy's 
 spite. Here and there the ruins of a house or 
 a deep furrow in the ground showed the effects 
 of Boche gun or bomb work. 
 
 The inhabitants were a simple, friendly lot 
 who treated them to smiling looks and bobbing 
 little bows of admiration and respect. The 
 heart of France beats warmly for Uncle Sam's 
 Boys. Her people look upon them as the savior 
 of the Allied cause, come in the hour of need. 
 
 Deciding to put off writing letters to the home 
 folks until the next day, the five Khaki Boys 
 spent their entire afternoon in wandering aim- 
 lessly about, seeing something of interest, no 
 matter in which direction they walked. 
 
 One sight in particular filled them with right- 
 eous wrath. Traversing one of the smaller 
 streets, they encountered an apple-cheeked 
 French woman and a boy of about ten years. 
 To their united horror they instantly noticed 
 
A BOCHE TESTIMONIAL 57 
 
 that the child's arms had been lopped off just 
 below the elbow. 
 
 "Great Heavens! Look at that!" muttered 
 Bob, as the two drew nearer. "Speak to her, 
 Blaise. Ask her if that's Boche butchery. " 
 
 "Bon jour, Madame." Jimmy's hand went 
 to his helmet. 
 
 Since coming to the village, the Khaki Boys 
 had been ordered to replace their campaign 
 hats with the bullet-proof helmets, which the 
 soldier must wear constantly as he approaches 
 nearer to the firing lines. 
 
 "Is this your son?" he inquired in French. 
 
 His gray eyes were dark with mingled horror 
 and sympathy, as he indicated the pitiful little 
 figure. "How did this happen to him?" 
 
 "But non, Monsieur," the woman replied. 
 "He is a Belgian. Les Allemands, this they do. 
 Father and mother, both they kill. This poor 
 child — Voila, you see for yourself! He was 
 brought to me thus. Now I have taken him for 
 my own. Three sons I once had. All died at 
 Ypres and for France." 
 
 In the face of this tragic recital, the five 
 Khaki Boys stood silent. Instantly every hel- 
 met was doffed to this grand figure of woman- 
 hood. There were no signs of tears in her 
 bright black eyes as she spoke, only a fleeting 
 expression of intense suffering, which merged 
 instantly into a look of intense pride, as she 
 mentioned the loss of her sons. 
 
58 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 "Ask her, Blazes, if she'll allow us to make 
 the poor kiddie a present," ordered Roger, a 
 trifle unsteadily. 
 
 The woman flushed, then smiled, showing two 
 rows of strong, white teeth. 
 
 "It is not necessary, Monsieur," she re- 
 turned. "Still, if les Americains of the great 
 heart please — I am very poor." 
 
 "Cough up a dollar or two apiece, quick," or- 
 dered Bob, who had "understood the reply. His 
 recent complaint regarding far-off pay-day was 
 now forgotten. 
 
 Each Sammy's hand went instantly to his 
 money belt. 
 
 "This is your donation party, Rodge. " 
 Jimmy handed a two-dollar note to Roger. Ig- 
 nace, Schnitzel and Bob handed him a like 
 amount. 
 
 Adding his own offering, Roger tendered it 
 to the woman, who thanked them with a pretty 
 courtesy that quite won their hearts. 
 
 "Can such things be?" was Bob's savage 
 question as they strolled on. "It's bad enough 
 to read about 'em, but when you meet 'em face 
 to face! Ugh! Lead me to the trenches, and 
 do it quick!" 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 ON THE MARCH 
 
 JIMMY'S prediction that they were likely to 
 move on soon was speedily verified. The 
 very next morning at Assembly the men 
 were ordered to report on the parade ground 
 at noon under full pack. An hour's drill and 
 they were dismissed in order to allow them to 
 make final preparations before starting on their 
 march to the front. 
 
 Though they had had hardly time to explore 
 the little village or make the acquaintance of 
 its inhabitants, the entire population turned out 
 to see them off. French matrons and pretty 
 young girls fluttered their handkerchiefs at the 
 marching columns of Sammies, just as the 
 American mothers, wives and sisters did when 
 the trains pulled out of the home towns bear- 
 ing Uncle Sam's Boys away to the training 
 camps. 
 
 With the backbone of winter broken, the day 
 was clear and fair. The sun shone brightly 
 
 59 
 
60 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 down in inspiriting fashion. There was but one 
 drawback — the ever-present mud. A recent 
 spell of wet weather had made of the roads an 
 unending succession of small pools of water, in- 
 terspersed with little stretches of sticky, cling- 
 ing mire, into which the soldiers' feet sank, 
 ankle deep. 
 
 Long before the afternoon merged into sun- 
 set, the Khaki Boys had begun to feel the ef- 
 fects of that strenuous march. Their heavy, 
 hob-nailed trench shoes, made heavier by con- 
 stant contact with the mud, blistered their feet 
 and caused them acute suffering. Yet they sang 
 home songs, and joked with one another as they 
 plodded along, unmindful of their discomfort. 
 Not a man hung back or gave up. Neither did 
 the fact trouble them that every step they took 
 was bringing them nearer to the big guns, the 
 booming of which was ever in their ears. 
 
 For each hour on the road they were allowed 
 a ten-minutes' halt, in which to nurse their 
 swollen feet, and rest their weary backs, aching 
 from the heavy packs. Though the majority 
 did not know of how long duration the hike 
 would be, a few knew that their difficult march 
 would end in a partially ruined village, just out 
 of range of the German guns. There they 
 would be billeted until the order came to take 
 their first turn in the trenches. 
 
 It was after eight o 'clock in the evening when 
 a foot-sore, mud-spattered company of young 
 
ON THE MARCH 61 
 
 defenders tramped wearily along the principal 
 thoroughfare of the French hamlet. That thor- 
 oughfare was nothing more than a very muddy 
 road. On each side of it stood the shattered 
 remnants of what had once been the homes of 
 the unfortunate inhabitants whose quaint little 
 cottages had been demolished by the enemy's 
 guns. Less than half the houses in the village 
 still remained intact. So near to the firing lines, 
 they had not been able to avert the dire mis- 
 fortunes of war. 
 
 Continuing on through the village, they were 
 finally halted in a large meadow on its out- 
 skirts. Here the work of erecting shelter or* 
 "pup" tents began, in which they would sleep 
 that night. The cook wagons, too, immediately 
 went into action, and the way-worn travelers 
 were presently given the comfort of a hot sup- 
 per before turning in for a night's sleep. 
 
 Rolled up in their ponchos, the Khaki Boys 
 slept as soundly that night as though back in 
 the home barracks they had so long ago left 
 behind them. A hot breakfast the next morn- 
 ing and they were again in good trim for the 
 eventful hike that would bring them to the firing 
 line. 
 
 Save for an hour's limbering-up drill, the 
 day was theirs to roam at will about their new 
 environment. Not until the dusk of evening had 
 settled down upon the landscape would they 
 start again on the last lap of their journey. 
 
62 THE KHAKI BOY S AT THE FRONT 
 
 Immediately after drill, the five Brothers got 
 together and went on a roving tour about the 
 partially wrecked village. By daylight they 
 found it teeming with life. It seemed princi- 
 pally peopled, however, with old women and 
 children, although they encountered a goodly 
 number of French soldiers resting in billets 
 from trench duty. 
 
 Here and there they saw small inns, largely 
 patronized by the French poilus. Entering one 
 of them out of curiosity, they were rather dis- 
 appointed to discover that they could obtain 
 little there in the way of refreshment other than 
 brown bread, cheese and French wines, the lat- 
 ter in which none of them ever indulged. 
 
 i 'For a place that's been all shot to pieces by 
 Boche Kultur, I must say it's a mighty prosy 
 old burg," was Bob's opinion. 
 
 The quintette had repaired to their im- 
 promptu camp for dinner, and afterward 
 started out again in the hope of finding some- 
 thing really exciting. They had been roaming 
 about for over an hour since dinner, and had, 
 thus far, met with no startling adventures. 
 
 Bob's remark arose from the fact that they 
 had just passed a schoolhouse, through the 
 opened windows of which came the high, shrill 
 voices of children, placidly reciting their les- 
 sons. 
 
 " Funny, isn't it, that those kids can settle 
 down to school with the noise of the guns going 
 
ON THE MARCH 63 
 
 on all the time?" mused Roger. " You'd think 
 they'd be scared out of their baby wits." 
 
 ''They're just like all the rest of these good 
 sports of Frenchies. They've grown so used 
 to it they don't blink an eyelash now," declared 
 Schnitzel. ''Wish I'd been born a Frenchman 
 instead of a G. A. The A's all right, but not 
 the G." 
 
 "Well, you got the G. out of your system 
 when you enlisted, ' ' consoled Bob. ' ' You 've no 
 kick coming." 
 
 "Thank goodness I did," was Schnitzel's fer- 
 vent response. "I'd hate to feel that I had a 
 single tie that bound me to these cursed, butch- 
 ering Boches. If some of the Germans in the 
 U. S. could really be made to believe what we 've 
 seen with our own eves, it would give 'em a 
 jolt" 
 
 "They don't want to believe," Bob cried out 
 scornfully. "But wait awhile. If some Ger- 
 man-American father whose son got in the draft 
 and was sent over here gets word that his boy 
 has been crucified or tortured by a delegation 
 of Fatherland friends, he'll wake up in a 
 hurry. ' ' 
 
 "Yes," nodded Schnitzel, "when the chick- 
 ens begin to come home to roost, it's going to 
 make some difference in the way these German 
 fanatics at home feel about this war." 
 
 Greeted on every side by evidence of havoc 
 and devastation wrought by the enemy, the talk 
 
64 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 of the strollers remained centered on the war. 
 In the home camps and on shipboard they had 
 discussed it but little, preferring to keep it in 
 the background. Now they were so near to the 
 great conflict it could no longer be ignored. It 
 had become the one vital topic of conversation. 
 
 " Let's go into that wreck and see what it 
 looks like inside," proposed Roger at last. 
 
 Proceeding in an opposite direction from 
 their camp, they had walked the breadth of the 
 village, and were well toward the open coun- 
 try. Standing by itself in a field, the broken 
 stone walls of a shelled cottage had attracted 
 Roger's attention. 
 
 "I'll go you," was Bob's ready response. 
 
 "I'm game," agreed Jimmy. 
 
 "So would I it to see," assented Ignace. 
 "Yet think I there is no mooch by it, only the 
 many stone and mooch roobish. ' ' 
 
 Circling the wrecked cottage for a place by 
 which to enter it with the least effort, the ex- 
 plorers climbed over a heap of debris, which 
 partially blocked a doorless aperture at the 
 rear, and gained the interior. 
 
 Once inside they saw nothing more remark- 
 able than ragged heaps of stone, splintered 
 beams, and the broken remnants of household 
 furniture. The only part of the floor still in- 
 tact was the narrow strip on which they stood. 
 
 "Let's go. It's fierce." Jimmy spoke in 
 hoarse, husky tones. 
 
ON THE MARCH 65 
 
 Sight of that ruthless wrecking of a home 
 made him think of his own beautiful, far-away 
 home, where his beloved ' 'folks" dwelt in 
 safety, immune from shot and shell. 
 
 "I guess we know why we're here, when we 
 look at this," he continued tensely. "If I had 
 a thousand lives I'd give 'em all to save the 
 home folks from such a thing ever happening 
 to 'em." 
 
 "Right-o!" emphasized Bob. 
 
 Silence hung over the group for an instant, 
 then, by mutual consent, they turned and left 
 behind • them the frightful demonstration of 
 "Kultur." 
 
 "Look who's here! He's mine. I saw him 
 first!" 
 
 Emerging from the ruin a step in advance of 
 his comrades, Bob suddenly raised his voice in 
 a shout, and set off on the run across the field 
 behind the cottage. 
 
 Echoing his yell, his bunkies tore after, 
 laughing as they went. Bob's prize was noth- 
 ing more than a solemn white goat, meandering 
 aimlessly about the brown field in search of a 
 green bit on which to graze. 
 
 "You old fake! I thought you'd lamped 
 something wonderful ! Nothing but an old Billy 
 goat. Hello, Bill! How's tricks?" 
 
 Jimmy now jocularly addressed his goatship. 
 
 "M-a-a-a!" bleated Bill politely. 
 
 "Don't call him Bill," objected Bob. "Have 
 
66 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 some respect for his delicate feelings. Yon can 
 see for yourself it won't go down with him. 
 He's a werry fine animnle, and I'm going to 
 adopt him and call him Gaston. He 's a French 
 goat, hence the Francais handle." 
 
 " You'd better let him alone," warned Eoger. 
 "He must belong to somebody around here. 
 You know what '11 happen to you if you pinch 
 him. ' ' 
 
 "Pinch him nothing. I'm no goat-robber," 
 was Bob's indignant retort. "I'm going to do 
 the square thing by Gaston. See that house 
 down the road? Well, I'm going to tie him up 
 and lead him to it. Bobby has a nice piece of 
 string in his pocket. I'll bet the folks down 
 there know his history. If he's a orfln, then 
 Bobby will be his foster-papa and train Gaston 
 to charge on you fellows if you ever get too 
 fresh. Won't you, Gaston?" 
 
 Gaston, it appeared, was already about to get 
 busy. His first surprise at the invasion having 
 vanished, he lowered his head and dashed at his 
 admirers with an energy that sent them scat- 
 tering. 
 
 "He's got the true war spirit," yelled Bob. 
 1 ' Now watch me tame him ! ' ' 
 
 Bob agilely circled the belligerent Gaston. 
 The goat had stopped after making the charge 
 to reflect upon his next course of action. 
 Pouncing upon the surprised animal, Bob 
 grasped it by the horns. To his delight, it 
 
ON THE MARCH 67 
 
 meekly stood still, whereupon he relaxed one 
 hand from a horn and promptly fished a piece 
 of tough string from his trousers' pocket. An 
 instant later, Gaston was being led, an acquies- 
 cent captive, from the field by his beaming mas- 
 ter. Prudence, however, warned Bob's bunkies 
 to walk in Gaston's rear. 
 
 Duly arriving at the house Bob had pointed 
 out, he consigned his new pet to Roger's care, 
 and went boldly up to the door in quest of in- 
 formation. 
 
 Watching him, his comrades saw him ushered 
 inside the house by a pretty young French girl. 
 
 Ten minutes later he emerged, grinning like 
 a Cheshire cat. At his heels trooped two or 
 three children, the girl and an old man, all of 
 whom made bobbing little bows to Les Ameri- 
 cains. 
 
 "He's mine!" called out Bob jubilantly. "I 
 bought him for two plunks. He 's an old-timer, 
 and not very popular with the family. He 's go- 
 ing to billet here, though, while I'm in the 
 trenches. I'm going to pay for his keep and be 
 a father to him when I 'm not on duty. If I get 
 plugged the first whack, then somebody else 
 can have my goat. But as long as Bobby's in 
 good health, Gaston's going to have a friend. 
 Believe me!" 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE LAST LAP 
 
 "THOUGH the shadow of the trenches hung 
 over them, Bob's latest acquisition put 
 his bunkies in a decidedly lightsome 
 mood. After bidding a pleasant good-bye to 
 Gaston's keepers, and giving the redoubtable 
 Gaston himself a fairly wide berth, the five 
 Brothers wandered on through the village. It 
 was not yet three o'clock, and they were not 
 due back to camp until four o'clock. 
 
 Dusk would see them under full pack again, 
 and ready to take the road to the firing line. 
 The advance guard, composed of military po- 
 lice, were to start at least two hours ahead of 
 the main detachment. They would not march 
 in a body, but would straggle along by ones 
 and twos, lest some lurking enemy along the 
 road might learn from their numbers that a 
 new army was soon to be on its way to the front- 
 line trenches. 
 
 "We'd best turn back to camp," Schnitzel 
 68 
 
THE LAST LAP 69 
 
 at last suggested. "It's twenty after three, and 
 we must be almost a mile from headquarters. 
 I want to fix up my pack before we start. ' ' 
 
 The exploring party had left their heavy 
 packs and equipment in charge of a comrade. 
 They carried on their stroll only their haver- 
 sacks containing their supper and breakfast ra- 
 tion, two thick sandwiches apiece. 
 
 Until dugout shelters were reached the next 
 morning, they would have no more hot food. 
 Nothing that required cooking would be given 
 them on this last march except hot coffee. Now, 
 so close to the German lines, the cook wagons 
 would be temporarily closed. Bits of food or 
 sparks dropped in the road might also serve to 
 inform the enemy that Uncle Sam's Boys were 
 nearing the front. 
 
 About to retrace their steps, the five Khaki 
 Boys were suddenly brought to a sudden stand- 
 still by a loud cry from Ignace. 
 
 "Look you!" he exclaimed, pointing upward. 
 "So is it the fight by the air!" 
 
 Instantly turning their eyes skyward, the 
 group saw high above them an aeroplane cut- 
 ting wild circles in the air. Around it little 
 puffs of white smoke were continually bursting. 
 As each puff burst, a peculiar "plopping" could 
 be heard, though dully. 
 
 The plane itself was up too high for the 
 watchers to tell much about it. Besides, they 
 were not familiar enough with the various types 
 
70 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 of aeroplanes used by the Allies and the Huns 
 to be able to distinguish to which side it be- 
 longed. 
 
 "It must be a French or an English plane, 
 and the Boches are peppering it with anti-air- 
 craft shells," surmised Bob, ever ready to 
 theorize on whatever chanced to meet his gaze. 
 
 "You're wrong, old man. It's a Boche plane, 
 and the Allied guns are after it." . 
 
 Schnitzel's correction was uttered with a 
 quiet positiveness that brought instant ques- 
 tions of, "How do you know?" "Who put 
 you wise?" "What makes you so sure of 
 that?" 
 
 "Oh, I've been finding out all I could about 
 anti-aircraft guns, batteries, shells and all 
 that," Schnitzel answered. "I worked in a gun 
 plant, you know, before I enlisted. I've told 
 you that. Machine guns were its specialty, but 
 I learned a lot about other kinds of guns, too. 
 I put in a request for Artillery when I enlisted, 
 but I landed in Infantry instead. I was pretty 
 sore about it at first, but I soon got over it. 
 
 "Just the same," he went on, "I've still a 
 hankering after the big guns. I 've been asking 
 questions right and left ever since we came 
 over. Back in England at the rest camp I met 
 a Tommy who 'd been in artillery since the war 
 began. He'd done his bit, and lost an eye, so 
 he was back to Blighty for good. He told me 
 a lot of interesting stuff about guns. He said 
 
THE LAST LAP 71 
 
 the Allied anti-aircraft shells showed white 
 smoke when they exploded, and the Boche anti- 
 shells showed black. So there you are. If what 
 he said was so, and I'm sure it was, that's an 
 Allied battery shelling a Boche plane." 
 
 Listening to Schnitzel's explanation, the eyes 
 of the quintette, nevertheless, remained fixed 
 on the swooping, circling black speck overhead. 
 Not for a moment did the concealed Allied bat- 
 tery cease its attack on the enemy plane. 
 
 Though their necks began to ache and their 
 eyes to smart, they could not draw their fas- 
 cinated gaze from that gyrating black dot. 
 Even as they watched, it seemed to grow a trifle 
 larger. 
 
 "It's coming down!" yelled Jimmy. "They 
 got it! Hurray! I'll bet this plane was trying 
 to get a line on what was doing down here." 
 
 "It's dropping, sure as a gun!" shouted Bob. 
 "Some drop! Oh, glory, I wish it would flop 
 right here!" 
 
 "It's coming down, down, down, all right!" 
 sang out Roger. "We won't see it though. 
 It'll probably land miles from here, on the 
 )ther side of those hills. That aviator didn't 
 have much show as an observer." 
 
 In what seemed to them an incredibly short 
 time, the doomed plane had sped earthward, and 
 out of sight behind the distant hills east of 
 them. 
 
 "So is it, some Boche get kill pretty quick. 
 
72 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 He never more do nothing'' commented Ignace 
 with grim satisfaction. 
 
 "Not so yon can notice it," airily agreed Bob. 
 "If he wasn't croaked by the anti, he'd hit the 
 gronnd with a bnmp that wonld finish him. 
 Well, show's over. We've seen a Boche plane 
 shelled and a Hnn aviator downed, now let 's be 
 on our way. If we never live to see another 
 Fritzie birdman's wings clipped, we've seen 
 one, anyhow." 
 
 "We're going to live to see a whole lot more 
 welcome sights like that," asserted Jimmy 
 sturdily. 
 
 "Glad to hear it," grinned Bob. "Only the 
 saints croak young. We have a pretty fair 
 show to keep on going, according to that. ' ' 
 
 Signally inspirited at witnessing the defeat 
 of an enemy the five bunkies set off for head- 
 quarters talking cheerily as they walked. There 
 they found their comrades had already begun 
 to assemble, preparatory to the night march, 
 which would begin as soon as sheltering twi- 
 light descended. Group after group of soldiers, 
 who had been resting during the afternoon, or 
 roaming about the village, now reported, and 
 stood awaiting the order to "Fall in." 
 
 As time went on, conversation gradually died 
 out among the men. Earlier exchange of good- 
 humored badinage ceased, and comparative si- 
 lence replaced it, broken only by an occasional 
 ow murmur of voices. 
 
THE LAST LAP 73 
 
 With the first signs of twilight the tension 
 began to tighten. A curious hush pervaded the 
 two detachments, as the heavily burdened Sam- 
 mies stood about and watched the dusk grow 
 and deepen. Strangely enough, no distant rum- 
 ble of artillery broke the spell. Though the 
 voices of the guns had boomed all day, now they 
 were silent. It was an hour which those who 
 survived the struggle they were about to enter 
 Would long remember. 
 
 At last it came ; the clarion notes of the bugle, 
 blowing the order "Fall in." With calm, reso- 
 lute faces each Khaki Boy found his place in 
 the long double line. 
 
 The order was passed along: "Right dress — 
 right dress!" A shuffling of feet, a straighten- 
 ing of lines, and the Khaki Boys were ready for 
 the next command. 
 
 "Front!" 
 
 Every pair of boyish eyes looked unswerv- 
 ingly ahead. 
 
 "Report!" 
 
 Corporal after corporal accounted for his 
 squad. There were no laggers or deserters in 
 that heroic band. The time had come, and the 
 Khaki Boys were ready. 
 
 ' ' Squads right — March ! ' ' 
 
 By rows of fours the soldier boys turned, 
 then in the growing darkness they swung off, 
 rifles on their shoulders, stepping alertly, and 
 with the rhythm that long training had given 
 
74 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 them. On every face shone the qniet determina- 
 tion to do well. Every man was imbued with 
 the resolve to give good account of himself. 
 The Khaki Boys were out to "do and dare" for 
 ihe honor of Uncle Sam and his Allies. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 IN THE FIRE TRENCH 
 
 HORTLY before midnight, the columns of 
 marching Khaki Boys reached, a village 
 that lay practically in ruins. Passing 
 through one neglected street after another, the 
 company leading was halted just at the turning 
 of a street by an English major, astride a met- 
 tlesome horse. 
 
 "Who is in command of this company V 
 came the sharp query. 
 
 ' ' Captain Reynolds, sir. ' ' 
 
 Saluting, a steel-helmeted officer stepped for- 
 ward. 
 
 "Very good. See that every man in your 
 command adjusts his gas mask at alert. All 
 cigarettes must be thrown away. ' ' 
 
 A moment and both orders had been carried 
 out. 
 
 "Forward march by platoons, fifty feet 
 apart," was the next order. "You will be in 
 range of shrapnel directly you leave here." 
 
 75 
 
76 THE KHAKI BOYS AT T HE FRONT 
 
 Obeying instantly, the first company passed 
 on in the designated order. Turning the cor- 
 ner, it started down a road that led straight to 
 the front. It was followed by a second and so 
 on, each company being briefly halted by the 
 English major to receive similar instructions. 
 
 In silence, broken only by the thud of tramp- 
 ing feet, the two detachments of Khaki Boys 
 hiked steadily toward the trenches. All real- 
 ized that at any moment the German guns might 
 tune up. If the two detachments reached the 
 front-line trenches without "clicking" any cas- 
 ualties, they would be lucky, indeed. 
 
 Perhaps for the time being they bore charmed 
 lives. More probably, however, the foe was not 
 aware of their advent into the trenches. At any 
 rate, not even a shrapnel shell was hurled at 
 them by the German artillery. 
 
 Amid a hush so deep that each soldier could 
 hear the beating of his own heart, the Khaki 
 Boys finally entered the zig-zagging communi- 
 cation trench, through which they must pass to 
 reach the front-line trench where they were to 
 receive their first initiation into the hazards of 
 war. 
 
