CHAPTER XXI.
ACROSS THE MARNE.
For two hours the great motor truck continued its journey southward attop speed. Then Hal called a halt.
Quickly the men clambered out, and with Hal in the lead marched in thedirection of the river.
The place where Hal had ordered the men from the car could not havebeen better selected, for, on the opposite side of the river, thoughHal did not know it then, there was a considerable open space betweenthe German forces.
The troopers followed the lad to the bank of the river, and then, asthere was not a shot from the opposite side, all walked boldly alongthe shore. At length they came upon a number of small boats, evidentlyhaving been placed in readiness by some of the British forces.
"We'll appropriate these," said Hal. "Luckily they were here or weshould have been forced to swim across."
The men piled into the boats, and pushed off. They reached theopposite side without discovery, and hastily clambering up the bankwere soon hidden from sight in a clump of trees. Here Hal calledanother halt, until he was able to decide upon his next move.
The boats had been pulled into the trees, to be used for their returntrip. The driver of the auto truck was ordered to remain where theparty had left him. All in readiness for a hasty retreat, Hal nowbethought himself of a way to successfully accomplish their mission.
After a consultation the party moved forward, keeping as much aspossible in the shelter of the trees. As they approached the edge ofthe little woods they came suddenly upon three German horsemen.
The latter had not seen them, so quietly had they crept along. Hal,Chester and Lieutenant Anderson were upon them before they knew it,their men right behind them. Seeing that they were far outnumbered,the Germans did not put up a fight.
The hands of all three immediately went into the air, and one of themcalled out in German:
"We surrender."
"Dismount!" ordered Hal, and the Germans obeyed.
"This is what I call luck," said Hal to his friends.
"What do you mean?" demanded Lieutenant Anderson.
"Why," said Hal, "here we have three horses and three Germanuniforms. If that isn't luck, I don't know what is."
Quickly the three Germans were stripped of their uniforms, bound andgagged.
When Hal, Chester and Lieutenant Anderson had donned the Germanuniforms, Hal called three of the British troopers to him.
"You men," he said, "will leave all your weapons here, except yourrevolvers, which you will hide in your clothes. Then you willaccompany us, afoot, apparently as prisoners."
He called a fourth trooper to him.
"Your name?" he demanded.
"Bristow, sir."
"Then, Bristow, we appoint you to take command while we are gone. Therest of you will remain here until we return, or until you find itnecessary to retreat across the river."
"Very good, sir," said Bristow, and fell back and informed hiscompanions of the situation.
"Do you realize," asked Lieutenant Anderson of Hal, "that if we arecaptured in these German uniforms it will mean a spy's death for allof us?"
"Perfectly," said Hal, "but we shall have to take that chance. Ibelieve that having three English soldiers with us, apparentlyprisoners, will be a means of avoiding detection."
"All right," said Chester, "only we shall have to be careful."
Quickly the three mounted, and marching the soldiers on ahead of themstarted north, bearing off slightly to the east. For an hour theycontinued their journey, passing now and then a body of German troops.But they were not molested, not even challenged.
At length they came upon a farmhouse, setting well back from the road.
"Perhaps we can learn something here," said Chester.
Hal called a halt, and all approached the house. The door was openedby a young woman, who started back in dismay at sight of them.
"Have no fear," said Hal, who acted as spokesman of the party. "We aresimply tired out and hungry. We thought perhaps you could furnish uswith a bite to eat, and also our prisoners here."
Without a word the woman opened wide the door, and motioned for themto enter. The six followed her into the dining-room, where soon ahearty repast was spread on the table.
"We have been on a mission south," Hal said to the woman. "Can youtell me just how far the German staff is from here?"
"It can't be very far," the woman replied, "for some of the officersoften come here to eat. They say that they like my cooking better thanthe regular army fare. I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of themwere to come along soon."
"Good," said Hal, aloud, but nevertheless he was seriously alarmed. Hedid not wish to come into such close proximity with the German staffofficers.
Hastily the six bolted their food, and even as they were disappearingaround the outbuildings, Chester, glancing back, saw six men, ingold-trimmed uniforms, entering the house they had just quitted.
"Great Scott," he said, "we got out of there just in time. Look."
The rest looked back and saw the cause of his excitement. In theshelter of a clump of trees Hal called a halt.
