Belgians to the Front

by Ralph Henry Barbour

  CHAPTER XVII

  THE BATTLE

  They had not gone more than a hundred yards when a wild outburst ofshouting behind them told them that their flight had been discovered.At least there seemed to be no reason for the people in Hannay to raisesuch a din. And the cries showed them, too, that they were beingpursued. But such a pursuit did not frighten them. They had taken tothe fields almost at once, deserting the road, and with such a start asthey had it was practically impossible for them to be overtaken,especially by such stupid pursuers as Raymond and his men.

  So, before they had gone any great distance toward the sounds offiring, which had now increased to a point that showed that they werein the neighborhood of something very like a pitched battle, a generalengagement, they slowed down to a walk and waited to see what wouldhappen. In the road the pursuit stormed past them, but that did notlast long. In a few minutes they heard the voices of the returningvillagers, who had evidently decided that to keep on was too likely tobring them into the field of operations.

  And so for the time at least, the two scouts were free and safe.

  "Thank heaven that's over!" said Arthur. "Paul, I never was sofrightened in my life! It seems to me that we were really between thedevil and the deep blue sea back there!"

  "We certainly were!" said Paul, with a laugh. "The Belgians thought wesided with the Germans, and the Germans knew we didn't! I suppose itwas foolish to defy them like that, but I couldn't do anything else."

  "I should hope not!" said Arthur. "And I don't think it was foolish atall--and neither do you, really, Paul. Perhaps they will find out, ifa few more things like that happen, that it won't be so easy to conquerBelgium as they think, even if we are only a little bit of a country!"

  "What I'm wondering is what we'd better try to do next," said Paul,thoughtfully. "That sounds like a real battle in front of us, Arthur.The firing is getting heavier all the time, and on both sides, I think,as if more and more troops were being brought up. You see, we haven'tany idea at all of what's going on, except just where we've happened tobe. We haven't had any news since the Germans caught us the firsttime."

  "Can't we get to the Belgian lines?"

  "We can try, of course. We must bear well to the west, which willbring us behind the skirmish lines. I think the place for us to try toreach now is Tirlemont. There must be a sort of headquarters there, Ithink, because it's on the railway, and any railway is important intime of war. Yes, I believe that's where these troops must have comefrom. They could be brought there from all over Belgium, you see, andsent out to try to check the German advance."

  They could follow the line of the battle readily now, for the firingwas heavy and well marked, showing that the line along which thefighting was going on was five or six miles long. The bursting shells,too, dotting the darkness with patches of light every few seconds,marked out the battle line, so that they could lay their course to getaway from it. Both of them understood the need of doing that; it wasnow their business to get to some superior officers as quickly aspossible with the valuable information they possessed about the Germanmovements, though of course each hour of delay made it less likely thatthat information would be of any value. And on the firing line, ifthey were lucky enough to escape being shot, they would find nosuperior officers in any case, but only men charged with the duty oflooking after their small, individual tasks, and too busy to pay anyattention to them. It was the staff headquarters they wanted to reach.

  And then, while they were going on as fast as they could, over thestubble of the fields, there was a sudden shifting of the lines infront of them. Immediately before them the firing was almost doubledin violence, but on one side only. Apparently some heavier guns hadbeen brought up by the Germans, and they saw that a terrific fire wasbeing directed at the higher ground whence the flashes of the Belgianguns had been coming. One by one these guns were silenced, and thenthe bursting shells began to search out the ground in front of theBelgian artillery. Paul cried out in dismay.

  "What is it? What's the matter?" asked Arthur.

  "I'm afraid it's going badly for us there," said Paul, gloomily. "Doyou see, they've put our guns out of business! Now they are sendingtheir shells right where our men must be massed. I don't believe anytroops can stand their ground long under such a fire as that."

  "They're still there--they're still answering, Paul!"

  "Yes, but listen!"

  Even above the roar of the battle now they could hear sounds ofcheering. And, on one side, much of the lighter rifle fire now diedaway.

  "The Germans are advancing! It must be a charge against our men. Andthey can't have had time to intrench!" said Paul. "Look! Didn't Itell you so?"

