“Oh-o! I see,” said the colonel. “I took your deed for an act of bravery, and for that reason I had planned to have you particularly cared for, so it was only an accident, eh? Orderly, have these fellows locked up with the others.”
“We’re officers in the United States Army, sir,” Hal protested, “and, as such, are entitled to treatment as becomes our rank.”
“You are American pigs!” was the angry response. “So American troops are really in France, eh? I never believed they would come. America is a nation of cowards.”
Hal took a threatening step forward.
The German did not move from his chair, but called to his orderly:
“Take them away.”
A moment later a file of soldiers entered and Hal and Chester were escorted from the colonel’s quarters. An hour later they found themselves in a tent behind the German trenches together with the four Canadians who, such a short time before, had formed the crew of the tank that had advanced single-handed into the German lines.
“You went and spoiled it, Hal,” Chester muttered when they were left to themselves again.
“Well, I was just trying to be honest. They say ‘honesty is the best policy,’ you know.”
“That’s all right,” said Chester, “but you don’t have to go around telling how honest you are.”
“I’ll admit I put my foot in it,” Hal a I greed. “But here we are, six of us, captured by the enemy with the chances that our days of fighting are over.”
“Never say die,” said Chester. “We’ve been in some ticklish places before now and we’re still alive and kicking.”
“We’ll hold a council of war,” Hal decided. “I don’t know your names,” he said to the Canadians, “but I take it you’ll all be glad to get out of here if possible.”
“You bet,” said one. “I’ve no hankering for a German prison, sir.”
“Good! Now what are your names?”
“Crean, sir,” said the man who had spoken.
“Yours?” said Hal, turning to the next man.
“Smith, sir.”
The other two men admitted to the names of Jackson and Gregory.
Hal then introduced Chester and himself.
“This is not the first time we’ve been captured by the enemy,” he explained, “and we’ve found that because escape is looked upon as such a remote possibility, it is much simpler than in days when wars did not cover so much territory as the whole world.”
“We’re with you in anything you decide, sir,” said Smith. I
“You can count upon us to the finish,” Crean agreed.
“I was sure of it,” said Hal quietly. “Now, we’ll take stock. Of course, we’ve no weapons.”
“Nothing that looks like one,” Chester agreed.
“The first thing, then,” said Hal, “is to secure weapons. Makes a fellow feel a bit more comfortable if he has a gun in his hand.”
“Or even a sword, or a knife, sir,” said Gregory.
“Well, I’m not much of a hand with a knife,” Chester declared. “I have been slashed a couple of times, but every time I think of a knife being drawn through my flesh it makes me shudder. Now, a gun is another matter.”
“I agree with you, Chester,” said Hal. “However, if we can’t get guns we won’t turn down knives if we can get our hands on them.”
“Right you are, sir,” said Gregory. “Now, I’ve lived long enough in the northwest to realize the value of a good knife when I get my hands on it . A weapon is a weapon after all, sir.”
“Only some are better than others,” Smith interrupted.
“We won’t argue about that,” said Hal, “since we have decided that the first thing we need are weapons. Of course, that means that first we must have one weapon. One will mean others. Now, I’ll suggest this: I’m no pickpocket, but someone will come in here directly to give us food or something, and I’m no good if I can’t, relieve him of a gun or a knife, providing I get close enough to him.”
“And then what?” demanded Chester.
“One thing at a time, old man,” said Hal. “We’ll have to leave most of this to chance.”
“Anything suits me,” Chester declared. “Listen, I think someone is coming now.”
Chester was right. A moment later the officer to whom the lads had surrendered entered the tent. He greeted the lads with a smile.
“I’ve heard of your treatment,” be said. “I won’t presume to criticize my superior officer, but I just want to say that I admire your bravery no matter what brought you into our lines.”
“Thanks,” said Hal. “We appreciate it. I suppose I should have kept my mouth shut, but I guess it won’t make any difference in the long run. What will be done with us, do you suppose?”
“Well, you are prisoners of war, of course,” was the reply. “You’ll probably be sent to a prison camp until peace is declared — and nobody knows when that will be.”
“You’re right on that score,” said Hal. “Oh, well, I guess we should consider ourselves fortunate that we are prisoners rather than dead soldiers.”‘
“And yet you don’t,” said the German with a smile.
“Well, no, that’s true,” Hal admitted. “‘I just said we should.”
“I must be going now,” said the young German, “So I’ll say good-bye. I hope I may see you when the war is over.”
“Thanks,” said Chester.
He extended a hand, which the German grasped. Hal pressed close to the man’s side with extended hand, which he offered as the German grasped Chester’s fingers.
As the ]ad stood close to the German, his left hand stole forth cautiously, and dropped to the revolver which the German carried in a holster at his side.
He removed the weapon so gently that the German did not feel his touch. Quickly Hal slipped the revolver into his coat pocket, and then grasped the man’s hand as Chester released it.
“Good-bye,” he said quietly. “I’m sure I second your wish.”
The German bowed and left the tent.
Chester turned to Hal and said in a low voice:
“Get it?”
Hal nodded.
“You bet!” said he.
CHAPTER XX
A STRANGE PROCEEDING
“Lieutenant,” said the Canadian named Gregory, “before I joined the army I was considered somewhat of a detective in Montreal. I’ve had some experience with pickpockets. It’s a pleasure to see you work.”
“That sounds like rather a left-handed compliment,” said Chester with a smile, while Hal and the others laughed.
“Nevertheless, it was very neatly done,” said Gregory.
“Well, Hal,” said Chester, “you’ve got one gun, what are you going to do with it?”
“Hold your horses, old man,” returned Hal. “Nothing was ever gained by too great haste. Something will turn up.”
Something did a moment later in the form of the German officer who so recently had left the tent. He came in quickly, looked around, and stood undecided.
“Why, I thought you’d gone, captain,” said Chester, though his heart sank.
The lad realized the import of the other’s return.
“I’ve lost something,” said the German.
“What was it?” asked Hal.
“Well, it’s my revolver,” said the German. “I thought maybe I had dropped it here.”
“Hope you didn’t expect to find it if you had?” said Hal.
The German laughed good-naturedly.
“Maybe not,” he said. “However, I’m going to ask you if any of you have it.”
“If we had,” said Hal quietly, “I’ll guarantee we wouldn’t stay here half an hour.”
The German looked at Hal keenly. Apparently he took the lad’s answer for a denial, for he said:
“Well, all right. I just thought I’d make sure. I know you wouldn’t lie about it.”
He bowed again and was gone.
“Well, by George!” exclaimed Hal. “I didn’t tell him I didn’t have his gun, did I?”
“You did not,” said Chester, “but you seem to have convinced him that you didn’t have it.”
“It’s just as well,” said Smith.
Five minutes later a German soldier entered, bearing a tray on which was water and dry bread.
“Well, well,” said Hal. “What a feast for the hungry, eh?”
He took the tray from the man’s bands, while Chester edged closer to him. When the man left the tent, Chester produced an object which he held aloft.
“Something for you, Gregory,” he said.
Gregory eyed the object in surprise. It was a long-handled knife.
“I just happened to see it sticking in his belt,” said Chester.
“I believe that you two fellows have been fooling us,” said Gregory with evident sincerity. “Come, now. What was your occupation before you joined the army?”
“Well, it wasn’t picking pockets, if that’s what you mean,” said Chester with a laugh.
“If this thing keeps up,” said Crean, “we’ll soon have weapons enough to equip a first-class arsenal.”
“And that’s no joke,” said the man called Jackson.
“We can’t hope for any more such luck,” said Hal quietly. “We’ll have to create what opportunities come to us now.”
“You take this knife, Gregory,” said Chester. “I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
Hal approached the canvas door to their prison and poked his head out.
“Get back there!” came a guttural command in German.
