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diff --git a/33481-8.txt b/33481-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f4ddcc7 --- /dev/null +++ b/33481-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10157 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Guns of Europe, by Joseph A. Altsheler, +Illustrated by Charles Wrenn + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Guns of Europe + + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + + + +Release Date: August 21, 2010 [eBook #33481] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNS OF EUROPE*** + + +E-text prepared by Christine Bell and Marc D'Hooghe +(http://www.freeliterature.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 33481-h.htm or 33481-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33481/33481-h/33481-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/33481/33481-h.zip) + + + + + +World War Series + +THE GUNS OF EUROPE + +by + +JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER + +Author of "The Guns of Bull Run", "The Texan Triumph", etc. + +Illustrated by Charles Wrenn + + + + + + + +D. Appleton and Company +New York and London +1915 + + + * * * * * + +THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + +The Star of Gettysburg +The Guns of Bull Run +The Scouts of Stonewall +The Guns of Shiloh +The Sword of Antietam +The Rock of Chickamauga (In preparation) + +THE WORLD WAR SERIES + +The Guns of Europe +The Hosts of the Air +The Forest of Swords + +THE YOUNG TRAILERS SERIES + +The Young Trailers +The Riflemen of the Ohio +The Forest Runners +The Scouts of the Valley +The Free Rangers +The Border Watch + +THE TEXAN SERIES + +The Texan Star +The Texan Scouts +The Texan Triumph + +Apache Gold +A Soldier of Manhattan +The Quest of the Four +The Sun of Saratoga +The Last of the Chiefs +A Herald of the West +In Circling Camps +The Wilderness Road +My Captive + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: "Their careering machine made but a single +target while they could fire into the pursuing mass."] + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Guns of Europe" is the first of three connected romances, of which +"The Forest of Swords" and "The Hosts of the Air" are to be respectively +the second and third, dealing with the world war in Europe. + +It was the singular fortune of the author to be present at the beginning +of this, the most gigantic struggle in the history of our globe. He was +in Vienna the day Austria-Hungary declared war upon Servia, thus setting +the torch that lighted the general conflagration. Returning westward, he +reached Munich the day Germany declared war upon Russia. He remained in +Germany nearly a month, having witnessed in turn the Austrian and German +mobilizations, and then arrived in England in time to see the gathering +of the British Empire's armed hosts. + +He was also, upon his return, in Quebec when the greatest colony of the +British was rallying to their support. Such an experience at such an +extraordinary crisis makes ineffaceable impressions, and through his +characters, the author has striven his best to reproduce them in these +three romances. + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I. THE SISTINE MADONNA +CHAPTER II. THE THUNDERBOLT +CHAPTER III. THE REFUGE +CHAPTER IV. THE THRILLING ESCAPE +CHAPTER V. THE FIGHT IN THE BLUE +CHAPTER VI. ABOVE THE STORM +CHAPTER VII. THE ZEPPELIN +CHAPTER VIII. THE FRENCH DEFENSE +CHAPTER IX. THE RIDE OF THREE +CHAPTER X. THE DRAGONS OF THE AIR +CHAPTER XI. THE ARMORED CAR +CHAPTER XII. THE ABANDONED CHÂTEAU +CHAPTER XIII. ON THE ROOF +CHAPTER XIV. THE GERMAN HOST +CHAPTER XV. THE GIANT GUN + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +"Their careering machine made but a single target while they could fire +into the pursuing mass." + +"A second shot came presently from the forty-two centimeter." + +"Overhead the aeroplanes swooped lower and lower, like gigantic birds." + +"A vast red whirlwind in which the faces of men shone and steel +glittered." + + + +THE GUNS OF EUROPE + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE SISTINE MADONNA + + +John turned a little to the left, going nearer to the window, where he +could gain a better view of the Madonna, which he had heard so often was +the most famous picture in the world. He was no technical judge of +painting--he was far too young for such knowledge--but he always +considered the effect of the whole upon himself, and he was satisfied +with that method, feeling perhaps that he gained more from it than if he +had been able to tear the master-work to pieces, merely in order to see +how Raphael had made it. + +"Note well, John, that this is the Sistine Madonna," began William Anson +in his didactic, tutorial tone. "Observe the wonderful expression upon +the face of the Holy Mother. Look now at the cherubs gazing up into the +blue vault, in which the Madonna like an angel is poised. Behold the +sublime artist's mastery of every detail. There are those who hold that +the Madonna della Sedia at Florence is its equal in beauty and +greatness, but I do not agree with them. To me the Sistine Madonna is +always first. Centuries