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Schwankovsky, Jr.</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Shelled by an Unseen Foe</p> +<p>Author: James Fiske</p> +<p>Release Date: June 9, 2007 [eBook #21787]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLED BY AN UNSEEN FOE***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p> </p> + +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="One, two, three steps past him went the sentry again." BORDER="2" WIDTH="395" HEIGHT="596"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 450px"> +One, two, three steps past him went the sentry again. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +<U>World's War Series, Volume 8</U> +</H3> + +<BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Shelled by an Unseen Foe +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Colonel James Fiske +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATED BY +<BR> +F. SCHWANKOVSKY, JR. +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY +<BR> +CHICAGO —— AKRON, OHIO —— NEW YORK +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +COPYRIGHT, 1916, +<BR> +BY +<BR> +THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">The Call of Home</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">An Impressed Soldier</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">Only a Stoker</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">A Struggle in the Sea</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">Into Service</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">A Letter Home</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">A Bit of Romance</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">Happiness for Helen</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">Visions</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">Victory</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">Days of Waiting</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">Greater Things</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +One, two, three steps past him went the sentry +again. . . . . . . . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-107"> +Trench layout diagram +</A> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +SHELLED BY AN UNSEEN FOE +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CALL OF HOME +</H3> + +<P> +Reveille was over at the military school, and the three boys on the end +of the line nearest the mess hall walked slowly toward the broad steps +of the big brick building ahead. They differed greatly in type, but of +this they were unconscious, for all were deep in thought. +</P> + +<P> +"I am going home," said the tallest boy abruptly. "Had a letter from +my sister last night. My word, they are having some ripping times over +there!" +</P> + +<P> +"Your father won't let you," said the second lad. "How can <I>you</I> go to +England when <I>I</I> can't get back to Mexico?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can jolly well go," said the tall boy. "I've been planning for +this. Mid-term is over, and I haven't told you chaps, but I've been +hoarding every cent of my allowance all winter. I have enough and to +spare for second cabin." +</P> + +<P> +"But your father wants you here out of harm's way," urged the Mexican. +</P> + +<P> +"He <I>thinks</I> he does," said Nickell-Wheelerson smiling, his blue eyes +flashing. "He <I>thinks</I> he does, but I know he is just trying me out. +Here's the way it is. Dad's in the field and my second brother; you +know my oldest brother was shot in the trenches in France two months +ago. I'm nineteen. There are two little chaps to carry on the name +and take care of the title, if the rest of us go. I've just <I>got</I> to +get over there! Don't you see how it is?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course!" said the Mexican, his dark eyes glowing gloomily. "Of +course you feel you've got to go! And here I must stay. I want to go +home too." +</P> + +<P> +"It's different with you," said Nickell-Wheelerson, patting his +companion on the back. "You keep out of that mess! Mexico is going to +need you worse later on." +</P> + +<P> +"How about you?" demanded Morales, the Mexican. "I should think +England would need you when that mess, as you call it, is finished." +</P> + +<P> +"She needs me now, and I know it, and dad knows it," Nick assured him. +"I'm going <I>home</I>! You'd better be glad you are not mixed up in this +thing," he said, turning to the third boy. "You are safe awhile yet, +you old Greece-spot, you!" +</P> + +<P> +"There are some Greeks fighting; a few on the European border of the +Dardanelles," said the boy addressed. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, of course you will get into it sooner or later," said Nick, "but +I'm banking on that queen of yours to stall things along as far as she +can. She can't put it off forever, though. You will be in it." +</P> + +<P> +"As sure as my name is Zaidos," said the young Greek, "you are quite +right! We will have to fight sooner or later." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, don't cross bridges," said Nick. "Sit tight, and I'll go over +there and help clean up things." +</P> + +<P> +Light-heartedly they raced up the steep hill leading from the parade +ground to the mess hall. +</P> + +<P> +A slim young orderly came out of the Adjutant's office onto the terrace +and looked about. Seeing the three boys, he called in a high, clear +voice, "Oh, you Nosey!" and as the Greek approached added formally, +"Corporal Zaidos is wanted by the Adjutant." +</P> + +<P> +"What's he going to get ragged for now, I wonder," mused +Nickell-Wheelerson as he and Morales joined the crowd and went into the +mess hall. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos did not come back. Nick watched the door anxiously. They were +room-mates, and Nick was well aware of Nosey's tendencies in the way of +breaking minor rules. As soon as he could get out of the mess, he +hurried down past the Adjutant's office, and hastily framing an errand, +went in. The room was empty. +</P> + +<P> +Nick hurried over to the barracks to their room. Sitting on the side +of his narrow bunk, his hands clenched, his face white, was Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the row, old top?" Nick sang out cheerfully as he made a great +pretense of picking up his books and stuffing a couple of pencils in +the top of his pigskin puttee. +</P> + +<P> +The young Greek shook his head, and Nick realized that it was something +indeed very serious with him. +</P> + +<P> +"What <I>is</I> the row, old man?" he said again, coming over and sitting +beside his friend. "What has the Adjutant got in for you this time?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," said Zaidos. "He had a cablegram from home. It is pretty +bad, Nick …" He paused. "My father is sick; fact is, he is dying; +and I've got to leave to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"Gosh!" exclaimed Nick. "That's too bad! I'm more than sorry!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it's bad," said Zaidos. "And the queer thing is that I don't +seem to feel as sorry about my father dying as I do to think that I +don't <I>know</I> him any better. Think of it, Nick, I came over here to +school when I was not quite seven. My mother died when I was six, and +since that I have seen my father twice; once when he came over here, +and the year I went home. And it is not as though there was not plenty +of money. I suppose my father is the richest man, or one of the +richest men, in Greece. He's just—Oh, I don't know! He never seemed +to be like a lot of fathers I have seen. I never could get <I>next</I> to +him. And I've been pretty lonely most all my life. I have always +planned to go back as soon as I finished school, and get acquainted +with my father. I thought if I tried, I could make him like me. I +suppose he does well enough, but I wanted to be chummy with him. I +thought I could if I tried." +</P> + +<P> +"You bet you could, Nosey!" said Nick, an arm over the bowed shoulder +beside him. "You could warm up a wooden Indian, you old live-wire, +you! I jolly well know you! You would get under the crust if anyone +could! Perhaps it isn't as bad as they think. You go home, and +perhaps your father will get better, and you will get to be the best +chums in the world. Cheer up, old chap! It will come out all right. +Do you really go tonight?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I go to-night. They have got my tickets, and now they are +telephoning for my passage." +</P> + +<P> +Nickell-Wheelerson sat thinking hard. Then he rose and bolted for the +door. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" called Zaidos. "I want you to help me pack, Nick." +</P> + +<P> +But the big English boy had disappeared. In half an hour he returned, +looking triumphant. He flung his trim military jacket on the bunk. +</P> + +<P> +"That's done for!" he cried. He jerked a trunk into the middle of the +floor and, opening it, commenced to turn out its cluttered contents. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, Nosey!" he cried. "As our American brothers put it, 'get a +move on!' We have about half a day to get packed." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you crazy?" demanded the Greek, staring at him. +</P> + +<P> +"Not crazy, Nosey, dear chappie! Not crazy; merely going home!" +</P> + +<P> +"Home?" repeated Zaidos feebly. "<I>Home?</I>" +</P> + +<P> +"Home!" said Nick jubilantly. "With you! At least on the same +steamer. So if they blow us up on the way over, we can soar hand in +hand, old chum!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, when you get through raving, I wish you would tell how you did +it." +</P> + +<P> +"I simply reminded the Adjutant that the arrangement was that I was +remaining here at my own discretion, as per Pater's written agreement. +I said I had decided to go with you, although I had been thinking for a +week that I might leave at any time. They mentioned money, and I +showed my little roll. There is plenty. So I am going to-night with +you. They have telephoned about a stateroom. That's all! I'm going +to give all my stuff away. I won't come back." +</P> + +<P> +<I>Nickell-Wheelerson never did come back. But that is another story.</I> +</P> + +<P> +There were a lot of poor marks made that afternoon. With the two most +popular fellows in the school going off, there couldn't be much +studying. Everybody tried to help, and everybody got in the way and +had to be stepped over or pushed over. But time passed, and good-byes +were said, and the night on the swift train passed, too; and when they +looked back, the following day in New York was a hurried whirl. And +then they smelt the unchanging smell of the docks; sea salt and paint +and tar. +</P> + +<P> +They watched the last person down the gang-plank, a weeping woman it +was. Then they shouted farewell to the kindly shores, and the +steadfast Lady of Liberty on Governor's Island. She seemed to salute +the passing ship with her uplifted torch, and the boys felt that peace +and safety and prosperity lay behind them. +</P> + +<P> +Then some nights and days went swiftly by, and one morning the boys +clasped hands and gruffly spoke their farewells. Nickell-Wheelerson +went home to find that his older brother slept in a lowly grave +somewhere in France. His father, dead of his wounds, lay in the castle +hall, and the boy Nick answered wearily when sorrowing footmen called +him "My Lord." +</P> + +<P> +<I>But that is really the beginning of the other story</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos hurried on his way alone, and one bright morning, after many +adventures, stood once more in Saloniki. +</P> + +<P> +A porter came up to him, and at the same moment a man in the livery of +his father's house approached and saluted him. "Your father urges you +to hasten, Excellency," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Is my father very ill?" asked Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"Very ill indeed, sir," said the man. +</P> + +<P> +They started through the station and as they left the building a man +approached. He spoke to Zaidos, but the boy, having spent years of his +life in America, failed to catch the rapidly spoken words. +</P> + +<P> +He turned to the house-servant, who stood with bulging eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"What does he say?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +The man was speaking violently, then beseechingly, to the stranger, who +was in uniform. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" again demanded Zaidos. He began to get the run of the +conversation, but as he made it out, it was too preposterous to +consider. The officer laid a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"You will <I>have</I> to come," he said. "YOU ARE WANTED FOR THE ARMY." +</P> + +<P> +"But my father?" said Zaidos, alarmed. +</P> + +<P> +The man shrugged his shoulders. "He will die the same whether you come +or not. Come!" +</P> + +<P> +A grim look came into the boy's face. It alarmed the servant. +</P> + +<P> +"Go, go, master," he begged. "You do not know. They take everyone. +What is to be must be. Go, I entreat you, without violence. I do not +want to go and tell your father that I have seen you slain before my +eyes. I will tell him you are here, and that you will come later." He +drew back and bowed to the officer, who kept a hand on Zaidos' shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, tell him I will come soon," said Zaidos. "Go to him quickly." +</P> + +<P> +The man turned and hurried away. +</P> + +<P> +"Give up all thought of going," said the officer. "It is a pity—one +owes a great duty to one's father; but we need you now. And the need +of country comes first." +</P> + +<P> +"But Greece is not in the war!" said Zaidos as they hurried along the +street. +</P> + +<P> +"No, not yet; but there are places enough to guard, so we need more men +than we dreamed. But I talk too much. Here is the headquarters. Let +me advise you not to bother the Colonel with demands to visit your +home." +</P> + +<P> +They entered the big, dingy room of the police station which had been +transformed into a sort of recruiting station. The officer in charge +was an overbearing First Lieutenant who was overworked, tired and +irritable. He had come from a distant part of Greece, and the name of +Zaidos carried no weight with him. He shook his head when Zaidos made +his request. He even smiled a little. "Too thin, too thin!" he said. +"I should say that all the mothers and fathers, and most of the uncles +and aunts and cousins in the world are ill," he sneered. "No, you +can't go. Get back there in line and wait for your squad to be +outfitted." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos shrugged his shoulders and obeyed, well knowing that, once in +uniform, even that display of feeling would be absolutely out of order. +He had been too long in a military school to misunderstand military +procedure, and he knew that whatever queer chance had placed him in his +present position, the thing was done now. He was to see real fighting. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos had a lion's heart and was absolutely ignorant of fear, but he +worried when he thought of the possible effect on his father. He, poor +man, would feel that his natural wish to behold his only son once more +had placed the boy in a position of the gravest danger; indeed, in the +path of almost certain death. What the effect of this knowledge would +be on his health, Zaidos trembled to consider. But he was powerless to +avoid the shock to his father, and once more shrugging his shoulders he +stepped into line. +</P> + +<P> +After a tedious delay, during which the men and boys who were +unaccustomed to any sort of drill shifted uneasily from foot to foot, +shuffled, twisted, and fretted generally, while Zaidos alone stood +easily at attention, the order was given for the squad to go into +another room. +</P> + +<P> +Here they were registered, examined physically, and equipped with +uniforms. Then they were finally taken to the mess hall and provided +with a wholesome, plain meal which they proceeded to enjoy to the +utmost. Zaidos could not eat. He toyed with the food, his quick brain +ever planning some way by which he could get to his father. The more +he thought of it the more it seemed to be his duty to do so at <I>any</I> +cost. But he seemed surrounded by barriers. He could not see a way +clear. So he resigned himself for the present, and marched to the +dormitory where his squad was quartered. It had been a trying and +exhausting day for everyone and his peasant companions, accustomed to +bed-time at sunset, soon threw themselves down and slept. +</P> + +<P> +The sleeping quarters were on the ground floor. Zaidos found his +pallet behind a great door opening on the street. It was open a +trifle, but a heavy chain secured it from opening any further. Zaidos +stuck his head out. There was enough space for that. It was the +blackest night he had ever seen, if one could be said to see anything +as dark. +</P> + +<P> +A sentry padded up and down in the blackness. Zaidos smiled. The man +could certainly not see five feet ahead of him. All the city lights +were out for safety's sake. As he approached, Zaidos drew back, and +lay staring at the ceiling. +</P> + +<P> +A stifled sob startled him. He turned. On the next pallet a young +fellow lay face downward, and muffled his weeping in the coarse +blanket. For an hour Zaidos listened. The shaken breathing and +occasional sobs continued. Zaidos could stand it no longer. He +reached over and let a friendly clasp fall on the heaving shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" he whispered in his best Greek. +</P> + +<P> +The young fellow turned to him eagerly, glad of sympathy. In a rush of +words that made it hard for Zaidos to understand, he whispered his +story. There was a wife and a little, little baby, "Oh, <I>so</I> little!" +far up on the mountain-side; they would starve; surely, <I>surely</I> they +would starve! They did not know what had become of him. Zaidos tried +in vain to calm the man. He could not do so and finally dropped into a +restless sleep with the man's stifled sobs ringing in his ears. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos had to concede that the man's fate was a hard one. He was only +nineteen years of age. The girl-wife was seventeen. As Zaidos dropped +asleep he was reflecting that no doubt nine-tenths of the men sleeping +in that room carried burdens as well as the young mountaineer and +himself. +</P> + +<P> +He was wakened awhile later by a touch on the shoulder nearest the +door. A voice addressed him. For a moment Zaidos was unable to locate +it. Then he discovered that it was coming from the partly open door. +It was the young husband who had sobbed in the dark. +</P> + +<P> +"Waken, friend!" said the low whisper. "Waken! Farewell! I go! +There is a small packet under my pallet. I forgot it. Will you hand +it quickly before the sentry turns?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't do a fool stunt like that," said Zaidos in English. +</P> + +<P> +The deserter repeated, "Quickly, quickly!" and as Zaidos handed him the +packet he disappeared, the night swallowing him in its blackness. +Zaidos crawled to the door and, flat on the floor, put his head out the +opening into the street. All was quiet. The sentry marched up and +down the long block with the dragging slowness of a weary man. The +mountaineer had escaped! +</P> + +<P> +Somewhere a clock struck eleven booming strokes. Zaidos could not +believe that it was so early, but immediately another faint chime +verified the first. Here and there in the room heavy snoring or +muttered words sounded. There were no guards in the room as the door +was locked. +</P> + +<P> +Eleven o'clock! Five hours before daylight. A daring thought flashed +into Zaidos' head. He knelt and once more leaned through the opening +of the door. He thanked his schoolboy leanness. There <I>was</I> enough +space! He waited until the sentry's heavy footfall dragged to the end +of the block; then with a struggle he twisted through the door and +stood in the open, deserted street. +</P> + +<P> +In the years of his absence he had forgotten the city, but he +remembered the general directions, and only yesterday he had seen in +the distance the gleaming white marble walls of his home standing on +the beautiful headland overlooking the blue waters of the bay. He +heard the sentry approaching and, trusting to instinct, turned into the +nearest street and hurried away. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed to Zaidos that the journey was endless, yet he went like the +wind. He found himself searching the east for dawn. His instinct did +for him what sight and reason would have failed to do. In daylight he +would have been lost, but in that black darkness he kept his course, +and finally the great white building where his fathers for generations +had lived loomed mysteriously before him. He hurried up the broad +stairs and besieged the massive doors with heavy blows. A startled +footman opened it, and with a curt word Zaidos entered and demanded his +father. The man bowed and led him up to a closed door. Here he +knocked softly and a stout old woman answered. She looked hard at the +young man in uniform, then with a little cry clasped him in a warm +embrace. It was his old nurse. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," she cried, "God has answered my prayers! You are in time!" +</P> + +<P> +A chill of apprehension swept over the boy. "Is he so ill?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"He has waited for you," she answered. "I told him you would come. I +knew it. He has been dying for many days, but he would not go until he +saw you." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me come," said Zaidos. He dashed past the old woman, the nurses +and the doctors, and was clasped in his father's arms. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AN IMPRESSED SOLDIER +</H3> + +<P> +The events of that night long remained in Zaidos' memory, a blurred +picture of pain and heart-break. There was a brief and precious hour +with the father whom he had so seldom seen; a time filled with the +priceless last communications which seemed to bridge all absence and +bring them close, close together at last. His coming seemed to fill +his dying father with a strange new strength. He talked rationally and +earnestly with his beloved son. Zaidos could not believe that the end +was near. Count Zaidos gave the boy a paper containing a list of the +places where the family treasure was put away or concealed. Also other +papers of the greatest value. Without these he would be unable to +prove his heirship to the title and estates of the Zaidos family. In +case of the boy's death all would go to a distant cousin, Velo Kupenol, +who had long made his home with the Count. Zaidos turned to meet this +cousin, whom he had not seen for so many years that his existence had +been forgotten. He saw a keen, ferret-faced lad, a little older than +himself. He took an instant dislike to the boy, and rebuked himself +for doing so. Yet the hard eyes looked <I>too</I> steadily into his, with a +cold, piercing, deadly look. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm in the way," thought Zaidos, as he turned again to his father. +And some sure instinct in his heart cried, "Beware, beware!" +</P> + +<P> +When the dying Count handed the thin packet of precious papers to his +son, Zaidos slipped them in the inner pocket of his blouse. At that +moment Velo approached the bedside. +</P> + +<P> +"Uncle," he said, "unfortunately my cousin here has been impressed into +service. Would it not be well for <I>me</I> to keep these papers? I would +guard them with my life, and as I do not intend to fight they would be +safe with me in any case." +</P> + +<P> +The Count frowned. "No," he cried. "Velo Kupenol, I have not found +you true to your name! You have been here with me for years, and I +know you through and through. I have treated you with all patience, +have paid your debts, have saved you from disgrace for the sake of the +family. I have forgiven you over and over. You have not shown me even +the loyalty that a true friend would expect, to say nothing of a +relative. If anything happens to my son, unfortunately the estates +will be yours; but while he lives, the papers will remain in <I>his</I> +possession, to do with as he sees fit. Ah!" he cried, turning to his +son, "be worthy of our name, my boy! No Zaidos has ever yet disgraced +it. I put my trust in you, and I know you will not fail me. To the +day she died, your mother planned great things for her baby boy. She—" +</P> + +<P> +He fixed his eyes on space. A look of surprise and happiness lit his +face. Slowly he raised his arms as though in greeting, then sank back, +dead. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos, kneeling, buried his face in the pillow. So it was over, all +over! Someone raised him to his feet, as the nurse tenderly drew the +sheet over his father's face. He lifted it and with one last lingering +look replaced it gently, then left the room. +</P> + +<P> +The clock struck three. +</P> + +<P> +As he sank wearily in a chair, the old nurse entered. Her face was +stained with tears. She glanced about, then seized Zaidos by the arm. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Don't trust Velo!</I>" she whispered, and left his side. None too soon, +for Velo entered the room and with a gesture dismissed the old servant. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Zaidos," he said abruptly, "we will talk. You are <I>crazy</I> to +carry such valuables around with you. After we have had breakfast, we +will decide where to keep those papers. I am the next in line, as you +know, and it is only just that I should know where they are in case you +should get in trouble." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos shook his head. "I shall keep the papers," he said. "Of course +you may remain here. I shall always look out for you. I shall not be +killed in this fighting; I feel it." +</P> + +<P> +"So have other men," sneered Velo. "How did you get away?" +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos told him. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean that you could not get permission, and that you escaped +and came anyhow?" he asked, an evil gleam lighting his narrow eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"That's about it," said Zaidos, nodding. "I must go back at once. The +doctor's car will take me close to the barracks. I must get there +before dawn." He went to the window and looked out. "I have no time +to waste!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"But look here, if you are caught, it means desertion," said Velo. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes!" +</P> + +<P> +"In war-time that means death," said Velo. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but I am not going to be caught," answered Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you must hurry," declared his cousin. "Wait here just a moment, +and I will see that the car is ready and get a cloak to cover you. I +almost fear you have waited too long, cousin," and hurried, from the +room with a last sidelong look at Zaidos' bent head. +</P> + +<P> +Five minutes passed; then with a last look at his father's closed door, +Zaidos went down and found Velo standing beside the automobile, talking +to the chauffeur. Already the intense blackness of the night was +lifting. Zaidos felt a chill of apprehension. +</P> + +<P> +"You will have to hurry," said his cousin. "I will come down later and +look you up. Hope you get back." He stepped back, and the car shot +forward, but only for a short distance. With a queer grinding noise +the engine stopped. The driver leaped out and examined it with a +flashlight. He uttered an exclamation of dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"Someone has put sand in the engine!" he exclaimed. "Yet I have been +in it all night long!" +</P> + +<P> +"You <I>must</I> have left it," said Zaidos. "Or did you go to sleep?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes!" stammered the driver excitedly. "I was called away just +now, when Velo Kupenol sent me to my master to tell him that I was to +take you back to barracks. Ah, what shall we do?" +</P> + +<P> +"How far is it?" demanded Zaidos. The night was lifting. He shivered. +</P> + +<P> +"A mile straight down that avenue, Excellency, until you reach the +great fountain in the public square. Then a half block to the left. +You cannot miss it, but you cannot make it before dawn." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye!" called Zaidos. He started down the wide avenue with the +gentle, easy stride that had made him the best long-distance runner in +school. His wind was perfect and he covered ground like a deer; but +clearer and clearer as he raced he could see the grey forms of +surrounding objects take shape. He reached the fountain in the public +square; he made the turn to the left and slowed to a walk. The sentry, +walking slowly, reached the opposite corner, and before Zaidos could +reach the open door he turned. It was too late to turn back. Zaidos +squared his shoulders and approached. The sentry eyed him sharply and +was about to speak but Zaidos said, "Good-morning," with civil ease. +The man returned the salutation. Then, "What are you doing here?" he +questioned. +</P> + +<P> +"With a letter," said Zaidos, tapping his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"Where from?" demanded the sentry. +</P> + +<P> +"Over there," said Zaidos, nodding his head in the direction of the +avenue. It was a bold shot, but it carried. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" said the sentry. "The other barracks, eh? Well, will your +errand wait, or must I wake them up within?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is no hurry at all," said Zaidos, easily. "I must see the +commanding officer by seven o'clock, that's all." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said the man. "I'll take you in then. I'm tired enough +myself tramping up and down here all night. That place is full of +recruits, and a lot of them are unwilling ones, I can tell you. But +they are under lock and key. They can't escape. All the air they get +even is from that crack in the door. A fly couldn't get out there." +He was a fat sentry, and he laughed. Zaidos joined his mirth. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps a thin fly might," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The man shrugged. "Perhaps!" he said. "Those recruits are raw, I can +tell you. You can be glad you are a trained soldier. I could tell it +by your walk, even in this dim light. The walk always tells." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos nodded and squatted down near the open door. Moment by moment +his danger was growing. The sentry turned and sauntered to the end of +the block. Zaidos counted slowly. Once the man turned and nodded in a +friendly fashion, then resumed his slow pace. Sixty steps. He stood +for a moment on the corner, then came back. "Not long now," he said, +and smiled. Then he passed in the other direction. Eighty steps that +way. Zaidos counted. Again the man returned. Zaidos could feel his +muscles stiffening, as if about to spring. He cautiously shifted to a +position still nearer the partly open door and measured the opening. +He felt heavy and awkward. He studied the dark opening. It did indeed +look very narrow. He had squirmed through it without much trouble, but +that was in the densest darkness, and he had taken all the time he +needed. Now if the sentry should turn * * * Well, it would be the end +of Zaidos, and a most ignominious end at that. He was not a coward, +but he had no fancy to find himself against a wall with a firing squad +before him. +</P> + +<P> +Sixty steps and back walked the sentry, and Zaidos, head against the +wall, body reclining close to the open door, seemed to be dozing. One, +two, three steps past him, went the sentry again— +</P> + +<P> +With the quickness of a cat Zaidos ripped off his uniform blouse, +thrust it through the door, stretched his arms over his head, and with +a mighty shove of his strong young legs thrust himself into the opening. +</P> + +<P> +There was a terrific struggle for a moment, a series of agile twists, +and Zaidos fell forward on the stone floor. Quickly he kicked away his +shoes and tumbled down on his pallet. After the gray dawn outside the +room was very dark. He heard the sentry outside come running to the +door, push it against its stout chain and stand thinking. Zaidos +laughed to himself. The opening, "too small for a fly," had swallowed +him; and the unsuspicious fellow outside was filled with almost +superstitious amazement. He knew that Zaidos could not by any +possibility have reached the corner without making the least sound, and +the street was absolutely silent. Zaidos, scarcely daring to breathe, +smiled in the dark. +</P> + +<P> +Then, fatherless and friendless as he was, and thrust by a strange fate +of birth into a war in which he had no part, Zaidos, exhausted by his +night's experiences, dropped asleep. About him men tired by a long +night spent on pallets as hard as the stone flooring tossed and groaned +or sighed wakefully. Zaidos slept on. +</P> + +<P> +He was sleeping so heavily an hour later that he did not hear two +soldiers enter with a slender young fellow in civilian dress. He never +stirred as they went from pallet to pallet, scanning the faces as they +passed. When they reached his side the young man looked down at him +with an expression which might have been taken for startled amazement +if anyone had been watching. He nodded to the officers, and spoke a +word of thanks. "This is my cousin," he said in a low voice. "With +your permission I will sit here by him until he awakes. It would be +cruel to rouse him only to tell him of his father's death." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you may stay," said the older soldier. "There can be no +objection to that." +</P> + +<P> +They turned and soon the distant door closed behind them. Then the +newcomer did a strange thing. He cast a swift glance over the sleeping +faces, to assure himself that he was not watched, and with the +light-fingered stealth of the born thief, he slipped his thin hand into +Zaidos' breast pocket. Withdrawing it, he smiled wickedly at the sight +of what he held. He rose to his feet, hastily pocketed his find, and +for a moment stood looking down at Zaidos. With a noiseless laugh he +nodded sneeringly at the sleeping boy, picked his way carefully among +the men and left the room. +</P> + +<P> +When Velo Kupenol had sifted sand in the engine of the automobile, he +had made his first move in a dastardly campaign. Most of his life had +been spent surrounded by the ease and luxury of the Zaidos castle. He +had had horses and automobiles to use; he had had great stretches of +park and woodland to roam through and hunt over. And best of all, he +had had the best teachers in all Greece. But these he had neglected +and defied at every possible turn. Velo Kupenol was lazy, cowardly and +deceitful. That he was not yet a criminal was due to the watchful care +and great forgiveness of the uncle who had befriended him. In the past +few years this forgiveness had been stretched to its utmost. Velo +himself was not aware of the number of disgraceful things his uncle had +had to face for his sake. But it would have mattered not at all. He +did not know the meaning of gratitude. This boy, who should have been +on his knees beside the death-bed of the truest friend of his life, +shedding the tears that are an honor to true men, had instantly, with +his uncle's last breath, bent his quick and wicked brain on the problem +of wresting the Zaidos title and estates from his cousin. The +knowledge that the kindness and forbearance of the father would be +continued on the part of the son never occurred to him. He would have +laughed if it had. It was all or nothing. He determined that the +cruel chance of war was on his side. So he dropped sand in the engine +when he had sent the chauffeur on an errand, and then had hurried to +headquarters. And it happened that while Zaidos sat on the sidewalk +beside the chained door, talking to the friendly sentry, Velo himself +was at the <I>front</I> door of the barracks waiting for it to be opened for +visitors. +</P> + +<P> +Fortunately, in telling Velo of his escape from barracks, Zaidos did +not go into details, so Velo did not know of the door through which +Zaidos had crept. He had taken it for granted that he had slipped +unnoticed through the door at which he himself was standing, and as he +waited he momentarily expected his cousin to come hurrying up. Velo +smiled. He hoped Zaidos would come. He wanted to be there when he +tried to make his lame excuses for leaving the barracks in the face of +the refusal to give him permission. Velo knew well that in the +troubled times in which Greece found herself, no excuse would be +accepted. It was desertion; and the fact of his return would not +soften the offense. There was no place or time for punishment or +imprisonment. Velo shuddered, but smiled evilly. +</P> + +<P> +However, Zaidos did not appear, time passed, and finally the doors +opened. Velo, very humble and apologetic, made his simple request that +he should be allowed to speak with his cousin who was with the soldiers +in the inner room. The request was granted, and with two soldiers he +entered the room full of sleeping men. He went from cot to cot, making +an idle examination of each face. He was waiting for the moment when +he could turn to his escort and say, "He is not here." +</P> + +<P> +But there he was! Velo could not believe his senses. The soldiers, +seeing that he had found his relative, turned back to the door, and +Velo noiselessly knelt beside the sleeper. He stared long and +curiously at the serene and open face. How he had returned was a +mystery which maddened him. He was foiled for the present at least; +but securing the coveted papers, he silently withdrew. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you find him?" asked the young officer in charge, as Velo came up +to his desk. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, thank you," said Velo, "but he could not tell me what I wanted to +know. I wanted tidings of a cousin, the son of Count Zaidos, who died +last night." +</P> + +<P> +"Zaidos?" said the officer. "That's the name of one of our recruits." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he is my cousin," said Velo. "But not the one we want. This +fellow in here is a lazy no-account, and the army is the best place for +him, although I am sorry to say so." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, the army nowadays is a good place for lazy-bones," agreed the +officer. A queer look came over his face. "We are picking up all the +single men we can." He leaned on the desk and spoke as one man to +another. "You see we found that the army had to be doubled in short +order and the only way to do it was to insist on compulsory enlistment. +That's the reason," he continued calmly, "that you are now a private in +the army of Greece." +</P> + +<P> +"Me? Oh, no!" said Velo hastily. "It is impossible. I—I—have other +things to consider. You will have to excuse me, Captain." +</P> + +<P> +"I am Lieutenant," said the officer, "but you will learn the difference +in rank shortly." +</P> + +<P> +"But I can't <I>do</I> it!" said Velo violently, a red flush mounting to his +forehead. "I simply <I>can't</I> do it! Why, my uncle died last night, and +unless we find his son I am the only heir. I have <I>got</I> to stay here. +I am the heir doubtless." +</P> + +<P> +"That's fine!" said the officer, smiling. "In case you are shot, which +is likely, all your property will revert to the crown. Greece is going +to need all she can raise. I hope your uncle is rich." +</P> + +<P> +Velo could not keep from boasting. +</P> + +<P> +"One of the richest men in the country!" he bragged. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine, fine!" said the officer. Then his manner changed. "Now, my +boy, your name and address. This is straight. We need you." +</P> + +<P> +Velo mumbled his name, a deadly fear growing in him. He was a coward +and the thought of bloodshed filled him with a cold, deadly terror. +</P> + +<P> +He regarded the Lieutenant with staring eyes. His teeth chattered. +</P> + +<P> +The young officer smiled. He called two soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +"Take this man to the South Barracks," he said coldly. "Under guard," +he added significantly. He knew men. He saw that the boy before him +would have to be whipped into shape. He thought of a recruit made the +day before. Zaidos his name was. He remembered with respect and +appreciation the manner of the lad. He looked once more at the new +recruit. Then he took a piece of paper from his desk, wrote one word +on it, addressed it "Officer in Command at South Recruiting Station," +handed it to one of the soldiers standing beside Velo, and turned away. +For him the incident was closed. +</P> + +<P> +But Velo, feeling as though he was under arrest, walked miserably and +fearfully through the streets, a soldier on either side, wondering with +all his might what was written in the folded paper. +</P> + +<P> +He finally asked the bearer to let him see it, but the soldier refused +scornfully. As they neared the South Station his fears grew, if such a +thing could be possible. Once more he tried to get the mysterious +note. He had some money with him. He tried to bribe the man. For +answer the soldier struck him in the face. Velo sunk into a sulky +silence, and stood with eyes on the ground while the officer in charge +opened the message and read the single word therein. +</P> + +<P> +"Good enough!" he exclaimed. "Just what we need!" and waved the two +men toward an inner room where Velo was stripped of his comfortable +clothes and fitted to the new uniform of the Greek Army. +</P> + +<P> +And not until then did he find out his fate. A third man sauntered up +and stood watching. +</P> + +<P> +"Rank and file?" he said jestingly. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the man who had carried the note. "Stoker!" +</P> + +<P> +Velo thought his heart would break. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ONLY A STOKER +</H3> + +<P> +Zaidos was the last person in the room to awaken. Half a dozen of the +groups nearest the door had filed out, answered roll call, and stood at +attention in the street when a man shook him roughly by the shoulder +and roused him. +</P> + +<P> +"Get up, lazy-bones," he cried gruffly, "else you will feel the flat of +a sword! Here you have been snoring since early last evening. How can +there be so much sleep in thee, I wonder? One would nearly think thou +hadst been wandering about all last night instead of sleeping here on +thy good soft bed." +</P> + +<P> +"All right!" said Zaidos, nodding. He smiled at the speaker the bright +and winning smile that always won a way for him. He was on his feet in +an instant. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the way to do it!" commended the man. "Wake when you wake, not +rubbing thy eyes out." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos was soon standing in a line in the office while the twenty men +in his group answered to name. Then what Zaidos had feared came to +pass. A name was called and no one answered. Again it rang out +sharply. There was a consultation between the two officers at the +desk. The young mountaineer who had led the perilous way through the +chained door was gone! Zaidos, keeping his face as free from interest +and expression as he could, stood stiffly at attention while the count +was made and questions put to the men. As luck would have it, Zaidos +was asked but one thing. Had he seen the fellow on his pallet before +he himself went to bed? He answered honestly that he had. He was +conscious of keen scrutiny from the officers, and knowing of his own +escape and return, felt that he must be looking the picture of guilt. +The truth of the matter was that his military training in school made +him so perfectly at ease and so soldierly in appearance that he was +very noticeable in the line of slipshod, lounging, green recruits. +</P> + +<P> +They were presently ordered to drill, and for two hours went through a +grilling labor with their arms. Again Zaidos' trained muscles served +him well. While he was tired and muscle-sore at the close of the +drill, others were on the point of exhaustion. They were sent back to +their barracks and flung themselves down to rest. +</P> + +<P> +The incident of the young mountaineer seemed closed. He did not +return, nor did the slightest whisper concerning him reach Zaidos. +Four days dragged by. Two days were filled with strenuous drilling. +Twice Zaidos was visited by members of his father's family—devoted old +servants who begged to do something to free him from his present +position, and who questioned him vainly for news of Velo Kupenol. On +the second visit Zaidos decided to entrust the old servant with the +papers which he carried. He opened the flat leather folder in which he +had placed them. They were gone! Zaidos was well aware that the +packet had been on him since the moment he had received it. He could +only think that they had been stolen, while he slept. But why should +any one of the ignorant men about him take papers which could not +concern them and leave untouched the large bills folded in the same +compartment with the papers? He reported his loss. The officers who +had been in charge on that eventful night had been transferred, but the +new Commandant was just and obliging. He had a thorough search made of +every man in barracks, but the papers were gone. Without them Zaidos +felt himself an outcast. He resigned himself to his fate. How foolish +he had been to suspect Velo! He should have been the one of course to +care for the valuables, yet he could not but remember his father's +anger when Velo had suggested it. Zaidos knew his father to be a just +and generous man; and he knew that there was some good reason for his +distrust and dislike, although the time had been too cruelly short for +explanations. +</P> + +<P> +The proofs of his identity at all events had disappeared, and in such a +mysterious manner that it seemed hopeless to search for them. Zaidos +had always wanted to join the army, but he had anticipated all the +honor and pleasure of graduating from West Point, in America. This was +indeed the raw and seamy side of soldiering. He was a philosopher, +however, so he shrugged his shoulders, gave the old servants the best +instructions he could about closing up and caring for the estates, and +threw himself, body and soul, into his new adventure. +</P> + +<P> +The third day, while they were drilling, an automobile raced up and +stopped with a suddenness that nearly threw its occupants from their +seats. It was filled with soldiers, and with them was a little fellow +closely bound. Zaidos looked at him with a sinking heart. He had +never seen the pallid, quivering face, with its wild black eyes. No, +the night had been too dark, but instinct told him that here was the +deserting mountaineer. Zaidos looked away. The man was dragged +through the doors, and again a thick curtain seemed to fall over the +incident. +</P> + +<P> +But a load of apprehension seemed to be cast on the soldiers. They +continued to talk about the prisoner in low voices. Not one of them, +with the exception of Zaidos, however, realized the true horror. It +was war times and at such a period there was but one end for desertion. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos prayed not to see it. He would not let himself think of it. He +threw himself into his work and with his knowledge of Boy Scout tactics +and the wonderful range of their knowledge he passed on to his comrades +all he had learned before he had left America on the journey which had +had such an exciting end. He never once suspected the influence he +innocently exerted for good. Boy as he was, he taught the soldiers in +his group so much that they were the special objects of attention to +their officers. Drill went smoothly and evenly; the men gained poise +and assurance. Zaidos was almost happy in his work. +</P> + +<P> +Then suddenly on the fifth day the blow fell. The unbelievable horror +came to pass. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos and his group passed out into the street as usual, early in the +morning. As they made formation a smothered groan like a deep breath +escaped them. +</P> + +<P> +Against the blank wall before them, bound, stood the deserter. +</P> + +<P> +Once Zaidos had read a highly colored account of a man who had felt the +extremest depth of horror. The book said that he had felt as though +his bones were turning to water, and Zaidos had sneered at the +description. It flashed into his mind when he looked into the wild, +chalky countenance of the man against the wall. He glanced down the +line of soldiers. A stupid blankness seemed to envelop them. Pale as +death they stared at the shaking creature before them. There was a +terrible silence that sounded as loud and beat as fiercely in their +ears as the boom of cannon. Things moved with frightful deliberation. +It seemed that they stood for hours staring at the doomed man. It +seemed to take hours of physical, dragging effort to obey the next +command and move directly in front of that ghastly face. Then more +moments, hours, or ages, ticked off endlessly with the dull beating of +their hearts. In the face opposite a dull despair dawned slowly. +Expression died out. A fearful understanding of things washed away all +earthly hope. He stared at the file of men in front of him as dumbly +as the ox approaching the butcher. He had deserted, he had been +caught, he was to die; that was all. All the little simplicities of +his life lay behind him. His wife—his little <I>girl</I>-wife, the tiny +baby, the warm hut, the friendly wildness of the trackless mountains. +They were back of him; he could no longer turn to them. +Back-to-the-wall he stood, this untrained, undisciplined creature, +facing a line of muskets that wavered in the shaking hands of the +soldiers. There was not one of them who would not have faced a +regiment, untried as they were, for the men of Greece are heroes; but +to stand there and aim at that one poor quaking target. * * * It was a +nightmare. It was delirium. Zaidos felt his bones turn to water. He +almost fell. Down the line a man fainted. +</P> + +<P> +The priest approached and, walking swiftly to the condemned man, spoke +to him in a low and tender tone. The man did not reply. He nodded, +but looked at the soldiers. The priest, tears coursing down his face, +stepped back. +</P> + +<P> +There was a brief command, a rattle of arms, another order, a pause, a +sharp word. Then came a snarling report of guns * * * and on the +ground before him lay a crumpled heap. Zaidos, sick to the soul, +obeyed the order to retire. He had fired in the air! +</P> + +<P> +The day passed in a horrid daze. Two of the firing squad were so ill +and shaken that they could only lie on their cots with eyes hidden, and +moan. It was the first tragedy that had entered their simple lives. +</P> + +<P> +The heart of Zaidos rebelled. He could have stood the rage and fear +and excitement of battle, but this unspeakable act in which he had +taken part seemed too much. As night approached he began to fear the +quiet hours of the dark. When he closed his eyes he could see that +white, blank face before him. +</P> + +<P> +It was with a deep feeling of relief and gratitude then that he obeyed +the order to march to the wharves. There were forty men included in +the command, and they went off gaily, glad of anything as a change from +the barracks. +</P> + +<P> +Three transports waited at the wharves. Zaidos obeyed an order to go +aboard the largest, a noble ship ready to put out. It was crowded with +men. Zaidos, with two others, boarded her. They were led down and +down into the depths of the ship, and with despair Zaidos discovered +that he was to be one of the assistant stokers. +</P> + +<P> +The engine-rooms were stifling, notwithstanding the big electric fans +that supplied a change of air as it entered through the great air +intakes. The furnaces roared. A couple of engineers nodded to him and +one of them led him to a bunk where he exchanged his uniform for the +thin, scant garments suited to his new work. At once he returned to +his new duty. He found the shifts were short, but the work was so +heavy and the heat so intense that at the end of his first duty he went +to his stuffy bunk and threw himself down, more exhausted than he had +ever been in his life. He lost track of time down there in the +firelighted gloom, and the clock seemed to bring no understanding to +him. +</P> + +<P> +At last night came, and he was sent to his bunk again to remain until +summoned. The engineer, who was like an officer in charge, was not a +hard man. He understood the necessity of breaking his boys in +gradually. Zaidos, too tired to sleep, lay in his bunk watching the +men about him and listening to their idle or boastful talk. His native +tongue had come back to his remembrance, and it was easy to understand +most of them. +</P> + +<P> +Presently he heard groans from the next berth, and a tall soldier came +over and looked in. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter with you?" he said to the complaining youth lying +there. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sick, I'm going to die!" said a whining voice. "I have been down +in the engine-room until I am nearly cooked. I think my back is broken +too." +</P> + +<P> +The listening man laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a bit of it, my boy!" he said. "You are tired out. That is what +ails you. You have soft muscles evidently. You will be all right +soon." +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you I am about dead!" insisted the voice. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos listened, puzzled. There was a familiar sound in the tones, but +for the life of him he could not place the speaker. +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you I am in a bad way!" insisted the unseen speaker. "I shall +appeal this matter to the King as soon as we land." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a good idea," said a soldier, nodding. "When I came away I +left my tobacco pouch in barracks. I will appeal too. It is not to be +endured!" +</P> + +<P> +"You don't understand," said the fellow. "I am Velo Kupenol, the head +of the house of Zaidos. I am a Count!" +</P> + +<P> +The tall soldier nodded with a twinkle in his eye. Zaidos fell back in +his bunk with a gasp of surprise, and listened. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that so?" said the soldier. "I heard of the death of Count Zaidos +the other day. So you are his heir, eh? I thought he had a son. +Where does he appear in this story of yours?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is dead," said Velo. (It was he.) "He went to America, and has +not been heard from. So I am the heir. I shall appeal to the King, I +tell you!" +</P> + +<P> +"All right; all right!" agreed the soldier, while the others, listening +near, laughed. "At least it is a pretty story, Count. Stick to it. +We like to hear you talk." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it is so, and I can prove it!" +</P> + +<P> +"How?" said Zaidos, suddenly leaning over the edge of his bunk. +</P> + +<P> +For a full minute Velo stared at him with bulging eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"How will you prove it?" said Zaidos with a steady stare. He leaped to +his feet and, shoving the tall soldier out of his way, went to the +berth and thrust his furious face close to his cousin's. +</P> + +<P> +"You won't prove anything!" he said in a low, tense tone. "You have +made a fool of yourself and of me. I won't have my father's name +dragged into this mess. I'm here as Zaidos, the stoker; and you will +forget Zaidos of Saloniki as fast as ever you can. And if I find you +telling anything more, I will thrash you, Velo Kupenol, within an inch +of your life. I can do it, too. I learned that in America, at least. +And for the present we are in the same fix. We are here as common +soldiers. My papers were stolen from me in barracks the night my +father died, Velo, so there won't be any proving at all. We are just a +pair of stokers on a transport. But don't think for a <I>minute</I> that I +mean to stay where I am. A Zaidos cannot be kept in the hold. I shall +do something for the honor of my name, you may be assured of that. But +remember <I>I am Zaidos, the stoker</I>. As I said, if I find that silly +tongue of yours wagging, I will make—you—good—and—sorry." +</P> + +<P> +He paused, and with keen eyes searched Velo's face to make sure he +comprehended it all. +</P> + +<P> +Velo was silent, and Zaidos returned to his cot, once more conscious of +his fatigue and lameness. +</P> + +<P> +But Velo, turning to the wall, pressed his face to the hard mattress, +and let the deadly hate he bore his cousin fill his very being. He +pressed his hand on the stolen papers hidden in his kit. Zaidos must +die. Zaidos must die! All his evil blood boiled in him. For hours, +when he should have been sleeping off his fatigue, as Zaidos was doing, +he lay hating and plotting. A dozen evil schemes formed in his mind, +but Velo was a coward. <I>He</I> did not mean to be caught in anything that +looked shady. When he was finally rid of his cousin, he did not want +to be unable to appeal to the King and later enjoy the boundless wealth +and vast estates and unblemished honor of the Zaidos name. +</P> + +<P> +Before dawn both boys were called to go into the engine-rooms with +their shift. Zaidos, although lame and aching, was still refreshed by +his slumber and ready for work. But Velo could scarcely drag himself +along. He worked as little as possible, the engineer grumbling at his +poor performance. He kept close to Zaidos, dogging him about like a +treacherous and snapping cur. +</P> + +<P> +His chance came finally. Zaidos, with a great shovel of coal, was +approaching the terrible open door of the blazing furnace. Velo, with +his empty shovel, had just left it. As his cousin passed him he gave a +sly twist to the dragging shovel, which threw the corner of it between +Zaidos' feet. He stumbled and fell headlong toward the open door where +a horrible death seemed reaching for him. +</P> + +<P> +But as he plunged forward, the chief, who was beside him, turned and +shoved his rake against the falling body. It was enough to change the +direction of his fall. He crashed to the ground safe. He was on his +feet instantly, turning to his cousin with a look where certainty and +inquiry were mingled. But as he opened his mouth to speak, a sudden +jar under them was followed by a terrific crash, and in a moment a +fearful list of the great vessel disclosed the worst. +</P> + +<P> +The transport had been struck by a submarine and was sinking. Water +rushed into the engine-room and rose toward the immense bed of living +coals in the furnaces. There was a savage hiss of steam. The ship +listed rapidly to port. A rapid ringing of bells cut the air. The +chief listened. It was the danger signal, never sounded when any hope +of saving the ship remained. +</P> + +<P> +"Up to the deck for your lives!" he roared, and throwing down the +shovels and rakes, the men and the two boys sped for the entrances. +They struggled up with a mob of terrified men who pushed and fought. +More and more the big boat leaned to the sea. When Zaidos finally +gained the deck, one rail nearly touched the water. He thought she +would go under immediately, but thanks to some uninjured air chamber +below, she hung balanced. On the bridge the Captain shouted through a +megaphone. +</P> + +<P> +"Jump before she goes!" he cried. "Swim away from the wreck!" +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos, forgetting all but the present danger, seized his cousin by the +arm and rushed him to the side of the ship. +</P> + +<P> +"Jump!" he cried. +</P> + +<P> +"No!" screamed Velo. "No, no! I am going to stay here!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you hear the Captain?" cried Zaidos. "Jump! Jump!" +</P> + +<P> +Velo pulled back and Zaidos urged him toward the heaving water. +</P> + +<P> +"It's our one chance, Velo!" he cried. "We will go down with the ship +if we stay." +</P> + +<P> +He suddenly gave Velo a push and flung him into the water. Together +they swam rapidly from the rail. As though to give the soldiers the +one slim chance for their lives, the ship, leaning on its side, still +balanced at the lip of the sea. Then with a sickening roar the vessel +went down. Zaidos looked over his shoulder. On the bridge, white +haired, erect, undismayed, stood the Captain. As the waters engulfed +him he even smiled. A fearful force dragged at the boys and swept them +toward the great whirlpool made by the ship. They swam desperately, +and just as strength seemed to fail, the pressure was released and they +floated in a sea covered with wreckage and with swimming or drowning +men. +</P> + +<P> +The boys were swimming close together when Velo gave a cry and clasped +Zaidos around the neck in a choking grip. At once they both went +under, and Zaidos fought his way out of the strangling clasp; but Velo +seized him by the arm. They came up, and Zaidos turned on his cousin. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't, don't let me go!" Velo begged with staring eyes. "I'm getting +a cramp!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then let go of me!" cried Zaidos. "I'll save you if I can, but don't +grab me!" +</P> + +<P> +Velo, overcome with terror, tried to obey, but his reason was not as +strong as his terror. Once more he tried to grasp Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +The boy turned, grabbed him by the throat, and forced him under water. +</P> + +<P> +He struggled furiously for a space, then suddenly went limp. Zaidos +drew him to the surface. He was unconscious. He supported the +unresisting weight on his shoulder, and as he kept afloat, he +despairingly scanned the horizon. +</P> + +<P> +Bearing down upon them at full speed he saw an English Red Cross ship! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A STRUGGLE IN THE SEA +</H3> + +<P> +Hope rose in Zaidos' bosom. He gave a sigh of relief. The boat was +only a couple of miles distant, and coming full steam ahead. Something +bumped heavily against Zaidos' shoulder. It was a dead soldier. A +gaping water-soaked wound on his head sagged open, and told the story +as plainly as words could do. He was supported by a life belt +carelessly strapped around him. The body pressed against Zaidos, +bumping him gently as it moved in the wash of the sea. +</P> + +<P> +Still holding Velo with his left arm, Zaidos unbuckled the single strap +that held the life belt and the body, released, slipped down into the +water and disappeared. Zaidos, treading water as hard as he could, +next managed to get the belt around Velo and buckled it. He fastened +it so high that Velo's head was supported well out of the water; and +Zaidos let himself down in the water with a gasp of relief. He felt +that he was good for hours now. Keeping a hand on the strap of the +belt, he turned on his back and floated. The water was warm, there was +a hot sun shining, and with the Red Cross ship approaching, Zaidos felt +that he was indeed lucky. +</P> + +<P> +He felt no uneasiness about the Red Cross ship changing its direction; +the sea about was full of wreckage and men swimming and clinging to +spars and timbers. It was not as though he and Velo had been alone +there in the sea. The Red Cross ship had no doubt seen the explosion +and sinking of the transport. So Zaidos floated easily beside his +unconscious companion, occasionally calling to some hardy swimmer who +came near, and expecting soon to see the rescuing vessel approach. +Velo opened his eyes, felt the lap of the waves round his shoulders, +and gave a convulsive leap out of the sea. +</P> + +<P> +"Had a good nap?" asked Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +Velo groaned. "I am going to die," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Not just yet," Zaidos assured him. "I wish you would have a little +more courage," he said crossly. "You are in the <I>greatest</I> luck. The +transport is gone, with all her officers and nearly all of the men. I +don't suppose there are more than six or eight hundred afloat out of +the three thousand on board. Look over there, Velo. There is a Red +Cross ship coming along. She will pick us up, and then we will be all +right." +</P> + +<P> +Velo looked eagerly and gave a cry of dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, oh, <I>oh</I>!" he screamed. "We are lost; we are lost!" He burst +into tears. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos rolled over and looked. +</P> + +<P> +When you are in the water, as every Boy Scout knows, every object +afloat looks mountainous. A common rowboat looms up like a three +master, and Zaidos, looking in the direction of the Red Cross ship, saw +a couple of battleships approaching, while a huge Zeppelin like a great +bird of prey floated overhead. How many submarines were playing around +beneath him, he could not guess. One thing was clear. They were in a +position stranger than any story, madder than any dream. Floating +there, almost exhausted in the sea, they were to be in the center of a +sea fight. Velo still wept, and Zaidos himself felt a sob of +excitement choke his throat. +</P> + +<P> +"We are going to get it from both sides," he remarked to his cousin. +"That Red Cross ship is trying to get out of range until this thing is +over." +</P> + +<P> +"What is going to become of us?" cried Velo. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know!" said Zaidos. "And I don't so much care. At least I +don't mean to worry. I've watched a lot of poor swimmers go down just +from exhaustion; and if we are not rescued, why, we just <I>won't</I>, +that's all. I'll tell you one thing, though," he said with sudden +anger, "if you don't brace up and stop making me listen to your +whimpering, I am going to duck you again. I did it before when you +were trying to drown us both and I am perfectly willing to do it again. +You had better brace up!" +</P> + +<P> +Velo was silent, and Zaidos fixed his eyes on the most amazing sight +that a Scout ever witnessed. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a wild shot ripped across the water, skipped along twenty feet +from them, plowed its way into the sea, then disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +Velo screamed. Another shot followed so close that the wave from it +rocked them. Zaidos watched the Zeppelin with fascinated eyes. It +circled round and round, in an effort to get over the biggest ship. A +shot leaped up at it, and missed. The Zeppelin rose a little, then +returned to the attack. Another shot narrowly missed it; but at that +instant a bomb dropped like a plummet. It was a close miss. Zaidos +could see wood fly as it clipped the prow and exploded as it reached +the sea, doing but little damage. +</P> + +<P> +"Look! Look!" cried Velo. +</P> + +<P> +Another battleship was coming, and another, until before them five +great monsters battled. The Zeppelin returned to the attack, and +Zaidos himself cried, "Look! Look!" as a swift gleam of light across +the water, on a line with his eyes, betrayed the lightning swift course +of a torpedo. It struck the ship, and at the same moment the Zeppelin +dropped an accurate bomb. There was a terrific explosion as the +torpedo struck amidships, a spurt of flame as the bomb scattered its +inflammable gases over the decks, and fire burst out everywhere. +Another torpedo tore into the ship. Zaidos' eyes bulged as he watched, +the monster ship flaming and roaring with repeated explosions, her own +guns valiantly firing to the last. As she plunged nose-first into the +sea, the boys could see the crew, like ants, pouring, leaping over the +side, only to go down in the vast whirlpool made by the sinking vessel. +</P> + +<P> +The Zeppelin now soared skyward, made a wide circle that took it almost +out of sight, and returned to attack another ship. Then a strange +thing happened. The upleaping shot from the battleship crossed the +bomb from the Zeppelin in mid-air, and as the bomb exploded on the deck +of the cruiser, the shell from her aeroplane gun hit the delicate body +of the airship and tore through it. As the Zeppelin came whirling +down, turning over and over in the air, Zaidos could see the crew +spilling out like little black pills out of a torn box. That they were +men, human beings whirling to a dreadful death, did not occur to him. +He had lost all sense of human values in the terrible pageant before +him. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed like a picture show, only with the vivid colors of reality +and the deafening noise of exploding shells. Once they felt the +submarine pass under them, so close that it made an eddy that pulled +them toward the combating ships. When it came up to release its dart, +the boys were too intent on keeping themselves enough out of the sea +wash to breathe, to see whether the torpedo struck or not. The +excitement grew in intensity. Gradually the group of fighting ships +drew nearer the swimmers. They were not more than half a mile away. +Another great hulk went down. The Zeppelin, with broken wings wide +spread, floated on the sea. They could scarcely see it except when a +wave made by a falling shell lifted some of its delicate framework. +</P> + +<P> +"There goes another ship!" exclaimed Zaidos. "I wish I could tell what +they are. I can't see any flags or emblems from here." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't care what becomes of them," Velo said irritably. "I'm +water-soaked. I feel queer. I'll never get out of this." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, brace up!" cried Zaidos, speaking in English. He reflected that +Velo could not understand a word of the language, and proceeded to give +vent to his feelings in a tongue that he had found extremely expressive +in times of need. He glared at the drooping boy, while the guns +continued to thunder. +</P> + +<P> +"You make me sick! You make me tired!" he exploded. "Great Scott, you +are the worst baby I ever saw! I wish to goodness you were wherever +you want to be, wrapped up in cotton batting, I suppose, and tied with +pink string, and laid on a shelf in a safety deposit vault. You are a +regular jelly fish! I wish I had some fellow along who had a real +spine! I—" he paused for breath. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what you are saying," complained Velo. +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't matter," said Zaidos in Greek. "It was nothing of +consequence. I think I told you once or twice before just about what I +thought about things. If you feel better to whimper around all the +time and complain about things, why, so ahead! I suppose we <I>will</I> +drown. I'm getting pretty tired myself, but I mean to hang on as long +as I can. +</P> + +<P> +"If this fight ends before nightfall, that Red Cross ship is sure to +come back and pick up all they can, and you can see for yourself just +the position it is in now. It can't get to the battleships without +coming past us. So we have a good chance. I've been in the water +longer than this without much damage. But I wish you could manage to +keep yourself together, Velo. I'm sure we will come out all right. +I'm not going to die now, before I have a chance to do something worth +while." He shook the water from his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I believe they are going to quit," he said. "I wonder how many +fellows have seen anything like this. Three dreadnaughts and a +Zeppelin sunk and wrecked, and I don't know which is which or who is +who. It doesn't much matter to us, however. However long or short I +live, I'll never forget it. Never! Just think of it, Velo; three +ships of the line, and a flyer." He turned to the opposite direction, +scanning the sea with keen eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sure enough, here comes the Red Cross! The fight is over. She +is going to pass us. That's pretty fine, isn't it, Velo? Don't that +make you feel warm all over?" +</P> + +<P> +"She may not stop," said Velo gloomily. +</P> + +<P> +"A Red Cross ship pass all this bunch swimming around here without +stopping to pick them up? You are crazy!" +</P> + +<P> +"There are not so very many," insisted Velo. +</P> + +<P> +"They will stop to pick you up if all the rest of us go down before +they get here," said Zaidos patiently. "You have the life belt, Velo, +so don't worry any more than you have to." +</P> + +<P> +A silence followed. After the wild racket of the guns, it seemed as +though the sea itself whispered. On and on came the Red Cross ship. +It approached so near that they could see that a couple of boats were +being lowered. They were gasoline launches, and they raced here and +there, pausing every little while to pick up a survivor. As they +approached Zaidos and his cousin, Velo commenced to scream in a weak +voice. Zaidos sighed, but said nothing. +</P> + +<P> +When the nearest launch approached them, Velo thrust him back and left +him swimming while he, with his life belt, was lifted over the side. +But a sailor had Zaidos by the shoulder. It was well, for the boy was +at the point of exhaustion, and as he felt himself drawn into the boat, +he found a sudden darkness settle over everything, and he sank back +unconscious into the arms of a doctor. +</P> + +<P> +When he opened his eyes, he was in the clean, airy, floating hospital. +It took a little thought for Zaidos to recollect where he was. When he +did so, he made an effort to arise. To his great surprise, he could +not move. He threw back the covers. His leg was in splints. He +stared at it with surprise. +</P> + +<P> +A nurse came up. "How did that happen?" he demanded. "What ails my +leg anyhow?" +</P> + +<P> +"You ought to know," she smiled. "We expect you to tell us. Your leg +is broken below the knee. Just the small bone, you know. Do you mean +to say you did not know it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should say not!" said Zaidos. "You are sure it is broken? It hurts +a lot, but I don't see how it could be broken without my knowing it." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is certainly broken," the nurse repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you are talking English, aren't you?" cried Zaidos with delight. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes. This is an English Red Cross ship," replied the nurse. +"You are English, are you not? Or American?" +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos shook his head. "No, I'm a Greek," he explained. "But I've +been in America at school since I was a little chap, and I have had an +English room-mate for three years." +</P> + +<P> +"That's it, then," said the nurse. "You must not talk now, however. +You must drink this and sleep if you can. There are a lot of badly +hurt men here. <I>You</I> are all right, but pretty well water-soaked and +tired out. Try to sleep." +</P> + +<P> +She started on, but Zaidos put out his hand and detained her. +</P> + +<P> +"Just a moment, please," he said, smiling at her in his sunny way. "Is +there a fellow here called Velo Kupenol? Tall fellow, thin, and looks +a little like me perhaps?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps not again," said the nurse, frowning a little. "Yes, your +friend is here. He does not seem to have anything the matter with him, +yet he acts like a very sick boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to enjoy poor health?" asked Zaidos, smiling. "Well, I myself +can't really blame him. You don't know how very <I>wet</I> we felt! I feel +as though I could lie here a week and enjoy these dry sheets." +</P> + +<P> +"You will be very likely to do so whether you enjoy it or not," said +the nurse. "Legs do not mend in a day. When your friend thinks he is +strong enough, I will suggest his coming to visit you." +</P> + +<P> +She passed on, and Zaidos lay staring at the wooden ceiling so near his +head. +</P> + +<P> +Round and round and round goes the wheel of fate, thought Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +He wondered what the next turn would be, and where it would carry him. +He drank from the cup the nurse had given him, and presently dozed off, +although his leg pained too much to allow him to get a sound sleep. +</P> + +<P> +He was aroused later by voices near him, and recognized the sound of +his cousin's voice. Velo was talking in a rapid, low tone to one of +the doctors. +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like a nice boy," said the doctor in Greek. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he is," said Velo. "But if he is my cousin, I must say he is one +of the most stubborn fellows I have ever known." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that so?" thought Zaidos, keeping his eyes shut tight. He thought +there would be no more talk about him, but the doctor went on, "He +doesn't look it." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Velo, "but he is. I thought I would never be able to rescue +him from that sinking transport. He went sort of crazy, he was so +afraid, and when the order came to jump, he clung to the rail, and +refused to move. I had to twist his hands away, and jump with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I do declare!" thought Zaidos. He decided that he had better +find out just what sort of a fellow he was supposed to be anyhow. +</P> + +<P> +Velo went on, "When I got him into the water, I had to take him over my +shoulder, and swim for dear life to get away from the boat before she +went down. We just made it, and at that he clung to me with such a +grip that I thought I would have to let go and leave him to his fate." +</P> + +<P> +"Queer how they hang on to one in the water," said the doctor. "It +seems strange he does not swim." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he swims a little," said Velo. "He <I>thinks</I> he swims well, but it +does not amount to much. I got hold of a life belt and buckled it +around him, and kept his courage up as well as I could. The fight out +there nearly finished him." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know as I blame him," said the doctor. "It must have been a +pretty stiff experience, especially when a shot came your way +occasionally." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it was exciting," Velo agreed. He spoke with the ease of a man +accustomed to worse things. Zaidos wondered how the doctor ever +believed it all. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," he said, "I'll have to go on. You can congratulate yourself, +young man, on having the courage and patience to stick it out and save +the lad. It is a great credit to you and I'm proud to know you." And +he turned and walked softly away between the white bunks. +</P> + +<P> +Velo remained standing near Zaidos. Presently he came over and looked +down at his cousin. Zaidos opened one eye and looked up. The other he +kept tightly closed. It gave him a teasing, guying expression of +countenance which he had many times found very irritating at school. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear, <I>dear</I> Velo," he said with a simper, "how can I <I>ever</I> thank you +for saving my life?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTO SERVICE +</H3> + +<P> +Zaidos' method of punishing Velo for the yarn he had told the doctor +took the form of an exaggerated gratitude. Being perfectly independent +of praise himself, Zaidos could not understand why on earth Velo should +have taken the trouble to misrepresent things so. As far as Zaidos +could see, there was nothing to be gained by it. The incident was past +and did not concern the doctor in any way. Zaidos, who did not know +his cousin at all, had yet to learn that his was one of the natures +that are incapable of any noble effort, yet which feed on praise. With +Velo everything was personal. If he passed a beautiful woman driving +in the park, he thought instantly, "Now if that horse should run away, +and I should leap out and grasp the animal by the head, wouldn't that +be fine? I would doubtless be dashed to the pavement a few times, but +what of that?" He could almost hear the lovely lady, pale and shaken, +as she thanked her noble preserver and pressed into his hand a ring of +immense value. The lovely lady was always a Countess at least, and +frequently a Princess. +</P> + +<P> +Velo imagined drowning accidents, and fires where he dashed the firemen +aside, and made thrilling rescues of other lovely ladies who were seen +hanging out of high windows. Velo himself always came out unhurt and +with his clothes nicely brushed and in order. Sometimes he imagined a +slight, <I>very</I> slight cut on his forehead, which had to be becomingly +bandaged, but that was always the extent of his injuries. Velo liked +to imagine bandits, too; big, ferocious fellows whom he outwitted, or +choked into insensibility in single combat. At a moving-picture show, +he always sat in a delicious dream, admiring his own exploits as the +pictures flashed on the screen. +</P> + +<P> +Thus it was perfectly natural and simple for him to take the adventure +of the previous day, and twist it to his own glorification. +</P> + +<P> +To Zaidos this would have been such an impossibility that he simply +could not have understood it at all, even if someone had explained +Velo's way of looking at things. +</P> + +<P> +To Zaidos the only possible or natural way to look at things was to do +whatever came up for a fellow <I>to</I> do, and to do it as soon and as well +as he possibly could. Not knowing Velo, he did not dream that he was +in the habit of glorifying himself on every possible occasion. If he +had, he would have pressed a little harder. As it was, he drove Velo +into a cold fury by his sweet, humble gratitude. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Velo," he would say, "whenever I think how you wrenched my hands +from the rail, and forced me into the water, and swam with me to +safety, I don't see how I will <I>ever</I> thank you!" +</P> + +<P> +Then he would get out the square of antiseptic gauze the nurse had +given him for a handkerchief and cry into its folds as loudly as he +dared. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos had to take medicine to keep down fever, so there were two +bottles on the tiny table beside him. He had to take a dose every +hour. Once he woke up, and took the bottle in his hand and started to +pour it out just as the nurse came past. She gave a look at the +bottle, smothered a cry, and snatched it from Zaidos' hand. She was +pale. +</P> + +<P> +"How—where—when did you get that?" she stammered. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with it?" asked Zaidos. "Isn't it my medicine? +I've been taking it all the time, haven't I?" +</P> + +<P> +The nurse had regained her self-control and even smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you been asleep this morning?" she asked, as though the medicine +no longer interested her. +</P> + +<P> +"Just woke up," said Zaidos. "I had a fine nap." +</P> + +<P> +"That's good," said the nurse and walked away, taking the bottle in her +hand. +</P> + +<P> +But five minutes later, when she reported to the doctor, her manner was +not so calm. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you think?" she cried, closing the door of the tiny laboratory +where he was working with an assistant. "What can this mean? This +bottle was on young Zaidos' table instead of the medicine I left there!" +</P> + +<P> +The doctor scanned the label. +</P> + +<P> +"Bichloride of mercury," he said. "Why, that's queer!" He pondered. +"What do you make of it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't make a <I>guess</I> even," said the nurse. "There is no one out +there who is delirious, and Zaidos could not get up on that broken leg +in his sleep, if he wanted to. If it was not such a crazy idea, I +should say someone had a reason for getting rid of Zaidos, but he is +very popular, and his cousin thinks the world of him." +</P> + +<P> +The incident was mysterious as well as serious. They discussed it and +made guesses which flew wide of the mark. The doctor quietly ordered a +change of medicine for Zaidos, and removing the bottles on his table, +gave the nurse instructions to give him the doses herself. She did so, +without rousing any suspicion in Zaidos' open and confident mind, <I>but +Velo Kupenol noticed the change</I>. +</P> + +<P> +He was more attentive to his cousin than ever. +</P> + +<P> +Only in the rare moments when he was alone and secure from observation +did he allow himself to take off the mask of good nature and +kindliness, and let those thin features of his twist into the wicked +leer that well fitted them. He no longer saw himself in the part of +hero. He was too eager to remove from his way the boy who stood +between him and all the luxury he craved. But his common sense told +him that at the present, at least, there was nothing to be done. He +would have to await further developments. In the meantime he would +gain his cousin's confidence. That ought to be easy. Zaidos was the +most friendly fellow he had ever seen. Velo resolved that if ever he +came in for the Zaidos name and title, he would show them just how +haughty and overbearing a young nobleman could be. But in the +meantime, he thought it better to do as Zaidos commanded and say +nothing about the family. Zaidos had elected to be known as a common +soldier, and he would keep to his word. Velo realized that he himself +could make no pretentions while Zaidos was about; he would not stand +for that. So Velo acted in his best and oiliest manner, and waited on +the nurse, and urged his services on the doctors, and wondered why they +never acted at ease and friendly with him, as they all did with the +laughing boy on the cot. +</P> + +<P> +When they were sent ashore it dawned on Velo that now they would be +separated. Zaidos would have to go to a hospital to wait for his leg +to heal; but he was well, and would be set at some duty which would +separate him from Zaidos. That would never do. He worried over it as +they approached land, and finally took the matter to the doctor. He +put the matter strongly. He had promised Zaidos' dying father that he +would not be separated from the boy. They were almost of an age, but +he had always been the one to look out for Zaidos, and surely now if +ever was the time to be true to his trust. He explained the manner of +their enlistment, and reminded the doctor they were both listed among +the drowned. +</P> + +<P> +"You see I <I>must</I> remain near him," he urged. "Just help me find a +way." +</P> + +<P> +"The hospitals are all short handed," mused the good-natured physician. +"I think they would be glad to get you. There is lots of heavy lifting +that tells on the nurses, and all that sort of thing, you know. It +will be two weeks before Zaidos can be discharged. That bone is not +knitting right. It was splintered, you see. I'll do all I can for +you, Velo, and I think it will work out nicely." +</P> + +<P> +So it came about that when the patients on the Red Cross ship were +transferred to the land hospital within the English lines, Velo was +there in full force, carrying one end of Zaidos' stretcher. Of course +it was the light end; Velo saw to that instinctively, but then it was +Velo's attention to just such little details that made life easy for +him. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos soon improved so that he was allowed to hop about on crutches. +The second day he used them, however, a brass pin somehow worked into +the arm pad and scratched him badly before he knew that it was just +where his weight would press it into his shoulder. It was very sore, +and that same night, when he sat carefully on the edge of his narrow +bed, waiting for Velo to come and help him undress, the bed went down +and Zaidos was thrown to the floor. It hurt his leg again. Velo +picked him up and was so sorry that for once Zaidos felt a twinge of +remorse when he thought of the way he had guyed him. +</P> + +<P> +But the nurse, who had been transferred to the land hospital also, +pressed her lips tight together and thought hard. Zaidos was almost +too unlucky. She took him under her own special care, although Velo +protested and assured her that she must not burden herself while he was +there to look out for his cousin. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see why so many things keep happening to you," she said to +Zaidos while she dressed the place on his arm where the brass pin had +made a bad sore. +</P> + +<P> +"I <I>am</I> playing in hard luck, at that," said Zaidos, smiling. "Every +time I turn around I seem to bump myself somehow. I was on the +football team, and had won my letter for running. Do you suppose I +will ever get to run again?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," said the nurse. "I don't see why this leg should make +much difference. It was only one bone, you know, and you could bandage +that leg if it felt weak. But you can't keep falling off cots and +sticking infected pins into you." +</P> + +<P> +"Funny thing about that cot," said Zaidos. "The bolt that held the +spring and headboard together was gone—completely gone. I wonder if +it ever was in. Perhaps when they put it together, they forgot that +corner, and it stuck together until I happened to sit down on it just +right. I've known things like that. I'm glad it didn't go down with +some poor fellow who was badly wounded. It gave my leg an awful jolt. +And it certainly gets me where I got that pin in the crutch pad. It +must have been in the lining, and just worked out. I don't believe it +will make a bad sore. My blood is pretty good. It's funny, though." +</P> + +<P> +"A lot of queer things happen to you, Zaidos," said the nurse. "Tell +me, have you no other name? Are you just Zaidos and nothing else?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, I have five or six other names," said Zaidos, smiling. "But +you know in Greece it is the custom to call the—" +</P> + +<P> +He glanced into the face before him with a queer embarrassed look, and +stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"Just so," said the nurse. "I understand. You are the head of your +house, whatever that is, and you have very sensibly decided to keep it +all to yourself while you are mixed up in this war. Well, Zaidos, in +England, too, we sometimes call the head of a noble house by his family +name. For my part, however, I prefer to think of you simply as a +particularly nice, agreeable boy, who has made his illness a very +pleasant time for the people who have been near him; and so I think I +will call you something simpler than Zaidos. Is John one of your five +or six names?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing so easy as that," said Zaidos, smiling. "Why, I will tell you +what they are." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want to know," said the nurse. "I, too, have a name that we +will forget for the time, but you may call me Nurse Helen. And I have +the dearest father in the world whose name is John; so I will call you +John. Do you mind?" +</P> + +<P> +"I should say not!" said Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, John," said Nurse Helen, "every time I say that name I feel +closer to my home and all the dear ones there. Some day I will tell +you about them all." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you would," said Zaidos. "I have often wondered how your +people could let a dandy girl like you get into this sort of thing." +He wanted to say such a <I>pretty</I> girl, but did not quite have the +courage to do it. "You know you might even get hurt." +</P> + +<P> +"It's quite likely," said Helen simply. "One has to accept that +chance. And there <I>is</I> a chance about everything. A lot of the people +in this war, dreadful as it is, will go home when it is over, and get +run over by London busses, or fall down stairs, or things like that." +</P> + +<P> +"Or slip on banana peels," added Zaidos. "You are right about it. I +wonder I never thought of it before." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Velo Kupenol?" asked Helen. "Is he really your cousin?" +</P> + +<P> +"My second cousin, to be exact," said Zaidos; "He has lived at our +house ever since he was a boy eight years old. I don't exactly +understand Velo lots of the time." +</P> + +<P> +"I wouldn't think he was too awfully hard to understand," said Helen. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he is," said Zaidos. "He has been just nice to me ever since I +was hurt, but he has done some of the queerest things. And what he +told the doctor about what happened the day we were in the water—Oh +well, I can't explain it very well!" +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos was too modest to tell Helen that the account had simply been +twisted around to Velo's advantage. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't try," commented Helen. "There is one thing I feel as though I +ought to tell you. That is, that I want you to watch that cousin of +yours. If we are doing him an injustice, we will find it out just so +much sooner. Otherwise it pays to be on guard. Just tell me one +thing, John. If anything happened to you, would there be anything for +Velo to gain by your death?" +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos looked uncomfortable. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I suppose so," he said. "Why, yes, to be honest with you, he +would gain a lot. But I can't—Oh, he wouldn't be such a sneak! +Perhaps I had better tell you all about everything, now you have sort +of adopted me." +</P> + +<P> +"Not if you think best not to," said Helen; "but of course I would love +to know all about you." +</P> + +<P> +"And I had better tell you," said Zaidos. "You see, I have no +relatives at all except Velo, and we aren't too sure of him yet, are +we?" +</P> + +<P> +He rapidly recounted the happenings of the past from the time the +telegram reached him in far America. Several times Helen interrupted +with a keen question. +</P> + +<P> +When Zaidos finished, she sighed. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, John," she said, "as far as I can see, there is not a thing you +can take as a real clue. But it all looks queer, just the same. +Sometimes everything <I>will</I> happen so things look black. That is why +circumstantial evidence is always so dangerous. But all the same, I +worry over you." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't do that," said Zaidos. "I ought to be old enough to look out +for myself." +</P> + +<P> +"What are you going to do when your leg heals?" asked Helen. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to join the Red Cross," said Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"How perfectly fine!" exclaimed Helen. "We will be posted together for +awhile if you do, because the field hospitals at the front where I am +going are very short handed. Don't you suppose we could persuade Velo +that his duty lies in some other sphere of action?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe so," said Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I know we couldn't," said Helen. "He has repeatedly told me that +he would never leave you. Here he comes now. Let's try it!" +</P> + +<P> +She smiled as Velo approached and drew himself up. Nurse Helen was +undeniably beautiful, even in her severe uniform. +</P> + +<P> +No, Velo had <I>no</I> intention of deserting his dear cousin. If Zaidos +joined the Red Cross, so would Velo. It made no difference to him at +all. If Zaidos was stationed in the trench hospitals at the front, +that was where <I>he</I> would be found. +</P> + +<P> +And two weeks later he actually did find himself there. It was in one +of the lulls between engagements, and they arrived with no more +excitement or danger than might attend any summer trip. +</P> + +<P> +But there they were, actually in the trenches. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A LETTER HOME +</H3> + +<P> +Zaidos, who was still on sick list and walked with a cane, was +nevertheless put to work, in order to familiarize him with the position +of the trenches. For two weeks the English had been expecting an +attack, and the inaction was telling on the nerves of the officers. +</P> + +<P> +The men are only kept under fire for four days. At the end of that +time, they are sent back a few miles in shifts to the nearest village +where they find quarters, and rest from the nerve-racking, soul-shaking +clamor of guns and buzz of bullets. The trenches were wonderful. +Zaidos and Velo, the Red Cross badges on their arms giving them free +passage, soon explored every inch until they were perfectly familiar +with them all. Zaidos drew a sketch of the plan to send to the fellows +in school. +</P> + +<P> +First of all, and nearest the opposing force, is the line of the small +trenches for the snipers or sharp-shooters. These men, facing certain +death in their little shelters, are picked shots, and keep up a steady, +harassing fire at anything showing over the tops of the enemy's +trenches or, failing that, at anything that looks like the crew of a +rapid-fire gun. These, of course, they guess at from the line of fire +as the guns are placed in the first line of trenches in little pits of +their own. On his map Zaidos marked the positions of the guns with an +A. +</P> + +<P> +Behind the snipers are the barbed wire entanglements, a nightmare of +tumbled wires piled high in cruel confusion. Close behind this are the +observation trenches. There was no firing from these small trenches; +they were simply what the name implied: look-outs. Leaving these, and +passing down the zig-zag connecting trench, the first line trench was +reached. This was fifty yards from the wire entanglements, and along +here the rapid-fire guns were set. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-107"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-107.jpg" ALT="Trench layout diagram" BORDER="2" WIDTH="409" HEIGHT="557"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 409px"> +Trench layout diagram +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +When Zaidos and Velo made their first visit through the trenches, they +were puzzled to see that the guns were all set at an angle, so that the +line of fire intersected, usually just over the barbed wire +entanglements. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos asked about it. +</P> + +<P> +"We protect our guns in that way," explained the young Lieutenant who +accompanied them. "With the fire coming at an angle, it is difficult +for the enemy to get the exact position of our guns, and they are +unable to follow the line of our fire with their own fire, and so +cripple us. On the other hand, you notice that all trenches are either +battlement shape or zig-zag." +</P> + +<P> +"I wondered why," said Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that is so a shot from the enemy, no matter what the angle, +striking in a trench, will simply go a few feet, and plow into the bank +of earth ahead of it. Formerly, a single shot, raking the length of a +portion of a trench, would cost hundreds of men. Now it seldom means a +loss of more than six or eight." +</P> + +<P> +It was fifty yards between the entanglements and the first line trench, +and in the two hundred yards between that and the second line trench, +there was quite a little underground settlement. +</P> + +<P> +The bomb-proof shelter was a regular cellar with sheets of steel over +it, and earth over that. It was dark, and the dirt walls and floor +gave out a damp and mouldy smell. The men had made crude provisions +for comfort. Narrow benches were about the walls, a door from some +wrecked building had been brought with much labor, and converted into a +table, around which the men sat and played cards. +</P> + +<P> +But Zaidos was most interested in the First Aid Station. He felt that +much of his time might be spent here in this strange dug-out. +</P> + +<P> +It was a strange mixture of the latest thing in surgical science and +the crudeness of the caveman. +</P> + +<P> +The walls were simply scooped out. They might have been dug with a +gigantic spoon, so rough they were and so rounding. The floor had been +packed, or trodden hard, and in the middle of the small space was a +rude operating table. Beside it, however, on enameled, collapsible +iron stands, looking as though they might have been just carried out of +some perfectly appointed hospital, were rows of delicate instruments. +</P> + +<P> +There had been no firing for some time, and the place was empty. The +surgeon and his assistant sat reading a month-old copy of a London +paper. They scanned the columns eagerly, and laughed heartily at the +jokes. For London gallantly jests, even in war time. +</P> + +<P> +The lieutenant introduced Zaidos and Velo to the doctors, and explained +their presence. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, me lad," said the older man, cordially taking note of Zaidos' +sunny smile and fearless eyes, "I'm thinkin' that we need such as you. +We can't hope those fellows over there beyond will keep still much +longer, and we will have the deuce of a time to hold our position, I +believe. Of course we will do it, but it will mean a lot of work for +us in here, worse luck! +</P> + +<P> +"You want to familiarize yourself with every turn of the place. A lost +moment may mean a lost life, perhaps yours, perhaps the man you are +trying to help. You may have to leave the connecting trench you are +running along and take to the top of the ground. If a shell falls +ahead of you, you will find your path stopped up. Have you ever been +under fire?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know just what you would call it," said Zaidos laughingly, and +proceeded to tell the doctor how they happened to be in their present +position. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well, well!" said the doctor. "You ought to do! First drowned, +and then shot at, and submarined. It does seem as though you ought to +be able to keep your head, with only a few simple bullets and gas bombs +flying around." +</P> + +<P> +He got to his feet stiffly, for living underground makes men rheumatic, +and put down his paper. +</P> + +<P> +"Just pay attention," he said in a crisp, business-like way. "When you +serve wounded men, remember two things. Work deliberately, yet with +the greatest speed. Many a man has died from one little twist given in +getting him on his stretcher. Forget the fight, forget everything for +the time but that the torn body is in your hands. Do you know anything +at all about lifting a man?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do," said Zaidos. "I'm a Boy Scout. Besides, we learned all that +at school." +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" said the doctor. "All you have to do is to remember what you +know, when the necessity of using your information arrives. When you +have your man on the stretcher, get here as soon as ever you can. +Don't wait for anyone; private and General alike must stand aside for +the Red Cross. Wonder if you could stop a cut artery?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," replied Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"How?" said the doctor, reaching out his arm. Zaidos took it and +demonstrated the thing and the doctor gave a grunt of satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"When you get your man here, lay him down on one of the benches or on +the floor or anywhere else that you see a place for him. Don't wait, +for we will attend to him after that." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," said Zaidos. He foresaw lively times. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning," said the doctor, sitting down and taking up his +precious paper. The boys went out, feeling as though they had been +dismissed from class. +</P> + +<P> +The large cook house was very close to the First Aid Station, and was +equipped with wonderful field stoves and great kettles and pots. A +number of cooks were in charge, and the boiling soup smelled good +enough to eat! +</P> + +<P> +Three zig-zag trenches led from the cook house and First Aid Station to +the second line of trenches. +</P> + +<P> +Here was a repetition of the first line trench, machine guns and all. +Back of it stretched a line of snipers' trenches, and behind them +another barbed wire entanglement. A tunnel led under this; several of +them in fact, and large enough to permit the passage of a number of men +at the same time. This was arranged in case the line was pushed back +by the advancing enemy. +</P> + +<P> +When Zaidos had arrived at this point in his drawing, his paper gave +out, and he was obliged to write the rest on the back of the sheet. +</P> + +<P> +"You will see, fellows," he wrote, "just how the second trench is laid +out by looking at the first. Back of the barbed wire and the +observation trenches come a lot of connecting trenches again. These +are not laid out in exactly the same direction as the first group, of +course, but are generally the same. Instead of a shelter for thirty +men, there is a shelter for one hundred thirty men. The cook house is +much larger, and the First Aid Station is really a sort of hospital, +where the men can be placed until they are taken back to the regular +field hospital which is back of the third trench, four hundred yards +away. This makes the hospital proper pretty safe. +</P> + +<P> +"The shelter for men in the third position holds three hundred men +easily and the hospital is quite complete. +</P> + +<P> +"You never saw such courageous fellows as these are. Just think, you +chaps, kicking as you do over there about the feed and the beds and the +barracks, what it is like to live underground against the bare earth! +</P> + +<P> +"The men are never able to undress to sleep. Once in two weeks each +man has a bath, which he has to take in <I>two minutes</I>. He is then +given a complete set of new underwear. The men spend four days in the +trenches, almost always under fire night and day. There has been no +firing since we struck the place, but there is going to be a bad time +soon, they say. And then the noise is perfectly deafening, they tell +me. +</P> + +<P> +"When the men have been four days in the trenches under fire, they are +sent back in squads to the nearest village for four days to rest and +get their nerves back in shape. +</P> + +<P> +"I was talking to a jolly young Englishman this morning, and he told me +about the place he stayed in the village. He has just come back. +</P> + +<P> +"He was quartered in a cellar, where they were perfectly safe from +Zeppelin bombs or stray shells, but it was dark and damp and cold. +When he went to sleep at night the rats ran all over him, and he and +all the other fellows had to wrap their coats around their faces to +keep the rats from running over the bare skin. Some rats, eh? +</P> + +<P> +"A lot of chaps go to pieces with rheumatism, and have to be sent way +back to the stationary hospitals in the cities. +</P> + +<P> +"This Englishman I was talking to was over in France last Christmas, +and he told me all about the time they had. Seems queer, but I think +it is so. He said almost every fellow in the outer trench had some +sort of a Christmas box with fruit-cake and candles, and 'sweets' as he +calls candies. There they were, wishing each other a merry Christmas, +and shaking hands, and laughing, and the snipers' guns popping away at +the Germans a few feet away from them. Pretty soon a white flag went +up in the enemies' trench, and they ran one up, too, and stuck up their +heads to see what was what. They didn't know if it was a ruse or not; +but there was a group of Germans sitting on the edge of their trench +with their legs down inside ready to jump; and they were calling 'Merry +Christmas, Englishmen!' as jolly as you please. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that was all our fellows needed, and they got out of their holes +and advanced. But one of their officers went first, a young fellow who +was pretty homesick on account of the day, and he went up to a big +German officer, and they agreed that there should be a truce for the +day, and shook hands on it. So the men came across and met, and tried +to talk to each other and learned some words from each other. The +Germans had Christmas boxes, too, and they swapped their funny pink +frosted cakes for the English fruit-cake, and gave each other cigarette +cases and knives for souvenirs. +</P> + +<P> +"Then it came dinner time, and they brought their stuff out on the +neutral ground, and ate it together. Then pretty soon they all went +back to their own trenches, and commenced singing to each other. The +English sang their Christmas carols, old as the hills of England; and +the Germans boomed back their songs in their big, deep voices. I tell +you, fellows, it must have been queer! Just before dark, the German +lieutenant stood up once more, with his white flag, and the English +officer went to meet him. The German talked pretty fair English and +the men heard what he said. +</P> + +<P> +"'We have a lot of dead men here to bury,' he explained. 'Will you +come and help us?' So the English said yes, and they all came out +again and helped to bury the fellows they had shot. Then they all +stood together, and the German officer took off his helmet and +everybody took off their caps, and the German officer looked down at +the graves, and then up, and he said, 'Hear us, Lieber Gott,' and the +fellow said he must have thought his English was not good enough to +pray in; so he said a little prayer in German, but everybody sort of +felt as though they understood it, and of course some did. And then he +put his helmet back, and shook hands very straight and stiff with our +officer, and said, 'Auf wiedersehn,' and turned away. And everybody +shook hands and went back to their own trenches, and long after dark +they kept calling to each other 'Good-bye! Good-bye!' +</P> + +<P> +"Well, fellows, that was the end. Next morning they were peppering +away at each other, struggling like a lot of dogs to get a throat hold. +Seems sort of queer, don't you think so? +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe this could happen now, because they have been fighting +so long that they hate each other now. I think at first that they were +like dogs that someone sicks into a fight. They do it because they +want to be obliging, or because they think they have to mind. They +would just as soon stop and wag their tails and go to chasing cats or +digging for rabbits together. But they have fought now until the +bitterness of it has entered deep. I can't guess what the end will be. +I don't believe anybody can. +</P> + +<P> +"You had better stir up everybody over there about it, and 'rustle the +requisite' as Main always said. <I>Everything</I> for field hospital work +is badly needed. Seems to me you could send a few hundred dollars of +stuff over, well as not. You, Corky, you had better sell that car of +yours. You know the Commandant doesn't half approve of it, and Baxter +can give up that motor-boat. You will drown yourself, Baxter, sure as +sure! And think how much better you would feel to stay alive, and help +a lot of shot-to-bits poor fellows in the bargain. +</P> + +<P> +"Things look so different when you are right on the ground. What they +tell me about some of the shot wounds that come to the hospitals makes +me wonder if I have enough backbone to stand up under it, when the +fighting really commences. I believe I am getting scared! +</P> + +<P> +"The English fellow told me that after the first shot or two you didn't +seem to mind anything; you just went right ahead, and tended to work as +though, as he said, it was a May morning in an English lane. I suppose +he thought that was about as near Paradise as he could imagine, but the +finest place <I>I</I> can think of is—Oh well, fellows, you know. I wish I +was close enough to the gang to have you pound me on the back, and to +kick that big brute of a Mackilvane for trying to stuff me under the +bed. I'd like to hear some of Gregg's rag-time, and see Mealy Jones +try to ride the bay horse. +</P> + +<P> +"But this is the end of my paper, and I've got to go back to the +hospital. To-morrow I am to be put on regular duty. That's why I am +writing you this long letter. It may be a good while before I write +another; so good-bye, old pals. I'll come back some day if I live. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Yours,<BR> +ZAIDOS."