 Now they were no longer marching in fours. 
 In single file, six paces apart, they plodded 
 mutely along, their tired feet sinking deep into 
 the mud. In the trenches mud is seldom ab- 
 sent. It scarcely ever dries up sufficiently to 
 make walking easy. 
 
IN THE FIRE TRENCH 77 
 
 An hour from the time of entering the 
 trenches, the Khaki Boys had reached the front 
 line of their sector, and had taken up their posi- 
 tions. Sadly in need of a little rest, the ma- 
 jority of the men seated themselves on the fire 
 step. In the darkness a long line of American 
 soldiers filed past them, on the way to another 
 communication trench that would lead them 
 away from the firing and back to billets behind 
 the lines. These were the men whom the Khaki 
 Boys had come to relieve. 
 
 In the front-line trench, however, a goodly 
 number of veteran Americans still remained to 
 receive the new men and initiate them into the 
 mysteries of trench warfare. 
 
 Trying to catch satisfactory glimpses of the 
 shadowy figures which flitted past him in a long 
 succession, Jimmy Blaise speculated as to how 
 long they had been on duty. He was amazed 
 at the number still alive and apparently un- 
 scathed. Eemembering that, thus far, all night 
 the guns had been silent, he decided that this 
 was the reason why so many Sammies were left 
 to return briefly to billets. He wondered if as 
 many more were still left in the trench. 
 
 His thoughts turning to his bunldes, he won- 
 dered what they thought of it all. A corporal 
 in his platoon, he knew that Bob, at least, was 
 not far away. In the dense darkness, however, 
 there was small chance of locating him. 
 
 He wondered, too, what time it was. It had 
 
78 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 been almost midnight when the marching men 
 had been halted in the ruined village by the 
 English major. It must be after two now. Per- 
 haps the Germans would attack just before 
 dawn. He had heard that with both sides this 
 was a favorite hour for attack. At that hour, 
 a man's faculties were the least alert. He was 
 less likely to give good account of himself. 
 
 Although he was anything but at home in his 
 new environment, Jimmy was relieved in that 
 he felt not in the least afraid. He had always 
 hoped that it would be thus. Yet he had never 
 been quite sure of himself on that point. He 
 had always known that he should never be 
 afraid in the cowardly sense of the word. Still, 
 he had often pondered as to whether he would 
 "have all his nerve with him" when the event- 
 ful front-line hour arrived. 
 
 He was rather surprised to find himself as 
 "nervy" as ever. He almost wished that some- 
 thing would happen to break the deadly monot- 
 ony around him. Most of all he wished for day- 
 light to come, so that he might take stock of his 
 surroundings and perhaps "bump into" his 
 bunkies. 
 
 The night wore on and nothing happened. 
 With dawn came the order "stand down," and 
 the two veteran sentries posted at each traverse 
 along the line got down off the fire step. To 
 them had fallen the task of standing there all 
 night, heads above the top of the trench, eyes 
 
IN THE FIRE TRENCH 79 
 
 straining into the darkness of "No Man's 
 Land." 
 
 The passing of the word "stand down" was 
 hardly more welcome to the tired sentries than 
 to the newly arrived Sammies huddled along 
 the fire step. It meant to the latter a certain 
 relaxation from duty, and a chance to sleep 
 until the order "stand to" saw them back in 
 their places on the fire step, ready for whatever 
 might come to them. 
 
 Attempting to rise from the fire step, Jimmy 
 discovered that every bone in his body ached. 
 Crouching in a cramped position on a muddy 
 ledge was not conducive to great agility. Pull- 
 ing himself together, Sergeant Jimmy went 
 through a series of limbering-up exercises. 
 Burdened by his equipment, which he had not 
 been allowed to remove, he was not very nimble 
 at first. Soon he felt his muscles growing more 
 flexible under the persistent treatment he gave 
 them. 
 
 Very promptly he saw to it that his men went 
 through a similar set of movements, which did 
 them all good. To his delight, he found Bob 
 only a few men away from him. The latter 's 
 face looked rather wan, but his black eyes were 
 bright and snapping as ever. 
 
 "Some night," cheerily greeted Bob, as 
 Jimmy hurried over to him. "Nothing like a 
 fire step for solid comfort — not. Thought the 
 Fritzies might send over a hot shot or two for 
 
80 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 a welcome. Nothing doing in Dutchyland, 
 though. ' ' 
 
 " Don't worry. We'll get ours soon enough. 
 Maybe to-day. Still, we might be here quite a 
 while before anything happened. The Boches 
 aren't quite so ready as they used to be to keep 
 hammering the Allies. They've learned a few 
 lessons since this war began. 
 
 "Here comes our coffee!" exclaimed Bob. 
 "I certainly am ready for it." 
 
 Glancing up the trench, he had spied two men 
 coming down the line, bearing huge pots of the 
 steaming beverage. 
 
 "The Tommies may have their tea for break- 
 fast, but coffee for Blazes every time!" 
 
 Wft^h this emphatic comment, Jimmy pro- 
 ceeded to extract from his haversack the large 
 metal cup belonging to his mess kit. Along with 
 it he brought out the remaining sandwich of the 
 two issued to him on the day previous. It was 
 to be his breakfast. 
 
 Bob made room for him on the fire step, and 
 the two settled themselves to await the coming 
 of the coffee men. 
 
 Very soon they were hungrily munching their 
 sandwiches, and enjoying the strong, black cof- 
 fee, which was, indeed, welcome. It warmed 
 them through and through, and put new life into 
 their chilled bodies. 
 
 "I'd give a good deal to see the fellows," 
 sighed Jimmy, as, his breakfast finished, he 
 
IN THE FIRE TRENCH 81 
 
 stood up and stretched himself. He was feel- 
 ing decidedly better, and very wide awake. 
 "Wonder if we dare go up or down the lines 
 a little way." 
 
 "You're a sarge. You can travel around, I 
 guess, with no come-back. I wouldn't want to 
 risk it, though. This front-line business doesn't 
 carry many privileges." 
 
 "Even so, we can't stick to the fire step all 
 the time. We have to sleep in the dugouts, and 
 when it 's quiet we '11 be allowed to hang around 
 in them. It 's at night that we '11 have to do most 
 of our work, I suppose." 
 
 "Yes, I presume so. After we get used to 
 this trench system we'll know better how to 
 manage our affairs," was Bob's sage opinion. 
 "We'll have to ask these fellows who are here 
 to help us all about what to do. ' ' 
 
 Breakfast over and quiet still continuing, the 
 men were ordered to the dugouts for rest. 
 
 Earlier in the great war, the heroes of Ypres, 
 Mons, the Marne, and of other memorable bat- 
 tles, found trench life almost unendurable. 
 Since then trench conditions have changed for 
 the better. To-day there are plenty of dugouts, 
 trench platforms, and many other conveniences 
 which help to make the men on trench duty 
 vastly more comfortable than of old. 
 
 After seeing that his men were made as com- 
 fortable as possible, Jimmy accompanied Bob 
 to one of the dugouts, and flung themselves 
 
82 THE KHA KI BO YS AT THE FRONT 
 
 wearily down on the narrow canvas cots pro- 
 vided for their rest. Just before entering the 
 dugout, however, both had gone a little way up 
 and down the line in search of their bunkies. 
 Failing to find them, and sadly in need of rest, 
 they had agreed to postpone the search until 
 later. 
 
 How long they slept neither knew. Both were 
 awakened by a thunderous roar that threatened 
 to split their eardrums. 
 
 Instantly springing from their cots, they 
 made a dash for the dugout's opening, along 
 with the rest of the men it contained. All knew 
 what had happened. The enemy had at last 
 been heard from. 
 
 Among the first to gain the trench, Jimmy 
 saw that a portion of the parapet on his right 
 had been demolished. It had fallen into the 
 trench completely blocking it. His heart stood 
 still as he saw at the edge of that heap of 
 tossed-up earth an olive-drab arm moving 
 feebly. 
 
 Others besides himself had now reached the 
 scene, among them a veteran lieutenant who or- 
 dered a pick and shovel detail to get busy at 
 once. 
 
 "Back to dugouts!" was his sharp order to 
 the Sammies who had run to the scene. "Don't 
 expose yourselves unnecessarily." 
 
 Jimmy, however, was one of the digging de- 
 tail. Seizing a shovel, he began to dig furiously 
 
IN THE FIRE TRENCH 83 
 
 into the soft earth. It yielded easily. Careful 
 lest he strike the body of the buried soldier with 
 the shovel, he soon had enough of the smother- 
 ing' mud cleared away to expose the man's head 
 and shoulders. 
 
 First sight of the victim's head, and Jimmy 
 shuddered. The face under the helmet was 
 caved in, an unrecognizable, bloody pulp. 
 
 * ' Poor fellow, ' ' Jimmy muttered. ' ' He got it 
 pretty quick." He wondered who the man was. 
 Not one of his men. They had all been in the 
 dugout when the crash came. 
 
 While he continued at digging the dead man 
 out of his prison, the rest of the detail were 
 busy clearing the trench of the piled-up earth 
 that formed a blockade. 
 
 "It was a 'Minnie,' " one of the veteran dig- 
 gers informed Jimmy. 
 
 ' ' Minnie ' ' means a high-power trench mortar 
 shell, of German invention. It is used particu- 
 larly by the Germans to demolish the Allied 
 trenches. Its real name is " Minnenwerf er. " 
 It is especially deadly, as it makes no noise com- 
 ing through the air. The English soldier is re- 
 sponsible for giving it the name "Minnie." 
 
 "Funny they don't follow it up with some 
 more," Jmmy observed to the man, as the lat- 
 ter stolidly wielded a pick. 
 
 Hardly had he spoken when a hail of bullets 
 set in from an enemy machine gun. The Boches 
 had begun to turn their energies to the caved-in 
 
84. THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 parapet. Occasionally a single bnllet sped past 
 the diggers, but none of them were hit. 
 
 By this time another detail, composed of 
 green and seasoned men, was engaged in filling 
 sandbags with earth and passing them on to 
 still another group who were rebuilding the 
 parapet. 
 
 Farther down, a second deafening roar an- 
 nounced that another "Minnie" had burst in 
 the trench. Jimmy wondered how much dam- 
 age it had done. Already stretcher-bearers had 
 come up on the double quick, and were taking 
 care of the shattered form which Jimmy had 
 now released from the pinioning earth. They 
 would bear it away through the communication 
 trench to the rear. Presently it would be laid 
 to rest in foreign soil, and an identification tag 
 would go speeding across the ocean to tell its 
 own gruesome story to the Sammy's dear ones 
 back home. Though he had not lived to fire 
 even one shot at the Germans, he had, neverthe- 
 less, done his bit. He had died for his country. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 GETTING USED TO IT 
 
 AFTER a third "Minnie" had sped across 
 No Man's Land and into the front-line 
 trench, an advanced American battery 
 opened up on the Boches and returned the com- 
 pliment with a hot fire that soon put a tem- 
 porary check on Fritzie's activities so far as 
 the sending over of more Minnies went. Ger- 
 man machine guns, however, continued to di- 
 rect their fire upon the gaps in the trenches 
 made by their mortars. 
 
 Four men had been killed and several 
 wounded, as a result of the last two mortar 
 shells. 
 
 Immediately the damage had been wrought 
 to the trench parapet, willing hands set to work 
 to rebuild the broken places to their original 
 height. During the operation three more men 
 lost their lives, shot down by the bullets from 
 the Boche machine guns. 
 
 After this brief exchange of hostilities quiet 
 85 
 
86 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 again settled down, broken only by the occa- 
 sional letting loose of a Boche shrapnel shell di- 
 rected at some point behind the lines. 
 
 Their digging detail finished, Jimmy and Bob 
 again repaired to the dugout and slept until 
 noon. Both awoke at dinner time greatly re- 
 freshed by their brief sleep. A palatable stew 
 and more hot coffee put them in excellent trim 
 for whatever duty might fall to them later on. 
 
 Dinner over, they promptly made a fresh ef- 
 fort to find their bunkies. Roger, Schnitzel, and 
 Ignace, who were fairly near together some dis- 
 tance down the line, had also started out on a 
 hunt for Bob and Jimmy. Both search parties 
 met about halfway respectively from their own 
 stations. Bob and Jimmy had the good fortune 
 to bump into their bunkies just as the latter 
 were entering a dugout. 
 
 "Come on in and let's talk," urged Roger. 
 "Goodness knows we may never have another 
 chance. ' ' 
 
 "Did either of those last two mortars get any 
 of your men?" was Bob's first question of 
 Roger, as the five sought a corner of the dug- 
 out and sat down on the floor in a compact 
 circle. 
 
 "No ; but Schnitz lost two good boys and Iggy 
 one. My men were in the dugout asleep when 
 it happened." 
 
 "It was horrible." Schnitzel's dark face 
 wore an expression of deepest gloom. "Ryan 
 
GETTING USED TO IT 87 
 
 and Harvey, corking fellows, both had their 
 heads blown almost off their shoulders. I'm 
 all broken np over Eyan. He was one of the 
 straightest guys I ever met. Gritty, too. He 
 was dying to get a whack at the Boches. Now 
 he's gone West, and never had a chance to kill 
 off even one of the dirty brutes. He was an 
 only son, too. His folks just worshipped him. 
 I'm going to write to his mother. I promised 
 long ago that I would if it came to the scratch. 
 He gave me her address." 
 
 Schnitzel spoke with intense bitterness. 
 Eyan had been the best man in his squad. 
 
 "Tough luck!" 
 
 Jimmy voiced his most emphatic expression 
 of sympathy. 
 
 "When come him that one shail, so have I 
 the dugout jus' leave," burst forth Ignace. 
 "Then hear I som' the loud thoonder an' fall 
 down in trench. So think I mebbe I daid for 
 minute. ' ' 
 
 "Ha, ha!" jeered Bob. "How could you be 
 dead and keep on thinking, you funny old top?" 
 
 "Mebbe I daid, you no laugh," responded 
 Ignace with a tranquillity that showed he was 
 quite used to Bob's raillery. 
 
 "You're right I wouldn't." Bob's merry 
 face quickly sobered. "It's because you're not 
 'daid' that I'm laughing. It's a poor subject 
 to josh about, though. Let's forget it." 
 
 "I'll never forget that fellow I dug out of 
 
88 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 the mud," declared Jimmy tensely. "He was 
 the one croaked by the first 'Minnie.' I was 
 in our dugout with Bob when it hit the trench. 
 All the fellows in there rushed out to see. 
 Lieutenant Jaynes shoved 'em back in a hurry, 
 except a detail to dig and one to repair the 
 parapet. I was detailed to dig and I went at it, 
 too. Hauled the fellow from under all by my- 
 self. His face was all smashed in. Don't know 
 yet who he was, except that he wasn't one of 
 my men. One of the greenies, like us, I guess. ' ' 
 
 "It's a pretty savage business, but I'll bet 
 our guns clicked some Boche casualties, too," 
 asserted Roger. 
 
 "I thought we'd all get the order to 'stand 
 to' after that third shell, but not yet. I sup- 
 pose the Huns thought they'd send over a few 
 'Minnies' to scare us. Wonder when they'll 
 make a real stab at us?" 
 
 "When they get good and ready," shrugged 
 Schnitzel. "Maybe not while we're here. We 
 may be the ones to start the ball rolling. One 
 reason it's been so quiet, I guess, is because the 
 Fritzies haven't any ammunition to waste. I've 
 been told that the Allies are sending over 
 twenty shells to their one these days." 
 
 ' ' Some improvement. ' ' Jimmy expressed his 
 deep satisfaction at this rumor. "When the 
 war began it was twenty to one in favor of Bill 
 Kaiser. Now the shoe seems to be on the other 
 foot." 
 
GETTING USED TO IT 89 
 
 "I hope I live to see the day when it'll be 
 fifty to nothing in favor of the Allies," was 
 Roger's heartfelt declaration. 
 
 "It'll come, even if we don't live to see it," 
 assured Schnitzel prophetically. 
 
 "So think I," nodded Ignace. "Byrne by, 
 thes' Boche have no the nothin'. Then get kill 
 pretty quick. I would him myself that ver ' bad 
 Bill Kaiser kill." 
 
 "Why don't you ask for the detail?" was 
 Bob's mischievous suggestion. "I'll lend you 
 Gaston to help do the dirty work." 
 
 "Now again you mak' the fon to me," gig- 
 gled Ignace. "I say only I would it to do. So 
 is it." 
 
 " 'So is it,' " repeated Bob. "I can just see 
 our Iggins and dear Gaston hot-footing it to 
 Bill's royal shebang to put him out of his mis- 
 ery. Gaston would be some fine little ally. You 
 could turn him loose on the imperial guard 
 while you went in the back door of the palace 
 and did up William. ' 9 
 
 Bob's nonsense brought a smile even to 
 Schnitzel's somber face. No one could be seri- 
 ous for long with Bob on the premises. His 
 light-hearted ability to see the funny side of 
 things when in the midst of shadow was always 
 eminently cheering to his bunkies. 
 
 "I wish I had Gaston with me," Bob con- 
 tinued regretfully. "I'll bet he'd win a whole 
 string of honor tin cans going Over the Top. 
 
90 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 He'd probably eat 'em afterward, though, un- 
 less Bobby was around to see that he didn't 
 overload his heroic stomach. Just as soon as I 
 get back to a rest billet, I'm going to take Gas- 
 ton to the K. 0. and offer his services. I'll bet 
 they'll be gratefully accepted. " 
 
 "Unless Gaston takes it into his head to 
 charge on the K. 0.," laughingly -supplemented 
 Roger. 
 
 "Oh, I'll speak to Gaston about that before- 
 hand," airily assured Bob. "I'll put him wise 
 to the difference between a K. 0. and a bunch 
 of insignificant non-coms." 
 
 "Don't forget to class yourself with that 
 bunch," reminded Jimmy. 
 
 The five Brothers continued to talk in this 
 light strain, well content to get away briefly 
 from the grim shadow of war. Already they 
 were unconsciously leaning toward the desire to 
 keep strictly to the surface of things. 
 
 In the front-line trenches men soon realize 
 that it is futile to worry over what may hap- 
 pen. They learn to live from hour to hour and 
 make the most of whatever cheer lies at hand. 
 
 They gleefully plan for the future, refusing 
 to reflect that a well-directed shell or bullet 
 may send them speeding West immediately 
 afterward. If it were not for this cheery ignor- 
 ing of grim Death hovering ever near, arrant 
 Fear would soon step in and claim toll on them. 
 Dread of Death courts Fear indeed. 
 
GETTING USED TO IT 91 
 
 Toward supper time the Khaki Boys wit- 
 nessed from the trench a spirited bout in the 
 air between Boche and Allied aircraft. From 
 somewhere back of the enemy trenches, half a 
 dozen German aeroplanes suddenly rose against 
 the evening sky and began a flight toward the 
 American sector. 
 
 When hardly halfway over No Man's Land 
 they were met by a fleet of French planes which 
 had promptly risen to drive them back. 
 Though they were some distance up the line 
 from the portion of the front line trench occu- 
 pied by the 509th Infantry men, the Sammies 
 had a fairly good view of the tight. They could 
 hear the constant pop-pop of the aircraft ma- 
 chine guns as the contestants swooped, dived 
 and circled about one another. 
 
 Jimmy Blaise centered his attention particu- 
 larly upon one of the French planes. It had 
 been the first to rally to the scene and was giv- 
 ing good account of itself. 
 
 Its aviator appeared to bear a charmed life. 
 Shells from the G-erman Archies, which had 
 immediately gone into action, failed to reach 
 him. He spiraled and sank, sank and spiraled 
 with an elusive dexterity that was dizzying to 
 watch. At times his plane would lurch wildly, 
 dropping a little, as though shell-pierced and 
 about to fall. Instantly it would right itself 
 and soar upward, cleverly maneuvering so as 
 always to attain a position in the air where its 
 
92 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 gunner could pour a mercilessly effective fire 
 upon the Boche planes. 
 
 One of them went down to destruction as a 
 result of the wonderman's marvelous exhibi- 
 tion of skill and daring. A plane of the French 
 fleet also met disaster. Seeing one of their 
 number down, the Frenchies rallied to the on- 
 slaught with a zeal that soon put another Boche 
 plane out of business. By this time Allied 
 Archies were sending their shells against the 
 invaders with a demoralizing aim that crippled 
 a third enemy plane and sent the three remain- 
 ing Boche flyers soaring out of danger and back 
 to their own lines. 
 
 In the trenches the Sammies were cheering 
 with wild enthusiasm as they watched the spir- 
 ited conflict in the air. Here was a spectacle 
 beside which even baseball paled into insignifi- 
 cance as a purely "sports" proposition. They 
 were only sorry that it lasted so short a time. 
 
 "Great work," yelled one of the seasoned 
 men who stood beside Jimmy. "That one guy 
 was a sure-enough peach of a birdman. ' ' 
 
 "You bet," agreed Jimmy fervently. 
 
 The clever work of the daring aviator had 
 brought to his mind the "Flying Terror of 
 France." He imagined that only a man like 
 Voissard would be capable of giving such a 
 wonderful exhibition of flying as he had just 
 witnessed. Where was Cousin Emile now, he 
 wondered, and would he ever see Voissard 
 
GETTING USED TO IT 93 
 
 again? Perhaps he would not live long enongh 
 to learn the important information concerning 
 the "tiger man" which Voissard had men- 
 tioned in his letter to Jimmy. 
 
 Until now Jimmy had not once thought of 
 the "tiger man" since the march to the front 
 had begun. The events of that memorial hike 
 had driven the past quite out of his mind. 
 Standing there in the trench his gray eyes grew 
 retrospective as his mind harked back to the 
 time he and his bunkies had boarded the Co- 
 lumbia. He had not realized until then how 
 really remarkable had been his adventures since 
 he left the United States. Living them from 
 day to day they had not seemed so very un- 
 usual. 
 
 The greatest adventure of all yet lay ahead 
 of him. He had still to know what it meant to 
 be actually under fire and take part in a real, 
 bang-up fight. His natural impatience of delay 
 made him wish that it would come soon. Per- 
 haps this latest attempt of the Boches to send 
 observation planes over the American trenches 
 meant that the enemy was getting impatient, 
 too. He hoped so. 
 
 He had come to the trenches to fight and he 
 felt it would be a bitter disappointment should 
 his first tour in the trenches end without at least 
 one opportunity to fire a shot for Uncle Sam. 
 
CHAPTEE XIII 
 
 UNDER FIRE 
 
 EATING an early supper, the order ' ' stand 
 to'* came just at dusk and was passed 
 along from traverse to traverse. "With 
 it two veteran sentries in each traverse took 
 up their positions on the fire step to keep ward 
 over No Man's Land. 
 
 Until relieved by other sentries, one of the 
 two in each traverse would stand, immovable 
 on the fire step, watching over the parapet for 
 any signs of activity on the part of the enemy. 
 The other man would sit at his feet ready to 
 inform the platoon officer of whatever reports 
 his companion might make in regard to what 
 he saw going on across the narrow stretch of 
 land that divided the two armies. 
 
 It was an especially trying post for the ob- 
 servation man. Not for an instant did he dare 
 remove his eyes from the portion of land in 
 front of him. Whether he spoke to make a 
 report or to answer a question put to him by 
 
 94 
 
UNDER FIRE 95 
 
 his companion, he was obliged to speak in 
 guarded tones and without turning his head. 
 His motto had to be " Eyes Front. ' ' 
 
 In the trench, ranged along the fire step, with 
 bayonets fixed, Uncle Sam's young defenders 
 sat ready for duty at the slightest word of 
 command. 
 
 Now strictly on the alert, the Khaki Boys 
 dared not speak above a whisper and only when 
 necessary, as, for instance, in passing an order 
 along the lane. Rigid discipline had to be ob- 
 served in this respect, lest some loudly-uttered 
 word should be heard by a Boche detail out on 
 listening post duty. 
 
 In the daytime No Man's Land is never a 
 land of living men. Often it occupies a space 
 hardly larger than a good-sized garden. It is 
 a desolate stretch of ground, indeed. One sees 
 only masses of barbed wire and yawning shell 
 holes, sometimes containing all that remains of 
 what once were fighting men. Perhaps a few 
 ragged stumps dot it here and there, or a pile 
 of debris that originally formed part of a farm- 
 house, long since leveled to the earth by the 
 barking dogs of war, the big guns. 
 
 At night, however, it undergoes a swift 
 transformation. Under cover of the darkness 
 it soon swarms with living men. They crawl 
 stealthily about on their details. Perhaps they 
 are risking their lives on listening duty. 
 Again they may be out to mend broken-down 
 
96 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 wire. After a battle they steal out to bring in 
 their dead and wounded. 
 
