"Come in, you two," he called to them. "How do you feel?"
"Swell," Dave said.
"Very fit, sir," Freddy said.
The medical officer nodded and then stared at them a moment or two and drummed nervous fingers on the top of his desk.
"You've heard the news?" he suddenly asked.
They nodded, and waited.
"It puts us in a tight corner," the officer said. "And it puts me in a very tight corner. I've just received orders from G.H.Q. to evacuate this hospital at once. There are over five hundred wounded men here, and only a dozen ambulances. We're to evacuate to the Base Hospital at St. Omer. Now ... You chaps told me the truth, eh? You do feel fit?"
"Gee, yes!" Dave exclaimed. "We came in here to see if there wasn't something we could do to help. We feel swell, honest."
"That's right, sir," Freddy nodded. "And there is something we can do?"
"There is," the medical officer said. "I haven't enough ambulance drivers, and we've got to get these wounded men out of here at once. Before tonight, in fact. I'll tell you the truth, boys. At the speed the Germans are advancing, now that the Belgians have given up, they'll be here in Lille, tonight!"