Hal spied a sentry standing before the tent.
“Hello,” he said pleasantly. “Didn’t know you were there. All by yourself, too, eh?”
“Not much,” was the reply. “There’s a man in the rear, too.”
“I just wondered,” murmured Hal.
“Get back inside,” commanded the guard.
“Oh, all right,” said Hal, “if you are going to be nasty about it. But, say, do you have a pack of cards you can lend us?”
“No, I don’t,” said the guard.
“Well, all right,” and Hal would have withdrawn but the German halted him.
“I didn’t say I didn’t have a pack,” he said.
“But I heard –“
“No, you didn’t. I said I didn’t have a pack to lend.”
“Well, what’s –?”‘
“I’ve a pack to sell,” said the guard.
“Oh, I see,” said Hal. “Rather hard up, are you.”
“If you mean I have no money, yes.”
“I’ve a few German coins, I believe,” said Hal, and explored his pockets. “I’ll give you these for the pack of cards.”
He held forth two coins.
The German grunted.
“All right,” he said.
He produced a pack of cards, and took the money Hal extended.
“Times must be getting hard in Germany,” said Hal suggestively.
Again the German granted.
“We don’t have any bread, and we don’t have any meat,” he declared. “I haven’t had a good meat for a year, it seems.”
“It’ll be worse before the war’s over,” said Hal pleasantly.
The German grounded his rifle with a thump. “Don’t you think I know it?” he demanded with some heat.
“Well, don’t get angry,” said Hal, struck with a sudden idea.
“You’ve got some money,” he said.
“Not very much.”
“Well, I’ll tell you something. We’re going to have a little card game inside. I don’t have any too much money, either, and I’d be glad to win some. What’s the matter with you sneaking in and getting in the game? Your money’s as good to me as anyone else’s.”
“And an officer’ll come along, and I’ll face a firing squad,” grumbled the German.
“Pshaw!” said Hal. “Nothing risked nothing gained, you know. Besides, we’re in an out of the way place here. When will you be relieved?”
“Not before 10 o’clock.”
“And it’s only a little after six now. However, if you won’t, you won’t. You know your own business best.”
The German smiled an evil smile.
“Have you any objection to my inviting another in the game?” he asked.
“Not a bit. Who?”
“The man who is guarding the tent in the rear. He will come in handy, too. If you should try to escape, we’d do for you. We will be armed, and you won’t.”
“Who said anything about trying to escape?” demanded Hal. “This is to be a little friendly game of poker.”
“Poker?” exclaimed the German.
Again his eyes gleamed.
“You go back in the tent,” said the guard. “I’ll probably be along later with my friend. I need the money, and will take a chance.”
“Good!” said Hal, and disappeared within.
Hal explained the situation to the others, and added:
“Of course, the man’s idea is that he and his friend, by playing together, will win by cheating. Well, that doesn’t make any difference to us. Let them have the money. All we want is to get out of here. I don’t know much about playing cards, anyhow. But let no man make a move until I give the word.”
The others nodded their understanding of this to him.
“We may as well get started, so it won’t look bad,” said Chester.
The six seated themselves on the ground, and Gregory dealt out the cards.
“I can’t understand how a man will take a chance like this guard,” said Chester.
“He says he needs money,” declared Hal.
“But even so,” said Chester, “he should have sense enough –?”
“You haven’t forgotten he is German, have you?” demanded Jackson. “I was brought up among them to some extent. One idea is all a true German’s head will hold at one time. That’s the truth. And if he gets an idea in his head, you can’t get it out.
“Shh-h!” said Hal. “Here comes someone.”
A moment later the guard with whom the lad had conversed entered the tent. A second man followed him.
“Quiet!” whispered the first guard.
The two men sat down among the others . Each laid his rifle within easy reach of his hand, and each loosened a revolver in his belt.
“Go on with the game,” said the first German in a low voice.
Gregory dealt out the cards.
CHAPTER XXI
FLIGHT
It was not Hal’s intention to attempt a break for liberty as soon as the Germans entered the tent. He knew that the two men would be on their guard at least until their interest in the game had overcome their vigilance.
Neither Hal nor Chester were proficient in card playing. The game of poker had not been included in their education. Nevertheless, each knew the value of the cards, and they felt that a situation like this would justify their taking a hand, considering the ends in view.
The German with whom Hal had conversed just outside the tent had poor luck from the start, but his companion won. So far the men had made no, attempt to play together, thus taking advantage of their prisoners. But it wasn’t long before they did.
There came a time when Gregory noticed this. He grew angry.
“Here!” he exclaimed. “That kind of playing won’t go. This is a friendly game, and I don’t stand for that kind of work.”
The Germans looked up in well-simulated surprise. They indicated by gestures that Gregory was doing them an injustice; the game proceeded.
As time passed both Germans won now, Naturally, both grew more and more interested in the game. And at last the moment for which Hal had been waiting presented itself.
The Germans still had their rifles close to their sides, and from time to time their hands toyed with the revolvers in their belts.
Hal, after a hand had been played out, arose and stretched himself. The German eyed him suspiciously for a moment, but, as he appeared about to sit down again, they turned their attention to the cards, which Chester dealt them.
Suddenly Hal whipped out the revolver be had taken from the German officer earlier, and, taking a quick step forward, covered the two men.
“Hands up!” he exclaimed in German.
The cards fell, to the ground, as Chester and the Canadians got to their feet. The Germans sat still. Then, slowly, their hands went into the air.
“Quick, men!” said Hal. “Get their revolvers and guns.”
This was the work of an instant. The six friends now were armed with three revolvers, two rifles, and one long knife.
“What’ll we do with these fellows?” demanded Chester.
“We’ll tie ’em up and gag ’em,” said Hal without hesitation. “We can’t afford to have them raise the alarm.”
“We’ve no rope, nor anything that looks like rope,” said Chester. “What’ll we tie ’em up with?”
“Their own clothing will have to serve the purpose then,” said Hal.
Quickly the Germans were stripped to their underclothing. Their shirts were torn in strips, and they were securely bound. Handkerchiefs were used as gags.
“There,” said Hal, when this was accomplished. “I guess that will hold them safe enough.”
“It’ll have to hold them,” said Chester. “Now what?”
“Now to get out of here,” said Hal.
“Look here, Lieutenant,” said Jackson, “we can’t go far in these uniforms, you know.”
“Of course I know it,” Hal declared. “We can go far enough to tap a few Germans over the head, though, maybe, in which event there will be uniforms enough of the proper kind to go around.”
“Right you are, sir,” agreed Crean. “Lead the way.”
Making sure that the Germans who had been bound would be unable to release the improvised ropes, Hal moved to the entrance of the tent and looked out. It was very dark outside, and Hal could see nothing.
“Guess the way is clear,” he whispered, “but it’s so dark out there you can’t see a thing. However, we’ll take a chance, and we’ll head toward the front, for that’s the direction in which we want to go.”
The others followed him from the tent.
For perhaps five minutes they walked along without interruption, but at the end of that time Hal, still in advance, made out a form approaching them. He stopped in his tracks, and the others also stood stock still.
Hal now perceived that there were two figures advancing instead of one. He reached back a hand and pulled Chester to his side. The two lads moved forward together.
In the darkness it was impossible for the men who moved toward them to make out the lads’ uniforms, so, though they perceived the approaching figures, they naturally took Hal and Chester for their own kind.
They moved slightly to one side in order that Hal and Chester might pass. Instead, the lads stepped quickly up to them and shoved their guns in their faces.
“Silence!” said Chester quietly. “Silence or you are dead men!”
Chester’s tone left no room for doubt, and the Germans stood still without a word. Hal now made out that they were officers — both lieutenants.
“Take off your clothes,” said Hal briefly.