 Night expeditions across No Man's Land are 
 of equal importance to both sides. Each sends 
 out its eyes to keep tab on the movements of 
 the other and find out, if possible, his oppo- 
 nent's strength and plans. 
 
 Many a silent battle is fought there in the 
 dark when two enemy details chance to meet. 
 Never a shot is fired. Steel meets steel and the 
 victor goes on his way, leaving behind the life- 
 less form of his antagonist. Out there, kill 
 quickly and mercilessly is the watchword. The 
 ethics of No Man's Land permit of no quarter. 
 
 The quiet continuing all evening, toward ten 
 o'clock the new men and a part of their sea- 
 soned comrades were allowed to seek the dug- 
 outs for a little sleep. 
 
 At three o'clock in the morning the sleepers 
 were routed out with the order " stand to." 
 Though the Khaki Boys could not know it, a 
 patrol had returned half an hour before with 
 the information that they had surprised a 
 Boche wiring party, who were busily engaged in 
 cutting lanes in their own wires, and had killed 
 two of them. This looked decidedly suspicious, 
 to say the least. The patrol was of the belief 
 that an attack on the American trench would 
 soon begin, followed by a raiding party of 
 Boches. 
 
 Shortly after the Khaki Boys had taken up 
 
UNDER FIRE 97 
 
 their positions on the fire-step, the German guns 
 began a furious bombardment of the American 
 trench, forcing the men to shelter themselves 
 behind the parados. The parados, in this par- 
 ticular trench, were composed of squares of 
 sandbags built up at intervals for a distance of 
 about three feet behind the parapet, leaving a 
 lane in the trench just wide enough for passage 
 back and forth behind them. These parados 
 did much to avert casualties caused from bits 
 of bursting high-explosive shells. 
 
 The American batteries lost no time in open- 
 ing up on the Germans, returning their fire 
 with equal fury. For a while the din was ter- 
 rific. Shells screamed overhead, causing a pan- 
 demonium of racket. Bursting, their fire made 
 No Man's Land almost as light as day. In the 
 trench many Sammies were dropping, wound- 
 ed or killed by pieces of exploding shell. The 
 Khaki Boys were receiving their baptism of fire 
 in earnest. 
 
 It was a battle in which the Sammies them- 
 selves took small part, save to crouch in the 
 trench, shielding themselves as best they could 
 from that devastating rain of fire. The noise 
 was too great for them to make themselves 
 heard in passing an order, save by cupping 
 hands to mouth and yelling as loudly as they 
 could. 
 
 For an hour each side continued to bombard 
 the other's trenches. All along the parapet of 
 
98 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 the American trench yawning gaps began to 
 appear. As fast as one was made, men set to 
 work upon it to repair the damage before dawn 
 should appear and expose the Sammies to the 
 rifle and machine-gun fire of the Boches. 
 
 The Khaki Boys turned to with a will. 
 Some rilled sandbags with mud, others rebuilt 
 the shattered parados and stopped the gaps in 
 the parapet. Toiling with desperate energy, 
 they could only hope that the American guns 
 were doing much heavier damage to the 
 Fritzies' fire trench. They had faith that their 
 own artillery could register more telling hits 
 than that of the enemy. 
 
 Considering the number of shells that the 
 Germans were sending over, many of them had 
 been aimed in the direction of the flare from 
 the American batteries. These passed right 
 over the trenches. The American guns contin- 
 uing to keep up a constant thundering, it 
 looked as though the Boches had not succeeded 
 in wiping out any of these batteries. 
 
 The gray light of dawn showed first glimpse 
 of the enemy trenches. It was a sight that 
 cheered the Sammies immensely. Gap after 
 gap yawned in the parapet of their fire trench, 
 through which could be seen plainly the forms 
 of German soldiers, hurrying back and forth or 
 toiling desperately to re-establish a protecting 
 wall between themselves and the Sammies. 
 
 If the Boches had intended to raid it seemed 
 
UNDER FIRE 99 
 
 evident that they had given it up as a bad job 
 and devoted themselves strictly to the business 
 of playing safe. 
 
 With daylight their guns suddenly became 
 silent. The American batteries went on ham- 
 mering at them, however, for some time after 
 the Boche artillery had ceased firing. 
 
 The dilapidation of the Boche fire trench 
 gave the Sammies the opportunity for which 
 they had been waiting. They now began to 
 pour a hot rifle and machine-gun fire at the 
 enemy, inflicting heavy casualties. The Grer- 
 man batteries immediately got busy with smoke 
 shells and soon hung a curtain of heavy smoke 
 in front of their lines, which completely ob- 
 structed a view of their trenches. 
 
 Through the smoke the Sammies continued to 
 harass the foe, until the order came to cease 
 firing. Though the Americans had suffered a 
 good many casualties, the Germans had clicked 
 a far greater number. Their proposed raid 
 had ended in a sound drubbing for them. "When 
 night again fell they would have the pleasure 
 of mending the wires they had been in such a 
 hurry to cut, provided they did not make a 
 second attempt to raid within the next few 
 hours. 
 
 Of late these night raids had become a new 
 feature in the war. Beginning with a heavy 
 bombardment, the attacking troops would dash 
 over the top, take the enemy trenches, make 
 
100 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 thorough search of them, capturing as many 
 prisoners and machine guns as possible. In- 
 stead of occupying the trenches taken, these 
 would be destroyed by fire or dynamite, the 
 victors returning to their own lines. 
 
 It was such a raid as this that the Germans 
 had been on the point of making. Thanks to 
 the efficient work of the American batteries, 
 they had not been able to carry it out. 
 
 "When it was all over and comparative quiet 
 had again settled down on both sides, Jimmy 
 Blaise was amazed to find himself not only 
 alive but unhurt. Through those terrible hours 
 he had seen comrades dropping on both sides 
 of him, yet, somehow, he had come through that 
 raging hail of shot and shell unscathed. He 
 marveled that, while it had been going on, he 
 had worked like a tiger at helping rebuild the 
 shattered defenses without a thought that he 
 might be living his last moments of life. 
 
 After firing a final shot and getting down 
 from the fire step, he stared about in a half- 
 dazed fashion. To and fro through the fire 
 trench stretcher-bearers moved continually, 
 bearing the shell-shattered soldiers away 
 through the communication trenches to first-aid 
 posts. Many a bloody form lifted gently to the 
 stretchers was beyond human aid. 
 
 Jimmy's first coherent thoughts centered on 
 his own men. He must find out what had hap- 
 pened to them. Pulling himself together he 
 
UNDER FIRE 101 
 
 began an investigation. He soon discovered 
 that he had lost four of them for good and all. 
 Several others had been seriously wounded. 
 Like himself a few had come out of the fray 
 untouched. For a time he busied himself in 
 doing what he could for the wounded, until re- 
 lieved by the first-aid men. 
 
 The aroma of coffee in the air brought him 
 to a dim realization that it was breakfast time. 
 He was not hungry. Who could be after see- 
 ing those broken, bloody shapes being lifted to 
 the stretchers I He felt as though he would not 
 be able to eat for a week afterward. 
 
 "Thank God, Blazes, you're not one of 'em!" 
 
 A friendly hand clutched his arm. 
 
 At the sound of the familiar but rather un- 
 steady tones and the touch of a hand Jimmy 
 whirled to find Bob beside him. The latter 's 
 face was grimy, a little stream of blood trickled 
 down one cheek from a shallow gash high up 
 toward his left eye. 
 
 "Bob!" Jimmy grabbed his bunkie and 
 fairly hugged him. "You're hurt!" he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 "Just a scratch. I can hardly feel it. A 
 Fritzie bullet shinned past me and broke the 
 skin. I just used my first-aid dressing on a 
 fellow in my squad." 
 
 "Let me fix you up." 
 
 Jimmy hurriedly reached for his first-aid 
 packet, took from it his last bit of antiseptic 
 
102 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 gauze and applied it to the bleeding gash, care- 
 ful not to touch it with his fingers. As Bob 
 had declared, it was hardly more than a 
 scratch. 
 
 "I'd plaster it up," he said, as he staunched 
 the bleeding, "but you'd better hike down to 
 first-aid post and have it looked after there. 
 You mustn 't run chances of infection. ' ' 
 
 "I'd started for first-aid when I bumped into 
 you. You're a welcome sight, believe me, 
 Blazes!" Bob spoke with an intensity of af- 
 fection. "I could hardly believe my eyes when 
 I saw you standing there. Not a scratch on 
 you, you good old scout ! How any of us man- 
 aged to live through that fracas beats me. 
 Under fire, at last! Well, I guess so!" 
 
 "Maybe I'm not just as glad to see you!" 
 Jimmy's gray eyes shone. His brief flash of 
 joy changing to anxiety he asked: "Bob, have 
 you seen any of the fellows? We've got to 
 find out " 
 
 "Kodge is all right," Bob quickly responded. 
 "I saw him right after things quieted down. 
 He's looking up Sehnitz and Iggy now. As 
 soon as I get this Boche memento plastered up 
 I'm to meet him at the dugout we were in yes- 
 terday. He'll have found out about the boys 
 by then." 
 
 "Go to it and get plastered, then. I'm go- 
 ing after Rodge. Look out while you're in 
 the communication trench. If you hear a 
 
UNDER F IRE Igg 
 
 whishing sound, duck for cover. The Bodies 
 are likely to send over shrapnel, 'cause they 
 know the stretcher men are using that com- 
 munication trench now. ' ' 
 
 "Duck's the word. See you at the dugout." 
 
 With a wave of his hand, Bob hurried away. 
 Jimmy watched him for a second, then started 
 up the trench toward the dugout he and his 
 bunkies had been using since their arrival in 
 the trenches. 
 
 All the way he encountered stretcher men, 
 busy with their ghastly work. Three times he 
 stopped to aid them in lifting a wounded 
 Sammy to a stretcher. By the time he reached 
 the dugout he was feeling sick at the stomach. 
 It was the sickness of fear, however. With 
 every bleeding form he had seen, his heart had 
 been in his throat lest in it he recognize Iggy 
 or Sehnitz. 
 
 Finally reaching the dugout, he was about to 
 enter when he spied Roger coming down the 
 trench toward him. Behind Roger were two 
 disheveled, grim-faced men, whom he neverthe- 
 less recognized. Despite the restriction against 
 using a handkerchief to staunch bleeding, one 
 of them was holding that forbidden bit of linen 
 to his cheek. 
 
 Uttering a shout, Jimmy ran toward them. 
 
 "Oh, you fellows!" was his heartfelt cry of 
 relief. "It takes more than a Boche thunder- 
 storm to put the five Brothers out of business !" 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 DETAILED TO SCOUTING DUTY 
 
 1HE joy of that meeting, even under snch 
 grim circumstances, can be better imag- 
 ined than described. To all it seemed 
 unbelievable that they should have been spared 
 to fraternize once more. The tears raced 
 frankly down Ignace's smoke-blackened face as 
 he crooned over Jimmy in Polish. He could 
 find no English in which to express his utter 
 happiness at seeing his best beloved Brother 
 safe and sound. By common consent the quar- 
 tette sought a dugout for a few minutes' talk. 
 They were wild to compare notes. 
 
 "Take that handkerchief from your face," 
 Timmy commanded of Schnitzel. "Where's 
 you're first-aid packet?" 
 
 "Gone. Used it on one of my men. It didn't 
 lo him much good. He went West in my arms. 
 This beauty spot on my cheek is nothing much. ' ' 
 
 Schnitzel's joy at seeing his friends vanished 
 from his face, leaving it doubly somber. 
 
 104 
 
DETAILED TO SCOUTING DUTY 105 
 
 "I've only one whole man in my squad," he 
 said. "Curse the Bodies!" 
 
 "Amen!" agreed Roger savagely. "They 
 lost me two good men. They certainly soaked 
 it to the fire trench." 
 
 "We went 'em one better," exulted Schnitzel. 
 'Their artillery isn't in it with ours. It's a 
 wonder they didn't slam their own fire trench. 
 Some of those shells were aimed by Boche 
 tailors, I guess. They certainly went wild. 
 But, oh, Boy! What our batteries did to their 
 trench was beautiful! Wish we'd gone over 
 the top. We could have taken their first trench 
 easy as wink." 
 
 "That's what I thought," put in Roger. "I 
 expected every minute to get the order to go 
 after 'em." 
 
 "We're too green yet, I suppose, for that," 
 was Jimmy's opinion. "This stretch in the 
 trenches is really our practice turn. Next time 
 in, maybe, we'll get a chance to leg it across 
 No Man's Land." 
 
 "That's what the Boches had up their 
 sleeve," declared Schnitzel. "They've been on 
 tins to find out our strength and all that. They 
 haven't got much of a line on the Sammies yet. 
 They'll know more about us when we get 
 through with 'em, those that are left alive." 
 
 "So think I. By my squad have I the one 
 nan see get the head shoot off. Now will I 
 isoon the five Boche kill. So is it to pay the 
 
106 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 head this poor man. This remember I when 
 go over top. I will it do, I no get the croak 
 firs','' vowed Ignace vengefnlly. 
 
 "A Polish vendetta." Schnitzel smiled 
 faintly. "A five to one proposition like that 
 snits me, though. I'll rid the earth of as many 
 Fritzies as I can. If ever I get one where I 
 want him, the Kamerad business won't go down 
 with me. They say the dogs whine like any- 
 thing for mercy in a bayonet charge. Cold 
 steel gives 'em the Willies." 
 
 Having won safely through their first trial 
 by fire, the Khaki Boys were full of rancor 
 against the enemy. The horrible slaughter of 
 their comrades had given Hate fresh impetus. 
 
 Bob presently returned, his face neatly plas- 
 tered. Another joyful reunion took place be- 
 tween himself, Ignace and Schnitzel. 
 
 "Go and get your face fixed, Schnitz," he 
 advised when the first effusion of greeting was 
 over. "The first-aid fellows have their own 
 hands full, but they'll do you up quick if you 
 can get hold of one." 
 
 "I'm going to feed first," replied Schnitzel. 
 "I didn't know I was hungry until I saw you 
 guys. Seeing you all to the good brought back 
 my appetite." 
 
 "I'm hungry, too. It's a queer game, isn't 
 it ? How a fellow can see his comrades go West 
 by the shell road and then feel like eating is 
 a puzzle to me," mused Boger. 
 
DETAILED TO SCOUTING DUTY 107 
 
 "We're beginning to get used to the 
 trenches," was Schnitzel's grim opinion. "A 
 few more scraps like this and nothing will 
 feaze us. If we expect to be any good as fight- 
 ers we've got to eat, no matter what happens." 
 
 A little later the five bunkies found break- 
 fast very palatable, even after the horrors they 
 had recently witnessed. The trench now fairly 
 clear of wounded and dead men, the survivors 
 sat along the fire step and hungrily devoured 
 their stew and hot coffee. 
 
 After breakfast, sleep became the order of 
 things, except for those detailed to various 
 trench labors, particularly that of completely 
 restoring the parapet. Men engaged in this 
 task were relieved from time to time by a fresh 
 detail, thus enabling all to get a few hours ' rest. 
 Except for occasional Boche shrapnel shells 
 aimed principally at the communication 
 trenches, all remained serene. 
 
 A communication trench is not easy to hit, 
 as it makes use of everything available for 
 cover. It is cut through the ruins of barns or 
 houses and seeks in every possible way to con- 
 ceal itself from enemy observation. As it must 
 run indirectly at right angles to the fire trench 
 and thus toward the German, its zig-zag, tortu- 
 ous windings are necessary to keep it from 
 being enfiladed by the enemy guns. When it 
 reaches a spot bare of bushes, ruins or similar 
 protection, it makes a quick turn to the right, 
 
108 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 then to the left, to the left once more, forming 
 a partial square, which prevents the preceding 
 bit of trench from being enfiladed. 
 
 It is generally about five feet deep and the 
 earth taken from it is piled up on each side, 
 forming mounds. Stakes are driven into it to 
 a height of about two feet above its open top 
 on each side, and between these stakes ex- 
 panded metal is stretched to keep the piled-up 
 earth in place. 
 
 Along the dirt walls on each side are rows of 
 telephone wires. These belong principally to 
 the artillery batteries. Failing to get a direct 
 whack at a communication trench, the Germans 
 are fond of shelling "at it" nevertheless. In 
 consequence, their shrapnel does much damage 
 to the top and sides of it. After a bombard- 
 ment it keeps both engineers and sappers 
 (wiring men) busy putting it in order again. 
 Often the wares become so tangled that the 
 various artillery signalers have great difficulty 
 in locating their own. 
 
 In going to an advanced first-aid dugout to 
 have their slight wounds dressed, Schnitzel and 
 Bob had traveled back a little way through one 
 of these trenches. By daylight it was teeming 
 with activity. They passed sappers, engineers 
 and various worried-looking persons, all of 
 whom were busy putting the place to rights 
 after the attack of the morning. 
 
 Bob, in particular, was so much impressed by 
 
DETAILED TO SCOUTING DUTY 109 
 
 what he had seen that, before going to sleep 
 after breakfast, he wrote down a detailed de- 
 scription of the communication trench as it ap- 
 peared to him. Proudly exhibiting it to Koger, 
 he met with a severe shock. 
 
 "You'd better tear that up quick," was 
 Boger's stern advice. "You mustn't carry it 
 around with you. Suppose you got the order 
 to go over the top. You'd go and maybe get 
 killed. Then some Boche might get hold of that 
 paper. It's information, you know." 
 
 "Oh, I'd tear it up if I knew I was going 
 over," asserted Bob. 
 
 "You might forget to do it. Better be on 
 the safe side and can it." 
 
 Grumbling a little, Bob reduced the fateful 
 paper to bits. 
 
 "I guess I won't gather much data in this 
 dump," was his regretful opinion. "If I write 
 it in billet and try to send it home to Mrs. 
 Blaise, the censor '11 probably can it. I'll have 
 to keep it all in my head. If a shell takes my 
 head off, it'll be a great loss to the literary 
 world and a greater one to Bobby." 
 
 "When the war's over and you get back *to 
 the U. S. you can scribble all you want to and 
 no one will stop you, ' ' consoled Jimmy. ' ' Won 't 
 that be nice?" 
 
 "Yes, when it is and when I do is something 
 to gamble on," jeered Bob. "Another such 
 shindig as this morning and Bobby may be 
 
110 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 taking a little trip West. I'm going to 
 sleep and forget this pesky old ditch for a 
 while." 
 
 Awakened toward the middle of the after- 
 noon to relieve men who had been on duty, the 
 five Brothers were kept busy by various tasks 
 which they were called npon to perform. Quiet 
 still prevailing, evening drew on with no signs 
 of immediate hostilities on the part of the foe. 
 All day they had prudently kept the smoke cur- 
 tain across their lines in order to conceal their 
 activities from the Americans. 
 
 Shortly before dark Jimmy Blaise was set 
 aquiver with excitement when he received in- 
 formation that he had been chosen to make one 
 of a scouting party who were to go out on a 
 scouting expedition into No Man's Land. 
 
 The party was to start out at ten o 'clock and 
 creep across to the German lines in order to 
 discover whether the Boches had repaired their 
 wire entanglements or had still left lanes in 
 them, preparatory to making a raid that night. 
 They were also instructed to keep their eyes 
 and ears open for anything else that might fall 
 to their lot to see or hear. 
 
 Realizing that this scouting duty might be 
 his last, Jimmy sought out his bunkies for a 
 farewell word. Though it was still light, the 
 order "stand to" had gone forth and half of 
 the occupants of the front-line trench ranged 
 along the fire step with bayonets fixed and 
 
\ 
 
 DETAILED TO SCOUTING DUTY 111 
 
 ready. The other half were still resting in the 
 dugouts. 
 
 "I'm going ont as a scout," he informed Bob, 
 who was nearest to him. 
 
 "You don't say! Take me along!" 
 
 "Wish I could. I don't know who all is in 
 the gang. Lieutenant Redmond's in com- 
 mand," Jimmy replied. "I've got to beat it 
 and see the fellows before dark. Now will be 
 my only chance to get a word with 'em. We 're 
 to start out at ten. See you again in a few 
 minutes." 
 
 So saying, Jimmy went on down the trench 
 to where Ignace, Roger and Schnitzel were 
 usually stationed. He was not sure whether 
 they were on duty or in a dugout. He soon 
 came upon them. They were seated on the 
 fire step not very far apart. 
 
 Jimmy's news brought a shadow of deep 
 gloom to Ignace 's solemn face. 
 
 "I no like," he said sadly. "I would by you 
 go the care you to take. You no come back, I 
 hope shail hit me then pretty quick." 
 
 "Cheer up, Iggins. I'll come back. Now 
 shake hands. Not good-bye. Just for luck. I'll 
 see you again to-night all right." 
 
 Ignace looked his deep distress as he mourn- 
 fully shook his Brother's hand. He would not 
 have minded going out on such a hazardous 
 enterprise, but he hated to see Jimmy go. 
 
 Roger accepted the news very quietly. There 
 
112 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 was a wistful look in his blue eyes, however, as 
 his hand met Jimmy's. 
 
 "Do be careful, Blazes," he urged. "Don't 
 jump headfirst into something without looking 
 before you jump. You're too blamed venture- 
 some for your own good, you know." 
 
 "I'll be a regular slippery sleuth," Jimmy 
 promised as he left Roger to go on to Schnitzel. 
 
 "Schnitz," he began, "I'm going out on a 
 scouting party. I " 
 
 "So am I," was the amazing response. 
 
 "Under Lieutenant Redmond V 9 was 
 Jimmy's excited query. 
 
 "Yep." 
 
 "Good work!" Jimmy brightened visibly. 
 "Then we're in the same detail. It certainly 
 suits Blazes." 
 
 "That's fine," glowed Schnitzel. "I was go- 
 ing to wait till a little later and tell you fellows. 
 I intended to ask leave to have a word with you 
 and Bob before I went." 
 
 Together the two walked to where Roger 
 and Ignace were stationed. Pausing only to 
 shake hands again with both, Jimmy went on 
 to his station, leaving Schnitzel with his other 
 two bunkies. 
 
 Shortly afterward Schnitzel came to bid Bob 
 farewell. The latter did not look as cheerful 
 as usual. Jimmy had already informed him 
 that Schnitzel was also to be one of the party. 
 Two bunkies going on a danger hike into No 
 
DETAILED TO SCOUTING DUTY 113 
 
 Man's Land made Bob feel rather downcast. 
 He kept his feelings to himself, however. 
 
 The same yearning light that had darkened 
 Koger's blue eyes leaped into Bob's black ones 
 as he shook hands with Schnitz and wished him 
 a safe return. He could not help thinking that 
 it would be a miracle if either Schnitz or Jimmy 
 Blazes got back from the detail alive. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 OUT IN NO MANS LAND 
 
 AT exactly ten o'clock a cautious little 
 party of nine men went through an em- 
 brasure in their own fire trench and set 
 stealthy feet upon No Man's Land. Besides 
 Lieutenant Redmond and the two non-coms, 
 Jimmy and Schnitzel, there were three veteran 
 infantrymen and three from the 509th Regi- 
 ment. Lieutenant Redmond was also of the 
 veteran contingent. 
 
 Safely on the ground, they passed through a 
 lane purposely cut for exit in their own barbed 
 wire. For a few feet they walked along, the 
 officer in the center. The sending up of a Ger- 
 man star shell caused the whole party to drop 
 like a flash and hug the ground. 
 
 These star shells are used at night by both 
 sides for the purpose of illuminating No Man's 
 Land. They are fired from a tube somewhat 
 resembling a pistol. When fired, they hang in 
 the air for about twenty seconds, giving forth a 
 
 114 
 
OUT IN NO MAN'S LAND 115 
 
 radiant, silvery light, highly betraying to a 
 scouting party. 
 
 Each member of the scouting party was 
 armed with a bayonet and knife. Lieutenant 
 Redmond was the only one of them to carry a 
 pistol. Should they encounter a German pa- 
 trol or scouting party they would be obliged 
 to engage in hand-to-hand combat with its mem- 
 bers. Battles such as they might have to en- 
 gage in had to be fought out in the dark with 
 noiseless weapons. The crack of a rifle or a 
 pistol would immediately draw down upon the 
 scouts the machine-gun fire from both sides, 
 with the result that neither Boches nor Sam- 
 mies would escape. 
 
 Following the ascent into the air of the star 
 shell that had flattened the scouts to the ground, 
 they separated, Lieutenant Redmond and two 
 infantrymen crawling away together, the others 
 in pairs. The point in their own sector from 
 which they had made exit was nearest to the 
 German fire trench. 
 
