The lost young engineer had his gas mask adjusted, for which both Dave and Phil were thankful. But he sat on the rock nursing his left ankle, and now they saw that he had removed his shoe and had the ankle bound with a bandage.
By looking up behind Roger it was easy to make out what had happened to him. In trying to make his way out of the gully after coming down from the other side, he had trusted his weight to some bushes near the top. They had given way, and he had come down almost to the bottom with a rush, falling and rolling over some sharp rocks as he did so. Then he showed them how his left foot had become caught between two of the rocks, and this had twisted his ankle, making it so painful that he could not use the foot.
Dave felt that the first thing for him and Phil to do was to get Roger out of the gas-choked gully. The young engineers had had not a little experience in carrying wounded men, and now this helped them to lift Roger and move him without causing the hurt ankle much additional pain. They did not attempt to get to the top of the gully at that point, but walked along the watercourse for several hundred feet, until they reached a point where egress from the hollow was comparatively easy. On the upper level all were glad to notice that the gas was considerably thinner. Here the breeze was beginning to freshen, and this was serving to dissipate the noxious chemicals. But even though the gas was becoming thinner and thinner, the young engineers knew better than to remove their masks too quickly.
Having reached the top of the gully, Dave decided to set off in the direction of the cliff where he had left the others of his detail. In order to make certain of the direction he pulled out a pocket compass for consultation. Then, more out of habit than because he wanted to know the time, he looked for his watch.
The timepiece was gone! It had disappeared along with the strap that had held it.
Dave was startled, and not without good reason, for the wrist-watch was one that had been presented to him on leaving for the front and was both handsome and valuable.
Like a flash it suddenly came to the young engineer where the watch had been dropped. He remembered now that he had looked at it when about to turn away from the pile of German shells which he had found hidden near the old wood trail. After looking at the watch he now remembered that something had struck his foot, which at the time he had thought was a stick or a stone. Now he felt sure it must have been the missing timepiece.
It would not be much out of their way to return to the vicinity of the cliff by way of the spot where the pile of shells had been discovered, and so Dave and Phil set off in that direction carrying Roger between them. The wind was now coming up strongly; and soon they felt it would be safe to remove their gas masks, and accordingly did so.
“Gosh! but I’m glad to get this off,” were Phil’s first words, after he had cautiously tested the air with his nose to discover if he could still detect the odor of gas.
Even though the mouthpiece on his mask had been broken, Roger had had little difficulty in using the outfit, and had not suffered from the poisonous attack. But his left ankle pained him not a little, and when, supported by his chums, he attempted to stand on his foot he made a decidedly wry face.