CHAPTER XI
"BLIGHTY"
AFTER the fall of Himmelman the supremacy of the air was wrested fromthe Germans; the enemy's advance was definitely stopped. Thus was theway paved for the final victory, which was to end in the defeat ofmilitarism, the restoration to Europe of her liberties, and tocivilisation of her freedom.
There is only one more incident to record, before this story ofadventure and heroism is finished. It concerns one of thoseunfortunate persons whose heroic soul had been confined, by somemysterious dispensation of Providence, to the narrow limits of amisshapen and deformed body.
We have met this poor fellow once before, in the earlier part of thestory. Then it was that we saw his brave young spirit yearning withdesire to do some manly deed, but we found him broken-hearted anddismayed, because all his efforts to serve his country, in her timeof peril, had been refused. Now, by another strange dealing ofProvidence, which always assigns to every brave man his post in theday of trial, we meet him again.
When Dastral, after his fight with Himmelman, crashed just behind theBritish lines, he was carried away unconscious from the wreckage,scorched and blistered, and wounded in no less than three places, andtaken to the field hospital. From there he was removed quickly to thebase hospital, and, after three days of feverish tossing, during thewhole of which time he remained unconscious, he was sent, at theurgent request of a General Officer commanding, by the next hospitalship to Blighty.
It was during the voyage from Havre to Southampton that he firstregained consciousness. Once, on opening his eyes and trying to lookabout him, he asked:
"Where am I? What is the matter? And why is it so dark?"
A gentle hand was laid on his fevered brow. Dastral thought it wasthe hand of his mother, so soft it felt and kind. Then a tendervoice, which seemed to echo far down into the distant past,whispered:
"Be quiet yet a little while, and you will soon be better."
The wounded pilot tried to turn his face towards the voice, but foundthat he could not move, for his head, his hands and limbs werepowerless. The light also in the room was very dim. So he lay still,and tried to think, but his head was confused, and his brain was in awhirl.
"What is the matter? Have I been wounded?" he asked after anotherminute or two, without trying to turn his head this time, for thepain racked him so.
"Yes, you have been seriously wounded, and you must not try to talkor think much for the present. You just need to rest quietly, and youwill soon be out of all danger," came the answer in those same quiet,but strong tones,
Again that voice which stirred the memories of the past, yet Dastralcould not fix it. Somewhere he had heard it before, but where?
His eyes burned like live coals, and his body ached in every limb. Hefancied that he could hear the throb, throb of an engine, and, as hedozed off again, with that pulsating throb in his ears, he was awayagain in his wild dreams, rushing through the heavens to meetHimmelman, and, over the German trenches, he was fighting his lastgreat fight over again. But his dream kept changing, for the constantwatcher by his bedside saw at times a stern look, and then a smile,flicker over his countenance.
"I wonder of what he is dreaming now?" murmured the hospitalattendant, who, himself, wore the ribbon of the D.C.M. on his breast,lately awarded for bravery on the high seas, in the service of hiscountry.
Suddenly the pilot started again, and opened his eyes. As he did so,he caught sight of the face bending over him, and instinctively thewords fell from his lips, as from the mouth of a child:
"Tim Burkitt!"
"Yes, Dastral, you are right. It is Tim Burkitt. God has sent me towatch over you, and to nurse you back to life."
Tim, who had been serving latterly as ward attendant on board one ofHis Majesty's hospital ships conveying the wounded men back toBlighty, had heard of Dastral's accident, and had been to fetch himfrom the base hospital, having secured permission from the D.D.M.S.to have him under his own special care.
"There, that will do, Dastral. I did not intend to let you recogniseme until you were out of all danger."
Despite his orders, however, Dastral would persist in half-raisinghis hand, to grasp that of his friend. And, seeing the ribbon on histunic, he gasped:
"Tim, where did you win that?"
"Hush! That will keep till another time," replied Tim.
"But, Tim, how came you here?"
In a few words the attendant told him how he had at last, afterpersistent effort, gained a footing in the services, and, though onlythe humble post of sick-ward attendant on a hospital ship had beenoffered to him, yet he had gladly accepted it.
"And so you see by a stroke of luck you happen to be one of mypatients. And I am going to take you all the way home."
