CHAPTER XXV
PEACE IN SIGHT--CONCLUSION
IT seemed as though there was to be little sleep for either of the airservice boys on that remarkable night. Helene must be given into thecharge of some one who could look after her temporarily; and Tomunderstood just whom Jack had in mind when he followed the other to thequarter where the Y. M. C. A. shelter stood.
They managed to communicate with Bessie after a bit, and then she cameout to them. Great was her astonishment upon learning where they hadbeen, and that this exact counterpart of little Jeanne, whom she hadseen once when directed by Nellie to the house further back of thelines, was her twin sister, Helene.
Of course she and her mother could manage to take the child in. Theirquarters were extremely crowded, and there was an absence of many of thecomforts of life, but those warm-hearted women and girls who worked forthe happiness of the boys in khaki would find some way to crowd alittle closer for once. Even if Bessie herself had to sit up the rest ofthe night Helene should have a cot to lie upon.
"We'll see you in the morning, and tell you all about it," Jack said,anxious not to detain the tired worker longer than necessary.
"And as I'm going over to the hospital," Tom remarked, with somewhatstudied carelessness, "I'll be only too glad to see Helene safely there.I suppose you'll want Nellie to start her along the same road for Paristhat Jeanne took."
"We'll both go," said Jack, with the air of a general, at least. "And ifBessie can get off for a couple of hours, she might accompany us."
When morning came the boys found it easy to get permission to take ahalf-day off. They had been doing great work recently, and deserved thissmall favor. Besides, the commander to whom the request was made foundhimself greatly interested in the brief account Tom gave of the strangehappenings that had been the portion of the air service boys after theydiscovered their petrol was exhausted, and realized the necessity forlanding in order to procure a new supply in order to get home.
There was no reprimand coming to the boys for having attempted therescue of Jeanne's twin sister. On the contrary the officer complimentedSergeants Raymond and Parmly on their exceedingly clever method ofmaking the Boche supply them with the lacking fuel necessary to theirsafe home-coming.
Great was the astonishment of Nellie when they walked in on her. Shestared at Helene for half a minute before something of the truth dawnedupon her mind; and then it was the smiling faces of the other three thatbetrayed the fact.
"And so you've been at it again, have you, Jack?" she asked.
"Tom and I found a chance to drop in on Jeanne's wicked old uncle whenin desperate need of petrol," he hastened to explain. "We happened toalight far back of the Hun lines, and discovered that we were close tothe chateau where he has his headquarters. And so, to kill two birdswith one stone, we concluded to take Helene along with us. Here she is."
"Not a very comprehensive story, it must be confessed," laughed Nellie.But then she knew she could coax all the details from Tom at varioustimes in the future. So she just bent down and opened her arms.
"Come here, Helene, and love me," she told the little girl. "I've heldyour sister Jeanne in my arms, and I want to hug you too, my dear."
"Go to it, Helene," urged Tom, looking as though he thought the child avery fortunate youngster.
As Nellie had a very charming way about her, and Helene was gifted, asmany children are, with a faculty for discerning a heart filled withtrue affection, they immediately became fast friends. It did Jack goodto see the child so happy, with only one cloud to cause an occasionalsigh, and that the memory of her mother's recent death.
But Jack and Tom both meant to see that the orphans were taken care of,and their interests safeguarded. In case the war soon came to an end hewas determined that the scheming uncle, General von Berthold, should notprofit as much as a single franc in connection with those hills inLorraine, where the undeveloped iron deposits lay awaiting the magicaltouch of modern mining methods to bring a fortune to the Ansteychildren.
The air service boys and the two girls were having a very happy visitwhen who should come down upon them but Harry, also off on leave for thehalf-day, and naturally desirous of seeing his sister. So they had areally delightful time of it, and the three young air pilots found itmost difficult to break away when the last minute of their leave hadexpired.
It was two days later when the thrilling news sped along the whole linethat at several places the Americans were through the Argonne, with thebeaten enemy retiring sullenly to newly arranged defenses. The rejoicingwas general, for no matter how furiously the enemy might try to holdthem in check from that time on, the fighting Yankees knew they had theGermans on the run.
More days of fighting followed, with the advance being continually andvisibly quickened. Sedan was in sight one afternoon, and beyond that layBelgium, with Germany almost unprotected further on quite up to thefortresses along the Rhine.
Enthusiasm in the army was rife. The worst was over, and never againwould those gallant sons of Uncle Sam have to attempt such a frightfultask as the clearing up of the vast Argonne Forest had proved to be.
The complete destruction of that last German stronghold during the bigbombing raid, seemed to have utterly discouraged the Huns. Their moralewent lower as the days crept past; so that they no longer fought withanything of their former ferocity.
"In fact," Jack declared, "they are badly whipped, and have just foundit out."
Never would the air service boys forget the day when the news came tohold their present position at Sedan, because an armistice that wouldundoubtedly mean the ending of the war had just been signed. It washard to believe that the last shot had been fired, and that now mustbegin the mighty task piled on Germany's back of paying for all themischief caused by her invading armies during those four years and moreof fighting.
In the Yankee camps the soldiers went fairly wild over the gloriousnews, and already those so far removed from home began to picture theirtriumphant return, with the warm welcome that must await them.
They could not foresee at that hour what duties still awaited them whenordered forward to occupy the bridgehead at Coblenz on the Rhine, thereto stay for weary months while the Allied Council at Versailles debatedover the peace terms that Germany would have to accept.
There on the Rhine we must take our leave of Tom Raymond and JackParmly, as well as of Harry Leroy, satisfied that as they had on many anoccasion proved their valor and skill as Uncle Sam's air pilots, theywould continue to serve their country faithfully to the end, eventhrough another war if necessary.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors have been corrected.
Page 2, word obscurred in original: "off" presumed from final "f" andcontext (off with my new)
Page 2, "overheard" changed to "overhead" (overhead, hastened to)
Page 55, "oberver" changed to "observer" (expected the observer)
Page 65, "fleet" changed to "feet" (a hundred feet)
Page 85, "solicitiously" changed to "solicitously" (he askedsolicitously)
Page 86, "riped" changed to "ripped" (have it ripped off)
Page 137, "know" changed to "known" (manner known to bombing)
Page 139, "Luxumburg" changed to "Luxembourg" (junction with Luxembourg)
Page 156, "dimished" changed to "diminished" (an undiminished force)
Page 182, "treatmont" changed to "treatment" (treatment at the hands)
Page 185, word obscurred with ink. "such" presumed and inserted intotext (just such as Jack)
Page 188, "grounded" changed to "ground" (Jack ground his teeth)
Page 209, "imposible" changed to "impossible" (next to impossible for)
This text uses tonight and to-night, halfway and half-way, chateauand chateau.
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