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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..97766e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66921 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66921) diff --git a/old/66921-0.txt b/old/66921-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5a62241..0000000 --- a/old/66921-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4827 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Boy Scouts’ Victory, by George -Durston - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Boy Scouts’ Victory - -Author: George Durston - -Release Date: December 10, 2021 [eBook #66921] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUTS’ -VICTORY *** - - - - - -THE BOY SCOUTS’ VICTORY - - - - -CONTENTS - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I The Call of Home 4 - II An Impressed Soldier 22 - III Only a Stoker 42 - IV A Struggle in the Sea 62 - V Into Service 79 - VI A Letter Home 95 - VII A Bit of Romance 111 - VIII Happiness for Helen 132 - IX Visions 152 - X Victory 171 - XI Days of Waiting 190 - XII Greater Things 209 - - - - -[Illustration: They sent the message quickly, accurately.] - - - - - THE BOY SCOUTS’ - VICTORY - - By - GEORGE DURSTON - - [Illustration] - - THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY - AKRON, OHIO - - Made in U. S. A. - - - - - Copyright, MCMXXI - - By - The Saalfield Publishing Co. - - [Illustration] - - - - -THE BOY SCOUTS’ VICTORY - -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 -to-night?” - -“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 gangplank, 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, go 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 at 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. - -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.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -A BIT OF ROMANCE - - -Since that tragic meeting at his father’s bedside in the grey dawn, -Zaidos had had a shadow, his cousin Velo Kupenol, whose very existence -Zaidos had forgotten in the years spent in America. Even now as Zaidos -was exploring the trenches of the English position, Velo was near, -apparently that he might see that no harm came to Zaidos, still a -little weak because of the broken leg. - -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 always 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. - -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 -an 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!” - - - - -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! You 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 so 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!” - -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. 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. “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 tomorrow 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 one of the farm-houses 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 hypodermic 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 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 Hazeldens 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! - - -THE END - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: - -The Contents was added by the transcriber. Punctuation has been -standardised. Hyphenation has been retained as it appeared in the -original publication. Changes have been made as follows: - - Page 42 - nearest the the door had filed out _changed to_ - nearest the door had filed out - - Page 181 - contained vials of hyperdermic _changed to_ - contained vials of hypodermic - - Page 193 - semed to be nothing _changed to_ - seemed to be nothing - - Page 219 - park of the Hazelden’s where pheasants _changed to_ - park of the Hazeldens where - - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUTS’ VICTORY *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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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="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Boy Scouts’ Victory</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: George Durston</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 10, 2021 [eBook #66921]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUTS’ VICTORY ***</div> - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<h1 class="lh">THE BOY SCOUTS’<br /> -VICTORY</h1> -<hr class="divider2" /> -</div> - - -<div class="x-ebookmaker-drop figcenter width500" id="cover2"> - <img src="images/cover2.jpg" width="500" height="703" alt="Cover" /> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider2" /> -</div> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table> -<tr> -<th class="tdr">CHAPTER</th> -<th class="tdl"> </th> -<th class="tdr2">PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">I</td> -<td class="tdl">The Call of Home</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">4</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">II</td> -<td class="tdl">An Impressed Soldier</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">22</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">III</td> -<td class="tdl">Only a Stoker</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii">42</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IV</td> -<td class="tdl">A Struggle in the Sea</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">62</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">V</td> -<td class="tdl">Into Service</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">79</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VI</td> -<td class="tdl">A Letter Home</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">95</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VII</td> -<td class="tdl">A Bit of Romance</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">111</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VIII</td> -<td class="tdl">Happiness for Helen</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">132</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IX</td> -<td class="tdl">Visions</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">152</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">X</td> -<td class="tdl">Victory</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">171</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XI</td> -<td class="tdl">Days of Waiting</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">190</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XII</td> -<td class="tdl">Greater Things</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">209</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider2" /> - -<div class="figcenter width500" id="frontis"> - <img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="500" height="683" alt="Frontispiece" /> - <div class="caption">They sent the message quickly, accurately.</div> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span> -</div> - -<p class="center p180 lh">THE BOY SCOUTS’<br /> -VICTORY</p> - -<p class="center p130 mt3">By<br /> -GEORGE DURSTON</p> - -<div class="figcenter width90" id="fleur"> - <img src="images/fleur.png" width="90" height="92" alt="Fleur de lis" /> -</div> - -<p class="center mt3 lh"><span class="p130">THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY</span><br /> -AKRON, OHIO</p> - -<p class="center">Made in U. S. A.</p> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider2" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span> -</div> - -<p class="center p120">Copyright, MCMXXI</p> - -<p class="center p120 lh">By<br /> -The Saalfield Publishing Co.</p> - -<div class="figcenter width100" id="colophon"> - <img src="images/colophon.png" width="100" height="75" alt="Colophon" /> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<p class="center p180">THE BOY SCOUTS’ VICTORY</p> - -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider2" /> - -<h2 id="i">CHAPTER I<br /> -<span>THE CALL OF HOME</span></h2> - -<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 <em>you</em> -go to England when <em>I</em> can’t get back to Mexico?