The Germans understood the lad’s plan, but under the muzzle of two guns, they did not protest, and quickly stripped to their under-garments . Hal and Chester each took possession of one of the officer’s revolvers. Then, covering the two men, Hal said:
“Get into one of those uniforms while I keep them covered, Chester.”
Chester obeyed promptly, and then he, in turn, covered the men while Hal changed clothes.
The lads now escorted their prisoners back to where the four Canadians still stood in the darkness. There they explained the situation. Willing hands tore the clothes that the two boys had discarded, and the Germans, still in their underclothing, were hastily bound and gagged.
The party of British moved on again.
“Four more uniforms and a couple of more guns, and we are 0. K.,” said Chester quietly.
Fortune again smiled on them a few moments later. A party of three German soldiers approached. These were quickly covered, and the same procedure gone through with. A few moments later all except Gregory were attired in German uniforms.
“Don’t worry, old man,” said Chester with a laugh. “We’ll soon have one for you, too.”
“It’s not that I am fond of a German uniform,” said Gregory, “but I just like to be in style.”
The friends now passed several groups of Germans, but the latter were in such large numbers that they did not accost them.
“What we want is just one man, or possibly two or three,” said Chester. “We don’t want to tackle so many that there may be a fight.”
At length their patience was rewarded. A solitary figure came toward them. Hal stepped forward and accosted him.
With a gun poked under his nose, the German gave back a step.
“What’s the matter?” he demanded. “Are you crazy?”
“Not a bit of it,” said Hal, “but I want your clothes.”
“Well,” said the German, “you won’t get them. This is no time of the year for a man to be walking around with no clothes.”
“Nevertheless, I must have yours,” said Hal.
Chester came up at that moment, and his revolver, glistening in the darkness, lent added weight to Hal’s words.
“Oh, well, of course, if you insist,” said the German.
He quickly stepped from his uniform, which Chester tossed back to Gregory, who donned it hastily. As hastily the German was bound and gagged, and Hal, Chester and the four Canadians moved forward again.
“We’re safe enough for the moment,” said Hal, as they walked along. “The enemy will have no suspicion that we are other than we pretend to be until
daylight, when one look at your Canadian faces will give the whole thing away.”
“That means,” said Chester, “that we should be beyond the German lines before daylight.”
“Exactly,” said Hal, “though how we shall do it is still the question.”
“We’ve come along pretty well so far,” said Gregory. “We won’t give up now.”
“Who said anything about giving up?” Chester wanted to know. “Of course, we won’t give up. Have you any idea where we are, Hal?”
“Well, I should judge we are pretty close to the town of Cambrai. Personally, I believe the best plan would be to head in that direction. I judge it to be directly south.”
“But it is within the German lines,” Chester protested.
“True, but once there we may be able to find a hiding place. In the open we wouldn’t have much chance if we failed to get beyond the lines before daylight overtook us.”
“You may be right,” said Chester. “Once in Cambrai, providing we can find a hiding place, we can figure out a means of leaving the German lines.”
“Exactly,” said Hal, “and with a better chance of success.”
“Suit you, men?” asked Chester.
“You’re the doctor,” said Gregory. “Lead the way. We’ll follow.” Hal and Chester turned abruptly to the left. “South it is, then,” said Hal.
CHAPTER XXII
INTO CAMBRAI
As it developed, the distance to Cambrai, one of the chief points in the German line of communications, was comparatively short.
As the six plodded along through the darkness there was no conversation. None of the Canadians spoke German, and Hal and Chester had instructed them to be silent, for the sound of a few English words would have done more to destroy the success of their venture than any other possible thing. As for Hal and Chester, both of whom spoke German fluently, neither felt like talk.
It was almost midnight when the lads saw before them what appeared to be the lights of a small town. Approaching closer, they saw that they were, indeed, approaching a settlement of some kind.
“Cambrai, do you suppose?” asked Chester.
“Don’t know,” returned Hal. “Probably is. I understand that Cambrai is about the largest place around here, and this seems to be quite a sizable village.”
Half an hour later they set foot in the streets of the little French city, in German hands now for more than three years.
“We’ll hunt a house with a light and see if they’ll put us up for the night,” said Hal.
Down a side street they saw a house somewhat larger than the others. Several lights showed from the windows.
“Somebody up, at all events,” said Chester.
“Trouble is, Germans may already be quartered there,” said Hal.
“Well, we’ll have to take a chance,” said Chester grimly.
“Right. So the sooner we try the better.”
Hal led the way, and knocked on the door. Came the sound of hurried footsteps within, and a moment later the door was thrown open. An old woman poked her head out.
“What do you want?” she demanded.
“A place to sleep,” replied Hal, in excellent German, although the woman had spoken in French.
“There is no place here for you!” exclaimed the woman, and would have shut the door.
But Hal was too quick for her. He shoved a foot in the door, and thus prevented its closing.
“Come, my good woman,” he said. “We mean you no harm, but we must have a place to spend the night.”
“How many of you are there?” asked the woman.
“Six,” replied Hal briefly.
The woman threw up her hands in a gesture of dismay.
“I can’t possibly take care of so many!” she exclaimed.
“But we are all coming in,” declared Hal, who realized that the sooner they were off the streets the better.
He pushed the door open and went inside. Chester and the four Canadians followed him.
“Which way, madam?” asked Hal. “Upstairs?”
The old woman nodded, and led the way up a flight of winding steps.
“I’ve only one room,” she said, “so you will have to make the most of it.”
“That will be satisfactory,” said Hal. “We don’t like to inconvenience you.”
“You don’t, eh?” exclaimed the woman. “You’re the first who wear that uniform who haven’t gone out of their way to inconvenience me, and all other French women.”
“Come, come,” said Hal. “I’m afraid you are too hard on us.”
“I’m not half as hard on you as the French and British will be when they get hold of you!” exclaimed the woman angrily.
Hal looked at her in surprise. He supposed that all women in territory conquered by the Germans had long since realized the value of keeping a silent tongue in their head. Aloud he said:
“I would advise you to be more careful of your speech. If words like those came to the ears of the general staff, you probably would be shot.”
“You can’t frighten me,” declared their hostess. “‘I say what I please, Germans or no Germans.”
“Well, suit yourself,” said Hal, “but don’t forget that I have warned you.”
“Thank you,” sneered the woman. “Here’s your room,” kicking open the door at the top of the stairs. “You can sleep there if you wish, but I hope the British have arrived when you wake up again.”
She waited for no reply, but descended the stairs hastily.
“By Jove!” muttered Hal. “The Germans snared a Tartar when they caught her.”
“They certainly did,” Chester agreed with a smile. “Great Scott! Seems to me she could have given us a candle or something. It’s as dark as pitch in this room.”
“You fellows stay here,” said Hal. “I’ll go down and remind her that she has been negligent in her duty as hostess.”
Hal descended the stairs quietly. As quietly he passed through the room that in days of peace apparently had served as a parlor, and moved toward a door beyond, under which a light streamed.
“Guess she’s in there,” said Hal.
He laid a hand on the knob and opened the door.
As he did so there was an exclamation of alarm. Hal, in the light beyond, saw a form disappear into another room. The old woman ran toward him
“What do you mean by coming in here without knocking?” she exclaimed furiously.
“Why –why, I didn’t know –” Hal began.
“Of course you didn’t know,” shouted the woman. “But I’ll have you understand that you can’t make free of my house, though you be the Kaiser himself.”
From the folds of her skirt she suddenly produced a large revolver, which she leveled squarely at the lad. Hal stepped back.
“Here, my good woman,” he said. “Put down that gun. Don’t you know that a single shot will arouse the whole German army. You couldn’t escape.”
The woman hesitated, and the revolver wavered. Before she could bring it to bear again, had such been her intention, Hal seized her arm, twisted sharply, and the revolver fell to the floor with a clatter.
