The Twins meet Sergeant Stubby

Chapter 5

After two long months, the twins had finally arrived in France with the Yankee Division. 

There were stories of how some of the American ships had been lost at sea. 

As soon as they docked, the twins, Conroy, Stubby and the rest of the gang heard that they were headed into action at a place called Chemin des Dames, where they would join the French soldiers. 

It was cold, and dark, and gloomy as the Yankee Division made it to Chemin that evening, walking through the muddy trenches. 

Conroy and the twins quietly looked to see the French soldiers, looking all weak and miserable from the fighting. They could hear them muttering things about the Americans quietly among themselves. 

"They look like they've been through the wringer" Conroy whispered to his friends. 

"That's why we're here" Brock told him, while everyone could here rumbling in the distance. 

Stubby looked around, feeling bad for these poor French men. One French solider was asleep, while a mouse was trying to steal his food. Stubby growled and started barking as he chased after the rat, trying to snatch the thieving vermin with his teeth. 

"Hey! Come back here, you dirty rotten thief!" Stubby barked, chasing the rat while the twins giggled watching the little dog. 

Evidently, Stubby wasted no time in making himself useful. He began by clearing all the rats from the trenches.

The next morning started off very early for the soldiers as the sun was just starting to rise. It had already been a long rough night, sleeping in the muddy trenches. 

"I'm hungry" Olsen groaned. 

"Me too" Brock and Ann agreed. 

"Somebody tell me there's breakfast" Olsen complained. 

Just then, the twins noticed it had quickly become quiet for some odd reason, until suddenly... 

"INCOMING!" A soldier cried out as he could see enemy missiles coming in. 

"Take cover!" Another soldier shouted. "Get down! Get down!" 

The twins quickly hid while Conroy grabbed a hold of Stubby, shielding him from the oncoming explosions. 

"Medic! Medic!" Some soldiers shouted. 

Stubby came over to a large pile of dirt which had blown up from the trenches when it was hit and found a wounded solider buried underneath the dirt pile. 

"Help! Help! We need help!" Stubby barked to his friends. 

From his first day in action, Stubby was on a mission. He dug out many soldiers who'd been buried. 

"Injured man coming through!" Some soldiers said as they carried the wounded soldier through on a stretcher while Stubby followed besides him, making sure that he was alright. 

Conroy and the twins smiled to Stubby. They were so proud of him.

The gang quickly took their positions, waiting for the next attack. 

"Come here, Sergeant, look" One soldier called the sergeant over to look through some binoculars. 

What they saw was despicable. A banner that said 'Welcome Yankees' hung over out on the side of enemy lines while the gang could hear distant German chattering and laughter.  

"I'll be darned" The Sergeant said. 

"Those thugs!" Brock growled about the Germans, clenching his fist.