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span> -“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 <em>thinks</em> he does,” said Nickell-Wheelerson smiling, his -blue eyes flashing. “He <em>thinks</em> 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 -<em>got</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span> -“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 <em>home</em>! 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span> -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 <em>is</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span> -“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 <em>know</em> 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 <em>next</em> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span> -“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 -to-night?”</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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span> -“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. “<em>Home?</em>”</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><em>Nickell-Wheelerson never did come back. But that is another -story.</em></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span> -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 gangplank, 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span> -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><em>But that is really the beginning of the other story.</em></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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span> -“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 <em>have</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span> -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 <em>any</em> -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 <em>see</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> -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, <em>so</em> -little!” far up on the mountain-side; they would starve; surely, -<em>surely</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> -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 <em>was</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> -“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> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="ii">CHAPTER II<br /> -<span>AN IMPRESSED SOLDIER</span></h2> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> -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 <em>too</em> 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 <em>me</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> -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 <em>his</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> -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>“<em>Don’t trust Velo!</em>” 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 <em>crazy</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> -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 <em>must</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span> -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.</p> - -<p>“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> -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 <em>front</em> -door of the barracks waiting for it to be opened for visitors.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span> -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 <em>would</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span> -“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 <em>do</em> it!” said Velo violently, a red flush mounting -to his forehead. “I simply <em>can’t</em> do it! Why, my uncle died last -night, and unless we find his son I am the only heir. I have <em>got</em> -to stay here. I <em>am</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span> -Velo thought his heart would break.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="iii">CHAPTER III<br /> -<span>ONLY A STOKER</span></h2> - -<p>Zaidos was the last person in the room to awaken. Half a dozen of the -groups nearest -<a id="the"></a><ins title="Original has 'the the'">the</ins> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> -“That’s the way to do it!” commended the man. “Wake when you wake, not -rubbing thy eyes out.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> -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 <em>girl</em>-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. <em>He</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span> -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 <em>he</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> -“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 <em>minute</em> 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 <em>I am Zaidos, the stoker</em>. As I said, if I find that -silly tongue of yours wagging, I will make—you—good—and—sorry.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> -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. <em>He</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span> -Bearing down upon them at full speed he saw an English Red Cross ship!</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="iv">CHAPTER IV<br /> -<span>A STRUGGLE IN THE SEA</span></h2> - -<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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> -“Not just yet,” Zaidos assured him. “I wish you would have a little -more courage,” he said crossly. “You are in the <em>greatest</em> 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, <em>oh</em>!” he screamed. “We are lost; we are lost!” He burst -into tears.</p> - -<p>Zaidos rolled over and looked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> -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 <em>won’t</em>, -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> -“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, go ahead! I suppose we <em>will</em> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> -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. <em>You</em> 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 <em>wet</em> we felt! I -feel as though I could lie here a week and enjoy these dry sheets.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span> -“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 <em>is</em> my cousin, I must say he -is one of the most stubborn fellows I have ever known.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> -“Oh, he swims a little,” said Velo. “He <em>thinks</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span> -“Dear, <em>dear</em> Velo,” he said with a simper, “how can I -<em>ever</em> thank you for saving my life?”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="v">CHAPTER V<br /> -<span>INTO SERVICE</span></h2> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span> -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, <em>very</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> -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 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.</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 ever 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> -“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 <em>guess</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> -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, -<em>but Velo Kupenol noticed the change</em>.</p> - -<p>He was more attentive to his cousin than ever.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span> -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 <em>must</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> -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 -<em>too</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> -“I <em>am</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> -“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 <em>pretty</em> girl, but did not quite have the courage to -do it. “You know you might even get hurt.