CHAPTER X.
ON THE AISNE.
The prisoner was in a quandary. To raise a cry of warning, he feltsure, would mean his instant death; and yet, should he remain silent ifhe was asked any questions concerning his companions he might also getinto trouble.
"Good evening, Captain," said the officer who had accosted him. "Are yougoing far?"
The pressure of the revolver against the German's back increased, andhe replied:
"I am accompanying my friends to the bank of the Aisne. They wish to havea look at the enemy on the opposite shore."
"You might invite them to go with us when we cross the next time," wasthe laughing rejoinder. "When we cross again we shall stay."
The prisoner also forced a laugh.
"I am likely to go across sooner than I expect," he said.
"What do you mean?" demanded the other. "Are you going on a scout?"
"Well, you might call it that. Anyway, I am going across."
Both lads were forced to smile to themselves at this. In their mindsthere was no doubt that the prisoner was going across the Aisne at once.
"Well, I wish you luck," said the second German officer, as he continuedon his way.
"Thanks," replied the prisoner briefly.
The lads, with the man still between them, started on again.
After some walking they made out in the distance a stream of water.
It was the Aisne, and the lads, realizing that upon the opposite side laysafety, increased their pace.
Some distance back, on both sides of the stream, the opposing armieswere drawn up in force. Occasional raids had been made by first one sideand then the other, but there had been no real change in the situationfor days. Now the French, by a bold assault or a night attack, wouldgain a foothold upon the German side, only to be driven back again; andnow the Germans would gain a foothold on the French ground by a boldattack, but would also be forced to retire. This give-and-take game hadcontinued for weeks.
Feeling secure in the company of their prisoner the lads did nothesitate, but marched straight through the German line to the very edgeof the river. The German officer spoke to several others, as they madetheir way along, but Chester kept his revolver pressed against him, andhe did not once offer to raise an alarm.
The three descended the sharp incline to the water's edge. There theywere fortunate enough to find a small motor boat, apparently havingsuffered much usage by the Germans in their travels forward and backwardacross the river. Into this they forced their prisoner to climb, and thenquickly jumped in after him.
"Head down the river, Chester," ordered Hal. "If we put off straightfor the opposite shore they are likely to suspect something and openfire on us."
Chester, at the wheel, guided the boat down the stream, keeping close tothe German shore.
But this plan also was fraught with danger, for a French sentry on theopposite side, espying the boat, opened upon it with his rifle.
The first shot attracted others to the scene, and several more rifleswere brought into action. The Germans, seeing the boat with a Germanofficer and apparently two friends in it, immediately opened upon theFrench. The latter turned from the boat and opened upon these new foes.
"Great Scott!" exclaimed Hal. "This is more than I bargained for. We'llhave to get out of here, or we shall wind up at the bottom of the river."
Seeing that the French and Germans were too busy with each other to paymuch attention to the little boat, Chester steered quickly to the centerof the river. There, as the bullets sped overhead, he felt safer.
Turning to view the scene, Hal for a moment relaxed his vigilance overthe prisoner, and in that moment the latter sprang upon him. He launchedhimself in a desperate spring, and Hal, taken unprepared, was borne backto the bottom of the boat, almost being hurled overboard.
Chester immediately released his hold upon the wheel and sprang to Hal'sassistance.
The boat, now with no guiding hand upon the wheel, staggered crazilyabout, heading first in one direction and then in the other, as thestruggling figures gave it impetus, first toward one shore and thentoward the other.
As the boat heeled over, Chester hurled himself upon the German, who hadsucceeded in clutching Hal by the throat and was slowly strangling him.He seized the German by both shoulders, and, putting his knee in hisback, pulled with all his strength.
The pain was unbearable, and the man was forced to loosen his grip onHal's throat. But so fierce had been the pressure of his fingers, thatfor a moment Hal was unable to go to Chester's assistance, and laypanting and gasping for air.
The German, who was much larger and more powerfully built than Chester,turned upon his second opponent. By a quick shift of position, he graspedthe lad's throat with his left hand and with his right aimed a hard blowat his face. This the lad struck up with his left arm, and before theGerman could repeat the blow, let drive with his right.
There was a loud smack, as his right first crashed into his opponent'sface, and a stream of blood poured from the German's nose. Hal now hadregained his wind, and jumped to aid his chum.