“I’m afraid you’re not to be trusted with that gun,” the lad said quietly.
He stooped, picked up the weapon, and stowed it away in his own pocket with this mental comment:
“One more weapon for our own little army.”
“You’re a brute,” gasped the woman. “You’re just like all Germans.”
“Silence,” said Hal. “I have heard enough from you. What I came here for was to tell you that you had neglected to furnish us with a light. Now I shall have to look in yonder closet, where I saw a man secret himself as I came in.”
The old woman flew across the room and stood defiantly in front of the closet door.
“You can’t go in there! “she exclaimed.
“I can’t, eh?” said Hal. “Why can’t I?”
“Because I say you can’t.”
“That is a very poor reason,” said Hal. “Either you will stand aside now, or I shall call my men.”
The woman realized the force of this reasoning. With a gesture of resignation she stepped aside. Hal advanced.
“I hope he shoots you through the door,” said the woman to Hal.
“Thanks for the hint,” said Hal dryly. “I’ll keep out of the line of fire.”
He approached the door from the side, and, standing close, called:
“Whoever you are in there, come out.”
There was no response, and Hal called again.
“I’ve got the door covered,” the lad shouted, and if you don’t come out I shall fire through it.”
Slowly the door moved open. Hal stepped quickly aside, for he did not wish to be taken unaware. He seized a chair and sent it spinning across the floor. The ruse succeeded, for the man inside, taking the noise made by the chair for the sound of Hal’s feet, stepped quickly forward and pointed a revolver in that direction.
This meant that Hal stood directly behind the newcomer. Smiling to himself, Hal raised his revolver and said quietly:
“Drop that gun or I’ll bore a hole through you. No, don’t bother to turn first.”
Realizing that he was absolutely in the other’s power, the newcomer obeyed. The revolver fell clattering to the floor.
“Now,” said Hal, “I’d like to have a look at you. Please turn around.”
Slowly the other turned, and, as Hal caught sight of the man’s face, his own revolver dropped to the floor and he sprang forward with outstretched hand.
“Major Derevaux!” he cried.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE MAJOR EXPLAINS
The man who had emerged from the closet gazed at Hal in amazement.
“Who are you?” he exclaimed, taking a step forward.
“What! Don’t you know me?” exclaimed Hal.
The other peered at him intently. Then he uttered an exclamation of pure astonishment.
“Hal Paine!” he cried. “Is it really you? And what are you doing in that uniform?”
“I might ask you, major, what you are doing out of uniform?” laughed Hal, as he grasped his old friend’s hand.
“Well, I’m here on business,” explained the major.
“And I’m here trying to get out of the German lines,” said Hal.
“And where is Chester?” asked the major.
“He’s upstairs, waiting for me to bring up a candle that he may have light,” said Hal. “By George! It’s good to see you again. Let me see, it has been almost two years since I last saw you in France.”
“Yes, it’s been all of that,” agreed the major.
“And what of our old friend Anderson? Do you know what has happened to him?”
“No,” said Hal, “the last indirect word I had of him he had been sent to Mesopotamia. I have not seen him for many months. But, tell me, what are you doing here?”
“It isn’t a very long story,” said Major Derevaux. “As you perhaps know, General Byng’s drive against the Germans has been one of the greatest successes since the Battle of the Marne.”
Hal nodded.
“Well,” the major continued, “I have been stationed with General Pitain at Verdun, where I last saw you. Now we know that the Germans have drawn heavily from other fronts to make possible the Italian invasion. Other fronts now will have to be weakened to hold back General Byng — even to launch a counter- offensive, for we all know that Hindenburg will strike back. That leaves the Verdun situation somewhat in the air.”
“I see,” said Hal. “If you can make sure that the Verdun front of the enemy has been weakened, the French will strike there.”
“Exactly,” said the major. “Then there is another possibility. It may be the plan of the German general staff to make a show of force here and then, when we are feeling secure before Verdun, to deliver a lightning-like blow there. Those are the things I am commissioned to learn.”
“I see,” said Hal again. “But how does it happen I find you here?”
“It’s very simple. This woman here is a distant relative of mine. She is a patriot to the soul. Under the gruff exterior which you have seen she is the most kindly soul in the world. She is risking her life every minute she remains here, for she is accounted one of the most successful of French spies.”
“Great Scott!” exclaimed Hal. “You don’t mean it. Why, her very actions toward us, if used toward other Germans, it strikes me, would mean a firing squad for her.”
“That,” laughed Major Derevaux, “has been her greatest asset. The Germans are not particularly fond of her, that’s a fact. She attacks them with a sharp tongue, but for that very reason she is looked upon as harmless. Come, I’ll introduce you.”
Major Derevaux led the way across the room to where the woman had been eyeing the two in the utmost astonishment.
“Lieutenant Paine,” said the Major,. “I take pleasure in presenting you to Mademoiselle Vaubaun. Mademoiselle, this is Lieutenant Paine, of His British Majesty’s service.”
“I must correct you, major,” said Hal, smiling and acknowledging the introduction. “Lieutenant Paine, U. S.A.”
“Oh — o!” said the, major. “So you are fighting with your own countrymen at last, eh?”
“I am, thank goodness,” said Hal. “But can this indeed be Mademoiselle Vaubaun? I have heard of her before, but I judged that she was a young woman.”
Major Derevaux smiled.
“And a consummate actress,” he said. “Mademoiselle, will you grant my friend the lieutenant a look at your true self?”
“If this young man is a friend of yours, Raoul, he is a friend of mine,” said the woman.
She removed a cap from her head, straightened herself up and shook down her hair. Then she passed a hand several times over her face, and when Hal looked again there stood before him a girl in her teens. .
“Great Scott!” exclaimed Hal, and started back.
In a few words he now explained his own presence in the German lines, together with that of Chester and the four Canadians.
Mademoiselle Vaubaun, in turn, told the lad how she had been left in Cambrai when German troops had swept across Belgium and France in the early days of the war, and how, from time to time, she had found it possible to send word to the French and British staffs of impending German movements.
“But how about me and my friends?” inquired Hal.
“I can hide you all, too. Beyond the room in which your friends are now is a second room and beyond that a false wall. It is there, I will hide the major. I was about to take him there when you came to the door tonight. There is room for all.”
“Then I shall return to my friends,” said Hal. “I have been gone so long Chester will fear something has happened to me. Will you go with me, major?”
“To be sure. I shall be glad to see Chester again. May we have a light, Antoinette?”
“I will lead the way myself,” said the girl. “It will be as well that you go to your hiding places now.”
She lighted the way upstairs with a candle.
In the darkened room above, Chester and the Canadians had been waiting impatiently. Chester had come to the conclusion that something had happened to Hal and was about to go down and hunt for him. As the light came upstairs, however, he drew back.
“It’s all right, Chester,” Hal called. “Here is the light and an old friend to greet you.”
“Old friend,” said Chester in surprise. “I didn’t know I had any friends on this side of the line.”
“Well, have a look at this man and see if you recognize him,” said Hal, and pushed Major Derevaux forward.
Chester took one look at the major and then dashed forward with hand out.
“Major Derevaux!” he cried.
The two clasped hands warmly.
“Now, Chester,” said Hal, “I want you to meet our hostess, Mademoiselle Vaubaun.”
Chester bowed in acknowledgment of the introduction, then added: “I suppose it was your mother who admitted us some time since?”
The girl laughed lightly.
“Why, no,” she said. “I admitted you myself.”‘
“But – but –” said Chester, nonplussed.
“I’m not surprised at you, Chester,” said Hal. “Cannot a woman or a girl wear a disguise as well as you?”
“By Jove!” said Chester. “I hadn’t thought of that. So that was it, eh?”
“Yes, that was it,” said the girl.