  It was almost as if they had been able to see. They could follow thebending of the Belgian line as it gave way before the furious advance.The artillery firing on the German side--on the German left wing, thatis, and the Belgian right--ceased. And then, nearly half a mile beyondwhere it had been before, the rifle fire broke out again.

  "There, can you tell what has happened?" asked Paul. "They've turnedour wing--they must have rushed a lot of troops this way. We'reholding them well enough on the other side and in the centre, but ourmen will have to retire very soon. It's awfully bad for us, becausenow the Germans are between us and Tirlemont, and I don't see how wecan get around them, because they will keep spreading out, no matterhow far we go," keen disappointment in his voice.

  "I don't see how you can tell that from here, Paul!"

  "Watch the flashes from the guns nearest us--those are the Germans,now. The rifles, I mean--do you see, there? They're firing prettyregularly, and the flashes are very close together. They haven'tspread out much. When they're firing, it looks as if a whole lot oflightning bugs were flashing all at once, and it makes a line along theground. That's a curved line, now. A few minutes ago it was straight."

  And now the German batteries opened up again on their left flank, andthey were firing from a position that had been moved considerablywestward since they had ceased firing after the infantry had begunpushing back the Belgian line. That was the most significant thing.These batteries had now evidently taken up a position that, at thebeginning of the fight, had been held either by the most advanced ofthe German skirmishers or by the Belgians themselves. The Germanpolicy of concentrating the attack at one spot, which has been thepolicy of great generals throughout all history, had worked well forthem again.

  But it was not the result of this fight, which could hardly be ofreally great importance whatever happened, that bothered Paul. It wasthe fact that by this sudden sweep of the German left he and Paul wereagain in the enemy's country, and almost hopelessly cut off fromreaching the Belgian lines. For a moment he was almost ready to giveup in despair. But that was not his style at all, and he soonrecovered his spirits.

  "There's no use in sitting here and wishing that things weredifferent," he said, at last. "Come on! Let's get back to the road!If we can't go behind our own lines, let's go behind the Germans, andsee how far we can get. They may be too busy to pay much attention tous, anyhow. Oh, I wish we had some way of getting around except bywalking! We're losing all this time. That's what is going to ruineverything for us, just when it seemed that we had a chance to dosomething."

  They got back to the road from which they had turned to avoid theenraged peasants of Hannay, and went along mournfully. Once they hearda loud crackling, and dodged immediately into the shelter of the hedgealong the road. A German soldier, mounted on a powerful motorcycle,sped by; but he went so fast that they might have stayed in the roadwithout attracting his attention. He came from behind them, from thedirection of Hannay, and Paul groaned as they went out into the roadagain.

  "They must be in force in that direction, too," he said. "That showsthat it probably wouldn't have done us much good to go back aroundHannay to try to strike another road. We would only have run into alot more Germans, I suppose, if we had."

  "T
here seem to be Germans everywhere," said Arthur. "How can there beso many of them?"

  "That is the way they go to war. It is their plan always to have moremen than the enemy. It is a good way, too. A thousand brave mencannot beat five thousand, no matter how brave they are. The weight ofnumbers has won many a battle."

  "Listen," said Arthur. "Do you hear that? It sounds as if anothermotorcycle might be coming from behind us."

  They were climbing a stiff little grade, and were near the top. Paulstopped, and listened.

  "No," he said. "That's not a motorcycle, but an automobile. Iwonder--" He stopped and thought for a moment. "It's still half amile or so away. It's worth trying! It would be a chance! And it cando no harm. Arthur, do you remember how we stopped their motorcyclewhen those two officers were chasing us after we had escaped from thehouse where they had hidden the guns and the shells?"

  "Yes!" Arthur saw the idea at once. "We haven't any glass--but if wecould find some sharp pointed stones?"

  "Quick! Let's look!"

  They were lucky. They found something better than stones--for in thefield right beside the road they discovered a veritable treasure, apile of horseshoes, rusty and worn, that had been piled up thereevidently by some farmer, against the time when he should decide tocarry them all to the blacksmith to be used again. In some nails stillprojected; all of them, at any rate, had some sharp points. Theyworked frantically, while the song of the motor of the approaching carseemed to din "Hurry! Hurry!" into their ears. And then, just as thegears of the car were shifted at the bottom of the hill, and it beganits laborious ascent, they were finished.