ago, even, its full worth was appreciated. It +brought a great price at----" + +The rest of his speech trailed off into nothingness. John had +impatiently moved further away, and had deliberately closed his ear also +to any dying sounds of oratory that might reach him. He had his own +method of seeing the wonders of the Old World. He was interested or he +was not. It was to him a state of mind, atmospheric in a way. He liked +to breathe it in, and the rattle of a guide or tutor's lecture nearly +always broke the spell. + +Anxious that Mr. Anson should not have any further chance to mar his +pleasure he moved yet closer to the great window from which came nearly +all the light that fell upon the Sistine Madonna. There he stood almost +in the center of the beams and gazed upon the illumined face, which +spoke only of peace upon earth and good will. He was moved deeply, +although there was no sign of it in his quiet eyes. He did not object to +emotion and to its vivid expression in others, but his shy nature, +feeling the need of a defensive armor, rejected it for himself. + +It was a brighter day than the changeful climate of Dresden and the +valley of the Elbe usually offered. The sunshine came in a great golden +bar through the window and glowed over the wonderful painting which had +stood the test of time and the critics. He had liked the good, gray city +sitting beside its fine river. It had seemed friendly and kind to him, +having in it the quality of home, something almost American in its +simplicity and lack of caste. + +They had arrived as soon as the doors were opened, and but few people +were yet in the room. John came from his mood of exaltation and glanced +at the others, every one in turn. Two women, evidently teachers, stood +squarely in front of the picture and looked alternately at the Madonna +and one of the red volumes that mark the advance of the American hosts +in Europe. A man with a thick, black beard, evidently a Russian, moved +incessantly back and forth, his feet keeping up a light shuffle on the +floor. John wondered why some northern races should be so emotional and +others so reserved. He had ceased to think that climate ruled +expression. + +A stout German frau stood gazing in apparent stolidity. Yet she was not +so stolid as she seemed, because John caught a beam of appreciation in +her eye. Presently she turned and went out, doubtless returning to some +task of the thrifty housewife in this very city of Dresden. John thought +her emblematic of Germany, homely herself, but with the undying love of +the beautiful shown so freely in her fine cities, and in the parks, +gardens and fountains more numerous than in an other country. + +Her place was taken by an officer in a uniform, subdued in color, but +martial. He was a tall, stiff man, and as he walked with a tread akin to +the goosestep his feet clanked upon the floor. He wore a helmet, the +cloth cover over the spike, but John noticed that he did not take off +the helmet in the presence of the Sistine Madonna. He moved to a place +in front of the picture, brushing against the sisterhood of the red +book, and making no apology. There he stood, indifferent to those about +him, holding himself as one superior, dominant by force, the lord by +right of rank over inferior beings. + +John's heart swelled with a sense of resentment and hostility. He knew +perfectly well that the stranger was a Prussian officer--a strong man +too, both in mind and body. He stood upright, more than six feet tall, +his wide shoulders thrown well back, his large head set upon a powerful +neck. Reddish hair showed beneath the edges of the helmet, and the blue +eyes that gazed at the picture were dominant and masterful. He was about +thirty, just at the age when those who are strong have tested their +minds against other men in the real arena of life and find them good. +The heavy, protruding jaw and the compressed lips made upon John the +impression of power. + +The picture grew somewhat dim. One of those rapid changes to which +Dresden is subject occurred. The sunshine faded and a grayness as of +twilight filtered into the room. The glances of the young American and +the Prussian officer turned away from the Madonna at the same time and +met. + +John was conscious that the blue eyes were piercing into him, but he had +abundant courage and resolution and he gave back the look with a +firmness and steadiness, equal to the Prussian's own. The cold steel of +that glance rested upon him only for a few moments. It passed on, +dissected in an instant the two teachers with the red guide book, and +then the man walking, to the window, looked out at the gray walls of the +city. + +John had not lowered his eyes before the intrusive gaze, but he felt now +as if he had been subjected to an electric current. He was at once angry +and indignant, but, resolving to throw it off, he shrugged his shoulders +a little, and turned to his older friend who was supposed to be comrade +and teacher at the same time. + +Mr. Anson, the didactic strain, strong in him, recovered his importance, +and began to talk again. He did not confine himself any longer to the +Sistine Madonna, but talked of other pictures