The Canadians now were introduced around, after which the young girl said.
“Come. I may as well show you to your hiding places. It is as well for you to be there as here.
There is no telling when some of the Germans may arrive.” I
“But aren’t you afraid to be among them alone?” asked Hal.
“Pshaw!” exclaimed the girl. “Who would hurt a harmless old woman?”
She led the way into the room beyond, walked across and pressed a hidden spring in the side of the wall. Instantly a secret door moved open.
“It can be opened from within as well,” said the girl. “You may have a light here if you wish. The door is so constructed that the rays cannot be seen from without. I shall leave you now. My only injunction is, do not talk too loud. I’ll bring you food and water in the morning.”
She bade them good-night and took her leave.
The friends talked in low tones for some moments, then stretched out on the floor and soon were fast asleep.
CHAPTER XXIV
ANTOINETTE “MAKES GOOD”
True to her word, Antoinette appeared with food and drink early the following morning. She was again disguised as an old woman, and Hal and Chester could scarcely believe that a wig and a few dabs of paint could possibly conceal the girlish face they had seen the night before.
“I have had word to prepare a big dinner for a dozen officers of the general, staff,” the girl informed Major Derevaux, “so it may be that I shall have the necessary information by nightfall.”
“Let us hope so,” said the major devoutly.
“And let us hope that you are not risking your life in getting it,” said Hal.
“Thank you,” said Antoinette. “I assure you I shall be very careful. Now, you must all remain here quietly today. You may be able to leave soon after dark.”
She left the hiding place and closed the secret door behind her.
“And after we leave the house, then what?” asked Hal of Major Derevaux.
“Don’t you worry,” said the major with a smile. “All that has been taken care of. Ten minutes’ walk from here is a large army airplane. It brought me here and it will take us all back again.”
“All of us?” exclaimed Hal.
“Yes,” the major replied. “I have made trips in it before. The machine will carry ten passengers beside a pilot.”
“And you do the driving, eh?” said Hal.
“No,” said the major. “I have never learned the art. The pilot is with the craft.”
“You mean he is in hiding in the woods?”
“Exactly.”
“Great Scott!” cried Hal. “I wouldn’t care about his job. Your job now isn’t so bad, because you’ve a chance of action. But just think of sitting in a woods and waiting – waiting — never knowing what minute you are likely to be discovered.”
“It is hard,” agreed the major. “And here I am refreshed by a night’s sleep, while he must remain there in the cold with his eyes open every minute.”
“If he is discovered, then what?” asked Chester.
“His instructions, if discovered,” said the major, “are to attempt to escape, leaving me behind.”
“In which event,” said Chester, “you’d have a hard time getting away.”
“That’s true. But nothing risked nothing gained, you know.”
“True enough,” said Hal. “Well, we must take what comes, but I hope Mademoiselle Vaubaun does not get mixed up in any trouble.”
“You seem to take rather a great deal of interest in the fair Antoinette,” said Chester slyly.
Hal’s face turned red.
“Well, why shouldn’t I?” he demanded. “No one likes to see a girl or a woman mixed up in this kind of business.”
“Are you sure that is it?” demanded Chester. “Or is it just because it chanced to be Mademoiselle Vaubaun?”
“What do you mean?” exclaimed Hal angrily.
“Oh, no offense, no offense,” declared Chester. “I was just talking to hear myself talk — maybe.”
Major Derevaux smiled.
“Antoinette is a very nice girl,” he said. “I’m sure she would appreciate Hal’s interest in her. I’ll tell her about it.”
“I say! Don’t do that!” exclaimed Hal in some confusion.
“Ha, ha!” laughed Chester.
Hal sat down again, his face still burning.
Even the Canadians joined in the general laugh, and Hal himself smiled. The joke was on him, and he was not the lad to get angry.
“Oh, well, have it your own way,” he said. “It does no good to deny it.”
The day passed slowly.
Antoinette did not appear at noon with food and water, as the others had expected she would.
“Probably busy serving the German officers,” said Hal. “What’s the difference, though. We can get along very well without one meal.”
Night came, though to those in the little secret room it was not apparent that darkness had fallen. Hal glanced at his watch. It was after 7 o’clock.
“It’s funny she hasn’t come yet,” he declared.
“Who do you mean by she?” asked Chester.
“Why, Antoinette,” said Hal. “I –“
“Oh, sure,” said Chester. “I know who you meant, all right. So you are calling her by her first name already, eh?”
“Look here,” said Hal, “I don’t think that is a bit funny.”
“I apologize, old man,” said Chester quickly. “I shouldn’t have said it.”
“Say no more about it then,” said Hal. “I am afraid, though, that there is something wrong downstairs.”
“I am beginning to think the same thing,” declared Major Derevaux. “I wonder if it would not be well for one of us to sneak out and have a look?”
“I don’t believe it would do any harm,” declared Hal. “I’ll go.”
Chester was about to joke Hal again, but he changed his mind and held his tongue.
“I agree,” he said. “If you want to go, Hal, we’ll wait here.”
“Good. If I have not returned in fifteen minutes you will know something has happened. In that event, I would advise that you all come down together, lend me a hand if I’m still in the house and in condition to be helped, and we’ll all make a break for the airship.”
“That is satisfactory,” said Major Derevaux.
“And if I’m not in condition to be helped,” said Hal, “go along without me. You will not have time to be burdened with excess baggage.”
The others nodded and Hal gently slid open the secret door.
“Remember,” he whispered back, “fifteen minutes.”
The door closed behind him.
Hal made his way quietly through the two rooms that led to the stairs, and as quietly descended. As he passed through the parlor and approached the room in which he had met Major Derevaux the night before he heard the sound of voices. He paused and listened.
One he made out was a male voice, which he took to belong to a German officer. The second was that of Mademoiselle Vaubaun. Then a third voice boomed out. This, Hal knew, was that of a second German.
Hal approached the door and put his eye to the key-hole. Then he started back and whipped out his revolver.
In the center of the room sat Antoinette Vaubaun. She was no longer attired as an old woman. She was the girl that Hal had seen the night before. Her hair hung down her back. It was perfectly plain to the lad that she had been discovered. Her face, though pale, was set sternly. Hal listened to the conversation that ensued.
“So you are a spy, eh?” said a big German officer who sat on her right.
The girl made no response.
“Why don’t you answer?” demanded the third occupant of the room, a heavily bearded man, and shook his fist threateningly in her face.
“I’ll answer only what I choose to answer,” returned Antoinette quietly. “Neither you nor the whole German army can make me talk.”
“Is that so?” sneered the first man. “I suppose you’ve heard of the fate that came to an English nurse called Edith Cavell, eh?”
“I have,” replied the girl angrily, “and it was crime for which Germany will have to pay some day. But you can’t frighten me.”
“You, too, will be shot as a spy,” declared the larger German.
“And do you think that frightens me? I have done a whole lot for my country. Many times I warned my countrymen of an impending German attack. I am only sorry that I shall no longer have the opportunity.”
“What!” exclaimed the German. “You admit it!”
“Of course I admit it. Why not?”
The German took a step toward the girl and raised a hand as though he would strike.
This was more than Hal could stand. He sent the door crashing in with a swift kick and dashed into the room.
It would have been possible for Hal to have shot the German where he stood, but the lad was so angry that he wanted a word with him first.
“You big, hulking coward!” he cried.
Both Germans dropped their hands to their revolvers.
Hal’s revolver flashed fire.
The German nearest the young French girl clapped a hand to his forehead and sank to the floor.
There was a flash as the second German fired.
CHAPTER XXV
A FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
Hal felt a stinging sensation in his left side. He paid no attention to this however, but, dropping suddenly to the floor, turned to face his adversary. He saw in that instant the reason the German’s bullet had not penetrated a vital spot.