  "Now!" cried Paul, springing back into the shadow of the hedge. "Nowwe'll see whether our luck has changed! It has been against us eversince we got to Huy. It is time, I think, that we had a little goodfortune! Perhaps it will do us no good, even if those nails andhorseshoes do puncture the tires. But we shall see!"

  On came the car. The hill was one of those long, steady ascents thatis particularly trying to a fast motor car, high geared and meant tomake great speed on the level, and it came up slowly. But just beforethe real crest of the hill was reached there was a lessening of thegrade, and the driver shot into his high speed to get a good start.That was what Paul had hoped for; that, and something else that he hadnot dared to voice as a hope, so faint was the chance that it wouldcome true.

  Now, however, as he saw the car, he could scarcely repress a cry ofexultation.

  "There's only one man!" he said to Arthur. "Now if those nails willonly do their part!"

  The car shot forward, and in a moment there was a roar as a tire blewout, and then another, and another. Three tires went, and a hissing offreed air showed that the other was punctured!

  CHAPTER XVIII

  VICTORY!

  There came a savage exclamation of rage from the solitary driver of thecar, as it swerved violently and dangerously before he could stop it.Then, still muttering, he was out of the car and at the task of jackingit up. Evidently he was in a fearful hurry and it was easy to guessthat his errand was one of the most pressing importance, for, though hekicked the horseshoes away, and so evidently understood what had causedhis mishap, and knew that it could not have been accidental, he wastedno time in looking for whoever had caused it.

  Instead he went to work with a will, ripping off the deflated tires andattaching others. He worked fast and furiously, and with the skill ofone accustomed to the task.

  "What are we to do now? Rush him?" whispered Arthur. "We can do itwhile he is bending over like that, and the two of us ought to be ableto hold him down, too."

  "We can't take any chances," Paul whispered back grimly. He showedArthur a horseshoe that he had retained. "He's a German officer and anenemy, and we have a right to do anything we can to damage the enemy.I'm going to hit him with this. If I do it right, he won't be able tomove for some time."

  Arthur shuddered a little. The idea of actually attacking a man frombehind in such a way was unpleasant. But he realized that Paul, whohad a reputation for gentleness, could like the idea as little as hedid himself, and also that it was vitally necessary to securepossession of the car, though even yet Paul's whole plan had not cometo him.

  "All right!" he said. "Come on, then!"

  "No; wait until he has finished! We might as well let him do the work,and have the car ready.

  "But he will do the tires on this side first! He will be on the otherside of the car afterward."

  "No, he won't. He's got to come back to side when all the tires are onbecause the jack is on this side. Don't you see?"

  "Oh, yes. I didn't think."

  They waited breathlessly while the German worked. There was somethingoddly familiar about him, but his long, flowing overcoat prevented themfrom seeing him very well. He wore a uniform cap, fortunately, insteadof a helmet, which would have given him a much better chance since itwould have been very difficult for Paul to do what he planned with ahelmet in the way.

  Bad as the accident had been, the German worked so fast that in a veryfew minutes he had all the tires on, and was pumping them up as fast aspossible. Then, when that was done, he came back, as Paul had seenthat he must, and stooped over to remove the jack that had lifted thewheels from the ground. And that was the moment in which Paul struck.

  "Stay behind!" he whispered, to Arthur. "I may need your help ifanything goes wrong."

  Then with one leap he reached the German. He landed quietly, and,though the German heard him and half turned, it was all over in asecond. Paul brought down his horseshoe on the officer's skull, and hecrumpled without a cry and fell in a silent heap in the roadside.

  "Quick!" cried Paul. "Look under the seat! There ought to be drinkingwater there."

  Arthur found a vacuum bottle, and a big gallon bottle of mineral water.This Paul broke, and, dipping a handkerchief in it, made a wet bandagefor the German's head. Then he dropped the vacuum bottle where theofficer must find it when he recovered consciousness. And now he didsomething that surprised Arthur. He stripped off the officer's coat,took his uniform jacket and his cap. These he himself donned, and,though they were far too big for him, he cried out with satisfaction atthe fit of the cap.

  "Now do you see?" he cried. "I bet we could go through the Germanlines like this! Hello!"