in the famous gallery, the +wonderful art of Rubens and Jordaens, although it seemed to John's +normal mind that they had devoted themselves chiefly to studies in fat. +But the longest lecture must come to an end, and as the inevitable crowd +gathered before the Madonna William Anson was forced by courtesy into +silence. The Prussian had already gone, still wearing his defiant +helmet, his sword swinging stiffly from his belt, his heavy boots +clanking on the floor. + +"Did you notice that officer?" asked John. + +"I gave him a casual glance. He is not different from the others. You +see them everywhere in Germany." + +"He seemed typical to me. I don't recall another man who has impressed +me so much. To me he personified the great German military organization +which we are all so sure is invincible." + +"And it _is_ invincible. Nothing like the German army has ever before +stood on this planet. A great race, strong in both body and mind, has +devoted itself for half a century to learning everything that is to be +learned about war. It's a magnificent machine, smooth, powerful, +tremendous, unconquerable, and for that very reason neither you nor I, +John, will ever see a war of the first magnitude in Europe. It would be +too destructive. The nations would shrink back, appalled. Besides, the +tide is the other way. Remember all those ministers who came over with +us on the boat to attend the peace conference at Constance." + +John accepted readily all that Mr. Anson said, and the significance of +the Prussian, due he was sure to his own imagination, passed quickly +from his mind. But he was tired of pictures. He had found that he could +assimilate only a certain quantity, and after that all the rest, even be +they Raphael, Murillo and Rubens, became a mere blur. + +"Let's go out and walk on the terraces over the river," he said. + +"But many other famous pictures are here. We can't afford to go back to +America, and admit that we haven't seen some of the masterpieces of the +Dresden gallery." + +John laughed. + +"No, we can't," he said, "because if we do ignore a single one that's +the very one all our friends will tell us we should certainly have seen. +But my eyes are growing tired, there's a congestion in the back of my +head, and these polished floors have stiffened my ankles. Besides, we've +plenty of time, and we can come back as often as we wish." + +"I suppose then that we must go," said Mr. Anson, reluctantly. "But one +should make the most of the opportunities for culture, vouchsafed to +him." + +John made no reply. He had heard that note so often. Mr. Anson was +tremendous on "culture", and John thought it all right for him and +others like him, but he preferred his own methods for himself. He led +the way from the gallery and the older man followed reluctantly. + +The sun, having gone behind the clouds, stayed there and Dresden was +still gray, but John liked it best in its sober colors. Then the homely +touch, the friendly feeling in the air were stronger. These people were +much like his own. Many of them could have passed for Americans, and +they welcomed as brethren those who came from beyond the Atlantic. + +He looked from the Bruhl Terraces over the Elbe--a fine river too he +thought it--the galleries, the palaces, the opera house, the hotels, and +all the good gray city, beloved of English and Americans as well as +Germans. + +"What is that buzzing and whirring, John?" asked Mr. Anson suddenly. + +"Look up! Always look up, when you hear that sound, and you will see the +answer to your question written in the skies! There it goes! It's +passing over the portion of the city beyond the river." + +The long black shape of the Zeppelin dirigible was outlined clearly, as +it moved off swiftly toward the southwest. It did not seem to diminish +in size, as it left the city, but hung huge and somber against the sky, +its whirr and buzz still audible. + +"An interesting toy," said Mr. Anson. + +"If a toy, it's certainly a gigantic one," said John. + +"Tremendous in size, but a toy nevertheless." + +"We're going up in it you know." + +"Are you still bent upon that wild flight?" + +"Why there's no danger. Herr Simmering, the proprietor of our hotel, +chartered a dirigible last week, and took up all the guests who were +willing to pay and go. I've talked to some of them and they say it was a +wonderful experience. You remember that he's chartered another for next +week, and you promised me we could go." + +"Yes, I promised, but I thought at the time that something would surely +happen to prevent it." + +"Indian promises! I won't let you back out now!" + +William Anson sighed. His was a sober mind. He liked the solid earth for +his travels, and he would fain leave the air to others. The daring of +young John Scott, for whom he felt in a measure responsible, often +alarmed him, but John concealed under his quiet face and manner an +immense fund of resolution. + +"Suppose we go to the hotel," Mr. Anson said. "The air is rather keen +and I'm growing hungry." + +"First call in the dining-car," said John, "and I come." + +"I notice that you're always eager for the table, although you shirk the +pictures and statues, now and