Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1919-02-27


ling the line of advancing ambulances,
dust-gray columns OF soldiers moving
on as far ahead and as far behind as
the eye could see. Passing silently In
the other direction was the desolate
procession of refugees from the in
vaded countryside, Now and then
black and white pups was dead. The
herd of cows or a little cluster Of fugi-
tives from some desolated village,
trundling their most cherished posses
sions in wheelbarrows and baby-carts,
would cause an eddy in the traffic.
No Sign Of Belle
Somewhere in this congestion and
confusion Belle was lost In the morn
ing there was no sign of her, and the
young Marine did not know what to
do. He begged cup of milk from an
old Frenchwoman, and with the eye
dropper from his kit he tried to feed
the two pups. 1t did not work very
we'll. Family, the veering wind
brought down the valley from far
ahead the sound of the cannon. Soon
he would be in the thick of it, and
there was no Belle to care for the
pups.
Two ambulances of field hospital
were passing in the amending caravan.
A lieutenant who looked human was
in the front seat of one of them, ser
geant beside him. The leatherneck
ran up to them, blurted out his story,
gazed at them imploringly and thrust
the puppies into their hands.
Take good care of them" he said,
81 don't suppose I'll ever see them
again"
And he was gone. A little later in
the day, that field hospital was pitch
ing it's tents and setting up its kitch-
ems and tables in a deserted farm.
Amid all the hurry of preparation for
the big job ahead, they found time to
worry about those pups. The problem
was food. Corned willy was tried and
found wanting.
Food Problem Grows Vital
Finally, the first sergeant hunted ap
a farm-bred private and the two OF
them spent that evening chasing four
nervous and distrustful cows around a
pasture trying vainly to capture
enough milk to provide subsistence for
the new additions to the personnel
Next morning, the problem was stiH>
unsolved. But it was solved that even-
ing.
For that evening, a fresh contingent
of Marines trooped by the farm and
in their wake-tired, anxious, but UNI
Verdun Belle. Ten
kilometers back two days before. she
had lost her master aud, until she
should find him again, she evidently
had thought that any Marine was bet
ter than none.
The troops did not halt at the farm,
dead in her tracks, drew in her lofling
tongue, shifted inquiringly the even
ing air and like flash-a white streak
along the drive--she raced to the dis
tant tree where. on pile Of discarded
dressings in the shade, the pups were
sleeping.
Their Own Mess Call
All the corps men stopped Work ana
stood around and marvelled. For the
onlooker it was such a family reunion
as warns the heart. For the worried
mess sergeant it was a great relief
For the pups it was a mess cali, clear
and unmstakable.
So, with renewed faith in her heart
and only one worry left in her mind,
Verdun Belle and her puppies settled
down on detached service with this
field hospital When, next day, the
reach of the artillery made it advisa'
bic that it should move down the val
lev to the shelter of fine hillside
chateau. you may be sure that room
was made in the first ambulance for
the three casuals.
In grove OF trees beside the house,
the tents of the personnel were pitched
and the cots of the expected patients
ranged side by side The wounded
hour after hour in steady
stream, and the boys of the hospital
worked on them night and day. They
could not possibly keep track OF all
the cases, DuJ luCIC W oo WV W NO NA~"
Always mistress in the art OF keep
ing out from under foot, very quietly
Belle hung around and investigated
each ambulance that turned in from
the main road and backed up with it's
load of pain to the door of the receiv-
ing room
A Case of Shell Shock
Then one evening they lifted out O.
young Marine, listless in the half stu
por of shell shock To the busy work
ers he was just Case Number Such
and.Such, but there was no need to tell
anyone who saw the wild jubilee or
the dog that Belle had found her owh
again at last.
The first consciousness he had OF his
new surroundings was the feel OF her
rough pink tongue licking the dust
from his face. And those who passed
that way on Sunday last found two
cots showed together in the kindly
shade of spreading tree. On one the
mother lay contented with her pup
pies. Fast asleep on the other, his