  "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing, but this is that chap Poertner--one of the men we got awayfrom! He was taken into Liege as a prisoner. Don't you remember? Hemust have got away or else the Germans must have taken the fort wherethey were holding him! I'm afraid it's that!"

  But there was no more time to be wasted. Paul leaped to the steeringwheel of the car.

  "In with you, Arthur!" he cried. "Get down, so that you won't be seen.Down low, on the floor!"

  "Why?" asked Arthur, though he had obeyed before he asked the question.

  "You haven't any uniform. You'd be spotted at once. If they see me inthis rig, they may mistake me for a German officer, you see. That'swhy I took it. I was sorry to have to do it, but it's war, and all'sfair! Now we're off!"

  On the word he turned the car around, and they were really off inanother moment, racing down the hill that the car had just climbed solaboriously, to have its journey so ingloriously halted.

  "It's a wonderful little car. They must use a lot of these fordispatch bearers," said Paul. "Arthur, isn't it lucky that Marcelshowed us all about how to run different sorts of cars? I hope he'sall right. I bet he enlisted too, if Uncle Henri joined the army whenhe went to Brussels."

  "It runs so smoothly and it's ever so much faster than the fastesthorse, of course," said Arthur. "I suppose all the armies must beusing automobiles for this sort of work. Where are you going, Paul?"

  "I'm going to make a great big circuit, if we're not stopped before wereally get started," said Paul. "On foot we never could have got aheadof the Germans in that sweeping flank movement of theirs. But now,when we can make sixty miles an hour,
I should think we ought to beable to do it. I think the worst time will be right along here in thefirst ten miles or so. All I'm hoping is that we don't run into thepeople who know where Poertner was going in this car. I think we canget by anyone else. But there's no telling where he did start from.Perhaps from Huy."

  "Huy? But we were there this morning--and our troops were there, too!"exclaimed Arthur, plainly puzzled.

  "That doesn't mean that they're there now. Huy couldn't have held outfor more than a few hours against a real attack. And we had very fewtroops there. Our concentration seems to be further north."

  They swept through Hannay at a terrific pace, but not so fast as toprevent them from seeing that the wine shop was still open and that itwas full of Raymond's men. Paul sounded a blast on the siren of hiscar, the peculiar siren that indicated its military character, andlaughed at the rush of people to the door of the shop. Then they wereout in the open road again.

  And now Paul's knowledge of the geography of the country stood him ingood stead. Twinkling camp fires showed that they were running towarda country that was literally swarming with Germans. Now more thanever, it was plain that from all around Liege a great advance movementwas being pushed. Despite the battle that was still raging behindthem, these troops seemed to be in camp, a plain proof that the Germansmust still have troops enough and to spare behind them, though herewere fresh divisions that would not be engaged at all.

  In the southwest the lights of Huy, could be seen, but they gave noclue as to which army held the town. Only the fires that dotted theground, clustered about Huy in a great semicircle, seemed to indicatethat perhaps the Germans had not yet entered the town. They were westof it, however, though only a few, toward Namur, and Paul mutteredangrily to himself as he saw that well west of Huy the fires stretchedin a solid line between that place and the fortress of Namur.

  "We won't be able to reach Namur, I'm afraid," he said. "We might getthrough, but I believe that our best chance is to swing right aroundHuy, staying well inside the line of the fires, and slip past it, justto the west. There is a bridge there, too. I don't believe we couldcross the Meuse anywhere else between Huy and Namur."

  Twice they passed roadside patrols of Germans, but Paul's appearancewas deceptive, and the soldiers simply sprang to attention as theflying car swept by, standing with their hands raised in salute. Paulknew that at any moment he might run into a patrol less easilysatisfied, but that was a chance that had to be taken.

  Now he was picking his way carefully, having reduced his speed alittle. Twice he boldly left the road and drove the car across thesoft ground of fields, for he had to follow a semicircle, and the road,had he stuck to it, would have brought him right up to one of the campseach time. But at last he was heading north and west again, and heheaved a sigh of great relief.

  He had to sacrifice speed now for a time to certainty. To have taken afalse turn would have spelled disaster, and, though he knew the map ofthe country well enough, he had never traveled these roads himself.But soon all danger seemed to be over. They were coming nearer to thesounds of the battle again. These had died away for a time, and thefight had seemed to be over. But whichever side had been losing hadbrought up reenforcements, and as the first faint streaks of light inthe east that foretold the dawn began to spread in the sky the din waslouder than ever.

