Army Boys in the French Trenches; Or, Hand to Hand Fighting with the EnemyRandall, Homer
Science
Army Boys in the French Trenches; Or, Hand to Hand Fighting with the Enemy
Randall, Homer
World War, 1914-1918 -- France -- Fiction
And how the lesson that the Germans learned that day was repeated later
on will be told in the next book of this series, entitled: "Army Boys on
the Firing Line; Or, Holding Back the German Drive."
Not but what the victory had cost the Americans dearly. Every regiment
engaged had its own long list of killed and wounded.
"Poor old Fred," said Frank, referring to Anderson. "His right arm was
badly shattered and I'm afraid he may lose it."
"Fred is playing in hard luck," returned Bart. "That's twice he's been
wounded. Remember the night down at the old mill when the bomb got his
leg?"
"He's having more than his share," agreed Billy.
"There's Wilson, too," said Bart. "He's been in the thick of it all day,
but he went down with a bullet in his shoulder just as we got to the top
of the ridge."
"The corp certainly fought like a tiger," said Tom. "But he's worth a
dozen dead men yet. A month in the hospital will fix him up all right, I
hope."
"There's one good thing anyway," pat in Billy. "The Huns haven't taken
many of our boys prisoners."
"And we've got more of their men than we know what to do with," exulted
Frank.
"I know what I'd do with them," said Tom. "I'd send them to America to
be imprisoned there and I'd put a bunch of them on every transport that
sailed to the other side."
"That wouldn't be a bad stunt," agreed Bart. "Then if a submarine sank
the ship it would carry a lot of their own people down to Davy Jones."
Among the missing was one whose loss did not greatly grieve the boys of
the old Thirty-seventh. Nick Rabig did not answer to his name when the
roll was called. They did not find his body on the field, nor was he
among the wounded that were brought in and tenderly cared for in the
hospitals.
"I see Nick is missing," remarked Frank to Bart later in the evening, as
they were resting and rejoicing over the victory.
"Missing but not missed," put in the implacable Tom.
"If the Huns have got him, he'll feel more at home than he ever felt
with us," remarked Bart.
"Maybe he was captured against his will," said Tom, "and then again
_maybe_--"
"What do you suppose they'll say in Camport when they hear of this day's
work, fellows?" asked Billy.
"Oh," answered Frank with a laugh, "they'll only say: 'It's nothing more
than we expected.'"
"They know us, don't they?"
"Of course they do," broke in Tom. "We came to France to do our duty as
American citizens, as well as soldiers."
"I wonder how long it will be before this war is over and we start for
home?" came from Frank.
"Not tired of the game yet, are you?" quizzed Billy, quickly.
"Do I look as if I was tired of it?" was the counter-question.
"We are all going to stay over here until the Huns are licked good and
proper!" burst cut Bart. "There is no use in stopping while the job is
only half finished."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account