As the German had fired, Antoinette, with a quick movement, had grasped at his arm. She had not succeeded in turning the revolver from its victim, but she did manage to spoil the man’s aim. Therefore, the bullet had glanced off one of Hal’s ribs.
He now held the advantage, and yet it was not an advantage, for, realizing that he was facing almost certain death, the German had swung the girl in front of him and was using her as a shield.
“Shoot! Don’t mind me!” Antoinette called.
But Hal would not fire without first making sure that he would not hit the girl. The German had succeeded now in freeing his hand, and, pointing the revolver over the girl’s shoulder, pulled the trigger again.
Hal escaped this bullet by a quick spring aside, and, before the German could fire again, he had skipped forward, darted back of his opponent, and gripped him with his left hand by the throat.
Antoinette clawed so furiously at her captor that the German suddenly released her with a cry of anger, and swung about to confront Hal. He struck out so viciously that Hal stepped back to avoid the blow. The German again raised his revolver, but Hal, moving quickly forward, again struck at the German’s revolver with his own — he had no time to raise it to fire. The German’s revolver was knocked from his grasp, but Hal also lost his grip on his weapon and both went clattering to the floor together.
Realizing that he was no match for his heavier opponent if they came to hand grips, Hal stepped quickly back and threw himself into an attitude of defense. It was the lad’s plan to stand off, if possible, and spar.
But the German had no mind to indulge in this kind of fighting, of which he had not the slightest knowledge. He came forward with a rush. Hal side-stepped and planted his right fist with great force above his opponent’s left ear. The German staggered, but he did not go down. Before he could recover, Hal struck twice again — right and left, but neither blow found a vulnerable spot.
The German uttered a terrible roar of anger and charged again. This time Hal was not successful in avoiding the rush and the man’s arms went about him. Hal felt his breath leaving his body as the German squeezed.
In vain the lad struck out right and left . Several times he felt his blows land, but there was no power behind them now.
As Hal struggled with the German, Antoinette had picked up one of the revolvers and circled around behind the struggling figures, trying to find an opening that she might fire without risk of hitting Hal. None presented itself.
Hal was gasping for breath. His mouth was open and his tongue hung out. Suddenly the lad’s struggle relaxed and he became limp in the German’s arms. The latter threw the boy’s inert body from him roughly, and as he did so Antoinette fired. The German staggered as the bullet struck him in the side. As he turned to face her the girl fired again.
The German dropped to the floor and the bullet passed over him. Before the girl could aim again, the man had seized a revolver from the floor and covered her.
“Drop that gun!” he cried.
There was nothing for Antoinette to do but obey. She dropped the revolver.
“Sit down!” the German commanded.
Again the girl obeyed.
Her captor now saw signs of returning consciousness in Hal. He walked across the room, and, still keeping his revolver ready in one hand, stooped and picked Hal up with the other.
He deposited the lad on a sofa near the girl.
“Now I’ve got you both, so there’ll be a double execution,” he growled. “I’ll just sit here and guard you till some of my men turn up.”
Meanwhile, upstairs, Chester, Major Derevaux and the four Canadians had waited impatiently. The sound of revolver shots below had not carried to their ears. Chester closed his watch with a snap.
“Time’s up,” he said quietly. “They must have nabbed Hal. Let’s go down.”
There were no objections offered, so Chester led the way.
The American lad, the French officer and the four Canadian. troopers descended the stairs as quietly as had Hal, and as quietly approached the door to the room where the German officer now guarded his captives. Chester peered through the key-hole and took in the situation at a glance.
Chester, however, used more caution than had Hal. Also he chose to proceed with strategy rather than force. Now, the lad realized, was a time when his German uniform would stand him in good stead. He explained his plan in whispers, and as the others stood back out of the way, Chester walked calmly into the room.
The German officer rose to his feet. He did not know Chester from Adam, of course, but he recognized the uniform.
“Glad you’ve come, lieutenant,” he said. “I’ve had a deuced hard time here. As you may see, I have been shot in the side. Colonel Brewsterberg has been killed. I’ll ask you to take charge of my prisoners.”
“Very well, sir,” said Chester, and produced a revolver.
The German officer returned his revolver to his holster and made as though to leave the room.
“One moment,” said Chester sharply.
The German stopped in his tracks and eyed him in surprise.
“I’ll thank you for your gun,” said Chester.
A great light broke upon the German.
“I see! I see!” he exclaimed. “Another one!”
His hand groped for his revolver.
“Be sure you keep your finger off the trigger,” said Chester pleasantly.
For a moment the German hesitated and it was apparent to Chester that he was considering resistance.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” said the lad quietly.
The German shrugged his shoulders, then took out his revolver and passed it to Chester, holding it by the muzzle.
“Thanks,” said Chester. “Now sit down over there.”
He motioned to a chair and the German sat down.
“All right, major,” called Chester. “You can come in now.”
Major Derevaux entered the room, followed by the four Canadians. The German prisoner looked at them in amazement. Apparently he thought the whole Allied army was about to follow them in.
“Major,” said Chester, “you stand guard over that fellow. I’ll have a look at Hal.”
“I’m all right,” said Hal, as Chester approached him. “Bullet struck me in the side, but it is nothing dangerous, I guess. That big German there nearly choked the life out of me, though. He’s a hard customer.”
Chester staunched the flow of blood in Hal’s wound, and the latter announced that he was fit as a fiddle.
“The thing to do now is to get out of here,” he said.
Under Major Derevaux’s direction, Gregory and Crean had securely bound and gagged the prisoner.
The major now approached Antoinette.
“Have you learned anything?” he asked.
“Yes,” replied the girl quietly. “The next German attack will be made day after tomorrow on this front, in an effort to recapture ground won by General Byng. There will be no activity now in the Verdun sector.”
“But will the enemy weaken his lines there?”
“Such is not the plan. The general staff believes that there are enough men on this front to go through.”
“Good!” said the major. “That’s what I came all this way to learn. But how were you discovered, Antoinette?”
“My wig came off,” replied the girl. “One of the Germans tapped me playfully on the head, and his ring caught in my hair. The next thing I knew I was a prisoner.”
“It’s too bad,” said the major. “We have lost a valuable assistant now. Of course, there is no use in your remaining here longer. You must go with us.”
“But I would so like to stay,” murmured the girl.
“But you can’t,” said Hal eagerly. “You can see that, can’t you?”
Antoinette nodded her head.
“Yes, I must go,” she said quietly.
“Then let’s be moving,” said the major.
The girl got to her feet. Chester led the way to the back door. But as he would have thrown open the door and stepped out, he moved back inside with an exclamation.
“What’s the matter?” demanded Hal in some alarm.
“Matter?” exclaimed Chester. “The yard is full of Germans!”
CHAPTER XXVI
NEW ARRIVALS
Hal gave a long whistle.
“Now, that’s what I call hard luck,” he said. “Do they know we’re in here?”
“I judge not,” replied Chester. “They seem, to be waiting for something.”
“Maybe they’re waiting for our friend, whom we have tied up here, said Major Derevaux.
“By Jove! I hadn’t thought of that,” said Hal. “We may be able to make use of him.”
The lad stepped quickly across the room and lifted the German to his feet.
“I’m going to remove your gag,” he said quietly, “but I want you to understand that if you make an outcry you’ll never live to make a second. Do you understand?”
The German signified that he did.
“All right, then,” said Hal, “out comes the gag. Chester, keep your gun in the middle of his back. We can afford to take no chances.”
“Now,” said Hal, “I want you to show yourself at the door and order your men there away.”
The German eyed the lad angrily.
“So you want me to help you escape, eh?” he said. “Well, I won’t do it.”
“We’re desperate,” said Hal quietly. “If you don’t I give you my word you shall be shot.”