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span> -“It’s quite likely,” said Helen simply. “One has to accept that -chance. And there <em>is</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span> -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 <em>will</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> -“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 <em>no</em> 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.</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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> -But there they were, actually in the trenches.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="vi">CHAPTER VI<br /> -<span>A LETTER HOME</span></h2> - -<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.</p> - -<p>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 at school.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> -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 -<em>A</em>.</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> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> -“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.</p> - -<p>Zaidos took it and demonstrated the thing and the doctor gave a grunt -of satisfaction.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> -“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 <em>two minutes</em>. 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span> -“‘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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span> -“You had better stir up everybody over there about it, and ‘rustle the -requisite’ as Main always said. <em>Everything</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> -“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 <em>I</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span> -“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> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="vii">CHAPTER VII<br /> -<span>A BIT OF ROMANCE</span></h2> - -<p>Since that tragic meeting at his father’s bedside in the grey dawn, -Zaidos had had a shadow, his cousin Velo Kupenol, whose very existence -Zaidos had forgotten in the years spent in America. Even now as Zaidos -was exploring the trenches of the English position, Velo was near, -apparently that he might see that no harm came to Zaidos, still a -little weak because of the broken leg.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span> -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 always 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.</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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span> -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 <em>did</em> 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 <em>himself</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span> -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 -<em>that</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span> -“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 <em>is</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> -“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 <em>so</em> 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 <em>feel</em> like telling me. -I told you all about myself, and it would make me feel sort as if I -was really an old friend of yours if <em>you</em> told <em>me</em> things, -<em>too</em>.”</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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span> -“Nonsense!” said Zaidos. “Don’t talk like that! You are too sweet and -pretty to die, and <em>I</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span> -“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 <em>no</em> one like him! Of -course <em>any</em> 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 <em>bit</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span> -“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 -<em>made</em> him make up with me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> -“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 <em>bad</em>! 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span> -“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 <em>firm stand</em>. I -said, ‘I shall do neither. This is a <em>perfectly new dress</em>, 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 <em>what</em> I wore, so long -as he liked it. Oh, I said everything, John, that a silly and repentant -and loving girl <em>could</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span> -“Perfect bosh!” declared Zaidos. “I’ll bet anything, <em>anything</em> -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? <em>Letters</em> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span> -“Not stubborn at all,” declared Zaidos, looking at the lovely face. -“I’m merely a man <em>myself</em>, if I <em>am</em> young.”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="viii">CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<span>HAPPINESS FOR HELEN</span></h2> - -<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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span> -As the doctor had said, they were suffering for lack of help, so -Zaidos could not afford to let the coward run away. He <em>had</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span> -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 <em>dare</em> 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! <em>Helen is here!</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> -“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 <em>sure</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span> -“What are you thinking of?” he said in his weak whisper. “You don’t -suppose I could die <em>now</em>, 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span> -“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 -<em>must</em> live! We could not talk, but he knew me. And I know -everything is all right!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="ix">CHAPTER IX<br /> -<span>VISIONS</span></h2> - -<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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span> -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 <em>own</em> time.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> -“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 <em>get me that -bandage</em> while I take care of this man. Don’t be such a <em>cad</em>, -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span> -“Why you—” Zaidos could not finish. “How the deuce do you <em>ever</em> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span> -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! You are too funny -with things to suit me.”</p> - -<p>Velo, still pale, smiled a wry, twisted smile.</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry,” he lied. “I don’t see how it happened. It must be out of -order.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> -“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 <em>carelessness</em>, 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 <em>good beating up</em>, 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span> -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 <em>I</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span> -“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, <em>pay</em>, mind -you, did he ever get for taking care of <em>you</em>? 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span> -“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 <em>you</em> 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, <em>nothing</em> going on, <em>no</em> one -coming to see your father but old, grey-headed men and women forever -fixing up charities?