 Jimmy found himself creeping slowly along 
 over the rough, uneven ground in company with 
 one of the veteran Americans. On they went, 
 side by side, scarcely breathing. Frequently 
 they had to flatten themselves to the ground 
 on account of star shells. Numerous shell holes 
 also afforded them considerable cover. They 
 had to be specially careful, however, of these 
 same holes. To drop suddenly into one of 
 
116 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 them, unawares, they were likely to make 
 enough noise to attract the attention of some 
 sharp-eared enemy scout or perhaps a Boche 
 sentry. 
 
 Little by little the two wormed their way 
 across No Man's Land until at length they 
 reached the Boche wire entanglements. Here 
 the two separated, to travel in opposite direc- 
 tions along the wire, feeling every inch of it 
 to determine if it were open at any point. The 
 patrol had been divided so that each man had 
 a certain section of enemy wire to account for. 
 
 His first feeling of nervousness vanished, 
 Jimmy was beginning rather to enjoy his noc- 
 turnal adventure. Strongly imbued with the 
 spirit of daring, this hazardous expedition ap- 
 pealed to him immensely. His right hand 
 grasping his bayonet, his left lightly investi- 
 gated the wire as he moved slowly along. 
 
 Instantly afterward his heart almost skipped 
 a beat. His alert ears had caught the sound 
 of voices, speaking in the guttural Boche 
 tongue. He knew that these voices proceeded 
 from the enemy fire trench. He wished he 
 could understand German. 
 
 Pausing briefly to listen, he again started on. 
 Grasping the wire, his hand moved gingerly 
 along it. He stifled a little gasp as the grop- 
 ing hand suddenly dropped into space. Quick 
 investigation revealed to him that he had dis- 
 covered the very thing he had been sent out 
 
OUT IN NO MAN'S LAND 117 
 
 to learn. He had come upon a clean severing 
 of the wires for a distance of about two feet. 
 
 Jimmy also discovered something else in the 
 same moment. He landed squarely upon a 
 form lying flat on the ground. Involuntarily 
 a whispered ''Great Guns!" issued from his 
 lips. 
 
 "Blazes!" 
 
 Jimmy's incautious utterance alone saved 
 him from bayoneting his own bunkie, Franz 
 Schnitzel. Had Schnitzel not recognized him 
 and whispered his name, Jimmy's bayonet 
 would have done its deadly work. 
 
 In the darkness the two clung to each other 
 without speaking. Each was trembling at the 
 narrowly averted tragedy. As they lay there, 
 the sound of voices from the trench could be 
 plainly heard. 
 
 A quick pressure of his arm by Schnitzel in- 
 formed Jimmy that Schnitz, at least, could un- 
 derstand what was being voiced by the near-by 
 enemy. Still holding to Jimmy's arm, Schnitzel 
 began to edge along. Obediently Jimmy fol- 
 lowed him in the direction from which the Ger- 
 man-American had come when the two bun- 
 kies had fallen over each other. A few feet 
 and Jimmy understood. They were descending 
 into a shell hole directly below the barbed- wire 
 entanglement. 
 
 Hardly had they reached it when a star shell 
 went up and hung directly over the spot they 
 
118 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 had just left. The shell crater was deep 
 enough, however, to convince them that they 
 could not have been seen from the enemy's fire 
 trench. 
 
 For half an hour they lay there, scarcely 
 making a movement, while Schnitzel listened to 
 the talk that went on in the trench. One of the 
 voices heard almost continually had a harsh, 
 authoritative ring. It gave Jimmy the impres- 
 sion that it must undoubtedly belong to a Ger- 
 man officer. He wished he could understand 
 what the Boche was saying. 
 
 At last Jimmy felt Schnitzel's hand press 
 over his body until it reached his head. An in- 
 stant and Schnitzel's lips against his left ear 
 breathed : 
 
 ' ' Back to our lines quickly ! ' ' 
 
 Immediately the German-American began 
 wriggling along, Jimmy following. 
 
 Presently they were out of the shell hole and 
 had turned themselves toward their own lines. 
 Although the scouting party had started out to- 
 gether, the men had been ordered to return 
 singly or in couples to the American lines, 
 using their own discretion as to the length of 
 time they remained out. 
 
 Now began the ticklish task of crawling 
 safely back to their own trenches. The nearer 
 they came to the center of No Man's Land the 
 greater grew their danger. Jimmy knew that 
 Schnitzel's desire to reach the American 
 
OUT IN NO MAN'S LAND 119 
 
 trenches quickly meant that he had learned 
 something of decided importance. 
 
 Coming to a shell hole a little over halfway 
 across the danger land, Schnitzel pulled him 
 into it. One side of this crater projected over, 
 forming a little cave underneath it. Into this, 
 as far back as he could go, Schnitzel piloted 
 Jimmy. 
 
 "Listen," he breathed. "I've got to tell you 
 this in case anything should happen to me be- 
 fore we get back. The Boches are going to try 
 another raid at four o'clock. They're going to 
 open fire at two o'clock. One of their crack 
 Prussian regiments has just come into the fire 
 trench. No matter what our guns do, they're 
 coming over, several waves of them. They're 
 going to use extra batteries of their biggest 
 guns to smash our defenses. They're after 
 prisoners to torture. I heard 'em brag what 
 they're going to do to the dogs of Americans. 
 Now I'm going to get out of here and beat it 
 for our lines. Wait what you think to be ten 
 minutes, and then follow me. One of us surely 
 will get back with the word. Good-bye, Blazes. 
 If I don't see you again I'd like you to remem- 
 ber what I say now: 'You're the whitest guy I 
 ever knew and I love you!' " 
 
 "You're the bravest old sport I ever knew, 
 and I'm all there with the reciprocity stuff," 
 Jimmy whispered tensely. 
 
 The two bunkies gripped each other's hands 
 
120 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 hard in the darkness. Then Schnitzel began to 
 crawl away and out of the crater. 
 
 Directly he had gone, Jimmy crouched in the 
 little cave, his ears straining to catch any sound 
 that might proclaim disaster to his bunkie. 
 Save for the occasional hiss of an ascending 
 star shell, he could distinguish not even the 
 faintest noise of a suspicious nature. 
 
 Waiting until he judged the ten minutes to 
 have expired, he began his own perilous exit 
 from the shell crater. He knew that the cave 
 itself lay toward the German trenches. Crawl- 
 ing out of it he must continue straight ahead. 
 The open side of the crater was toward the 
 American lines. He could only hope that 
 Schnitzel had also remembered this. 
 
 Climbing out of the hole, he decided upon a 
 brave but reckless course of action. Getting to 
 his feet he started for his own trenches, run- 
 ning lightly on his tiptoes. He knew that he 
 was likely to crash headlong into a shell crater, 
 or that a star shell might suddenly outline his 
 upright running form with its silvery light. 
 Still, he took a desperate chance on his fleet- 
 ness of foot to reach his goal. Not for nothing 
 had he won the hundred-yard dash at prep, 
 school. 
 
 Luck was surely with him that night. He 
 reached the American barbed wires without a 
 single mishap, was challenged by a sentry, and 
 passed on safely into the fire trench. 
 
OUT IN NO MAN'S LAND 121 
 
 The first man encountered in the dugout, 
 where he had been ordered to report on return, 
 was Lieutenant Redmond, who had just re- 
 turned, his uniform covered with mud and a 
 gash across one cheek. 
 
 ''Has Corporal Schnitzel returned, sir?" 
 was Jimmy's anxious question. 
 
 "No. You are the first man back besides 
 myself and one of the men who went with me. 
 My other man, Drayton, was killed. We had 
 a fight with two Boches. We killed both, but 
 I lost a good man." 
 
 The lieutenant's voice was choked with anger. 
 Drayton had been the best man in his pla- 
 toon. 
 
 "I'm sorry, sir. I'm glad you did up the 
 Boches and got back safe. I haven't time to 
 tell you the details of what happened to 
 Schnitzel and me. The Boches are going to at- 
 tack at two o'clock and come over at four. A 
 crack Prussian regiment is now in their trenches 
 and " 
 
 "Come with me to headquarters!" 
 
 With this explosive command the lieutenant 
 dashed out of the dugout, Jimmy at his heels. 
 As he followed the officer's hurrying feet 
 through the trench, Jimmy's mind was not on 
 the coming attack but on Schnitzel. Had their 
 good-bye in the little cave been a final fare- 
 well? Had No Man's Land really "got" 
 Schnitz? 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED 
 
 IT seemed to Jimmy Blaise that he mast have 
 stayed a very long time in No Man's Land. 
 In reality he had been away from his own 
 lines hardly more than two honrs. It had 
 been only a little after midnight when he re- 
 turned with the important communications 
 intrusted to him by the still absent Franz 
 Schnitzel. 
 
 The information Schnitzel had gleaned set 
 headquarters in an orderly flurry of industrious 
 preparation to beat Fritz at his own game. The 
 wires of the communication trenches hummed 
 continually with messages to the American bat- 
 teries behind the lines. By one o'clock every 
 man of the front-line trench units was " stand- 
 ing to" on the fire step ready to give the 
 Boches a warm reception. 
 
 In darkness and in discreet silence the work 
 of preparation went on. Every possible pre- 
 caution was taken to spring upon the Fritzies 
 
 122 
 
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED 123 
 
 the surprise they trustingly expected to launch 
 at the Sammies. 
 
 With the exception of Schnitzel the remain- 
 der of the scouting party had all returned by a 
 little before one o'clock. They reported the 
 finding of lanes cut in the enemy's wire entan- 
 glements, but that was all. Stellar honors had 
 fallen to Schnitzel, whose knowledge of the 
 German language had enabled him to obtain 
 such valuable information. Schnitzel, however, 
 did not appear to claim them. His mantle had 
 partially dropped upon Jimmy's shoulders. 
 
 Jimmy had been roundly commended at head- 
 quarters for his work that night. Ordering him 
 to be brief, the commanding officer had re- 
 quested him to give an account of his scouting 
 in No Man's Land. In telling his story, Jimmy 
 gave Schnitzel full credit, explaining that he 
 had been merely the German- American 's mes- 
 senger. 
 
 He left headquarters with a heavy heart. 
 The fact that Schnitz had not reported there 
 proved him to be still absent. Jimmy was 
 fairly sure that the American batteries would 
 open fire before long, thus stealing a march 
 upon the enemy. The Boches would then get 
 busy. What if Schnitzel were lying wounded 
 upon No Man's Land? He would then be under 
 the fire of both sides. And he had been the 
 one to warn his own side of the purposed bom- 
 bardment ! It was too horrible to contemplate ! 
 
124 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Back in his own place in the fire trench, 
 Schnitzel's fate continued to haunt the heart- 
 sick sergeant. Perhaps Schnitz was already 
 dead. Perhaps he had gone down in hand-to- 
 hand conflict directly after he and Jimmy had 
 parted. Again, he might now be a prisoner. 
 That would be even worse than death. As a 
 German-American the Boches would wreak a 
 ghastly vengeance upon Schnitzel. 
 
 Shuddering, Jimmy felt that he would prefer 
 his bunkie to be dead rather than the prisoner 
 of such inhuman fiends. 
 
 If only he could talk to someone. Bob was 
 not far away. He might just as well be a thou- 
 sand miles off. In that dark hour of waiting 
 not a word more could be even whispered that 
 was not actually necessary. Jimmy did not 
 know that the rest of the scouting party had 
 returned. He judged it to be at least one 
 o'clock. The German bombardment was to be- 
 gin at two. He wondered how soon the Ameri- 
 can batteries would open up. 
 
 At precisely half-past one the intense quiet 
 of the night was shattered by the terrific roar 
 of American batteries concentrated on the 
 Boche trenches. A blinding red glare lighted 
 up the sky at the rear of the Sammies ' trenches. 
 Over their heads shells screamed their devas- 
 tating way across No Man's Land. Above the 
 terrible din came the sighing moan of shells 
 from the big guns. The American batteries 
 
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED 125 
 
 were at it in earnest. With one accord the 
 Sammies leaped to the fire step and peered over 
 the top of the parapet. It was too glorious a 
 display of fireworks to miss. The Fritzies were 
 getting a real "strafeing" and the Khaki Boys 
 proposed to see all that there was to be seen. 
 
 Undoubtedly the Fritzies were amazed to 
 discover that their trap had been neatly sprung 
 on them. Very soon, however, their own guns 
 began to send over shells, causing the fire-step 
 audience to get down into the trenches again. 
 Boche shells began to hit the American fire 
 trench, shattering portions of its parapet and 
 dealing out death to the men behind it. The 
 fight was on in earnest. 
 
 One shell landed just behind a parados, kill- 
 ing five men and causing the dirt to spout up- 
 ward like a fountain. Another ripped away a 
 section of parapet, wiping out half a dozen 
 brave fellows. 
 
 Yet for every one shell the enemy sent over, 
 the Sammy batteries had five with which to 
 meet it. So heavy and concentrated was the 
 fire of the American guns that it seemed as 
 though the German front-line trench must soon 
 be utterly demolished by it. 
 
 In the glaring light made by exploding shells, 
 enemy forms could be plainly seen through the 
 gaps rent in their parapet. 
 
 American machine guns, trained on these 
 gaps, sent forth a raking fire of bullets. Though 
 
126 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 the Sammies were having a hard enough time 
 of it, the Boches were faring far worse. 
 
 For two hours the bombardment continued 
 unceasingly on both sides. Toward daylight 
 the German batteries put up a heavy barrage 
 fire, which indicated that they intended to come 
 over despite the frightful casualties they must 
 have clicked. 
 
 The night had seen many Sammies fall to 
 rise no more, and in the American fire trench 
 the stretcher-bearers were constantly traveling 
 up and down, bearing away the wounded. 
 
 The dead had to lie in the trench. Not until 
 later would the rushed first-aid men have time 
 to take them away. 
 
 Still the fire step was lined with intrepid 
 Khaki Boys, who proposed to sell their lives 
 dearly when at close grip with their hated an- 
 tagonists. 
 
 Just at daybreak the German barrage lire 
 suddenly lifted. Down the American line the 
 order was passed to be ready. It was a never- 
 to-be-forgotten moment for the Khaki Boys 
 when they heard the man at the periscope 
 shout : 
 
 "The Boches are coming over!" 
 
 Mounted on the fire step, rifles ready, the 
 Khaki Boys saw wave upon wave of grayish- 
 green-clad figures leaving their trenches to 
 charge across No Man's Land, shooting from 
 the hip as they trotted doggedly forward, 
 
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED 127 
 
 driven like cattle by their officers. A German 
 officer never leads his men. 
 
 Before they had traversed a dozen yards of 
 No Man's Land an advanced American battery 
 opened fire on that moving gray mass. Other 
 American batteries began to speak and Sammy 
 machine gnns and rifles mowed them down with 
 a merciless hail of bullets. 
 
 Completely demoralized by the wholesale 
 slaughter of their comrades many of the Boches 
 threw down their guns and ran for the Ameri- 
 can trenches to give themselves up. They 
 could never have lived to get back to their own 
 trenches. They had started across to take pris- 
 oners. Now they were glad to become prisoners. 
 
 Thus ended the Boche raid which, thanks to 
 Franz Schnitzel, had been so effectively 
 checked. The raid having failed utterly, the 
 German guns suddenly slackened their fire. 
 Gradually the American batteries ceased. Soon 
 quiet settled down upon that scene of carnage ; 
 a stillness that was almost uncanny after the 
 terrible racket that had made night hideous. 
 
 Details of Sammies herded their prisoners 
 together and marched them off through the 
 American trenches. What might have been a 
 dreadful defeat to Uncle Sam's Boys had 
 turned into a glorious victory. And all because 
 of one man, who, perhaps, was long since 
 beyond knowledge of the great service he had 
 rendered his country. 
 
CHAPTER XVn 
 
 missing: a brother 
 
 IN the bright snnlight of early morning, No 
 Man's Land was a sight to behold. It was 
 fairly covered with grayish-green forms, 
 rifles, tin cups and accoutrements belonging to 
 Fritz. Here and there one of the grayish- 
 green figures was seen to move feebly. The 
 majority, however, lay motionless. Uncle 
 Sam's rifles and machine guns had done their 
 deadly work only too well. 
 
 As for the German front-line trench, it was 
 practically ruined. That it was still inhabited 
 was proven by bullets which whined across No 
 Man's Land every time a Sammy chanced to 
 expose his body ever so little. Sammy sharp- 
 shooters were also on the job, returning the 
 compliment with interest when the least sign of 
 a Hun was visible. 
 
 Looking through the periscope at the wreck 
 across the way, Jimmy Blaise again marveled 
 that he was alive and unhurt. Compared to the 
 
 128 
 
MISSING: A BROTHER 129 
 
 bombardment of last night his first experience 
 of being under fire seemed mild. He wondered 
 that so many of his comrades were still left in 
 the fire trench, practically uninjured. 
 
 The American fire trench itself was a sick- 
 ening sight. It was sticky with mud and blood 
 and littered with the shattered bodies of dead 
 Sammies, each in itself a ghastly horror. 
 
 Here and there detached arms and legs 
 added to the gruesome Spectacle. Not far from 
 where Jimmy stood at the periscope lay the 
 head and trunk of a Khaki Boy cut fairly in 
 two by an exploding shell. 
 
 As yet the stretcher-bearers were too busy to 
 remove these dreadful evidences of the night of 
 carnage through which Jimmy had somehow 
 passed unscathed. 
 
 Since the cessation of firing on both sides he 
 had been picking his way through the trench, 
 seeking his bunkies. His search, thus far, 
 fruitless, Jimmy had paused briefly to look 
 through the periscope. 
 
 He was savagely glad at the slaughtered 
 Boches it revealed, yet his real object in view- 
 ing bloody No Man's Land was to see if, among 
 that gray-green assemblage of motionless, dis- 
 torted shapes, he could catch a flash of olive 
 drab uniform that had once held a living, 
 breathing bunkie, Franz Schnitzel. 
 
 Unable to discover that which his straining 
 eyes eagerly sought, he turned away from the 
 
130 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 periscope and stumbled on down the trench, 
 blinded by the swift blur of tears. Where was 
 Schnitz, and would he presently come upon 
 Iggy, Bob and Roger, or what had once been 
 his three Brothers ? 
 
 He had hoped to find Dalton easily, as their 
 stations were so close together, but he had seen 
 no trace of cheery old Bob. His spirits dropped 
 to zero, Jimmy poked a disconsolate head into 
 a dugout. It was filled with wan-faced, dishev- 
 eled men, nearly all of whom had sustained 
 minor injuries, which they were attending to 
 themselves with the help of first-aid packets. 
 
 Uttering a loud cry, Jimmy suddenly bolted 
 into the dugout and straight to a corner where 
 a man was engaged in binding up the injured 
 wrist of another. 
 
 ' ' Oh, you two ! " he choked. 
 
 Dropping down at the feet of the busy pair 
 he buried his face in his hands, sobbing out of 
 sheer nervous relief. 
 
 ' ' My ver ' bes ' Brothar ! ' ' 
 
 His wounded wrist forgotten, Ignace Pulin- 
 ski jerked away from Roger Barlow and 
 plumped down beside Jimmy, hugging the lat- 
 ter with his well arm. 
 
 "Blazes !" was all Roger could say as he bent 
 and laid a hand on Jimmy's shoulder. 
 
 "Gee, but I'm a big baby!" Jimmy raised 
 his head and beamed at his bunkies with wet 
 eyes. "I guess I'm all in. I've seen so many 
 
MISSING: A BROTHER 131 
 
 dead ones in the last few minutes that I conld 
 hardly believe my own eyes when I lamped you 
 two. 
 
 "Let go of me, you old Polish bear!" This 
 affectionately to Ignace, whose good arm still 
 encircled his neck. "Up on your feet and get 
 that wrist fixed. You've pulled the bandage 
 almost off of it." 
 
 Getting to his own feet, Jimmy hauled 
 Ignace to a standing position. 
 
 "Now stand still, Iggins, and let me do you 
 up," he commanded. "Does it hurt you 
 much?" 
 
 "No-a. Never I feel sooch hurt. It is the 
 little one from the piece shail. It is the hurt 
 here." Ignace 's well hand touched the region 
 of his heart. "Think I, mebbe so is Jimmy, 
 Bob, Schnitz, daid. Now is my heart better. 
 Still is the ache we don' see the nothin' Bob 
 an' Schnitz. Eoger have no get the scratch. 
 For that am I the glad. Now see you are the 
 all to him good. It is the great happiness. " 
 
 "Bodge and I are a couple of lucky guys." 
 Jimmy's tones vibrated with thankfulness. "I 
 can't find Bob. I think he must have been 
 wounded. His station was near mine. I've 
 hunted all along there among " 
 
 Jimmy paused. The horror of that search 
 robbed him of words to continue. 
 
 "We were going to hunt for you as soon as 
 I tied up Iggy's wrist. We've looked for 
 
132 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Schnitz." Roger's voice was rather unsteady. 
 "His station was near ours. I'm afraid he 
 never came back " 
 
 "He's missing." Jimmy shook his head 
 sadly. "But he did his bit all right for the 
 Army." Triumph rang in this tribute to his 
 absent bunkie. "We met last night out 
 there." 
 
 Lowering his voice, Jimmy recounted the 
 events of the scouting party. His gray eyes 
 glowed with pride as he told of Schnitzel's 
 splendid achievement. 
 
 "And to think that he couldn't be the one 
 to come back with the news he risked his life 
 to get ! It makes me sick, ' ' Jimmy ended with 
 a groan. 
 
 "Splendid old Schnitz," eulogized Roger. 
 "A real Brother from the word go. I thought 
 as much of him as of you and Bob and Iggins, 
 even if I hadn't known him as long." 
 
 "No one could help liking him. He was my 
 idea of a thorough-going man. I know we've 
 got to expect this horrible business of losing one 
 another, but it comes hard. Tough luck!" 
 
 "Mebbe Schnitz no daid. Mebbe him pris- 
 onar," faltered Ignace. "So think I better be 
 daid than go live by Boche. ' ' 
 
 "Here, too," agreed Jimmy bitterly. "I'd 
 rather think him dead ten times over than at 
 the mercy of those black-hearted fiends. We 
 ought to treat the prisoners we took the same 
 
MISSING: A BROTHER 133 
 
 way they've threatened to do to our men. But 
 we won't. We're human and they're inhuman. 
 
 "We've got to get busy and find Boh," he 
 reminded. "I'd be as much in the dumps about 
 him as Schnitz, if it wasn't that I know that 
 whatever has happened to him, he 's not a pris- 
 oner of the Hun dogs. I'm going out now to 
 look again for him. You fellows wait here for 
 me. We'll soon have coffee and grub handed 
 us. I'll take a hike up the trench and come 
 back in time to eat with you. Afterward I'll 
 go at it again unless I get a detail that'll keep 
 me from it. Last night's fracas means hard 
 work all day and lots of it." 
 
 Leaving his bunkies in the dugout, Jimmy 
 retraced his steps through that ghastly lane of 
 dead men. Every few paces he paused to stare 
 darkly at a still form, the face of which was 
 smashed beyond identification. 
 
 Frequently he stooped over such an one and 
 examined the identification tag attached to the 
 left wrist. He also kept a sharp look-out for a 
 gold service ring which Bob had worn on the 
 ring finger of his right hand. The four Broth- 
 ers had service rings exactly alike, save for the 
 initial engraved on each plate. These rings 
 had been given them by the Blaises during that 
 memorable Christmas furlough spent with 
 Jimmy's parents. 
 
 This careful scrutiny of the dead, coupled 
 with the constant passing to and fro of 
 
134 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 stretcher-bearers, made his progress through 
 the trench very slow. The groans of the 
 wounded wrenched his heart. Often he stopped 
 and held his water bottle to the lips of a pain- 
 crazed Sammy, who moaned piteously for 
 water. Again a stretcher-bearer would solicit 
 his help in placing a wounded soldier gently 
 upon a stretcher. 
 
 It was during one of these labors of mercy 
 that Jimmy stumbled upon news of Bob. As- 
 sisting a couple of first-aid men to place the 
 bleeding wreck of an infantryman upon a 
 stretcher, one of them looked sharply over and 
 said: 
 
 "I think we took a friend of yours back quite 
 a while ago. A black-eyed, curly-haired chap. 
 I saw him with you after the bombardment the 
 other morning when we came up here to carry 
 off the casualties. He was at the dugout after- 
 ward to get his face fixed up. The plaster was 
 still on it when we took him back this morning." 
 
 ''That's Bob! What happened to him?" 
 Jimmy fairly shouted his question. 
 
