“‘Vive la France!’ were the words they heard him utter.

“Stretcher bearers, following the charging men, picked the lad up and tenderly bore him back.  They saw that he was mortally wounded.  While they were dressing his wounds, Lucien tugged feebly at the surgeon’s blouse.  The surgeon leaned over, for the little fellow’s voice was very weak.

“‘Lucien will climb no more trees,’ murmured the lad.

“‘No, my brave boy,’ answered the surgeon.

“‘Is Lucien brave, monsieur?’

“’There are no braver.  The deeds of valor you have this day performed will live long after you, little soldier.’

“A smile that was radiant with happiness appeared on the face of the dying boy.

“‘Lucien is no longer a coward,’ he repeated several times.  ’No longer a coward.  Vive la France!’ he cried, half raising himself.

“The surgeon gently laid him back and kissed the lad on both cheeks, but Lucien did not know.  He was beyond the touch of human sympathy.”

CHAPTER XII

THE HERO OF THE GUNS

“The patriotism of nearly all these children of France is something that you boys and girls cannot fully understand.  No one can unless he has seen it displayed, as I have, in many instances,” said Captain Favor.

“For instance, there is a little story of ‘The Hero of the Guns,’ as he was called.  His name was Mattia, and though only twelve years old, he was determined to go to war and fight for France.  This boy had only his mother left, his two brothers being already in the war and his father having fallen a victim to the Prussians when they raided the village in which Mattia’s parents then lived.

“For a long time the lad had been studying a map of France until he possessed a very clear idea of the territory held by the Germans, as well as that where his countrymen were fighting.  He talked over these things with the old men of the village and learned much from them.

“One day when he thought he knew the country well enough, this little patriot ran away from home and was well on his way to join his brothers when his absence was discovered.

“Mattia’s mother appealed to the police but it was not until the following day that he was found and returned to his home.  He had gone more than twenty miles on his journey when the police got him.

“‘Unhappy child!’ cried the boy’s mother when he had been restored to her.  ’Why did you do this?  Did you not know the danger into which you were running?  You might have been killed by German raiders or taken captive and carried to their own country and made to work, with barely enough food to keep you alive.’

“‘My mother,’ answered the boy bravely, ’when France is in danger, everyone, boy or man, should go to her aid just as my brothers have done, and as my father did, and gave up his life for his country.  I, too, must go.’