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span> -“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. <em>That’s</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span> -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 <em>stream</em> of gold flowing and flowing -<em>away</em> 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 <em>must</em> be -removed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span> -“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 so 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>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. 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. “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 tomorrow 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 one of the farm-houses to rest until ten to-morrow. Come on, -let’s start.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span> -“To-morrow, then,” whispered Velo to the Evil in his soul.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="x">CHAPTER X<br /> -<span>VICTORY</span></h2> - -<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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span> -“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>“Much love to all from your son,</p> -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">“Dick</span>.”</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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span> -“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="center">“<span class="smcap">Dick</span>.”</p> - -<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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span> -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—<em>this is your day</em>!”</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 -<a id="hypodermic"></a><ins title="Original has 'hyperdermic'">hypodermic</ins> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span> -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 <em>me</em>? 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span> -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> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line outdent">“Mary, Mother, meek and mild,</div> - <div class="line">Hear me, then a little child—”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span> -“All here; all here!” he said thickly. “Now <em>I’m</em> Zaidos; -<em>I’m</em> 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. “<em>I’m</em>—”</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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span> -“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> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="xi">CHAPTER XI<br /> -<span>DAYS OF WAITING</span></h2> - -<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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span> -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 -<a id="seemed"></a><ins title="Original has 'semed'">seemed</ins> -to be nothing else to say.</p> - -<p>“I tried to,” said Velo.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span> -“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 <em>did</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span> -“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 <em>am</em> sorry!” said Velo. “You <em>must</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span> -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 <em>must</em> -forgive me, Zaidos!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span> -“I can’t,” said Zaidos stubbornly. “What’s the use of my saying I do, -if I don’t?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you <em>must</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span> -“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.</p> - -<p>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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span> -“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 <em>little</em>; 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 <em>I</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span> -“You are to be allowed to get up tomorrow,” said Helen, “and, oh, -John, <em>please</em> 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.”</p> - -<p>“Do you <em>have</em> to cry?” asked Zaidos.</p> - -<p>“Why, I don’t suppose one <em>has</em> to,” said Helen musingly, “but -generally you do.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span> -“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> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<h2 id="xii">CHAPTER XII<br /> -<span>GREATER THINGS</span></h2> - -<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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span> -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 <em>God Save the King</em>, and -<em>Tipperary</em>, 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span> -“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. “<em>A -hundred pounds?</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span> -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 <em>ever</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span> -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, <em>rotten</em> 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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span> -“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 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 -<a id="Hazeldens"></a><ins title="Original has 'Hazelden’s'">Hazeldens</ins> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span> -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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span> -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="noi">“Fellows:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span> -“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span> -“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="center">“<span class="smcap">Zaidos.</span>”</p> - -<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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span> -“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="center lh">“Your friend,<br /> -<span class="pl3">“<span class="smcap">Zaidos</span>.”</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span> -The third letter was written in modern Greek, using the familiar “thee” -and “thou” of intimate speech.</p> - -<p class="noi">“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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span> -“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 <em>little</em> 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>“Good-bye, Maratha. I am always</p> - -<p class="center lh">“Thy boy,<br /> -<span class="pl3"><span class="smcap">“Zaidos</span>.”</span></p> - -<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><span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span> -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> - -<p class="center p120 smcap mt3">The End</p> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> -<div class="tn"> -<p class="center">Transcriber’s Note:</p> - -<p>The Contents was added by the transcriber. -Punctuation has been standardised. Hyphenation has been retained as it -appeared in the original publication. Changes have been made as follows:</p> - -<ul> -<li>Page 42<br /> -nearest the the door had filed out <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -nearest <a href="#the">the</a> door had filed out</li> - -<li>Page 181<br /> -contained vials of hyperdermic <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -contained vials of <a href="#hypodermic">hypodermic</a></li> - -<li>Page 193<br /> -semed to be nothing <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -<a href="#seemed">seemed</a> to be nothing</li> - -<li>Page 219<br /> -park of the Hazelden’s where <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -park of the <a href="#Hazeldens">Hazeldens</a> where</li> -</ul> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUTS’ VICTORY ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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