 "Knocked out by a piece of shell. It grazed 
 his scalp and put him to sleep. Nothing very 
 serious. Come along with us and you can see 
 him. We'll fix it for you," was the kindly 
 offer. 
 
 "You're all to the mustard," Jimmy re- 
 sponded gratefully. "Will I go along? Well, 
 you bet." 
 
MISSING: A BROTHER 135 
 
 Trotting along behind the stretcher, Jimmy 
 was soon in the communication trench. A 
 short walk brought him to a first-aid dugout. 
 It was full of cots, on which lay wounded sol- 
 diers, many of whom would soon be on the way 
 to a hospital back of the lines. 
 
 "There's your man." Pointing to a cot, 
 the good-natured stretcher-bearer immediately 
 turned to attend to his work. 
 
 Jimmy, however, did not need direction. He 
 had already spied Bob. 
 
 "Hello, Blazes," greeted a faint but cheerful 
 voice, as Jimmy reached the cot. Very white, 
 his head bandaged, Bob's grin was still in evi- 
 dence. 
 
 Tears again rushed to Jimmy's eyes as he 
 grabbed the hand Bob stretched out to him. 
 
 "I've been hunting you ever since the guns 
 quit," he said brokenly. "Are you hurt any 
 place besides your head?" 
 
 "Nope. A piece of shell barked my vener- 
 able cocoanut. The rainmaker had to put a 
 few stitches in it. It's all right now. I'm going 
 to dig out of here first chance I get. I'll be 
 back in the nice safe fire trench before night. 
 Just watch my speed. Maybe I'm not tickled 
 to see you, you blazing Blazes! What about 
 Roger, Iggy and Schnitz?" 
 
 Bob's voice rose in worried alarm. 
 
 "Roger is 0. K. Iggy got his wrist gashed 
 by a bit of shell. Schnitz " 
 
136 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Jimmy gulped. 
 
 "Gone West?" 
 
 The question came almost in a whisper. 
 
 "Missing. Never came back from No Man's 
 Land." 
 
 Rapidly Jimmy again related all he knew of 
 Schnitzel. When he had finished, a heavy 
 silence descended upon the two. 
 
 "Poor Schnitz!" Bob said at last. "Brave, 
 wonderful Schnitz, I mean. He was all A. and 
 no G. Well, Blazes, it's a great life, but it 
 doesn't last long. We do our little bit of a bit 
 and away we go, Westward bound. What we 
 miss to-day we'll get to-morrow, maybe. The 
 Glory Road is a pretty dangerous thoroughfare 
 these days. Just the same, it's the only road 
 any right-minded fellow can travel. I'm not 
 sorry I took to it. Hope I last long enough to 
 run a few Boches into the ditch." 
 
 "The 'ditch' is full of 'em this morning," 
 was Jimmy's grim response. "Most of that 
 crack Prussian regiment is taking a long sleep 
 out there in No Man's Land. Their fire trench 
 is all smashed in and the Dutchies don't dare 
 show a head. Our fellows are potting 'em 
 right along. You ought to see it. ' ' 
 
 "I'm going to." 
 
 Bob swung his legs over the side of the cot 
 and stood up, swaying a little. "Hang the 
 rainmakers," he grumbled. "Bobby was a 
 sick Sammy, but he's improving werry fast. 
 
MISSING: A BROTHER 13 7 
 
 Come on, let's beat it out of here. I'm going 
 back to the fire trench and enjoy myself. My 
 pack is kicking around here somewhere. That 
 shell did for my helmet. You'd better go on 
 ahead. I'll follow soon. Goodness knows what 
 happened to my rifle. I can get another easily 
 enough. ' ' 
 
 Jimmy could not help smiling. Nothing 
 short of utter disablement would keep restless 
 Bob long in bed. 
 
 "You lie down and take it easy," he ad- 
 monished. "I'm going back to tell the fellows 
 you're still alive and kicking." 
 
 "Sure I'm alive," grinned Bob. "Kicking,, 
 of course I am. Who wouldn't be? Do you 
 think a little biff on the bean is going to keep 
 Bobby indoors? Nix. You go ahead and break 
 the glad news to Iggins and Rodge. I '11 rustle 
 up my lost traps and kiss this place good-bye. 
 They've got their hands full here. They'll 
 never miss me." 
 
 Thus urged, Jimmy left the first-aid dugout 
 and hurried back to the front-line trench to 
 apprise his bunkies of the good news. Good 
 old Bob had been spared to them. He thanked 
 God for that. Yet his heart was heavy with 
 sadness, as he thought of Franz Schnitzel. 
 
 He could not reconcile himself to believe 
 that he would never see Schnitz again. Within 
 him rose a curious conviction that their good- 
 bye in the shell crater had not been a final fare- 
 
138 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 well. He had a ''hunch," as it were, that 
 Schnitz and himself would meet again, and be- 
 fore long. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 it's a great life 1 
 
 TOWARD noon a German battery woke 
 up and amused itself by sending shrap- 
 nel against the very communication 
 trench which was being used principally to 
 carry the wounded back to the first-aid dugout 
 in which Bob had been briefly quartered. As a 
 result, two stretcher men, as well as several 
 wounded Sammies, went West. Presently an 
 American battery got the range of the enemy 
 battery and silenced it. 
 
 All day sharpshooters on both sides were 
 busy picking off each other's men as they la- 
 bored at re-establishing their front-line de- 
 fenses. As the Sammies were by far the better 
 marksmen, they did considerably more dam- 
 age. The Boche infantrymen are anything but 
 good rifle shots. It is generally conceded that 
 the Americans have the best gunners and 
 sharpshooters in the world. 
 
 American machine guns also did good work 
 139 
 
14 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 through the day. So well did their gunners 
 succeed in harassing the Bodies that when 
 night at last fell, they made little effort to go 
 out onto No Man's Land to take in their dead 
 and wounded. Their losses had been too heavy 
 to risk further casualties. The constant send- 
 ing up of American star shells warned them 
 that the Sammies were keeping a sharp look- 
 out, ready to mow them down at the first oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 The night passed without any attempt by the 
 Huns to renew the conflict. Sammies detailed 
 to listening post duty came back with reports 
 that Fritz was hard at work repairing his badly 
 demolished fire trench. They also reported that 
 many wounded Germans still lay neglected and 
 suffering in No Man's Land. The all-glorious 
 Fatherland was not concerning itself over 
 these helpless, bleeding husks. 
 
 For four more days the Khaki Boys contin- 
 ued on duty in the front-line trench. During 
 that time no more heavy bombardments were 
 directed against them by the Boches. Plenty 
 of shrapnel shells continued to come over. 
 Most of them directed against the communica- 
 tion trenches, or against points behind the 
 American lines. A favorite sport of Fritz is 
 the shelling of ambulances, carrying wounded 
 men to hospital. 
 
 Those days of blessed peace saw the fire 
 trench completely restored and everything run- 
 
"IT'S A GREAT LIFE" 141 
 
 ning along again as smoothly as matters ever 
 run in such a danger spot. It was believed that 
 the Germans were getting ready for another 
 big raid. Scouting aircraft reported the daily 
 arrival of fresh troops and large quantities of 
 ammunition and supplies to the German lines. 
 
 During this lull in hostilities, Bob, Ignace, 
 Jimmy and Roger were rarely idle long. As 
 non-coms they always found plenty to do. The 
 vacancies in their squads had been filled by men 
 who had lost squad leaders and squad comrades 
 in the recent bombardment. 
 
 All four were exceedingly gloomy over the 
 loss of Schnitzel. The uncertainty of his fate 
 weighed heavily upon them. Jimmy continued 
 to maintain his belief that Schnitz was not 
 dead. He had a fixed idea that his bunkie was 
 a prisoner. This in itself was signally depress- 
 ing. The four Brothers would far rather have 
 believed Schnitzel to be dead. 
 
 On the evening of the eighth day came the 
 news that the present contingent of Khaki 
 Boys occupying the front-line trench were to be 
 relieved by a seasoned American regiment un- 
 der the command of a veteran French general. 
 The retiring troops were to start at eleven 
 o'clock that night for rest billets in a village 
 well behind the lines. Here they would remain 
 for at least three weeks before returning to the 
 trenches. 
 
 Just before eleven o'clock the first relief de- 
 
142 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE F RONT 
 
 tachment crept stealthily into the fire trench. 
 They had been hiding all day in a pine woods 
 just out of range of the German guns. An- 
 other detachment was concealed in the ruined 
 village through which the Khaki Boys had 
 passed on the way to the trenches. This de- 
 tachment would not arrive at the front until 
 after midnight. 
 
 The departing Sammies were ordered to 
 make an absolutely noiseless retreat to rest bil- 
 lets. It was vitally important that the enemy 
 should not learn of the arrival of fresh troops 
 to replace the men who had completed their 
 first trench detail. 
 
 Passing with his comrades through a com- 
 munication trench on the opposite from the one 
 used on the night of entering the trenches, it 
 seemed to Jimmy Blaise a very long time since 
 then. It was more like eight years than eight 
 days. 
 
 What a lot a fellow could stand in eight days 
 and still live, was his somber reflection as he 
 stole along, six paces behind the man in front 
 of him. He had been under heavy fire twice. 
 He had looked upon death in its bloodiest form. 
 He had slept and eaten with the shattered, life- 
 less bodies of his comrades lying about him. 
 He had waded through blood, so to speak. He 
 had been across No Man's Land and back. 
 Men had died in his arms. He had endured 
 agonies of suspense as he searched among the 
 
"IT'S A GREAT LIFE" 143 
 
 slain for his bunkies. Worst of all, he had lost 
 a devoted friend and Brother. 
 
 "It's a great life if you don't weaken." 
 Jimmy smiled grimly to himself as this expres- 
 sion, so prevalent among the Sammies, popped 
 into his mind. Back in Camp Sterling he, too, 
 had been very prone to use it. He was still of 
 the opinion that, in spite of blood, mud, death, 
 wounds, noise, cooties and the hundred and one 
 other vicissitudes of war, it was "a great life." 
 
 He hoped that he would be spared to do 
 trench duty over and over again. That was 
 the only way a fellow could feel about it, he 
 thought. He was glad that he hated the Boches 
 so hard. Back in Camp Sterling he had often 
 wondered how it would feel to be actually en- 
 gaged in killing men. Now he hoped that, for 
 the sake of Franz Schnitzel, every bullet he had 
 sent speeding across No Man's Land had put 
 a Hun out of business for good and all. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 OUT OF THE AIR 
 
 CLEAR of the trenches at last, it proved a 
 long, tiresome march to billets. The 
 roads over which the Khaki Boys 
 marched were rough and fnll of shell holes. 
 Long before they reached their destination a 
 tine rain began to fall, which soaked them to the 
 skin. With it, however, came a dense fog, which 
 was a great help in concealing them from enemy 
 eyes. 
 
 An hour before dawn, when almost to billets, 
 they heard a reverberating roar, which they 
 guessed to be that of the German guns. It an- 
 nounced to them that Fritz had again begun 
 his " straf eing. ' ' Every Sammie's heart beat 
 faster, as the welcome voices of their own big 
 guns boomed forth in answer. 
 
 To the thunderous tune played by these noisy 
 orchestras of war, the rain-drenched Khaki 
 Boys at last reached billets. These consisted 
 of several stables, a deserted schoolhouse, and 
 
 144 
 
OUT OF THE AIR 145 
 
 a long, barn-like structure, which had been used 
 by the Allies at the beginning of the war as a 
 supply depot. 
 
 To his great satisfaction, Jimmy drew the 
 supply depot as a billet. It was large enough 
 to accommodate two hundred men, and when 
 dawn came he was overjoyed to find all three 
 of his bunkies had been quartered there, too. 
 
 "Talk about style," exulted Bob, when a little 
 later the quartette sat cross-legged in a row, 
 devouring a breakfast of bacon, bread and cof- 
 fee. "This is almost as good as a real barracks. 
 It's about the cleanest billet we've struck since 
 we started out in dear old Eight Horses.' ' 
 
 "It's pure luck, our getting together." 
 Roger sighed his satisfaction. "I'll bet we'll 
 have a real cushy time while it lasts. I hope 
 we don't get shelled. Listen to the guns. It 
 must be hail Columbia now in the front-line 
 trench on both sides. Seems funny to be away 
 from it, doesn't it?" 
 
 "I guess we've earned a rest," yawned 
 Jimmy, "and a bath along with it, about four 
 times a day. It'll take me three weeks to get 
 clear of mud and these blamed cooties. First 
 chance I get I'm going to hunt for a creek and 
 live in it." 
 
 "So will I," vowed Ignace. "I am the mud 
 all over. My mothar now see, no believe I am 
 the son to she." 
 
 "I'd hate to have my mother see me now," 
 
146 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 smiled Jimmy. "She wouldn't sleep nights for 
 che next year. Just as soon as we get settled 
 I'm going to write to her. I wrote every day 
 to the folks while I was in the trenches. I hope 
 some of those letters get across." 
 
 "I guess they will, that is, if you didn't put 
 anything in 'em that the censors got peeved at," 
 rejoined Bob. "About all a fellow is allowed to 
 write is 'I am well,' and 'good-lbye.' " 
 
 "Some of us ought to write to Schnitz 'b 
 folks," said Roger soberly. 
 
 "Not yet." Jimmy shook his head. "Wait 
 awhile. Maybe Schnitz '11 come back to us. ' ' 
 
 "I don't believe it, Blazes," disagreed Bob 
 sadly. "He got his out there in the dark, I'm 
 afraid. Schnitz was the kind to fight till he 
 dropped, rather than be taken prisoner." 
 
 "I tell you I had a hunch out there in the 
 trench that I'd see him again," Jimmy stub- 
 bornly asserted. "It came to me just as plain 
 as anything, 'Schnitz isn't croaked. He'll come 
 back.' " 
 
 "You think Schnitz he come back, so think I," 
 nodded Ignace, who was always fond of back- 
 ing up his best Brother's statements. 
 
 "Well, I hope it works out that way," de- 
 clared Roger kindly. 
 
 Privately, his belief in hunches was not 
 strong. 
 
 "I wish I'd never let him go that night," 
 Jimmy continued moodily. " If he 'd waited ten 
 
OUT OF THE AIR 147 
 
 minutes longer, as I did, the two of us would 
 have got back to the lines together." 
 
 "You might not have, at that," was Bob's 
 opinion. "You can't tell how it would have 
 come out. His way was the wisest. " 
 
 Continuing to talk of Schnitzel, the memory 
 of whom was constantly before them, the four 
 Brothers finished breakfast and went outside 
 their quarters to look around them. As they 
 had been on the march nearly all night, they 
 expected to sleep part of the day. So far as 
 military routine was concerned, they were "on 
 their own" until Taps that night. Next morn- 
 ing, however, they would be subject to the usual 
 military routine they had observed when in the 
 training camps. 
 
 Wandering about in the vicinity of their bil- 
 let, the four Brothers whooped with joy at sight 
 of a good-sized creek, which looked to be not 
 more than a quarter of a mile back of the depot. 
 Hastily repairing to their quarters, they got out 
 soap, towels, and clean underwear. Laden with 
 these, an extra uniform blouse, and a pair of 
 clean leggins apiece, they raced across the fields 
 to the creek, and were soon jubilantly swimming 
 about in its clear, but very cold water. 
 
 It was the first real bath that any of them had 
 enjoyed since leaving the village where they 
 had been briefly quartered before going on their 
 long march to the trenches. Cold as the water 
 was, they soon grew used to it, and had a glor- 
 
148 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 ions time splashing about in its clear depths. 
 
 After their bath, they donned clean clothing, 
 washed out their discarded underwear, hang- 
 ing it to dry in the sun on some low bushes 
 nearby. They also gave their soiled leggins a 
 much-needed scrubbing. 
 
 By the time the leggins had become present- 
 able again, their wash was partially dry. 
 
 "We can't wait all day for these duds to get 
 dry." Bob passed a critical hand over his 
 damp wash. "Let's take 'em back to billet and 
 hang 'em up there. Now I've had a bath, I 
 want to go bye-bye. Besides, we ought to tell 
 the other guys about this French swimming 
 pool. They need a bath, too." 
 
 "Tell 'em nothing. Listen to that! Look 
 over there ! ' ' 
 
 Jimmy pointed across the field. A dozen men 
 were charging toward them, yelling and wildly 
 waving clean clothing, towels or whatever they 
 chanced to have in their hands. 
 
 "Discovered," grinned Bob. "Welcome to 
 our bath tub ! " he shouted, as the running group 
 drew near. "Jump in, the water's fine. It's a 
 sure cure for trench mud and live stock." 
 
 After exchanging a few good-natured sallies 
 with the gleeful Sammies, who were discarding 
 their clothing as fast as their hands would let 
 them, the four Khaki Boys left the creek and 
 started back to quarters. 
 
 "Pipe the plane!" yelled Jimmy suddenly, 
 
OUT OF THE AIR 149 
 
 pointing upward. "Ill bet it's just come from 
 over the German lines. She's a Frenchie, too. 
 You can see her colors. She's flying pretty 
 low." 
 
 "She's coming down fast!" shouted Bob. 
 "Looks as though she'd been nipped." 
 
 Pausing to watch the plane, it seemed to the 
 Khaki Boys that it was, indeed, coming down 
 altogether too fast for safety to its pilot. 
 
 "He's lost control of it! No, he hasn't, 
 either! He's sure some birdman. Oh, jov! 
 Watch him!" 
 
 Jimmy was prancing about, flourishing his 
 wash, as he poured forth this volley of excited 
 exclamation. 
 
 "He's going to land right the other side of 
 the depot ! Come on ! I want to get a look at 
 him!" 
 
 Bob had now taken up the cry. With "Come 
 on!" he was off across the field, his three bunk- 
 ies keeping up with his mad dash. Already a 
 crowd of Sammies had come out of the depot, 
 and were running toward the aviator, who had 
 now made a skilful and easy landing. 
 
 "We may get the grand snub," panted Bob, 
 as they neared the quiescent plane. 
 
 Its pilot was just stepping out of the seat. 
 He moved very stiffly, and staggered a little, as 
 his feet touched the ground. His face partially 
 toward the plane, he turned smilingly as the 
 noisy delegation of Sammies rushed up to him, 
 
150 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 "It's Cousin Emile!" bawled Jimmy at the 
 top of his lungs, and dashed straight toward 
 the smiling man. 
 
 ' ' Blaise ! This is, indeed, most remarkable ! ' ' 
 called out a deep voice. 
 
 A ready hand shot forth to meet Jimmy's, 
 and grasped it warmly. 
 
 ' ' Gee whiz, but I 'm glad to see you, sir ! ' ' was 
 Jimmy's fervent greeting. ''You'll have to 
 excuse me for calling you 'Cousin Emile.' I 
 was certainly flabbergasted for a minute. ' ' 
 
 "No apologies," laughed Voissard, showing 
 his white teeth in amusement at Jimmy's con- 
 fusion. "It is the very pleasant surprise to 
 meet you thus, my dear young comrade. And 
 your friends, too," he added, offering his hand 
 in turn to Ignace, Bob and Koger, who now 
 grouped themselves about him with beaming 
 faces. "Now of a truth it seems you must have 
 just come from the bath." 
 
 His quick eyes had taken in the newly 
 cleansed articles of clothing in the boys' hands. 
 
 "We certainly have," affirmed Bob. "We 
 landed here just before daylight from our first 
 front-line trench detail. You can guess how 
 much we needed a big clean-up. ' ' 
 
 "Ah, yes, I can easily understand." Vois- 
 sard 's fine face grew sympathetic. "It is the 
 hard life in those muddy trenches. I marvel 
 that you are still here to tell of it. But where 
 is your comrade of the dark face and quiet, sin- 
 
OUT OF THE AIR 151 
 
 cere manner? You see my memory is good." 
 
 "He's gone, sir," was Jimmy's sad response. 
 
 Inquiry for Schnitzel caused the four eager 
 faces to cloud over. Briefly, Jimmy informed 
 Voissard of all he knew pertaining to Schnitz- 
 el's disappearance. 
 
 1 ' It is the fortune of war, ' ' was the aviator 's 
 grave comment when Jimmy had finished. 
 "We learn in time to accept all in that spirit. 
 I, too, have lost many valued and loyal friends 
 at the front. I share your sorrow for this brave 
 comrade. Yet I am happy that none other of 
 you has met with misfortune. 
 
 "It is purely by chance that I found you," he 
 continued. "I spent the night over the Alle- 
 mand lines. Naturally, my plane has received 
 rough treatment. It was necessary for me to 
 come down and make the repairs. I have yet 
 some distance to go, and my bird's wings need 
 the attention." 
 
 "Can we do anything to help you, sir?" was 
 Jimmy's prompt inquiry. 
 
 "Merci, but no. My plane needs but a few 
 touches here and there, which only myself can 
 give and hurriedly. I have the important in- 
 formation gleaned, which I must impart quickly 
 to those who wait for it. For how long shall 
 you remain in billet ? ' ' 
 
 Voissard cast a thoughtful glance at Jimmy 
 as he asked the question. 
 
 "Three weeks, unless we get other orders." 
 
152 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 "That is well. Watch for me. If all goes as 
 I hope, I shall return here to see you within the 
 next three days. I have much to say to you." 
 
 During this conversation, the Sammies who 
 had run out of billets and up to the aeroplane, 
 had drawn back a little distance from it, and 
 the quartette gathered about the aviator. The 
 average American boy hates to "butt in.'* 
 Nevertheless, many pairs of bright eyes were 
 wistfully watching the trim Nieuport, and the 
 favored four who appeared to be on such inti- 
 mate terms with its pilot. 
 
 Noting this, Jimmy was seized with a kindly 
 inspiration. 
 
 "Would you mind speaking a word to the fel- 
 lows back there, sir 1 " he inquired deferentially. 
 "They'd like it a lot, especially if they knew 
 who you really were. May I call them over and 
 tell 'em? It will only take a minute and they'll 
 be good. It will be a regular bang-up treat for 
 them." 
 
 A half -frown touched Voissard's dark brows, 
 then his boyish smile came into evidence. 
 
 "Since you ask it," he consented, "but only 
 for a moment. ' ' 
 
 At the word of permission, Jimmy hurried 
 back to where his comrades stood. 
 
 "Fellows," he greeted. "Come up and meet 
 the Flying Terror of France. I'd like him to 
 see what a rattling fine bunch we've got in the 
 good old 509th." 
 
OUT OF THE AIR 153 
 
 This last compliment was slyly intended to 
 put every Sammy on his best behavior. It suc- 
 ceeded signally. An awed and admiring dele- 
 gation, led by Jimmy, filed respectfully up to 
 the aviator. Forming a little line, they came 
 smartly to Attention. On the last word of pres- 
 entation spoken by Jimmy, every man saluted. 
 
 Gracefully returning the salute, Voissard 
 made an earnest little speech to his young ad- 
 mirers, expressing his pleasure at meeting 
 them, and thanking them in the name of France 
 for their loyal response and allegiance to the 
 Allied cause. 
 
 As he finished speaking, the Sammies again 
 saluted. "Wheeling, they were about to march 
 off when he stopped them, expressing a wish to 
 shake the hand of each. To the delighted Khaki 
 Boys it was a red-letter occasion. Boyish ex- 
 uberance getting the upper hand, they could not 
 resist giving three cheers for Voissard, as he 
 took the hand of the last man in line. Then it 
 seemed necessary to give three more for France, 
 and another three for the United States. Fi- 
 nally, they trooped happily off, full of gratitude 
 to Blaise, a "corking Sarge," who "hadn't a 
 stingy bone in his body." 
 
 The four Brothers remained with Cousin 
 Emile while he went over the plane, and made 
 the minor repairs which he had referred to as 
 "touches." It took the better part of an hour 
 to make them, during which period the boys 
 
154 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 hovered admiringly about the clean-cut little 
 fighting craft. 
 
 "I'd almost give my eyes to take a trip with 
 you, sir," was Jimmy's wistful assertion, as 
 Voissard was about to say good-bye. 
 
 "Your company would be the great pleas- 
 ure," the aviator courteously replied. "How- 
 ever, we shall at least meet again soon," he 
 added, extending his hand in friendly farewell. 
 
 There was a quizzical twinkle in Cousin 
 Emile's dark eyes. Had Jimmy known what 
 was going on behind them he would have been 
 raised to the seventh heaven of bliss. He could 
 not possibly guess that his ardent desire to take 
 a trip with Voissard was in a fair way to be 
 presently realized. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE RETURN OF COUSIN" EMILB 
 
 ASSURED by Voissard that he would re- 
 turn to the village, the four Brothers 
 kept up an anxious lookout for him. 
 Five days went by, but Cousin Emile did not 
 materialize. During this time new platoons 
 and squads were formed from those depleted 
 by trench duty, and the two detachments, 
 though smaller, were soon in good order again. 
 