then." + +"It's merely the necessity of nature, Mr. Anson. The paint and marble +will do any time." + +William Anson smiled. He liked his young comrade, all the more so +perhaps because they were so different. John supplied the daring and +adventurous spirit that he lacked, and the youth had enough for two. + +"I wonder if any new people have come," said John, as they walked down +the steps from the terrace. "Don't think I'm weak on culture, Mr. Anson, +but it's always interesting to me to go back to the hotel, see what +fresh types have appeared, and guess from what countries they have +come." + +"The refuge of a lazy mind which is unwilling to cope with its +opportunities for learning and progress. John, I feel sometimes that you +are almost hopeless. You have a frivolous strain that you ought to get +rid of as soon as you can." + +"Well, sir, I had to laugh at those fat Venuses of Rubens and Jordaens. +They may be art, but I never thought that Venus weighed three hundred +pounds. I know those two painters had to advertise all through the Low +Countries, before they could get models fat enough." + +"Stop, John! Is nothing sacred to you?" + +"A lady can be too fat to be sacred." + +Mr. Anson shook his head. He always stood impressed, and perhaps a +little awed before centuries of culture, and he failed to understand how +any one could challenge the accepted past. John's Philistine spirit, +which he deemed all the more irregular in one so young pained him at +times. Yet it was more assumed than real with young Scott. + +They reached their hotel and passed into the dining-room, where both did +full justice to the good German food. John did not fail to make his +usual inspection of guests, but he started a little, when he saw the +Prussian officer of the gallery, alone at a table by a window +overlooking the Elbe. It was one of the pleasantest views in Europe, but +John knew very well that the man was thinking little of it. His jaw had +not lost is pugnacious thrust, and he snapped his orders to the waiter +as if he were rebuking a recruit. + +Nobody had told John that he was a Prussian, but the young American knew +it nevertheless, and he knew him to be a product, out of the very heart +of that iron military system, before which the whole world stood afraid, +buttressed as it was by tremendous victories over France, and a state of +readiness known to be without an equal. + +Herr Simmering, fat, bland and bald, was bending over them, asking them +solicitously if all was right. John always liked this bit of personal +attention from the European hotel proprietors. It established a friendly +feeling. It showed that one was not lost among the swarm of guests, and +here in Germany it invariably made his heart warm to the civilians. + +"Can you tell us, Herr Simmering," he asked, "who is the officer alone +in the alcove by the window?" + +Herr Gustav Adolph Simmering, the soul of blandness and courtesy, +stiffened in an instant. With the asking of that simple question he +seemed to breathe a new and surcharged air. He lost his expansiveness in +the presence of the German army or any representative of it. Lowering +his voice he replied: + +"A captain attached in some capacity to the General Staff in Berlin. +Rudolf von Boehlen is his name. It is said that he has high connections, +a distant cousin of the von Moltkes, in much favor, too, with the +Emperor." + +"Do Prussian officers have to come here and tell the Saxons what to do?" + +The good Herr Simmering spread out his hands in horror. These simple +Americans surely asked strange and intrusive questions. One could +forgive them only because they were so open, so much like innocent +children, and, unlike those disagreeable English, quarreled so little +about their bills. + +"I know no more," he replied. "Here in Germany we never ask why an +officer comes and goes. We trust implicitly in the Emperor and his +advisers who have guarded us so well, and we do not wish to learn the +higher secrets of state. We know that such knowledge is not for us." + +Dignified and slow, as became an important landlord, he nevertheless +went away with enough haste to indicate clearly to John that he wished +to avoid any more questions about the Prussian officer. John was +annoyed. He felt a touch of shame for Herr Simmering. + +"I wish the Germans wouldn't stand in such tremendous awe of their own +army," he said. "They seem to regard it as some mysterious and +omnipotent force which is always right." + +"Don't forget their education and training, John. The great German +empire has risen upon the victories of 1870, and if ever war between +them should come again Germany could smash France as easily as she did +then." + +"I could never become reconciled to the spectacle of an empire treading +a republic into the earth." + +Mr. Anson smiled. He had dined well, and he was at peace with the earth. + +"Names mean little," he said indulgently. + +John did not reply, but his under jaw thrust forward in a pugnacious +manner, startlingly like that of the Prussian. The officer, although no +word had passed between them, nor even a glance of real hostility had +aroused a stubborn antagonism, increased by the obvious