"There must be something up," he declared, "or the German staff wouldnot be this far south. I don't suppose General French has beeninformed of this. In some way we must find out what is going on."
"And I wouldn't be surprised," said Chester, "if they were using thatfarmhouse for a certain purpose."
"By Jove! I never thought of that," said Hal. "I believe you have hitit. That is where they are making their plans. I wonder"--and he grewgreatly excited. "I wonder if by any chance the Kaiser could be inthat party."
"He is probably pretty near the whole party," said Lieutenant Andersondryly. "Kaiser Wilhelm is no coward, and if his staff is there, thisclose to the British lines, the Kaiser is probably there also."
"Then it's a wonder the woman didn't say something about the Kaiserbeing near."
"She probably didn't know him," said the lieutenant.
Hal sat wrapped in thought for a long time.
"Do you know what I am going to do?" he said at length, dismounting.
"No. What?" demanded Chester and Lieutenant Anderson in a singlevoice.
"I'm going to sneak back to the farmhouse, and see if by some hook orcrook I can hear what is going on. We shall probably not have anotherchance of overhearing the German plans."
"Great Scott!" said Lieutenant Anderson, "that certainly is a boldplan. You don't mean it?"
"I certainly do," was the reply.
"Then I shall go, too," said Chester.
"And me," declared Lieutenant Anderson.
"No you won't," said Hal, positively. "The rest of you will stay here.If I should get into any trouble, I shall fire my revolver, and thenthe rest of you can come up. The six of us will be a match for them,the Kaiser included."
Suddenly Chester was struck with a great inspiration.
"Why can't we get the rest of our men, and capture the whole crowd?"he demanded in great excitement.
"I had thought of that," replied Hal, "but something tells me it can'tbe done--a hunch, if you like. I have a feeling that if we attemptsuch a thing our whole expedition will go wrong. I can't explain justwhat I mean, but I feel it."
"And I too," declared Lieutenant Anderson. "I don't know why, but Iknow it's true."
"Bosh!" said Chester, but the words of his two friends evidently hadcreated some impression, for his ejaculation was only half-hearted.
"Well, if you must go by yourself, all right," said LieutenantAnderson. "But my advice is that the sooner you get there the better."
Hal nodded, and, a moment later, going some distance to one side,where he knew he could not be seen from the dining-room window, hewalked slowly toward the house.
He made no attempt at concealment as he walked along, for he knew thatsuch an action, should he be seen, would be suspicious and wouldprobably mean an unsuccessful termination of his plan. He had littlefear of detection, clothed as he was in a German u
niform.
Now the lad reached the house, and sought a means of entrance. He didnot wish to go in the front door, for fear that someone might see him,so, keeping close to the wall, he walked around the house.
His effort was rewarded. For at the extreme rear was a low window,apparently halfway between the first and second floors.
"Evidently, at a turn in the steps," Hal told himself.
Quickly he grasped the edge of the sill, and exerting great strengthslowly and cautiously drew himself up. The window was open, and thelad put one leg over the sill. A second later he sat in the opening,and then disappeared inside the house.
Very cautiously he ascended the steps. Remembering the exact locationof the dining-room, the lad sought out the room above it. There, atone end of the room, he found what appeared to be a little closet.
Gently opening the door, he peered in. Nothing but darkness met hiseyes. Hal stepped inside, pulling the door to after him, leaving justa little crack that he might not be suffocated.
Then he laid his ear to the floor and listened intently. From belowcame the faint sound of German voices.
Hal ran an exploring finger over the floor of the closet. His fingerfelt a little hole, and changing his position the boy saw a very smallopening in the floor. He put his eye to the hole and peered down, andas he made out the figures in the room below he chuckled softly tohimself.
The first man upon whom he laid his eyes was Count Von Moltke,commander-in-chief of all the German armies, and who, upon oneoccasion, had saved him from death before a firing squad.
"Wonder what he would say if he could see me now?" Hal asked himself.
His gaze roved over the room, and there at one end of the table sat animposing figure in gold-trimmed military uniform, sword between hisknees, a fierce military mustache curling upward.
There was no mistaking this figure. It was Wilhelm II, Emperor ofGermany!
Boy Allies on the Firing Line; Or, Twelve Days Battle Along the Marne Page 21