 The Khaki Boys were required to be on hand 
 for roll call at 6 :30 every morning. Breakfast 
 was followed by daily inspection and parade. 
 After that they drilled until noon. The rest of 
 the day and evening was theirs, unless on some 
 special detail, Taps sounding at the usual time. 
 
 Though the resting detachments were well 
 behind the lines, they were not immune from 
 shrapnel directed against passing ammunition 
 and supply-trains, and even against ambu- 
 lances, as these last rushed the wounded to hos- 
 pital. Then there was always the danger of 
 
 155 
 
156 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 being bombed by enemy aeroplanes. Fre- 
 quently, these Boche planes would appear sail- 
 ing high overhead, only to be shelled by Archies, 
 and driven back by Allied aircraft. It was not 
 a particularly safe district in which to rest, but 
 it certainly offered plenty of excitement. 
 
 For two days after their arrival, the guns 
 kept up a furious racket night and day. Now 
 and then they gleaned some word of the conflict 
 from ambulance drivers or men who had come 
 from the trenches on special errands. The 
 Americans were grittily holding their own, it 
 seemed. They had gone over the top on the 
 very morning in which the Khaki Boys had ar- 
 rived in rest billets. There had been a whole- 
 sale slaughter of Bodies. Many machine guns 
 and prisoners had been taken. The Hun's first- 
 line trench had been blown up. 
 
 The Bodies had beaten a wild retreat to their 
 second trench, and were now engaged in trying 
 to hold it. Many Sammies had been killed or 
 wounded, but the Germans had suffered more 
 in casualties. All this and other news pertain- 
 ing to the fight that still raged, the Khaki Boys 
 heard. They gloried in the way "our fellows 
 are putting it all over Fritz. ' ' 
 
 Bob's first move after settling down was to 
 get a pass and go to the village where Gaston 
 was quartered at his expense. Finding that it 
 was not more than twenty miles from their bil- 
 let, and that he could reach it and return by 
 
THE RETURN OF COUSIN EMILE 157 
 
 train, he cordially invited his bunkies to ac- 
 company him. Jimmy and Ignace declined to 
 go on the expedition, hut Roger good-naturedly 
 consented. ' ' You need a friend on such a dan- 
 gerous detail, ' ' he slyly remarked. 
 
 It took the two a whole afternoon and even- 
 ing to make the trip. Triumphantly returning 
 with his pet just before Taps, Bob tied Gaston 
 up outside the barrack, trustingly expecting 
 him there in the morning. In the night, how- 
 ever, Gaston basely chewed his rope in two and 
 deserted. 
 
 Bob, being of the loyal opinion that Gaston 
 was "no yellow deserter," but had been 
 "pinched," he spent his leisure time the follow- 
 ing day going from pillar to post savagely ask- 
 ing, "Who's got my goat?" 
 
 Toward night he found the lost one in the 
 backyard of a cottage, calmly feasting upon a 
 linen tablecloth, which had appealed to his pe- 
 culiar appetite. 
 
 Bob and the owner of the tablecloth discov- 
 ered Gaston at about the same moment. Gas- 
 ton got a beating and Bob a wigging in French, 
 both delivered by an irate housewife. It ended 
 by Bob's going down in his pocket for the price 
 of one linen tablecloth. Gaston, nobly resent- 
 ing this outrage, charged upon the scolding 
 woman, and thereby added to his master's dif- 
 ficulties. Bob finally roped him, and led him 
 back to billets, sadly pondering as he went on 
 
158 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 the trials of being ' ' foster-papa to a blamed old 
 goat." 
 
 In the morning Gaston had again taken 
 French leave. This time he wandered gaily np 
 to the schoolhonse where a platoon of 509th men 
 were billeted. They received him with open 
 arms, and promptly adopted him as a mascot. 
 In due season Bob appeared, and just as 
 promptly parted Gaston from his new friends. 
 Next day they stole him back again. 
 
 Bob's first four days in billet were largely 
 spent in getting his goat, losing it, and getting 
 it again. 
 
 On the afternoon of the fifth day he came back 
 to billet from a trip to the schoolhouse looking 
 completely disgusted. 
 
 "Those pesky guys have got Gaston again," 
 he announced, as he went over to where his 
 three bunkies sat on the floor, backs propped 
 against the wall, and busily engaged in writing 
 letters. ' ' They can keep him, too. I'm through 
 being a father to an ungrateful brute that tries 
 to butt his foster-parent over on sight." 
 
 This nettled confession was received with 
 shouts of unsympathetic laughter. 
 
 "Oh, laugh now. It's very funny," jeered 
 Bob. Nevertheless, he laughed, too, as he 
 dropped down beside Jimmy. 
 
 "Did he go for you? I'm surprised," teased 
 Eoger. "He's such a gentle, friendly beast." 
 
 "Did he?" Bob snickered. "Those thieves 
 
THE RETURN OF COUSIN EMILE 159 
 
 had him tied to a post out in the school-yard. 
 When he saw his papa, he lowered his head and 
 came on the run. Good thing he was roped. 
 You should have heard those ginks yell. They 
 kidded Bobby to a finish. Said Gaston must 
 have taken me for a Hun, and a lot of stuff like 
 that. 
 
 " They've got a mangy old red ribbon tied 
 around his neck with an identification tag hung 
 on it," continued Bob. "It was a blank tag, all 
 right, but they've cut on it with a knife, 'Gas- 
 ton, Platoon 4, 509th Infantry.' The robbers! 
 Can you beat that ? I certainly was good to that 
 beast. Treated him fine, and spent a lot of time 
 and money on him. That's the way, though. 
 Be kind to your goat and somebody else '11 get 
 it. Bobby's all through being a foster-papa. 
 He's going to spend his golden hours and cop- 
 per coins on himself hereafter. I was bitterly 
 deceived in Gaston." 
 
 "Hope it won't wreck your young life," 
 chuckled Jimmy. 
 
 "Never I like him, that Gaston. He always 
 the too fraish. I think mebbe him Boche goat 
 an' no Franche. So is it he is the no good," 
 giggled Ignace. 
 
 "Well, I'm all done with him," declared Bob. 
 "Hope he bowls over a few of those smarties in 
 Platoon 4. He owes it to me to do it. My, what 
 a busy little bunch you are. Guess I'd better 
 write a few letters myself." 
 
160 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 "Go to it, then, and don't bother us," re- 
 torted Roger. "We want to get through witli 
 our writing before mess. To-night " 
 
 Roger was interrupted by a sudden exclama- 
 tion from Jimmy. The latter 's glance happen- 
 ing to stray to an open door at the far end of 
 the long, barn-like room, he leaped to his feet 
 and hurried to it. A uniformed man stood on 
 its threshold, his dark eyes roving up and down 
 the place, as though in search of someone. 
 
 "Mon cher, Blaise!" he exclaimed with out- 
 stretched hand as Jimmy neared him. "It is 
 for you I have been searching." 
 
 "We had given you up, sir." Jimmy was 
 radiant with delighted surprise. "We thought 
 you had been detailed to some special move- 
 ment against the Boches." 
 
 ' ' Not as yet. ' ' Voissard smiled mysteriously. 
 "I have been in Paris since last we met. But 
 to-morrow night my work begins." 
 
 Before he could say more, Jimmy's bunkies 
 had come up, and were respectfully greeting the 
 Flying Terror of France. 
 
 "I have come to invite you to the petit souper 
 at the Inn," Voissard presently said. "There 
 we shall be able to talk for a little. I have 
 some things to relate to you of my nephews 
 whom I saw while away. There is also the 
 old matter of the man whom you described to 
 me. Also there is another matter to be dis- 
 cussed. ' ' 
 
THE RETURN OF COUSIN EMILE 161 
 
 Cousin Emile's invitation was gladly ac- 
 cepted, and a few minutes later the five men left 
 the barrack for a quaint little inn, to which the 
 aviator conducted them. 
 
 Seated together at a rear table, the four 
 Brothers were not concerned as to what they 
 ate. They had found one inn to be about the 
 same as another in regard to "eats." All of- 
 fered eggs, cheese, brown bread, red wine, and 
 not much else. 
 
 In this instance, however, Voissard held 
 a lengthy consultation with the innkeeper 
 himself, which sent him hustling for the 
 kitchen. 
 
 "Now while thus we wait I will speak of my 
 nephews first," began the aviator. "Both are 
 now in the Nieuport squad. Each has been out 
 twice, and has a Boche plane to his credit. They 
 send you many good wishes, and are in 
 hopes to see you before long somewhere out 
 here." 
 
 He went on to tell them further of the doings 
 of the Twinkle Twins, smilingly answering the 
 countless eager queries put to him by the Khaki 
 Boys. 
 
 "While they were still discussing the famous 
 Twinkle Twins, their dinner appeared in the 
 shape of two immense, beautifully browned 
 omelets, with other accompanying delicacies, 
 which made them open their eyes. Cousin 
 Emile, it seemed, knew a thing a two 
 
162 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 about French inns, which they did not. 
 
 Directly the meal had been served and the 
 waiter had withdrawn, Voissard reached into 
 a pocket of his sky-bine uniform blouse, and 
 drew from it a small photograph. Handing it 
 across the table to Jimmy, he said simply: 
 
 "Look weU at this." 
 
 Jimmy looked. His gray eyes flashed as he 
 exclaimed: "It's the same old smile! I mean, 
 it 's my tiger man ! Then your friend, the Pre- 
 fect of Police, knew him " 
 
 "Very well," finished Voissard. "But not 
 as Charles Black. This man's real name is 
 Adolph von Kreitzen. He is an Austrian, and 
 one of the most villainous creatures of the Cen- 
 tral Powers that ever drew breath. Before the 
 war his crimes were many, yet he always eluded 
 capture. During the first two years of the 
 war he did much damage to our cause as a 
 spy. 
 
 "Suddenly no more was heard of him. It 
 was thought by my friend the Prefect that he 
 had either entered the German army or been 
 ordered to commit suicide by his master, on ac- 
 count of some failure on his part to carry out 
 a mission intrusted to him. This is often the 
 fate of those whose work as spies displeases 
 their finicky war-lord. He graciously rewards 
 their efforts for the Fatherland with disgrace 
 or death. 
 
 "Later, however, it was learned that von 
 
THE RETURN OF COUSIN EMILE 163 
 
 Kreitzen had been seen in Belgium. A soldier 
 who had formerly been connected with the Paris 
 Police Bureau saw and recognized him. He 
 immediately sent word to the Prefect. Men 
 were sent to Belgium to trail him, but again 
 he escaped them. 
 
 * ' That was the last report of him until I went 
 to the Prefect with what you related to me in 
 Paris. My friend immediately recognized 
 von Kreitzen from the description you gave me. 
 I would have gone to your training camp with 
 this photograph had I not received your com- 
 mander's kind telegram. 
 
 ' ' Strange to say, the next day after our meet- 
 ing in the cafe, a report came to the Prefect 
 that a man resembling von Kreitzen had been 
 recently seen in Paris. Thus it may well be 
 true that after you saw him in Belfast, he went 
 from there to England, and thence to Paris. 
 Where he is now, who knows V 9 Voissard 
 shrugged his shoulders. ' ' Perhaps back in Ger- 
 many; perhaps with his kind on the Western 
 front; perhaps dead. Again he has disap- 
 peared." 
 
 ' 'I'll tell you a queer thing, sir. I never men- 
 tioned it before, even to my bunkies here." 
 
 Jimmy recounted to Voissard the attack made 
 on them by the hidden gunman on the evening 
 of their return from Paris to the training camp. 
 
 "Somehow I always had an idea that this 
 tiger fellow, von Kreitzen, spotted us in Paris, 
 
164 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 and trailed us to the village. He saw me and 
 wanted to get me. It rather tallies with what 
 you say about his having been seen in Paris." 
 
 "When is a clam not a clam? When it's a 
 blazing old tight-mouth Blazes," was Bob's 
 caustic conundrum, self-answered. 
 
 "Well, I had a right to be a tight-mouth if I 
 felt like it," defended Jimmy. "If I'd said a 
 word about it, then you fellows would have 
 either told me I was crazy or else you'd have 
 worried about little Jimmy's health. So I just 
 canned it. ' ' 
 
 "I wouldn't be surprised if it ivas that von 
 Kreitzen who went sniping at us that night," 
 said Roger reflectively. "It's not such a wild 
 idea. He might have caught sight of you in 
 Paris, Blazes, and followed you down on the 
 same train. He might have been in another 
 compartment disguised. I don't remember see- 
 ing anyone who got off the train that night ex- 
 cept four or five Sammies. They went into an 
 estaminet across from the station." 
 
 "I saw an old man and a little girl. I re- 
 member seeing those doughboys, too," put in 
 Bob. 
 
 "So see I him, the solder and 'nother man. 
 He have the much black wheeskar an' the hat 
 over the face. He walk ver' quick no look at 
 nothin'," was Ignace's placid contribution. 
 
 "I don't remember noticing anyone in par- 
 ticular, ' ' mused Jimmy. ' ' I guess ' ' 
 
THE RETURN OF COUSIN EMILE 165 
 
 "I guess Iggy saw the most!" interrupted 
 Bob excitedly. "Iggy saw him, this von 
 Sweitzer, or whatever his name is. That's 
 about the way he'd fix up to keep shady — false 
 whiskers and his hat over his nose. If you had 
 not been so keen on keeping still, Blazes, we 
 might have figured this thing out long ago." 
 
 "It wouldn't have done us any good," de- 
 murred Jimmy. 
 
 "It would have been some satisfaction, any- 
 how, to have somebody to lay it to," grumbled 
 Bob. 
 
 Thus during the meal the talk continued to 
 center on Jimmy's "tiger man." It was the 
 element of mystery that appealed so strongly 
 to the Khaki Boys. It made them forget for 
 the time the grim reality of war. Long after 
 the meal was finished, they still sat at the table 
 listening to interesting information which 
 Voissard had gathered concerning the intricate 
 spy-system which the Central Powers have 
 established throughout the civilized world. 
 
 "I have still the news for you which must 
 interest Blaise most of all," declared Cousin 
 Emile at last, smiling at Jimmy. "Because of 
 his pleasure, I am sure all will be pleased. 
 You said to me, mon cher Blaise, that you would 
 give much to go with me over the lines. Voila! 
 Your wish has been granted. It has not been 
 easy to gain the permission. It has been done, 
 however. To-morrow morning your command- 
 
166 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 big officer will send for you. I have already 
 talked with him. To-morrow afternoon yon 
 and I will be leaving here on a little journey 
 of our own for the glory of France and her 
 Allies." 
 
 - 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 UP ABOVE THE CLOUDS 
 
 44^-^OOD-BYE, fellows. If I shouldn't 
 
 I -y come back — well, you know what to do 
 
 ^-^ about writing the folks. I'll be back 
 
 all right enough, though. I'm just as sure as 
 
 anything of that." 
 
 Seated beside Voissard in a gray French 
 racer, Jimmy Blaise leaned out for a last word 
 and handclasp wtih his three bunkies. It was a 
 solemn-faced trio who stood beside the long, 
 low car. Jimmy's Brothers were trying to be 
 glad because Jimmy himself was so excitedly 
 happy. It was hard work. They felt as 
 though they were looking their last at good old 
 Blazes. 
 
 The final good-byes said, the racer, driven 
 by Voissard, shot down the road, started on 
 what was to prove a most amazing trip for 
 Jimmy Blaise. It was three o'clock in the 
 afternoon and the two men were bound for a 
 French escadrille, not far behind the American 
 
 167 
 
168 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 sector of the firing lines. Jimmy Blaise was 
 presently to go out with Voissard over the Ger- 
 man lines. This was the extent of his knowl- 
 edge regarding the expedition. Cousin Emile 
 had offered not a word more than was abso- 
 lutely necessary in breaking the news to Jimmy 
 and his bunkies. 
 
 As the racer left the village behind and struck 
 a country road, Voissard broke the silence 
 which had fallen between them since the start. 
 
 ''Thus far I have imparted to you nothing 
 of to-night's detail. You must understand that 
 I have been granted a great privilege in being 
 allowed your company to-night, mon cher ami. 
 It is the first favor I have ever asked of France. 
 Voila! You are here. Some distance behind 
 the Boche lines a long ammunition and supply 
 train is making its way to the German front. 
 I am to lead an air squadron against it. It 
 will be a bombing raid and very dangerous. 
 We shall start at three o 'clock to-morrow morn- 
 ing. The supply train, according to our cal- 
 culations, will be at a certain point to-morrow 
 morning at four o'clock. It is then that we 
 shall attack. The craft that I shall use will be 
 a Voisin. In it will be only you, my bom- 
 bardier and myself. Unless an unexpected 
 emergency should arise you will have little to 
 do save be my honored guest. It will be for you 
 the interesting experience, n'est ce pas?" 
 
 "I should rather say so!" Jimmy drew a 
 
UP ABOVE THE CLOUDS 169 
 
 sharp breath. "It's the bulliest thing that ever 
 happened to me. I can't begin to find words to 
 thank yon, sir." 
 
 "Yon need not try. I understand; tres 
 bien," Voissard assured, a smile touching his 
 firm mouth. 
 
 "With this he dropped the subject of the 
 night's work and directed the conversation 
 toward more impersonal topics. 
 
 Outside the village, Jimmy was amazed at 
 the activities of the Allied war machine. All 
 along the way they encountered numbers of 
 motor-lorries, trucks and ambulances traveling 
 over the roads in steady streams. Huge trac- 
 tors puffed and snorted along in advance of 
 strings of farm wagons. Occasionally a racer, 
 carrying staff officers, shot by them. Once they 
 passed a company of French soldiers on the 
 march from one battle section to another. 
 Frequently motorcycles ridden by despatch 
 men chugged by them. In the fields peasant 
 women and children could be seen preparing 
 the ground for spring planting. It was a varied 
 and interesting panorama that Jimmy gazed 
 upon, wide-eyed and curious. 
 
 Arrived at the escadrille, a new world of won- 
 der was opened to him. He saw rows and rows 
 of hangars, housing countless Allied fighting 
 birds. 
 
 Though Voissard did not belong to this par- 
 ticular escadrille, he was very much at home 
 
170 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 there. On the way to the headquarters of the 
 escadrille commander, the Flying Terror was 
 greeted, with admiring respect by all whom 
 they chanced to encounter. Everyone appeared 
 to know him, though he ruefully confessed to 
 Jimmy that he could not recall the faces of 
 many of the aviators who claimed his acquaint- 
 ance. 
 
 As the guest of Cousin Emile, Jimmy became 
 also the guest of the escadrille commander. It 
 was almost unbelievable, he thought, that an 
 ordinary Sammy like himself should be eating 
 luncheon with two such great men. Luncheon 
 over, he was taken on a tour about the aviation 
 field and saw new sights to marvel at. Stand- 
 ing somewhat in awe of the commander, a very 
 tall Frenchman with a somewhat austere face, 
 he soon became quite at his ease. Despite his 
 severe expression, "Mon Captaine," as Vois- 
 sard affectionately addressed the commander, 
 was a very human sort of person and treated 
 him with the benevolent friendliness which an 
 older man often displays toward a youngster. 
 
 Enjoying himself hugely, Jimmy longed, nev- 
 ertheless, for the great moment to arrive when 
 be should take his first trip through the clouds. 
 At eight o 'clock Voissard and himself both lay 
 down for a few hours' rest before the start. 
 Jimmy was too thoroughly wide awake even to 
 doze off briefly. Now and then, by the faint 
 rays of the night light burning in the room, 
 
UP ABOVE THE CLOUDS 171 
 
 he consulted his wrist watch. Would two 
 o'clock never come? 
 
 Two o'clock, though slow in coming, finally 
 came. Provided by Voissard with the close- 
 fitting head-gear and heavy fur-lined coat of 
 the aviator, the two made their way across the 
 aviation field to the hangar in which the Voisin 
 reposed that Voissard was to fly that night. 
 They found there the bombardier, a slim, alert 
 Frenchman with piercing black eyes. Jimmy 
 grinned in the dark to hear Cousin Emile ad- 
 dress the man as Gaston. The name Brought 
 humorous recollection of Bob's goat. 
 
 Watching Voissard by the flaring light in 
 the hangar, Jimmy observed the workmanlike 
 manner in which the aviator examined his air- 
 plane. He tested every point of it, giving the 
 engine a most minute going over. 
 
 Meanwhile Gaston was equally busy attend- 
 ing to his own part of the work. He tested the 
 bomb carrier and counted his stock of percus- 
 sion caps for the bombs. He went over the 
 machine gun, set the clock in the front of the 
 machine to the exact second, tested the alti- 
 meter and saw that the compass was correctly 
 hung. 
 
 Eleven other bombing planes besides Vois- 
 sard 's were to take part in the expedition. His 
 was the only plane to carry an extra man. The 
 others each had only a pilot and bombardier. 
 Besides the twelve, five lighter, swifter planes, 
 
172 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Nieuports all, were to go along as a guard to 
 warn the bombers of the approach of hostile 
 aircraft and to give battle should the heavier 
 planes be obliged to retreat. 
 
 To Jimmy it was indeed thrilling to watch 
 plane after plane line np at the end of the field 
 for the start. In the flaring glow cast by pow- 
 erful lights set at each corner of the field, he 
 could plainly see the faces of the pilots and 
 the bombardiers. They were laughing and 
 talking among themselves, unconcerned by the 
 danger of the detail ahead of them. 
 
 Soon pilots and bombardiers were seated in 
 their planes, awaiting the word from the squad- 
 ron commander who had come down to see 
 them off. 
 
 Voissard's plane was to make the first ascent. 
 Seated behind, in the place usually occupied 
 by the observer, Jimmy held his breath as the 
 commander sang out, "All ready I" 
 
 "Turn!" shouted Voissard to the mechan- 
 ician standing beside the plane. 
 
 The man spun the propeller and jumped 
 back out of the way. The engine tuned up and 
 then — Jimmy felt the movement of the plane 
 as it began rolling along the field. It gathered 
 speed, then began to rise. At last he knew 
 what it meant to fly. 
 
 Higher and higher the plane rose. Far be- 
 low Jimmy could see the lights of the aviation 
 field as mere pin points. Soon these became 
 
UP ABOVE THE CLOUDS 173 
 
 completely obliterated. Looking back, Jimmy 
 could make out the other planes stringing in a 
 long succession behind them. Headed straight 
 for the German lines, the Voisin suddenly 
 plunged into a cloud bank and the flying squad- 
 ron vanished from Jimmy's view. 
 
 At length, emerging from the clouds, he 
 could see none of the squadron. He guessed 
 that they were now going through the same 
 bank that had lately engulfed Voissard's 
 plane. His first sensation of dizziness now 
 past, he began to realize that it was very cold 
 up there in the clouds. He was grateful for 
 the warmth of his fur-lined coat. He calculated 
 that they must be sweeping the skies at the 
 rate of at least eighty miles an hour. He 
 wished he might speak to Voissard or Gaston, 
 but the roar of the engine was too great for 
 that. Shouting his loudest he would not be 
 able to make himself heard. He wondered what 
 had become of the squadron. Had they lost 
 their companions so soon? 
 
 Keeping up an anxious watch, he saw at last 
 plane after plane reappear. They had won 
 free of the cloud bank. Presently he saw some- 
 thing else. Fifteen hundred feet below him, 
 he could make out red, twisting lines of fire, 
 accompanied by glaring, crimson flashes. He 
 was over his own lines. Those flaming lines 
 and vivid flashes proceeded from the American 
 guns. 
 
174 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 Now the plane was beginning to soar higher. 
 Voissard was getting safely above the up- 
 climbing curve of the American shells. On they 
 went. They Avere now crossing what looked 
 like a dense black patch. Jimmy knew it to be 
 No Man's Land. He could see it plainly, as, 
 ever and again, a star shell rose and bathed 
 it in a radiant, bluish- white light. It was the 
 deadly, cruel land that had claimed poor 
 Schnitz. 
 
 Soon the writhing lines of fire were again vis- 
 ible. They had crossed No Man's Land and 
 were over the German lines. Both sides were 
 furiously at it. It was evident to him, even 
 at that height, that Fritz was getting heavier 
 punishment than he was inflicting. The air 
 shock of the explosion of American shells made 
 the plane rock like a ship at sea. 
 