awe of Herr +Simmering and the deference paid to him by the whole establishment of +the hotel. + +He saw Captain von Boehlen go out, and drawn by a vague resolve he +excused himself, abandoning Mr. Anson who was still trifling pleasantly +with the fruit, and also left the dining-room. He saw the captain +receive his helmet from an obsequious waiter, put it on his head and +walk into the parlor, his heavy boots as usual clanking upon the +polished floor. In the final analysis it was this very act of keeping +his helmet on, no matter where he was, that repelled young Scott and +aroused his keen enmity. + +John went to the smoking-room. Von Boehlen lingered a moment or two in +the parlor, and then took his way also down the narrow passage to the +smoking-room. It was perhaps a part of the American's vague plan that he +should decide suddenly to go by the same way to the parlor. Hence it was +inevitable that they should meet if Captain von Boehlen kept his +course--an invariable one with him--in the very center of the hall. John +liked the center of the hall, too, particularly on that day. He was tall +and strong and he knew that he would have the advantage of readiness, +which everybody said was the cardinal virtue of the Prussian army. + +Just before they reached the point of contact the Prussian started back +with a muttered oath of surprise and annoyance. His hand flew to the +hilt of his sword, and then came away again. John watching him closely +was sure that hand and hilt would not have parted company so readily had +it been a German civilian who was claiming with Captain Rudolf von +Boehlen an equal share of the way. + +But John saw the angry flash in the eyes of the Prussian die suddenly +like a light put out by a puff of wind, and the compressed line of the +lips relax. He knew that it was not the result of innate feeling, but of +a mental effort made by von Boehlen, and he surmised that the fact of +his being a foreigner had all to do with it. Yet he waited for the other +to apologize first. + +"Pardon," said the captain, "it is somewhat dark here, and as I was +absorbed in thought. I did not notice you." + +His English was excellent and his manner polite enough. John could do +nothing less than respond in kind. + +"It was perhaps my fault more than yours," he said. + +The face of Captain von Boehlen relaxed yet further into a smile. + +"You are an American," he said, "a member of an amiable race, our +welcome guests in Europe. What could our hotels and museums do without +you?" + +When he smiled he showed splendid white teeth, sharp and powerful. His +manner, too, had become compelling. John could not now deny its charm. +Perhaps his first estimate of Captain von Boehlen had been wrong. + +"It is true that we come in shoals," he responded. "Sometimes I'm not +sure whether we're welcome to the general population." + +"Oh, yes, you are. The Americans are the spoiled children of Europe." + +"At least we are the children of Europe. The people on both sides of the +Atlantic are apt to forget that. We're transplanted Europeans. The +Indians are the only people of the original American stock." + +"But you are not Europeans. One can always tell the difference. You +speak English, but you are not English. I should never take an American +for an Englishman." + +"But our basis is British. Despite all the infusions of other bloods, +and they've been large, Great Britain is our mother country. I feel it +myself." + +Von Boehlen smiled tranquilly. + +"Great Britain has always been your chief enemy," he said. "You have +been at war with her twice, and in your civil war, when you were in dire +straits her predominant classes not only wished for your destruction, +but did what they could to achieve it." + +"Old deeds," said John. "The bad things of fifty or a hundred years ago +are dead and buried." + +But the Prussian would not have it so. Germany, he said, was the chief +friend of America. Their peoples, he insisted, were united not only by a +tie of blood, but by points of view, similar in so many important cases. +He seemed for some inscrutable reason anxious to convince one as young +as his listener, and he employed a smoothness of speech and a charm of +manner that John in the morning in the gallery would have thought +impossible in one so stiff and haughty. The spell that this man was able +to cast increased, and yet he was always conscious of a pitiless +strength behind it. + +John presently found himself telling his name, how he was traveling with +William Anson, older than himself, and in a way both a comrade and a +tutor, how he expected to meet his uncle, James Pomeroy, a United States +Senator, in Vienna, and his intention of returning to America early in +the autumn to finish his course at the university. + +"I should like to see that America of yours," said von Boehlen, after he +had told something of himself, "but I fear it is not to be this year." + +"You stay in Dresden long?" asked John. + +"No, I leave tonight, but we may meet again, and then you can tell me +more of that far western world, so vast and so interesting, but of which +we Europeans really know so little." + +John noticed that he did not tell where he