"Home! Blighty! Home!" murmured the patient. "Are we on the wayhome?"
"Yes, we are on the way to Blighty. We are now only a matter oftwenty miles from the Nab Light at the eastern end of the Isle ofWight. In another two hours we should be in Southampton Water."
"Thank God!" replied Dastral quietly and reverently, as he closed hiseyes, bewildered by all he had heard. But he opened them againshortly, and said:
"Tim, war is a ghastly thing. I hope it will soon be over, for itturns brave men who might otherwise be friends into enemies. But I amhappy to think that you have won that decoration."
"Tut, tut! Dastral," replied the other. "Do you know that the Kinghas conferred upon you the honour of a C.B., and also made you a WingCommander. Do you know also that the whole country is talking of yourfight with Himmelman, the German air-fiend?"
"Tim, I would willingly shed all these honours if I could bring backmy brave comrades, who are buried in unknown graves out yonder. Alas,I shall never see them again," and here Dastral closed his eyes tokeep back the tears that tried to force themselves out, and to gulpdown a sob. Then he fell fast asleep, and Tim let him sleep on, tillthey had passed the Nab Light, and steamed along by the SouthseaForts, and Spithead, and Portsmouth, and had entered the lowerreaches of Southampton Water.
Then again Dastral opened his eyes, and called softly for Tim.
"I have had such a dream," he whispered. "And I have seen Himmelman,and we are friends again. And I saw Steve, and Brum and Mac, and theywere with Himmelman, for there are no enemies in the other world,amongst the brave men who have gone there. And the captain of theGerman warplane, he who died in my arms on the aerodrome nearContalmaison--he was there too. They were all happy together, andthey said that one day I should meet them all. Oh, tell me, Tim, youwho are so wise and learned, and know all these things, was it adream or did I really see them?"
"Dastral, I don't quite understand. You say you have seen them, andthey are all dead?"
"Yes, all dead, all brave fellows, killed by this accursed war. Butcome, tell me, do you really think I saw them, or was it only adream, a spirit dream?" and the wounded pilot looked appealingly upat his friend.
"I do not know, Dastral," calmly replied the scholar after a fullminute's pause. "We often discussed these things in the old days atcollege, though, after what has happened, it seems years and yearsago. We will talk of it again, when you are stronger, but I dobelieve that for brave men, who have followed the star which hascalled them, and served God truly, there is, there must be, afterdeath, something like that of which you have spoken, where good menare re-united, even though they have fought with each other in thedays that are past."
Then, after another long pause, he added
"Yes, Dastral, I believe there is a heaven."
* * * * *
Thus ends this tale of adventure and heroism during the great war.Dastral eventually recovered his health and strength, under thecareful nursing of his friend, Tim Burkitt, but his work in the greatwar was finished. He had served his King and country nobly. He hadcrowded into twenty months of service a record second to none duringthe great war. He was the recipient of great honours from his Kingand Country. And right nobly had he carried them, for he had believedthat the c
ause for which he fought was for freedom against tyranny.
In days gone by the brave and daring sons of Britain--men like Drakeand Cromwell, Blake and Nelson--gained for this country the libertiesof the present. And when the story of these days of bitter struggleis fully told, the names of Dastral and his comrades will be engravedin letters of gold, for, against the most fearful odds, they went outin jeopardy of their lives, risking every day a terrible death, sothat they might lay deep and sure the foundations of our futureliberty and peace.
------------------------------------------------------------------THE LONDOND AND NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH, ENGLAND
[Transcribers Notes:
Some inconsistencies in the text were left uncorrected, followingthe original. Examples are the inconsistent use of {Mac} and{Mac.}, {planes} and {'planes} (the single quote stands for {aero})and also the symbols to indicate a person is going to say something:{:}, {:--} and {,}.
Corrected type-errors: {at the first wh sper of dawn,} -> {at the first whisper of dawn,}Not corrected type-errors: {Seven, six- five,} -> {Seven, six, five,} {were carefully consuled,} -> {were carefully consulted,} {boys. We must cros} -> {boys. We must cross} {from the Bosche,} -> {from the Boche,}
]
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