 With the German lines safely passed, the 
 plane flew steadily onward toward its objective 
 point. Engaged in keeping track of the squad- 
 ron, Jimmy felt relieved when, one by one, they 
 began to draw closer. They were gathering for 
 the attack. He decided that it must be near- 
 ing four o'clock. From then on he kept his 
 eyes trained downward in an effort to pick 
 up a long, dark outline, which would be the 
 supply train. Though it was still dark it was 
 the gloom that precedes dawn's first faint light. 
 A few minutes and he should be able to see the 
 earth below quite plainly. 
 
UP ABOVE THE CLOUDS 175 
 
 Presently Voissard began to spiral down. 
 His example was followed by the pilots of the 
 other planes. With motors shut off the squad- 
 ron volplaned. Jimmy could now distinguish 
 the thin black line. It appeared to be creeping 
 very slowly. In the bomber 's seat, Gaston was 
 making ready to drop his bombs. As flight- 
 captain, Voissard would give the signal. In 
 turn each machine would come to an even keel 
 at a point set, drop its bombs and dart away. 
 Voissard 's machine would be the last to go. 
 The whole performance would last hardly more 
 than a minute. 
 
 As each plane did its work and scudded off, 
 another took its place. Each bomber strove to 
 land his bombs where they would do the most 
 good. Peering downward with strained eyes, 
 Jimmy saw and heard that which filled him with 
 delirious joy. Amid continuous explosions and 
 angry tongues of fire, the long black line ap- 
 peared suddenly to completely dissolve, and 
 disappear. Few of the bombs had missed their 
 mark. Jimmy could well imagine the devasta- 
 tion attending that raid. 
 
 It was over now. Gaston had done his bit 
 and Voissard was flying for home. Directly be- 
 hind him came the fighting Nieuports, ready to 
 cover the retreat of the bombing planes. They 
 would be needed. Across the rapidly coming 
 dawn half a dozen German Aviatiks were 
 hastening to the fray. From below Boche anti- 
 
176 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 aircraft guns were now pegging at the return- 
 ing bombing party. 
 
 The speed of the Aviatik being very great, 
 five of them soon drew upon the Nieuports and 
 attacked them viciously. The first Aviatik to 
 the scene swept straight over in pursuit of 
 Voissard, opening fire upon the plane. Very 
 trickily it kept behind and a little lower, thus 
 making it impossible for Gaston to pepper it 
 with machine-gun bullets. 
 
 Voissard, however, had no intention of per- 
 mitting the Aviatik this liberty. By a clever 
 ruse he caused his plane to dive sharply, as 
 though hit and disabled. Allowing it to careen 
 wildly for an instant, he made a lightning drop 
 in front of the German plane, then swept past 
 it like a flash. "When he again brought it to an 
 even keel it was under the Boche plane and a 
 little to its rear. 
 
 Gaston whooped with joy and turned the 
 machine gun upon it. Incidental with this, one 
 of the Nieuports came to the rescue. Under a 
 heavy fusillade the Aviatik promptly took to 
 her heels and sailed out of danger. 
 
 Again Voissard took up the homeward flight. 
 The plane was still behind the Boche lines when 
 a well directed shell from a German Archie 
 grazed it, causing it to pitch violently. The 
 shock of the explosion, coupled with the wild 
 rocking, would have thrown Jimmy out of the 
 plane had he not been securely strapped in. 
 
UP ABOVE THE CLOUDS 177 
 
 He saw Gaston clap a hand to his breast and 
 crumple. Splinters flew from one of the struts. 
 The plane continued to stagger. It was drop- 
 ping now. Yes, Voissard was still at the con- 
 trols, working like a madman to keep the plane 
 under guidance. Still the rushing descent con- 
 tinued. Jimmy felt a queer giddiness sweep 
 over him in long, sickening waves. This was 
 the end. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE UNSPEAKABLE CRIME 
 
 WITHIN the next two minutes Jimmy 
 reversed his opinion that the end had 
 come. True, they were still dropping, 
 but at the instigation of a master hand on the 
 controls, the Voisin was once more obeying 
 its pilot and volplaning easily earthward. 
 
 Now they were not more than two hundred 
 feet from the ground and hanging over a ruined 
 farmhouse. Some distance behind it stood a 
 dilapidated barn. A little below the barn was 
 an orchard of apple trees which sloped grad- 
 ually down to open meadow land. 
 
 At a point in the meadow close to the or- 
 chard, the plane finally made harbor. As it 
 touched ground Jimmy peered anxiously about 
 for signs of human beings. German soldiers 
 could not be far away. Behind the German 
 lines, as they were, they could not hope to 
 escape being seen and fired upon. 
 
 Strangely enough, no shots were fired as the 
 178 
 
THE UNSPEAKABLE CRIME 179 
 
 plane made a landing. Over all hung the mys- 
 tery of dawn, broken only by the pounding of 
 the guns on the battle lines. Jimmy had fully 
 expected to fight for his life the instant he 
 reached terra firma. It dazed him to find him- 
 self behind the German lines, for even a mo- 
 ment, unmolested. 
 
 "We are in a most dangerous locality, mon 
 cher Blaise." Voissard had already left the 
 machine and was circling it, making a hasty 
 examination as he went. "We must leave here 
 at once!" he continued. "It was either this 
 or perhaps a fall when over the Boche lines. I 
 knew not the extent of damage done by that 
 Archie. It has lost me my good Gaston. That 
 is, indeed, a loss. I am deeply grieved. Yet 
 this is not the occasion for the grief. A mo- 
 ment and I shall know how quickly we may 
 ascend. I knew this spot and determined thus 
 to take the risk of one little moment's land- 
 ing." 
 
 "Is there anything I can do, sir?" Jimmy 
 eagerly offered. "Perhaps I can help " 
 
 "Wait." 
 
 Voissard dived into the car, returning with 
 a pair of revolvers and a box of cartridges. 
 
 "Take these and stand guard," he ordered, 
 offering one of the revolvers to Jimmy. 
 "Should a Boche soldier appear, shoot him on 
 sight. It is yet early and we are some distance 
 from the enemy trenches. Still there is always 
 
180 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 the outpost gnard or the patrol to reckon with. 
 Again, this is of a truth a fitting spot for an 
 early morning execution." 
 
 Obediently mounting guard, Jimmy stood at 
 alert while the aviator busied himself with his 
 machine. For twenty minutes he remained 
 thus, his ears cocked for the slightest hostile 
 sound, his eyes keeping a bright lookout. 
 
 "It is well!' 1 ' the aviator at length exclaimed, 
 raising up from the engine. "The damage to 
 the plane has been, after all, small. "We shall 
 regain our lines easily, provided we can escape 
 enemy planes on our way. We cannot fight as 
 we have no Gaston. The enemy guns we may 
 escape by flying high. Come ; into the seat, my 
 boy. We must lose no time. Do not fail to 
 strap yourself in." 
 
 Motioning him into the observer's seat, 
 Voissard turned sorrowfully to the crumpled 
 form of the bomber. It had slid well down 
 into the seat Gaston had been occupying when 
 killed. Strapping the body securely, so that it 
 could not tumble out, the aviator sighed: 
 
 "Mon pauvre ami," he mourned. "It is the 
 best I can do for you until we have reached 
 our station." 
 
 Very grimly he strode to the propeller. 
 Starting the engine he leaped into the pilot's 
 seat. The engine responding with a deafen- 
 ing roar, the plane began to roll over the soft 
 ground. 
 
THE UNSPEAKABLE CRIME 181 
 
 His revolver in readiness, Jimmy kept his 
 eyes trained earthward as they left the meadow 
 and took to the air. Again they passed over 
 the orchard and were on the point of spiraling 
 upward when a shont issued from Jimmy's 
 lips that Voissard heard even above the noise 
 of the engine. 
 
 Simultaneous with it a revolver spoke. In- 
 stantly Cousin Emile looked down and under- 
 stood. Shutting off the motor, he volplaned 
 and made skilful landing on an open space be- 
 tween the barn and the orchard. Before the 
 plane touched earth, the revolver had spoken 
 again. 
 
 ' 'Oh, the brutes! The dirty, yellow brutes! 
 Thank God, I've done for two of 'em!" 
 
 Another shot accompanied Jimmy's hoarse 
 exclamation, shouted in a perfect frenzy of 
 loathing. Out there in the stillness of the 
 morning, Jimmy had come upon the thing 
 which will forever brand the Germans as fiends 
 incarnate. Half a dozen Boches were about 
 to crucify an American soldier. 
 
 Looking down, his eyes had come to rest on 
 the barn. Grouped about the closed door were 
 half a dozen German soldiers. He caught a 
 glimpse of a hatless, olive-drab figure, spread- 
 eagled against the door. He saw the gleam of 
 bayonets — then he shouted and in the same in- 
 stant fired his revolver. 
 
 Intent on their fiendish work, the crucifiers 
 
182 THE KHAKI BOYS A T T HE FRONT 
 
 had paid no attention to the purr of the aero- 
 plane's engine. They were not looking for an 
 enemy plane so far behind their own lines. 
 
 At Jimmy's first shot a Boche threw np his 
 arms and dropped. Instantly the other five 
 whirled and left their victim, whose outspread 
 arms were bonnd to two staples hastily driven 
 into the door. Then another Hun clutched his 
 breast and pitched forward. A third fell, shot 
 through the head. 
 
 Always cowardly when cornered, two of the 
 remaining trio took one look at the plane and 
 ran. Only one stood his ground. Bayonet dis- 
 carded, he pulled an automatic pistol and 
 opened fire on Jimmy. 
 
 A shot from Voissard's revolver pierced the 
 Hun's left arm. Jimmy fired again. He 
 thought he had missed his man, and was about 
 to try again when he saw the Boche sway, take 
 a tottering step forward, and collapse forward 
 in a heap on the ground. 
 
 The plane having rolled along a few yards 
 and come to a standstill, Jimmy and the avi- 
 ator leaped out of it and ran to the rescue of 
 the trussed Sammy. 
 
 "My poor fellow " 
 
 Sheer amazement checked the expression of 
 sympathy that welled to Cousin Emile's lips. 
 His young friend Blaise was laughing and cry- 
 ing and hugging the man fastened to the door 
 as though quite bereft of his senses. 
 
THE UNSPEAKABLE CRIME 183 
 
 "Oh, Schnitz! Oh, Schnitz!" Jimmy sobbed 
 out wildly. 
 
 "Blazes, my — bunkae!" Down Schnitzel's 
 wan cheeks the tears were streaming. 
 
 Then Voissard knew and his own eyes 
 blurred. For a moment he stood back, saying 
 nothing. Realization of their peril made not 
 only speech but prompt action necessary. 
 Whipping a clasp knife from a coat pocket he 
 opened it and proceeded to cut Schnitzel loose 
 from the door. This done he offered his hand 
 to the German- American, saying simply: 
 "Thanks to le bon Dieu, we arrived in time. 
 Now we must leave here instantly. Two of the 
 beasts have escaped. They will give the alarm 
 and a patrol will be sent out against us. We 
 must make haste or perhaps all suffer the fate 
 intended for you. The Boches will be much 
 enraged over the loss of these canaille." 
 
 Voissard scornfully indicated the four dead 
 Boches, sprawling hideously on the ground, the 
 result of Jimmy's ability to shoot to kill. 
 
 "I'd forgotten the dogs for the moment." 
 Turning from Schnitzel, Jimmy's face regis- 
 tered the utmost loathing as his eyes took in 
 the ugly but satisfactory sight. 
 
 "Just a second and then we'll beat it. Come 
 here, Blazes." 
 
 Schnitzel strode over to one of the dead, lying 
 face downward in the mud. Grasping the body 
 by the shoulders, he turned it viciously on its 
 
184 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 back. It was clothed in the uniform of a Boche 
 captain. 
 
 Jimmy peered down at the ghastly, black- 
 bearded face. The dead man's eyes, wide open, 
 stared malignantly up at him. 
 
 "The tiger man!" burst from his amazed 
 lips. 
 
 At the cry, Voissard sprang to his side. To- 
 gether the three men stood looking down for an 
 instant at that glassy-eyed, wicked face. 
 
 "And I got him!" 
 
 Jimmy spoke in awed, unbelieving tones. 
 
 "Come," Voissard warned sharply. "To 
 the plane. The explanation of this must wait. 
 I doubt not that it must be of a truth amazing." 
 
 "It is," Schnitzel grimly assured. 
 
 With one accord the three turned and hur- 
 ried to the spot where the aeroplane stood. 
 Turning his revolver over to Schnitzel, the 
 aviator ordered them into the plane, provided 
 Schnitzel with an extra coat and cap which had 
 belonged to Gaston, and made hurried prepa- 
 rations to rise. The open space between the 
 barn and orchard was large and level enough 
 to permit of an easy get-away. 
 
 Hardly had the plane left the ground when 
 the dreaded patrol appeared. It was composed 
 of at least a dozen Boches. They charged 
 through the orchard, shooting as they came. 
 Bullets whistled past the plane, but failed to 
 touch it. 
 
THE UNSPEAKABLE CRIME 185 
 
 Spiraling on upward, the plane drew away 
 from the orchard and beyond range of Boche 
 rifles. Higher and higher it flew and found 
 protection above a long gray cloud-bank. The 
 morning sky heavily overcast, Cousin Emile 
 looked to the friendly clouds to shield them 
 in their flight over the German lines. 
 
 Once well above the clouds, Schnitzel had 
 laid aside his revolver and turned his atten- 
 tion to the machine gun. Finding a fresh belt 
 of cartridges close beside it, he removed the 
 spent belt, which Gaston had used up in the 
 attack on the Aviatik, and loaded the gun for 
 ready use. 
 
 Traveling at high speed half an hour's run 
 would see them clear of the German lines. As 
 they continued the flight the clouds began to 
 scatter and the sun came out. Above No Man's 
 Land they broke from the clouds and in the 
 same instant encountered a foe. Not far ahead 
 and above them flew an Aviatik on its way back 
 to the German lines. It had also been taking 
 advantage of the cloud curtain. 
 
 Each pilot saw his enemy in the same mo- 
 ment. Without a gunner, Voissard realized 
 that in flight lay the only chance of safety. He 
 must dash straight on under the Aviatik and 
 win clear of it if he could. Its speed being 
 greater than that of his own plane, he already 
 regarded himself as doomed. 
 
 As the plane darted on in a swift, level 
 
186 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 course, Voissard's ears caught a dim rattling 
 sound that briefly startled him. Had Gaston 
 come to life? A flashing glance over his 
 shoulder revealed not Gaston, but Schnitzel, at 
 the machine gun. Schnitzel had acted with 
 lightning swiftness. His carefully gathered 
 knowledge of guns and aircraft now saved the 
 day. 
 
 Behind the Aviatik and on an even keel under 
 it, he knew their position to be ideal for hitting 
 the Boche plane. Having made ready for any 
 emergency, he had opened tire at the right mo- 
 ment. A rain of bullets hit the Aviatik 
 squarely. One of them toppled the pilot over. 
 Others must have struck a vital point of the 
 machine, for it began to stagger. Fairly rid- 
 dled by bullets, the doomed plane lurched 
 wildly, turned half over, and began a last 
 tumultuous, uncontrolled descent to earth. 
 Schnitzel had indeed made good as a gun- 
 ner. 
 
 The Aviatik done to death, the flight was 
 swiftly continued. Now over the American 
 lines the danger momently lessened. In the 
 distance they saw three French planes chasing 
 a Boche Albatross that was making a desperate 
 effort to get away from its pursuers. 
 
 They came at last to the aviation station and 
 were received jubilantly by a group of shouting 
 aviators who had run out to meet them. It 
 had been feared by those who had taken part 
 
THE UNSPEAKABLE CRIME 187 
 
 in the bombing expedition that Voissard had 
 made his last flight. 
 
 Clambering out of the aeroplane, it seemed 
 to Jimmy Blaise as thongh he was returning 
 to reality from a strange dream. Only the liv- 
 ing, breathing presence of Schnitz, his bunkie, 
 standing beside him, assured him that he had 
 not dreamed. His ''hunch" that Schnitz and 
 he would meet again had not been an idle one. 
 Out of the very jaws of death, Schnitz had 
 come back. 
 
CHAPTER XXTTT 
 
 LOYAL. UNTO DEATH 
 
 WHAT happened next, Jimmy Blaise 
 never forgot. The instant Voissard 
 was out of the plane he strode over to 
 Schnitzel. Laying a hand affectionately on the 
 German- American's shoulder, he addressed in 
 French the group of aviators crowded about 
 him. 
 
 "My comrades," he said, "here is indeed a 
 gunner ! ' ' Then he went on to relate to his fel- 
 low flyers the details of the fight with the Avi- 
 atik, speaking rapidly and gesticulating in true 
 French fashion. Going back further, he next 
 cited Jimmy up for honors. When he had con- 
 cluded his account, Jimmy and Schnitzel under- 
 went the embarrassment of each being saluted 
 on both cheeks by Cousin Emile. Nor did it 
 stop there. The enthusiastic French flyers pro- 
 ceeded to do them honor in the same way. 
 Afterward both solemnly swore to each other in 
 private never to do anything again in France 
 
 188 
 
LOYAL UNTO DEATH 189 
 
 that would pnt them in line for another "kiss- 
 ing bee." 
 
 Outwardly they behaved very well, consider- 
 ing the ingrained prejudice a sturdy American 
 lad has to being thus saluted by his own sex. 
 "When it was all over, they accompanied Vois- 
 sard to headquarters. Both were immeasur- 
 ably relieved to find that the squadron com- 
 mander made no attempt to kiss them. He 
 shook hands with them, however, and said some 
 highly complimentary things to each. 
 
 Both Schnitzel and Jimmy were longing 
 with all their hearts for a chance to talk things 
 out. While in the plane the noise of the engine 
 had made exchange of speech quite impossible. 
 
 Of his own accord, however, Jimmy could 
 have cheerfully hugged Cousin Emile when the 
 aviator tactfully cut short the interview with 
 the squadron commander and marshalled his 
 heroic charges to the quarters of a friend, a 
 Communique of that particular escadrille. 
 
 "Here we shall have the hot bath. After- 
 ward the breakfast at L 'escadrille mess. My 
 friend, Pierre, is not within. Always his quar- 
 ters are mine, when I chance to visit here," 
 Voissard explained as they entered the Com- 
 munique's snug little quarters. 
 
 "I guess you knew, sir, that we were dying 
 to talk," burst forth J immy gratefully. 
 
 "I had the suspicion." Voissard smiled at 
 impetuous Blazes. "Soon the opportunity will 
 
190 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 be ours. May I suggest that you have the pa- 
 tience until after the bath f At breakfast there 
 will be no one to interrupt." 
 
 The luxury of a hot bath was greatly appre- 
 ciated by the three adventurers. Schnitzel, 
 however, deplored the dilapidated condition of 
 his uniform. 
 
 "It's been dragged all through Bocheland, " 
 he mourned. "Guess I'll keep my rags cov- 
 ered with this big coat. I'll have to go on 
 borrowing this cap, too, until I get back to 
 Sammy headquarters. 
 
 Seeking the escadrille mess, they were glad 
 to find it practically deserted of occupants.. 
 The members of the escadrille had already 
 breakfasted and were either out in the field or 
 on various details. 
 
 "Now, Schnitz, for Heaven's sake tell us 
 what happened to you out there in No Man's 
 Land, ' ' sighed Jimmy, when the trio had taken 
 seats at a table and ordered breakfast. 
 
 "It seems about a hundred years since 
 then." Schnitzel paused. For an instant he 
 was silent. 
 
 "I hadn't gone six yards from that shell 
 
 * i 
 
 crater when I ran full tilt into a Boche patrol 
 he began. "I put up a fight and croaked two 
 of 'em. They were too many for me. One of 
 the brutes hit me over the head and I went to 
 sleep. When I came to I thought for a minute 
 I was back in our own trenches and that I'd 
 
LOYAL UNTO DEATH 191 
 
 been dreaming. My head hurt like sixty. I 
 put my hand up to the back of it and when I 
 looked at it it was covered with blood. Then 
 I saw a couple of Sammies a little way down 
 the trench. They looked all banged up, too. I 
 started to yell at 'em and a Boche sentry came 
 up and kicked me and spit on me and ordered 
 me to shut up. I felt for my identification tag 
 and it was gone. Then I knew where I was 
 all right enough. 
 
 ' ' That sentry was dying for me to say some- 
 thing so he could kick me some more, but I 
 fooled him. I shut up like a clam. I stayed 
 there all day without so much as a drink of 
 water. The sentry, the fellow that kicked me, 
 was on the job every minute till he was relieved. 
 His relief was worse. He kept walking by the 
 three of us and every time he passed us he'd 
 either strike or kick us. Our hands were tied 
 behind our backs and our feet were tied to- 
 gether, so we couldn 't do a thing to him. When- 
 ever we tried to talk to one another we got a 
 clip from him. 
 
 "After dark a couple of Bodies came and 
 untied my feet. They walked me to a dugout. 
 There were half a dozen Hun officers there. 
 One of 'em, a Boche captain, began talking to 
 me in German. I pretended I didn't under- 
 stand. He got raving mad and said he knew I 
 was a German by my identification tag. I 
 didn't fall for him, though. 
 
192 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 "Then he turned to an Unteroffizier and or- 
 dered : ' Question him in English. ' The fellow 
 saluted. Then he asked me in English if my 
 name was Franz Schnitzel. I said it was and 
 he asked me if I could understand German. I 
 said I was ashamed to say that I could. He 
 told the captain and the brute got up and hit 
 me across the mouth. 
 
 "He hit me a good one. It made me dizzy, 
 but I pulled myself together and laughed in his 
 face. Then I turned on the Unterdog and let 
 him have it. I told him I hated the Boches like 
 poison and that I was all American and not a 
 bit Hun and a lot of other things that weren't 
 exactly complimentary to the Kaiser and his 
 brood. 
 
 "I wondered why they didn't all jump on me 
 at once and finish me. They wanted to, I guess, 
 but they didn't. They had other plans for me. 
 The Unterdog told me I was a traitor to the 
 Fatherland and that they were going to make 
 an example of me. I said for them to go as far 
 as they liked, and that ended the seance. The 
 two Boche watchdogs took me back to the 
 trench and the one behind me kicked me all the 
 way there. 
 
 "I didn't get anything to eat that night but 
 next morning I got a bit of black bread and a 
 tin cup full of barley coffee. I was crazy for 
 water, but nothing doing. I got a little in the 
 afternoon and a piece of bread and some sau- 
 
LOYAL UNTO DEATH 193 
 
 sage at night. That's a sample of what hap- 
 pened every day for the next three days. I 
 used to take a trip to the captain's dugout 
 once a day and he 'd try to make me talk to him 
 in German. The third time I went I slammed 
 the Boches so hard to the interpreter that when 
 he told the captain what I said the brute got 
 crazy and flew at me like a wild beast. He gave 
 me a terrible walloping with a gun-barrel. I 
 went to sleep and had to be dragged back to 
 the trench. It was one of the reserve trenches 
 I was in. I had to make a long hike through a 
 com. trench every time I went to visit the cap- 
 tain. 
 
 "It went on like that until last night. Early 
 in the evening I took my usual trip to the dug- 
 out. When I got there I saw a new face in the 
 officer crowd. It belonged to that beast you 
 croaked, Blazes. He had the wickedest pair of 
 eyes I ever saw in a man's head. I didn't know 
 him from Adam, but he thought he knew me, it 
 seemed. He kept staring at me for a while, 
 then he started to talk a blue streak to the cap- 
 tain. I caught most of it. Maybe I wasn't 
 dazed to hear him telling all about the bridge 
 racket back at Marvin and the Columbia, and 
 that I was one of the friends of the American 
 swine — that was you, Blazes — who had done for 
 him on the Columbia." 
 
 "How did he know that you were?" Jimmy 
 cried out in excitement. 
 
194 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 "He'd been hanging around the French 
 training camp for a week, shadowing yon. He 
 knew every one of the five Brothers by sight. 
 He followed ns to Paris and back and tried to 
 shoot ns up that night." 
 
 "I knew it was he!" exploded Jimmy. 
 "What did I tell you?" He turned trium- 
 phantly to Voissard. 
 
 "You were indeed correct." With this smil- 
 ing assurance, Cousin Emile motioned to 
 Schnitzel to continue. 
 
 "He went on about you, Blazes, to beat the 
 band. He certainly called you some names. 
 That wireless fellow on the Columbia was his 
 son. That came out in the talk. The fellow 
 told about signaling a TJ-Boat the night you got 
 him. He had it all planned to jump overboard 
 and be picked up by a Boche boat. Then you 
 queered his game. He didn't know a thing 
 about the real smash. His son put that over 
 by himself, I guess. The father was picked up 
 
 by a trawler and landed in L . You saw 
 
 him on the station platform. He told about 
 that, too. 
 
