I piloted them across to the office, and returned to the
canteen, hoping to find an American ambulance boy who would run me over
to the hospital.
[Sidenote: A new raid begins.]
[Sidenote: Directing men to shelter.]
[Sidenote: Help from American boys.]
I sighted a group of the familiar uniforms, and was heading for it when,
bang! went a falling bomb, without any warning alerte. The next instant
all lights were out, and the French soldiers were swarming through the
door. As all the other women in the canteen had set duties to
perform--putting out fires, locking up money and food--and I, not being
on duty, had none, I stationed myself at the door, calling out to the
soldiers where they would find shelter. Being transients, they did not
know where to find refuge. But long before the canteen was empty, the
machine-gun bullets were sweeping the street and the shrapnel was
raining down. Two American boys came up in the darkness, and one said in
the quietest tone of authority, "Get between us, lady!" They backed me
up against the side of the canteen, close under the shelter of the
eaves, and stood one on each side of me. I had no trench-helmet, so one
of them took his sheepskin driving coat, folded it, and put it over his
head and mine. As soon as a lull in the firing permitted, we ran across
the street to the _abris_. The Germans went back several times for more
ammunition and continued the bombing for nearly two hours.
[Sidenote: The nurses stay with the wounded.
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