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Red Cross Girls in Belgium

<h2>CHAPTER IX A Second Acquaintance</h2> Barbara did not enjoy the thought of being shown over the prison. For one thing, she was tired; another, she feared she would find the imprisoned soldiers terribly downcast. She had nursed among them so long she felt a deep sympathy for their misfortunes. Yet she discovered that the imprisoned soldiers go through about the same variety of moods as men and women engaged in ordinary occupations. They have their sad days and their cheerful days. There are times when the confinement and depression seem unendurable, and others when a letter comes from home with good news. Then one is immediately buoyed up. It was now between four and five o'clock on a summer's afternoon. Barbara and Dr. Mason went through the prison hastily. There was nothing[Pg 111] interesting in the sight of the ugly, over-crowded rooms; but fortunately at this hour most of the men were out of doors. So, as soon as they were allowed, the two Americans gladly followed the German commandant out into the fresh air. They had not been permitted to talk to the prisoners and Dr. Mason had made no such effort. It was merely through the courtesy of the German commandant that the American physician and nurse were given the privilege of visiting the ill prisoners. Therefore, Dr. Mason considered it a part of his duty not to break any of the prison rules. But Barbara, being a woman, had no such proper respect for authority. Whenever the others were not looking she had frequently managed to speak a few words. But she breathed better when they were again outdoors. It had been hot and sultry inside the prison, but now a breeze was blowing, stirring the leaves of the solitary tree in the prison yard to a gentle murmuring. Underneath this tree was a group of a[Pg 112] dozen or more soldiers. Some of them were smoking cherished pipes, while others were reading letters, yellow and dirty from frequent handling. The International Red Cross had done its best to secure humane treatment for all the war prisoners in Europe. For this purpose there is a Bureau of Prisoners, having its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. They have sent forth a petition to the various governments at war, asking among other things that prisoners be allowed to receive money, letters and packages from their friends. These last must of course be carefully censored, and yet they keep life from growing unendurably dull. Think of long weeks and months going past with never a line from the outside world! Barbara studied the faces of the imprisoned men closely. With all her experiences as a war nurse it chanced she had never before seen any number of prisoners. Now and then a few of them had passed her, being marched along the Belgian roads to the measure of the German goose step. [Pg 113] Now she managed to bow to the men resting under the tree and they returned her greeting in the friendliest fashion. Every Red Cross nurse is a soldier's friend. Yet in the character of an ordinary girl Barbara would have been almost as cordially received. She looked so natural and so human. Somehow one recalled once again the vision of "the girl one had left behind." But Barbara was not to linger inside the prison yard. As the day was nearing its close the men who had been working in the fields were to return. The German commandant wished Dr. Mason to see how well his prisoners looked. Surrounding the prison was a high stone wall. In the rear of this yard was a wide gate which could be swung back on hinges, allowing a half dozen men to be herded through at the same time. So Dr. Mason and Barbara were escorted outside the prison wall and given chairs to await the marching past of the soldiers. Barbara sat down gratefully enough. But when five or ten minutes passed and[Pg 114] nothing happened she found herself growing bored. Dr. Mason could not talk to her. The German officer was discoursing so earnestly in his own language that it was plain the American physician had to devote all his energies to the effort to understand him. So by and by, when neither of the men was observing her, Barbara got up and strolled a few paces away. There was little to see except the stretch of much-traveled road. The fields where the prisoners were at work were more than a mile away. But the girl's attention was arrested by an unmistakable sound. It was the noise of the imprisoned soldiers being marched back to their jail. The tread was slow and dead, without animation or life. It was as if the men had been engaged in tasks in which they had little concern and were being returned to a place they hated. Barbara stood close to the edge of the road along which the men must pass. She was naturally not thinking of herself. So it had not occurred to her that the soldiers might be surprised by her unexpected appearance. [Pg 115] She was frowning and her blue eyes were wide open with excitement. She had left her nurse's coat thrown over the back of her chair. So she wore her American Red Cross uniform, whose white and crimson made a spot of bright color in the late afternoon's light. A young French soldier in the first line of prisoners chanced to catch Barbara's eye. She smiled at him, half wistful and half friendly. Instantly the young fellow's hand went up to