 "That's about all of his history, except that 
 he asked the captain to turn me over to him to 
 deal with. You ought to have seen his eyes 
 when he said it. Some healthy little hate they 
 registered. I was turned over to him next 
 morning. Before daylight he headed a gang 
 that came for me and marched me off to that 
 
LOYAL UNTO DEATH 195 
 
 barn. It was a long walk. You know the rest. 
 Your coming was a miracle. I'd made up my 
 mind not to peep when they bayoneted me to 
 that door. I was going to die game for the 
 U. S." 
 
 "Oh, Glory, but I'm glad I croaked him!" 
 Jimmy's exclamation rang with an intensity of 
 [hatred. "He was some spy, Schnitz. Mon 
 Captaine," he glanced mischievously at Cousin 
 Emile, "found out all about him. His name 
 was von Kreitzen. He was an Austrian spy; 
 one of the biggest villains going." 
 
 "I never heard his name," returned Schnit- 
 zel. "They never called him anything but cap- 
 tain. Guess he must have been lying low in the 
 army. The other officers fairly groveled to him. 
 You ought to be decorated for croaking him, 
 Blazes." 
 
 "Oh, I'm not so much." Jimmy grinned 
 cheerfully. "You've got something coming to 
 you, Schnitz, when you get back to headquar- 
 ters. You stopped the raid that night, only 
 you never knew it. ' ' 
 
 "France will also wish to honor you," de- 
 clared Voissard. "You did the great work this 
 morning with the machine gun. My poor, good 
 Gaston could not have done better. I would 
 that you were my gunner." 
 
 "I thank you, mon Captaine/' Schnitzel 
 smilingly borrowed Jimmy's familiar appella- 
 tion in addressing Voissard. "I should like to 
 
196 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 be your gnnner. I'd accept the detail in a 
 minute except for one thing. I can't resign my 
 job with Uncle Sammy." 
 
 Schnitzel's dark face was illuminated by a 
 radiant flash of patriotism that sprang from 
 the depths of his soul. 
 
 "Never mind. If you cannot be my gunner, 
 you can always be my honored comrade and 
 friend." Across the table Voissard's hand 
 went out to Schnitzel. "It is all one. We are 
 linked by all that we hold highest to rid the 
 world of the curse of militarism." 
 
 "It's all the same old Glory Road, and it 
 leads to Berlin and victory for the Allies," sup- 
 plemented Jimmy. "Whether we're Sammies, 
 Frenchies, Tommies or Wops, we're all doing 
 our bit for the same old cause." 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 WAITING FOR ZEEO HOTJE 
 
 £1 T "T IM is done, ' ' announced Ignace Pu- 
 linski solemnly, as he slipped the let- 
 **■ ter he had just finished writing into 
 
 an envelope. "So I never come back, will poor 
 my mothar this have an' keep always, rememer 
 me." 
 
 "Oh, can the croak, Iggy, " ordered Jimmy 
 Blaise, looking up from his writing. "We're 
 coming back, every last one of us. I've got a 
 hunch that this won't be our last stab at the 
 Boches." 
 
 "That's as good as a safe conduct pass 
 through the shindig," declared Bob emphatic- 
 ally. "I've a lot of respect for those hunches 
 of yours since Schnitz came back." 
 
 Gathered in a corner of a front-line dugout, 
 the five Brothers were conducting a writing- 
 bee which, in spite of Jimmy's "hunch," might 
 be the last for part, if not all, of them. Four 
 o'clock the next morning was to be zero hour 
 
 197 
 
198 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 for them. The long-expected ordeal was at 
 hand. The 509th men were soon to know how 
 it felt to go Over the Top. 
 
 It was now a few minutes past ten o'clock 
 in the evening. Just after dark the order had 
 come. Two days had elapsed since their return 
 from rest billets to the trenches. They had 
 returned to front-line duty on the morning fol- 
 lowing a furious bombardment of the Boche 
 trenches by American batteries, which had 
 ended in a Sammy raiding party Over the 
 Top. The raid had been a great success so 
 far as the capture of guns and prisoners was 
 concerned. Many Sammies had been sacrificed, 
 however. As a result the resting detachments 
 had come back to replace their lost comrades. 
 
 During those two days, Fritz had been hav- 
 ing his own troubles. Night and day the Amer- 
 icans had kept up a harrying rifle and machine- 
 gun fire. Hordes of Allied aeroplanes had 
 sailed boldly over the German lines, dropping 
 bombs on the reinforcements and supplies 
 which the Boches were engaged in bringing up 
 to their own lines. Fierce indeed had been the 
 aerial fights. Many an intrepid pilot on both 
 sides had gone crashing down to death. Un- 
 daunted, the Allies continued to send fresh re- 
 lays of airmen out to carry on this most haz- 
 ardous work. 
 
 Now, while the iron was hot, it had been 
 determined to strike another blow. Thus it was 
 
WAITING FOR ZERO HOUR 199 
 
 that Jimmy Blaise and his bunkies were writ- 
 ing their home letters, preparatory to taking 
 part in the raid to be made just before dawn. 
 For almost two weeks they had been jogging 
 along a smooth, peaceful stretch of the famous 
 Glory Boad. Now they would soon strike 
 rough hiking. 
 
 On the evening following the rescue of 
 Franz Schnitzel by Jimmy Blaise and Voissard, 
 the two bunkies had returned to billets. Vois- 
 sard had accompanied them and taken part in 
 the joyful little celebration that marked the 
 restoration of Schnitzel to his Brothers. 
 
 Headquarters was also glad to see Schnitzel. 
 He received flattering commendation for his 
 splendid services. He now wore on his left 
 sleeve the insignia of a sergeant. There came 
 for him, too, a wonderful day when France 
 acknowledged him as a hero and placed her 
 seal of approval upon his breast. Jimmy 
 Blaise, also, came in for his share of glory. 
 France was only too ready to decorate one who 
 had rid the world of a spy such as Adolph von 
 Kreitzen. What amazed Jimmy most of all was 
 the receipt of a large sum of money, the price 
 set by the French government on von 
 Kreitzen 's head. 
 
 For the five Brothers the past two weeks had 
 been one perpetual holiday. It was over now 
 and again they were facing War in all its grim- 
 ness. 
 
200 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 They had returned from their eventful so- 
 journ behind the lines inspired with renewed 
 loyalty and inspiration. This time on entering 
 the trenches they had felt little of the heavy 
 oppression which had hung over them on their 
 first journey to the fire trench. 
 
 * ' Of course, we 're not veterans yet by a long 
 shot," Bob had confided to Jimmy Blaise at the 
 beginning of their second trench detail. ' ' There 
 are quite a few little friendly acts that Fritz 
 hasn't got around to do for us yet. For one 
 thing, we haven't been gassed. Isn't that a 
 sweet prospect to look forward to? Betcha! 
 I only hope we'll be all dressed up in our gas 
 masks when the party begins. ' ' 
 
 Thus far, however, Fritz had kept gas dona- 
 tions at home. Given a day when the wind fav- 
 ored him he would undoubtedly display great 
 generosity in this respect. 
 
 ' ' Twenty after ten. ' ' Jimmy Blaise rose and 
 consulted his wrist watch. "I'll have to be get- 
 ting back to my station. I promised the lieu- 
 tenant I'd be back at ten-thirty sharp. It was 
 mighty kind in him to let me off to write my 
 letters and have a chin-chin with you f elloWs. ' ' 
 
 "We all owe our officers a lot for the same 
 privilege," Roger declared gratefully. "If we 
 don 't do 'em proud when the grand slam comes, 
 then we deserve to get licked." 
 
 "We're going to do 'em proud," emphasized 
 Bob. "Every last Sammy is aching to try cold 
 
WAITING FOR ZERO HOUR 201 
 
 steel on the Boches. I used to think going Over 
 the Top would be the limit. But I'm not afraid 
 of zero hour any more." 
 
 "So once think I," confessed Ignace, "but 
 no now. Only am I the sad we no go over top 
 side by each. I would by my Brother be then, 
 the care take." 
 
 "You'll have all you can do to take care of 
 yourself, Iggins," asserted Schnitzel. "It is 
 too bad, though, that we can't be shoulder to 
 shoulder in the big dash. ' ' 
 
 ""We've got to stay where we're put," sighed 
 Jimmy. "Never mind. What's the odds 
 where we fight, so long as we're fighting for 
 the same good old scout, Uncle Sam? Well, 
 time's up. I've got to beat it. Give me your 
 letters. The lieutenant's going to turn 'em 
 over to a man who's going back of the lines 
 to-night." 
 
 Now on their feet, his bunkies turned over 
 their letters to Jimmy. In silence the five left 
 the dugout. Outside it, by mutual consent, they 
 halted for a last affectionate hand grip all 
 around. 
 
 "We're not going to say good-bye, 'cause 
 I'm just as sure as anything that it's going to 
 be all 0. K. for the five Brothers," prophe- 
 sied Jimmy. "When the scrap's over and 
 the Boches are canned, meet me in this dug- 
 out. That's a date. See that you keep 
 it." 
 
202 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 "So is it." Ignace nodded, bound to agree 
 with his Best Brother. 
 
 " 'So is it,' " repeated Bob. "Never say 
 die. The right dope is, 'I'll see yon later!' " 
 
 And this was the hopeful watchword the five 
 Brothers took with them as they separated, 
 each to find his station and there await the 
 fateful coming of Zero Hour. 
 
 Just how truly Jimmy's prophecy was veri- 
 fied remains yet to be told in ' ' The Khaki Boys 
 Over the Top ; or, Doing and Daring for Uncle 
 Sam." 
 
THE KHAKI BOYS SERIES 
 
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 THE KHAKI BOYS AT CAMP STIRLING 
 
 or Training for the Big Fight in France 
 Two zealous young patriots volunteer and 
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 THE KHAKI BOYS ON THE WAY 
 
 or Doing Their Bit on Sea and Land. 
 
 Our soldier boys having completed their training at Camp Ster- 
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 realistic descriptions of the tragedies of the sea. 
 
 THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT 
 
 or Shoulder to Shoulder in the Trenches 
 
 The Khaki Boys reach France, and, after some intensive train- 
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 When Uncle Sam sent forth the ringing 
 call, "I need you!" it was not alone his 
 strong young sons who responded. All over 
 the United States capable American girls 
 stood ready to offer their services to their 
 country. How two young girls donned the 
 khaki and made good in the Motor Corps, 
 an organiastion. for women developed by 
 the Great War, forms a series of stories of 
 signal novelty and vivid interest and action. 
 
 THE KHAKI GIRLS OF THE MOTOR CORPS 
 
 or Finding Their Place in the Big War 
 
 Joan Mason, an enthusiastic motor girl, and Valerie Warde, a 
 society debutante, meet at an automobile show. Next day they 
 go together to the Motor Corps headquarters and in due time are 
 accepted and become members of the Corps, in the service of 
 the United States. The two girl drivers find motoring for 
 Uncle Sam a most exciting business. Incidentally they are 
 instrumental in rendering valuable service to the United 
 States government by discovering and running down a secret 
 organization of its enemies. 
 
 THE KHAKI GIRLS BEHIND THE LINES 
 
 or Driving with the Ambulance Corps 
 
 As a result of their splendid work in the Motor Corps, the 
 Khaki Girls receive the honor of an opportunity to drive with the 
 Ambulance Corps in France. After a most eventful and hazar- 
 dous crossing of the Atlantic, they arrive in France and are as- 
 signed to a station behind the lines. Constantly within range of 
 enemy shrapnel, out in all kinds of weather, tearing over shell- 
 torn roads and dodging Boche patrols, all go to make up the day's 
 work, and bring them many exciting adventures. 
 
 Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers 
 
 New York 
 
THE CURLYTOPS SERIES 
 
 By HOWARD R. GARIS 
 
 author of the famous "Bedtime Animal Stories" 
 
 limo. Cloth. Beautifully Illustrated. Jacket in full color. 
 Price per volume, 50 cents, net 
 
 Splendid stories for the little girls and 
 boys, told by one who is a past master in 
 the art of entertaining young people. 
 
 THE CURLYTOPS AT CHERRY FARM 
 
 or Vacation Days in the Country 
 
 A tale of happy vacation days on a farm. 
 The Curlytops have many exciting adven- 
 tures. 
 
 THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND 
 
 or Camping out with Grandpa 
 
 The Curlytops were delighted when grandpa took them to camp 
 on Star Island. There they had great fun an-d also helped to 
 solve a real mystery. 
 
 THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN 
 
 or Grand Fun with Skates and Sleds 
 
 Winter was a jolly time for the Curlytops, with their skates 
 and sleds, but when later they were snowed in they found many 
 new ways to enjoy themselves. 
 
 THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH 
 
 or Little Folks on Pony Back 
 
 Out West on their uncle's ranch they have a wonderful time 
 among the cowboys and on pony back. 
 
 Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers 
 
 New York 
 
THE BA SEBALL JOE SERIES 
 
 By LESTER CHADWICK 
 l2mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 7S cents, postpaid. 
 
 BASEBALL JOE OF THE SILVER STARS 
 
 or The Rivals of Riverside 
 Joe is an everyday country boy who loves 
 to play baseball and particularly to pitch. 
 
 BASEBALL JOE ON THE SCHOOL NINE 
 
 or Pitching for the Blue Banner 
 Joe's great ambition was to go to boarding 
 school and play on the school team. 
 
 BASEBALL JOE AT YALE 
 
 or Pitching for the College Championship 
 
 Joe goes to Yale University. In his second year he becomes a 
 varsity pitcher and pitches in several big games. 
 
 BASEBALL JOE IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE 
 
 or Making Good as a Professional Pitcher 
 
 In this volume the scene of action is shifted from Yale 
 college to a baseball league of our central states. 
 
 BASEBALL JOE IN THE BIG LEAGUE 
 
 or A Young Pitcher's Hardest Struggles 
 From the Central League Joe is drafted into the St. Louis 
 Nationals. A corking baseball story all fans will enjoy. 
 
 BASEBALL JOE ON THE GIANTS 
 
 or Making Good as a Twirler in the Metropolis 
 
 How Joe was traded to the Giants and became their mainstay 
 in the box makes an interesting baseball story. 
 
 BASEBALL JOE IN THE WORLD SERIES 
 
 or Pitclnng for the Championship 
 
 The rivalry was of course of the keenest, and what Joe did to 
 win the series is told in a manner to thrill the most jaded reader. 
 
 BASEBALL JOE AROUND THE WORLD (New) 
 or Pitching on a Grand Tour 
 
 The Giants and the Ail-Americans tour the world, playing in 
 many foreign countries. 
 
 Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers 
 
 New York 
 
THE 
 HARRY HARDING SERIES 
 
 By ALFRED RAYMOND 
 
 12mo. Cloth. Handsomely Illustrated. Beautiful jackets 
 printed in ■colors. 75 Cents Per Volume, Postpaid. 
 
 3* 
 
 HARRY 
 HARDING 
 
 MESSENGER. '4-5' 
 
 ALFRED RAYMOND 
 
 The trials and triumphs of Harry Harding 
 and Teddy Burke, two wide-awake boys 
 who make a humble beginning on the 
 messenger force of a great department 
 store, with the firm resolve to become suc- 
 cessful business men, form a series of 
 narratives calculated to please the alert, 
 progressive boys of today. 
 
 HARRY HARDING-Messenger "45" 
 
 When Harry Harding bravely decided to leave school in order 
 to help his mother in the fight against poverty, he took his first 
 long step towards successful manhood. How Harry chanced to 
 meet mischievous, red-haired Teddy Burke who preferred work 
 to school, how Teddy and Harry became messengers in Martin 
 Brothers' Department store and what happened to them there, 
 is a story that never flags in interest. 
 
 HARRY HARDING'S YEAR OF PROMISE 
 
 After a blissful two weeks' vacation, spent together, Harry 
 Harding and Teddy Burke again take up their work in Martin 
 Brothers' store. Their "year of promise" brings them many 
 new experiences, pleasant and unpleasant, but more determined 
 than ever to reach the goal they have set for themselves, they 
 pass courageously and hopefully over the rough places, meeting 
 with many surprises and exciting incidents which advance them 
 far on the road to success. 
 
 Send for Our Free Illustrated Catalogue 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON CO. 
 
 Publishers 
 
 New Y*rk 
 
The Saddle Boys Series 
 
 !2mo. 
 
 By CAPTAIN JAMES CARSON 
 Illustrated. Price per volume, 50 cents, postpaid. 
 
 All lads who love life in the open air and a good steed, 
 will want to peruse these books. Captain Carson knows his 
 subject thoroughly, and his stories are as pleasing as they are 
 healthful and instructive. 
 
 Saddle Boys of the Rockies 
 
 or Lost on Thunder Mountain 
 Telling how the lads started out to solve 
 the mystery of a great noise in the moun- 
 tains — how they got lost— and of the things 
 they discovered. 
 
 The Saddle Boys in the Grand 
 Canyon 
 
 or The Hermit of the Caoe 
 
 A weird and wonderful story of the Grand 
 Canyon of the Colorado, told in a most ab- 
 sorbing manner. The Saddle Boys are to the front in a 
 manner to please all young readers. 
 
 The Saddle Boys on the Plains 
 
 or After a Treasure of Gold 
 
 in this story the scene is shifted to the great plains of the 
 southwest and then to the Mexican border. There is a stirring 
 Struggle for gold, told as only Captain Carson can tell it, 
 
 The Saddle Boys at circle Ranch 
 
 or In at the Grand Round-up 
 
 Here we have lively times at the ranch, and likewise the 
 particulars of a grand round-up of cattle and encounters with 
 wild animals and also cattle thieves. A story that breathes 
 4h§ very air of the plains. 
 
 The Saddle Boys on Mexican Trails 
 
 or In the Hands of the Enemy 
 
 The scene is shifted in this volume to Mexico. The boys 
 go on an important errand, and are caught between the lines 
 of the Mexican soldiers. They are captured and for a while 
 things look black for them; but all ends happily. 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 
 
 NEW YORI1 
 
The Speedwell Boys 
 Series 
 
 By ROY ROCKWOOD 
 
 Author of "The Dave Dashaway Series," "Great Marvel Series," etc 
 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 50 cents, postpaid. 
 
 All boys who love to be on the go will welcome the Speed- 
 well boys. They are clean cut and loyal lads. 
 
 The Speedwell Boys on Motor 
 Cycles 
 
 or The Mystery of a Great Conflagration 
 
 The lads were poor, but they did a rich 
 man a great service and he presented them 
 with their motor cycles. What a great fire 
 led to is exceedingly well told. 
 
 The Speedwell Boys and Their 
 Racing Auto 
 
 or A Run for the Golden Cup 
 
 A tale of automobiling and of intense rivalry on the road. 
 There was an endurance run and the boys entered the contest. 
 On the run they rounded up some men who were wanted by 
 the law. 
 
 The Speedwell Boys and Their Power Launch 
 
 or To the Reseue of the Castaways 
 
 Here is an unusual story. There was a wreck, and the lads, 
 fn their power launch, set out to the rescue. A vivid picture 
 of a great storm adds to the interest of the tale. 
 
 The Speedwell Boys in a Submarine 
 
 or The Lost Treasure of Rocky Cove 
 
 An old sailor knows of a treasure lost under water because 
 of a cliff falling into the sea. The boys get a chance to go 
 out in a submarine and they make a hunt for the treasure. 
 
 The Speedwell Boys and Their Ice Racer 
 
 or The Perils of a Great Blizzard 
 
 The boys had an idea for a new sort of iceboat, to be run 
 fay combined wind and motor power. How they built the craft, 
 and what fine times they had on board of it, is well related. 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON CO,, Publishers, 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
The Dave Dashaway 
 
 By ROY ROCK WOOD 
 
 Author of the "Speedwell Boys Series" and the "Great Marrel Series." 
 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 50 cents, postpaid. 
 
 Never was there a more clever young aviator than Dave 
 Dashaway. All up-to-date lads will surely wish to read 
 about him. 
 
 Dave Dashaway the Young Aviator 
 
 or In tlte Clouds for Fame and Fortune 
 
 This initial volume tells how the hero ran 
 away from his miserly guardian, fell in with 
 a successful airm?.n, and became a young 
 aviator of note. 
 
 Dave Dashaway and His 
 Hydroplane 
 
 or Daring Adventures Over tlte Great Lakes 
 
 Showing how Dave continued his career as a birdman and 
 had many adventures over the Great Lakes, and how he 
 foiled the plans of some Canadian smugglers. 
 
 Dave Dashaway and His Giant Airship 
 
 or A Marvellous 1 rip Across the Atlantic 
 
 How the giant airship was constructed and how the daring 
 young aviator and his friends made the hazardous journey 
 through the clouds from the new world to the old, is told in a 
 way to hold the reader spellbound. 
 
 Dave Dashaway Around the World 
 
 or A Young Yankee Aviator Among Many Nations 
 
 An absorbing tale of a great air flight around the world, 
 of adventures in Alaska, Siberia and elsewhere. A true to 
 life picture of what may be accomplished in the near future. 
 
 Dave Dashaway: Air Champion 
 
 or Wizard Work in the Clouds 
 
 Dave makes several daring trips, and then enters a contest 
 for a big prize. An aviation tale thrilling in the extreme. 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
The Fred Fenton 
 Athletic Series 
 
 By ALLEN CHAPMAN 
 
 Author of "The Tom Fairfield Series," "The Boys of Pluck Series" and 
 "The Darewell Chums Series." 
 
 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 50 cents, postpaid. 
 
 A line of tales embracing school athletics. Fred is a true 
 type of the American schoolboy of to-day. 
 
 Fred Fenton the Pitcher 
 
 or The Rivals of Riverport School 
 
 When Fred came to Riverport none of 
 the school lads knew him, but he speedily 
 proved his worth in the baseball box. A 
 true picture of school baseball. 
 
 Fred Fenton in the Line 
 
 or The Football Boys ef Riverport School 
 
 When Fall came in the thoughts of the 
 boys turned to football. Fred went in the line, and again 
 proved his worth, making a run that helped to win a great 
 game. 
 
 Fred Fenton on the Crew 
 
 or The Young Oarsmen of Riverport School 
 
 In this volume the scene is shifted to the river, and Fred 
 and his chums show how they can handle the oars. There are 
 many other adventures, ail dear to the hearts of boys* 
 
 Fred Fenton on the Track 
 
 or The Athletes of Riverport School 
 
 Track athletics form a subject of vast interest to many 
 boys, and here is a tale telling of great running races, high 
 jumping, and the like. Fred again proves himself a hero in 
 the best sense of that term. 
 
 Fred Fenton : Marathon Runner 
 
 er The Great Race at Riverport School 
 
 Fred is taking a post-graduate course at the school when 
 the subject of Marathon running came up. A race is arranged, 
 and Fred shows both his friends and his enemies what he ean 
 do. An athletic story of special merit. 
 
 SUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
Alive, Patriotic, Elevating 
 
 BANNER BOY SCOUTS SERIES 
 
 12m6. 
 
 By GEORGE A. WARREN 
 
 Author of the "Revolutionary Series" 
 Illustrated. Price per volume, 75 cents, postpaid. 
 
 The Boy Scouts movement has swept 
 over our country like wildfire, and is en- 
 dorsed by our greatest men and leading 
 educators. No author is better qualified to 
 write such a series as this than Professor 
 Warren, who has watched the movement 
 closely since its inception in England some 
 years ago. 
 
 The Banner Boy scouts 
 
 or The Struggle for Leadership 
 This initial volume tells how the news of the scout move- 
 ment reached the boys and how they determined to act on it. 
 They organized the Fox Patrol, and some rivals organized an- 
 other patrol. More patrols were formed in neighboring towns 
 and a prize was put up for the patrol scoring the most points 
 in a many-sided contest. 
 
 The Banner Boy scouts on a Tour 
 
 or The Mystery of Rattlesnake Mountain 
 This story begins with a mystery that is most unusual. 
 There is a good deal of fun and adventure, camping, fishing, 
 and swimming, and the young heroes more than once prove 
 their worth. 
 
 The Banner Boy Scouts Afloat 
 
 or The Secret of Cedar Island 
 Here is another tale of life in the open, of jolly times on 
 river and lake and around the camp fire, told by one who has 
 camped out for many years. 
 
 The Banner Boy Scouts Snowbound (New) 
 
 or A Tour on Skates and Iceboats 
 
 The boys take a trip into the mountains, where they are 
 caught in a big snowstorm and are snowbound. A series of 
 stirring adventures which will hold the interest of every 
 reader. 
 
 Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue 
 
 CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, 
 
 NEW YORK