[CHAPTER II]
THE HEROES OF THE FORTS
The whistling shells burst over Fort Embourg, near by, with ever-increasing frequency, while the surgeon, oblivious to their menace, worked over the wounded boy. The vibrations of the 6-inch guns, as the forts replied, shook the house, but no one flinched or spoke while the doctor busied himself with his patient. At last, having rebandaged the wound, he stepped back and said,
"There, now, I think he'll do."
"Where shall we take him, Doctor?" queried the master. "There isn't any hospital in Embourg, nor in Beaufays, and Liége will have sufficient problems to face in taking care of its own wounded."
"The boy can stay here," the doctor replied. "Father will treat him and Mother will do all the nursing necessary."
He looked off into the distance with lowered eyebrows.
"If all comes true that people have prophesied about the terrors of modern war," the surgeon continued, thoughtfully, "it's likely that every woman in Belgium will have to become a nurse."
"Couldn't I stay and help to take care of Deschamps, sir?" asked Horace.
"No," the master answered, "you're within the zone of fire as it is. You must return to Beaufays without delay."