his cap, as he offered her the salute a soldier pays his superior officer. Then the prisoners were all seized with the same idea at the same time. For as each line of soldiers, with their guards on either side, passed the spot where Barbara was standing, every hand rose in salute. The girl was deeply touched. But she was not alone in this feeling. The American physician had a husky sensation in his throat and his glasses became suddenly blurred. The German commandant of the prison said "A-hum, a-hum," in an unnecessarily loud tone. There was nothing in the spectacle of[Pg 116] the girl herself being thus honored by the imprisoned men that was particularly affecting. The truth was it was not Barbara who was being saluted, but the uniform she wore, the white ground with its cross of crimson. In a world of hate and confusion and sometimes of despair the Red Cross still commands universal respect. Barbara could not see distinctly the faces of the soldiers. She recognized them to be both French and English and of various ages and ranks. But there were too many of them and they moved too rapidly to study the individual faces. However, as the men finally entered the prison gate the line halted a moment. Then something must have occurred to delay them still more. Six or eight rows of men were compelled to stand at attention. One of the guards near Barbara moved ahead to find out what caused the obstruction. This was Barbara's chance to get a good look at the soldiers. So she began with the one in the line directly opposite her. The young man was undeniably an[Pg 117] Englishman. He was about six feet tall and as lean as possible without illness. He wore no hat and his hair was tawny as the hay he had just been cutting. Moreover, his eyes were the almost startling blue that one only sees with a bronzed skin. He did not look unhappy or bored, but extremely wide awake and "fit," as the English say. Besides this, he seemed enormously interested in Barbara. Obviously the young soldier was a gentleman, and yet equally obvious was the fact that he was staring. All at once Barbara moved forward a few steps until she was nearer the prisoner than she should have been. This was because she had seen him somewhere before but could not for the moment recall his name. "Lieutenant Hume!" Barbara exclaimed suddenly under her breath. "I am sorry; I did not know you were a prisoner!" The young soldier did not move a muscle in his face, yet his eyes answered the girl with sufficient eloquence. [Pg 118] There was not a second to be lost. Barbara knew the prisoner was not allowed to speak to her. Also she was not expected to speak to him. But she had an unlooked-for chance to say a few words, and what feminine person would have failed to seize the opportunity! "We are nursing here in Brussels, all of us," she went on rapidly, keeping as careful a lookout as possible. "The other girls will be grieved to hear of your bad luck. If possible, would you like one of us to write you?" For half a second Lieutenant Hume's rigidity relaxed. Yet once again his answer was in the look he flashed at the girl. Then next the order came. The soldiers were marched inside the prison and the gate swung to. Immediately after Barbara and Dr. Mason started back to the hospital. Really, Barbara felt ashamed of herself, she was such an extraordinarily dull companion during the return journey. But she was both tired and excited. What an extraordinary experience to[Pg 119] have spent a few hours at a German prison and to have discovered two acquaintances. True, poor Monsieur Bebé was scarcely an acquaintance, yet she had seen and spoken to him before. As for Lieutenant Hume, he was almost a friend. At least, he had been a friend of Nona's. She would be grieved to hear of his misfortune and no doubt would try to be kind to him if it were possible. As for Barbara, she meant to devote her energies to doing what she could for the young Frenchman. If he were totally blind, surely the German authorities might be persuaded to exchange him for one of their own men, should proper interest be shown in his case. As soon as possible Barbara decided she would go and consult Eugenia. She would be sure to have some intelligent suggestion to make. Barbara and Dr. Mason said farewell to each other outside the hospital front door, as the man had other work before him. Just as he was leaving the girl slipped her small hand inside his. "I have had a more interesting [Pg 120]afternoon than you realize," she insisted, "and thank you for taking me with you. I am sorry that I have been such a tiresome companion on our way home." The young man smiled down upon the tired little nurse. The fact that she was a nurse struck him as an absurdity, as it did almost every one else. "You have been a perfect trump, Miss Meade, and if anybody is to blame it is I, for taking you upon such a fatiguing expedition. Will you go with me upon a more cheerful excursion some day?" Barbara nodded. Dr. Mason was looking at her with the frankest admiration and friendship. It was good to be admired and liked. Then she turned and disappeared inside the big hospital door. Dr. Mason continued to think of her until he reached the house of his next patient. <hr /> [Pg 121] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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