as Mr. Merrick and the girl
assisted him to one of the swinging beds, and then Patsy, with white,
set face but steady hands, began at once to cut away the clothing and
get at the wound. This was her first practical experience and she meant
to prove her mettle or perish in the attempt.

Uncle John skipped over to the sand bank and clutched Gys savagely by
the collar.

"Get up!" he commanded. "Here's a man desperately wounded, who needs
your best skill--and at once."

Gys pulled himself free and sat up, seeming dazed for the moment. Then
he rubbed his head briskly with both hands, collected his nerve and
slowly rose to his feet. He cast fearful glances at the firing line, but
the demand for his surgical skill was a talisman that for a time enabled
him to conquer his terror. With frightened backward glances he ran to
the ambulance and made a dive into it as if a pack of wolves was at his
heels.

Safely inside, one glance at the wounded man caused Gys to stiffen
suddenly. He became steady and alert and noting that Patsy had now bared
a portion of the gaping wound the doctor seized a thermos flask of hot
water and in a moment was removing the clotted blood in a deft and
intelligent manner.

Now came Jones and Maurie bearing the man they had picked up. As they
set the stretcher down, Uncle John came over.

"Shall we put him inside?" asked Mr. Merrick.

"No use, I think," panted the Belgian.

"Where's the doctor?" asked Ajo.

Kelsey, who had been busy elsewhere, now approached and looked at the
soldier on the stretcher.

"The man is dead," he said. "He doesn't need us now."

"Off with him, then!" cried Maurie, and they laid the poor fellow upon
the sand and covered him with a cloth. "Come, then," urged the little
chauffeur, excitedly, "lots more out there are still alive. We get one
quick."

They left in a run in one direction while Kelsey, who had come to the
ambulance for supplies, went another way. Mr. Merrick looked around for
the other two girls. Only Maud Stanton was visible through the smoky
haze. Uncle John approached her just as a shell dropped into the sand
not fifty feet away. It did not explode but plowed a deep furrow and
sent a shower of sand in every direction.

Maud had just finished dressing a bullet wound in the arm of a young
soldier who smiled as he watched her. Then, as she finished the work, he
bowed low, muttered his thanks, and catching up his gun rushed back into
the fray. It was a fl