“Pooh!” sneered the German. “One shot and you will all be killed.”
“But you won’t be here to see it done,” returned Hal. “Now I am not going to waste time with you. I shall count three, and if you have not decided by that time to do as I order, you will die. Chester, do you understand?”
“You bet I do,” declared Chester.
“Very well,” said Hal. “One! Two!” Still the German made no move. “Three!” said Hal.
The hammer on Chester’s revolver clicked.
“Hold on!” cried the German. “I give in!”
Chester drew a breath of relief. He couldn’t have shot the man down in cold blood and he knew it. He lowered his revolver a trifle, but still kept the man covered.
“Go to the door and order your men away from here,” Hal ordered the prisoner.
The German strode toward the door.
“Careful,” said Chester in a low voice. “One false move and it will be your last.”
Again he pressed his revolver against the German’s back.
“Do you think I’m a fool?” exclaimed the prisoner. “I’m not going to be killed if I can help it. Take that gun away.”
“Not until you have done as commanded,” returned Chester quietly.
The German opened the door and stepped outside. Chester, still feeling perfectly safe in his German uniform, accompanied him.
“Men,” said the German, addressing the soldiers, “I find that I shall not have need of you tonight. You will a return to your quarters.”
The soldiers, who had stood at attention as the officer addressed them, at command from a minor officer, wheeled and marched away.
Chester marched his captive back inside.
“There,” said the latter. “That’s done; now what are you going to do with me?”
“We’ll have to tie and gag you again,” said Chester. “You will be found and released in the morning.”
“And probably court-martialed and shot if this night’s proceedings ever leaks out,” muttered the German. “However, there is no help for it.”
He suffered himself to be bound and gagged without opposition, and Hal then stretched him out on the floor again.
“Now,” said the lad, “I guess our way is clear once more.”
He moved toward the door, with the others following. Glancing out, he raised a hand suddenly and motioned the others to silence.
Outside two figures approached the house cautiously.
Hal called Chester to his side and the two watched the approaching figures. It was too dark outside to distinguish the features of the men who approached, but there was no room for doubt that they were enemies.
“Back inside and put out the light,” whispered Hal. “They’re coming in.” The light was extinguished promptly. Then Hal added: “Be ready to grab them and stifle their cries the minute they are inside and I have closed the door behind them.”
Those in the house stood silent.
A moment later the door moved cautiously inward. Then two shadowy forms stepped inside. Immediately Hal kicked shut the door behind them and sprang forward to lend a hand to Chester and Major Derevaux, who had pounced upon the strangers as they entered.
“Don’t let them cry out and don’t kill them if you can help it,” the lad cried.
The struggle raged furiously in the darkened room for some moments. Then Hal and Chester found themselves sitting upon one of the intruders, the latter with a revolver pressed to the man’s forehead.
Gregory and Crean also had taken a hand in the struggle, and, with Major Derevaux, now held the other man helpless.
“Strike a light, Antoinette,” called the major.
The girl obeyed, and then for the first time the lads were able to get a look at their prisoners.
“By the great Horn Spoon!” ejaculated Chester, after one look at his prisoner. “I’ll take my oath that this man is Stubbs.”
At the same moment a cry of astonishment was wrung from Major Derevaux.
“Anderson!” he cried.
Chester and Hal got to their feet. The former twisted his hand in the collar of his prisoner and lifted him to his feet.
“Stubbs!” he said severely, “you should know better than sneak upon a fellow in the dark. You are liable to get hurt.”
“I wouldn’t have sneaked up, if I had known you were here,” growled Stubbs. “I would have come up openly and with my gun shooting.”
“My, my!” said Chester. “Little man’s getting bloodthirsty. But didn’t I hear someone mention the name of Anderson.”
“You did,” replied a voice, and Chester found his hand gripped by none other than his old friend, the British colonel. “By George! I’m glad to see you again,” continued Anderson, “though I must say that this is rather a strenuous reception for a couple of old friends.”
He also shook hands with Hal. Major Derevaux and Stubbs expressed pleasure at seeing each other again. Then Hal demanded:
“Where did you get hold of Stubbs, Anderson?”
“I found him back in the British lines,” said the colonel. “I was detailed to come here to see a woman who lives in this house and to bring a companion for the journey. I asked Stubbs to accompany me, and he was glad of the chance.”
“What!” exclaimed Hal. “You mean you brought Stubbs where there was danger and he didn’t protest.”
“No, I didn’t protest,” declared the little war correspondent. “But I protest now. I didn’t sign up for any adventures in your party, and neither will I; you can bet on that.”
“If you didn’t know him, you’d think he was afraid,” laughed Colonel Anderson.
“I am afraid,” declared Stubbs. “I’m afraid to go fooling around with these two,” and he indicated Hal and Chester with a sweeping gesture. “I’d rather fool around with dynamite.”
“Well, we can’t stay here any longer,” said Major Derevaux, and in a few words explained to Colonel Anderson what had happened. “What was the nature of your business here?” he asked.
“About. the same as yours,” returned the colonel with a laugh. “But, as you say, there is no need to linger now. You have learned what I Came to find out. We may as well be moving.”
“How’d you come, an airship?” asked the major. “Yes; and you?”
“Same way.”
“Then we may as well get both machines back. I’ll take half of your party. My plane is only about a hundred yards from here.”
“My plane is not much farther — in a little woods there.”
“By Jove! So is mine. Wouldn’t be surprised if they were near the same spot. Well, let’s be moving.”
Colonel Anderson led the way from the house, and the others followed him through the darkness.
CHAPTER XXVII
A NEW VENTURE
It was three days later and Hal and Chester sat in their own quarters in the shelter of the American lines. The flight from the German lines had been made safely. The aeroplanes had been found where Colonel Anderson and Major Derevaux had left them.
These had ascended without knowledge of the Germans, and had started on their homeward flight before being discovered. Then there had been pursuit, but they had landed without being so much as scratched.
“Well,” said Hal, rising and picking up a pile of papers, “I’ve studied these maps until I know them by heart. Now if someone can tell me what it’s all about, I’ll be obliged.”
“Same here,” Chester agreed. “Funny, when you stop to think about it. Here they give us these maps and tell us to stuff our heads full of them. Well, my head is full, all right.”
“And mine — Hello, here comes someone.”
“It’s Captain O’Neill. Maybe he’ll, be ready to explain now,” said Chester.
A moment later the American captain entered the tent. The boys saluted. The captain came to the point at once.
“You are both familiar with airplanes?” he asked.
The lads nodded.
“So I understand,” said the captain. “Also I hear that several times you have landed upon unfamiliar ground, and in the dark. I am informed, too, that you are always willing to take desperate risks. Am I right?”
“We are glad to do what we can,” returned Chester quietly.
“Understand,” said the captain, “you will be asked to land not only in the dark but behind the enemy lines, not knowing who or what is below.”
“We understand,” said Hal quietly.
“I have come to offer you this opportunity,” said Captain O’Neill quietly. “Tonight — the exact time is 10 o’clock — we attack in force. In comparison, the assaults before this have been as nothing. I say we, but I mean chiefly, of course, the French. There will be some American troops in the advance, however. The mission I am now offering you was turned over to us by the French general staff.”
“We shall be glad of the opportunity to aid, sir,” said Hal.
“Good!” said Captain O’Neill, and continued: “One element alone is uncertain; one only is to be ascertained. The force and disposition of the defending troops in shell holes, in their concrete ‘pill-boxes,’ in their flanking trenches all have been ascertained. They will be blasted out by our artillery. But they have additional forces below the ground, in great caverns too far down to be reached by our shells; they are tremendous underground works concealing whole battalions, many thousands of men, whose presence is known; but the entrances and the means of egress from those great caverns have so far eluded us.
