to burst again. Something was the matter with his right
ankle, too--he couldn't bear his weight on it. Perhaps he had
been too near the shell to be hit; he had heard the boys tell of
such cases. It had exploded under his feet and swept him down
into the ravine, but hadn't left any metal in his body. If it had
put anything into him, it would have put so much that he wouldn't
be sitting here speculating. He began to crawl down the slope on
all fours. "Is that the Doctor? Where are you?"

"Here, on a stretcher. They shelled us. Who are you? Our fellows
got up, didn't they?"

"I guess most of them did. What happened back here?"

"I'm afraid it's my fault," the voice said sadly. "I used my
flash light, and that must have given them the range. They put
three or four shells right on top of us. The fellows that got
hurt in the gully kept stringing back here, and I couldn't do
anything in the dark. I had to have a light to do anything. I
just finished putting on a Johnson splint when the first shell
came. I guess they're all done for now."

"How many were there?"

"Fourteen, I think. Some of them weren't much hurt. They'd all be
alive, if I hadn't come out with you."

"Who were they? But you don't know our names yet, do you? You didn't
see Lieutenant Gerhardt among them?"

"Don't think so."

"Nor Sergeant Hicks, the fat fellow?"

"Don't think so."

"Where are you hurt?"

"Abdominal. I can't tell anything without a light. I lost my
flash light. It never occurred to me that it could make trouble;
it's one I use at home, when the babies are sick," the doctor
murmured.

Claude tried to strike a match, with no success. "Wait a minute,
where's your helmet?" He took off his metal hat, held it over the
doctor, and managed to strike a light underneath it. The wounded
man had already loosened his trousers, and now he pulled up his
bloody shirt. His groin and abdomen were torn on the left side.
The wound, and the stretcher on which he lay, supported a mass of
dark, coagulated blood that looked like a great cow's liver.

"I guess I've got mine," the Doctor murmured as the match went
out.

Claude struck another. "Oh, that can't be! Our fellows will be
back pretty soon, and we can do something for you."

"No use, Lieutenant. Do you suppose you could strip a coat off
one of those poor fellows? I feel the cold terribly in my
intestines. I had a bottle of French brandy, but I suppose it's
buried."

Claude stripped off h