CHAPTER VIII
THE HANDS OF A CLOCK
The sight was a sobering one. There had been only half a dozen of theUhlans, and they knew from what they had heard and read that thousands,scores of thousands probably, had already died in the war. But theyhadn't seen the others, and these men had lain by the roadside within afew feet of them. For a time neither of the two scouts had much to say.
"There's some real war for you, Henri," Frank said, finally.
"Don't!" said the French scout with a shudder. "It must be, but it isterrible. And only a few hours ago, I suppose, they were riding along aswell as you and I!"
Then for a mile or more they rode along in silence. They made good timefor the roads were level. There were no interruptions to their progressnow. In the fields, as before, they could see the women and a few oldmen about the work of the harvest, but in spite of that, there was anair of desolation. Everything seemed to have stopped. And there was acurious something that made itself felt. For a long time, though each ofthem felt this, they made no comment on it. Finally Frank called a halt.
"Listen, Harry," he said. "There's something curious. It's a noise, andyet it isn't, exactly. It sounds a little like thunder or like the surfwhen you are quite a little way inland--"
They stopped together, listening.
"I know!" said Henri, suddenly. "It's the guns we hear. The wind ischanging and that is why it is coming to us now. There is a battle. Inolden days we could see its smoke but now they fight without makingsmoke. And the noise, too, seems to come from the direction in which weare going."
Once he had named the cause, there was no mystery about the sound. Itwas less a sound, however, than a beating of the air. There were nosharp reports; it was a steady, ceaseless murmur. But even so, there wasno mistaking it. For the first time they were within hearing distance ofa battle.
"We will soon be on our way to Berlin, now," said Henri. "That must meanthat we have turned--that the great battle has begun."
"It needn't mean that," said Frank. "It may be only artillery covering arear guard action. I wish you'd remember, Harry, that a retreat may meanmighty hard fighting. Not a rout--a retreat. It isn't easy for an armyto move backward. But it's been done by a good many armies that wonlater."
"Well, come on! We're not getting any nearer to the English by stoppinghere to talk."
"No. We'll be off again. That noise is getting nearer, Harry. Or louder,anyhow. Perhaps that only means that more guns are going into action."
Somehow the nearness of the battle stimulated them. They foundthemselves making better time, though they had certainly seemed to beriding as fast as they could before. And all the time the sound of thecannon in front of them grew louder, and the quality of the noisegradually changed. Soon loud explosions began to be distinguishable amidthe general hum of battle, and, too, there was an overtone,--a sharper,less steady noise.
"Rifle fire, I think, too," said Frank. "It's lighter than the sound ofthe cannon, but it seems to be just about as steady. And to think thatthat's going on, all the way from here to the Swiss border nearly!They're fighting here and near Verdun, and in the Vosges mountains."
"Look over there," said Henri, suddenly. "Do you see? That looks like anomnibus!"
"It is--one of the sort they use in London!" said Frank, in surprise.
The great, unwieldy vehicle came lumbering toward them. It rolled alongthe road, raising a tremendous cloud of dust, and they could see thatbehind it were many more. Just behind it, too, a man on a motorcyclecame suddenly into view. He was mounted on a high-powered machine, andthey could hear the roar of his motor as he came up to them.
"Halte!" he cried, in a broken French. "Arretez vous!"
They were off their machines in a moment, saluting, as he stopped hismotor and put one foot on the ground to steady his machine. He wasdressed in khaki, and both of them recognized his uniform as that of theBritish forces.
"We speak English," said Frank.
"The deuce you do! That's good! Well, tell me how to get to Guise. We'velost our blooming way, that's what we've done! And we've got suppliesfor the troops."
"You're going the wrong way--straight to Amiens," said Henri. "The roadto Guise is back four miles, at least. Can you turn your 'buses here? Wewill guide you. We are going that way."
"You are, are you?" said the English officer. He laughed, curtly. "Idoubt that, young fellow! I do, indeed! However, you can come alongwith us as far as that. Then I'll wash my hands of you. But I can tellyou that if you go on much further, you'll get into some fighting thatisn't meant for boys!"
They made no reply, for as they understood their errand, they were notsupposed to tell every officer they met what they were doing, but wereto answer questions only when it was plain that not to do so meant thatthey would be prevented from reaching their destination.
It was not the easiest of tasks to manage the reversing of the supplytrain of omnibuses, but the officer in charge was efficient, and it wasmanaged. When the convoy had turned around, he rode up beside the boys.
"Seen any signs of Germans?" he asked.
"Only at a culvert a few miles back," said Frank. He described the fightthere as best he could, and the officer looked a little worried.
"As far as that, eh?" he said. "We hadn't heard of their being in thatquarter at all. H'm!"
Then he rode on ahead, to what had, until a few moments before, been therear of his train.
"He's doing well enough, now that he knows his way," said Frank in anundertone to Henri. "But I think he was in a bad way. I've got an ideathat the Germans are behind us. Do you know what I think? It's funny fora supply train like this to be here without any escort of troops, isn'tit?"
"Yes. I thought of that, too."
"Well, I believe he was supposed to meet a guard, and missed it. Supposehe'd run into the Germans?"
