THE BOY SCOUTS
TO THE RESCUE
By
GEORGE DURSTON
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
Chicago — AKRON, OHIO — New York
Made in U. S. A.
Copyright, MCMXXI
By
The Saalfield Publishing Co.
THE BOY SCOUTS
TO THE RESCUE
CHAPTER I
FROM SHELL CRATER TO FIRST AID
There were three figures lying in the bottomof the great shell crater that yawned close to theGerman line. It had been made by a French shell,so a great mound of dirt had been cast up on theside next the enemy. One of the bodies in theclose group lay in the stiff, distorted attitude inwhich a sudden and horrible death had frozen him.The second lay quite limp, unseeing, uncaring—theattitude of a man desperately hurt. Only thethird, rather small and slender, lay curled up muchas a vigilant cat might, trying to give the impressionof sleep or death, but with every faculty andnerve like live wires. His eyes were open, andwith every ounce of force in him he was listening,plotting and planning.
Under the thick mud the uniforms worn by thedifferent men were indistinguishable. Thecoating was a thick, slimy, even gray. The figurewhose alert, piercing eyes studied his surroundingsso carefully shivered steadily. He waschilled to the bone. As it grew darker, he rolledslowly over on his back, and for a while studied theedge of the crater as its rough edges showed darkagainst the sky. All seemed well. Not a head,not a bayonet, could cut that jagged line withouthis knowing it. The Huns would not make asortie now. Exhausted themselves, they weredepending on the exhaustion of the French for ashort, unspoken truce of a few hours.<