  "Where are you trying to go?" asked Arthur.

  "To Eghezee," said Paul. "That is a fair sized town and we ought tofind a telephone exchange still working there, with wires into Brusselsthat haven't been cut. There is its smoke--do you see it right ahead?"

  Arthur raised his head to look. And he saw something else. To theright of the town, which was still two miles away, there was a movingmass of grey.

  "There come the Germans, too!" he groaned. "And they're nearer than weare!"

  Paul's answer was to urge the car to still greater speed. Arthur wasright. Heavy masses of Germans--Paul guessed there was a full divisionof twenty thousand men--were advancing toward the town. They werestill some distance away, but they were moving fairly fast.

  "It's the railway they're after, that line runs between Namur andTirlemont," said Paul. "Well, we've got to risk it now. Perhaps theywill catch us, but if we have any luck we'll get our messages through."

  They came into a town that was almost wholly deserted, as it seemed.The Germans had given warning of their coming, and the people had fled.But in the building that was used by the telephone system there werestill signs of life. The door was open, and when, having left the caroutside, they burst into the room that contained the big switchboard,they found a girl sitting there calmly, waiting for the calls that didnot come.

  "Can you get Tirlemont?" cried Paul. "We must talk to the office ofthe headquarters staff there. Say that we have come from Liege andhave a message from Major du Chaillu."

  The girl stared at them incredulously for a moment. She had had thepluck to stick to her post when she knew the Germans were coming, andnow she went to work without argument.

  "If the wires are not cut!" she said. She manipulated the plugs andthen, after a brief delay, pointed to an instrument.

  "A message from Major du Chaillu!" said a voice in Paul's ear."Impossible--he is here!"

  "Thank Heaven!" cried Paul. "Call him to the telephone!"

  In another moment he was telling what they had learned. He gave theinformation concerning the great extent of the German strength first,and was rewarded by a cry of astonishment. And then he told of theirsituation; of how, having captured the car and fled through the wholeGerman army, they were now almost certain to be captured.

  "With that coat--and the automobile!" cried du Chaillu. "My boy, I amafraid they would shoot you! How far away are they?"

  "Very near."

  "Eh? Oh, I have it! Listen!"

  Paul's face lighted up as he heard the plan.

  "Yes--yes!" he cried. "I think we can! I think there will be time forthat!"

  There was a click. The wire had been cut somewhere between him andTirlemont! But he did not care; he had done all that was needful. Andnow, shouting to Arthur to follow, he dashed from the building.

  "Don't delay a second!" he cried. "Come! Major du Chaillu says atrain, with an engine and one car, was held here to bring money fromthe banks so that the Germans would not get it! He is having atelegram sent to bid it wait! The station is a quarter of a mile away!"

  Madly they ran through the deserted streets. Even as they ran past awide street that entered the one in which they were, they saw the headof a German column coming down toward them. Never had they run so fastbefore, but even so, it seemed that they would never reach the station!But at last they were there; they dashed in--to see the train going out!

  "The telegram must have come too late!" said Paul. "Well, perhaps theywill not know what we have done. It may not be so bad--"

  "Look!" cried Arthur. The train had slowed down. Now it had stopped,just by a signal tower. From the engine a man dropped, looked back,and then began beckoning them on. They ran wildly toward him, and in amoment they were being pulled on board the train.

  "The operator in the signal tower heard the message coming in just aswe were starting," said the conductor. "He set the signal against usand told us of the message! What good luck for you! Now, if theGermans haven't cut the line, you are safe!"

  And safe they were. The light train carried them to Tirlemont, andthere they met not only Major du Chaillu, but their uncle, now Colonelde Frenard.

  "We have informed the French staff of your news. It has changed thewhole plan of campaign," said du Chaillu. "Namur will be abandoned;the real defence will be made on the border. Thanks to you the Frenchhave escaped the trap that was being baited for them. And I havespecial orders concerning you."

  "What are they?" asked Paul.

  "You are to be sent to Brussels immediately. And there you are to bereceived by King Albert who has heard of your part in the defence
ofLiege, for which all the world has praised Belgium and her brave sons!"