战火纷飞中，帕齐听到伤员在呼救，于是冒着枪林弹雨奔跑过去。危急时刻，戈瑞医生为了营救帕齐和伤员而中弹了。早春二月，见到帕齐已缓缓康复，大家决定回到美国去。三个女孩勇敢无私的行为得到了大家的一致肯定。次日清晨，卡格船长带领大家起航了……
The escape of a prisoner of war from the American hospital ship was made the subject of a rigid inquiry by the officials and proved extremely humiliating to all on board the Arabella.The commandant showed his irritation by severelyreprimandinga Mr.Merrick for carelessness，while CaptainCarg had to endure a personal examination before a board of inquiry.He was able to prove that he had been at headquarters during the evening of the escape，but that did not wholly satisfy his inquisitorsb.Finally an order was issued forbidding the Americans to take any more wounded Germans or Austrians aboard their ship，and that seemed to end the unpleasant affair.
However，a certain friction was engenderedc that waslater evidenced on both sides.The American ambulance was no longer favored on its trips to the front，pointed preferenced being given the English and French Red Cross Emergency Corps.This resulted in few wounded being taken to the Arabella，as the Americans confined their work largely to assisting the injured on the field of battle.The girls were not to be daunted in their determined efforts to aid the unfortunate and every day one of them visited the trenches to assist the two doctors in rendering first aid to the wounded.
The work was no longer arduous，for often entire dayswould pass without a single casualty demanding their attention.
The cold weather resulted in much sickness among the soldiers，however，and Gys found during this period of military inactivity that his medicine chest was more in demand than his case of surgical instruments.
A slight diversion was created by Clarette，who cameto the ship to demand her husband from the Americans.It seemed almost impossible to convince her that Maurie was not hidden somewhere aboard，but at last they made the woman understand he had escaped with the German to Ostend.They learned from her that Maurie—or Henri，as she insisted he was named—had several times escaped from her house at night，while she was asleep，and returned at daybreak in the morning，and this information led them to suspect he had managed to have several secret conferences with Lieutenant Elbl previous to their flight.Clarette announced her determination to follow her husband to Ostend，and perhaps she did so，as they did not see her again.
It was on Sunday，the twentieth of December，that the Battle of the Dunes began and the flames of war burst out afresh.The dunes lay between the North Sea and the Yser River in West Flanders and consisted of a stretch of sandy hillocks reaching from Coxyde to Nieuport les Bains.The Belgians had entrenched these dunes in an elaborate and clever manner，shoveling the sand into a series of high lateral ridges，with alternate hollows，which reached for miles along the coast.The hollows were from six to eight feet deep，affordingprotection to the soldiers，who could nevertheless fire upon the enemy by creeping up the sloping embankments until their heads projected sufficiently to allow them to aim，when they could drop back to safety.
In order to connect the hollows one with another，thatan advance or retreat might be made under cover，narrow trenches had been cut at intervals diagonally through the raised mounds of sand.Military experts considered this series of novel fortificationsa to be practically impregnableb，for should the enemy defile through one of the cross passages into a hollow where the Allies were gathered，they could be picked off one by one，as they appeared，and be absolutely annihilatedc.
Realizing this，the Germans had not risked an attack，butafter long study of the defences had decided that by means of artillery they might shell the Belgians，who held the dunes，and destroy them as they lay in the hollows.So a heavy battery had been planted along the German lines for this work，while in defence the Belgians confronted them with their own famous dog artillery，consisting of the deadly machine guns.The battle of December twentieth therefore began with an artillery dueld，resulting in so many casualties that the Red Cross workers found themselves fully occupied.
Beth went with the ambulance the first day，worked inthe hollows of the dunes，and returned to the ship at night completely worn out by the demands upon her services.It was Patsy's turn next，and she took with her the second day one of the French girls as assistant.
When the ambulance reached the edge of the dunes，where it was driven by Ajo，the battle was raging with even more vigor than the previous day.The Germans were dropping shells promiscuously into the various hollows，hoping to locate the hidden Belgian infantry，while the Belgian artillery strove to destroy the German gunners.Both succeeded at times，and both sides were equally persistent.
As it was impossible to take the ambulance into the dunes，it was left in the rear in charge of Jones，while the others threaded their way in and out the devious passages toward the front.They had covered fully a mile in this laborious fashion before they came upon a detachment of Belgianinfantry which was lying in wait for a call to action.Beyond this trench the doctors and nurses were forbidden to go，and the officer in command warned the Americans to beware of stray shells.
Under these circumstances they contented themselves by occupying some of the rear hollows，to which the wounded would retreat to secure their services.Dr.Kelsey and Nanette，the French girl，established themselves in one hollow at the right，while Dr.Gys and Patsy took their position in another hollow further to the left.There they opened their cases oflint，plaster and bandages，spreading them out upon the sand，and were soon engaged in administering aid to an occasional victim of the battle.