<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BIT OF ROMANCE +</H3> + +<P> +Zaidos sent off his letter and continued his explorations. +</P> + +<P> +He managed to slip away from Velo finally and was greatly relieved. +Somehow everything went along better without Velo tagging at his heels. +Zaidos felt ashamed when he tried to analyze his feelings. He was at a +loss to understand himself. Even Nurse Helen, who frankly confessed to +Zaidos that she disliked Velo, was obliged to say that there was +nothing openly objectionable about him. His manners were easy and +graceful, and he was quicker to jump to her assistance than any man on +the detail. +</P> + +<P> +He treated Zaidos with a protective fondness that was almost funny. He +watched him, saw that he went to bed and arose on schedule time, helped +dress his scratch, and looked after him generally like a faithful and +devoted nurse. +</P> + +<P> +Yet Nurse Helen pondered. She never once let him handle one of the +dressings which were rapidly healing the ugly little tear in Zaidos' +arm. Zaidos, escaping from Velo's watchful eye, felt like a glad +little, bad little boy who has run away from school and who refuses to +think of supper time, when he must go home and find that father has the +note teacher has sent home by some <I>other</I> little boy. He went here +and there, his sunny smile and ready kindliness making friends +everywhere. +</P> + +<P> +Wherever he sat down to rest some soldier told him something of +interest. Gunners explained the watch-like perfection of their guns. +Snipers told thrilling tales of long shots. The cooks showed him how +cleverly the big field stoves came apart, and how they could be +assembled at a moment's notice. +</P> + +<P> +At supper time his new friend, Lieutenant Cunningham, called him. He +had kept a place for Zaidos beside him. Velo had been omitted from the +group, so he smilingly sat down in another bend of the trench with his +pannikin of stew and cup of coffee, seemingly quite content. But black +hate raged in his black heart! +</P> + +<P> +Velo was a strange sort. He was a coward; he dreaded danger and +endured hardships badly. Yet the thought that harm might come to him +never entered his head. He was deeply superstitious, and while he +could and did change the bottles and place the poison within his +cousin's reach, while he placed the rusty pin in the crutch where it +would inflict a wound on Zaidos' body, while he could plan endlessly to +rid himself of his cousin, he would not <I>himself</I> directly aim the blow +or fire the deadly shot. He rejoiced in the battle that was +threatening. Zaidos would die, and he wanted the evidence of his own +eyes. Also he wanted the statements of witnesses. Sometimes when he +heard Zaidos' ready laugh, and saw his bright, straightforward look, a +flicker of pity shadowed his dastardly resolve. Then he remembered the +soft living, the ease and luxury of the house of Zaidos, and +remembering that he, as Velo Kupenol, must be all his life nothing but +a dependent on his cousin's bounty, he steeled his wicked heart to its +self-appointed task. +</P> + +<P> +But he must change his tactics. Zaidos as usual was surrounding +himself with friends. Velo felt that he must be doubly careful. There +must be no more strange, unaccountable accidents to Zaidos. When the +blow fell it must crush him utterly; until then, he must be left to +move securely. +</P> + +<P> +Velo thought of all this as he sat talking to the soldier beside him +and eating the plain fare of the men in the field. +</P> + +<P> +The talk was all of the coming attack. Spies had reported a movement +of preparation in the enemy's ranks, and there was a stir of warning in +the very air. To Velo's amazement, no one seemed worried or anxious. +The conversation moved smoothly on, as though the battle was a test of +skill on a chess-board. Not a man there seemed to regard the coming +event in a personal light. Even the uncertainty did not distress +anyone. The attack would surely come, but whether it would come the +following night or in a week's time did not seem to matter in the +least. Velo had expected to see in an event like this a lot of men +brooding gloomily over the possible outcome, a dismal time with last +farewells, and touching letters written home. He watched the young +officer beside him. He had finished his meal and had taken out a pad +of paper and an indelible pencil. He wrote rapidly, but with a calm +and smiling face. Velo could not imagine any tragic farewells in +<I>that</I> letter. +</P> + +<P> +Velo, still staring at the writer, listened to the conversation along +the wall of the trench. It had at last turned from war to out-door +sports. Velo, who never exercised if he could avoid it, listened idly. +A small, pale boy in a lieutenant's uniform was violently upholding +certain rules while the officer next to Zaidos disputed him smilingly. +They argued pleasantly, but with the most intense earnestness. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is that straw-colored chap?" Velo asked the writer beside him. +</P> + +<P> +"Across?" questioned the scribbler. "We call him 'Sister Anne.' You +know she was the lady in Bluebeard's yarn that kept looking out the +window. He is always sticking his head out of the trenches, to see +what he can see. He's going to get his some day." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you know his real name?" asked Velo. "He acts as though he +thought he was somebody of importance." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, when you come down to it, I suppose perhaps he is when he is at +home," said the man. "He's a jolly good sort, though. He's the Earl +of Craycourt." +</P> + +<P> +"And who is the chap beside my cousin?" asked Velo, steadying his voice +with difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +"The Prince of Teck's second son," answered the writer. Velo's +curiosity rather disgusted him. "Anybody else you would like to know +about?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, who are you?" said Velo, trying to get back. +</P> + +<P> +"Your very humble servant, John Smith," he said. He slid the pencil +down into his puttee and stood up, bowing. He did not ask Velo for his +name but, closing the pad, strolled off and slid an arm around the neck +of the second son of the Prince of Teck. +</P> + +<P> +Velo for once felt small, but he jotted young John Smith down on his +black list for further reference! As for the others, he could not get +over the fact of their noble birth. He stood staring at the group. +Zaidos was as usual in the center of things, having the best sort of a +time. That was Zaidos' luck, thought Velo. He stared at the bent head +of "John Smith," bending over the "second son of the Prince of Teck." +For a plain "John Smith" he seemed exceedingly chummy with the young +nobleman. Velo was a natural-born toady. True worth, real nobility of +mind and soul meant nothing to him. But he did not lack assurance. +After a moment he braced up and joined the group where Zaidos and Lord +Craycourt, who answered willingly to the nickname "Sister Anne" were +swapping school yarns and the others were in gales of laughter. +</P> + +<P> +And at that moment, without warning, in the arm of the trench where +Velo had just been sitting, a great shell dropped and exploded with the +noise of pandemonium. A wave of dirt and splinters were pushed towards +them. As the air cleared, there was the sound of a feeble moan or two, +then silence. "John Smith," rather white, stood looking at the fresh +mound of earth. +</P> + +<P> +"There were six fellows in there when I came away," he said. "Get to +work, everybody!" +</P> + +<P> +With sabers and pieces of wood and hands, they cleared away the +wreckage. One by one they came to the pitiful fragments that had been +men. One by one, they laid them reverently aside. It was only just as +they had reached the angle leading to the cook house that they found a +crumpled body that moved slightly as they touched it. +</P> + +<P> +"We can't hurt him much; he's too far gone," said "John Smith." "Lift +him up, and get him over to the First Aid!" +</P> + +<P> +They kicked a rough way into the cook house, hurried through it and the +connecting tunnel to the First Aid. There they laid the shattered body +on the table, and with the exception of Zaidos and Velo, all went back +to repair the trench. +</P> + +<P> +Never again during his experience with the Red Cross did Zaidos find +time to watch the marvelous skill of a field surgeon. The soldier, a +large and muscular man, was almost in ribbons. His flesh was actually +tattered, and the dirt had been driven into the wounds. A leg had been +blown off, and both arms were broken. Yet he lived. There was quick +and silent work for awhile. When the doctor finally stood up and +looked critically at his finished task lying there bandaged like a +mummy and breathing with the heavy slowness of insensibility, he nodded +in satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"I only wish all the other poor fellows who come in here had your luck, +my boy," he said, nodding at the insensible patient. "If I could get +you one at a time, it would be an easy matter; but when you come at us +by the dozen, it is a different affair entirely. He's ready," he added +to Zaidos. "Get a couple of bearers, and take him to the rear. Don't +lift him yourself. There are plenty to do it to-night, and your leg is +not too strong yet." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos called a couple of privates from the trench, and went with them +back to the main hospital. The man on the stretcher lay like dead. +Nurse Helen received him. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm coming your way to-morrow, John," she said. "I have been detailed +to the First Aid shelter." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry," said Zaidos. "It is too near the firing line in there for +a woman." +</P> + +<P> +"For a woman perhaps," said Helen with a little smile, "but not for a +nurse. That is a different thing, John." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't see it," said Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, another dull roar marked the falling of a second shell. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see why they start up to-night," said Zaidos. "I wonder if +that did any damage." +</P> + +<P> +"They want to worry us enough so that the men will lose sleep," said a +soldier standing near. "But no one will bother about a few shells. +The men will get into the bomb proof shelters until daylight. It is a +waste of ammunition as it is." +</P> + +<P> +An orderly entered with a written call for a nurse for the First Aid +Station. Nurse Helen was called to the Head Nurse and in a moment came +hurrying back to Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"They have sent for me now," she said. "I suppose some other cases +have come in." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll go back with you," offered Zaidos, and together they stumbled +along through the rapidly gathering dusk. +</P> + +<P> +Three more men had been hurt, and when they had finally been sent back +to the hospital, it was almost midnight. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos found Helen sitting at the opening of the shelter, looking up at +the stars. She made room for him on the plank. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm thinking hard about home, John," she said. "One's viewpoint +changes so. I wish I knew that I have done right to come here and +leave my parents and little sister. I'm just <I>so</I> lonely and troubled +to-night that I have half a mind to tell you my story." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish you would," said Zaidos, "if you <I>feel</I> like telling me. I +told you all about myself, and it would make me feel sort as if I was +really am old friend of yours if <I>you</I> told <I>me</I> things, <I>too</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," said Helen. "I know how you feel. Well, John, you know, +don't you, that we are certainly in for an attack as soon as it is +daylight? Perhaps before, because the enemy has searchlights that make +it easy for them to bother us in the dark. I know they are expecting a +big battle because this is a much coveted position. A great number of +fresh troops are on the way here. I learned that to-night, and that +looks serious, because we have our full quota of men here now. They +are going to change shifts all night. So there will doubtless be heavy +work for the Red Cross people, and much of that may be field work. +And, John, it may be that never again will you and I sit talking +together." +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense!" said Zaidos. "Don't talk like that! You are too sweet and +pretty to die, and <I>I</I> can't die because I have got such a lot to do." +</P> + +<P> +Helen shook her head. "I don't say that we will," she said. "But boys +as busy as you, and women nicer than I could ever dream of being, have +gone out into the dark—crowds of them, in this war." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos saw that she was deep in one of the black moods that sometimes +comes over the sunniest natures. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, never mind," he said. "You are going to tell me who you are, +and all about things, and we are going to have the nicest sort of a +visit, if we sit up all night." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall have to sit up anyway," said Helen. "I'm on night duty." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then so am I," said Zaidos, "so begin!" +</P> + +<P> +"Our home is in Devonshire," said Helen. "My father is rector of a +large parish there. Everything for miles and miles around belongs to +the Earl of Hazelden. He has three children, a girl and two boys, and +we grew up together. We liked the same sports, and enjoyed the same +pleasures. The daughter, Marion, who is only a year younger than I am, +went to school with me near London, and afterwards to France where we +were perfected in languages. My sister is four years younger than I, +so in those days she did not really count. I forgot to say that my +mother was well born, and had a large fortune in her own name, so we +were able to live better and have more luxuries than a clergyman can +usually provide. Of course we lived simply, but we could afford the +best and most exclusive schools, and I had horses to ride that were +exactly as good as the Hazelden children's. +</P> + +<P> +"At last Marion and I returned from school, our education finished. +Ellston Hazelden, the eldest son, was in the army, of course, and +Frank, the second, was in London studying law. At Christmas Ellston +came home on leave, and Frank came down from London. Oh, John, I wish +you knew Ellston! He is the finest—there is <I>no</I> one like him! Of +course <I>any</I> girl would have fallen in love with him. I did. Oh, I +did indeed! I shall never see him again, John, and I am not ashamed to +tell you how I loved him and how I will always love him." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then—" interrupted Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +She silenced him. "Let me tell you the rest. I loved him, and when he +told me that he loved me and wanted me to marry him, it seemed the +sweetest, most natural thing in the world. I suppose here you think +will come in the dark plot of the simple rector's daughter, and the +haughty Earl who thinks she is not good enough for his son and heir. +It was not a <I>bit</I> like that. Lord and Lady Hazelden were adorable. +They came and welcomed me with open arms, and Lord Hazelden said he had +been planning it ever since we were little tots! +</P> + +<P> +"John, it just seemed as though they could not do enough for us. Lady +Hazelden was in deep mourning for her mother, so we decided not to +announce our engagement for six months. Then in three months more we +would marry. Every day the Hazeldens drove over with some beautiful +plan for our happiness. They had one entire wing of the castle done +over for us. Ellston came down often as he could." +</P> + +<P> +Helen lapsed into silence, and sat staring into the night. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what then?" asked Zaidos, staring at the lovely, sorrowful face +beside him. "Did he die?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Helen haltingly. "We quarreled." +</P> + +<P> +"Quarreled?" echoed Zaidos. "Quarreled after all that? I don't see +how you could!" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see now, either," said Helen. "It was my fault. I should +have <I>made</I> him make up with me." +</P> + +<P> +"What was the fuss about?" asked Zaidos. He was intensely interested. +He had never been so close to a real love affair before. Of course he +had met a girl at one of the hops; the one he gave the collar emblem +to. Zaidos couldn't think of her name, but he remembered that he had +been pretty hard hit. He knew she was a pretty girl; funny he couldn't +think of her name! It occurred to Zaidos that a fellow ought to know a +girl's name anyhow if he was crazy over her. And he had been quite +crazy over her for a whole evening. Had it <I>bad</I>! Anyhow, he was sure +she was a blonde. That was proof that he remembered and suffered! But +Helen was speaking. +</P> + +<P> +"I hate to tell you," she said. "It seems so trivial now." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, let's hear about it," said Zaidos. "Perhaps we can get hold of +the chap and fix things up." +</P> + +<P> +"Not now," said Helen sadly. "It is too late. There always comes a +time when it is too late, John. Don't forget that. I have found it +out." +</P> + +<P> +She paused again, and Zaidos was afraid she was never going on, but +finally she took up her story. +</P> + +<P> +"There is actually nothing to it. It commenced with the color of a +dress I wore. Tony said it was the most unbecoming thing I had ever +had on. I had just been visiting a friend in London, a very advanced +girl, and she had been telling me what a mistake it was when one gave +up to the prejudices of a man. She said do it once and you would do it +always. So when Tony said quite calmly, 'Do please throw the thing +away, or burn it up,' I thought I ought to take a <I>firm stand</I>. I +said, 'I shall do neither. This is a <I>perfectly new dress</I>, and I mean +to wear it all summer.' Tony laughed. He said, 'Well, I'm blessed if +I take any leave until winter then!' Of course he was joking, and a +girl with the least common sense would have known it; but I retorted, +'That is an excellent plan!' He said, 'Why, Helen, you don't mean +that, do you?' and I said I certainly did. We parted rather stiffly. +It was his last evening at home, and I had put on the frock in honor of +it. He wrote as soon as he reached London, and referred to the dress +again. He said such trivial things should never be permitted to come +between two people who loved each other. I returned that it was not +trivial, but a matter of principle, which I should support. John, it +actually parted us. Actually parted us! Just think of it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I never heard such bosh!" Zaidos said. "Why didn't you write +and tell him it was perfect nonsense, and that you were sorry?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is the worst of it," said Helen. "I did just that, and told him +how I loved him, and that it didn't matter <I>what</I> I wore, so long as he +liked it. Oh, I said everything, John, that a silly and repentant and +loving girl <I>could</I> say, and sent the letter to his quarters in London. +I even put my return address on the envelope." +</P> + +<P> +"What did he say?" said Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a word!" said Helen sadly. "Not one word! I waited for two +weeks, and then he was ordered to the front. Still he did not write. +I sent him back his ring; it was all I could do, and left home for +awhile. He came down for a day, but did not come to our house. Not a +very exciting affair is it, John?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perfect bosh!" declared Zaidos. "I'll bet anything, <I>anything</I> that +he never received your letter at all, or else he answered and you did +not get his letter. Why didn't you telephone him? <I>Letters</I> are no +good." +</P> + +<P> +"I asked him to telephone me," said Helen. "I watched that telephone +for three days all the time." +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't you leave it at all?" said Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"Only once for an hour," said Helen, "and then I had my own maid sit +right beside it. +</P> + +<P> +"That is all there is to my poor little story, John boy. Tony is +somewhere in France, if he still lives, and I came out here when I +could stand it no longer at home. You see I am not afraid of death +because I don't in the least care to live without Tony." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's too bad," said Zaidos. "Wish I had been there. I just +know he never got your letter. I just know it!" +</P> + +<P> +"The story is ended now, at any rate," said Helen. "If Tony lives he +will go back home and marry some woman who has common sense to +appreciate him, and as for me, to the end of my days, I shall be just +Nurse Helen." She sighed softly, and for a moment looked into the +night. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you want to see him?" she asked. She drew from her uniform a +slender chain with a big gold locket swinging on it. A crest was on it +set with diamonds that flashed in the dim light. Zaidos looked at the +open, handsome face. +</P> + +<P> +"Look like him?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly like him!" she replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, when I meet him," promised Zaidos, "I'll tell him a few things!" +</P> + +<P> +Helen smiled. "You will never meet," she said. "But if ever anything +happens to me, John, take this and send it to him. You'll remember the +name, won't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes!" said Zaidos, "I'll remember! But just you take notice, he +never got that letter!" +</P> + +<P> +"What a stubborn boy you are!" exclaimed Helen. +</P> + +<P> +"Not stubborn at all," declared Zaidos, looking at the lovely face. +"I'm merely a man <I>myself</I>, if I <I>am</I> young." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HAPPINESS FOR HELEN +</H3> + +<P> +Again Helen laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said Zaidos. "Have it all your own way, but I know I am +right about this affair. A fellow with a face like that, engaged to a +girl like you, would have acknowledged that letter just in common +politeness if nothing else. Just to say, 'Thank you, but I don't care +to play with you any more!' Oh, yes, he would have answered it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Whether he would or not," said Helen, "the breach is too wide to cross +now. It is all over. I deserved to lose him and I feel no bitterness +about it. My fate is what I deserve." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos hated to hear her self-reproaches. "I don't know about that," +he defended awkwardly. "Probably he ought to have come half way. It +looks so to me." +</P> + +<P> +"It is growing light in the east," said Helen. "We have talked all +night about my poor little affairs. Let us think of something else +now, let us—" +</P> + +<P> +She was interrupted by a shattering boom of artillery. It seemed to +crack the very air. They sprang upright and stood for a moment +listening. +</P> + +<P> +"The beginning!" said Helen solemnly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, good-bye," said Zaidos. "I must see where they want me to go. +Where's that doctor?" +</P> + +<P> +The doctor and his assistants as well were there. They hurried into +the dug-out, calm, collected, business-like. +</P> + +<P> +"Set out the antiseptics, nurse," said the doctor. "You were on night +duty, but I can't let you go until someone comes to relieve you. This +is very apt to be a big day. You, Zaidos, get out in the first line +trench, and don't lose your head. That cousin of yours is hunting for +you. I sent him forward too. Nurse, the new troops are here; every +trench and shelter is full of men. A big day, children, a big day!" +</P> + +<P> +He rubbed his muscular, sensitive hands together. Another roar shook +the ground and balls of dirt rolled down the walls of the First Aid +Station. They heard the muffled beat-beat of feet running through the +trenches toward the front. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos, shivering, his teeth chattering with excitement, buckled on his +aid kit and bolted out with a last wave of the hand. He hurried over +through the short trench into the cook house, and then made his way +along the trench toward the front. A return fire was beginning now, +and high in the sky was seen the first Zeppelin. Like a great bird of +prey it circled high in air above the lines. Then from somewhere in +the rear an English airship skimmed to meet it. The bull-nosed +Zeppelin soared and the lighter machine followed, light as a swallow. +Zaidos stared, fascinated. He could see spurts of smoke from one and +then the other. Another delicate craft passed overhead and joined the +first English ship in pursuit. Zaidos stumbled on, still trying to +watch the chase. He was suddenly thrown violently to the ground, and +covered with earth. Screams of agony came from the trench ahead. He +scrambled to his feet and ran forward. A dozen men, tumbled together +in horrible confusion, lay tossing and shrieking. Zaidos turned faint +for a moment. They were the awful flat, senseless cries of hurt +animals. "A-a-a-a-a-a-a!" they shrilled and some of them tore at their +wounds. Zaidos ran for the nearest man and knelt beside him. He tried +to turn what was left of his body, and could not. He glanced around +for help. Sneaking past toward the rear he saw a familiar figure. It +was Velo Kupenol. Zaidos called him sharply, and the stern note of +authority made Velo turn. +</P> + +<P> +"Come here quickly!" commanded Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't!" panted Velo. "Zaidos, it makes me sick! I'm going to the +rear for a little while." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos looked up at the face, white with cowardice. +</P> + +<P> +"Come here!" said Zaidos. Still kneeling he pointed a small but +business looking revolver at his cousin's heart. "Come here!" he +ordered. +</P> + +<P> +Velo obeyed, the look on his face changing from white terror to black +hate. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos saw the look, and read it with unconcern. +</P> + +<P> +"Come here, Velo!" He held Velo's shifty eyes. "You get to work here. +If you don't, I shall shoot you, just as I would shoot a dog. There is +no time to talk. Get to work! You hear what I tell you. Turn this +man!" +</P> + +<P> +Velo shudderingly put himself to the horrid task of lifting the +bleeding and torn body. Zaidos talked as he worked in a deep, earnest +tone that carried to Velo's ears even in the noise of battle. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going to be after you every minute, Velo Kupenol! You won't +disgrace me if I can help it. Go get your stretcher. If you drop it I +will kill you!" +</P> + +<P> +He spoke so fiercely, and with such meaning, that Velo felt that for +once his easy-going cousin had the upper hand. +</P> + +<P> +As the doctor had said, they were suffering for lack of help, so Zaidos +could not afford to let the coward run away. He <I>had</I> to have +assistance if he was to save some of the lives which he felt were in a +measure entrusted to him. So Velo had to be used. He stopped the gush +of blood from a dozen wounds and, lifting on one end of the stretcher, +ordered Velo, with a nod of his head, to lead on toward the First Aid +Station. +</P> + +<P> +Almost immediately they had the wounded man on the table, and again +were off. The guns roared. Shrapnel dropped and exploded, or exploded +in air. Overhead Zaidos was conscious that the duel in the clouds +still went warily on, but he could not give it a glance. He lost all +track of time. He saw others with the Red Cross badge, working, +working with the same feverish haste with which he kept at his task. A +sort of dreadful haze came over him. He labored with desperate haste, +with strong certainty and sureness of touch, but he seemed to feel +nothing of human anguish or human sympathy. He was a machine set in +motion by the pressing needs of battle, and he went on and on in a +haze. Men died in his arms or were transported to the First Aid where +the doctors and Nurse Helen worked with incredible swiftness and skill. +</P> + +<P> +He did not speak to Helen, nor did she notice him. Velo, still pale, +kept doggedly at his task, only an occasional gleam of hatred lighting +his eyes when he had to look at his fearless cousin. He was more than +ever like a treacherous dog, watching, always watching for its chance +for a throat-hold. +</P> + +<P> +And somehow, without a spoken word, the thing became clear to Zaidos. +All at once he knew how deeply and utterly his cousin hated him. He +knew as well as if Velo had shouted it aloud that he meant to be the +instrument of his death in some way or other, sooner or later. And +Zaidos, filled with the frenzy of the battle, did not care. He was not +afraid of Velo. He put him aside as though he was something that might +be attended to later. +</P> + +<P> +A sort of mental illumination came to Zaidos. He cared for wounded men +with a quick skill that he had never known that he possessed. He grew +so weary that he staggered under his part of the stretcher's load. His +leg pained him so that it was like a whip, keeping him awake and at +work when all his body cried to drop down and sleep. +</P> + +<P> +Once when he waited in the opening of the First Aid shelter, he was +conscious that someone asked, "Have they broken our lines?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not quite, but they are through the barbed wire. Our troops are +massing along the first trench." +</P> + +<P> +"If we can hold out until dark we are all right," said the first +speaker, a captain with one leg gone at the knee, awaiting his turn +with the doctor without the quiver of a muscle. +</P> + +<P> +"The chaps over there beyond are pretty well tired out. I can tell by +the way they are fighting. They are trying to save men." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos hurried out and lost the rest. It seemed to him that the whole +world was in conflict just ahead there. The bomb-proof shelter was +crammed with reserves. On and on and on went the fighting; for years +and years and years it seemed to Zaidos. He did not know that the day +waned and night was near. All he knew was that at last, while he and +Velo waited in the First Aid for the stretcher to be emptied, silence +fell, a silence punctuated with scattering explosions. The darkness +had ended the fighting, and the enemy had only reached the first line +of trenches. +</P> + +<P> +"It is over!" said the doctor, glancing up. +</P> + +<P> +Velo sank down on a plank and covered his face with his hands. Zaidos, +standing, closed his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Let those boys rest for five minutes," ordered the doctor. +</P> + +<P> +Nurse Helen gently pushed Zaidos down on a bench. He toppled over and +she put a folded cloak under his head. Then for thirty happy minutes +he lost consciousness of everything. When an aide shook Zaidos awake, +he came to himself with as much physical pain as though his body had +actually felt the shock of wounds. He groaned involuntarily. Velo was +sobbing dryly from fatigue and pain. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come, boys!" said the doctor. "Finish your good work! Here, +take this." He mixed something in a glass, and gave it to Zaidos, and +then repeated the dose for Velo. It braced them at once, and after +they had visited the cook house and had taken some hot soup, they +prepared to go out on the field again and look for wounded. +</P> + +<P> +The night seemed very dark as they stumbled along. The dead lay piled +everywhere in hideous confusion. There seemed to be no wounded. Man +after man they scanned with their flashlights. The unsteady lights +often gave the dead the effect of motion. As they sent the ray here +and there they thought they saw eyes open or close, arms move, legs +stretch out, or mangled and tortured bodies twist in agony. But under +their exploring hands the dead lay cold. +</P> + +<P> +They reached the first line trench and passed beyond it. Here lay +ranks of the enemy, mowed down under the pitiless English fire. +</P> + +<P> +"There is someone living over here," said Velo. "I heard a groan." +</P> + +<P> +They turned and found a group of men; three dead, and across their +bodies two who surely moved. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos propped his light on the breast of one of the dead soldiers and +lifted the head of a young officer whose shattered leg held him +helpless. He was quite conscious, and spoke to Zaidos in a weak +whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm gone!" he said. "See what you can do for the man lying on my leg. +I would have bled to death long ago if it hadn't been for his weight." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos looked in his kit anxiously. It was almost empty and the +bandage was all gone. +</P> + +<P> +"Velo, get back to the station and bring me a fresh kit," he ordered. +"I'm going to hold this artery until you get back, and see if I can't +keep a little blood in here." He sat down and pressed a finger on the +fast emptying vein. With his free hand he held a flask to the lips of +the almost dying man. Velo disappeared in the dark. +</P> + +<P> +"Really, my dear chap," said the wounded officer, "it's a waste of time +for you to do that. I wish you would jolly well leave me for some +other chap. I'm done; and I don't care in the least, so you need not +trouble your conscience about me." +</P> + +<P> +Hurt to death as he was, the officer smiled; and Zaidos was all at once +filled with the conviction that he was someone whom he had met. But +where? +</P> + +<P> +"That's nonsense!" said Zaidos. "We will fix you up if you will make +up your mind to hang on to yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"I've been hanging on for a good while," said the officer pleasantly. +"I've been here for a year or two, I think. I only came down from +London for the night, you see. Not very long, eh, old chap?" He +nodded his head. +</P> + +<P> +"You what?" said Zaidos stupidly. +</P> + +<P> +"London, you know," said the officer. "I came down right away. I +couldn't be sure it was true. Seemed sort of unofficial, don't you +know?" He smiled again. Zaidos understood. He was delirious. He +went on muttering disjointed sentences which Zaidos paid no attention +to; but every time the man smiled his gay, light-hearted, unconscious +smile, Zaidos felt the strange sense of acquaintance. He could see +that the man was almost gone. He had lost almost all the blood in his +body, and Zaidos did not dare to move him, nor even shift the weight of +the unconscious but living man who laid across the shattered leg. +Zaidos felt sure that he would die before Velo returned. And he was +still more convinced that the man was at his end when after a few +moments of stupor, he opened his eyes quite sanely and looked at Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"That was a pretty bad blow for me, wasn't it, old chap?" he said +quietly. "I think I won't make out to stop much longer. I've been +here since eleven this morning. Pretty long for a man hurt like this. +I am glad you ran across me. There's a lot of papers in my blouse. +Would you mind sending them to the address on the outside envelope? +And I wish you would write to my father. Tell him it's all right. +Tell him not to let Frank enlist if he can help it. He's too young. +And if you can mark the place they put me, it would be a mighty kind +thing. Mother would be so glad if she could have me safe in the church +at home, some day. Will you do this?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I will," said Zaidos. "But I think you have got a chance." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want it," said the wounded man. "I could not fight again, and +there are reasons—I really don't care a hang about living. Just send +those letters for me. And one thing more," he tried to lift his hand +to his throat, but was too weak. "Will you kindly take off the chain +under my blouse," he said, "before anyone else gets here?" +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos felt for the chain with his free hand, still pressing the artery +with the other. As he found the chain, a large locket was released +from the man's blouse and, swinging against his buttons, sprung open. +Unconsciously Zaidos looked at it. +</P> + +<P> +"Send that with the rest," said the officer. He closed his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, you!" cried Zaidos. "Quit that! Don't you <I>dare</I> go and die! +Do you hear me? Don't you do it! Do you hear? I want to talk! I +don't need to send this anywhere. If you just hang on, you will see +her! <I>Helen is here</I>! Don't die now! You want to see her, don't you? +I know who you are! You are Tony Hazelden!" +</P> + +<P> +"Helen here?" gasped the man. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Zaidos. "She is a nurse over there, a few yards away." +</P> + +<P> +"Helen here?" said the man again. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I tell you!" cried Zaidos. "Hang on to yourself! You want to +tell her why you did not answer that letter she wrote you; don't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I never received a letter," said Hazelden, for it was he. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what I told her," said Zaidos. "Now you just hang on to +yourself. Don't you let go! Do whatever you like afterwards, but +don't make me go back there and tell her you have gone and died before +I could get you in hospital. I'd like to know where that Velo is with +my kit! Here, take another drink of this!" +</P> + +<P> +He pressed the flask once more to Hazelden's white lips. The man +seemed sinking into a stupor. Zaidos watched him with secret terror. +After the miracle of finding Hazelden here, when he was supposed by +Helen to be far off in France, and after the brief joy of thinking that +he might be the one to reunite the parted lovers, it was too hard to +face the loss of his man. Zaidos kept calling him by name. +Finally—it seemed a long, long time—Hazelden opened his eyes again. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't see just how it is," he said. "Are you sure Helen is here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, she is here, I promise you," said Zaidos. "And you want to brace +up for her sake. For her sake, do you understand? Her heart is about +broken. Don't you go and die now after all the trouble you have made." +</P> + +<P> +Hazelden gave Zaidos a straight look. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you thinking of?" he said in his weak whisper. "You don't +suppose I could die <I>now</I>, do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Here's my kit," said Zaidos, as Velo came hurrying up. +</P> + +<P> +He fastened the artery rudely but well, and lifting off the unconscious +soldier, they carefully placed Hazelden on the stretcher. Many, many +times that day Zaidos had been thankful for his steel muscles and man's +stature, and now he was more thankful than ever. With all the care +possible they carried their burden over the rough, uneven ground back +to the First Aid Station. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos' heart sang within him. The impossible had happened. He was +bringing Tony Hazelden back to the girl who loved him, and Hazelden +loved her. Zaidos knew that, not only because of the picture Tony +carried, but because no one could have seen Hazelden's face when he +spoke Helen's name and not know that his heart was breaking for her. +Zaidos knew that Hazelden's life hung on the merest thread, but he +stoutly believed that his love for Helen would keep him alive until he +reached her, at least, and after that Zaidos was willing to trust Helen +to do the rest. Zaidos watched his helpless burden with anxiety as +they approached the shelter. When they arrived he gave the word to +Velo and they gently lowered the stretcher to the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"Stay here a minute," he ordered Velo, and slid down into the +underground room. There was a lull in the dug-out as all the men had +for the minute been cared for and sent back to the rear, which always +is done as much as possible in the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +The doctor and his aids, resting on the hard planks that served as +seats, sat upright against the dirt wall, sound asleep. Nurse Helen +stood at the white table cleaning the instruments. Zaidos scarcely +recognized her. She was haggard and worn as a woman old in years. +Color, energy, life itself seemed to have been drained out of her in +the terrible ordeal of the past day. Zaidos hesitated. He was filled +with fears all at once. It seemed so like planning the meeting of a +couple of ghosts. Hazelden, unconscious and at the point of death, and +Helen fagged out, worn, and looking like an old woman. +</P> + +<P> +He went to her, tenderly laying a stained hand on hers. +</P> + +<P> +"Helen," he said, speaking rapidly, "I've no time to break the news to +you. The most impossible sort of a thing has happened. You have got +to hear it all at once, because there is a man almost dying out there +and I've got to hurry. You know the reserves that came in to-day? Now +hang on, Helen! Captain Hazelden was with them. Oh, Helen," as she +wavered and almost fell, "if you go to pieces you will always regret +it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Dead?" she murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"No, but he's outside awfully shot, and he has been keeping himself +alive just to see you. You will have to help, Helen, if you can." +</P> + +<P> +He left her standing beside the table. She could not call the doctor. +She could not speak. They came in with the stretcher, and as she saw +its ghastly burden and gave a quick professional glance at his maimed +body, the tender woman and the trained nurse struggled for the mastery. +The nurse won. Swiftly she prepared the table, called the doctor and +helped to lift him from the stretcher. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos and Velo left to rescue the man whose weight had kept the +captain from bleeding to death. His scalp wound was serious but not +dangerous, Zaidos decided, and they returned to the First Aid with +lighter hearts. +</P> + +<P> +The room was empty. Hazelden was not there. Zaidos' heart dropped. +Had he died? +</P> + +<P> +Helen answered the question in his face. She came to meet Zaidos. Her +eyes shone, her cheeks were the loveliest pink. Her step was light. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" said Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"More than well!" said Helen. "Oh, John, it is wonderful! Wonderful! +And you brought me my happiness! I am to be transferred to the field +hospital tomorrow, where I can nurse him myself. He will live; he +<I>must</I> live! We could not talk, but he knew me. And I know everything +is all right!" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly it's all right!" said Zaidos. "Didn't I tell you so? I +knew just how it would be," and the hero of a single ballroom looked as +wise as only a fellow could who had been dead-crazy over a girl all one +evening. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you going to do about things?" asked Zaidos. "Go on being +engaged?" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I'm not!" said Helen as she bathed the soldier's head. "Not at +all! Just as soon as he can hold my hand, we will be married by the +chaplain. I'll never, never risk another misunderstanding!" +</P> + +<P> +"See that you don't!" said Zaidos quite gruffly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VISIONS +</H3> + +<P> +While Zaidos, aided by Velo, continued his heart-rending task among the +dead and wounded on that bloody field, now applying the tourniquet to +some emptying artery, now administering, drop by drop, the stimulant +needed to hold life in some poor fellow, hurrying back with others on +their stretcher, or giving way to the fearless and pitiful priests who +moved among the dying—while all these things happened, it would be +well to pause and reflect on the wise preparation which had made it +possible for Zaidos to do well his allotted task. +</P> + +<P> +As a Boy Scout, and in the extra work of school, he had taken a keen +interest in the Red Cross work. Zaidos was the sort of a fellow who +takes a keen pleasure in doing things well. He stood well in his +classes always, not for the benefit of school marks, but because he +thought that if he studied at all, he might as well be thorough about +it and try to get at what the "book Johnny," as the boys called the +textbook writers, really was driving at. It was the same with +athletics. He had jumped higher and run faster than anyone else in +school, not so much because he was quick and light and agile, but +because, having found out that he could run and jump and put up a good +boost for the team at other sports, he practiced every spare moment he +could find. Zaidos was always trying to see if he could break his own +records. He got a lot of fun out of it. It was like a good game of +solitaire. He was not dependent on some other fellow. The other +fellow was incidental, a sort of side issue and like a good pace-maker. +Of course you had to beat him, but the sport was in coming in ahead of +your own time. +</P> + +<P> +It was for this that Zaidos had always worked. It had kept him from +feeling the petty jealousies and envy which retard the progress of so +many of the fellows. Racing with himself, in Red Cross drills, or +running, racing, riding or studying, his rival was always present, +always ready and willing to take another "try" at something. It was +like having a punching bag in his room. Every time he passed it he +took a whack or two, and developed his muscles accordingly. +</P> + +<P> +So, in this unexpected and supreme test of his life, Zaidos found +himself fit. As the work went on and on, endlessly as it seemed, +Zaidos found that his brain commenced to work independently of his +hands. The unbelievable wounds of war no longer shocked his deadened +nerves. His hands worked more and more accurately and rapidly, but on +the inside of his brain was a sort of screen on which flashed the +moving picture of his life. +</P> + +<P> +They started from his little boyhood, when he first crossed the ocean +up to the time of the last crossing, at the sad summons which had taken +him to his dying father. No real moving picture, thought Zaidos, had +ever been screened with so many thrills and exciting incidents as the +real life-film through which he saw himself rapidly moving. Here and +there on the bloody field he puzzled it out for himself, finding that +the plot was complete, and that Velo, his cousin, must be the villain. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos was still ignorant of the fact that Velo had stolen the papers, +but that Velo hated him and would be glad enough to get him out of the +way grew clearer and clearer, in spite of the apparent friendliness +with which he had treated him up to the present time. But now, hour by +hour, Zaidos was conscious of a sort of sour look of hatred which +seemed to grow plainer and plainer in Velo's sharp face. Zaidos had an +uncomfortable feeling that he must keep a watchful eye on Velo. It was +nothing but an instinct, but even so, he felt it, and feeling it, was +ashamed. +</P> + +<P> +So the time wore on. +</P> + +<P> +Bending over a soldier with a gaping, bloody hole in his side, Zaidos +turned to the hospital corps pouch spread open beside him, and felt for +a roll of gauze bandage. One little roll remained. +</P> + +<P> +"Get back to the hospital and get another outfit of gauze and tape," he +ordered Velo. +</P> + +<P> +Velo stood up and straightened his back. He looked down at Zaidos, +then his gaze traveled to the unconscious soldier. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you bother with him for?" he said heartlessly. "It's no use. +I'm going to quit. What's the use of working myself to death?" +</P> + +<P> +"Going to desert?" asked Zaidos coldly. He was holding the hurt +soldier in a position where he could treat the wound quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose so," said Velo. "This isn't my fight!" +</P> + +<P> +"Look here," said Zaidos, "I don't care what you do. If you desert and +are caught at it, and are shot, it is no affair of mine. I wash my +hands of you. But for the sake of your own manhood <I>get me that +bandage</I> while I take care of this man. Don't be such a <I>cad</I>, Velo! +Get me the things I need, and then let's talk this thing out later. +But don't do anything to disgrace the family. After all, you know, if +anything happens to me, why, you are the head of the house." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos glanced suddenly up at his cousin, and surprised in his face a +look that once and for all swept away all the kindly doubts he had +cherished. Velo's countenance was so full of cold speculation and +deadly hatred that Zaidos started. Then he pulled himself together, +and looked Velo in the eye. +</P> + +<P> +"Get the bandages!" he said coldly and Velo, as though controlled by +some superior force, turned to do as he was told. +</P> + +<P> +As he hurried across the rough, blood-stained field, he too saw +pictures in his mind. He saw the contrasting fates, either of which he +thought might be his. The obscure life of a poor relation, dependent +on a relative's kindness, and the life of luxury if all that relative +had should come to him. A better boy could have planned to build up a +career for himself, but Velo could not or would not. He was like a +thief who would rather steal the dollar which he could go to work and +earn honestly. +</P> + +<P> +Velo had become desperate in the last few days. As he hurried on, he +was seized with a sudden determination to end everything. He went into +the First Aid shelter and secured the bandages from the supply table +and went back, a dreadful resolve taking form as he went. He found +Zaidos still bending over the wounded soldier. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you hurried, didn't you?" he said, looking up with a nod of +thanks as Velo handed him the bandages. He went on rapidly, securing +the gaping wound so that they could shift the torn body to the +stretcher. +</P> + +<P> +"It's funny," he said as he worked, "that we don't run across the +doctors oftener out here. Of course they are all at work just as hard +as we are, and a good deal harder, poor fellows, but it does seem as +though every time we get hold of a case that is a good deal too hard +for us to tackle, why, then there isn't a soul in sight to help. I'm +so afraid of doing something that will make somebody heal wrong, or +limp or something." +</P> + +<P> +"Be a good way to take revenge on somebody," said Velo. +</P> + +<P> +"Why you—" Zaidos could not finish. "How the deuce do you <I>ever</I> +think up such stuff? For goodness' sake, don't say it to me! You make +me sick!" He bent over his patient again, and Velo looked idly about. +</P> + +<P> +At his feet lay a revolver. He picked it up. It was loaded. Idly he +tried the trigger. It worked. He looked at Zaidos. How he hated him! +They seemed all alone on that field of dead and dying. The tide had +swept away and left them there with their work. +</P> + +<P> +There was a sudden red mist over Velo's sight.… Kneeling in the +light of the big flashlight, Zaidos loomed up, a clear, clean cut +figure with the velvet blackness of the night behind him. Velo brushed +his hand before his eyes. Zaidos was putting the last pin in the neat +dressing he had applied to the wound. There was a thread of hope for +the man. Zaidos smiled. Velo knew he would get up— +</P> + +<P> +The revolver sounded like a cannon. Zaidos, unhurt, got to his feet. +He pressed a hand to his side. Velo watched him with fascinated eyes. +Zaidos looked down. There was a cut across the service blouse between +his sleeve and body, right under his left arm. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos stared first at Velo, then at the revolver still in his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"How did that happen?" he demanded in a low, tense voice. +</P> + +<P> +Velo swallowed and cleared his throat. +</P> + +<P> +"The thing went off," he said huskily. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it came near doing for me," said Zaidos, still staring +suspiciously at Velo. "You let me have that revolver! Yon are too +funny with things to suit me." +</P> + +<P> +Velo, still pale, smiled a wry, twisted smile. "I'm sorry," he lied. +"I don't see how it happened. It must be out of order." +</P> + +<P> +"Give it to me!" said Zaidos, "and take the front of this stretcher. +I've got to look out for accidents, it seems. I never saw anything so +careless in my life. You have just got to be careful, Velo! I won't +stand for it! This isn't the first time I've nearly come to harm +through your <I>carelessness</I>, if you want to call it that. I tell you I +won't stand for it! Mind, I don't make any accusations; and I don't +claim you are to blame for a lot of things that have happened to me +lately, but if things don't stop, why, you are going to be sorry! +There won't be any revolvers going off, and your bed won't go down, and +your medicine won't get exchanged for poison, like it sometimes +happens. I shall just take you out back of the next wire entanglement, +and I will give you a <I>good beating up</I>, Velo. I remember I used to +have to do it when we were about four years old. It used to do you a +lot of good, and I suppose all these years since you have had no one to +keep you where you belonged. I won't do this, you understand, unless +you get careless with guns and things again. You hear, Velo?" +</P> + +<P> +Velo made no reply. +</P> + +<P> +The two boys carefully bearing the stretcher tramped along in silence. +</P> + +<P> +"You hear, Velo?" said Zaidos again. "Honestly, the more I think of +it, the madder I get!" +</P> + +<P> +"You stop your nonsense!" said Velo suddenly over his shoulder. His +voice took on a whine. "What makes you act so, Zaidos? I'm your +cousin, and I should think you would be ashamed of the things you say +to me, just as if I haven't stuck right beside you every minute, and as +if I had not done everything in the world that I possibly could do to +help you. You don't treat me well, Zaidos!" +</P> + +<P> +"I do, too," said Zaidos, stung by this injustice. "I should think I +did; but how do you treat me?" +</P> + +<P> +They reached the entrance to the First Aid Station and gave their +unconscious burden into the hands waiting to receive him. The doctor +scanned the wound. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, boys," he said, "you have saved this man all right." He turned +the bright light on the still, white face. "My heavens!" he exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is it?" asked the nurse. +</P> + +<P> +Velo looked at the face, and spoke before the doctor could reply. +</P> + +<P> +"I know him," he said. "His name is John Smith." +</P> + +<P> +The doctor was working rapidly with restoratives. +</P> + +<P> +"John Smith?" he repeated. "This is the Prince of Teck's oldest son, +and his brother was killed an hour ago. We must keep this fellow +alive," he went on, doggedly. "First time I met him he was just an +hour old. He won't go out of this world yet if <I>I</I> can help it!" +</P> + +<P> +The boys went outside and for a moment sat down on the ground to rest. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you suppose made him do that?" said Velo musingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Do what?" asked Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"Why," said Velo, "I asked what his name was one night and he said John +Smith. I think that old doctor is making a mistake." +</P> + +<P> +"What does it matter?" said Zaidos. "He would make just the same +effort to save the plain John Smiths as he would to save the princes of +the world." +</P> + +<P> +"Pooh!" said Velo, sneering. "I guess not! Why should he? He knows a +thing or two and you will find it out some day. Why, nobody does +anything for anybody unless they get paid for it somehow or other!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, say," said Zaidos, getting up and striking one clenched, fist +violently into the other, "I wouldn't have your little bit of a soul +for anything on earth! I wouldn't have your mean, little bit of a +suspicious, ungenerous mind! I hate to remind a fellow like you of +anything so fine, but how about my father? What pay, <I>pay</I>, mind you, +did he ever get for taking care of <I>you</I>? What did he ever get for +starting that colony of sick people up on the mountain back of his +hunting lodge, with a doctor right there, and a nurse or two paid by +father? Do you suppose it made him feel good to see them tottering all +over the preserve where he could no longer shoot, for fear of hitting +some of the poor wretches?