"Yes, that would have been a nice mess! I suppose some English soldierswould have gone hungry to-night!"
The road was rising a little, enough for them to feel the added pull inpropelling their wheels. And now, at the crest of the little rise, theysaw that the officer had dismounted. He had unstrapped a box from hismachine and was setting it up. In a few minutes, as they reached him,he had set up a tripod-like machine, not unlike a surveyor'sinstrument, and was flashing a small mirror.
"Hello!" he said. "Field heliograph kit. Ever see it before?"
"No, sir, but I know about it," said Frank, while Henri looked onadmiringly. "I know the Morse code, too."
"Do you? Good! Then watch those answering flashes. Check off the messagefor me."
Harry obeyed, having spotted in that moment the answer of a similarinstrument on a hill perhaps five miles away. He read off the Morsesigns carefully, and the officer nodded.
"And that's all right," he said, with a sigh of relief. "They'll have anescort here for us as quickly as it can ride over. I suppose you know Isignalled for that?"
"Yes, sir."
The officer was plainly puzzled by Frank and Henri. He could not quiteunderstand what they were doing in what was decidedly disputed ground.But he had not the instinct that would have prompted a French, and moreespecially, a German officer, to question them and, if he was not fullysatisfied, to put them under restraint.
"All right. We'll be getting on," he said. "Ride along, now. I'm goingback. Don't get out of touch. And if I'm not around when we get to theroad where we are to turn off for Guise, stop them. They know you'reguiding us."
He went off, with a great sputtering of his engine, and Frank and Harryrode along quietly. But Frank felt a strange uneasiness.
"I feel as if there was something wrong around here," he said.
"What do you mean, Frank? Everything's quiet now. Even the firing is notas heavy as it was."
"I know, but just the same, that's how I feel. As if there was somethingin the air. What's this--a village we're coming to?"
"Yes, and the crossroads where the 'buses must turn, for Guise is justbeyond here, t
oo."
"Doesn't look much like war, does it?" said Frank. "Look at that church.I suppose it's been there for centuries. But the clock looks new,doesn't it?"
"Yes, and it's stopped, too," said Henri, with a laugh. "I suppose theyare so excited about the war that they've forgotten to wind itproperly."
"The time of day doesn't matter much just now," said Frank. "I think--"He stopped short, staring as if fascinated at the clock. Then with a cryto Henri to wait for him, he turned and pedalled furiously back in thedirection the officer had taken.
"Who is the commander?" he called to the soldier driver of one of the'buses.
"Capting 'Ardy," replied the man.
"Thanks," Frank called, and went on as fast as he could. He met CaptainHardy coming toward him. Swiftly he told him what he had seen, andHardy, tugging at his revolver, sped on. Frank followed but was left farbehind, naturally, by the speed of the motorcycle. When he reached thechurch he looked up at the clock again. Captain Hardy's motorcycle waslying in the street, and Henri was staring at the church door greatlypuzzled.
"What is the matter?" cried Henri. "The officer came back, jumped offhis machine and tore into the church as if his life depended on it. Hewas pulling out his pistol, too. What--"
The sharp bark of a revolver interrupted him. It spoke three times andthere was a cry from above. They looked up, to see the figure of a mandropping from the opening of the clock. A moment later Captain Hardycame down, reloading his revolver.
"Good work, youngster!" he said. "Your eyes were sharp that time! If youhadn't seen the hands of that clock moving we might have been caught ina nice trap! Wait here--I'm going to make a barricade of the omnibuses."
"What does he mean?" cried Henri, almost frantic with curiosity.
"Why, I saw that the hands of the clock had moved! You said it hadstopped, and I looked up. Then the next time I looked, the hands hadmoved around--two or three hours!"
"But how--and why--if the clock had stopped?"
"That's just it! That clock must be visible for some distance around,Harry. Suppose a German was there? He could be signalling, couldn't he?"
"Oh, a spy! I never thought of that! You mean he would tell otherGermans to come here--that there was work for them to do?"
"Yes. I only hope Captain Hardy stopped him in time."
But Hardy was taking no more chances than he could help. He had guessedas quickly as Frank the probable reason for the strange antics of theclock's face. And now he made his dispositions quickly. Counting thearmed drivers of each omnibus, and the extra man each carried, he hadless than thirty men. But he drew up several of the omnibuses in asquare formation in the central square of the village, and thus had animprovised fort. When he had done that he called sharply to the twoboys.
"Get along with you--get away from here!" he said. "If we're going tohave a fight it's no place for you. You've done us a mighty good turn--Idon't want you running into danger because of it."
Even as he spoke a shot rang out. It was from the direction in whichthey had come!
"Just in time, too," he said, coolly.
A soldier came up to report.
"Uhlans, sir--a sight of them, too. Coming from the road we were taking.I think we got one of them, sir. Toppled him off his horse, anyhow,sir."
"All right. Let them come," said Captain Hardy. "Go along now, boys. Ifyou see the cavalry sent to escort us, tell them to hurry! We'll try tobeat them off until we get help."
He turned away, and Frank picked up his wheel.
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