Picket duty is one of the most hazardous duties for the soldier. During the day the enemy locates the picket posts and it requires but little practice for a sharpshooter to so train his gun as to do most effective and fatal work at night by shooting at random. A cold, dismal night found Jacques at a picket post with Bijou at his feet, imparting warmth as well as companionship. This night proved to be the last for poor Jacques, as my story will tell. A shot rang out—a bullet sped on its deadly errand—Jacques fell fatally wounded. His life blood was flowing rapidly, and his mind turned to his wife and children in far away Méru. He searched for paper and pencil and found in his pocket a letter he had that day received from his loved companion at home. Hastily he scrawled on the envelope the story of his condition, and with weakening hands he placed the same in the pouch attached to Bijou’s collar, and in failing voice commanded him to go home to his mistress. In the morning Jacques was found cold in death, still grasping the pencil in his hand. Search was made for the dog but he could not be found, and the record was made “Jacques Thallant shot while on duty.”
Three hundred and more kilometers covered the distance between Verdun and Méru. Early in the morning of the third day after the soul of Jacques had passed beyond, Mme. Thallant heard a noise without the house and hurriedly dressing, reached the door just in time to see the faithful dog’s death-glazing eyes brighten for an instant, and then with a convulsive quiver his limbs relaxed in death. On examination a bullet wound was found in his groin and then they knew the agony he must have endured in fulfilling his master’s last command. A stray bullet doubtlessly dealt the death blow as he sped to do his master’s bidding. For two days and three nights he dragged himself onward with the entrusted message, without food, without rest, true to the trust imposed in him, until his work was accomplished and then——
My old friend Hildevert Labrosse told me the story with tears in his eyes, and together we walked down the narrow street leading to the home of Widow Thallant. He showed me the gate through which the dog had dragged himself and up the walk to the house, and the threshold of the door on which he died. They buried the faithful creature in the corner of the yard near a shed where he was wont to sleep at night and where his ever faithful eyes could watch over the safety of his master’s house. A small headboard with the simple inscription “Bijou, Faithful Unto Death” marks the last resting place of Jacques’ friend.
Monte, the Picket.
“MONTE” THE PICKET
Thousands of soldiers have suffered from shell shock, which proved to be one of the most trying conditions for the hospital nurses—nerves keyed to the highest tension for days at a time snapped under the whizzing and bursting shells which rained destruction in their midst. Horses frequently suffered from the ill effects of this trying ordeal, but it was a rare occurrence for the dog to be affected by these conditions.
In the month of January following the armistice, two French soldiers appeared at the Refuge accompanied by a collie dog. This dog’s home had been in Montreuil, a small town near Paris, and the soldiers had nicknamed him “Monte.” For four years Monte had served at the front as a picket dog. His nightly service was to accompany a soldier assigned to picket duty, and there through the long night he remained, ever alert to impending dangers. His keen scent and hearing enabled him to detect the slightest suspicious movement on the part of the enemy, and many a brave soldier’s life was saved by his timely warning. The bristling hairs on his body, his erect ears, the swishing of his tail, quietly conveyed to his master the approach of the enemy. The whistling, deadly bullet was beyond his ken and fourteen times in six weeks Monte returned to the lines alone. Each time they found the picket either killed or wounded.
After four years of this nerve-racking service, Monte was mustered out and returned with the two surviving soldiers of the original company. He was suffering from shell shock and returned to the Refuge as a patient. It was really pitiful to watch him in his sufferings. Worn out from physical weariness he would drop off into a light sleep, when suddenly he would bound to his feet, ears pointed and every individual hair on his body standing erect. This was followed by severe trembling indicative of shattered nerves.