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," agreed Velo, "he didn't get a thing out of all that, and I always +thought that colony for the sick was the silliest thing I ever heard +of. I'll tell you right now when I get hold of things—" he caught +himself up quickly. "I mean, of course, when <I>you</I> get hold of things, +if you do as I would do, you will send those people packing back to +their slums as fast as they can go. As far as his doing for me, why, +I'm one of the family and he sort of had to. It is a duty. Besides, +do you suppose it was very much fun sticking around that house, quiet +as the grave, <I>nothing</I> going on, <I>no</I> one coming to see your father +but old, grey-headed men and women forever fixing up charities?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," said Zaidos. "Do you know what I am going to do as +soon as I get out of this? I'm going to cut right back to America and +study as hard as I can. Then as soon as the war is over, I will come +back here and straighten everything up. I will of course keep the +title. You can't give that away, and I wouldn't want to. I'm proud of +my name. It is an honorable one and it has been kept clean by the men +before me; but I mean to give Greece everything I can turn into money. +Then I'll take enough to start me, go back to America again, and cut +out a career for myself. I'm going to be a doctor and as good a doctor +as ever lived if study will do it. <I>That's</I> the monument I mean to +give my father and my mother." +</P> + +<P> +He gave a jerk of the head toward Velo, who sat upright before him. +</P> + +<P> +"How does that strike you, old top?" he asked and climbed down into the +First Aid pit. +</P> + +<P> +Left alone, Velo sat thinking. Then he rolled over on his face and +beat the earth with his fists. Once more the films flew along, in the +moving picture of his mind. He saw the wealth of the Zaidos +house—gold, gold! a <I>stream</I> of gold flowing and flowing <I>away</I> from +him! He saw the bright lights, the dancing, drinking, all the +carousels he had so often dreamed of, slipping out of his grasp. What +possible hope could a fellow like himself have of keeping on the right +side of anyone like Zaidos? He smiled when he thought what Zaidos +would say if he could know or guess what Velo's life had been. What +would he do if he ever found out how he had treated Zaidos' long +suffering father? And Velo did not try to deceive himself. He knew +perfectly well that back there in Saloniki, there were people who would +jump at a chance to get even with him, and who would give Zaidos an +account of meanness and wrong-doing that would cause him to kick Velo +out of the house. +</P> + +<P> +Velo began to hate himself for the uncertainty in putting off what to +him was a disagreeable necessity. Once more he went over the +situation. It seemed as though he had gone over it a dozen times, a +million times. It all ended at the blank wall which was Zaidos. +Zaidos <I>must</I> be removed. +</P> + +<P> +Now it is a well-known fact that we are what our thoughts make us. Our +minds are like our houses, our homes. We do not have to entertain +unwelcome guests. We do not have to invite them there. It may be that +we feel obliged to treat everyone whom we meet at our games or in +school or at work with common politeness. No matter how we despise a +man, we can't very well go up to him in the street and say, "Here, I +don't like your style," and proceed to knock him out with a good +right-hander. Naturally it won't do. But we need not give the bounder +the freedom of our homes. So with our thoughts. It is only when we +bring them in and grow intimate with them, and make them part of +ourselves that they begin to harm us. +</P> + +<P> +Velo, too evil and too lazy to close the door of his mind on common +thoughts and low desires, had grown more and more like his unworthy +guests. And now instead of kicking the whole mob into the outer +darkness, he lay there, face down, listening to their evil whispers. +</P> + +<P> +"Get rid of Zaidos," they said over and over. "Get rid of him. Who +will know? Don't you hate him? You ought to! Just because he is the +one who really owns everything, is that any reason why you should get +out and work for an honest living? You don't want to bother with an +honest living. You want to live soft and lie easy. Get rid of Zaidos! +Now is your chance! It is your only chance. You know how he makes +friends everywhere. He is straight as a string. He does not lie. He +wouldn't do a mean action. Fellows like us are afraid of that sort. +Get rid of him. Now—now!" +</P> + +<P> +So the whispering in Velo's mind went on, and he listened and listened, +and presently he sat up. On his face was written what is written on +every man's face when he gives the keys of his soul over to Evil. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos came climbing out. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the doctor is going to save your friend Smith," he said +cheerfully. "Good work, too! One of the nicest fellows I ever knew, +that Smith. Too bad about his little brother. I never saw two fellows +so crazy over each other. It seems they are the last of the family. +Doctor says this fellow will never be able to fight again, but he will +get perfectly well in time. I don't believe it myself. I don't +believe any of the men wounded go will ever get all over it, but we can +hope so, anyhow. You see I feel as though I knew this man Smith real +well because he knows a schoolmate of mine, Nickell-Wheelerson his name +is. He was just a plain boy when we were at school, but he came over +with me, and now he's a lord. Poor old Nick, how he will hate it!" +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos paused, and stared into the night. +</P> + +<P> +Velo scanned him under lowering brows. +</P> + +<P> +"Get it over soon—soon!" whispered the impatient Evil in his soul. +</P> + +<P> +Velo put a hand on his breast where the papers were hidden. Zaidos +stooped and tightened the strap of his puttee. Velo watched him +sneeringly. Zaidos was so maddeningly unconcerned. Velo wondered if +he could be near anyone who hated him as he hated Zaidos and not feel +and fear it. The urge of Evil became like a heavy hand knocking on his +heart. He almost feared Zaidos would hear it. "Now—now—now!" it +went. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on, Zaidos," he said, standing up. "Let's get to work. I +suppose we have an all-night task before us." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos yawned. "I thought so, too," he said; "but it seems they are +looking for a bad day to-morrow and we have been relieved from duty for +the night. A new shift goes into the field in ten minutes, and we go +back to the rear to one of the farm-houses there to rest until ten +to-morrow. Come on, let's start." +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow, then," whispered Velo to the Evil in his soul. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VICTORY +</H3> + +<P> +The boys walked slowly back, picking their way as well as they could in +the darkness, occasionally taking to the zig-zag trenches when the +surface paths were too obscure. Everywhere men were sleeping, rolled +up in their blankets and lying uncomfortably along the bottom of the +trenches or out on the ground under the stars. The boys did not talk. +Zaidos was busy thinking of the present, with all its tragic incidents, +and occasionally a funny happening to lighten the gloom. He thought of +Helen, and wondered how her well-beloved patient was progressing. He +had a sort of "hunch" as the fellows at school used to say, that Helen +was a happy girl, and certainly, if the man was conscious at all, he +was happy, too. +</P> + +<P> +About four hundred yards from the lines they found the farm-house to +which they had been sent. It was practically a ruin. The roof was +gone, excepting over one room where a fire burned in a big fireplace, +and where a great kettle swung on a heavy chain. This room had had one +side blown out of it, so it was not much better off except in the +matter of a rainstorm, than the other rooms that had four sides but no +ceilings. It was too open to the weather for much use, however, and +the small group of soldiers present were quartered in a cellar close by. +</P> + +<P> +A young sentinel showed Zaidos and Velo the way down, and they rolled +up in their blankets and tried to sleep. It was a difficult thing to +do. Zaidos found that the steady tramping and kneeling of the day and +evening had made his leg, so recently healed, ache badly. It throbbed +and he turned and twisted in an effort to find a comfortable position. +</P> + +<P> +Velo's head ached splittingly, and he lay staring into the darkness, +keeping company ever with the evil thoughts in his heart. He slept +finally, however, and did not awake until Zaidos shook him by the +shoulder and told him it was time for breakfast. The three-sided room +with the fireplace had been turned into a kitchen, and the cooks were +busy there when the boys went over. The meal tasted good, and although +the coffee was thick and muddy, the boys partook of it eagerly. It was +at least hot and sweet. +</P> + +<P> +Velo gritted his teeth with exasperation as Zaidos strolled out and at +once spoke to a soldier who sat by the door with a couple of letters +and papers in his lap. It was so exactly like Zaidos to get acquainted +without a moment's delay. He smiled at the soldier, and in reply the +young fellow made a place for him on the bench. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down, won't you?" he said. "Mail has come, and I got more than my +share." +</P> + +<P> +"Glad you fared well," said Zaidos, taking the offered seat. "I see +you have a paper. May I look at it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly!" said the soldier. "There is nothing in it. The war news +is so censored over home now that you can't get anything much out of +the papers. I like 'em because I can read the home advertisements, and +see notices of people I know, and watch what's playing at the theatres. +Makes me forget this rotten hole for awhile." +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," agreed Zaidos. "But just think how crazy all the people +at home must be all the while to hear from you fellows at the front." +</P> + +<P> +"I think they are," agreed the soldier. "I have a brother in France, +too, and father has just sent me a letter from him. It's fun to +compare experiences. Want to read it? You may if you care to." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I'd like to!" said Zaidos with his ready friendliness. +"There is no one to write to me anywhere except some schoolmates over +in America, and I don't suppose I will hear from them for months." He +took the closely written sheets of thin paper, and read the letter, +appreciating the spirit in which it was offered him. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Father," it ran. "I received your letter and note last night, +and Auntie's parcel the night before. Thank you both very much for +same. It is good of you to us both, but do not spend too much money. +Hard times are coming on, I imagine. The kippers were grand. Six of +us had a great tea on them in the wine cellar of a shattered farm-house +where we are for four nights after four days in the trenches. Then we +go back to the fighting line for another four days and nights. This +place we are at, in the cellar, is a keep with emergency stores and +loop holes, and is armored. Twenty-five of us have to keep it at all +costs, should the enemy come over the line, which is perhaps four +hundred yards away. The bally place is overrun with rats. They run +all over your body and head at night, and I have to sleep with my +overcoat tucked over my head to prevent them touching the bare skin. +</P> + +<P> +"Up at the trenches, I was four days and nights stationed about sixty +yards from the Huns doing sentry on and off day and night the whole +time, waiting with bombs and bayonet in case they attempted to take it, +and now on return here have done three more night-guards and then no +more sleep again hardly for four more nights, when we return to the +firing line. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a hard life, isn't it? For in between, one is sent off on all +sorts of fatigues, drawing rations, sand bags, trench boards, etc., etc. +</P> + +<P> +"I must some time see that new Turkey carpet. The only one I see now +is sand bags. If there is a big move shortly, which seems more than +likely, it may delay our leave as I guess all the troopers would be +wanted in that case, but I am looking forward tremendously to seeing +you all again. +</P> + +<P> +"Must conclude now, dear father. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"Much love to all from your son,<BR> +DICK."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +"P. S. We dug up some dead Prussian Guards the other day. There has +been some great fighting here and may be again. I don't know what I +should do without the candles and matches you send me. They keep me +going nicely. +</P> + +<P> +"I have just thought perhaps my letter does not seem very cheerful; so +I must tell you we have lots of fun in between the serious parts of the +game. Last rest, I had some great French feeds (for about one franc) +in a town near by. Got pally with six French gendarmes and hope to see +them again when I have another spell off. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess they could take me around the town if I wanted to see the +sights. Also at all villages where we stay, I make friends with some +of the cottagers, and get lots of coffee and salads and washing done +for me. I am getting quite a reputation for finding places to obtain a +little meal to vary the Army rations. +</P> + +<P> +"Cigs are best in tins; in boxes they get very damp. Cheer on! Good +luck to you. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +DICK." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Zaidos handed back the letter with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you very much," he said. "That's certainly a fine letter. It +was nice of you to share it with me." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," said the boy. "Everyone is glad to read every +other fellow's letter out here, whether he knows anything about the +people or not. We get so few letters. The people at home send us +candles and matches and kippers, as you see from the letter, and they +send lots of cigarettes to my brother. I don't smoke. They send us +paper and envelopes, too. You know all our letters are opened, don't +you? I don't see that it makes much difference. I've always thought +that I could see how I could write a pretty innocent looking letter if +I was a spy. +</P> + +<P> +"They have had a lot of trouble with spies at Verdun, where my brother +is. Why, would you believe it, the Germans have come right inside the +French and English lines in broad daylight to do their spying! One +bold ruse they worked, just once was to rig up one of their automobiles +to look like our ambulances. That car carried six Germans, all dressed +as English soldiers, and once inside our lines they went dashing around +as aids and orderlies. +</P> + +<P> +"All went well with them, they had seen the whole layout and gone down +to the very last trench, when one of them stumbled and out came a +thoughtless 'Mein Gott!' for he thought he had broken his ankle. Now +of course that would have been a catastrophe indeed, but so was that +slip into the German tongue. A kindly Providence saw to it that an +alert Tommy had heard, and in a trice those six make-believe English +soldiers had been rounded up and were on their way to headquarters. +Next morning there was a sunrise party, for those Germans must be +taught it isn't ever healthy for them inside our lines." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed they must!" agreed Zaidos heartily. +</P> + +<P> +"We have got to beat them in the end," said the English soldier with +the quiet sureness that has so often helped England to victory. "But +they are sure as sure that they will beat us, so they keep hammering +away and they will keep it up just as long as their men last." +</P> + +<P> +As if in answer to his last statement a shell struck the earth twenty +yards away, and exploded. Another followed, and fell in almost exactly +the same place. +</P> + +<P> +"See that?" said the Englishman. "Two days ago one of our best guns +was there where those shells have fallen. How did they know just where +it was stationed? We had not fired it. And it was ambushed from the +airships. Pretty rotten, work, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, a snapping, long-drawn snarl punctuated by deeper roars +told that the rapid-fire guns and the howitzers were awake along the +English lines. A stir of preparation passed like a wave over the +resting and lounging soldiers. Two great Zeppelins appeared overhead. +They wheeled closer and closer. Even at so great a distance, the roar +of their engines was terrific. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos turned and shook hands warmly with the soldier whose letter he +had shared. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye, and good luck!" he said heartily. "Hope we will meet some +day again." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye to you!" cried his new friend. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos, calling Velo, jumped into the trench and ran along its uneven +zigzags, on and on, the roar of battle sounding ever louder, until he +reached the cook house, and turning into the arm leading to the First +Aid Station, he raced into the room and reported to the doctor. +</P> + +<P> +Velo was at his heels. Once more the evil in Velo's soul was crying to +him, shouting to him, "This is your day—<I>this is your day</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +"I won't forget," commented Velo aloud; and Zaidos said "What?" +</P> + +<P> +They buckled on their aid kits, seeing that they were supplied with +everything. They wore orderly kits now. They contained chloroform in +a case, a roll of wire gauze, a long rubber bandage, and a tin which +contained vials of hyperdermic solutions. These were only for the use +of the field surgeons whom they chanced to meet and who frequently had +to call on the Red Cross orderlies and stretcher bearers for supplies. +Then in the next compartment was the hypodermic syringe, and beside it +a flask for aromatic spirits of ammonia. There was a knife and a pair +of surgical scissors. After having dropped his scissors a dozen times +or so, Zaidos had taken the precaution to tie them to his pouch with a +long, fine string. +</P> + +<P> +There was gauze, eight packets of it; four first aid packets complete, +six bandages, and two diagnosis tags and pencils. When there was time, +it was sometimes advisable to tag the wounded men. It made them get +moved quicker when the patient finally reached the operating room. +</P> + +<P> +A spool of adhesive plaster was perhaps one of the most useful things +included, and there were pins and ligatures, and a small pocket lantern +which Zaidos at least had never had occasion to use. +</P> + +<P> +Velo looked carefully at his own kit. He did not intend to be caught +in any carelessness or neglect of duty. He had cast aside as unsafe +the idea of skipping away. It was more dangerous than the falling +shells. He, like many another, had become calloused. On battlefields +men move with as much of a sense of security as though they were +invisible. It is not so much that they are not afraid as that they +grow into a feeling that the dreadful din, the rattle and bang and dirt +and blood, the anguish of men and horses, the distorted and ghastly +deaths, will pass them by. The whine of bullets, and the spiteful +snarl of exploding shells seems as much an incident as the tin rainfall +and the wooden thunder on the stage. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos noticed this, and felt it himself. He saw men go singing along +the trenches to their death, singing love songs and tender little +ballads that had to do with flowers and larks and English lanes in May. +And most of all he noticed that the face of every wounded man held a +look of surprise in greater or less degree; of amazement, as though the +outraged body said, "Has this thing come to <I>me</I>? Impossible!" The +look was on the dead lying sprawled and twisted in the last silent +paralysis of humanity. And although the dead and dying and wounded lay +like warnings of a coming fate, although men tossed and reared +grotesquely, and shattered horses screamed shrilly in throes of blind +agony, the unhurt thousands moved on or lay in their trenches giving +fire for fire, death for death without a quiver of concern. +</P> + +<P> +Out into the worst of it went the boys together, Zaidos filled with the +high courage of one who does his duty whole-heartedly, and is too busy +with the task to wonder at his own fate, Velo with the unconcern of the +panther who creeps sure-footedly along the crumbling ledge after his +prey. With the noise, the sights and confusion of battle, a kind of +madness grew in Velo. The words "To-day, to-day, to-day!" made a sort +of song within him. He had all the time in the world. He liked to see +Zaidos working, working, tiring himself out. It didn't really matter +when he put Zaidos out. He only knew that sooner or later he would do +it. He had become a criminal. The evil had wrecked his soul. +</P> + +<P> +The boys worked with furious zeal. When the final toll of this +dreadful war is taken, high up on the lists of fame, supreme in the +immortal and shining roster of the saints, should stand the names of +the men and women of the Red Cross. The zeal of fighting could not +uphold them. The lust of battle could not inflame their courage. It +was theirs to walk unguarded in the red rain of death, to kneel where +the shells fell thickest, to pass through the line of deadly fire with +their pitiful burdens. +</P> + +<P> +Doing only good, bringing relief and rescue, they, too, have fallen, +hundreds of them, victims of a struggle in which they had no active +part. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos and that dark shadow, Velo, knelt beside a wounded soldier, and +strove to save his life, while a black robed priest knelt beside the +conscious man. He made the responses of his Church clearly and evenly. +He listened while the chaplain commended him to the mercy of God. With +an even voice he gave his name and sent a last passionately loving +message to one he loved. Then while the boys still doggedly strove to +stay his passing, he began to speak. His voice changed to the shrill, +clear tones of childhood. He forgot the sonorous Latin of a moment +past. He looked up and folded his hands. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Mary, Mother, meek and mild,<BR> +Hear me, then a little child—"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +He went on with the childish prayer. Velo stood up. Zaidos, kneeling, +shook his head, waited until the voice trailed into silence, and folded +his kit. They had come too late. The priest stood for a moment in +prayer. The boys moved on, but Zaidos looked back. He was just in +time to see the priest, with that strange look of wonder dawning on his +face, sink slowly to his knees, and droop across the dead man's breast. +A bullet was in his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish it would end," cried Zaidos passionately. +</P> + +<P> +Velo smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't do that!" cried Zaidos wildly. "You are not half tending to +your work. Get busy with this man here." He knelt beside a soldier as +he spoke, and tried to change his position so he could tie up a gushing +wound. Zaidos, who had done all the heavy work, was almost exhausted. +His hands trembled a little. Time had rushed by, or else it had stood +perfectly still since the first shot split the morning stillness. He +had not eaten; he couldn't. On one of the trips with the heavy +stretcher the doctor had given him something in a glass to take, but he +had put it down for a moment, and Velo had spilled it. It had not +seemed worth while to ask for more. +</P> + +<P> +The battle roared around them. The enemy had pressed through the first +wire entanglement, and a terrific hand-to-hand conflict was in +progress. Then men charged with bayonet on gun in the right hand, a +short, keen knife in their teeth, and on their left hands a band set +with spiked steel knuckles. They leaped into the trenches, struck once +with the bayonet, let the musket go, and continued the fight with knife +and knuckles. The boys seemed to be the center of a horrible whirlpool +or eddy of fighting. +</P> + +<P> +"Give me a bandage!" screamed Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +Velo, all unconscious of the battle about, stood looking down at +Zaidos. His bloodshot eyes were narrowed to slits, his lips drawn back +in a wolfish snarl. In his hand was a revolver. He leaned forward a +little. He spoke, but in the din Zaidos could not hear his words. He +could read the twisting lips, however. +</P> + +<P> +"I've got the papers!" was what he said. He took careful, open aim +with the revolver, and before Zaidos could move or spring, he fired +straight at Zaidos' face! +</P> + +<P> +Then he stood looking at the fallen boy. Zaidos lay on his back, arms +spread wide, knees partly bent under him. Somehow he looked very +young. Velo, once more conscious of the roar of guns, looked about +him. The battle raged madly. As if drawn by a magnet, his gaze +traveled back to the face of his victim. Sure enough, he had killed +him. Zaidos was out of his way forever. He felt in his blouse where +the precious papers were, then, moved by some strange impulse, he took +them out, and held them up before the unseeing eyes of his cousin. +</P> + +<P> +"All here; all here!" he said thickly. "Now <I>I'm</I> Zaidos; <I>I'm</I> head +of the house!" Still holding the papers in his hand, he threw the +revolver far from him. It had done its work. He nodded to Zaidos. +"All here!" he repeated, fingering the pocket. "<I>I'm</I>—" +</P> + +<P> +Something or someone seemed to strike him a violent blow in the back. +It surprised him. He turned to see the offender. There was no one +near. The tide of battle had swept past. He looked inquiringly at +Zaidos, and idly dropped the papers on the ground, as he put a hand to +his breast. Suddenly he lost interest in everything but the cause of +the blow. He wondered what in the world had hit him. Not a bullet. +Surely a bullet did not make you feel so numb and queer! He balanced +back and forth as though he was walking a tight rope. Still staring at +Zaidos, and still pressing a hand to his chest, he went slowly, very +slowly, to his knees. +</P> + +<P> +"That's strange," he said to Zaidos. Then without warning, he coughed. +It tore, and ripped, and rent him with mortal agony. He screamed +aloud. He clutched with both hands at his breast, screamed, and +screamed and screamed, and so went slowly down and down, a million +miles into blackness, and lay without further motion, his head against +Zaidos' knee. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DAYS OF WAITING +</H3> + +<P> +Inch by inch, step by step, yard after yard, the enemy forced the +English back. They reached the second line of wire entanglements, +where for awhile the battle raged, while Zaidos and Velo, like other +thousands of silent and bloody figures, lay in strange, distorted +groups. +</P> + +<P> +At the second entanglement, however, something seemed to happen. +Perhaps the enemy's charge had exhausted them, perhaps because a +bulldog courage always fills the British. The tide turned. Once more +the ground was covered. The first entanglement was reached and +crossed. The havoc grew; the rout was turned into a victory. The +Allies had won the day! +</P> + +<P> +They followed the fleeing enemy, stubbornly hammering their rear as +they retreated, while a thin sprinkle of Red Cross aids and doctors and +nurses commenced to appear on that dreadful field. They moved here and +there, clear stars in the dark sky of history. +</P> + +<P> +One of them stopped to bandage a head where a clean line of blood +showed a deep furrow in the side. When the wound was bandaged, the +surgeon administered a dose of medicine, and in a moment Zaidos opened +his eyes, and looked curiously up at the doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"You are all right," said the doctor. "Nothing but a scratch on the +head. Lie still and wig-wag the ambulance when it comes along." +</P> + +<P> +He moved rapidly away, and Zaidos obeyed his parting order. In fact he +was not able to move. Velo's bullet had cut close to the skull and +Zaidos had lost much blood. He was conscious also of a pain in his +broken leg, but could not move to see what caused it. Finally the +aching grew so intense that it drove him to an upright position, +although for a moment things whirled, and he was forced to close his +eyes. When he looked he saw Velo, the anguish and pallor and amazement +of death written on his face, lying doubled against Zaidos' knee. +Carefully he worked himself free, to find that a bullet had struck his +leg while he was unconscious, and had broken the small bone below the +knee. It was the broken leg, at that. He straightened himself as well +as he could, and looked at Velo. He commenced to remember. It came +back bit by bit; the fight, and Velo's treachery. Last of all he +remembered what Velo had said. "I have the papers!" So it was Velo +all the time! Zaidos could not imagine how Velo had secured them. He +knew when he had lost them that night in the barracks at Saloniki. +Velo certainly had not been there. His hurt head beat painfully, and +it was difficult for him to think. If Velo had the papers, however, he +must get them. Velo was dead apparently. Zaidos knew that look. The +papers were his. He must take them before someone came and carried him +away. He knew what Velo's resting place would be, and shuddered. +Slowly, painfully, he shifted his position until he lay close at his +cousin's side. Supporting himself on his elbow, with his free hand he +felt in the blood-stained blouse. The pockets were empty. Zaidos felt +again. Then it seemed as though he could feel a faint heartbeat. It +was so feeble that when Zaidos laid his hand on the torn breast and +waited, he could feel no stir. He managed to get at his Aid kit, +however, and drop by drop coaxed down a dose of strong restorative. He +pressed a pad of gauze against the wound, and secured it with adhesive +tape. He could see that the wound came through from the back, but he +did not dare turn him over. Presently a faint sigh parted the lips, +and Zaidos administered another dose. +</P> + +<P> +Velo lived! +</P> + +<P> +He opened his eyes presently, and looked dully at Zaidos. Then he +recognized him, and a wild look crossed his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't I kill you?" he asked in a whisper. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Zaidos. There seemed to be nothing else to say. +</P> + +<P> +"I tried to," said Velo. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't talk!" said Zaidos. He didn't know what to say to the boy who +had nearly taken his life in cold blood. It was murder. The slow +deliberation of the thing chilled him. He had read of things like +that; of innocent people who injured no one being killed in order that +someone might unjustly enjoy something they possessed. He had been +ready to stand by Velo and see that he was all right always. And Velo +must have known it. No matter what he had said, Velo must have known +that! Yet Velo had tried to kill him. He had seen the leveled +revolver, and besides, Velo had just told him, as though he didn't in +the least mind his knowing. As a matter of fact, Velo did care; but he +was so near the shadowy borderland that lies between the living and the +dead, that there was nothing left for him but the truth. And because +of that, he continued, "I'm sorry, Zaidos." +</P> + +<P> +But Zaidos would not reply. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry, Zaidos," Velo said again in his thick, queer whisper. +"Will you forgive me?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Zaidos suddenly. "No, I won't! What did I ever do to you +that you should try to take my life? If I said I forgive you it would +be a lie. Besides, you can't be sorry right off like that. As soon as +you get well, you will try it again." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I <I>am</I> sorry!" said Velo. "You <I>must</I> forgive me, Zaidos. I am +too badly hurt to get well; you will not be troubled again. I know how +I am wounded. So I am going to talk as much as I can. I wish you +would take the papers. I stole them from you at the barracks. I got +permission to go in while you were asleep. I thought you wouldn't be +there, and I wanted to look for you and say that I couldn't find you, +and so call the attention of the officers to your absence. The night +your father died, you know. But you were there asleep, and I felt in +your blouse, and found the packet. You had better get it out of my +jacket now." +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos unwillingly felt once more through the pocket. "It is empty," +he said. +</P> + +<P> +Velo thought a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I had it in my hand just now," he said. "Look on the ground." +</P> + +<P> +The papers lay beside Velo's hand. Zaidos picked them up, and put them +in his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"I have them," he said gruffly. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad of that," said Velo. "Zaidos, I sold my soul for those +papers. I have been a bad boy all my life, not because I had bad +surroundings, not because I was neglected. Your father was as good to +me as he could be. I just thought it was smart to be bad. I don't +think I hated you because of all your money and your title as much as I +did because I knew you were square. I knew it as soon as you came into +your father's house that night. I could see it in your face, and hear +it in your voice, and feel it in your hand-shake. I knew you would +never stand for the sort of life I led, and I hated you for it, Zaidos. +And so it went from bad to worse, until I shot at you. You <I>must</I> +forgive me, Zaidos!" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't," said Zaidos stubbornly. "What's the use of my saying I do, +if I don't?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you <I>must</I> forgive me!" begged the dying boy. "I am so sorry, so +sorry! You can't see anyone as sorry as I am and not forgive them. +Please, Zaidos! I can't bear it unless you do!" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Zaidos again. +</P> + +<P> +Velo did not speak. When you are asked to forgive a wrong, and you +refuse, it turns the punishment on you. Velo was silent, but Zaidos +commenced to suffer. He could feel himself growing hard and cruel. +After all, Velo had not succeeded in injuring him much, and Velo +himself was dying fast. He could see it. But something kept him +silent. He could not say the words Velo had begged to hear, and he +stared back while Velo looked at him with dumb and suffering eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, forgive me!" begged Velo with a dry sob that racked him. "Zaidos, +be as good as you can, but don't be hard! You can't tell what +temptations people have. It is a terrible thing to be hard. Don't do +it, Zaidos! There are so many hard people—hard teachers and hard +fathers who don't know how fellows are tempted and how they suffer. I +am dying, Zaidos, and I tell you don't be hard. Forgive me!" +</P> + +<P> +"I do!" said Zaidos quite suddenly. "I do, Velo! I mean it!" +</P> + +<P> +Everything changed. He felt a kindliness and affection for Velo. +</P> + +<P> +"You will get well, Velo, and we'll hit it off like twins." +</P> + +<P> +"It's too late," said Velo, smiling; "too late for anything except to +be happy to think you have forgiven me. Besides, it is as well for me +to go. I think I'm a bad sort, Zaidos.… But +I'm—so—glad—you—will—forgive me—" +</P> + +<P> +There was a long silence. Then Velo opened his eyes once more. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm going," he whispered. "Take my hand—" +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos did so, and for a long, long time did not stir. The hand in his +grew limp, then very cold. Zaidos held it loyally but he kept his eyes +shut tight, because he could not bear to look. +</P> + +<P> +The Red Cross orderlies did not find Zaidos until after dark. He was +very cold, or else very hot, he did not know which, but tried to tell +them all about it, and only succeeded in mumbling very fast before he +dropped off into unconsciousness. He could not say farewell to Velo, +lying there under the stars with a noble company about him. He was +silent enough himself until he reached the big field hospital in the +rear. He did not know Nurse Helen when she bent over him, but he +commenced to talk in a low tone, and he kept on, as though he would +never stop. +</P> + +<P> +He told her all about everything, including a green dragon that sat on +his leg, and felt heavy. He told her school jokes, and about the girl +who came to the hop and about several million other things. Fever +raged in him and his voice went down and down until it was as thin as +a field mouse's squeak. Nurse Helen grew to look at him gravely and +rather sadly and she spent no time at all with Tony Hazelden, who was +almost well enough to get married. At least he could sit up an hour +every day. But at last one day there came a change. Zaidos gave a +sigh, and stopped talking and went to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +The next time he opened his eyes, he looked straight into Nurse Helen's +great, lovely, dark pools of silence and content. He looked at her a +long time; then without speaking, he went to sleep again. The next +time he woke up, he managed to whisper, "Got a lot to tell you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Let it wait," she whispered back. "Don't talk at all. You will get +well much sooner." +</P> + +<P> +She was right, and he did, making great jumps toward recovery when he +once got started. The time came when she let him talk and Zaidos told +her all about everything. He even told her how hard he had been and +how long it had taken him to forgive Velo. +</P> + +<P> +So the days went on smoothly. Zaidos did not know how many; but one +morning there awoke in him a great longing for his adopted land. And +that happened to be the very morning when he heard something that might +have made him very unhappy, but did not. +</P> + +<P> +The doctor came along. +</P> + +<P> +"What are you going to do with yourself when we discharge you, young +man?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose I'll have to go back on the field," Zaidos replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you want to?" asked the doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't really say I do," said Zaidos regretfully. "You see I've +never had the chance to fight. I was lame when they put me at the +Hospital Corps work. At least my broken leg was tender. Now it's shot +up, and I won't be good for anything else but Red Cross jobs." +</P> + +<P> +"I may as well tell you," said the doctor. "You will always be a +little lame, Zaidos. Not much, understand, but enough to bar you from +any work here. I'm sorry, son. We did our best, but that shin bone +didn't heal right. You have been given your 'honorable discharge.'" +</P> + +<P> +For a little Zaidos was silent. No more running; no more jumping. It +was a little hard, but he thought of the wounds of others, and was +ashamed. +</P> + +<P> +"Will I have to walk with a cane, doctor!" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no," said the doctor. "Your limp will scarcely be noticeable." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I guess I'll get on my job," said Zaidos, unconsciously quoting +the boys at school. +</P> + +<P> +"What's that?" asked the doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Why," said Zaidos, "I planned to go back to New York after all this +was over, and study medicine." +</P> + +<P> +"Couldn't do a better thing," said the doctor heartily. "That's the +best thing you could possibly do. Nurse Helen has told me something +about you, and I will say that I think you have planned wisely and +well. If you had ties of family in this part of the world, it might be +a different matter. No one has any right to carve out his destiny +without some reference to the people nearest him. 'Honor thy father +and thy mother' holds good to-day as well as it did when the old +patriarchs walked the earth. And I'm not sure it isn't needed now more +than it was then, when the scheme of life was simpler. Only now we +usually have a few sisters and brothers, and perhaps an unmarried aunt +or two to consider. But you are all alone, are you not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Zaidos. "I couldn't be more alone without being gone +myself. I have lots of friends in school and I know a fellow in +England; and so it's not so bad." +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the doctor. "I should call it very good. And you have +already found out, Zaidos, that sometimes blood relations fail a man. +</P> + +<P> +"I think I will write out a discharge for you, and as soon as you can +move you had better get away, and move toward the first seaport where +you can get an American ship. I will pull all the wires I can. You +had a pretty bad fever, my boy. You need a change, and you need it +soon. I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, lie still and get your +strength together. Things are frightfully crowded, but a lot of +supplies and more nurses have been promised. Has Nurse Helen told you +any news?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Zaidos, "not a thing. About the hospital, do you mean, +doctor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not exactly," said the doctor, smiling. "Just some little plans of +her own." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll bet Tony Hazelden is in them!" said Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +The doctor chuckled. "Well, these girls! You never can tell," he +said. "She will tell you herself, I've no doubt." +</P> + +<P> +He got up and straightened his bent back. "This sort of thing is hard +on an old man," he said. "It is just two weeks since I have been to +bed." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, this one feels good to me," said Zaidos. "I was so surprised +when I woke up and found something smooth and clean under me. I don't +see how the nurses manage to keep things so neat." +</P> + +<P> +"You would not wonder if you could see what they do," said the doctor +solemnly. "I tell you every woman who goes into the field deserves a +place in the Legion of Honor. She deserves a crown, and a big pension. +She's an angel. You want to honor all women, all kinds, all your life, +my boy, for the sake of these nurses. Some day, perhaps, I will come +over to your America, if you would like to see an old derelict, and we +will talk and talk, and I will tell you some stories." +</P> + +<P> +He touched Zaidos' bandaged head gently, nodded farewell and walked on +down the line of cots. Zaidos continued to sleep and eat. His blood +was so clean that his wounds healed almost at once. Helen came to his +bedside one day with a queer little smile on her face. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you remember, John, what I said when you brought Tony to me? I +told you that just as soon as he was able to hold my hand, I meant to +marry him." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you do it?" asked Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"Not yet," said Helen. +</P> + +<P> +"Goodness!" said Zaidos. "I didn't think Tony was as sick as all that! +I would have to be a good deal worse than he looks to be so sick I +couldn't hold your hand!" +</P> + +<P> +"Silly!" said Helen, blushing. "If you will attend with the gravity +the occasion requires, I will explain things to you. Perhaps Tony has +been able to hold my hand a <I>little</I>; but he was not strong enough to +hold it very hard. Now, however, he is growing better fast. On the +other hand, the doctors say <I>I</I> am worn out. I don't think so myself. +I think they are making it up, the dears, so I can honorably go home +with Tony. But be that as it may, I am going home. We are going to be +married a week from tomorrow, John, dear, and then in a few days I will +begin to move my dear Tony by slow stages homeward. And I want you to +come with us." +</P> + +<P> +"Me on a honeymoon trip? Well, I think not!" Zaidos exploded. "Nay, +nay, pretty lady, you won't get me to chaperone you!" +</P> + +<P> +"Now, John!" cried Helen. "Oh, I could shake you! What will I do +crossing Europe with a sick man on a cot, unless someone comes to help +me? I didn't think you were so ungallant!" +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos stared at her. "That's another way to look at it," he said. +"Of course I will go with you, and glad enough to do it. I never +thought of that, Helen. Of course you could not go alone! Why can't I +get up and go talk things over with Tony? You can't yell that sort of +conversation the whole length of a ward." +</P> + +<P> +"You are to be allowed to get up tomorrow," said Helen, "and, oh, John, +<I>please</I> get well fast, because really I don't see how we can go +without you. No one else can be spared, and I want to go home. I want +to see my father and mother. Just think of it, I will have to be +married all alone. Not one of my own people to give me away, and kiss +me, and say, 'God bless you.' I suppose I am an ungrateful girl. I +ought to be thinking only that I have Tony, and how happy I am; but you +know after all, John, a girl's wedding day is a wonderful time. It is +all so different to what we had planned. At home, we would have had +the service in our own dear church, trimmed by all the little girls in +the parish. And everyone would be there. The church would not hold +them; the churchyard would be full of beaming faces, everybody bobbing +and curtsying and wishing us good luck. And if I felt that I <I>must</I> +shed a few happy tears, my mother's shoulder would be near." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you <I>have</I> to cry?" asked Zaidos. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I don't suppose one <I>has</I> to," said Helen musingly, "but +generally you do." +</P> + +<P> +"That's awful," said Zaidos dismally, and then repeated, "Awful! +However, I don't know the first thing about girls, and of course you +do. If you must cry on somebody, why, you must; and you can use me, if +you like." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +GREATER THINGS +</H3> + +<P> +A week flew past. In the convalescent ward there was the greatest +amount of suppressed excitement. All the soldiers loved Helen, and +they showered her with queer, pathetic little gifts, always the best of +their poor store of belongings. Tony was not to leave his cot. He +would have to be moved across Europe on a stretcher, but he lay beaming +at the men who called good wishes to him in half a dozen languages. +</P> + +<P> +The wedding morning dawned clear and beautiful. Every soldier who +could hobble was out early gathering flowers and boughs with which they +trimmed the ward. Helen, who was a hundred yards away, in the nurses' +tent, knew nothing of all this. An hour before she was to come to meet +Tony, the old doctor, bearing a large package, stood before the tent. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear," he said awkwardly when Helen appeared, "I—er—wanted to do +something for you, and it gave me a good deal of happiness to pretend +that you were my own daughter, if you don't object. I happen to have a +sister in Paris, and I telegraphed her a week ago. I think I have +heard you say you were size thirty-six. Well, my dear, this package +has just come. She sent it in care of a reserve of nurses. You +see—ha—hum—the men will be so pleased. Now you put it on if it is +fit for you, and wear it, with the love of a grateful old man." He +turned and abruptly walked away as Helen untied the box, but he could +not so escape from those swift feet. There was a cry as the girl +peered beneath the papers, and then a swift rush toward him. So it +happened that it was not Zaidos' reluctant and unaccustomed shoulder on +which the happy tears were shed, and it was not to Tony that Helen's +last tender girl-kisses were given. +</P> + +<P> +And when the time came for the simple, sad little ceremony in the +hospital ward, it was not a dark clad nurse who walked between the cots +on the doctor's arm, but such a vision of loveliness that the men +gasped and Tony turned so pale that the aid beside him reached for the +spirits of ammonia. For the doctor's present was a wedding dress, just +as satiny and lacy and long as any bride in Mayfair could have worn. +</P> + +<P> +The veil covered her lovely face, and through it her dark eyes lingered +tenderly on the eager white faces that lined her path. And last they +rested on Tony. Zaidos caught the look, and it made him feel that he +would do most anything to have anyone look at him like that. It was a +look that a fellow could never bear unless he had lived a clean and +honest life. Zaidos, seeing this wonderful look that was meant for +Tony alone, glanced quickly away and somehow it was he, down in his +innermost heart, who longed for a shoulder to cry on! +</P> + +<P> +In a few short minutes the little ceremony was over, and a musical +genius played the wedding march on a mouth-organ so you'd know it +anywhere. He followed that with <I>God Save the King</I>, and <I>Tipperary</I>, +while Helen, looking more like an angel every minute, walked slowly +down the aisle, shaking hands with the men. She came at last to one +whose arms were both gone. Without a moment's hesitation she stooped +and pressed a kiss on the upturned brow. Another moment with a last +smile and wave of her hand, she was gone, leaving the men with their +beautiful memory. +</P> + +<P> +Zaidos asked the doctor, who was openly wiping his eyes, to speak with +him a moment outside. +</P> + +<P> +"You know my cousin is out there," he said, with a wave of the arm at +the field where great trenches made a resting place for hundreds of +unknown men. "I've been trying to think of something to do for him, +something to remember him by. I couldn't think of anything. First I +thought of a monument; and then I thought of tablets in the church at +Saloniki. Then it just happened to come to me, that why not do +something for our field hospital here. When I get to England I will +arrange to have the money sent you. Do you approve of that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I do, my boy," said the doctor heartily. "Of course I +approve! Any help would be most gratefully accepted. You know how +short we are for everything. Send anything you feel like affording. +Any little sum you happen to want to give." +</P> + +<P> +"I was wondering about five hundred dollars a month, while the war +lasts," said Zaidos musingly. "Would that make much difference?" +</P> + +<P> +"Five—five hundred American dollars?" screamed the doctor. "<I>A +hundred pounds</I>? You don't mean that, do you? Why, hum—haw—can you +afford it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," said Zaidos simply. "I suppose I can afford almost anything +I want. I had a long talk with my father the night he died, so I +happen to know just what my income is. And I don't spend much. There +isn't anything to spend it for. Of course, when I go back to school, I +mean to put up a new gymnasium. The one we have is a freak; but that +won't break me, either." +</P> + +<P> +"A hundred pounds!" said the doctor. Delightful visions of endless +rolls of bandages, antiseptics, medicines, nurses, litters, shelter +tents, beds, and food appeared before the doctor's delighted eyes. "A +hundred pounds!" he repeated. "Zaidos, Zaidos, you will erect a +monument to your cousin finer—" he choked, then turned, and with an +arm over Zaidos' shoulder continued: "Well, Zaidos, it is hard for an +Englishman, and an old Englishman at that, to express what he feels; +but, my boy, I am as proud of you as though you were my own son! Proud +of you, Zaidos! You are perfectly sure you mean it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course," said Zaidos, laughing. "I think the thing to do is to put +money in a bank and fix it so you yourself can draw it, as needed, at +the rate of five hundred a month. I'll be busy in school catching up +so I won't be able to see to it." +</P> + +<P> +"Wonderful! Wonderful!" said the doctor. "I think I will go see the +General, Zaidos. I have got to tell someone. I can never keep all +this to myself." +</P> + +<P> +He went hurrying off and Zaidos watched him. Once he bumped into a +tree and twice an orderly called him. He made no reply. He was +thinking with whirling brain of the lives he would be able to save. +</P> + +<P> +Then he reached the General's tent, and burst in unceremoniously. They +had been classmates at college. +</P> + +<P> +"Dick," cried the doctor, "Dick, the most amazing thing has happened!" +and with a rush of words he poured out the fine news. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, bless me, bless me!" cried the General, shoving back from the +table where a map of Europe was spread. "Now, Henry, I know just how +well pleased you are. Why, what wonderful things you can do with all +that money! But are you sure the lad will do as he says?" +</P> + +<P> +"You ought to know that lad, Dick!" exploded the doctor. "He's the +finest boy! He's just what you would have wanted your boy to be like, +if you had loved some girl, and had married her, and had had a baby, +and it had grown up. He won't disappoint me, rest assured of that!" +</P> + +<P> +And Zaidos didn't. +</P> + +<P> +When, after a long, slow and anxious journey, Helen and Tony and Zaidos +finally reached London, Zaidos left the young married pair in the +charge of a full battalion of relatives that had advanced in close +formation as their train drew into the station, and proceeded at once +to the office of a lawyer who was none other than Tony's cousin Jack. +It took only a couple of days to fix the thing all up for the doctor; +indeed, it was so tied up with red tape and all that, that Zaidos was +not sure anyone would <I>ever</I> get the money. +</P> + +<P> +Jack was more than nice to Zaidos, and insisted on taking him to his +own quarters, where he rested quietly for several days. The journey +had been harder than Zaidos had realized. His leg ached, and it was +slow work getting around on crutches. As soon as Jack could get away, +he suggested that they should go down to Hazelden, and see for +themselves if Tony was improving as much as the family claimed. +</P> + +<P> +They went on the train, for Jack had given up his motor car as his +donation to the war fund. In the station, as Zaidos was hobbling +painfully along, a husky youth in uniform bumped into him, and nearly +knocked him over. He apologized. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Nick, all right!" said Zaidos joyously. +</P> + +<P> +The husky youth stared, then gave a very un-English whoop, and made a +bear rush at Zaidos. When he had finished patting him on the back and +stuttering all sorts of inquiries, he managed to make a few questions +clear. Where was he going? What for? Who was he going to stay with? +When was he coming back? If it wasn't rotten, <I>rotten</I> luck that he +was just off for Paris on government business! +</P> + +<P> +When Zaidos could get a word in edgewise, he broke it to +Nickell-Wheelerson that he was going away from England, back to +America—and to that end his passage was already secured on a vessel +leaving in a week's time. He was going down to visit some people named +Hazelden. +</P> + +<P> +"My second cousins, by Jove!" averred Nick, delighted. "A week? Well, +if I can smooth things over between the Allies and Germany, in less +than that time, I'll come down and ask them to put me up for a day." +He patted Zaidos again. "It certainly seems good to see you, old chap! +Here's my train, so I must go. Don't forget me, and I'll get down +before you leave, if I can." +</P> + +<P> +He dashed for the door the porter held open for him, and with a last +wave of the hand was carried out of sight. When Jack returned, Zaidos +told him about the encounter, and Jack laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course he's a cousin," he said. "One of the nicest fellows I +know. Didn't know you knew him. Odd about its being such a little +world and all that, don't you think?" He laughed. "Once I met a chap +in India way up in the mountains. I was running around a bit, and he +was tracking down a lost tribe or something of the sort. A while after +that I walked into dad's billiard room at home, and there was the +Johnny playing billiards with himself, cool as you please! He stopped, +and said, 'Hullo, didn't know you knew I this family!' +</P> + +<P> +"I said, 'Didn't know you knew them, either.' +</P> + +<P> +"'Relations, perhaps?' he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"'Yes, parents,' I told him, and then we had a jolly gas." +</P> + +<P> +Jack waited on Zaidos with such care all the way down from London that +the boy said he would be entirely spoiled. A big, roomy car met them +at the station and carried them smoothly over miles of perfect road +through the vast park of the Hazelden's where pheasants by the dozen +flew across their path, bright-eyed deer dashed into hiding, and +hundreds of wonderful Persian sheep grazed on the lawns that had been +lawns for generations. +</P> + +<P> +It seemed strange to see Helen in filmy summer dress instead of the +severe uniform of a nurse, and Zaidos missed the white cap on her +beautiful hair, but he decided finally that she was even prettier +without it. Zaidos could not keep from watching her every move. She +ordered Tony about with a pretty air of sternness, but with such a look +of loving devotion that it was easy to see the reason for the young +man's look of contentment. +</P> + +<P> +The days flew past as though on wings. Helen's younger sister proved +to be a second edition of Helen, even prettier if possible, and Zaidos +found himself wondering how he could ever have given a thought to the +blonde damsel whom he had met at the hop so long ago. Before it came +time to go, Zaidos caught himself regarding Helen in a new light. He +found himself thinking that she would be a very pleasant person to have +in the family! And that was going a long, long way for Zaidos! +</P> + +<P> +He had news for Helen. A letter from the old doctor, with pages of +thanks and plans for the use of the money. Of course Helen had to hear +it all, and afternoons they would all sit on the terrace together, and +talk of the future and make pleasant plans. +</P> + +<P> +Of the past, of the dreadful days on the stained battlefields of the +Dardanelles, they spoke little. Some day perhaps when time had +mellowed the colors, then this group of young people could talk it +over. Just now the price they had paid for their experiences seemed +too great. It was all too near. They tried to put it behind them, as +all the world will have to do when at last this war is over, when the +last gun calls its death challenge, when all the submarines rise to the +surface of the outraged sea, and the last war Zeppelin settles to +earth. On that day, a curtain must fall over this terrible middle-act +in modern history, to rise again on new and nobler things. +</P> + +<P> +The group on the terrace, enjoying the warm afternoon sun, often kept +the mournful silence of those who have known all war's horrors, yet +they were filled with deepest thankfulness that they were spared to +each other. +</P> + +<P> +The old Earl followed Tony in his invalid chair with adoring eyes. +Every day, a dozen women, ladies of high degree, assembled and sewed or +knit for the soldiers. The great county houses on either side were +given over as convalescent homes. Fairs, bazaars, teas, meetings +filled the days. England gave all her time and strength for the +soldiers. +</P> + +<P> +When Zaidos found a chance to read the doctor's letter to Helen she was +so pleased with it that she insisted on taking it and reading it to a +number of the committees that seemed to be meeting from morning until +night. The letter gave a clear view of the needs of the Red Cross, and +told so well of the good it was doing. And to his horror, Zaidos was +invited to address three separate organizations. Helen refused for him +after he had threatened to run away by night and walk to London. +</P> + +<P> +Nick evidently had trouble with the Allies or the Germans, because he +did not come down, and sent no word. +</P> + +<P> +It came time for Zaidos to leave. The last night he was there he wrote +a bunch of letters. The first was addressed to school, and commenced: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Fellows: +</P> + +<P> +Well, after all, I'm coming back. Such a lot of things have happened +that there is no use writing about them at all. I'll tell you all that +it's good for you to hear when I see you. Only there's no reason for +me to stay here now as there is now no one in this country belonging to +me. My only relative, a cousin about my age, was shot and killed. And +I got nipped a little. So they don't want me any more, and I'm coming +back on the next steamer. If you can get it, I want my old room. +</P> + +<P> +I'm visiting some fine people here in the country. Met 'em on the +battlefield. At least I met two of them there. I saw Nick in London, +but he's in France now. You know he's an Earl; but it doesn't seem to +worry him. He stepped all over me just the same as ever, and was just +as sorry. He wears a uniform, of course, so I don't know if his +neckties are as bad as ever they used to be. +</P> + +<P> +It's going to be good to see you. I guess after all I have told you +all the news. Nothing much has happened, as you see. +</P> + +<P> +There's a girl here; you never saw anything like her. Say, she makes +me feel sorry for you way off there! +</P> + +<P> +Well, so long, boys! I'll see you soon, if we don't get torpedoed. +They don't make many plans over here. They say, "Do come and see me +to-morrow if you don't get Zeppelined." So long! +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +ZAIDOS. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Zaidos folded this letter with the pleased consciousness that he had +written a lot of news. +</P> + +<P> +The next was for the doctor. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear Doctor," he wrote, "I'm at the Hazeldens; and they are about the +nicest people in the world. Among other members of the family, Mrs. +Hazelden, who was Miss Helen, has a sister who seems a pleasant young +lady. I will soon leave for America; and except for leaving the +Hazeldens, as well as Helen's sister, who seems real pleasant, I shall +be glad to go. I do hate to hang around and do nothing. A million +people come here every day and work for the soldiers. I think the men +would appreciate it if they could know the amount of tea it takes to +keep them going here while they sew. +</P> + +<P> +The money is all fixed up. I do hope you will enjoy spending it. Let +me hear from you some day, doctor. Perhaps that is asking a good deal, +but it would be fine if you could spare time. +</P> + +<P> +I often think of Velo. Somehow he seems different to me now. There +were a lot of things about Velo that used to make me mad, but which now +I do not seem to remember. It is a great pity that he died. Perhaps +if he had lived, and I had taken him back to school with me, he would +have had a different life. I don't know. Anyway, somehow I think of +him a good deal, and I'm glad I do, because it must be awful to have no +one at all to think of you after you are dead. +</P> + +<P> +I will write again when I get back to America, doctor. Don't forget me +and don't forget that I am going to try to be as great a surgeon as you +are. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Your friend,<BR> +ZAIDOS."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The third letter was written in modern Greek, using the familiar "thee" +and "thou" of intimate speech. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +My old Nurse Maratha: +</P> + +<P> +The war kept me from thee, when at last I could get away. I would have +come to Saloniki if I could but I had an errand that took me straight +to England. +</P> + +<P> +Velo is dead, Maratha. He was shot in the big battle. You must have +been praying when he died, if I know thee still. And I was shot, too, +a little, and must ever walk lame. I tell thee this so no one else may +tell thee first. I am only a <I>little</I> lame, though. In a day or two I +take ship for America and so back to school, as thou heardst His +Highness, my father, plan that last night. Close the house, and go +thou to the lodge. Keep all the servants who have served my father for +more than ten years and pay them from the money I shall send thee each +month. And be very good to Maratha, for I shall come back some day, +and she must not be too old or too lame to take care of me. +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Good-bye, Maratha. I am always<BR> +Thy boy,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">ZAIDOS.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Zaidos sealed the letters and sent them off with a sigh of relief. He +had now but one cause of worry. He had promised to write to Helen's +sister, and he didn't know what to say! He forgot the fact that he +would not have to write the letter until he reached America. But at +last he forgot even that when the parting came. +</P> + +<P> +Helen tore herself away from Tony and went down to London to see him +off; and Jack went rushing around making all sorts of work for himself. +They were early at the pier, and, after Zaidos' baggage was settled in +his stateroom, the three people sauntered back to the dock for the half +hour that remained before the first warning call. Three familiar +figures came down, looking here and there. Helen saw them and +exclaimed, "Why, there's father, and mother, and Alice!" +</P> + +<P> +And sure as fate it was! The rector had had to take the next train for +London most unexpectedly, and so thought he would bring his wife and +daughter to join in the leave-takings. +</P> + +<P> +So Zaidos had quite a little group of people waving him good-bye as the +ship went slowly out into the west. But the gaze that held him longest +and the face he saw the last was not Helen's! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" noshade> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLED BY AN UNSEEN FOE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 21787-h.txt or 21787-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/7/8/21787">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/7/8/21787</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/21787-h/images/img-107.jpg b/21787-h/images/img-107.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..05eaab2 --- /dev/null +++ b/21787-h/images/img-107.jpg diff --git a/21787-h/images/img-front.jpg b/21787-h/images/img-front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..98ece70 --- /dev/null +++ b/21787-h/images/img-front.jpg diff --git a/21787.txt b/21787.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..279b4aa --- /dev/null +++ b/21787.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4870 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Shelled by an Unseen Foe, by James Fiske, +Illustrated by F. Schwankovsky, Jr. + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Shelled by an Unseen Foe + + +Author: James Fiske + + + +Release Date: June 9, 2007 [eBook #21787] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLED BY AN UNSEEN FOE*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 21787-h.htm or 21787-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/7/8/21787/21787-h/21787-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/7/8/21787/21787-h.zip) + + + + + +World's War Series, Volume 8 + +SHELLED BY AN UNSEEN FOE + +by + +COLONEL JAMES FISKE + +Illustrated by F. Schwankovsky, Jr. + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: One, two, three steps past him went the sentry again.] + + + + +The Saalfield Publishing Company +Chicago ---- Akron, Ohio ---- New York +Copyright, 1916, +by +The Saalfield Publishing Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. The Call of Home + II. An Impressed Soldier + III. Only a Stoker + IV. A Struggle in the Sea + V. Into Service + VI. A Letter Home + VII. A Bit of Romance + VIII. Happiness for Helen + IX. Visions + X. Victory + XI. Days of Waiting + XII. Greater Things + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +One, two, three steps past him went the sentry + again. . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +Trench layout diagram + + + + +SHELLED BY AN UNSEEN FOE + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CALL OF HOME + +Reveille was over at the military school, and the three boys on the end +of the line nearest the mess hall walked slowly toward the broad steps +of the big brick building ahead. They differed greatly in type, but of +this they were unconscious, for all were deep in thought. + +"I am going home," said the tallest boy abruptly. "Had a letter from +my sister last night. My word, they are having some ripping times over +there!" + +"Your father won't let you," said the second lad. "How can _you_ go to +England when _I_ can't get back to Mexico?" + +"I can jolly well go," said the tall boy. "I've been planning for +this. Mid-term is over, and I haven't told you chaps, but I've been +hoarding every cent of my allowance all winter. I have enough and to +spare for second cabin." + +"But your father wants you here out of harm's way," urged the Mexican. + +"He _thinks_ he does," said Nickell-Wheelerson smiling, his blue eyes +flashing. "He _thinks_ he does, but I know he is just trying me out. +Here's the way it is. Dad's in the field and my second brother; you +know my oldest brother was shot in the trenches in France two months +ago. I'm nineteen. There are two little chaps to carry on the name +and take care of the title, if the rest of us go. I've just _got_ to +get over there! Don't you see how it is?" + +"Of course!" said the Mexican, his dark eyes glowing gloomily. "Of +course you feel you've got to go! And here I must stay. I want to go +home too." + +"It's different with you," said Nickell-Wheelerson, patting his +companion on the back. "You keep out of that mess! Mexico is going to +need you worse later on." + +"How about you?" demanded Morales, the Mexican. "I should think +England would need you when that mess, as you call it, is finished." + +"She needs me now, and I know it, and dad knows it," Nick assured him. +"I'm going _home_! You'd better be glad you are not mixed up in this +thing," he said, turning to the third boy. "You are safe awhile yet, +you old Greece-spot, you!" + +"There are some Greeks fighting; a few on the European border of the +Dardanelles," said the boy addressed. + +"Oh, of course you will get into it sooner or later," said Nick, "but +I'm banking on that queen of yours to stall things along as far as she +can. She can't put it off forever, though. You will be in it." + +"As sure as my name is Zaidos," said the young Greek, "you are quite +right! We will have to fight sooner or later." + +"Well, don't cross bridges," said Nick. "Sit tight, and I'll go over +there and help clean up things." + +Light-heartedly they raced up the steep hill leading from the parade +ground to the mess hall. + +A slim young orderly came out of the Adjutant's office onto the terrace +and looked about. Seeing the three boys, he called in a high, clear +voice, "Oh, you Nosey!" and as the Greek approached added formally, +"Corporal Zaidos is wanted by the Adjutant." + +"What's he going to get ragged for now, I wonder," mused +Nickell-Wheelerson as he and Morales joined the crowd and went into the +mess hall. + +Zaidos did not come back. Nick watched the door anxiously. They were +room-mates, and Nick was well aware of Nosey's tendencies in the way of +breaking minor rules. As soon as he could get out of the mess, he +hurried down past the Adjutant's office, and hastily framing an errand, +went in. The room was empty. + +Nick hurried over to the barracks to their room. Sitting on the side +of his narrow bunk, his hands clenched, his face white, was Zaidos. + +"What's the row, old top?" Nick sang out cheerfully as he made a great +pretense of picking up his books and stuffing a couple of pencils in +the top of his pigskin puttee. + +The young Greek shook his head, and Nick realized that it was something +indeed very serious with him. + +"What _is_ the row, old man?" he said again, coming over and sitting +beside his friend. "What has the Adjutant got in for you this time?" + +"Nothing," said Zaidos. "He had a cablegram from home. It is pretty +bad, Nick . . ." He paused. "My father is sick; fact is, he is dying; +and I've got to leave to-night." + +"Gosh!" exclaimed Nick. "That's too bad! I'm more than sorry!" + +"Yes, it's bad," said Zaidos. "And the queer thing is that I don't +seem to feel as sorry about my father dying as I do to think that I +don't _know_ him any better. Think of it, Nick, I came over here to +school when I was not quite seven. My mother died when I was six, and +since that I have seen my father twice; once when he came over here, +and the year I went home. And it is not as though there was not plenty +of money. I suppose my father is the richest man, or one of the +richest men, in Greece. He's just--Oh, I don't know! He never seemed +to be like a lot of fathers I have seen. I never could get _next_ to +him. And I've been pretty lonely most all my life. I have always +planned to go back as soon as I finished school, and get acquainted +with my father. I thought if I tried, I could make him like me. I +suppose he does well enough, but I wanted to be chummy with him. I +thought I could if I tried." + +"You bet you could, Nosey!" said Nick, an arm over the bowed shoulder +beside him. "You could warm up a wooden Indian, you old live-wire, +you! I jolly well know you! You would get under the crust if anyone +could! Perhaps it isn't as bad as they think. You go home, and +perhaps your father will get better, and you will get to be the best +chums in the world. Cheer up, old chap! It will come out all right. +Do you really go tonight?" + +"Yes, I go to-night. They have got my tickets, and now they are +telephoning for my passage." + +Nickell-Wheelerson sat thinking hard. Then he rose and bolted for the +door. + +"Wait!" called Zaidos. "I want you to help me pack, Nick." + +But the big English boy had disappeared. In half an hour he returned, +looking triumphant. He flung his trim military jacket on the bunk. + +"That's done for!" he cried. He jerked a trunk into the middle of the +floor and, opening it, commenced to turn out its cluttered contents. + +"Come on, Nosey!" he cried. "As our American brothers put it, 'get a +move on!' We have about half a day to get packed." + +"Are you crazy?" demanded the Greek, staring at him. + +"Not crazy, Nosey, dear chappie! Not crazy; merely going home!" + +"Home?" repeated Zaidos feebly. "_Home?_" + +"Home!" said Nick jubilantly. "With you! At least on the same +steamer. So if they blow us up on the way over, we can soar hand in +hand, old chum!" + +"Well, when you get through raving, I wish you would tell how you did +it." + +"I simply reminded the Adjutant that the arrangement was that I was +remaining here at my own discretion, as per Pater's written agreement. +I said I had decided to go with you, although I had been thinking for a +week that I might leave at any time. They mentioned money, and I +showed my little roll. There is plenty. So I am going to-night with +you. They have telephoned about a stateroom. That's all! I'm going +to give all my stuff away. I won't come back." + +_Nickell-Wheelerson never did come back. But that is another story._ + +There were a lot of poor marks made that afternoon. With the two most +popular fellows in the school going off, there couldn't be much +studying. Everybody tried to help, and everybody got in the way and +had to be stepped over or pushed over. But time passed, and good-byes +were said, and the night on the swift train passed, too; and when they +looked back, the following day in New York was a hurried whirl. And +then they smelt the unchanging smell of the docks; sea salt and paint +and tar. + +They watched the last person down the gang-plank, a weeping woman it +was. Then they shouted farewell to the kindly shores, and the +steadfast Lady of Liberty on Governor's Island. She seemed to salute +the passing ship with her uplifted torch, and the boys felt that peace +and safety and prosperity lay behind them. + +Then some nights and days went swiftly by, and one morning the boys +clasped hands and gruffly spoke their farewells. Nickell-Wheelerson +went home to find that his older brother slept in a lowly grave +somewhere in France. His father, dead of his wounds, lay in the castle +hall, and the boy Nick answered wearily when sorrowing footmen called +him "My Lord." + +_But that is really the beginning of the other story_. + +Zaidos hurried on his way alone, and one bright morning, after many +adventures, stood once more in Saloniki. + +A porter came up to him, and at the same moment a man in the livery of +his father's house approached and saluted him. "Your father urges you +to hasten, Excellency," he said. + +"Is my father very ill?" asked Zaidos. + +"Very ill indeed, sir," said the man. + +They started through the station and as they left the building a man +approached. He spoke to Zaidos, but the boy, having spent years of his +life in America, failed to catch the rapidly spoken words. + +He turned to the house-servant, who stood with bulging eyes. + +"What does he say?" he asked. + +The man was speaking violently, then beseechingly, to the stranger, who +was in uniform. + +"What is it?" again demanded Zaidos. He began to get the run of the +conversation, but as he made it out, it was too preposterous to +consider. The officer laid a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. + +"You will _have_ to come," he said. "YOU ARE WANTED FOR THE ARMY." + +"But my father?" said Zaidos, alarmed. + +The man shrugged his shoulders. "He will die the same whether you come +or not. Come!" + +A grim look came into the boy's face. It alarmed the servant. + +"Go, go, master," he begged. "You do not know. They take everyone. +What is to be must be. Go, I entreat you, without violence. I do not +want to go and tell your father that I have seen you slain before my +eyes. I will tell him you are here, and that you will come later." He +drew back and bowed to the officer, who kept a hand on Zaidos' shoulder. + +"Yes, tell him I will come soon," said Zaidos. "Go to him quickly." + +The man turned and hurried away. + +"Give up all thought of going," said the officer. "It is a pity--one +owes a great duty to one's father; but we need you now. And the need +of country comes first." + +"But Greece is not in the war!" said Zaidos as they hurried along the +street. + +"No, not yet; but there are places enough to guard, so we need more men +than we dreamed. But I talk too much. Here is the headquarters. Let +me advise you not to bother the Colonel with demands to visit your +home." + +They entered the big, dingy room of the police station which had been +transformed into a sort of recruiting station. The officer in charge +was an overbearing First Lieutenant who was overworked, tired and +irritable. He had come from a distant part of Greece, and the name of +Zaidos carried no weight with him. He shook his head when Zaidos made +his request. He even smiled a little. "Too thin, too thin!" he said. +"I should say that all the mothers and fathers, and most of the uncles +and aunts and cousins in the world are ill," he sneered. "No, you +can't go. Get back there in line and wait for your squad to be +outfitted." + +Zaidos shrugged his shoulders and obeyed, well knowing that, once in +uniform, even that display of feeling would be absolutely out of order. +He had been too long in a military school to misunderstand military +procedure, and he knew that whatever queer chance had placed him in his +present position, the thing was done now. He was to see real fighting. + +Zaidos had a lion's heart and was absolutely ignorant of fear, but he +worried when he thought of the possible effect on his father. He, poor +man, would feel that his natural wish to behold his only son once more +had placed the boy in a position of the gravest danger; indeed, in the +path of almost certain death. What the effect of this knowledge would +be on his health, Zaidos trembled to consider. But he was powerless to +avoid the shock to his father, and once more shrugging his shoulders he +stepped into line. + +After a tedious delay, during which the men and boys who were +unaccustomed to any sort of drill shifted uneasily from foot to foot, +shuffled, twisted, and fretted generally, while Zaidos alone stood +easily at attention, the order was given for the squad to go into +another room. + +Here they were registered, examined physically, and equipped with +uniforms. Then they were finally taken to the mess hall and provided +with a wholesome, plain meal which they proceeded to enjoy to the +utmost. Zaidos could not eat. He toyed with the food, his quick brain +ever planning some way by which he could get to his father. The more +he thought of it the more it seemed to be his duty to do so at _any_ +cost. But he seemed surrounded by barriers. He could not see a way +clear. So he resigned himself for the present, and marched to the +dormitory where his squad was quartered. It had been a trying and +exhausting day for everyone and his peasant companions, accustomed to +bed-time at sunset, soon threw themselves down and slept. + +The sleeping quarters were on the ground floor. Zaidos found his +pallet behind a great door opening on the street. It was open a +trifle, but a heavy chain secured it from opening any further. Zaidos +stuck his head out. There was enough space for that. It was the +blackest night he had ever seen, if one could be said to see anything +as dark. + +A sentry padded up and down in the blackness. Zaidos smiled. The man +could certainly not see five feet ahead of him. All the city lights +were out for safety's sake. As he approached, Zaidos drew back, and +lay staring at the ceiling. + +A stifled sob startled him. He turned. On the next pallet a young +fellow lay face downward, and muffled his weeping in the coarse +blanket. For an hour Zaidos listened. The shaken breathing and +occasional sobs continued. Zaidos could stand it no longer. He +reached over and let a friendly clasp fall on the heaving shoulder. + +"What is it?" he whispered in his best Greek. + +The young fellow turned to him eagerly, glad of sympathy. In a rush of +words that made it hard for Zaidos to understand, he whispered his +story. There was a wife and a little, little baby, "Oh, _so_ little!" +far up on the mountain-side; they would starve; surely, _surely_ they +would starve! They did not know what had become of him. Zaidos tried +in vain to calm the man. He could not do so and finally dropped into a +restless sleep with the man's stifled sobs ringing in his ears. + +Zaidos had to concede that the man's fate was a hard one. He was only +nineteen years of age. The girl-wife was seventeen. As Zaidos dropped +asleep he was reflecting that no doubt nine-tenths of the men sleeping +in that room carried burdens as well as the young mountaineer and +himself. + +He was wakened awhile later by a touch on the shoulder nearest the +door. A voice addressed him. For a moment Zaidos was unable to locate +it. Then he discovered that it was coming from the partly open door. +It was the young husband who had sobbed in the dark. + +"Waken, friend!" said the low whisper. "Waken! Farewell! I go! +There is a small packet under my pallet. I forgot it. Will you hand +it quickly before the sentry turns?" + +"Don't do a fool stunt like that," said Zaidos in English. + +The deserter repeated, "Quickly, quickly!" and as Zaidos handed him the +packet he disappeared, the night swallowing him in its blackness. +Zaidos crawled to the door and, flat on the floor, put his head out the +opening into the street. All was quiet. The sentry marched up and +down the long block with the dragging slowness of a weary man. The +mountaineer had escaped! + +Somewhere a clock struck eleven booming strokes. Zaidos could not +believe that it was so early, but immediately another faint chime +verified the first. Here and there in the room heavy snoring or +muttered words sounded. There were no guards in the room as the door +was locked. + +Eleven o'clock! Five hours before daylight. A daring thought flashed +into Zaidos' head. He knelt and once more leaned through the opening +of the door. He thanked his schoolboy leanness. There _was_ enough +space! He waited until the sentry's heavy footfall dragged to the end +of the block; then with a struggle he twisted through the door and +stood in the open, deserted street. + +In the years of his absence he had forgotten the city, but he +remembered the general directions, and only yesterday he had seen in +the distance the gleaming white marble walls of his home standing on +the beautiful headland overlooking the blue waters of the bay. He +heard the sentry approaching and, trusting to instinct, turned into the +nearest street and hurried away. + +It seemed to Zaidos that the journey was endless, yet he went like the +wind. He found himself searching the east for dawn. His instinct did +for him what sight and reason would have failed to do. In daylight he +would have been lost, but in that black darkness he kept his course, +and finally the great white building where his fathers for generations +had lived loomed mysteriously before him. He hurried up the broad +stairs and besieged the massive doors with heavy blows. A startled +footman opened it, and with a curt word Zaidos entered and demanded his +father. The man bowed and led him up to a closed door. Here he +knocked softly and a stout old woman answered. She looked hard at the +young man in uniform, then with a little cry clasped him in a warm +embrace. It was his old nurse. + +"Ah," she cried, "God has answered my prayers! You are in time!" + +A chill of apprehension swept over the boy. "Is he so ill?" he asked. + +"He has waited for you," she answered. "I told him you would come. I +knew it. He has been dying for many days, but he would not go until he +saw you." + +"Let me come," said Zaidos. He dashed past the old woman, the nurses +and the doctors, and was clasped in his father's arms. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN IMPRESSED SOLDIER + +The events of that night long remained in Zaidos' memory, a blurred +picture of pain and heart-break. There was a brief and precious hour +with the father whom he had so seldom seen; a time filled with the +priceless last communications which seemed to bridge all absence and +bring them close, close together at last. His coming seemed to fill +his dying father with a strange new strength. He talked rationally and +earnestly with his beloved son. Zaidos could not believe that the end +was near. Count Zaidos gave the boy a paper containing a list of the +places where the family treasure was put away or concealed. Also other +papers of the greatest value. Without these he would be unable to +prove his heirship to the title and estates of the Zaidos family. In +case of the boy's death all would go to a distant cousin, Velo Kupenol, +who had long made his home with the Count. Zaidos turned to meet this +cousin, whom he had not seen for so many years that his existence had +been forgotten. He saw a keen, ferret-faced lad, a little older than +himself. He took an instant dislike to the boy, and rebuked himself +for doing so. Yet the hard eyes looked _too_ steadily into his, with a +cold, piercing, deadly look. + +"I'm in the way," thought Zaidos, as he turned again to his father. +And some sure instinct in his heart cried, "Beware, beware!" + +When the dying Count handed the thin packet of precious papers to his +son, Zaidos slipped them in the inner pocket of his blouse. At that +moment Velo approached the bedside. + +"Uncle," he said, "unfortunately my cousin here has been impressed into +service. Would it not be well for _me_ to keep these papers? I would +guard them with my life, and as I do not intend to fight they would be +safe with me in any case." + +The Count frowned. "No," he cried. "Velo Kupenol, I have not found +you true to your name! You have been here with me for years, and I +know you through and through. I have treated you with all patience, +have paid your debts, have saved you from disgrace for the sake of the +family. I have forgiven you over and over. You have not shown me even +the loyalty that a true friend would expect, to say nothing of a +relative. If anything happens to my son, unfortunately the estates +will be yours; but while he lives, the papers will remain in _his_ +possession, to do with as he sees fit. Ah!" he cried, turning to his +son, "be worthy of our name, my boy! No Zaidos has ever yet disgraced +it. I put my trust in you, and I know you will not fail me. To the +day she died, your mother planned great things for her baby boy. She--" + +He fixed his eyes on space. A look of surprise and happiness lit his +face. Slowly he raised his arms as though in greeting, then sank back, +dead. + +Zaidos, kneeling, buried his face in the pillow. So it was over, all +over! Someone raised him to his feet, as the nurse tenderly drew the +sheet over his father's face. He lifted it and with one last lingering +look replaced it gently, then left the room. + +The clock struck three. + +As he sank wearily in a chair, the old nurse entered. Her face was +stained with tears. She glanced about, then seized Zaidos by the arm. + +"_Don't trust Velo!_" she whispered, and left his side. None too soon, +for Velo entered the room and with a gesture dismissed the old servant. + +"Now, Zaidos," he said abruptly, "we will talk. You are _crazy_ to +carry such valuables around with you. After we have had breakfast, we +will decide where to keep those papers. I am the next in line, as you +know, and it is only just that I should know where they are in case you +should get in trouble." + +Zaidos shook his head. "I shall keep the papers," he said. "Of course +you may remain here. I shall always look out for you. I shall not be +killed in this fighting; I feel it." + +"So have other men," sneered Velo. "How did you get away?" + +Zaidos told him. + +"Do you mean that you could not get permission, and that you escaped +and came anyhow?" he asked, an evil gleam lighting his narrow eyes. + +"That's about it," said Zaidos, nodding. "I must go back at once. The +doctor's car will take me close to the barracks. I must get there +before dawn." He went to the window and looked out. "I have no time +to waste!" he cried. + +"But look here, if you are caught, it means desertion," said Velo. + +"Yes!" + +"In war-time that means death," said Velo. + +"Yes, but I am not going to be caught," answered Zaidos. + +"Then you must hurry," declared his cousin. "Wait here just a moment, +and I will see that the car is ready and get a cloak to cover you. I +almost fear you have waited too long, cousin," and hurried, from the +room with a last sidelong look at Zaidos' bent head. + +Five minutes passed; then with a last look at his father's closed door, +Zaidos went down and found Velo standing beside the automobile, talking +to the chauffeur. Already the intense blackness of the night was +lifting. Zaidos felt a chill of apprehension. + +"You will have to hurry," said his cousin. "I will come down later and +look you up. Hope you get back." He stepped back, and the car shot +forward, but only for a short distance. With a queer grinding noise +the engine stopped. The driver leaped out and examined it with a +flashlight. He uttered an exclamation of dismay. + +"Someone has put sand in the engine!" he exclaimed. "Yet I have been +in it all night long!" + +"You _must_ have left it," said Zaidos. "Or did you go to sleep?" + +"Yes, yes!" stammered the driver excitedly. "I was called away just +now, when Velo Kupenol sent me to my master to tell him that I was to +take you back to barracks. Ah, what shall we do?" + +"How far is it?" demanded Zaidos. The night was lifting. He shivered. + +"A mile straight down that avenue, Excellency, until you reach the +great fountain in the public square. Then a half block to the left. +You cannot miss it, but you cannot make it before dawn." + +"Good-bye!" called Zaidos. He started down the wide avenue with the +gentle, easy stride that had made him the best long-distance runner in +school. His wind was perfect and he covered ground like a deer; but +clearer and clearer as he raced he could see the grey forms of +surrounding objects take shape. He reached the fountain in the public +square; he made the turn to the left and slowed to a walk. The sentry, +walking slowly, reached the opposite corner, and before Zaidos could +reach the open door he turned. It was too late to turn back. Zaidos +squared his shoulders and approached. The sentry eyed him sharply and +was about to speak but Zaidos said, "Good-morning," with civil ease. +The man returned the salutation. Then, "What are you doing here?" he +questioned. + +"With a letter," said Zaidos, tapping his pocket. + +"Where from?" demanded the sentry. + +"Over there," said Zaidos, nodding his head in the direction of the +avenue. It was a bold shot, but it carried. + +"Oh!" said the sentry. "The other barracks, eh? Well, will your +errand wait, or must I wake them up within?" + +"There is no hurry at all," said Zaidos, easily. "I must see the +commanding officer by seven o'clock, that's all." + +"Very well," said the man. "I'll take you in then. I'm tired enough +myself tramping up and down here all night. That place is full of +recruits, and a lot of them are unwilling ones, I can tell you. But +they are under lock and key. They can't escape. All the air they get +even is from that crack in the door. A fly couldn't get out there." +He was a fat sentry, and he laughed. Zaidos joined his mirth. + +"Perhaps a thin fly might," he said. + +The man shrugged. "Perhaps!" he said. "Those recruits are raw, I can +tell you. You can be glad you are a trained soldier. I could tell it +by your walk, even in this dim light. The walk always tells." + +Zaidos nodded and squatted down near the open door. Moment by moment +his danger was growing. The sentry turned and sauntered to the end of +the block. Zaidos counted slowly. Once the man turned and nodded in a +friendly fashion, then resumed his slow pace. Sixty steps. He stood +for a moment on the corner, then came back. "Not long now," he said, +and smiled. Then he passed in the other direction. Eighty steps that +way. Zaidos counted. Again the man returned. Zaidos could feel his +muscles stiffening, as if about to spring. He cautiously shifted to a +position still nearer the partly open door and measured the opening. +He felt heavy and awkward. He studied the dark opening. It did indeed +look very narrow. He had squirmed through it without much trouble, but +that was in the densest darkness, and he had taken all the time he +needed. Now if the sentry should turn * * * Well, it would be the end +of Zaidos, and a most ignominious end at that. He was not a coward, +but he had no fancy to find himself against a wall with a firing squad +before him. + +Sixty steps and back walked the sentry, and Zaidos, head against the +wall, body reclining close to the open door, seemed to be dozing. One, +two, three steps past him, went the sentry again-- + +With the quickness of a cat Zaidos ripped off his uniform blouse, +thrust it through the door, stretched his arms over his head, and with +a mighty shove of his strong young legs thrust himself into the opening. + +There was a terrific struggle for a moment, a series of agile twists, +and Zaidos fell forward on the stone floor. Quickly he kicked away his +shoes and tumbled down on his pallet. After the gray dawn outside the +room was very dark. He heard the sentry outside come running to the +door, push it against its stout chain and stand thinking. Zaidos +laughed to himself. The opening, "too small for a fly," had swallowed +him; and the unsuspicious fellow outside was filled with almost +superstitious amazement. He knew that Zaidos could not by any +possibility have reached the corner without making the least sound, and +the street was absolutely silent. Zaidos, scarcely daring to breathe, +smiled in the dark. + +Then, fatherless and friendless as he was, and thrust by a strange fate +of birth into a war in which he had no part, Zaidos, exhausted by his +night's experiences, dropped asleep. About him men tired by a long +night spent on pallets as hard as the stone flooring tossed and groaned +or sighed wakefully. Zaidos slept on. + +He was sleeping so heavily an hour later that he did not hear two +soldiers enter with a slender young fellow in civilian dress. He never +stirred as they went from pallet to pallet, scanning the faces as they +passed. When they reached his side the young man looked down at him +with an expression which might have been taken for startled amazement +if anyone had been watching. He nodded to the officers, and spoke a +word of thanks. "This is my cousin," he said in a low voice. "With +your permission I will sit here by him until he awakes. It would be +cruel to rouse him only to tell him of his father's death." + +"Yes, you may stay," said the older soldier. "There can be no +objection to that." + +They turned and soon the distant door closed behind them. Then the +newcomer did a strange thing. He cast a swift glance over the sleeping +faces, to assure himself that he was not watched, and with the +light-fingered stealth of the born thief, he slipped his thin hand into +Zaidos' breast pocket. Withdrawing it, he smiled wickedly at the sight +of what he held. He rose to his feet, hastily pocketed his find, and +for a moment stood looking down at Zaidos. With a noiseless laugh he +nodded sneeringly at the sleeping boy, picked his way carefully among +the men and left the room. + +When Velo Kupenol had sifted sand in the engine of the automobile, he +had made his first move in a dastardly campaign. Most of his life had +been spent surrounded by the ease and luxury of the Zaidos castle. He +had had horses and automobiles to use; he had had great stretches of +park and woodland to roam through and hunt over. And best of all, he +had had the best teachers in all Greece. But these he had neglected +and defied at every possible turn. Velo Kupenol was lazy, cowardly and +deceitful. That he was not yet a criminal was due to the watchful care +and great forgiveness of the uncle who had befriended him. In the past +few years this forgiveness had been stretched to its utmost. Velo +himself was not aware of the number of disgraceful things his uncle had +had to face for his sake. But it would have mattered not at all. He +did not know the meaning of gratitude. This boy, who should have been +on his knees beside the death-bed of the truest friend of his life, +shedding the tears that are an honor to true men, had instantly, with +his uncle's last breath, bent his quick and wicked brain on the problem +of wresting the Zaidos title and estates from his cousin. The +knowledge that the kindness and forbearance of the father would be +continued on the part of the son never occurred to him. He would have +laughed if it had. It was all or nothing. He determined that the +cruel chance of war was on his side. So he dropped sand in the engine +when he had sent the chauffeur on an errand, and then had hurried to +headquarters. And it happened that while Zaidos sat on the sidewalk +beside the chained door, talking to the friendly sentry, Velo himself +was at the _front_ door of the barracks waiting for it to be opened for +visitors. + +Fortunately, in telling Velo of his escape from barracks, Zaidos did +not go into details, so Velo did not know of the door through which +Zaidos had crept. He had taken it for granted that he had slipped +unnoticed through the door at which he himself was standing, and as he +waited he momentarily expected his cousin to come hurrying up. Velo +smiled. He hoped Zaidos would come. He wanted to be there when he +tried to make his lame excuses for leaving the barracks in the face of +the refusal to give him permission. Velo knew well that in the +troubled times in which Greece found herself, no excuse would be +accepted. It was desertion; and the fact of his return would not +soften the offense. There was no place or time for punishment or +imprisonment. Velo shuddered, but smiled evilly. + +However, Zaidos did not appear, time passed, and finally the doors +opened. Velo, very humble and apologetic, made his simple request that +he should be allowed to speak with his cousin who was with the soldiers +in the inner room. The request was granted, and with two soldiers he +entered the room full of sleeping men. He went from cot to cot, making +an idle examination of each face. He was waiting for the moment when +he could turn to his escort and say, "He is not here." + +But there he was! Velo could not believe his senses. The soldiers, +seeing that he had found his relative, turned back to the door, and +Velo noiselessly knelt beside the sleeper. He stared long and +curiously at the serene and open face. How he had returned was a +mystery which maddened him. He was foiled for the present at least; +but securing the coveted papers, he silently withdrew. + +"Did you find him?" asked the young officer in charge, as Velo came up +to his desk. + +"Yes, thank you," said Velo, "but he could not tell me what I wanted to +know. I wanted tidings of a cousin, the son of Count Zaidos, who died +last night." + +"Zaidos?" said the officer. "That's the name of one of our recruits." + +"Yes, he is my cousin," said Velo. "But not the one we want. This +fellow in here is a lazy no-account, and the army is the best place for +him, although I am sorry to say so." + +"Yes, the army nowadays is a good place for lazy-bones," agreed the +officer. A queer look came over his face. "We are picking up all the +single men we can." He leaned on the desk and spoke as one man to +another. "You see we found that the army had to be doubled in short +order and the only way to do it was to insist on compulsory enlistment. +That's the reason," he continued calmly, "that you are now a private in +the army of Greece." + +"Me? Oh, no!" said Velo hastily. "It is impossible. I--I--have other +things to consider. You will have to excuse me, Captain." + +"I am Lieutenant," said the officer, "but you will learn the difference +in rank shortly." + +"But I can't _do_ it!" said Velo violently, a red flush mounting to his +forehead. "I simply _can't_ do it! Why, my uncle died last night, and +unless we find his son I am the only heir. I have _got_ to stay here. +I am the heir doubtless." + +"That's fine!" said the officer, smiling. "In case you are shot, which +is likely, all your property will revert to the crown. Greece is going +to need all she can raise. I hope your uncle is rich." + +Velo could not keep from boasting. + +"One of the richest men in the country!" he bragged. + +"Fine, fine!" said the officer. Then his manner changed. "Now, my +boy, your name and address. This is straight. We need you." + +Velo mumbled his name, a deadly fear growing in him. He was a coward +and the thought of bloodshed filled him with a cold, deadly terror. + +He regarded the Lieutenant with staring eyes. His teeth chattered. + +The young officer smiled. He called two soldiers. + +"Take this man to the South Barracks," he said coldly. "Under guard," +he added significantly. He knew men. He saw that the boy before him +would have to be whipped into shape. He thought of a recruit made the +day before. Zaidos his name was. He remembered with respect and +appreciation the manner of the lad. He looked once more at the new +recruit. Then he took a piece of paper from his desk, wrote one word +on it, addressed it "Officer in Command at South Recruiting Station," +handed it to one of the soldiers standing beside Velo, and turned away. +For him the incident was closed. + +But Velo, feeling as though he was under arrest, walked miserably and +fearfully through the streets, a soldier on either side, wondering with +all his might what was written in the folded paper. + +He finally asked the bearer to let him see it, but the soldier refused +scornfully. As they neared the South Station his fears grew, if such a +thing could be possible. Once more he tried to get the mysterious +note. He had some money with him. He tried to bribe the man. For +answer the soldier struck him in the face. Velo sunk into a sulky +silence, and stood with eyes on the ground while the officer in charge +opened the message and read the single word therein. + +"Good enough!" he exclaimed. "Just what we need!" and waved the two +men toward an inner room where Velo was stripped of his comfortable +clothes and fitted to the new uniform of the Greek Army. + +And not until then did he find out his fate. A third man sauntered up +and stood watching. + +"Rank and file?" he said jestingly. + +"No," said the man who had carried the note. "Stoker!" + +Velo thought his heart would break. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ONLY A STOKER + +Zaidos was the last person in the room to awaken. Half a dozen of the +groups nearest the door had filed out, answered roll call, and stood at +attention in the street when a man shook him roughly by the shoulder +and roused him. + +"Get up, lazy-bones," he cried gruffly, "else you will feel the flat of +a sword! Here you have been snoring since early last evening. How can +there be so much sleep in thee, I wonder? One would nearly think thou +hadst been wandering about all last night instead of sleeping here on +thy good soft bed." + +"All right!" said Zaidos, nodding. He smiled at the speaker the bright +and winning smile that always won a way for him. He was on his feet in +an instant. + +"That's the way to do it!" commended the man. "Wake when you wake, not +rubbing thy eyes out." + +Zaidos was soon standing in a line in the office while the twenty men +in his group answered to name. Then what Zaidos had feared came to +pass. A name was called and no one answered. Again it rang out +sharply. There was a consultation between the two officers at the +desk. The young mountaineer who had led the perilous way through the +chained door was gone! Zaidos, keeping his face as free from interest +and expression as he could, stood stiffly at attention while the count +was made and questions put to the men. As luck would have it, Zaidos +was asked but one thing. Had he seen the fellow on his pallet before +he himself went to bed? He answered honestly that he had. He was +conscious of keen scrutiny from the officers, and knowing of his own +escape and return, felt that he must be looking the picture of guilt. +The truth of the matter was that his military training in school made +him so perfectly at ease and so soldierly in appearance that he was +very noticeable in the line of slipshod, lounging, green recruits. + +They were presently ordered to drill, and for two hours went through a +grilling labor with their arms. Again Zaidos' trained muscles served +him well. While he was tired and muscle-sore at the close of the +drill, others were on the point of exhaustion. They were sent back to +their barracks and flung themselves down to rest. + +The incident of the young mountaineer seemed closed. He did not +return, nor did the slightest whisper concerning him reach Zaidos. +Four days dragged by. Two days were filled with strenuous drilling. +Twice Zaidos was visited by members of his father's family--devoted old +servants who begged to do something to free him from his present +position, and who questioned him vainly for news of Velo Kupenol. On +the second visit Zaidos decided to entrust the old servant with the +papers which he carried. He opened the flat leather folder in which he +had placed them. They were gone! Zaidos was well aware that the +packet had been on him since the moment he had received it. He could +only think that they had been stolen, while he slept. But why should +any one of the ignorant men about him take papers which could not +concern them and leave untouched the large bills folded in the same +compartment with the papers? He reported his loss. The officers who +had been in charge on that eventful night had been transferred, but the +new Commandant was just and obliging. He had a thorough search made of +every man in barracks, but the papers were gone. Without them Zaidos +felt himself an outcast. He resigned himself to his fate. How foolish +he had been to suspect Velo! He should have been the one of course to +care for the valuables, yet he could not but remember his father's +anger when Velo had suggested it. Zaidos knew his father to be a just +and generous man; and he knew that there was some good reason for his +distrust and dislike, although the time had been too cruelly short for +explanations. + +The proofs of his identity at all events had disappeared, and in such a +mysterious manner that it seemed hopeless to search for them. Zaidos +had always wanted to join the army, but he had anticipated all the +honor and pleasure of graduating from West Point, in America. This was +indeed the raw and seamy side of soldiering. He was a philosopher, +however, so he shrugged his shoulders, gave the old servants the best +instructions he could about closing up and caring for the estates, and +threw himself, body and soul, into his new adventure. + +The third day, while they were drilling, an automobile raced up and +stopped with a suddenness that nearly threw its occupants from their +seats. It was filled with soldiers, and with them was a little fellow +closely bound. Zaidos looked at him with a sinking heart. He had +never seen the pallid, quivering face, with its wild black eyes. No, +the night had been too dark, but instinct told him that here was the +deserting mountaineer. Zaidos looked away. The man was dragged +through the doors, and again a thick curtain seemed to fall over the +incident. + +But a load of apprehension seemed to be cast on the soldiers. They +continued to talk about the prisoner in low voices. Not one of them, +with the exception of Zaidos, however, realized the true horror. It +was war times and at such a period there was but one end for desertion. + +Zaidos prayed not to see it. He would not let himself think of it. He +threw himself into his work and with his knowledge of Boy Scout tactics +and the wonderful range of their knowledge he passed on to his comrades +all he had learned before he had left America on the journey which had +had such an exciting end. He never once suspected the influence he +innocently exerted for good. Boy as he was, he taught the soldiers in +his group so much that they were the special objects of attention to +their officers. Drill went smoothly and evenly; the men gained poise +and assurance. Zaidos was almost happy in his work. + +Then suddenly on the fifth day the blow fell. The unbelievable horror +came to pass. + +Zaidos and his group passed out into the street as usual, early in the +morning. As they made formation a smothered groan like a deep breath +escaped them. + +Against the blank wall before them, bound, stood the deserter. + +Once Zaidos had read a highly colored account of a man who had felt the +extremest depth of horror. The book said that he had felt as though +his bones were turning to water, and Zaidos had sneered at the +description. It flashed into his mind when he looked into the wild, +chalky countenance of the man against the wall. He glanced down the +line of soldiers. A stupid blankness seemed to envelop them. Pale as +death they stared at the shaking creature before them. There was a +terrible silence that sounded as loud and beat as fiercely in their +ears as the boom of cannon. Things moved with frightful deliberation. +It seemed that they stood for hours staring at the doomed man. It +seemed to take hours of physical, dragging effort to obey the next +command and move directly in front of that ghastly face. Then more +moments, hours, or ages, ticked off endlessly with the dull beating of +their hearts. In the face opposite a dull despair dawned slowly. +Expression died out. A fearful understanding of things washed away all +earthly hope. He stared at the file of men in front of him as dumbly +as the ox approaching the butcher. He had deserted, he had been +caught, he was to die; that was all. All the little simplicities of +his life lay behind him. His wife--his little _girl_-wife, the tiny +baby, the warm hut, the friendly wildness of the trackless mountains. +They were back of him; he could no longer turn to them. +Back-to-the-wall he stood, this untrained, undisciplined creature, +facing a line of muskets that wavered in the shaking hands of the +soldiers. There was not one of them who would not have faced a +regiment, untried as they were, for the men of Greece are heroes; but +to stand there and aim at that one poor quaking target. * * * It was a +nightmare. It was delirium. Zaidos felt his bones turn to water. He +almost fell. Down the line a man fainted. + +The priest approached and, walking swiftly to the condemned man, spoke +to him in a low and tender tone. The man did not reply. He nodded, +but looked at the soldiers. The priest, tears coursing down his face, +stepped back. + +There was a brief command, a rattle of arms, another order, a pause, a +sharp word. Then came a snarling report of guns * * * and on the +ground before him lay a crumpled heap. Zaidos, sick to the soul, +obeyed the order to retire. He had fired in the air! + +The day passed in a horrid daze. Two of the firing squad were so ill +and shaken that they could only lie on their cots with eyes hidden, and +moan. It was the first tragedy that had entered their simple lives. + +The heart of Zaidos rebelled. He could have stood the rage and fear +and excitement of battle, but this unspeakable act in which he had +taken part seemed too much. As night approached he began to fear the +quiet hours of the dark. When he closed his eyes he could see that +white, blank face before him. + +It was with a deep feeling of relief and gratitude then that he obeyed +the order to march to the wharves. There were forty men included in +the command, and they went off gaily, glad of anything as a change from +the barracks. + +Three transports waited at the wharves. Zaidos obeyed an order to go +aboard the largest, a noble ship ready to put out. It was crowded with +men. Zaidos, with two others, boarded her. They were led down and +down into the depths of the ship, and with despair Zaidos discovered +that he was to be one of the assistant stokers. + +The engine-rooms were stifling, notwithstanding the big electric fans +that supplied a change of air as it entered through the great air +intakes. The furnaces roared. A couple of engineers nodded to him and +one of them led him to a bunk where he exchanged his uniform for the +thin, scant garments suited to his new work. At once he returned to +his new duty. He found the shifts were short, but the work was so +heavy and the heat so intense that at the end of his first duty he went +to his stuffy bunk and threw himself down, more exhausted than he had +ever been in his life. He lost track of time down there in the +firelighted gloom, and the clock seemed to bring no understanding to +him. + +At last night came, and he was sent to his bunk again to remain until +summoned. The engineer, who was like an officer in charge, was not a +hard man. He understood the necessity of breaking his boys in +gradually. Zaidos, too tired to sleep, lay in his bunk watching the +men about him and listening to their idle or boastful talk. His native +tongue had come back to his remembrance, and it was easy to understand +most of them. + +Presently he heard groans from the next berth, and a tall soldier came +over and looked in. + +"What is the matter with you?" he said to the complaining youth lying +there. + +"I'm sick, I'm going to die!" said a whining voice. "I have been down +in the engine-room until I am nearly cooked. I think my back is broken +too." + +The listening man laughed. + +"Not a bit of it, my boy!" he said. "You are tired out. That is what +ails you. You have soft muscles evidently. You will be all right +soon." + +"I tell you I am about dead!" insisted the voice. + +Zaidos listened, puzzled. There was a familiar sound in the tones, but +for the life of him he could not place the speaker. + +"I tell you I am in a bad way!" insisted the unseen speaker. "I shall +appeal this matter to the King as soon as we land." + +"That's a good idea," said a soldier, nodding. "When I came away I +left my tobacco pouch in barracks. I will appeal too. It is not to be +endured!" + +"You don't understand," said the fellow. "I am Velo Kupenol, the head +of the house of Zaidos. I am a Count!" + +The tall soldier nodded with a twinkle in his eye. Zaidos fell back in +his bunk with a gasp of surprise, and listened. + +"Is that so?" said the soldier. "I heard of the death of Count Zaidos +the other day. So you are his heir, eh? I thought he had a son. +Where does he appear in this story of yours?" + +"He is dead," said Velo. (It was he.) "He went to America, and has +not been heard from. So I am the heir. I shall appeal to the King, I +tell you!" + +"All right; all right!" agreed the soldier, while the others, listening +near, laughed. "At least it is a pretty story, Count. Stick to it. +We like to hear you talk." + +"Well, it is so, and I can prove it!" + +"How?" said Zaidos, suddenly leaning over the edge of his bunk. + +For a full minute Velo stared at him with bulging eyes. + +"How will you prove it?" said Zaidos with a steady stare. He leaped to +his feet and, shoving the tall soldier out of his way, went to the +berth and thrust his furious face close to his cousin's. + +"You won't prove anything!" he said in a low, tense tone. "You have +made a fool of yourself and of me. I won't have my father's name +dragged into this mess. I'm here as Zaidos, the stoker; and you will +forget Zaidos of Saloniki as fast as ever you can. And if I find you +telling anything more, I will thrash you, Velo Kupenol, within an inch +of your life. I can do it, too. I learned that in America, at least. +And for the present we are in the same fix. We are here as common +soldiers. My papers were stolen from me in barracks the night my +father died, Velo, so there won't be any proving at all. We are just a +pair of stokers on a transport. But don't think for a _minute_ that I +mean to stay where I am. A Zaidos cannot be kept in the hold. I shall +do something for the honor of my name, you may be assured of that. But +remember _I am Zaidos, the stoker_. As I said, if I find that silly +tongue of yours wagging, I will make--you--good--and--sorry." + +He paused, and with keen eyes searched Velo's face to make sure he +comprehended it all. + +Velo was silent, and Zaidos returned to his cot, once more conscious of +his fatigue and lameness. + +But Velo, turning to the wall, pressed his face to the hard mattress, +and let the deadly hate he bore his cousin fill his very being. He +pressed his hand on the stolen papers hidden in his kit. Zaidos must +die. Zaidos must die! All his evil blood boiled in him. For hours, +when he should have been sleeping off his fatigue, as Zaidos was doing, +he lay hating and plotting. A dozen evil schemes formed in his mind, +but Velo was a coward. _He_ did not mean to be caught in anything that +looked shady. When he was finally rid of his cousin, he did not want +to be unable to appeal to the King and later enjoy the boundless wealth +and vast estates and unblemished honor of the Zaidos name. + +Before dawn both boys were called to go into the engine-rooms with +their shift. Zaidos, although lame and aching, was still refreshed by +his slumber and ready for work. But Velo could scarcely drag himself +along. He worked as little as possible, the engineer grumbling at his +poor performance. He kept close to Zaidos, dogging him about like a +treacherous and snapping cur. + +His chance came finally. Zaidos, with a great shovel of coal, was +approaching the terrible open door of the blazing furnace. Velo, with +his empty shovel, had just left it. As his cousin passed him he gave a +sly twist to the dragging shovel, which threw the corner of it between +Zaidos' feet. He stumbled and fell headlong toward the open door where +a horrible death seemed reaching for him. + +But as he plunged forward, the chief, who was beside him, turned and +shoved his rake against the falling body. It was enough to change the +direction of his fall. He crashed to the ground safe. He was on his +feet instantly, turning to his cousin with a look where certainty and +inquiry were mingled. But as he opened his mouth to speak, a sudden +jar under them was followed by a terrific crash, and in a moment a +fearful list of the great vessel disclosed the worst. + +The transport had been struck by a submarine and was sinking. Water +rushed into the engine-room and rose toward the immense bed of living +coals in the furnaces. There was a savage hiss of steam. The ship +listed rapidly to port. A rapid ringing of bells cut the air. The +chief listened. It was the danger signal, never sounded when any hope +of saving the ship remained. + +"Up to the deck for your lives!" he roared, and throwing down the +shovels and rakes, the men and the two boys sped for the entrances. +They struggled up with a mob of terrified men who pushed and fought. +More and more the big boat leaned to the sea. When Zaidos finally +gained the deck, one rail nearly touched the water. He thought she +would go under immediately, but thanks to some uninjured air chamber +below, she hung balanced. On the bridge the Captain shouted through a +megaphone. + +"Jump before she goes!" he cried. "Swim away from the wreck!" + +Zaidos, forgetting all but the present danger, seized his cousin by the +arm and rushed him to the side of the ship. + +"Jump!" he cried. + +"No!" screamed Velo. "No, no! I am going to stay here!" + +"Don't you hear the Captain?" cried Zaidos. "Jump! Jump!" + +Velo pulled back and Zaidos urged him toward the heaving water. + +"It's our one chance, Velo!" he cried. "We will go down with the ship +if we stay." + +He suddenly gave Velo a push and flung him into the water. Together +they swam rapidly from the rail. As though to give the soldiers the +one slim chance for their lives, the ship, leaning on its side, still +balanced at the lip of the sea. Then with a sickening roar the vessel +went down. Zaidos looked over his shoulder. On the bridge, white +haired, erect, undismayed, stood the Captain. As the waters engulfed +him he even smiled. A fearful force dragged at the boys and swept them +toward the great whirlpool made by the ship. They swam desperately, +and just as strength seemed to fail, the pressure was released and they +floated in a sea covered with wreckage and with swimming or drowning +men. + +The boys were swimming close together when Velo gave a cry and clasped +Zaidos around the neck in a choking grip. At once they both went +under, and Zaidos fought his way out of the strangling clasp; but Velo +seized him by the arm. They came up, and Zaidos turned on his cousin. + +"Don't, don't let me go!" Velo begged with staring eyes. "I'm getting +a cramp!" + +"Then let go of me!" cried Zaidos. "I'll save you if I can, but don't +grab me!" + +Velo, overcome with terror, tried to obey, but his reason was not as +strong as his terror. Once more he tried to grasp Zaidos. + +The boy turned, grabbed him by the throat, and forced him under water. + +He struggled furiously for a space, then suddenly went limp. Zaidos +drew him to the surface. He was unconscious. He supported the +unresisting weight on his shoulder, and as he kept afloat, he +despairingly scanned the horizon. + +Bearing down upon them at full speed he saw an English Red Cross ship! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A STRUGGLE IN THE SEA + +Hope rose in Zaidos' bosom. He gave a sigh of relief. The boat was +only a couple of miles distant, and coming full steam ahead. Something +bumped heavily against Zaidos' shoulder. It was a dead soldier. A +gaping water-soaked wound on his head sagged open, and told the story +as plainly as words could do. He was supported by a life belt +carelessly strapped around him. The body pressed against Zaidos, +bumping him gently as it moved in the wash of the sea. + +Still holding Velo with his left arm, Zaidos unbuckled the single strap +that held the life belt and the body, released, slipped down into the +water and disappeared. Zaidos, treading water as hard as he could, +next managed to get the belt around Velo and buckled it. He fastened +it so high that Velo's head was supported well out of the water; and +Zaidos let himself down in the water with a gasp of relief. He felt +that he was good for hours now. Keeping a hand on the strap of the +belt, he turned on his back and floated. The water was warm, there was +a hot sun shining, and with the Red Cross ship approaching, Zaidos felt +that he was indeed lucky. + +He felt no uneasiness about the Red Cross ship changing its direction; +the sea about was full of wreckage and men swimming and clinging to +spars and timbers. It was not as though he and Velo had been alone +there in the sea. The Red Cross ship had no doubt seen the explosion +and sinking of the transport. So Zaidos floated easily beside his +unconscious companion, occasionally calling to some hardy swimmer who +came near, and expecting soon to see the rescuing vessel approach. +Velo opened his eyes, felt the lap of the waves round his shoulders, +and gave a convulsive leap out of the sea. + +"Had a good nap?" asked Zaidos. + +Velo groaned. "I am going to die," he said. + +"Not just yet," Zaidos assured him. "I wish you would have a little +more courage," he said crossly. "You are in the _greatest_ luck. The +transport is gone, with all her officers and nearly all of the men. I +don't suppose there are more than six or eight hundred afloat out of +the three thousand on board. Look over there, Velo. There is a Red +Cross ship coming along. She will pick us up, and then we will be all +right." + +Velo looked eagerly and gave a cry of dismay. + +"Oh, oh, _oh_!" he screamed. "We are lost; we are lost!" He burst +into tears. + +Zaidos rolled over and looked. + +When you are in the water, as every Boy Scout knows, every object +afloat looks mountainous. A common rowboat looms up like a three +master, and Zaidos, looking in the direction of the Red Cross ship, saw +a couple of battleships approaching, while a huge Zeppelin like a great +bird of prey floated overhead. How many submarines were playing around +beneath him, he could not guess. One thing was clear. They were in a +position stranger than any story, madder than any dream. Floating +there, almost exhausted in the sea, they were to be in the center of a +sea fight. Velo still wept, and Zaidos himself felt a sob of +excitement choke his throat. + +"We are going to get it from both sides," he remarked to his cousin. +"That Red Cross ship is trying to get out of range until this thing is +over." + +"What is going to become of us?" cried Velo. + +"Don't know!" said Zaidos. "And I don't so much care. At least I +don't mean to worry. I've watched a lot of poor swimmers go down just +from exhaustion; and if we are not rescued, why, we just _won't_, +that's all. I'll tell you one thing, though," he said with sudden +anger, "if you don't brace up and stop making me listen to your +whimpering, I am going to duck you again. I did it before when you +were trying to drown us both and I am perfectly willing to do it again. +You had better brace up!" + +Velo was silent, and Zaidos fixed his eyes on the most amazing sight +that a Scout ever witnessed. + +Suddenly a wild shot ripped across the water, skipped along twenty feet +from them, plowed its way into the sea, then disappeared. + +Velo screamed. Another shot followed so close that the wave from it +rocked them. Zaidos watched the Zeppelin with fascinated eyes. It +circled round and round, in an effort to get over the biggest ship. A +shot leaped up at it, and missed. The Zeppelin rose a little, then +returned to the attack. Another shot narrowly missed it; but at that +instant a bomb dropped like a plummet. It was a close miss. Zaidos +could see wood fly as it clipped the prow and exploded as it reached +the sea, doing but little damage. + +"Look! Look!" cried Velo. + +Another battleship was coming, and another, until before them five +great monsters battled. The Zeppelin returned to the attack, and +Zaidos himself cried, "Look! Look!" as a swift gleam of light across +the water, on a line with his eyes, betrayed the lightning swift course +of a torpedo. It struck the ship, and at the same moment the Zeppelin +dropped an accurate bomb. There was a terrific explosion as the +torpedo struck amidships, a spurt of flame as the bomb scattered its +inflammable gases over the decks, and fire burst out everywhere. +Another torpedo tore into the ship. Zaidos' eyes bulged as he watched, +the monster ship flaming and roaring with repeated explosions, her own +guns valiantly firing to the last. As she plunged nose-first into the +sea, the boys could see the crew, like ants, pouring, leaping over the +side, only to go down in the vast whirlpool made by the sinking vessel. + +The Zeppelin now soared skyward, made a wide circle that took it almost +out of sight, and returned to attack another ship. Then a strange +thing happened. The upleaping shot from the battleship crossed the +bomb from the Zeppelin in mid-air, and as the bomb exploded on the deck +of the cruiser, the shell from her aeroplane gun hit the delicate body +of the airship and tore through it. As the Zeppelin came whirling +down, turning over and over in the air, Zaidos could see the crew +spilling out like little black pills out of a torn box. That they were +men, human beings whirling to a dreadful death, did not occur to him. +He had lost all sense of human values in the terrible pageant before +him. + +It seemed like a picture show, only with the vivid colors of reality +and the deafening noise of exploding shells. Once they felt the +submarine pass under them, so close that it made an eddy that pulled +them toward the combating ships. When it came up to release its dart, +the boys were too intent on keeping themselves enough out of the sea +wash to breathe, to see whether the torpedo struck or not. The +excitement grew in intensity. Gradually the group of fighting ships +drew nearer the swimmers. They were not more than half a mile away. +Another great hulk went down. The Zeppelin, with broken wings wide +spread, floated on the sea. They could scarcely see it except when a +wave made by a falling shell lifted some of its delicate framework. + +"There goes another ship!" exclaimed Zaidos. "I wish I could tell what +they are. I can't see any flags or emblems from here." + +"I don't care what becomes of them," Velo said irritably. "I'm +water-soaked. I feel queer. I'll never get out of this." + +"Oh, brace up!" cried Zaidos, speaking in English. He reflected that +Velo could not understand a word of the language, and proceeded to give +vent to his feelings in a tongue that he had found extremely expressive +in times of need. He glared at the drooping boy, while the guns +continued to thunder. + +"You make me sick! You make me tired!" he exploded. "Great Scott, you +are the worst baby I ever saw! I wish to goodness you were wherever +you want to be, wrapped up in cotton batting, I suppose, and tied with +pink string, and laid on a shelf in a safety deposit vault. You are a +regular jelly fish! I wish I had some fellow along who had a real +spine! I--" he paused for breath. + +"I don't know what you are saying," complained Velo. + +"It doesn't matter," said Zaidos in Greek. "It was nothing of +consequence. I think I told you once or twice before just about what I +thought about things. If you feel better to whimper around all the +time and complain about things, why, so ahead! I suppose we _will_ +drown. I'm getting pretty tired myself, but I mean to hang on as long +as I can. + +"If this fight ends before nightfall, that Red Cross ship is sure to +come back and pick up all they can, and you can see for yourself just +the position it is in now. It can't get to the battleships without +coming past us. So we have a good chance. I've been in the water +longer than this without much damage. But I wish you could manage to +keep yourself together, Velo. I'm sure we will come out all right. +I'm not going to die now, before I have a chance to do something worth +while." He shook the water from his face. + +"Well, I believe they are going to quit," he said. "I wonder how many +fellows have seen anything like this. Three dreadnaughts and a +Zeppelin sunk and wrecked, and I don't know which is which or who is +who. It doesn't much matter to us, however. However long or short I +live, I'll never forget it. Never! Just think of it, Velo; three +ships of the line, and a flyer." He turned to the opposite direction, +scanning the sea with keen eyes. + +"Yes, sure enough, here comes the Red Cross! The fight is over. She +is going to pass us. That's pretty fine, isn't it, Velo? Don't that +make you feel warm all over?" + +"She may not stop," said Velo gloomily. + +"A Red Cross ship pass all this bunch swimming around here without +stopping to pick them up? You are crazy!" + +"There are not so very many," insisted Velo. + +"They will stop to pick you up if all the rest of us go down before +they get here," said Zaidos patiently. "You have the life belt, Velo, +so don't worry any more than you have to." + +A silence followed. After the wild racket of the guns, it seemed as +though the sea itself whispered. On and on came the Red Cross ship. +It approached so near that they could see that a couple of boats were +being lowered. They were gasoline launches, and they raced here and +there, pausing every little while to pick up a survivor. As they +approached Zaidos and his cousin, Velo commenced to scream in a weak +voice. Zaidos sighed, but said nothing. + +When the nearest launch approached them, Velo thrust him back and left +him swimming while he, with his life belt, was lifted over the side. +But a sailor had Zaidos by the shoulder. It was well, for the boy was +at the point of exhaustion, and as he felt himself drawn into the boat, +he found a sudden darkness settle over everything, and he sank back +unconscious into the arms of a doctor. + +When he opened his eyes, he was in the clean, airy, floating hospital. +It took a little thought for Zaidos to recollect where he was. When he +did so, he made an effort to arise. To his great surprise, he could +not move. He threw back the covers. His leg was in splints. He +stared at it with surprise. + +A nurse came up. "How did that happen?" he demanded. "What ails my +leg anyhow?" + +"You ought to know," she smiled. "We expect you to tell us. Your leg +is broken below the knee. Just the small bone, you know. Do you mean +to say you did not know it?" + +"I should say not!" said Zaidos. "You are sure it is broken? It hurts +a lot, but I don't see how it could be broken without my knowing it." + +"Yes, it is certainly broken," the nurse repeated. + +"Oh, you are talking English, aren't you?" cried Zaidos with delight. + +"Why, yes. This is an English Red Cross ship," replied the nurse. +"You are English, are you not? Or American?" + +Zaidos shook his head. "No, I'm a Greek," he explained. "But I've +been in America at school since I was a little chap, and I have had an +English room-mate for three years." + +"That's it, then," said the nurse. "You must not talk now, however. +You must drink this and sleep if you can. There are a lot of badly +hurt men here. _You_ are all right, but pretty well water-soaked and +tired out. Try to sleep." + +She started on, but Zaidos put out his hand and detained her. + +"Just a moment, please," he said, smiling at her in his sunny way. "Is +there a fellow here called Velo Kupenol? Tall fellow, thin, and looks +a little like me perhaps?" + +"Perhaps not again," said the nurse, frowning a little. "Yes, your +friend is here. He does not seem to have anything the matter with him, +yet he acts like a very sick boy." + +"Seems to enjoy poor health?" asked Zaidos, smiling. "Well, I myself +can't really blame him. You don't know how very _wet_ we felt! I feel +as though I could lie here a week and enjoy these dry sheets." + +"You will be very likely to do so whether you enjoy it or not," said +the nurse. "Legs do not mend in a day. When your friend thinks he is +strong enough, I will suggest his coming to visit you." + +She passed on, and Zaidos lay staring at the wooden ceiling so near his +head. + +Round and round and round goes the wheel of fate, thought Zaidos. + +He wondered what the next turn would be, and where it would carry him. +He drank from the cup the nurse had given him, and presently dozed off, +although his leg pained too much to allow him to get a sound sleep. + +He was aroused later by voices near him, and recognized the sound of +his cousin's voice. Velo was talking in a rapid, low tone to one of +the doctors. + +"Looks like a nice boy," said the doctor in Greek. + +"Yes, he is," said Velo. "But if he is my cousin, I must say he is one +of the most stubborn fellows I have ever known." + +"Is that so?" thought Zaidos, keeping his eyes shut tight. He thought +there would be no more talk about him, but the doctor went on, "He +doesn't look it." + +"No," said Velo, "but he is. I thought I would never be able to rescue +him from that sinking transport. He went sort of crazy, he was so +afraid, and when the order came to jump, he clung to the rail, and +refused to move. I had to twist his hands away, and jump with him." + +"Well, I do declare!" thought Zaidos. He decided that he had better +find out just what sort of a fellow he was supposed to be anyhow. + +Velo went on, "When I got him into the water, I had to take him over my +shoulder, and swim for dear life to get away from the boat before she +went down. We just made it, and at that he clung to me with such a +grip that I thought I would have to let go and leave him to his fate." + +"Queer how they hang on to one in the water," said the doctor. "It +seems strange he does not swim." + +"Oh, he swims a little," said Velo. "He _thinks_ he swims well, but it +does not amount to much. I got hold of a life belt and buckled it +around him, and kept his courage up as well as I could. The fight out +there nearly finished him." + +"I don't know as I blame him," said the doctor. "It must have been a +pretty stiff experience, especially when a shot came your way +occasionally." + +"Yes, it was exciting," Velo agreed. He spoke with the ease of a man +accustomed to worse things. Zaidos wondered how the doctor ever +believed it all. + +"Well," he said, "I'll have to go on. You can congratulate yourself, +young man, on having the courage and patience to stick it out and save +the lad. It is a great credit to you and I'm proud to know you." And +he turned and walked softly away between the white bunks. + +Velo remained standing near Zaidos. Presently he came over and looked +down at his cousin. Zaidos opened one eye and looked up. The other he +kept tightly closed. It gave him a teasing, guying expression of +countenance which he had many times found very irritating at school. + +"Dear, _dear_ Velo," he said with a simper, "how can I _ever_ thank you +for saving my life?" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +INTO SERVICE + +Zaidos' method of punishing Velo for the yarn he had told the doctor +took the form of an exaggerated gratitude. Being perfectly independent +of praise himself, Zaidos could not understand why on earth Velo should +have taken the trouble to misrepresent things so. As far as Zaidos +could see, there was nothing to be gained by it. The incident was past +and did not concern the doctor in any way. Zaidos, who did not know +his cousin at all, had yet to learn that his was one of the natures +that are incapable of any noble effort, yet which feed on praise. With +Velo everything was personal. If he passed a beautiful woman driving +in the park, he thought instantly, "Now if that horse should run away, +and I should leap out and grasp the animal by the head, wouldn't that +be fine? I would doubtless be dashed to the pavement a few times, but +what of that?" He could almost hear the lovely lady, pale and shaken, +as she thanked her noble preserver and pressed into his hand a ring of +immense value. The lovely lady was always a Countess at least, and +frequently a Princess. + +Velo imagined drowning accidents, and fires where he dashed the firemen +aside, and made thrilling rescues of other lovely ladies who were seen +hanging out of high windows. Velo himself always came out unhurt and +with his clothes nicely brushed and in order. Sometimes he imagined a +slight, _very_ slight cut on his forehead, which had to be becomingly +bandaged, but that was always the extent of his injuries. Velo liked +to imagine bandits, too; big, ferocious fellows whom he outwitted, or +choked into insensibility in single combat. At a moving-picture show, +he always sat in a delicious dream, admiring his own exploits as the +pictures flashed on the screen. + +Thus it was perfectly natural and simple for him to take the adventure +of the previous day, and twist it to his own glorification. + +To Zaidos this would have been such an impossibility that he simply +could not have understood it at all, even if someone had explained +Velo's way of looking at things. + +To Zaidos the only possible or natural way to look at things was to do +whatever came up for a fellow _to_ do, and to do it as soon and as well +as he possibly could. Not knowing Velo, he did not dream that he was +in the habit of glorifying himself on every possible occasion. If he +had, he would have pressed a little harder. As it was, he drove Velo +into a cold fury by his sweet, humble gratitude. + +"Oh, Velo," he would say, "whenever I think how you wrenched my hands +from the rail, and forced me into the water, and swam with me to +safety, I don't see how I will _ever_ thank you!" + +Then he would get out the square of antiseptic gauze the nurse had +given him for a handkerchief and cry into its folds as loudly as he +dared. + +Zaidos had to take medicine to keep down fever, so there were two +bottles on the tiny table beside him. He had to take a dose every +hour. Once he woke up, and took the bottle in his hand and started to +pour it out just as the nurse came past. She gave a look at the +bottle, smothered a cry, and snatched it from Zaidos' hand. She was +pale. + +"How--where--when did you get that?" she stammered. + +"What's the matter with it?" asked Zaidos. "Isn't it my medicine? +I've been taking it all the time, haven't I?" + +The nurse had regained her self-control and even smiled. + +"Have you been asleep this morning?" she asked, as though the medicine +no longer interested her. + +"Just woke up," said Zaidos. "I had a fine nap." + +"That's good," said the nurse and walked away, taking the bottle in her +hand. + +But five minutes later, when she reported to the doctor, her manner was +not so calm. + +"What do you think?" she cried, closing the door of the tiny laboratory +where he was working with an assistant. "What can this mean? This +bottle was on young Zaidos' table instead of the medicine I left there!" + +The doctor scanned the label. + +"Bichloride of mercury," he said. "Why, that's queer!" He pondered. +"What do you make of it?" + +"I can't make a _guess_ even," said the nurse. "There is no one out +there who is delirious, and Zaidos could not get up on that broken leg +in his sleep, if he wanted to. If it was not such a crazy idea, I +should say someone had a reason for getting rid of Zaidos, but he is +very popular, and his cousin thinks the world of him." + +The incident was mysterious as well as serious. They discussed it and +made guesses which flew wide of the mark. The doctor quietly ordered a +change of medicine for Zaidos, and removing the bottles on his table, +gave the nurse instructions to give him the doses herself. She did so, +without rousing any suspicion in Zaidos' open and confident mind, _but +Velo Kupenol noticed the change_. + +He was more attentive to his cousin than ever. + +Only in the rare moments when he was alone and secure from observation +did he allow himself to take off the mask of good nature and +kindliness, and let those thin features of his twist into the wicked +leer that well fitted them. He no longer saw himself in the part of +hero. He was too eager to remove from his way the boy who stood +between him and all the luxury he craved. But his common sense told +him that at the present, at least, there was nothing to be done. He +would have to await further developments. In the meantime he would +gain his cousin's confidence. That ought to be easy. Zaidos was the +most friendly fellow he had ever seen. Velo resolved that if ever he +came in for the Zaidos name and title, he would show them just how +haughty and overbearing a young nobleman could be. But in the +meantime, he thought it better to do as Zaidos commanded and say +nothing about the family. Zaidos had elected to be known as a common +soldier, and he would keep to his word. Velo realized that he himself +could make no pretentions while Zaidos was about; he would not stand +for that. So Velo acted in his best and oiliest manner, and waited on +the nurse, and urged his services on the doctors, and wondered why they +never acted at ease and friendly with him, as they all did with the +laughing boy on the cot. + +When they were sent ashore it dawned on Velo that now they would be +separated. Zaidos would have to go to a hospital to wait for his leg +to heal; but he was well, and would be set at some duty which would +separate him from Zaidos. That would never do. He worried over it as +they approached land, and finally took the matter to the doctor. He +put the matter strongly. He had promised Zaidos' dying father that he +would not be separated from the boy. They were almost of an age, but +he had always been the one to look out for Zaidos, and surely now if +ever was the time to be true to his trust. He explained the manner of +their enlistment, and reminded the doctor they were both listed among +the drowned. + +"You see I _must_ remain near him," he urged. "Just help me find a +way." + +"The hospitals are all short handed," mused the good-natured physician. +"I think they would be glad to get you. There is lots of heavy lifting +that tells on the nurses, and all that sort of thing, you know. It +will be two weeks before Zaidos can be discharged. That bone is not +knitting right. It was splintered, you see. I'll do all I can for +you, Velo, and I think it will work out nicely." + +So it came about that when the patients on the Red Cross ship were +transferred to the land hospital within the English lines, Velo was +there in full force, carrying one end of Zaidos' stretcher. Of course +it was the light end; Velo saw to that instinctively, but then it was +Velo's attention to just such little details that made life easy for +him. + +Zaidos soon improved so that he was allowed to hop about on crutches. +The second day he used them, however, a brass pin somehow worked into +the arm pad and scratched him badly before he knew that it was just +where his weight would press it into his shoulder. It was very sore, +and that same night, when he sat carefully on the edge of his narrow +bed, waiting for Velo to come and help him undress, the bed went down +and Zaidos was thrown to the floor. It hurt his leg again. Velo +picked him up and was so sorry that for once Zaidos felt a twinge of +remorse when he thought of the way he had guyed him. + +But the nurse, who had been transferred to the land hospital also, +pressed her lips tight together and thought hard. Zaidos was almost +too unlucky. She took him under her own special care, although Velo +protested and assured her that she must not burden herself while he was +there to look out for his cousin. + +"I don't see why so many things keep happening to you," she said to +Zaidos while she dressed the place on his arm where the brass pin had +made a bad sore. + +"I _am_ playing in hard luck, at that," said Zaidos, smiling. "Every +time I turn around I seem to bump myself somehow. I was on the +football team, and had won my letter for running. Do you suppose I +will ever get to run again?" + +"I don't know," said the nurse. "I don't see why this leg should make +much difference. It was only one bone, you know, and you could bandage +that leg if it felt weak. But you can't keep falling off cots and +sticking infected pins into you." + +"Funny thing about that cot," said Zaidos. "The bolt that held the +spring and headboard together was gone--completely gone. I wonder if +it ever was in. Perhaps when they put it together, they forgot that +corner, and it stuck together until I happened to sit down on it just +right. I've known things like that. I'm glad it didn't go down with +some poor fellow who was badly wounded. It gave my leg an awful jolt. +And it certainly gets me where I got that pin in the crutch pad. It +must have been in the lining, and just worked out. I don't believe it +will make a bad sore. My blood is pretty good. It's funny, though." + +"A lot of queer things happen to you, Zaidos," said the nurse. "Tell +me, have you no other name? Are you just Zaidos and nothing else?" + +"Oh, yes, I have five or six other names," said Zaidos, smiling. "But +you know in Greece it is the custom to call the--" + +He glanced into the face before him with a queer embarrassed look, and +stopped. + +"Just so," said the nurse. "I understand. You are the head of your +house, whatever that is, and you have very sensibly decided to keep it +all to yourself while you are mixed up in this war. Well, Zaidos, in +England, too, we sometimes call the head of a noble house by his family +name. For my part, however, I prefer to think of you simply as a +particularly nice, agreeable boy, who has made his illness a very +pleasant time for the people who have been near him; and so I think I +will call you something simpler than Zaidos. Is John one of your five +or six names?" + +"Nothing so easy as that," said Zaidos, smiling. "Why, I will tell you +what they are." + +"I don't want to know," said the nurse. "I, too, have a name that we +will forget for the time, but you may call me Nurse Helen. And I have +the dearest father in the world whose name is John; so I will call you +John. Do you mind?" + +"I should say not!" said Zaidos. + +"You see, John," said Nurse Helen, "every time I say that name I feel +closer to my home and all the dear ones there. Some day I will tell +you about them all." + +"I wish you would," said Zaidos. "I have often wondered how your +people could let a dandy girl like you get into this sort of thing." +He wanted to say such a _pretty_ girl, but did not quite have the +courage to do it. "You know you might even get hurt." + +"It's quite likely," said Helen simply. "One has to accept that +chance. And there _is_ a chance about everything. A lot of the people +in this war, dreadful as it is, will go home when it is over, and get +run over by London busses, or fall down stairs, or things like that." + +"Or slip on banana peels," added Zaidos. "You are right about it. I +wonder I never thought of it before." + +"Who is Velo Kupenol?" asked Helen. "Is he really your cousin?" + +"My second cousin, to be exact," said Zaidos; "He has lived at our +house ever since he was a boy eight years old. I don't exactly +understand Velo lots of the time." + +"I wouldn't think he was too awfully hard to understand," said Helen. + +"Well, he is," said Zaidos. "He has been just nice to me ever since I +was hurt, but he has done some of the queerest things. And what he +told the doctor about what happened the day we were in the water--Oh +well, I can't explain it very well!" + +Zaidos was too modest to tell Helen that the account had simply been +twisted around to Velo's advantage. + +"Don't try," commented Helen. "There is one thing I feel as though I +ought to tell you. That is, that I want you to watch that cousin of +yours. If we are doing him an injustice, we will find it out just so +much sooner. Otherwise it pays to be on guard. Just tell me one +thing, John. If anything happened to you, would there be anything for +Velo to gain by your death?" + +Zaidos looked uncomfortable. + +"Oh, I suppose so," he said. "Why, yes, to be honest with you, he +would gain a lot. But I can't--Oh, he wouldn't be such a sneak! +Perhaps I had better tell you all about everything, now you have sort +of adopted me." + +"Not if you think best not to," said Helen; "but of course I would love +to know all about you." + +"And I had better tell you," said Zaidos. "You see, I have no +relatives at all except Velo, and we aren't too sure of him yet, are +we?" + +He rapidly recounted the happenings of the past from the time the +telegram reached him in far America. Several times Helen interrupted +with a keen question. + +When Zaidos finished, she sighed. + +"Well, John," she said, "as far as I can see, there is not a thing you +can take as a real clue. But it all looks queer, just the same. +Sometimes everything _will_ happen so things look black. That is why +circumstantial evidence is always so dangerous. But all the same, I +worry over you." + +"Don't do that," said Zaidos. "I ought to be old enough to look out +for myself." + +"What are you going to do when your leg heals?" asked Helen. + +"I'm going to join the Red Cross," said Zaidos. + +"How perfectly fine!" exclaimed Helen. "We will be posted together for +awhile if you do, because the field hospitals at the front where I am +going are very short handed. Don't you suppose we could persuade Velo +that his duty lies in some other sphere of action?" + +"I don't believe so," said Zaidos. + +"No, I know we couldn't," said Helen. "He has repeatedly told me that +he would never leave you. Here he comes now. Let's try it!" + +She smiled as Velo approached and drew himself up. Nurse Helen was +undeniably beautiful, even in her severe uniform. + +No, Velo had _no_ intention of deserting his dear cousin. If Zaidos +joined the Red Cross, so would Velo. It made no difference to him at +all. If Zaidos was stationed in the trench hospitals at the front, +that was where _he_ would be found. + +And two weeks later he actually did find himself there. It was in one +of the lulls between engagements, and they arrived with no more +excitement or danger than might attend any summer trip. + +But there they were, actually in the trenches. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A LETTER HOME + +Zaidos, who was still on sick list and walked with a cane, was +nevertheless put to work, in order to familiarize him with the position +of the trenches. For two weeks the English had been expecting an +attack, and the inaction was telling on the nerves of the officers. + +The men are only kept under fire for four days. At the end of that +time, they are sent back a few miles in shifts to the nearest village +where they find quarters, and rest from the nerve-racking, soul-shaking +clamor of guns and buzz of bullets. The trenches were wonderful. +Zaidos and Velo, the Red Cross badges on their arms giving them free +passage, soon explored every inch until they were perfectly familiar +with them all. Zaidos drew a sketch of the plan to send to the fellows +in school. + +First of all, and nearest the opposing force, is the line of the small +trenches for the snipers or sharp-shooters. These men, facing certain +death in their little shelters, are picked shots, and keep up a steady, +harassing fire at anything showing over the tops of the enemy's +trenches or, failing that, at anything that looks like the crew of a +rapid-fire gun. These, of course, they guess at from the line of fire +as the guns are placed in the first line of trenches in little pits of +their own. On his map Zaidos marked the positions of the guns with an +A. + +Behind the snipers are the barbed wire entanglements, a nightmare of +tumbled wires piled high in cruel confusion. Close behind this are the +observation trenches. There was no firing from these small trenches; +they were simply what the name implied: look-outs. Leaving these, and +passing down the zig-zag connecting trench, the first line trench was +reached. This was fifty yards from the wire entanglements, and along +here the rapid-fire guns were set. + +[Illustration: Trench layout diagram] + +When Zaidos and Velo made their first visit through the trenches, they +were puzzled to see that the guns were all set at an angle, so that the +line of fire intersected, usually just over the barbed wire +entanglements. + +Zaidos asked about it. + +"We protect our guns in that way," explained the young Lieutenant who +accompanied them. "With the fire coming at an angle, it is difficult +for the enemy to get the exact position of our guns, and they are +unable to follow the line of our fire with their own fire, and so +cripple us. On the other hand, you notice that all trenches are either +battlement shape or zig-zag." + +"I wondered why," said Zaidos. + +"Well, that is so a shot from the enemy, no matter what the angle, +striking in a trench, will simply go a few feet, and plow into the bank +of earth ahead of it. Formerly, a single shot, raking the length of a +portion of a trench, would cost hundreds of men. Now it seldom means a +loss of more than six or eight." + +It was fifty yards between the entanglements and the first line trench, +and in the two hundred yards between that and the second line trench, +there was quite a little underground settlement. + +The bomb-proof shelter was a regular cellar with sheets of steel over +it, and earth over that. It was dark, and the dirt walls and floor +gave out a damp and mouldy smell. The men had made crude provisions +for comfort. Narrow benches were about the walls, a door from some +wrecked building had been brought with much labor, and converted into a +table, around which the men sat and played cards. + +But Zaidos was most interested in the First Aid Station. He felt that +much of his time might be spent here in this strange dug-out. + +It was a strange mixture of the latest thing in surgical science and +the crudeness of the caveman. + +The walls were simply scooped out. They might have been dug with a +gigantic spoon, so rough they were and so rounding. The floor had been +packed, or trodden hard, and in the middle of the small space was a +rude operating table. Beside it, however, on enameled, collapsible +iron stands, looking as though they might have been just carried out of +some perfectly appointed hospital, were rows of delicate instruments. + +There had been no firing for some time, and the place was empty. The +surgeon and his assistant sat reading a month-old copy of a London +paper. They scanned the columns eagerly, and laughed heartily at the +jokes. For London gallantly jests, even in war time. + +The lieutenant introduced Zaidos and Velo to the doctors, and explained +their presence. + +"Well, me lad," said the older man, cordially taking note of Zaidos' +sunny smile and fearless eyes, "I'm thinkin' that we need such as you. +We can't hope those fellows over there beyond will keep still much +longer, and we will have the deuce of a time to hold our position, I +believe. Of course we will do it, but it will mean a lot of work for +us in here, worse luck! + +"You want to familiarize yourself with every turn of the place. A lost +moment may mean a lost life, perhaps yours, perhaps the man you are +trying to help. You may have to leave the connecting trench you are +running along and take to the top of the ground. If a shell falls +ahead of you, you will find your path stopped up. Have you ever been +under fire?" + +"I don't know just what you would call it," said Zaidos laughingly, and +proceeded to tell the doctor how they happened to be in their present +position. + +"Well, well, well!" said the doctor. "You ought to do! First drowned, +and then shot at, and submarined. It does seem as though you ought to +be able to keep your head, with only a few simple bullets and gas bombs +flying around." + +He got to his feet stiffly, for living underground makes men rheumatic, +and put down his paper. + +"Just pay attention," he said in a crisp, business-like way. "When you +serve wounded men, remember two things. Work deliberately, yet with +the greatest speed. Many a man has died from one little twist given in +getting him on his stretcher. Forget the fight, forget everything for +the time but that the torn body is in your hands. Do you know anything +at all about lifting a man?" + +"I do," said Zaidos. "I'm a Boy Scout. Besides, we learned all that +at school." + +"Good!" said the doctor. "All you have to do is to remember what you +know, when the necessity of using your information arrives. When you +have your man on the stretcher, get here as soon as ever you can. +Don't wait for anyone; private and General alike must stand aside for +the Red Cross. Wonder if you could stop a cut artery?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Zaidos. + +"How?" said the doctor, reaching out his arm. Zaidos took it and +demonstrated the thing and the doctor gave a grunt of satisfaction. + +"When you get your man here, lay him down on one of the benches or on +the floor or anywhere else that you see a place for him. Don't wait, +for we will attend to him after that." + +"Yes, sir," said Zaidos. He foresaw lively times. + +"Good morning," said the doctor, sitting down and taking up his +precious paper. The boys went out, feeling as though they had been +dismissed from class. + +The large cook house was very close to the First Aid Station, and was +equipped with wonderful field stoves and great kettles and pots. A +number of cooks were in charge, and the boiling soup smelled good +enough to eat! + +Three zig-zag trenches led from the cook house and First Aid Station to +the second line of trenches. + +Here was a repetition of the first line trench, machine guns and all. +Back of it stretched a line of snipers' trenches, and behind them +another barbed wire entanglement. A tunnel led under this; several of +them in fact, and large enough to permit the passage of a number of men +at the same time. This was arranged in case the line was pushed back +by the advancing enemy. + +When Zaidos had arrived at this point in his drawing, his paper gave +out, and he was obliged to write the rest on the back of the sheet. + +"You will see, fellows," he wrote, "just how the second trench is laid +out by looking at the first. Back of the barbed wire and the +observation trenches come a lot of connecting trenches again. These +are not laid out in exactly the same direction as the first group, of +course, but are generally the same. Instead of a shelter for thirty +men, there is a shelter for one hundred thirty men. The cook house is +much larger, and the First Aid Station is really a sort of hospital, +where the men can be placed until they are taken back to the regular +field hospital which is back of the third trench, four hundred yards +away. This makes the hospital proper pretty safe. + +"The shelter for men in the third position holds three hundred men +easily and the hospital is quite complete. + +"You never saw such courageous fellows as these are. Just think, you +chaps, kicking as you do over there about the feed and the beds and the +barracks, what it is like to live underground against the bare earth! + +"The men are never able to undress to sleep. Once in two weeks each +man has a bath, which he has to take in _two minutes_. He is then +given a complete set of new underwear. The men spend four days in the +trenches, almost always under fire night and day. There has been no +firing since we struck the place, but there is going to be a bad time +soon, they say. And then the noise is perfectly deafening, they tell +me. + +"When the men have been four days in the trenches under fire, they are +sent back in squads to the nearest village for four days to rest and +get their nerves back in shape. + +"I was talking to a jolly young Englishman this morning, and he told me +about the place he stayed in the village. He has just come back. + +"He was quartered in a cellar, where they were perfectly safe from +Zeppelin bombs or stray shells, but it was dark and damp and cold. +When he went to sleep at night the rats ran all over him, and he and +all the other fellows had to wrap their coats around their faces to +keep the rats from running over the bare skin. Some rats, eh? + +"A lot of chaps go to pieces with rheumatism, and have to be sent way +back to the stationary hospitals in the cities. + +"This Englishman I was talking to was over in France last Christmas, +and he told me all about the time they had. Seems queer, but I think +it is so. He said almost every fellow in the outer trench had some +sort of a Christmas box with fruit-cake and candles, and 'sweets' as he +calls candies. There they were, wishing each other a merry Christmas, +and shaking hands, and laughing, and the snipers' guns popping away at +the Germans a few feet away from them. Pretty soon a white flag went +up in the enemies' trench, and they ran one up, too, and stuck up their +heads to see what was what. They didn't know if it was a ruse or not; +but there was a group of Germans sitting on the edge of their trench +with their legs down inside ready to jump; and they were calling 'Merry +Christmas, Englishmen!' as jolly as you please. + +"Well, that was all our fellows needed, and they got out of their holes +and advanced. But one of their officers went first, a young fellow who +was pretty homesick on account of the day, and he went up to a big +German officer, and they agreed that there should be a truce for the +day, and shook hands on it. So the men came across and met, and tried +to talk to each other and learned some words from each other. The +Germans had Christmas boxes, too, and they swapped their funny pink +frosted cakes for the English fruit-cake, and gave each other cigarette +cases and knives for souvenirs. + +"Then it came dinner time, and they brought their stuff out on the +neutral ground, and ate it together. Then pretty soon they all went +back to their own trenches, and commenced singing to each other. The +English sang their Christmas carols, old as the hills of England; and +the Germans boomed back their songs in their big, deep voices. I tell +you, fellows, it must have been queer! Just before dark, the German +lieutenant stood up once more, with his white flag, and the English +officer went to meet him. The German talked pretty fair English and +the men heard what he said. + +"'We have a lot of dead men here to bury,' he explained. 'Will you +come and help us?' So the English said yes, and they all came out +again and helped to bury the fellows they had shot. Then they all +stood together, and the German officer took off his helmet and +everybody took off their caps, and the German officer looked down at +the graves, and then up, and he said, 'Hear us, Lieber Gott,' and the +fellow said he must have thought his English was not good enough to +pray in; so he said a little prayer in German, but everybody sort of +felt as though they understood it, and of course some did. And then he +put his helmet back, and shook hands very straight and stiff with our +officer, and said, 'Auf wiedersehn,' and turned away. And everybody +shook hands and went back to their own trenches, and long after dark +they kept calling to each other 'Good-bye! Good-bye!' + +"Well, fellows, that was the end. Next morning they were peppering +away at each other, struggling like a lot of dogs to get a throat hold. +Seems sort of queer, don't you think so? + +"I don't believe this could happen now, because they have been fighting +so long that they hate each other now. I think at first that they were +like dogs that someone sicks into a fight. They do it because they +want to be obliging, or because they think they have to mind. They +would just as soon stop and wag their tails and go to chasing cats or +digging for rabbits together. But they have fought now until the +bitterness of it has entered deep. I can't guess what the end will be. +I don't believe anybody can. + +"You had better stir up everybody over there about it, and 'rustle the +requisite' as Main always said. _Everything_ for field hospital work +is badly needed. Seems to me you could send a few hundred dollars of +stuff over, well as not. You, Corky, you had better sell that car of +yours. You know the Commandant doesn't half approve of it, and Baxter +can give up that motor-boat. You will drown yourself, Baxter, sure as +sure! And think how much better you would feel to stay alive, and help +a lot of shot-to-bits poor fellows in the bargain. + +"Things look so different when you are right on the ground. What they +tell me about some of the shot wounds that come to the hospitals makes +me wonder if I have enough backbone to stand up under it, when the +fighting really commences. I believe I am getting scared! + +"The English fellow told me that after the first shot or two you didn't +seem to mind anything; you just went right ahead, and tended to work as +though, as he said, it was a May morning in an English lane. I suppose +he thought that was about as near Paradise as he could imagine, but the +finest place _I_ can think of is--Oh well, fellows, you know. I wish I +was close enough to the gang to have you pound me on the back, and to +kick that big brute of a Mackilvane for trying to stuff me under the +bed. I'd like to hear some of Gregg's rag-time, and see Mealy Jones +try to ride the bay horse. + +"But this is the end of my paper, and I've got to go back to the +hospital. To-morrow I am to be put on regular duty. That's why I am +writing you this long letter. It may be a good while before I write +another; so good-bye, old pals. I'll come back some day if I live. + +Yours, + ZAIDOS." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A BIT OF ROMANCE + +Zaidos sent off his letter and continued his explorations. + +He managed to slip away from Velo finally and was greatly relieved. +Somehow everything went along better without Velo tagging at his heels. +Zaidos felt ashamed when he tried to analyze his feelings. He was at a +loss to understand himself. Even Nurse Helen, who frankly confessed to +Zaidos that she disliked Velo, was obliged to say that there was +nothing openly objectionable about him. His manners were easy and +graceful, and he was quicker to jump to her assistance than any man on +the detail. + +He treated Zaidos with a protective fondness that was almost funny. He +watched him, saw that he went to bed and arose on schedule time, helped +dress his scratch, and looked after him generally like a faithful and +devoted nurse. + +Yet Nurse Helen pondered. She never once let him handle one of the +dressings which were rapidly healing the ugly little tear in Zaidos' +arm. Zaidos, escaping from Velo's watchful eye, felt like a glad +little, bad little boy who has run away from school and who refuses to +think of supper time, when he must go home and find that father has the +note teacher has sent home by some _other_ little boy. He went here +and there, his sunny smile and ready kindliness making friends +everywhere. + +Wherever he sat down to rest some soldier told him something of +interest. Gunners explained the watch-like perfection of their guns. +Snipers told thrilling tales of long shots. The cooks showed him how +cleverly the big field stoves came apart, and how they could be +assembled at a moment's notice. + +At supper time his new friend, Lieutenant Cunningham, called him. He +had kept a place for Zaidos beside him. Velo had been omitted from the +group, so he smilingly sat down in another bend of the trench with his +pannikin of stew and cup of coffee, seemingly quite content. But black +hate raged in his black heart! + +Velo was a strange sort. He was a coward; he dreaded danger and +endured hardships badly. Yet the thought that harm might come to him +never entered his head. He was deeply superstitious, and while he +could and did change the bottles and place the poison within his +cousin's reach, while he placed the rusty pin in the crutch where it +would inflict a wound on Zaidos' body, while he could plan endlessly to +rid himself of his cousin, he would not _himself_ directly aim the blow +or fire the deadly shot. He rejoiced in the battle that was +threatening. Zaidos would die, and he wanted the evidence of his own +eyes. Also he wanted the statements of witnesses. Sometimes when he +heard Zaidos' ready laugh, and saw his bright, straightforward look, a +flicker of pity shadowed his dastardly resolve. Then he remembered the +soft living, the ease and luxury of the house of Zaidos, and +remembering that he, as Velo Kupenol, must be all his life nothing but +a dependent on his cousin's bounty, he steeled his wicked heart to its +self-appointed task. + +But he must change his tactics. Zaidos as usual was surrounding +himself with friends. Velo felt that he must be doubly careful. There +must be no more strange, unaccountable accidents to Zaidos. When the +blow fell it must crush him utterly; until then, he must be left to +move securely. + +Velo thought of all this as he sat talking to the soldier beside him +and eating the plain fare of the men in the field. + +The talk was all of the coming attack. Spies had reported a movement +of preparation in the enemy's ranks, and there was a stir of warning in +the very air. To Velo's amazement, no one seemed worried or anxious. +The conversation moved smoothly on, as though the battle was a test of +skill on a chess-board. Not a man there seemed to regard the coming +event in a personal light. Even the uncertainty did not distress +anyone. The attack would surely come, but whether it would come the +following night or in a week's time did not seem to matter in the +least. Velo had expected to see in an event like this a lot of men +brooding gloomily over the possible outcome, a dismal time with last +farewells, and touching letters written home. He watched the young +officer beside him. He had finished his meal and had taken out a pad +of paper and an indelible pencil. He wrote rapidly, but with a calm +and smiling face. Velo could not imagine any tragic farewells in +_that_ letter. + +Velo, still staring at the writer, listened to the conversation along +the wall of the trench. It had at last turned from war to out-door +sports. Velo, who never exercised if he could avoid it, listened idly. +A small, pale boy in a lieutenant's uniform was violently upholding +certain rules while the officer next to Zaidos disputed him smilingly. +They argued pleasantly, but with the most intense earnestness. + +"Who is that straw-colored chap?" Velo asked the writer beside him. + +"Across?" questioned the scribbler. "We call him 'Sister Anne.' You +know she was the lady in Bluebeard's yarn that kept looking out the +window. He is always sticking his head out of the trenches, to see +what he can see. He's going to get his some day." + +"Don't you know his real name?" asked Velo. "He acts as though he +thought he was somebody of importance." + +"Why, when you come down to it, I suppose perhaps he is when he is at +home," said the man. "He's a jolly good sort, though. He's the Earl +of Craycourt." + +"And who is the chap beside my cousin?" asked Velo, steadying his voice +with difficulty. + +"The Prince of Teck's second son," answered the writer. Velo's +curiosity rather disgusted him. "Anybody else you would like to know +about?" + +"Well, who are you?" said Velo, trying to get back. + +"Your very humble servant, John Smith," he said. He slid the pencil +down into his puttee and stood up, bowing. He did not ask Velo for his +name but, closing the pad, strolled off and slid an arm around the neck +of the second son of the Prince of Teck. + +Velo for once felt small, but he jotted young John Smith down on his +black list for further reference! As for the others, he could not get +over the fact of their noble birth. He stood staring at the group. +Zaidos was as usual in the center of things, having the best sort of a +time. That was Zaidos' luck, thought Velo. He stared at the bent head +of "John Smith," bending over the "second son of the Prince of Teck." +For a plain "John Smith" he seemed exceedingly chummy with the young +nobleman. Velo was a natural-born toady. True worth, real nobility of +mind and soul meant nothing to him. But he did not lack assurance. +After a moment he braced up and joined the group where Zaidos and Lord +Craycourt, who answered willingly to the nickname "Sister Anne" were +swapping school yarns and the others were in gales of laughter. + +And at that moment, without warning, in the arm of the trench where +Velo had just been sitting, a great shell dropped and exploded with the +noise of pandemonium. A wave of dirt and splinters were pushed towards +them. As the air cleared, there was the sound of a feeble moan or two, +then silence. "John Smith," rather white, stood looking at the fresh +mound of earth. + +"There were six fellows in there when I came away," he said. "Get to +work, everybody!" + +With sabers and pieces of wood and hands, they cleared away the +wreckage. One by one they came to the pitiful fragments that had been +men. One by one, they laid them reverently aside. It was only just as +they had reached the angle leading to the cook house that they found a +crumpled body that moved slightly as they touched it. + +"We can't hurt him much; he's too far gone," said "John Smith." "Lift +him up, and get him over to the First Aid!" + +They kicked a rough way into the cook house, hurried through it and the +connecting tunnel to the First Aid. There they laid the shattered body +on the table, and with the exception of Zaidos and Velo, all went back +to repair the trench. + +Never again during his experience with the Red Cross did Zaidos find +time to watch the marvelous skill of a field surgeon. The soldier, a +large and muscular man, was almost in ribbons. His flesh was actually +tattered, and the dirt had been driven into the wounds. A leg had been +blown off, and both arms were broken. Yet he lived. There was quick +and silent work for awhile. When the doctor finally stood up and +looked critically at his finished task lying there bandaged like a +mummy and breathing with the heavy slowness of insensibility, he nodded +in satisfaction. + +"I only wish all the other poor fellows who come in here had your luck, +my boy," he said, nodding at the insensible patient. "If I could get +you one at a time, it would be an easy matter; but when you come at us +by the dozen, it is a different affair entirely. He's ready," he added +to Zaidos. "Get a couple of bearers, and take him to the rear. Don't +lift him yourself. There are plenty to do it to-night, and your leg is +not too strong yet." + +Zaidos called a couple of privates from the trench, and went with them +back to the main hospital. The man on the stretcher lay like dead. +Nurse Helen received him. + +"I'm coming your way to-morrow, John," she said. "I have been detailed +to the First Aid shelter." + +"I'm sorry," said Zaidos. "It is too near the firing line in there for +a woman." + +"For a woman perhaps," said Helen with a little smile, "but not for a +nurse. That is a different thing, John." + +"I can't see it," said Zaidos. + +As he spoke, another dull roar marked the falling of a second shell. + +"I don't see why they start up to-night," said Zaidos. "I wonder if +that did any damage." + +"They want to worry us enough so that the men will lose sleep," said a +soldier standing near. "But no one will bother about a few shells. +The men will get into the bomb proof shelters until daylight. It is a +waste of ammunition as it is." + +An orderly entered with a written call for a nurse for the First Aid +Station. Nurse Helen was called to the Head Nurse and in a moment came +hurrying back to Zaidos. + +"They have sent for me now," she said. "I suppose some other cases +have come in." + +"I'll go back with you," offered Zaidos, and together they stumbled +along through the rapidly gathering dusk. + +Three more men had been hurt, and when they had finally been sent back +to the hospital, it was almost midnight. + +Zaidos found Helen sitting at the opening of the shelter, looking up at +the stars. She made room for him on the plank. + +"I'm thinking hard about home, John," she said. "One's viewpoint +changes so. I wish I knew that I have done right to come here and +leave my parents and little sister. I'm just _so_ lonely and troubled +to-night that I have half a mind to tell you my story." + +"I wish you would," said Zaidos, "if you _feel_ like telling me. I +told you all about myself, and it would make me feel sort as if I was +really am old friend of yours if _you_ told _me_ things, _too_." + +"Of course," said Helen. "I know how you feel. Well, John, you know, +don't you, that we are certainly in for an attack as soon as it is +daylight? Perhaps before, because the enemy has searchlights that make +it easy for them to bother us in the dark. I know they are expecting a +big battle because this is a much coveted position. A great number of +fresh troops are on the way here. I learned that to-night, and that +looks serious, because we have our full quota of men here now. They +are going to change shifts all night. So there will doubtless be heavy +work for the Red Cross people, and much of that may be field work. +And, John, it may be that never again will you and I sit talking +together." + +"Nonsense!" said Zaidos. "Don't talk like that! You are too sweet and +pretty to die, and _I_ can't die because I have got such a lot to do." + +Helen shook her head. "I don't say that we will," she said. "But boys +as busy as you, and women nicer than I could ever dream of being, have +gone out into the dark--crowds of them, in this war." + +Zaidos saw that she was deep in one of the black moods that sometimes +comes over the sunniest natures. + +"Well, never mind," he said. "You are going to tell me who you are, +and all about things, and we are going to have the nicest sort of a +visit, if we sit up all night." + +"I shall have to sit up anyway," said Helen. "I'm on night duty." + +"Well, then so am I," said Zaidos, "so begin!" + +"Our home is in Devonshire," said Helen. "My father is rector of a +large parish there. Everything for miles and miles around belongs to +the Earl of Hazelden. He has three children, a girl and two boys, and +we grew up together. We liked the same sports, and enjoyed the same +pleasures. The daughter, Marion, who is only a year younger than I am, +went to school with me near London, and afterwards to France where we +were perfected in languages. My sister is four years younger than I, +so in those days she did not really count. I forgot to say that my +mother was well born, and had a large fortune in her own name, so we +were able to live better and have more luxuries than a clergyman can +usually provide. Of course we lived simply, but we could afford the +best and most exclusive schools, and I had horses to ride that were +exactly as good as the Hazelden children's. + +"At last Marion and I returned from school, our education finished. +Ellston Hazelden, the eldest son, was in the army, of course, and +Frank, the second, was in London studying law. At Christmas Ellston +came home on leave, and Frank came down from London. Oh, John, I wish +you knew Ellston! He is the finest--there is _no_ one like him! Of +course _any_ girl would have fallen in love with him. I did. Oh, I +did indeed! I shall never see him again, John, and I am not ashamed to +tell you how I loved him and how I will always love him." + +"Well, then--" interrupted Zaidos. + +She silenced him. "Let me tell you the rest. I loved him, and when he +told me that he loved me and wanted me to marry him, it seemed the +sweetest, most natural thing in the world. I suppose here you think +will come in the dark plot of the simple rector's daughter, and the +haughty Earl who thinks she is not good enough for his son and heir. +It was not a _bit_ like that. Lord and Lady Hazelden were adorable. +They came and welcomed me with open arms, and Lord Hazelden said he had +been planning it ever since we were little tots! + +"John, it just seemed as though they could not do enough for us. Lady +Hazelden was in deep mourning for her mother, so we decided not to +announce our engagement for six months. Then in three months more we +would marry. Every day the Hazeldens drove over with some beautiful +plan for our happiness. They had one entire wing of the castle done +over for us. Ellston came down often as he could." + +Helen lapsed into silence, and sat staring into the night. + +"Well, what then?" asked Zaidos, staring at the lovely, sorrowful face +beside him. "Did he die?" + +"No," said Helen haltingly. "We quarreled." + +"Quarreled?" echoed Zaidos. "Quarreled after all that? I don't see +how you could!" + +"I don't see now, either," said Helen. "It was my fault. I should +have _made_ him make up with me." + +"What was the fuss about?" asked Zaidos. He was intensely interested. +He had never been so close to a real love affair before. Of course he +had met a girl at one of the hops; the one he gave the collar emblem +to. Zaidos couldn't think of her name, but he remembered that he had +been pretty hard hit. He knew she was a pretty girl; funny he couldn't +think of her name! It occurred to Zaidos that a fellow ought to know a +girl's name anyhow if he was crazy over her. And he had been quite +crazy over her for a whole evening. Had it _bad_! Anyhow, he was sure +she was a blonde. That was proof that he remembered and suffered! But +Helen was speaking. + +"I hate to tell you," she said. "It seems so trivial now." + +"Well, let's hear about it," said Zaidos. "Perhaps we can get hold of +the chap and fix things up." + +"Not now," said Helen sadly. "It is too late. There always comes a +time when it is too late, John. Don't forget that. I have found it +out." + +She paused again, and Zaidos was afraid she was never going on, but +finally she took up her story. + +"There is actually nothing to it. It commenced with the color of a +dress I wore. Tony said it was the most unbecoming thing I had ever +had on. I had just been visiting a friend in London, a very advanced +girl, and she had been telling me what a mistake it was when one gave +up to the prejudices of a man. She said do it once and you would do it +always. So when Tony said quite calmly, 'Do please throw the thing +away, or burn it up,' I thought I ought to take a _firm stand_. I +said, 'I shall do neither. This is a _perfectly new dress_, and I mean +to wear it all summer.' Tony laughed. He said, 'Well, I'm blessed if +I take any leave until winter then!' Of course he was joking, and a +girl with the least common sense would have known it; but I retorted, +'That is an excellent plan!' He said, 'Why, Helen, you don't mean +that, do you?' and I said I certainly did. We parted rather stiffly. +It was his last evening at home, and I had put on the frock in honor of +it. He wrote as soon as he reached London, and referred to the dress +again. He said such trivial things should never be permitted to come +between two people who loved each other. I returned that it was not +trivial, but a matter of principle, which I should support. John, it +actually parted us. Actually parted us! Just think of it!" + +"Well, I never heard such bosh!" Zaidos said. "Why didn't you write +and tell him it was perfect nonsense, and that you were sorry?" + +"That is the worst of it," said Helen. "I did just that, and told him +how I loved him, and that it didn't matter _what_ I wore, so long as he +liked it. Oh, I said everything, John, that a silly and repentant and +loving girl _could_ say, and sent the letter to his quarters in London. +I even put my return address on the envelope." + +"What did he say?" said Zaidos. + +"Not a word!" said Helen sadly. "Not one word! I waited for two +weeks, and then he was ordered to the front. Still he did not write. +I sent him back his ring; it was all I could do, and left home for +awhile. He came down for a day, but did not come to our house. Not a +very exciting affair is it, John?" + +"Perfect bosh!" declared Zaidos. "I'll bet anything, _anything_ that +he never received your letter at all, or else he answered and you did +not get his letter. Why didn't you telephone him? _Letters_ are no +good." + +"I asked him to telephone me," said Helen. "I watched that telephone +for three days all the time." + +"Didn't you leave it at all?" said Zaidos. + +"Only once for an hour," said Helen, "and then I had my own maid sit +right beside it. + +"That is all there is to my poor little story, John boy. Tony is +somewhere in France, if he still lives, and I came out here when I +could stand it no longer at home. You see I am not afraid of death +because I don't in the least care to live without Tony." + +"Well, it's too bad," said Zaidos. "Wish I had been there. I just +know he never got your letter. I just know it!" + +"The story is ended now, at any rate," said Helen. "If Tony lives he +will go back home and marry some woman who has common sense to +appreciate him, and as for me, to the end of my days, I shall be just +Nurse Helen." She sighed softly, and for a moment looked into the +night. + +"Do you want to see him?" she asked. She drew from her uniform a +slender chain with a big gold locket swinging on it. A crest was on it +set with diamonds that flashed in the dim light. Zaidos looked at the +open, handsome face. + +"Look like him?" he asked. + +"Exactly like him!" she replied. + +"Well, when I meet him," promised Zaidos, "I'll tell him a few things!" + +Helen smiled. "You will never meet," she said. "But if ever anything +happens to me, John, take this and send it to him. You'll remember the +name, won't you?" + +"Oh, yes!" said Zaidos, "I'll remember! But just you take notice, he +never got that letter!" + +"What a stubborn boy you are!" exclaimed Helen. + +"Not stubborn at all," declared Zaidos, looking at the lovely face. +"I'm merely a man _myself_, if I _am_ young." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HAPPINESS FOR HELEN + +Again Helen laughed. + +"All right," said Zaidos. "Have it all your own way, but I know I am +right about this affair. A fellow with a face like that, engaged to a +girl like you, would have acknowledged that letter just in common +politeness if nothing else. Just to say, 'Thank you, but I don't care +to play with you any more!' Oh, yes, he would have answered it!" + +"Whether he would or not," said Helen, "the breach is too wide to cross +now. It is all over. I deserved to lose him and I feel no bitterness +about it. My fate is what I deserve." + +Zaidos hated to hear her self-reproaches. "I don't know about that," +he defended awkwardly. "Probably he ought to have come half way. It +looks so to me." + +"It is growing light in the east," said Helen. "We have talked all +night about my poor little affairs. Let us think of something else +now, let us--" + +She was interrupted by a shattering boom of artillery. It seemed to +crack the very air. They sprang upright and stood for a moment +listening. + +"The beginning!" said Helen solemnly. + +"Well, good-bye," said Zaidos. "I must see where they want me to go. +Where's that doctor?" + +The doctor and his assistants as well were there. They hurried into +the dug-out, calm, collected, business-like. + +"Set out the antiseptics, nurse," said the doctor. "You were on night +duty, but I can't let you go until someone comes to relieve you. This +is very apt to be a big day. You, Zaidos, get out in the first line +trench, and don't lose your head. That cousin of yours is hunting for +you. I sent him forward too. Nurse, the new troops are here; every +trench and shelter is full of men. A big day, children, a big day!" + +He rubbed his muscular, sensitive hands together. Another roar shook +the ground and balls of dirt rolled down the walls of the First Aid +Station. They heard the muffled beat-beat of feet running through the +trenches toward the front. + +Zaidos, shivering, his teeth chattering with excitement, buckled on his +aid kit and bolted out with a last wave of the hand. He hurried over +through the short trench into the cook house, and then made his way +along the trench toward the front. A return fire was beginning now, +and high in the sky was seen the first Zeppelin. Like a great bird of +prey it circled high in air above the lines. Then from somewhere in +the rear an English airship skimmed to meet it. The bull-nosed +Zeppelin soared and the lighter machine followed, light as a swallow. +Zaidos stared, fascinated. He could see spurts of smoke from one and +then the other. Another delicate craft passed overhead and joined the +first English ship in pursuit. Zaidos stumbled on, still trying to +watch the chase. He was suddenly thrown violently to the ground, and +covered with earth. Screams of agony came from the trench ahead. He +scrambled to his feet and ran forward. A dozen men, tumbled together +in horrible confusion, lay tossing and shrieking. Zaidos turned faint +for a moment. They were the awful flat, senseless cries of hurt +animals. "A-a-a-a-a-a-a!" they shrilled and some of them tore at their +wounds. Zaidos ran for the nearest man and knelt beside him. He tried +to turn what was left of his body, and could not. He glanced around +for help. Sneaking past toward the rear he saw a familiar figure. It +was Velo Kupenol. Zaidos called him sharply, and the stern note of +authority made Velo turn. + +"Come here quickly!" commanded Zaidos. + +"I can't!" panted Velo. "Zaidos, it makes me sick! I'm going to the +rear for a little while." + +Zaidos looked up at the face, white with cowardice. + +"Come here!" said Zaidos. Still kneeling he pointed a small but +business looking revolver at his cousin's heart. "Come here!" he +ordered. + +Velo obeyed, the look on his face changing from white terror to black +hate. + +Zaidos saw the look, and read it with unconcern. + +"Come here, Velo!" He held Velo's shifty eyes. "You get to work here. +If you don't, I shall shoot you, just as I would shoot a dog. There is +no time to talk. Get to work! You hear what I tell you. Turn this +man!" + +Velo shudderingly put himself to the horrid task of lifting the +bleeding and torn body. Zaidos talked as he worked in a deep, earnest +tone that carried to Velo's ears even in the noise of battle. + +"I'm going to be after you every minute, Velo Kupenol! You won't +disgrace me if I can help it. Go get your stretcher. If you drop it I +will kill you!" + +He spoke so fiercely, and with such meaning, that Velo felt that for +once his easy-going cousin had the upper hand. + +As the doctor had said, they were suffering for lack of help, so Zaidos +could not afford to let the coward run away. He _had_ to have +assistance if he was to save some of the lives which he felt were in a +measure entrusted to him. So Velo had to be used. He stopped the gush +of blood from a dozen wounds and, lifting on one end of the stretcher, +ordered Velo, with a nod of his head, to lead on toward the First Aid +Station. + +Almost immediately they had the wounded man on the table, and again +were off. The guns roared. Shrapnel dropped and exploded, or exploded +in air. Overhead Zaidos was conscious that the duel in the clouds +still went warily on, but he could not give it a glance. He lost all +track of time. He saw others with the Red Cross badge, working, +working with the same feverish haste with which he kept at his task. A +sort of dreadful haze came over him. He labored with desperate haste, +with strong certainty and sureness of touch, but he seemed to feel +nothing of human anguish or human sympathy. He was a machine set in +motion by the pressing needs of battle, and he went on and on in a +haze. Men died in his arms or were transported to the First Aid where +the doctors and Nurse Helen worked with incredible swiftness and skill. + +He did not speak to Helen, nor did she notice him. Velo, still pale, +kept doggedly at his task, only an occasional gleam of hatred lighting +his eyes when he had to look at his fearless cousin. He was more than +ever like a treacherous dog, watching, always watching for its chance +for a throat-hold. + +And somehow, without a spoken word, the thing became clear to Zaidos. +All at once he knew how deeply and utterly his cousin hated him. He +knew as well as if Velo had shouted it aloud that he meant to be the +instrument of his death in some way or other, sooner or later. And +Zaidos, filled with the frenzy of the battle, did not care. He was not +afraid of Velo. He put him aside as though he was something that might +be attended to later. + +A sort of mental illumination came to Zaidos. He cared for wounded men +with a quick skill that he had never known that he possessed. He grew +so weary that he staggered under his part of the stretcher's load. His +leg pained him so that it was like a whip, keeping him awake and at +work when all his body cried to drop down and sleep. + +Once when he waited in the opening of the First Aid shelter, he was +conscious that someone asked, "Have they broken our lines?" + +"Not quite, but they are through the barbed wire. Our troops are +massing along the first trench." + +"If we can hold out until dark we are all right," said the first +speaker, a captain with one leg gone at the knee, awaiting his turn +with the doctor without the quiver of a muscle. + +"The chaps over there beyond are pretty well tired out. I can tell by +the way they are fighting. They are trying to save men." + +Zaidos hurried out and lost the rest. It seemed to him that the whole +world was in conflict just ahead there. The bomb-proof shelter was +crammed with reserves. On and on and on went the fighting; for years +and years and years it seemed to Zaidos. He did not know that the day +waned and night was near. All he knew was that at last, while he and +Velo waited in the First Aid for the stretcher to be emptied, silence +fell, a silence punctuated with scattering explosions. The darkness +had ended the fighting, and the enemy had only reached the first line +of trenches. + +"It is over!" said the doctor, glancing up. + +Velo sank down on a plank and covered his face with his hands. Zaidos, +standing, closed his eyes. + +"Let those boys rest for five minutes," ordered the doctor. + +Nurse Helen gently pushed Zaidos down on a bench. He toppled over and +she put a folded cloak under his head. Then for thirty happy minutes +he lost consciousness of everything. When an aide shook Zaidos awake, +he came to himself with as much physical pain as though his body had +actually felt the shock of wounds. He groaned involuntarily. Velo was +sobbing dryly from fatigue and pain. + +"Come, come, boys!" said the doctor. "Finish your good work! Here, +take this." He mixed something in a glass, and gave it to Zaidos, and +then repeated the dose for Velo. It braced them at once, and after +they had visited the cook house and had taken some hot soup, they +prepared to go out on the field again and look for wounded. + +The night seemed very dark as they stumbled along. The dead lay piled +everywhere in hideous confusion. There seemed to be no wounded. Man +after man they scanned with their flashlights. The unsteady lights +often gave the dead the effect of motion. As they sent the ray here +and there they thought they saw eyes open or close, arms move, legs +stretch out, or mangled and tortured bodies twist in agony. But under +their exploring hands the dead lay cold. + +They reached the first line trench and passed beyond it. Here lay +ranks of the enemy, mowed down under the pitiless English fire. + +"There is someone living over here," said Velo. "I heard a groan." + +They turned and found a group of men; three dead, and across their +bodies two who surely moved. + +Zaidos propped his light on the breast of one of the dead soldiers and +lifted the head of a young officer whose shattered leg held him +helpless. He was quite conscious, and spoke to Zaidos in a weak +whisper. + +"I'm gone!" he said. "See what you can do for the man lying on my leg. +I would have bled to death long ago if it hadn't been for his weight." + +Zaidos looked in his kit anxiously. It was almost empty and the +bandage was all gone. + +"Velo, get back to the station and bring me a fresh kit," he ordered. +"I'm going to hold this artery until you get back, and see if I can't +keep a little blood in here." He sat down and pressed a finger on the +fast emptying vein. With his free hand he held a flask to the lips of +the almost dying man. Velo disappeared in the dark. + +"Really, my dear chap," said the wounded officer, "it's a waste of time +for you to do that. I wish you would jolly well leave me for some +other chap. I'm done; and I don't care in the least, so you need not +trouble your conscience about me." + +Hurt to death as he was, the officer smiled; and Zaidos was all at once +filled with the conviction that he was someone whom he had met. But +where? + +"That's nonsense!" said Zaidos. "We will fix you up if you will make +up your mind to hang on to yourself." + +"I've been hanging on for a good while," said the officer pleasantly. +"I've been here for a year or two, I think. I only came down from +London for the night, you see. Not very long, eh, old chap?" He +nodded his head. + +"You what?" said Zaidos stupidly. + +"London, you know," said the officer. "I came down right away. I +couldn't be sure it was true. Seemed sort of unofficial, don't you +know?" He smiled again. Zaidos understood. He was delirious. He +went on muttering disjointed sentences which Zaidos paid no attention +to; but every time the man smiled his gay, light-hearted, unconscious +smile, Zaidos felt the strange sense of acquaintance. He could see +that the man was almost gone. He had lost almost all the blood in his +body, and Zaidos did not dare to move him, nor even shift the weight of +the unconscious but living man who laid across the shattered leg. +Zaidos felt sure that he would die before Velo returned. And he was +still more convinced that the man was at his end when after a few +moments of stupor, he opened his eyes quite sanely and looked at Zaidos. + +"That was a pretty bad blow for me, wasn't it, old chap?" he said +quietly. "I think I won't make out to stop much longer. I've been +here since eleven this morning. Pretty long for a man hurt like this. +I am glad you ran across me. There's a lot of papers in my blouse. +Would you mind sending them to the address on the outside envelope? +And I wish you would write to my father. Tell him it's all right. +Tell him not to let Frank enlist if he can help it. He's too young. +And if you can mark the place they put me, it would be a mighty kind +thing. Mother would be so glad if she could have me safe in the church +at home, some day. Will you do this?" + +"Of course I will," said Zaidos. "But I think you have got a chance." + +"I don't want it," said the wounded man. "I could not fight again, and +there are reasons--I really don't care a hang about living. Just send +those letters for me. And one thing more," he tried to lift his hand +to his throat, but was too weak. "Will you kindly take off the chain +under my blouse," he said, "before anyone else gets here?" + +Zaidos felt for the chain with his free hand, still pressing the artery +with the other. As he found the chain, a large locket was released +from the man's blouse and, swinging against his buttons, sprung open. +Unconsciously Zaidos looked at it. + +"Send that with the rest," said the officer. He closed his eyes. + +"Here, you!" cried Zaidos. "Quit that! Don't you _dare_ go and die! +Do you hear me? Don't you do it! Do you hear? I want to talk! I +don't need to send this anywhere. If you just hang on, you will see +her! _Helen is here_! Don't die now! You want to see her, don't you? +I know who you are! You are Tony Hazelden!" + +"Helen here?" gasped the man. + +"Yes," said Zaidos. "She is a nurse over there, a few yards away." + +"Helen here?" said the man again. + +"Yes, I tell you!" cried Zaidos. "Hang on to yourself! You want to +tell her why you did not answer that letter she wrote you; don't you?" + +"I never received a letter," said Hazelden, for it was he. + +"That's what I told her," said Zaidos. "Now you just hang on to +yourself. Don't you let go! Do whatever you like afterwards, but +don't make me go back there and tell her you have gone and died before +I could get you in hospital. I'd like to know where that Velo is with +my kit! Here, take another drink of this!" + +He pressed the flask once more to Hazelden's white lips. The man +seemed sinking into a stupor. Zaidos watched him with secret terror. +After the miracle of finding Hazelden here, when he was supposed by +Helen to be far off in France, and after the brief joy of thinking that +he might be the one to reunite the parted lovers, it was too hard to +face the loss of his man. Zaidos kept calling him by name. +Finally--it seemed a long, long time--Hazelden opened his eyes again. + +"I can't see just how it is," he said. "Are you sure Helen is here?" + +"Yes, she is here, I promise you," said Zaidos. "And you want to brace +up for her sake. For her sake, do you understand? Her heart is about +broken. Don't you go and die now after all the trouble you have made." + +Hazelden gave Zaidos a straight look. + +"What are you thinking of?" he said in his weak whisper. "You don't +suppose I could die _now_, do you?" + +"Here's my kit," said Zaidos, as Velo came hurrying up. + +He fastened the artery rudely but well, and lifting off the unconscious +soldier, they carefully placed Hazelden on the stretcher. Many, many +times that day Zaidos had been thankful for his steel muscles and man's +stature, and now he was more thankful than ever. With all the care +possible they carried their burden over the rough, uneven ground back +to the First Aid Station. + +Zaidos' heart sang within him. The impossible had happened. He was +bringing Tony Hazelden back to the girl who loved him, and Hazelden +loved her. Zaidos knew that, not only because of the picture Tony +carried, but because no one could have seen Hazelden's face when he +spoke Helen's name and not know that his heart was breaking for her. +Zaidos knew that Hazelden's life hung on the merest thread, but he +stoutly believed that his love for Helen would keep him alive until he +reached her, at least, and after that Zaidos was willing to trust Helen +to do the rest. Zaidos watched his helpless burden with anxiety as +they approached the shelter. When they arrived he gave the word to +Velo and they gently lowered the stretcher to the ground. + +"Stay here a minute," he ordered Velo, and slid down into the +underground room. There was a lull in the dug-out as all the men had +for the minute been cared for and sent back to the rear, which always +is done as much as possible in the darkness. + +The doctor and his aids, resting on the hard planks that served as +seats, sat upright against the dirt wall, sound asleep. Nurse Helen +stood at the white table cleaning the instruments. Zaidos scarcely +recognized her. She was haggard and worn as a woman old in years. +Color, energy, life itself seemed to have been drained out of her in +the terrible ordeal of the past day. Zaidos hesitated. He was filled +with fears all at once. It seemed so like planning the meeting of a +couple of ghosts. Hazelden, unconscious and at the point of death, and +Helen fagged out, worn, and looking like an old woman. + +He went to her, tenderly laying a stained hand on hers. + +"Helen," he said, speaking rapidly, "I've no time to break the news to +you. The most impossible sort of a thing has happened. You have got +to hear it all at once, because there is a man almost dying out there +and I've got to hurry. You know the reserves that came in to-day? Now +hang on, Helen! Captain Hazelden was with them. Oh, Helen," as she +wavered and almost fell, "if you go to pieces you will always regret +it!" + +"Dead?" she murmured. + +"No, but he's outside awfully shot, and he has been keeping himself +alive just to see you. You will have to help, Helen, if you can." + +He left her standing beside the table. She could not call the doctor. +She could not speak. They came in with the stretcher, and as she saw +its ghastly burden and gave a quick professional glance at his maimed +body, the tender woman and the trained nurse struggled for the mastery. +The nurse won. Swiftly she prepared the table, called the doctor and +helped to lift him from the stretcher. + +Zaidos and Velo left to rescue the man whose weight had kept the +captain from bleeding to death. His scalp wound was serious but not +dangerous, Zaidos decided, and they returned to the First Aid with +lighter hearts. + +The room was empty. Hazelden was not there. Zaidos' heart dropped. +Had he died? + +Helen answered the question in his face. She came to meet Zaidos. Her +eyes shone, her cheeks were the loveliest pink. Her step was light. + +"Well?" said Zaidos. + +"More than well!" said Helen. "Oh, John, it is wonderful! Wonderful! +And you brought me my happiness! I am to be transferred to the field +hospital tomorrow, where I can nurse him myself. He will live; he +_must_ live! We could not talk, but he knew me. And I know everything +is all right!" + +"Certainly it's all right!" said Zaidos. "Didn't I tell you so? I +knew just how it would be," and the hero of a single ballroom looked as +wise as only a fellow could who had been dead-crazy over a girl all one +evening. + +"What are you going to do about things?" asked Zaidos. "Go on being +engaged?" + +"Indeed I'm not!" said Helen as she bathed the soldier's head. "Not at +all! Just as soon as he can hold my hand, we will be married by the +chaplain. I'll never, never risk another misunderstanding!" + +"See that you don't!" said Zaidos quite gruffly. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +VISIONS + +While Zaidos, aided by Velo, continued his heart-rending task among the +dead and wounded on that bloody field, now applying the tourniquet to +some emptying artery, now administering, drop by drop, the stimulant +needed to hold life in some poor fellow, hurrying back with others on +their stretcher, or giving way to the fearless and pitiful priests who +moved among the dying--while all these things happened, it would be +well to pause and reflect on the wise preparation which had made it +possible for Zaidos to do well his allotted task. + +As a Boy Scout, and in the extra work of school, he had taken a keen +interest in the Red Cross work. Zaidos was the sort of a fellow who +takes a keen pleasure in doing things well. He stood well in his +classes always, not for the benefit of school marks, but because he +thought that if he studied at all, he might as well be thorough about +it and try to get at what the "book Johnny," as the boys called the +textbook writers, really was driving at. It was the same with +athletics. He had jumped higher and run faster than anyone else in +school, not so much because he was quick and light and agile, but +because, having found out that he could run and jump and put up a good +boost for the team at other sports, he practiced every spare moment he +could find. Zaidos was always trying to see if he could break his own +records. He got a lot of fun out of it. It was like a good game of +solitaire. He was not dependent on some other fellow. The other +fellow was incidental, a sort of side issue and like a good pace-maker. +Of course you had to beat him, but the sport was in coming in ahead of +your own time. + +It was for this that Zaidos had always worked. It had kept him from +feeling the petty jealousies and envy which retard the progress of so +many of the fellows. Racing with himself, in Red Cross drills, or +running, racing, riding or studying, his rival was always present, +always ready and willing to take another "try" at something. It was +like having a punching bag in his room. Every time he passed it he +took a whack or two, and developed his muscles accordingly. + +So, in this unexpected and supreme test of his life, Zaidos found +himself fit. As the work went on and on, endlessly as it seemed, +Zaidos found that his brain commenced to work independently of his +hands. The unbelievable wounds of war no longer shocked his deadened +nerves. His hands worked more and more accurately and rapidly, but on +the inside of his brain was a sort of screen on which flashed the +moving picture of his life. + +They started from his little boyhood, when he first crossed the ocean +up to the time of the last crossing, at the sad summons which had taken +him to his dying father. No real moving picture, thought Zaidos, had +ever been screened with so many thrills and exciting incidents as the +real life-film through which he saw himself rapidly moving. Here and +there on the bloody field he puzzled it out for himself, finding that +the plot was complete, and that Velo, his cousin, must be the villain. + +Zaidos was still ignorant of the fact that Velo had stolen the papers, +but that Velo hated him and would be glad enough to get him out of the +way grew clearer and clearer, in spite of the apparent friendliness +with which he had treated him up to the present time. But now, hour by +hour, Zaidos was conscious of a sort of sour look of hatred which +seemed to grow plainer and plainer in Velo's sharp face. Zaidos had an +uncomfortable feeling that he must keep a watchful eye on Velo. It was +nothing but an instinct, but even so, he felt it, and feeling it, was +ashamed. + +So the time wore on. + +Bending over a soldier with a gaping, bloody hole in his side, Zaidos +turned to the hospital corps pouch spread open beside him, and felt for +a roll of gauze bandage. One little roll remained. + +"Get back to the hospital and get another outfit of gauze and tape," he +ordered Velo. + +Velo stood up and straightened his back. He looked down at Zaidos, +then his gaze traveled to the unconscious soldier. + +"What do you bother with him for?" he said heartlessly. "It's no use. +I'm going to quit. What's the use of working myself to death?" + +"Going to desert?" asked Zaidos coldly. He was holding the hurt +soldier in a position where he could treat the wound quickly. + +"I suppose so," said Velo. "This isn't my fight!" + +"Look here," said Zaidos, "I don't care what you do. If you desert and +are caught at it, and are shot, it is no affair of mine. I wash my +hands of you. But for the sake of your own manhood _get me that +bandage_ while I take care of this man. Don't be such a _cad_, Velo! +Get me the things I need, and then let's talk this thing out later. +But don't do anything to disgrace the family. After all, you know, if +anything happens to me, why, you are the head of the house." + +Zaidos glanced suddenly up at his cousin, and surprised in his face a +look that once and for all swept away all the kindly doubts he had +cherished. Velo's countenance was so full of cold speculation and +deadly hatred that Zaidos started. Then he pulled himself together, +and looked Velo in the eye. + +"Get the bandages!" he said coldly and Velo, as though controlled by +some superior force, turned to do as he was told. + +As he hurried across the rough, blood-stained field, he too saw +pictures in his mind. He saw the contrasting fates, either of which he +thought might be his. The obscure life of a poor relation, dependent +on a relative's kindness, and the life of luxury if all that relative +had should come to him. A better boy could have planned to build up a +career for himself, but Velo could not or would not. He was like a +thief who would rather steal the dollar which he could go to work and +earn honestly. + +Velo had become desperate in the last few days. As he hurried on, he +was seized with a sudden determination to end everything. He went into +the First Aid shelter and secured the bandages from the supply table +and went back, a dreadful resolve taking form as he went. He found +Zaidos still bending over the wounded soldier. + +"Well, you hurried, didn't you?" he said, looking up with a nod of +thanks as Velo handed him the bandages. He went on rapidly, securing +the gaping wound so that they could shift the torn body to the +stretcher. + +"It's funny," he said as he worked, "that we don't run across the +doctors oftener out here. Of course they are all at work just as hard +as we are, and a good deal harder, poor fellows, but it does seem as +though every time we get hold of a case that is a good deal too hard +for us to tackle, why, then there isn't a soul in sight to help. I'm +so afraid of doing something that will make somebody heal wrong, or +limp or something." + +"Be a good way to take revenge on somebody," said Velo. + +"Why you--" Zaidos could not finish. "How the deuce do you _ever_ +think up such stuff? For goodness' sake, don't say it to me! You make +me sick!" He bent over his patient again, and Velo looked idly about. + +At his feet lay a revolver. He picked it up. It was loaded. Idly he +tried the trigger. It worked. He looked at Zaidos. How he hated him! +They seemed all alone on that field of dead and dying. The tide had +swept away and left them there with their work. + +There was a sudden red mist over Velo's sight. . . . Kneeling in the +light of the big flashlight, Zaidos loomed up, a clear, clean cut +figure with the velvet blackness of the night behind him. Velo brushed +his hand before his eyes. Zaidos was putting the last pin in the neat +dressing he had applied to the wound. There was a thread of hope for +the man. Zaidos smiled. Velo knew he would get up-- + +The revolver sounded like a cannon. Zaidos, unhurt, got to his feet. +He pressed a hand to his side. Velo watched him with fascinated eyes. +Zaidos looked down. There was a cut across the service blouse between +his sleeve and body, right under his left arm. + +Zaidos stared first at Velo, then at the revolver still in his hand. + +"How did that happen?" he demanded in a low, tense voice. + +Velo swallowed and cleared his throat. + +"The thing went off," he said huskily. + +"Well, it came near doing for me," said Zaidos, still staring +suspiciously at Velo. "You let me have that revolver! Yon are too +funny with things to suit me." + +Velo, still pale, smiled a wry, twisted smile. "I'm sorry," he lied. +"I don't see how it happened. It must be out of order." + +"Give it to me!" said Zaidos, "and take the front of this stretcher. +I've got to look out for accidents, it seems. I never saw anything so +careless in my life. You have just got to be careful, Velo! I won't +stand for it! This isn't the first time I've nearly come to harm +through your _carelessness_, if you want to call it that. I tell you I +won't stand for it! Mind, I don't make any accusations; and I don't +claim you are to blame for a lot of things that have happened to me +lately, but if things don't stop, why, you are going to be sorry! +There won't be any revolvers going off, and your bed won't go down, and +your medicine won't get exchanged for poison, like it sometimes +happens. I shall just take you out back of the next wire entanglement, +and I will give you a _good beating up_, Velo. I remember I used to +have to do it when we were about four years old. It used to do you a +lot of good, and I suppose all these years since you have had no one to +keep you where you belonged. I won't do this, you understand, unless +you get careless with guns and things again. You hear, Velo?" + +Velo made no reply. + +The two boys carefully bearing the stretcher tramped along in silence. + +"You hear, Velo?" said Zaidos again. "Honestly, the more I think of +it, the madder I get!" + +"You stop your nonsense!" said Velo suddenly over his shoulder. His +voice took on a whine. "What makes you act so, Zaidos? I'm your +cousin, and I should think you would be ashamed of the things you say +to me, just as if I haven't stuck right beside you every minute, and as +if I had not done everything in the world that I possibly could do to +help you. You don't treat me well, Zaidos!" + +"I do, too," said Zaidos, stung by this injustice. "I should think I +did; but how do you treat me?" + +They reached the entrance to the First Aid Station and gave their +unconscious burden into the hands waiting to receive him. The doctor +scanned the wound. + +"Well, boys," he said, "you have saved this man all right." He turned +the bright light on the still, white face. "My heavens!" he exclaimed. + +"Who is it?" asked the nurse. + +Velo looked at the face, and spoke before the doctor could reply. + +"I know him," he said. "His name is John Smith." + +The doctor was working rapidly with restoratives. + +"John Smith?" he repeated. "This is the Prince of Teck's oldest son, +and his brother was killed an hour ago. We must keep this fellow +alive," he went on, doggedly. "First time I met him he was just an +hour old. He won't go out of this world yet if _I_ can help it!" + +The boys went outside and for a moment sat down on the ground to rest. + +"What do you suppose made him do that?" said Velo musingly. + +"Do what?" asked Zaidos. + +"Why," said Velo, "I asked what his name was one night and he said John +Smith. I think that old doctor is making a mistake." + +"What does it matter?" said Zaidos. "He would make just the same +effort to save the plain John Smiths as he would to save the princes of +the world." + +"Pooh!" said Velo, sneering. "I guess not! Why should he? He knows a +thing or two and you will find it out some day. Why, nobody does +anything for anybody unless they get paid for it somehow or other!" + +"Oh, say," said Zaidos, getting up and striking one clenched, fist +violently into the other, "I wouldn't have your little bit of a soul +for anything on earth! I wouldn't have your mean, little bit of a +suspicious, ungenerous mind! I hate to remind a fellow like you of +anything so fine, but how about my father? What pay, _pay_, mind you, +did he ever get for taking care of _you_? What did he ever get for +starting that colony of sick people up on the mountain back of his +hunting lodge, with a doctor right there, and a nurse or two paid by +father? Do you suppose it made him feel good to see them tottering all +over the preserve where he could no longer shoot, for fear of hitting +some of the poor wretches?" + +"No," agreed Velo, "he didn't get a thing out of all that, and I always +thought that colony for the sick was the silliest thing I ever heard +of. I'll tell you right now when I get hold of things--" he caught +himself up quickly. "I mean, of course, when _you_ get hold of things, +if you do as I would do, you will send those people packing back to +their slums as fast as they can go. As far as his doing for me, why, +I'm one of the family and he sort of had to. It is a duty. Besides, +do you suppose it was very much fun sticking around that house, quiet +as the grave, _nothing_ going on, _no_ one coming to see your father +but old, grey-headed men and women forever fixing up charities?" + +"That's all right," said Zaidos. "Do you know what I am going to do as +soon as I get out of this? I'm going to cut right back to America and +study as hard as I can. Then as soon as the war is over, I will come +back here and straighten everything up. I will of course keep the +title. You can't give that away, and I wouldn't want to. I'm proud of +my name. It is an honorable one and it has been kept clean by the men +before me; but I mean to give Greece everything I can turn into money. +Then I'll take enough to start me, go back to America again, and cut +out a career for myself. I'm going to be a doctor and as good a doctor +as ever lived if study will do it. _That's_ the monument I mean to +give my father and my mother." + +He gave a jerk of the head toward Velo, who sat upright before him. + +"How does that strike you, old top?" he asked and climbed down into the +First Aid pit. + +Left alone, Velo sat thinking. Then he rolled over on his face and +beat the earth with his fists. Once more the films flew along, in the +moving picture of his mind. He saw the wealth of the Zaidos +house--gold, gold! a _stream_ of gold flowing and flowing _away_ from +him! He saw the bright lights, the dancing, drinking, all the +carousels he had so often dreamed of, slipping out of his grasp. What +possible hope could a fellow like himself have of keeping on the right +side of anyone like Zaidos? He smiled when he thought what Zaidos +would say if he could know or guess what Velo's life had been. What +would he do if he ever found out how he had treated Zaidos' long +suffering father? And Velo did not try to deceive himself. He knew +perfectly well that back there in Saloniki, there were people who would +jump at a chance to get even with him, and who would give Zaidos an +account of meanness and wrong-doing that would cause him to kick Velo +out of the house. + +Velo began to hate himself for the uncertainty in putting off what to +him was a disagreeable necessity. Once more he went over the +situation. It seemed as though he had gone over it a dozen times, a +million times. It all ended at the blank wall which was Zaidos. +Zaidos _must_ be removed. + +Now it is a well-known fact that we are what our thoughts make us. Our +minds are like our houses, our homes. We do not have to entertain +unwelcome guests. We do not have to invite them there. It may be that +we feel obliged to treat everyone whom we meet at our games or in +school or at work with common politeness. No matter how we despise a +man, we can't very well go up to him in the street and say, "Here, I +don't like your style," and proceed to knock him out with a good +right-hander. Naturally it won't do. But we need not give the bounder +the freedom of our homes. So with our thoughts. It is only when we +bring them in and grow intimate with them, and make them part of +ourselves that they begin to harm us. + +Velo, too evil and too lazy to close the door of his mind on common +thoughts and low desires, had grown more and more like his unworthy +guests. And now instead of kicking the whole mob into the outer +darkness, he lay there, face down, listening to their evil whispers. + +"Get rid of Zaidos," they said over and over. "Get rid of him. Who +will know? Don't you hate him? You ought to! Just because he is the +one who really owns everything, is that any reason why you should get +out and work for an honest living? You don't want to bother with an +honest living. You want to live soft and lie easy. Get rid of Zaidos! +Now is your chance! It is your only chance. You know how he makes +friends everywhere. He is straight as a string. He does not lie. He +wouldn't do a mean action. Fellows like us are afraid of that sort. +Get rid of him. Now--now!" + +So the whispering in Velo's mind went on, and he listened and listened, +and presently he sat up. On his face was written what is written on +every man's face when he gives the keys of his soul over to Evil. + +Zaidos came climbing out. + +"Well, the doctor is going to save your friend Smith," he said +cheerfully. "Good work, too! One of the nicest fellows I ever knew, +that Smith. Too bad about his little brother. I never saw two fellows +so crazy over each other. It seems they are the last of the family. +Doctor says this fellow will never be able to fight again, but he will +get perfectly well in time. I don't believe it myself. I don't +believe any of the men wounded go will ever get all over it, but we can +hope so, anyhow. You see I feel as though I knew this man Smith real +well because he knows a schoolmate of mine, Nickell-Wheelerson his name +is. He was just a plain boy when we were at school, but he came over +with me, and now he's a lord. Poor old Nick, how he will hate it!" + +Zaidos paused, and stared into the night. + +Velo scanned him under lowering brows. + +"Get it over soon--soon!" whispered the impatient Evil in his soul. + +Velo put a hand on his breast where the papers were hidden. Zaidos +stooped and tightened the strap of his puttee. Velo watched him +sneeringly. Zaidos was so maddeningly unconcerned. Velo wondered if +he could be near anyone who hated him as he hated Zaidos and not feel +and fear it. The urge of Evil became like a heavy hand knocking on his +heart. He almost feared Zaidos would hear it. "Now--now--now!" it +went. + +"Come on, Zaidos," he said, standing up. "Let's get to work. I +suppose we have an all-night task before us." + +Zaidos yawned. "I thought so, too," he said; "but it seems they are +looking for a bad day to-morrow and we have been relieved from duty for +the night. A new shift goes into the field in ten minutes, and we go +back to the rear to one of the farm-houses there to rest until ten +to-morrow. Come on, let's start." + +"To-morrow, then," whispered Velo to the Evil in his soul. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +VICTORY + +The boys walked slowly back, picking their way as well as they could in +the darkness, occasionally taking to the zig-zag trenches when the +surface paths were too obscure. Everywhere men were sleeping, rolled +up in their blankets and lying uncomfortably along the bottom of the +trenches or out on the ground under the stars. The boys did not talk. +Zaidos was busy thinking of the present, with all its tragic incidents, +and occasionally a funny happening to lighten the gloom. He thought of +Helen, and wondered how her well-beloved patient was progressing. He +had a sort of "hunch" as the fellows at school used to say, that Helen +was a happy girl, and certainly, if the man was conscious at all, he +was happy, too. + +About four hundred yards from the lines they found the farm-house to +which they had been sent. It was practically a ruin. The roof was +gone, excepting over one room where a fire burned in a big fireplace, +and where a great kettle swung on a heavy chain. This room had had one +side blown out of it, so it was not much better off except in the +matter of a rainstorm, than the other rooms that had four sides but no +ceilings. It was too open to the weather for much use, however, and +the small group of soldiers present were quartered in a cellar close by. + +A young sentinel showed Zaidos and Velo the way down, and they rolled +up in their blankets and tried to sleep. It was a difficult thing to +do. Zaidos found that the steady tramping and kneeling of the day and +evening had made his leg, so recently healed, ache badly. It throbbed +and he turned and twisted in an effort to find a comfortable position. + +Velo's head ached splittingly, and he lay staring into the darkness, +keeping company ever with the evil thoughts in his heart. He slept +finally, however, and did not awake until Zaidos shook him by the +shoulder and told him it was time for breakfast. The three-sided room +with the fireplace had been turned into a kitchen, and the cooks were +busy there when the boys went over. The meal tasted good, and although +the coffee was thick and muddy, the boys partook of it eagerly. It was +at least hot and sweet. + +Velo gritted his teeth with exasperation as Zaidos strolled out and at +once spoke to a soldier who sat by the door with a couple of letters +and papers in his lap. It was so exactly like Zaidos to get acquainted +without a moment's delay. He smiled at the soldier, and in reply the +young fellow made a place for him on the bench. + +"Sit down, won't you?" he said. "Mail has come, and I got more than my +share." + +"Glad you fared well," said Zaidos, taking the offered seat. "I see +you have a paper. May I look at it?" + +"Certainly!" said the soldier. "There is nothing in it. The war news +is so censored over home now that you can't get anything much out of +the papers. I like 'em because I can read the home advertisements, and +see notices of people I know, and watch what's playing at the theatres. +Makes me forget this rotten hole for awhile." + +"That's so," agreed Zaidos. "But just think how crazy all the people +at home must be all the while to hear from you fellows at the front." + +"I think they are," agreed the soldier. "I have a brother in France, +too, and father has just sent me a letter from him. It's fun to +compare experiences. Want to read it? You may if you care to." + +"Of course I'd like to!" said Zaidos with his ready friendliness. +"There is no one to write to me anywhere except some schoolmates over +in America, and I don't suppose I will hear from them for months." He +took the closely written sheets of thin paper, and read the letter, +appreciating the spirit in which it was offered him. + +"My dear Father," it ran. "I received your letter and note last night, +and Auntie's parcel the night before. Thank you both very much for +same. It is good of you to us both, but do not spend too much money. +Hard times are coming on, I imagine. The kippers were grand. Six of +us had a great tea on them in the wine cellar of a shattered farm-house +where we are for four nights after four days in the trenches. Then we +go back to the fighting line for another four days and nights. This +place we are at, in the cellar, is a keep with emergency stores and +loop holes, and is armored. Twenty-five of us have to keep it at all +costs, should the enemy come over the line, which is perhaps four +hundred yards away. The bally place is overrun with rats. They run +all over your body and head at night, and I have to sleep with my +overcoat tucked over my head to prevent them touching the bare skin. + +"Up at the trenches, I was four days and nights stationed about sixty +yards from the Huns doing sentry on and off day and night the whole +time, waiting with bombs and bayonet in case they attempted to take it, +and now on return here have done three more night-guards and then no +more sleep again hardly for four more nights, when we return to the +firing line. + +"It is a hard life, isn't it? For in between, one is sent off on all +sorts of fatigues, drawing rations, sand bags, trench boards, etc., etc. + +"I must some time see that new Turkey carpet. The only one I see now +is sand bags. If there is a big move shortly, which seems more than +likely, it may delay our leave as I guess all the troopers would be +wanted in that case, but I am looking forward tremendously to seeing +you all again. + +"Must conclude now, dear father. + +"Much love to all from your son, + DICK." + +"P. S. We dug up some dead Prussian Guards the other day. There has +been some great fighting here and may be again. I don't know what I +should do without the candles and matches you send me. They keep me +going nicely. + +"I have just thought perhaps my letter does not seem very cheerful; so +I must tell you we have lots of fun in between the serious parts of the +game. Last rest, I had some great French feeds (for about one franc) +in a town near by. Got pally with six French gendarmes and hope to see +them again when I have another spell off. + +"I guess they could take me around the town if I wanted to see the +sights. Also at all villages where we stay, I make friends with some +of the cottagers, and get lots of coffee and salads and washing done +for me. I am getting quite a reputation for finding places to obtain a +little meal to vary the Army rations. + +"Cigs are best in tins; in boxes they get very damp. Cheer on! Good +luck to you. + +DICK." + + +Zaidos handed back the letter with a smile. + +"Thank you very much," he said. "That's certainly a fine letter. It +was nice of you to share it with me." + +"That's all right," said the boy. "Everyone is glad to read every +other fellow's letter out here, whether he knows anything about the +people or not. We get so few letters. The people at home send us +candles and matches and kippers, as you see from the letter, and they +send lots of cigarettes to my brother. I don't smoke. They send us +paper and envelopes, too. You know all our letters are opened, don't +you? I don't see that it makes much difference. I've always thought +that I could see how I could write a pretty innocent looking letter if +I was a spy. + +"They have had a lot of trouble with spies at Verdun, where my brother +is. Why, would you believe it, the Germans have come right inside the +French and English lines in broad daylight to do their spying! One +bold ruse they worked, just once was to rig up one of their automobiles +to look like our ambulances. That car carried six Germans, all dressed +as English soldiers, and once inside our lines they went dashing around +as aids and orderlies. + +"All went well with them, they had seen the whole layout and gone down +to the very last trench, when one of them stumbled and out came a +thoughtless 'Mein Gott!' for he thought he had broken his ankle. Now +of course that would have been a catastrophe indeed, but so was that +slip into the German tongue. A kindly Providence saw to it that an +alert Tommy had heard, and in a trice those six make-believe English +soldiers had been rounded up and were on their way to headquarters. +Next morning there was a sunrise party, for those Germans must be +taught it isn't ever healthy for them inside our lines." + +"Indeed they must!" agreed Zaidos heartily. + +"We have got to beat them in the end," said the English soldier with +the quiet sureness that has so often helped England to victory. "But +they are sure as sure that they will beat us, so they keep hammering +away and they will keep it up just as long as their men last." + +As if in answer to his last statement a shell struck the earth twenty +yards away, and exploded. Another followed, and fell in almost exactly +the same place. + +"See that?" said the Englishman. "Two days ago one of our best guns +was there where those shells have fallen. How did they know just where +it was stationed? We had not fired it. And it was ambushed from the +airships. Pretty rotten, work, eh?" + +As he spoke, a snapping, long-drawn snarl punctuated by deeper roars +told that the rapid-fire guns and the howitzers were awake along the +English lines. A stir of preparation passed like a wave over the +resting and lounging soldiers. Two great Zeppelins appeared overhead. +They wheeled closer and closer. Even at so great a distance, the roar +of their engines was terrific. + +Zaidos turned and shook hands warmly with the soldier whose letter he +had shared. + +"Good-bye, and good luck!" he said heartily. "Hope we will meet some +day again." + +"Good-bye to you!" cried his new friend. + +Zaidos, calling Velo, jumped into the trench and ran along its uneven +zigzags, on and on, the roar of battle sounding ever louder, until he +reached the cook house, and turning into the arm leading to the First +Aid Station, he raced into the room and reported to the doctor. + +Velo was at his heels. Once more the evil in Velo's soul was crying to +him, shouting to him, "This is your day--_this is your day_!" + +"I won't forget," commented Velo aloud; and Zaidos said "What?" + +They buckled on their aid kits, seeing that they were supplied with +everything. They wore orderly kits now. They contained chloroform in +a case, a roll of wire gauze, a long rubber bandage, and a tin which +contained vials of hyperdermic solutions. These were only for the use +of the field surgeons whom they chanced to meet and who frequently had +to call on the Red Cross orderlies and stretcher bearers for supplies. +Then in the next compartment was the hypodermic syringe, and beside it +a flask for aromatic spirits of ammonia. There was a knife and a pair +of surgical scissors. After having dropped his scissors a dozen times +or so, Zaidos had taken the precaution to tie them to his pouch with a +long, fine string. + +There was gauze, eight packets of it; four first aid packets complete, +six bandages, and two diagnosis tags and pencils. When there was time, +it was sometimes advisable to tag the wounded men. It made them get +moved quicker when the patient finally reached the operating room. + +A spool of adhesive plaster was perhaps one of the most useful things +included, and there were pins and ligatures, and a small pocket lantern +which Zaidos at least had never had occasion to use. + +Velo looked carefully at his own kit. He did not intend to be caught +in any carelessness or neglect of duty. He had cast aside as unsafe +the idea of skipping away. It was more dangerous than the falling +shells. He, like many another, had become calloused. On battlefields +men move with as much of a sense of security as though they were +invisible. It is not so much that they are not afraid as that they +grow into a feeling that the dreadful din, the rattle and bang and dirt +and blood, the anguish of men and horses, the distorted and ghastly +deaths, will pass them by. The whine of bullets, and the spiteful +snarl of exploding shells seems as much an incident as the tin rainfall +and the wooden thunder on the stage. + +Zaidos noticed this, and felt it himself. He saw men go singing along +the trenches to their death, singing love songs and tender little +ballads that had to do with flowers and larks and English lanes in May. +And most of all he noticed that the face of every wounded man held a +look of surprise in greater or less degree; of amazement, as though the +outraged body said, "Has this thing come to _me_? Impossible!" The +look was on the dead lying sprawled and twisted in the last silent +paralysis of humanity. And although the dead and dying and wounded lay +like warnings of a coming fate, although men tossed and reared +grotesquely, and shattered horses screamed shrilly in throes of blind +agony, the unhurt thousands moved on or lay in their trenches giving +fire for fire, death for death without a quiver of concern. + +Out into the worst of it went the boys together, Zaidos filled with the +high courage of one who does his duty whole-heartedly, and is too busy +with the task to wonder at his own fate, Velo with the unconcern of the +panther who creeps sure-footedly along the crumbling ledge after his +prey. With the noise, the sights and confusion of battle, a kind of +madness grew in Velo. The words "To-day, to-day, to-day!" made a sort +of song within him. He had all the time in the world. He liked to see +Zaidos working, working, tiring himself out. It didn't really matter +when he put Zaidos out. He only knew that sooner or later he would do +it. He had become a criminal. The evil had wrecked his soul. + +The boys worked with furious zeal. When the final toll of this +dreadful war is taken, high up on the lists of fame, supreme in the +immortal and shining roster of the saints, should stand the names of +the men and women of the Red Cross. The zeal of fighting could not +uphold them. The lust of battle could not inflame their courage. It +was theirs to walk unguarded in the red rain of death, to kneel where +the shells fell thickest, to pass through the line of deadly fire with +their pitiful burdens. + +Doing only good, bringing relief and rescue, they, too, have fallen, +hundreds of them, victims of a struggle in which they had no active +part. + +Zaidos and that dark shadow, Velo, knelt beside a wounded soldier, and +strove to save his life, while a black robed priest knelt beside the +conscious man. He made the responses of his Church clearly and evenly. +He listened while the chaplain commended him to the mercy of God. With +an even voice he gave his name and sent a last passionately loving +message to one he loved. Then while the boys still doggedly strove to +stay his passing, he began to speak. His voice changed to the shrill, +clear tones of childhood. He forgot the sonorous Latin of a moment +past. He looked up and folded his hands. + + "Mary, Mother, meek and mild, + Hear me, then a little child--" + + +He went on with the childish prayer. Velo stood up. Zaidos, kneeling, +shook his head, waited until the voice trailed into silence, and folded +his kit. They had come too late. The priest stood for a moment in +prayer. The boys moved on, but Zaidos looked back. He was just in +time to see the priest, with that strange look of wonder dawning on his +face, sink slowly to his knees, and droop across the dead man's breast. +A bullet was in his heart. + +"I wish it would end," cried Zaidos passionately. + +Velo smiled. + +"Don't do that!" cried Zaidos wildly. "You are not half tending to +your work. Get busy with this man here." He knelt beside a soldier as +he spoke, and tried to change his position so he could tie up a gushing +wound. Zaidos, who had done all the heavy work, was almost exhausted. +His hands trembled a little. Time had rushed by, or else it had stood +perfectly still since the first shot split the morning stillness. He +had not eaten; he couldn't. On one of the trips with the heavy +stretcher the doctor had given him something in a glass to take, but he +had put it down for a moment, and Velo had spilled it. It had not +seemed worth while to ask for more. + +The battle roared around them. The enemy had pressed through the first +wire entanglement, and a terrific hand-to-hand conflict was in +progress. Then men charged with bayonet on gun in the right hand, a +short, keen knife in their teeth, and on their left hands a band set +with spiked steel knuckles. They leaped into the trenches, struck once +with the bayonet, let the musket go, and continued the fight with knife +and knuckles. The boys seemed to be the center of a horrible whirlpool +or eddy of fighting. + +"Give me a bandage!" screamed Zaidos. + +Velo, all unconscious of the battle about, stood looking down at +Zaidos. His bloodshot eyes were narrowed to slits, his lips drawn back +in a wolfish snarl. In his hand was a revolver. He leaned forward a +little. He spoke, but in the din Zaidos could not hear his words. He +could read the twisting lips, however. + +"I've got the papers!" was what he said. He took careful, open aim +with the revolver, and before Zaidos could move or spring, he fired +straight at Zaidos' face! + +Then he stood looking at the fallen boy. Zaidos lay on his back, arms +spread wide, knees partly bent under him. Somehow he looked very +young. Velo, once more conscious of the roar of guns, looked about +him. The battle raged madly. As if drawn by a magnet, his gaze +traveled back to the face of his victim. Sure enough, he had killed +him. Zaidos was out of his way forever. He felt in his blouse where +the precious papers were, then, moved by some strange impulse, he took +them out, and held them up before the unseeing eyes of his cousin. + +"All here; all here!" he said thickly. "Now _I'm_ Zaidos; _I'm_ head +of the house!" Still holding the papers in his hand, he threw the +revolver far from him. It had done its work. He nodded to Zaidos. +"All here!" he repeated, fingering the pocket. "_I'm_--" + +Something or someone seemed to strike him a violent blow in the back. +It surprised him. He turned to see the offender. There was no one +near. The tide of battle had swept past. He looked inquiringly at +Zaidos, and idly dropped the papers on the ground, as he put a hand to +his breast. Suddenly he lost interest in everything but the cause of +the blow. He wondered what in the world had hit him. Not a bullet. +Surely a bullet did not make you feel so numb and queer! He balanced +back and forth as though he was walking a tight rope. Still staring at +Zaidos, and still pressing a hand to his chest, he went slowly, very +slowly, to his knees. + +"That's strange," he said to Zaidos. Then without warning, he coughed. +It tore, and ripped, and rent him with mortal agony. He screamed +aloud. He clutched with both hands at his breast, screamed, and +screamed and screamed, and so went slowly down and down, a million +miles into blackness, and lay without further motion, his head against +Zaidos' knee. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +DAYS OF WAITING + +Inch by inch, step by step, yard after yard, the enemy forced the +English back. They reached the second line of wire entanglements, +where for awhile the battle raged, while Zaidos and Velo, like other +thousands of silent and bloody figures, lay in strange, distorted +groups. + +At the second entanglement, however, something seemed to happen. +Perhaps the enemy's charge had exhausted them, perhaps because a +bulldog courage always fills the British. The tide turned. Once more +the ground was covered. The first entanglement was reached and +crossed. The havoc grew; the rout was turned into a victory. The +Allies had won the day! + +They followed the fleeing enemy, stubbornly hammering their rear as +they retreated, while a thin sprinkle of Red Cross aids and doctors and +nurses commenced to appear on that dreadful field. They moved here and +there, clear stars in the dark sky of history. + +One of them stopped to bandage a head where a clean line of blood +showed a deep furrow in the side. When the wound was bandaged, the +surgeon administered a dose of medicine, and in a moment Zaidos opened +his eyes, and looked curiously up at the doctor. + +"You are all right," said the doctor. "Nothing but a scratch on the +head. Lie still and wig-wag the ambulance when it comes along." + +He moved rapidly away, and Zaidos obeyed his parting order. In fact he +was not able to move. Velo's bullet had cut close to the skull and +Zaidos had lost much blood. He was conscious also of a pain in his +broken leg, but could not move to see what caused it. Finally the +aching grew so intense that it drove him to an upright position, +although for a moment things whirled, and he was forced to close his +eyes. When he looked he saw Velo, the anguish and pallor and amazement +of death written on his face, lying doubled against Zaidos' knee. +Carefully he worked himself free, to find that a bullet had struck his +leg while he was unconscious, and had broken the small bone below the +knee. It was the broken leg, at that. He straightened himself as well +as he could, and looked at Velo. He commenced to remember. It came +back bit by bit; the fight, and Velo's treachery. Last of all he +remembered what Velo had said. "I have the papers!" So it was Velo +all the time! Zaidos could not imagine how Velo had secured them. He +knew when he had lost them that night in the barracks at Saloniki. +Velo certainly had not been there. His hurt head beat painfully, and +it was difficult for him to think. If Velo had the papers, however, he +must get them. Velo was dead apparently. Zaidos knew that look. The +papers were his. He must take them before someone came and carried him +away. He knew what Velo's resting place would be, and shuddered. +Slowly, painfully, he shifted his position until he lay close at his +cousin's side. Supporting himself on his elbow, with his free hand he +felt in the blood-stained blouse. The pockets were empty. Zaidos felt +again. Then it seemed as though he could feel a faint heartbeat. It +was so feeble that when Zaidos laid his hand on the torn breast and +waited, he could feel no stir. He managed to get at his Aid kit, +however, and drop by drop coaxed down a dose of strong restorative. He +pressed a pad of gauze against the wound, and secured it with adhesive +tape. He could see that the wound came through from the back, but he +did not dare turn him over. Presently a faint sigh parted the lips, +and Zaidos administered another dose. + +Velo lived! + +He opened his eyes presently, and looked dully at Zaidos. Then he +recognized him, and a wild look crossed his face. + +"Didn't I kill you?" he asked in a whisper. + +"No," said Zaidos. There seemed to be nothing else to say. + +"I tried to," said Velo. + +"Don't talk!" said Zaidos. He didn't know what to say to the boy who +had nearly taken his life in cold blood. It was murder. The slow +deliberation of the thing chilled him. He had read of things like +that; of innocent people who injured no one being killed in order that +someone might unjustly enjoy something they possessed. He had been +ready to stand by Velo and see that he was all right always. And Velo +must have known it. No matter what he had said, Velo must have known +that! Yet Velo had tried to kill him. He had seen the leveled +revolver, and besides, Velo had just told him, as though he didn't in +the least mind his knowing. As a matter of fact, Velo did care; but he +was so near the shadowy borderland that lies between the living and the +dead, that there was nothing left for him but the truth. And because +of that, he continued, "I'm sorry, Zaidos." + +But Zaidos would not reply. + +"I'm sorry, Zaidos," Velo said again in his thick, queer whisper. +"Will you forgive me?" + +"No," said Zaidos suddenly. "No, I won't! What did I ever do to you +that you should try to take my life? If I said I forgive you it would +be a lie. Besides, you can't be sorry right off like that. As soon as +you get well, you will try it again." + +"Oh, I _am_ sorry!" said Velo. "You _must_ forgive me, Zaidos. I am +too badly hurt to get well; you will not be troubled again. I know how +I am wounded. So I am going to talk as much as I can. I wish you +would take the papers. I stole them from you at the barracks. I got +permission to go in while you were asleep. I thought you wouldn't be +there, and I wanted to look for you and say that I couldn't find you, +and so call the attention of the officers to your absence. The night +your father died, you know. But you were there asleep, and I felt in +your blouse, and found the packet. You had better get it out of my +jacket now." + +Zaidos unwillingly felt once more through the pocket. "It is empty," +he said. + +Velo thought a moment. + +"I had it in my hand just now," he said. "Look on the ground." + +The papers lay beside Velo's hand. Zaidos picked them up, and put them +in his pocket. + +"I have them," he said gruffly. + +"I'm glad of that," said Velo. "Zaidos, I sold my soul for those +papers. I have been a bad boy all my life, not because I had bad +surroundings, not because I was neglected. Your father was as good to +me as he could be. I just thought it was smart to be bad. I don't +think I hated you because of all your money and your title as much as I +did because I knew you were square. I knew it as soon as you came into +your father's house that night. I could see it in your face, and hear +it in your voice, and feel it in your hand-shake. I knew you would +never stand for the sort of life I led, and I hated you for it, Zaidos. +And so it went from bad to worse, until I shot at you. You _must_ +forgive me, Zaidos!" + +"I can't," said Zaidos stubbornly. "What's the use of my saying I do, +if I don't?" + +"Oh, you _must_ forgive me!" begged the dying boy. "I am so sorry, so +sorry! You can't see anyone as sorry as I am and not forgive them. +Please, Zaidos! I can't bear it unless you do!" + +"No," said Zaidos again. + +Velo did not speak. When you are asked to forgive a wrong, and you +refuse, it turns the punishment on you. Velo was silent, but Zaidos +commenced to suffer. He could feel himself growing hard and cruel. +After all, Velo had not succeeded in injuring him much, and Velo +himself was dying fast. He could see it. But something kept him +silent. He could not say the words Velo had begged to hear, and he +stared back while Velo looked at him with dumb and suffering eyes. + +"Oh, forgive me!" begged Velo with a dry sob that racked him. "Zaidos, +be as good as you can, but don't be hard! You can't tell what +temptations people have. It is a terrible thing to be hard. Don't do +it, Zaidos! There are so many hard people--hard teachers and hard +fathers who don't know how fellows are tempted and how they suffer. I +am dying, Zaidos, and I tell you don't be hard. Forgive me!" + +"I do!" said Zaidos quite suddenly. "I do, Velo! I mean it!" + +Everything changed. He felt a kindliness and affection for Velo. + +"You will get well, Velo, and we'll hit it off like twins." + +"It's too late," said Velo, smiling; "too late for anything except +to be happy to think you have forgiven me. Besides, it is as +well for me to go. I think I'm a bad sort, Zaidos. . . . But +I'm--so--glad--you--will--forgive me--" + +There was a long silence. Then Velo opened his eyes once more. + +"I'm going," he whispered. "Take my hand--" + +Zaidos did so, and for a long, long time did not stir. The hand in his +grew limp, then very cold. Zaidos held it loyally but he kept his eyes +shut tight, because he could not bear to look. + +The Red Cross orderlies did not find Zaidos until after dark. He was +very cold, or else very hot, he did not know which, but tried to tell +them all about it, and only succeeded in mumbling very fast before he +dropped off into unconsciousness. He could not say farewell to Velo, +lying there under the stars with a noble company about him. He was +silent enough himself until he reached the big field hospital in the +rear. He did not know Nurse Helen when she bent over him, but he +commenced to talk in a low tone, and he kept on, as though he would +never stop. + +He told her all about everything, including a green dragon that sat on +his leg, and felt heavy. He told her school jokes, and about the girl +who came to the hop and about several million other things. Fever +raged in him and his voice went down and down until it was as thin as +a field mouse's squeak. Nurse Helen grew to look at him gravely and +rather sadly and she spent no time at all with Tony Hazelden, who was +almost well enough to get married. At least he could sit up an hour +every day. But at last one day there came a change. Zaidos gave a +sigh, and stopped talking and went to sleep. + +The next time he opened his eyes, he looked straight into Nurse Helen's +great, lovely, dark pools of silence and content. He looked at her a +long time; then without speaking, he went to sleep again. The next +time he woke up, he managed to whisper, "Got a lot to tell you!" + +"Let it wait," she whispered back. "Don't talk at all. You will get +well much sooner." + +She was right, and he did, making great jumps toward recovery when he +once got started. The time came when she let him talk and Zaidos told +her all about everything. He even told her how hard he had been and +how long it had taken him to forgive Velo. + +So the days went on smoothly. Zaidos did not know how many; but one +morning there awoke in him a great longing for his adopted land. And +that happened to be the very morning when he heard something that might +have made him very unhappy, but did not. + +The doctor came along. + +"What are you going to do with yourself when we discharge you, young +man?" he demanded. + +"I suppose I'll have to go back on the field," Zaidos replied. + +"Don't you want to?" asked the doctor. + +"I can't really say I do," said Zaidos regretfully. "You see I've +never had the chance to fight. I was lame when they put me at the +Hospital Corps work. At least my broken leg was tender. Now it's shot +up, and I won't be good for anything else but Red Cross jobs." + +"I may as well tell you," said the doctor. "You will always be a +little lame, Zaidos. Not much, understand, but enough to bar you from +any work here. I'm sorry, son. We did our best, but that shin bone +didn't heal right. You have been given your 'honorable discharge.'" + +For a little Zaidos was silent. No more running; no more jumping. It +was a little hard, but he thought of the wounds of others, and was +ashamed. + +"Will I have to walk with a cane, doctor!" he asked. + +"Oh, no," said the doctor. "Your limp will scarcely be noticeable." + +"Then I guess I'll get on my job," said Zaidos, unconsciously quoting +the boys at school. + +"What's that?" asked the doctor. + +"Why," said Zaidos, "I planned to go back to New York after all this +was over, and study medicine." + +"Couldn't do a better thing," said the doctor heartily. "That's the +best thing you could possibly do. Nurse Helen has told me something +about you, and I will say that I think you have planned wisely and +well. If you had ties of family in this part of the world, it might be +a different matter. No one has any right to carve out his destiny +without some reference to the people nearest him. 'Honor thy father +and thy mother' holds good to-day as well as it did when the old +patriarchs walked the earth. And I'm not sure it isn't needed now more +than it was then, when the scheme of life was simpler. Only now we +usually have a few sisters and brothers, and perhaps an unmarried aunt +or two to consider. But you are all alone, are you not?" + +"Yes," said Zaidos. "I couldn't be more alone without being gone +myself. I have lots of friends in school and I know a fellow in +England; and so it's not so bad." + +"No," said the doctor. "I should call it very good. And you have +already found out, Zaidos, that sometimes blood relations fail a man. + +"I think I will write out a discharge for you, and as soon as you can +move you had better get away, and move toward the first seaport where +you can get an American ship. I will pull all the wires I can. You +had a pretty bad fever, my boy. You need a change, and you need it +soon. I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, lie still and get your +strength together. Things are frightfully crowded, but a lot of +supplies and more nurses have been promised. Has Nurse Helen told you +any news?" + +"No," said Zaidos, "not a thing. About the hospital, do you mean, +doctor?" + +"Not exactly," said the doctor, smiling. "Just some little plans of +her own." + +"I'll bet Tony Hazelden is in them!" said Zaidos. + +The doctor chuckled. "Well, these girls! You never can tell," he +said. "She will tell you herself, I've no doubt." + +He got up and straightened his bent back. "This sort of thing is hard +on an old man," he said. "It is just two weeks since I have been to +bed." + +"Well, this one feels good to me," said Zaidos. "I was so surprised +when I woke up and found something smooth and clean under me. I don't +see how the nurses manage to keep things so neat." + +"You would not wonder if you could see what they do," said the doctor +solemnly. "I tell you every woman who goes into the field deserves a +place in the Legion of Honor. She deserves a crown, and a big pension. +She's an angel. You want to honor all women, all kinds, all your life, +my boy, for the sake of these nurses. Some day, perhaps, I will come +over to your America, if you would like to see an old derelict, and we +will talk and talk, and I will tell you some stories." + +He touched Zaidos' bandaged head gently, nodded farewell and walked on +down the line of cots. Zaidos continued to sleep and eat. His blood +was so clean that his wounds healed almost at once. Helen came to his +bedside one day with a queer little smile on her face. + +"Do you remember, John, what I said when you brought Tony to me? I +told you that just as soon as he was able to hold my hand, I meant to +marry him." + +"Did you do it?" asked Zaidos. + +"Not yet," said Helen. + +"Goodness!" said Zaidos. "I didn't think Tony was as sick as all that! +I would have to be a good deal worse than he looks to be so sick I +couldn't hold your hand!" + +"Silly!" said Helen, blushing. "If you will attend with the gravity +the occasion requires, I will explain things to you. Perhaps Tony has +been able to hold my hand a _little_; but he was not strong enough to +hold it very hard. Now, however, he is growing better fast. On the +other hand, the doctors say _I_ am worn out. I don't think so myself. +I think they are making it up, the dears, so I can honorably go home +with Tony. But be that as it may, I am going home. We are going to be +married a week from tomorrow, John, dear, and then in a few days I will +begin to move my dear Tony by slow stages homeward. And I want you to +come with us." + +"Me on a honeymoon trip? Well, I think not!" Zaidos exploded. "Nay, +nay, pretty lady, you won't get me to chaperone you!" + +"Now, John!" cried Helen. "Oh, I could shake you! What will I do +crossing Europe with a sick man on a cot, unless someone comes to help +me? I didn't think you were so ungallant!" + +Zaidos stared at her. "That's another way to look at it," he said. +"Of course I will go with you, and glad enough to do it. I never +thought of that, Helen. Of course you could not go alone! Why can't I +get up and go talk things over with Tony? You can't yell that sort of +conversation the whole length of a ward." + +"You are to be allowed to get up tomorrow," said Helen, "and, oh, John, +_please_ get well fast, because really I don't see how we can go +without you. No one else can be spared, and I want to go home. I want +to see my father and mother. Just think of it, I will have to be +married all alone. Not one of my own people to give me away, and kiss +me, and say, 'God bless you.' I suppose I am an ungrateful girl. I +ought to be thinking only that I have Tony, and how happy I am; but you +know after all, John, a girl's wedding day is a wonderful time. It is +all so different to what we had planned. At home, we would have had +the service in our own dear church, trimmed by all the little girls in +the parish. And everyone would be there. The church would not hold +them; the churchyard would be full of beaming faces, everybody bobbing +and curtsying and wishing us good luck. And if I felt that I _must_ +shed a few happy tears, my mother's shoulder would be near." + +"Do you _have_ to cry?" asked Zaidos. + +"Why, I don't suppose one _has_ to," said Helen musingly, "but +generally you do." + +"That's awful," said Zaidos dismally, and then repeated, "Awful! +However, I don't know the first thing about girls, and of course you +do. If you must cry on somebody, why, you must; and you can use me, if +you like." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GREATER THINGS + +A week flew past. In the convalescent ward there was the greatest +amount of suppressed excitement. All the soldiers loved Helen, and +they showered her with queer, pathetic little gifts, always the best of +their poor store of belongings. Tony was not to leave his cot. He +would have to be moved across Europe on a stretcher, but he lay beaming +at the men who called good wishes to him in half a dozen languages. + +The wedding morning dawned clear and beautiful. Every soldier who +could hobble was out early gathering flowers and boughs with which they +trimmed the ward. Helen, who was a hundred yards away, in the nurses' +tent, knew nothing of all this. An hour before she was to come to meet +Tony, the old doctor, bearing a large package, stood before the tent. + +"My dear," he said awkwardly when Helen appeared, "I--er--wanted to do +something for you, and it gave me a good deal of happiness to pretend +that you were my own daughter, if you don't object. I happen to have a +sister in Paris, and I telegraphed her a week ago. I think I have +heard you say you were size thirty-six. Well, my dear, this package +has just come. She sent it in care of a reserve of nurses. You +see--ha--hum--the men will be so pleased. Now you put it on if it is +fit for you, and wear it, with the love of a grateful old man." He +turned and abruptly walked away as Helen untied the box, but he could +not so escape from those swift feet. There was a cry as the girl +peered beneath the papers, and then a swift rush toward him. So it +happened that it was not Zaidos' reluctant and unaccustomed shoulder on +which the happy tears were shed, and it was not to Tony that Helen's +last tender girl-kisses were given. + +And when the time came for the simple, sad little ceremony in the +hospital ward, it was not a dark clad nurse who walked between the cots +on the doctor's arm, but such a vision of loveliness that the men +gasped and Tony turned so pale that the aid beside him reached for the +spirits of ammonia. For the doctor's present was a wedding dress, just +as satiny and lacy and long as any bride in Mayfair could have worn. + +The veil covered her lovely face, and through it her dark eyes lingered +tenderly on the eager white faces that lined her path. And last they +rested on Tony. Zaidos caught the look, and it made him feel that he +would do most anything to have anyone look at him like that. It was a +look that a fellow could never bear unless he had lived a clean and +honest life. Zaidos, seeing this wonderful look that was meant for +Tony alone, glanced quickly away and somehow it was he, down in his +innermost heart, who longed for a shoulder to cry on! + +In a few short minutes the little ceremony was over, and a musical +genius played the wedding march on a mouth-organ so you'd know it +anywhere. He followed that with _God Save the King_, and _Tipperary_, +while Helen, looking more like an angel every minute, walked slowly +down the aisle, shaking hands with the men. She came at last to one +whose arms were both gone. Without a moment's hesitation she stooped +and pressed a kiss on the upturned brow. Another moment with a last +smile and wave of her hand, she was gone, leaving the men with their +beautiful memory. + +Zaidos asked the doctor, who was openly wiping his eyes, to speak with +him a moment outside. + +"You know my cousin is out there," he said, with a wave of the arm at +the field where great trenches made a resting place for hundreds of +unknown men. "I've been trying to think of something to do for him, +something to remember him by. I couldn't think of anything. First I +thought of a monument; and then I thought of tablets in the church at +Saloniki. Then it just happened to come to me, that why not do +something for our field hospital here. When I get to England I will +arrange to have the money sent you. Do you approve of that?" + +"Of course I do, my boy," said the doctor heartily. "Of course I +approve! Any help would be most gratefully accepted. You know how +short we are for everything. Send anything you feel like affording. +Any little sum you happen to want to give." + +"I was wondering about five hundred dollars a month, while the war +lasts," said Zaidos musingly. "Would that make much difference?" + +"Five--five hundred American dollars?" screamed the doctor. "_A +hundred pounds_? You don't mean that, do you? Why, hum--haw--can you +afford it?" + +"Oh, yes," said Zaidos simply. "I suppose I can afford almost anything +I want. I had a long talk with my father the night he died, so I +happen to know just what my income is. And I don't spend much. There +isn't anything to spend it for. Of course, when I go back to school, I +mean to put up a new gymnasium. The one we have is a freak; but that +won't break me, either." + +"A hundred pounds!" said the doctor. Delightful visions of endless +rolls of bandages, antiseptics, medicines, nurses, litters, shelter +tents, beds, and food appeared before the doctor's delighted eyes. "A +hundred pounds!" he repeated. "Zaidos, Zaidos, you will erect a +monument to your cousin finer--" he choked, then turned, and with an +arm over Zaidos' shoulder continued: "Well, Zaidos, it is hard for an +Englishman, and an old Englishman at that, to express what he feels; +but, my boy, I am as proud of you as though you were my own son! Proud +of you, Zaidos! You are perfectly sure you mean it?" + +"Of course," said Zaidos, laughing. "I think the thing to do is to put +money in a bank and fix it so you yourself can draw it, as needed, at +the rate of five hundred a month. I'll be busy in school catching up +so I won't be able to see to it." + +"Wonderful! Wonderful!" said the doctor. "I think I will go see the +General, Zaidos. I have got to tell someone. I can never keep all +this to myself." + +He went hurrying off and Zaidos watched him. Once he bumped into a +tree and twice an orderly called him. He made no reply. He was +thinking with whirling brain of the lives he would be able to save. + +Then he reached the General's tent, and burst in unceremoniously. They +had been classmates at college. + +"Dick," cried the doctor, "Dick, the most amazing thing has happened!" +and with a rush of words he poured out the fine news. + +"Well, bless me, bless me!" cried the General, shoving back from the +table where a map of Europe was spread. "Now, Henry, I know just how +well pleased you are. Why, what wonderful things you can do with all +that money! But are you sure the lad will do as he says?" + +"You ought to know that lad, Dick!" exploded the doctor. "He's the +finest boy! He's just what you would have wanted your boy to be like, +if you had loved some girl, and had married her, and had had a baby, +and it had grown up. He won't disappoint me, rest assured of that!" + +And Zaidos didn't. + +When, after a long, slow and anxious journey, Helen and Tony and Zaidos +finally reached London, Zaidos left the young married pair in the +charge of a full battalion of relatives that had advanced in close +formation as their train drew into the station, and proceeded at once +to the office of a lawyer who was none other than Tony's cousin Jack. +It took only a couple of days to fix the thing all up for the doctor; +indeed, it was so tied up with red tape and all that, that Zaidos was +not sure anyone would _ever_ get the money. + +Jack was more than nice to Zaidos, and insisted on taking him to his +own quarters, where he rested quietly for several days. The journey +had been harder than Zaidos had realized. His leg ached, and it was +slow work getting around on crutches. As soon as Jack could get away, +he suggested that they should go down to Hazelden, and see for +themselves if Tony was improving as much as the family claimed. + +They went on the train, for Jack had given up his motor car as his +donation to the war fund. In the station, as Zaidos was hobbling +painfully along, a husky youth in uniform bumped into him, and nearly +knocked him over. He apologized. + +"All right, Nick, all right!" said Zaidos joyously. + +The husky youth stared, then gave a very un-English whoop, and made a +bear rush at Zaidos. When he had finished patting him on the back and +stuttering all sorts of inquiries, he managed to make a few questions +clear. Where was he going? What for? Who was he going to stay with? +When was he coming back? If it wasn't rotten, _rotten_ luck that he +was just off for Paris on government business! + +When Zaidos could get a word in edgewise, he broke it to +Nickell-Wheelerson that he was going away from England, back to +America--and to that end his passage was already secured on a vessel +leaving in a week's time. He was going down to visit some people named +Hazelden. + +"My second cousins, by Jove!" averred Nick, delighted. "A week? Well, +if I can smooth things over between the Allies and Germany, in less +than that time, I'll come down and ask them to put me up for a day." +He patted Zaidos again. "It certainly seems good to see you, old chap! +Here's my train, so I must go. Don't forget me, and I'll get down +before you leave, if I can." + +He dashed for the door the porter held open for him, and with a last +wave of the hand was carried out of sight. When Jack returned, Zaidos +told him about the encounter, and Jack laughed. + +"Of course he's a cousin," he said. "One of the nicest fellows I know. +Didn't know you knew him. Odd about its being such a little world and +all that, don't you think?" He laughed. "Once I met a chap in India +way up in the mountains. I was running around a bit, and he was +tracking down a lost tribe or something of the sort. A while after +that I walked into dad's billiard room at home, and there was the +Johnny playing billiards with himself, cool as you please! He stopped, +and said, 'Hullo, didn't know you knew I this family!' + +"I said, 'Didn't know you knew them, either.' + +"'Relations, perhaps?' he asked. + +"'Yes, parents,' I told him, and then we had a jolly gas." + +Jack waited on Zaidos with such care all the way down from London that +the boy said he would be entirely spoiled. A big, roomy car met them +at the station and carried them smoothly over miles of perfect road +through the vast park of the Hazelden's where pheasants by the dozen +flew across their path, bright-eyed deer dashed into hiding, and +hundreds of wonderful Persian sheep grazed on the lawns that had been +lawns for generations. + +It seemed strange to see Helen in filmy summer dress instead of the +severe uniform of a nurse, and Zaidos missed the white cap on her +beautiful hair, but he decided finally that she was even prettier +without it. Zaidos could not keep from watching her every move. She +ordered Tony about with a pretty air of sternness, but with such a look +of loving devotion that it was easy to see the reason for the young +man's look of contentment. + +The days flew past as though on wings. Helen's younger sister proved +to be a second edition of Helen, even prettier if possible, and Zaidos +found himself wondering how he could ever have given a thought to the +blonde damsel whom he had met at the hop so long ago. Before it came +time to go, Zaidos caught himself regarding Helen in a new light. He +found himself thinking that she would be a very pleasant person to have +in the family! And that was going a long, long way for Zaidos! + +He had news for Helen. A letter from the old doctor, with pages of +thanks and plans for the use of the money. Of course Helen had to hear +it all, and afternoons they would all sit on the terrace together, and +talk of the future and make pleasant plans. + +Of the past, of the dreadful days on the stained battlefields of the +Dardanelles, they spoke little. Some day perhaps when time had +mellowed the colors, then this group of young people could talk it +over. Just now the price they had paid for their experiences seemed +too great. It was all too near. They tried to put it behind them, as +all the world will have to do when at last this war is over, when the +last gun calls its death challenge, when all the submarines rise to the +surface of the outraged sea, and the last war Zeppelin settles to +earth. On that day, a curtain must fall over this terrible middle-act +in modern history, to rise again on new and nobler things. + +The group on the terrace, enjoying the warm afternoon sun, often kept +the mournful silence of those who have known all war's horrors, yet +they were filled with deepest thankfulness that they were spared to +each other. + +The old Earl followed Tony in his invalid chair with adoring eyes. +Every day, a dozen women, ladies of high degree, assembled and sewed or +knit for the soldiers. The great county houses on either side were +given over as convalescent homes. Fairs, bazaars, teas, meetings +filled the days. England gave all her time and strength for the +soldiers. + +When Zaidos found a chance to read the doctor's letter to Helen she was +so pleased with it that she insisted on taking it and reading it to a +number of the committees that seemed to be meeting from morning until +night. The letter gave a clear view of the needs of the Red Cross, and +told so well of the good it was doing. And to his horror, Zaidos was +invited to address three separate organizations. Helen refused for him +after he had threatened to run away by night and walk to London. + +Nick evidently had trouble with the Allies or the Germans, because he +did not come down, and sent no word. + +It came time for Zaidos to leave. The last night he was there he wrote +a bunch of letters. The first was addressed to school, and commenced: + +Fellows: + +Well, after all, I'm coming back. Such a lot of things have happened +that there is no use writing about them at all. I'll tell you all that +it's good for you to hear when I see you. Only there's no reason for +me to stay here now as there is now no one in this country belonging to +me. My only relative, a cousin about my age, was shot and killed. And +I got nipped a little. So they don't want me any more, and I'm coming +back on the next steamer. If you can get it, I want my old room. + +I'm visiting some fine people here in the country. Met 'em on the +battlefield. At least I met two of them there. I saw Nick in London, +but he's in France now. You know he's an Earl; but it doesn't seem to +worry him. He stepped all over me just the same as ever, and was just +as sorry. He wears a uniform, of course, so I don't know if his +neckties are as bad as ever they used to be. + +It's going to be good to see you. I guess after all I have told you +all the news. Nothing much has happened, as you see. + +There's a girl here; you never saw anything like her. Say, she makes +me feel sorry for you way off there! + +Well, so long, boys! I'll see you soon, if we don't get torpedoed. +They don't make many plans over here. They say, "Do come and see me +to-morrow if you don't get Zeppelined." So long! + +ZAIDOS. + + +Zaidos folded this letter with the pleased consciousness that he had +written a lot of news. + +The next was for the doctor. + +"Dear Doctor," he wrote, "I'm at the Hazeldens; and they are about the +nicest people in the world. Among other members of the family, Mrs. +Hazelden, who was Miss Helen, has a sister who seems a pleasant young +lady. I will soon leave for America; and except for leaving the +Hazeldens, as well as Helen's sister, who seems real pleasant, I shall +be glad to go. I do hate to hang around and do nothing. A million +people come here every day and work for the soldiers. I think the men +would appreciate it if they could know the amount of tea it takes to +keep them going here while they sew. + +The money is all fixed up. I do hope you will enjoy spending it. Let +me hear from you some day, doctor. Perhaps that is asking a good deal, +but it would be fine if you could spare time. + +I often think of Velo. Somehow he seems different to me now. There +were a lot of things about Velo that used to make me mad, but which now +I do not seem to remember. It is a great pity that he died. Perhaps +if he had lived, and I had taken him back to school with me, he would +have had a different life. I don't know. Anyway, somehow I think of +him a good deal, and I'm glad I do, because it must be awful to have no +one at all to think of you after you are dead. + +I will write again when I get back to America, doctor. Don't forget me +and don't forget that I am going to try to be as great a surgeon as you +are. + +Your friend, + ZAIDOS." + + +The third letter was written in modern Greek, using the familiar "thee" +and "thou" of intimate speech. + +My old Nurse Maratha: + +The war kept me from thee, when at last I could get away. I would have +come to Saloniki if I could but I had an errand that took me straight +to England. + +Velo is dead, Maratha. He was shot in the big battle. You must have +been praying when he died, if I know thee still. And I was shot, too, +a little, and must ever walk lame. I tell thee this so no one else may +tell thee first. I am only a _little_ lame, though. In a day or two I +take ship for America and so back to school, as thou heardst His +Highness, my father, plan that last night. Close the house, and go +thou to the lodge. Keep all the servants who have served my father for +more than ten years and pay them from the money I shall send thee each +month. And be very good to Maratha, for I shall come back some day, +and she must not be too old or too lame to take care of me. + +Good-bye, Maratha. I am always + Thy boy, + ZAIDOS. + + +Zaidos sealed the letters and sent them off with a sigh of relief. He +had now but one cause of worry. He had promised to write to Helen's +sister, and he didn't know what to say! He forgot the fact that he +would not have to write the letter until he reached America. But at +last he forgot even that when the parting came. + +Helen tore herself away from Tony and went down to London to see him +off; and Jack went rushing around making all sorts of work for himself. +They were early at the pier, and, after Zaidos' baggage was settled in +his stateroom, the three people sauntered back to the dock for the half +hour that remained before the first warning call. Three familiar +figures came down, looking here and there. Helen saw them and +exclaimed, "Why, there's father, and mother, and Alice!" + +And sure as fate it was! The rector had had to take the next train for +London most unexpectedly, and so thought he would bring his wife and +daughter to join in the leave-takings. + +So Zaidos had quite a little group of people waving him good-bye as the +ship went slowly out into the west. But the gaze that held him longest +and the face he saw the last was not Helen's! + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLED BY AN UNSEEN FOE*** + + +******* This file should be named 21787.txt or 21787.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/7/8/21787 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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