“We have discovered some of these entrances,” he continued, “but immediately they have changed. At present we do not know them. But at 10 o’clock tonight the points from which the German reserves will emerge must be instantly and accurately marked. When our infantry goes over the top and the Germans order their shock troops out from the safe underground refuges to meet our men, we must know the points where the enemy battalions are coming up. Some of these points will be cared for by French already in position to inform us. I offer to you the opportunity of marking others of those points.”
“We shall be glad,” said Hal simply.
“Very well. You understand, of course, that you will be killed if discovered. Both of you come with me.”
He arose, and Hal and Chester followed the captain to his motor-car, which they entered and drove to the main road, over which German prisoners captured early in the day were still streaming to the rear. Overhead a few aeroplanes still buzzed — combat and fire control and staff “observation” machines seeking out their aerodromes in the dark. It grew dark so quickly now that Hal, looking up, saw the colored flash of the signal lights from a pilot’s pistol; they burned an instant red and blue and red again as they dropped through the air; and, in response to the signal, greenish white flares gleamed from the ground to the right, outlining the aviation field; then the flying machine, which had signaled, began to come down.
From far beyond the drum fire of artillery rumbled and rattled.
The car ran up a side road and halted before a little hut. Captain O’Neill alighted.
“We bad the misfortune, in the attack this morning,” he said, “to lose one of our most useful people. The enemy had employed him, recently, in excavating certain of their great underground stations, which I have mentioned; but last night they had him in a front-line trench, which we took this morning. He has volunteered to return to his post, if we can place him behind the lines, but, I regret, he is in no condition for further service. Therefore, we must send a substitute.”
Captain O’Neill led the way into a candle lighted room, where a man was lying in bed. Civilian clothes — the rags of a French refugee from the other side of the lines — hung on the wall beside him. The man was very weak, with hands which drooped from the wrist as he half sat up as the captain entered. The man’s name, the captain informed the lads, was Jean Brosseau.
Captain O’Neill produced a map, a duplicate of the ones which the lads had been given several days before. The man in bed now detailed to them the exact nature and purpose of the markings and spots. It was all lined off into little squares and oblongs, each described with a letter and number. These were for the guiding of the guns — because, for each tiny square on the German side of the lines, there was a battery or a couple of batteries behind the French front, whose business was solely to sweep that square with high explosive shells, gas shells and shrapnel, when the battle was on.
To escape those shells, the Germans again were burrowing, Brosseau pointed out. Some places they had burrowed far too deep to be endangered by shells; but their ways of egress were not known. These were covered with camouflage.
Hal took down the shirt from the wall; vermin crawled in it. Captain O’Neill had not made the mistake of having it steamed or washed or disinfected; vermin and filth of underground communications soiled the rags of Jean Brosseau’s jacket, his trousers, his cap. Hal, without ceremony, stripped off his uniform and underclothes. His body was clean and without calluses; the cleanliness was soon remedied. Then he dressed, to give him all the time possible to become accustomed to the garments of a French citizen in the hands of the enemy.
The reverberations of the guns outside had increased mightily; they seemed to double again to topmost intensity. Captain O’Neill frowned a little as he heard them and glanced at his watch. A motorcycle clattered up and stopped outside; a man knocked at the door, delivered a message to Captain O’Neill, and departed. Captain O’Neill read the message and tore it to bits. Hal and Chester waited without question; but the sick man had to ask:
“We have lost ground, sir?”
“No, no! All goes well — very well, except for us here,” Captain O’Neill replied. “The time is moved forward; that is all.”
He bent again over the map.
“There will not be time now if you are taken far back of the German lines where an aeroplane may come down unobserved. There will not be time,” he repeated to Hal, “for you to work forward to the position where you must be.”
“What’s the matter with coming down near the position where we’re wanted?” asked Hal.
“Near their lines?” Captain O’Neill questioned. “There will be men all about, of course; you will be observed.”
“What’s the matter with coming down observed sir?” said Chester.
“Observed,” repeated the captain. “How do you mean?”
“It is something we have talked of before,” said Hal. “We have often considered this method of getting a man down inside the German lines, even in a section where discovery is certain. A machine goes up carrying bombs, perhaps; it drops them and attracts anti-aircraft fire. It appears to fall, sir, and comes down in that way.”
Captain O’Neill’s brows drew together, puzzled, but he was patient.
“But I do not see the advantage,” he said.
“It falls in flames, sir,” said Hal. “The pilot ignites it when it begins to drop.”
“Proceed,” Captain O’Neill bade.
“The men found in it are killed,” continued Hal “‘killed by the shrapnel fire — also, of course, they burn with the aeroplane. It is, to all observers, a bombing biplane shot down in flames.”
“And you think such a plan will succeed?” asked the captain.
“I feel sure of it, sir.”
“Well,” said Captain O’Neill, “you are the two who must take the chances. You have my permission to adopt your own plans.”
CHAPTER XXVIII
OVER THE LINES
“You will carry these with you, of course,” said Captain O’Neill, “those who will be found in, the plane?”
“Yes, sir,” said Hal. “They need not be aviators, but merely in uniform.”
“You drop from the machine as she strikes, I suppose?” said the captain. “She will run after that, of course.”
“Certainly it will leave us unsuspected,” said Chester. “It will aid our escape. Certainly no one would suspect a man had planned to fall in flames.”
“You have suggested enough,” said the captain. “Your idea alters much. Meet me in half an hour. Everything will be prepared.”
He named a place and left the hut.
Jean Brosseau bent forward in bed, his eyes burning.
“When Captain O’Neill gives you final instructions he may tell you to employ certain people on the other side. Here!” he motioned for the map again, “I shall point out to you where they are.”
He took a pencil and made a dot toward the corner of one of the squares.
“In the old military maps a house stood there,” he said. “My father’s house it was. There was also a stable; there was also a cellar, which the Germans have discovered, but beyond it was an old cellar quite concealed. Our people, at different times, have hidden there. There are both men and women there now. They will help you if they can.
Jean Brosseau fell back on the bed and closed his eyes.
An hour later Hal climbed into the pilot seat of the biplane that Captain O’Neill had placed at their disposal. He felt somewhat uncomfortable in his ragged attire, but he knew that he could not be attired in better costume for the undertaking. Chester also had discarded his civilian clothes and donned rags.
The big “bus,” as the airplanes were called, with propeller whirling, lumbered over the ground; the smoothness of flying came to it and, deafened to everything but the clatter of the motor and the thrash of the air-screw, Hal gazed down. Points of light, yellow and red and some almost white, glowed on the ground. Some of these marked villages, encampments; others signified nothing at all — decoys to attract the “eggs” of the German night flying falcons.
They neared the lines, and the strip of “No Man’s Land,” with the pocked and pitted streaks of defenses on both sides, gleamed white and spectral green under the star-dashed shells. An infantry attack was going on; Hal could see the shapes of men as they flattened; they were pinched to dots when they jumped up and then they spread out again.
Before them burst the frightful fireworks of their own barrage; behind them, and above, that of the enemy.
Hal shivered in the cold; it was very chill there flying high above the lines, and he wore but the rags of Jean Brosseau. Directly below them the land had become black again, specked only by little points of light, yellow, ruddy, white; some of these, like the lights behind the French lines, perhaps marked hamlets, encampments; others were mere decoy-lights; others — they showed but for the briefest second when the biplane passed overhead were the guiding lights for the French and American pilots. These were set in chimneys by the French behind the German lines; any light, if seen by Germans and recognized, might cost the annihilation of a family, or a neighborhood; many times such lights had cost such savage penalty. Still, they were set.
Hal and Chester warmed at sight of them this night as never before. They were going to the people who had set those lights.
The biplane banked and circled. Below was the square where the airplane was to be shot down. Troops were moving through those fields, undoubtedly, advancing in single file through communication trenches or