Fighting in France Part 12

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

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

"He's dead," said Dubois shortly.

"What makes you think so?" asked Earl.

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

"No."

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

"In what way?" asked Leon.

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

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

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

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

"Where? How?"

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

"Where have you been?"

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

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

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

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

"Did you hear a bell?" asked Armande.

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

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

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

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

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

He paused and uttered a low groan.

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

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

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

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

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

"It struck me as a fine chance to give the Boches a good scare however.

I determined to wake them up with a hand-grenade. I took one in my hand and prepared to hurl it. I raised myself slightly from the ground and took hold of a strand of the barked wire to steady my aim. No sooner had I touched the wire than a bell rang."

"I heard it," cried Earl eagerly.

"I had touched the wire but lightly," continued Armande, "and the bell did not ring loudly. It startled me however and I drew back quickly.

I also noticed that the Germans immediately ceased talking. It did not occur to me that my touching the wire had made the bell ring however.

I thought it a mere coincidence.

"For some moments I lay there quietly and presently the Boches began to talk again. I waited what seemed to me a long time. Then once more I took the hand-grenade in my right hand and raised myself on one elbow.

I determined to act quickly this time. Again I seized the wire with my left hand and hurled the grenade.

"Squarely into the trench it landed and I have the satisfaction of knowing that it did good work. I had not caught them napping however.

I had seized the wire much more firmly the second time and at the same instant when I threw my missile the bell rang violently; much more so than formerly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I think he's lucky to be alive."

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

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