“We’ll stop and make sure of our bearings,” said Hal, and brought the car to a stop before a group of French soldiers.
For the benefit of the reader, it may be said that up to this time, the American troops had not been acting independently of their British and French allies. Up to this time there was no distinct American army in the field. American troops had been brigaded with French and British divisions for seasoning purposes, for the Allied staff could not understand how raw troops could possibly hold their own against the Germans without having been put through a rigorous course of training with veteran troops.
And yet British and French alike soon were to learn the true mettle of American troops, whether fully trained or not. They were to learn that wherever an American soldier was ordered he went, or died in the effort.
The date was not now far distant when this was to be brought home to the British and French in a manner they will never forget and, as it developed, it was the American marines who were to prove it; for at the battle of Chateau Thierry the American marine was to prove that as a fighting man there does not live his equal.
From a French officer, Hal gained needed directions and the big army auto continued its journey. Darkness fell and they still sped on. At eight o’clock Hal stopped the machine in the center of a big army camp and stepped out. He made his way to General Pershing’s quarters. Chester went with him.
CHAPTER XI
A FRIEND IN NEED
“Help! Help!”
A voice, strangely familiar to Hal and Chester, floated into the American trenches from the darkness of No Man’s Land beyond.
“Hello,” said Captain O’Neil, “somebody left out there, eh? Well, I guess he’ll have to make the best of it for the night. Fritz is in an ugly humor this evening. No use stirring him up. We’re pretty comfortable here for a change.”
“Seems pretty tough to leave him out there though, sir,” Chester ventured.