Army Boys in France; or, From Training Camp to TrenchesRandall, Homer
General
Army Boys in France; or, From Training Camp to Trenches
Randall, Homer
World War, 1914-1918 -- France -- Juvenile fiction
NICK RABIG UNDER ARREST
It might have been expected that a sleepless night would have followed
the raid. But the young Americans were far too healthy and their
nerves were already becoming too well steeled to let the Germans, like
Macbeth, "murder sleep." Their eyes closed almost as soon as their
heads touched the pillows, not to open again until reveille sounded the
next morning.
They were a little more subdued than usual, however, as they dressed,
for there was poor Fred's empty cot and some dark red blotches on the
floor to remind them of their comrade's plight and their own narrow
escape.
"I wonder how Fred's getting along," said Tom, voicing the general
thought.
"All right, I hope," returned Frank. "It will make him sore to be
cooped up now with a broken leg, just when the boys are putting the
finishing touches on their training."
They were relieved to find on inquiry after breakfast, that Fred was
doing finely, that the wound in his head was negligible and that the
break in his leg was a simple fracture so that in six weeks he would
probably be as well as ever.
"The old scout will have one satisfaction, anyway," said Bart. "He's
the first one in our bunch who has actually shed his blood for Uncle
Sam."
"Gee, he beat us to it," agreed Tom. "But don't worry, we'll have
plenty of chances later on."
In the interval before drill, they strolled about the old mill, seeking
traces of the visitation of the night before. These were easily
visible for there were immense shell holes where the bombs had buried
themselves in the earth.
They found one of the missiles that had not exploded. Bart was about
to pick it up when Frank shouted a warning.
"Nix on that funny business!" he cried. "You never can tell when those
fellows will start working."
"Yes," added Bart. "Those fingers of yours will come in handy later
on. You'll need them in your business."
"Yes," remarked their corporal, Wilson, who sauntered up to them at the
moment. "For all we know that thing may have been fixed so that it
wouldn't explode when it struck the ground but would the minute
somebody picked it up and commenced fooling with it. The only safe way
is to give them all a wide berth.
The corporal was popular with the men directly under him, and although
he was a strict disciplinarian and kept the men up to their work, there
was nothing petty or tyrannical about him. And the respect the men had
for him was heightened by the stories that were told in the regiment of
the adventures he had undergone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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