Night would soon be falling on that dreadful field. The boys could easily picture some of the scenes that must be taking place there, as Red Cross attendants with stretchers stumbled among the piles of dead and wounded, seeking those most in need of succor, while all around them arose groans and calls for water.
However, about this time their own condition demanded attention. They had been given a small extra portion of food while with the French, enough to stave off hunger to some degree. Thad proposed that they leave their elevated post and seek a spot further down in the valley, where they might stay until day came again.
The necessity of passing a night in the open had little terror for any of those scouts. Many times in the past had they camped out when the conditions were not half as favorable as now. Fortunately the weather was quite warm, and consequently they would not miss the blankets to which they were accustomed when in camp.
Once down on the level, they entered a patch of woods and looked for a place to throw themselves on the ground before the night closed in fully. The moon was just past the full stage, and would rise after a short interval, though clouds had gathered overhead, and a condition of semi-darkness might be looked for.
Finding what promised to afford them a fairly comfortable camping place for the night, they commenced to eat the food that their friends in the French camp had so kindly provided. Sitting there they could occasionally hear some belated motor working its passage up the hill not far distant. Then every little while would come a savage burst of firing from some quarter. Possibly a belated movement of troops on one side or the other suggested a surprise attack, and this caused the outburst from quick-firing guns.
Bumpus had managed to choke down the dry food. He remembered about that spring, and was haunted by thoughts of cold clear water trickling down his parched throat.
“Guess I’ll go along over and get a drink,” he remarked; “anybody else want to keep me company?”
It turned out that all the rest of them had been ahead of him, and were not in need of a fresh supply just then.
“Keep your wits about you, Bumpus,” warned Allan; “it’s getting dark, you see, and of old we know what a great fellow you always were to lose yourself when there was half a chance.”
“Yes, please don’t stray away, Bumpus,” urged Giraffe indolently, as he sprawled there at his ease on the turf; “it’d be rough on the lot of us now if after a hard day’s tramp we had to start out and scour the woods around here to find you.”