All this time the battle between the two skirmish lines of the armiescontinued. Both sides had perceived the struggle in the boat, but bothwere fearful to fire for fear of wounding friend as well as foe--for thevery fact of the struggle proved that there were men of both armies inthe boat. Gradually the fire of both sides slackened, as the troopspeered intently toward the fighting figures in midstream.
The lads' prisoner, raising his left arm to ward off a blow delivered byChester, accidentally caught the lad under the chin with his fist. Theblow was a hard one, and, before the lad could recover his balance, theprisoner had delivered another resounding smack, which caused Chester tostagger back.
At that moment Hal leaped upon the German from behind. His right fiststruck the man a stunning blow on the back of the neck. The Germanwheeled and clinched with his opponent, and for a moment they stood, armslocked about each other, swaying upright in the boat.
Then Hal, putting forth every ounce of his strength, succeeded inbreaking his opponent's hold, and gave him a violent push. The Germanstaggered and tottered; but, in the very act of falling overboard, hisoutstretched hand grasped Hal by the collar and both tumbled into theriver together.
Chester scrambled to his feet as the two pitched into the river. As theywent over the side, violently tipping the boat, it suddenly turnedturtle. Chester went flying through the air and disappeared beneath thewater with a loud splash.
Still locked in each other's embrace Hal and his opponent rose to thesurface. Both had one arm free and struck out blindly at the other'sface. Hal landed two short-arm blows, and the German sent one home.Neither had an advantage, however, and they sank again.
At almost the same instant Chester's head appeared above the water. Hecast a quick look around, but could see no sign of the other twooccupants of the boat. Treading water, he remained close to the spotwhere the water bubbled up. Two or three seconds later the heads of thestruggling pair again appeared above the water.
Chester acted promptly. Swimming rapidly up to them, he raised his rightarm and sent his fist crashing full into the German's face. The latter'salready white countenance turned whiter, and gradually his hold on Halrelaxed. With a quick movement Hal freed himself, and the German sankfrom sight.
Without waiting to see whether he would come up again both lads struckout for the opposite shore.
But they were too late.
When the little motorboat had capsized, four French soldiers had run downto the bank and thrown themselves into the stream. Almost at the sametime a squad of perhaps a dozen Germans had performed the same maneuver.Now, from both sides of the river, men were closing in upon the almostexhausted lads.
But the Germans were the best swimmers and overtook them first. Onegrasped Hal by the arm and another seized Chester. In vain did the ladstry to shake off these opponents, striking out blindly at them, andcalling to the French to hurry to their assistanc
e.
In spite of the superior numbers of the enemy the French swam rapidlytoward them. The first to arrive struck the man that grasped Hal astunning blow. Immediately the lad felt his arm freed, but it wasimmediately grasped again by a second German, who held on while hiscomrades swam on to drive back the French.
Knives were drawn and the battle in the water continued with desperation.The four Frenchmen gave a good account of themselves, and two Germansoldiers disappeared beneath the water to come to the surface no more.
But the weight of numbers told at last; and, when two of the French hadbeen severely wounded, the other two, realizing the futility of furtherfighting in the face of overwhelming odds, drew off, and, supportingtheir wounded companions, returned to the far shore.
Hal and Chester had put forth their best efforts to free themselves fromthe hands of their captors, but in spite of their frantic struggles,they were overpowered and were soon dragged back to the bank on theGerman side.
A German trooper had dived beneath the water and succeeded in graspingthe collar of the boys' late prisoner and dragging him to shore, whereseveral men were now at work trying to restore him to consciousness.
The men who had captured the boys stopped to watch this operation. Soonthe German began to gasp for breath, and ten minutes later he was able tosit up and look about. His gaze rested on the two lads.
He was a pitiful-looking object, but in spite of this the lads wereforced to smile as he glanced at them. The man arose and approached them,leaning heavily upon the arm of a brother officer.
"So you didn't get away after all?" he said.
"No," said Hal quietly, "we are still here."
"And here you'll stay, if I have anything to do with it," was theresponse. "You are tough customers, and no mistake, but I guess there areenough here to keep you quiet now."
The German officer turned to his fellow-officer.
"I'll take charge of them," he said quietly. "Give me a couple of dryguns; mine are no good."
The other did as requested, and, pointing his two weapons at the lads,the German ordered:
"March!"
Boy Allies in the Trenches; Or, Midst Shot and Shell Along the Aisne Page 10