was going. But he surmised +that Prussian army officers usually kept their destination to +themselves. His talk with von Boehlen had impressed him more than ever +with the size, speed and overwhelming power of the German army machine. +It was not possible for anything to stand before it, and the mystery +that clothed it around imparted to it a superhuman quality. + +But he brushed away such thoughts. The sun was shining again. It danced +in a myriad golden beams over the Elbe, it clothed in warmth the kindly +city, and von Boehlen, with a politeness that was now unimpeachable rose +to tell him good-bye. He acknowledged to himself that he felt a little +flattered by the man's attention, and his courtesy was equal to that of +the Prussian. Then the officer, dropping his hand to the hilt of his +sword, apparently a favorite gesture, stalked away. + +It was John's first impulse to tell Mr. Anson of his talk with von +Boehlen, but he obeyed his second and kept it to himself. Even after he +was gone the feeling that some motive was behind the Prussian's +blandness remained. + +A letter came that afternoon from his uncle, the Senator. He was in +Vienna, and he wished his nephew and Mr. Anson to join him there, +cutting short their stay in Dresden. They could come by the way of +Prague, and a day or two spent in that old Bohemian city would repay +them. John showed the letter to Mr. Anson, who agreed with him that a +wish from the Senator was in reality a command, and should be obeyed +promptly. + +John, although he liked Dresden, had but one regret. He could not go up +in the Zeppelin dirigible and he hastened to tell Herr Simmering that +his entry was withdrawn. + +"I'll have to cut out the dirigible," he said in his colloquial tongue. +"Perhaps you can find somebody to take my place." + +"Perhaps," said the landlord, "and on the other hand it may be that the +dirigible will not go up for me. + +"Why? I thought you had chartered it for a second trip." + +Herr Simmering compressed his lips. John saw that, under impulse, he had +said more than he intended. It was an objection of his to Germany--this +constant secrecy and mystery that seemed to him not only useless but +against the natural flow of human nature. + +"Are all the Zeppelins confiscated by the government?" he asked, +speaking wholly at random. + +Herr Simmering started. Fat and smooth, he shot a single, menacing +glance at the young American. But, in a moment, he was smiling again and +John had not noticed. + +"Our government never tells its plans," he said. "Mr. Anson says that +you leave tomorrow for Prague." + +"Yes," said John curiously, "and I can almost infer from your tone, Herr +Simmering, that you will be glad to see us go." + +But Herr Simmering protested earnestly that he never liked to lose +paying guests, above all those delightful Americans, who had so much +appreciation and who made so little trouble. The German soul and the +American soul were akin. + +"Well, we do like your country and your people," said John. "That's the +reason we come here so much." + +In the evening, while Mr. Anson was absorbed in the latest English +newspapers which had just come in, John went out for a walk. His +favorite method of seeing a European city was to stroll the streets, and +using his own phrase to "soak" it in. + +He passed now down the street which led by the very edge of the Elbe, +and watched the long freight boats go by, lowering their smokestacks as +they went under the bridges. The night was cloudy, and the city behind +him became dusky in the mists and darkness. Dresden was strangely quiet, +too, but he soon forgot it, as he moved back into the past. + +The past, not the details, but the dim forgotten life, always made a +powerful appeal to John. He had read that Dresden began with a little +fishing village, and now he was trying to imagine the tawny men of a +thousand years ago, in their rude canoes, casting their nets and lines +in the river which flowed so darkly before him. But the mood did not +endure long. He strolled presently upon the terraces and then back +toward the king's palace, drawn there by a great shouting. + +As he approached the building he became conscious that an event of +interest was occurring. A huge crowd had gathered, and the youth of it +was demonstrating with energy, cheering and breaking soon into national +songs. + +John pressed into the edge of the crowd, eager to know what it was all +about, but not yet able to see over the heads of the close ranks in +front of him. "What is it? What is it?" he asked of several, but they +merely shrugged their shoulders, unable to understand English. + +John was angry at himself once more for knowing nothing of German. The +whole life of a nation flowed past him, and all of it was mysterious, +merely because he did not have that little trick of tongue. He caught +sight at last of a man in an automobile that moved very slowly in the +heart of the crowd, the people fairly pressed against the body of the +machine. It was obvious that the stranger furnished the occasion for the +cheering and the songs, and John repeated his questions, hoping that he +would ultimately encounter some one in this benighted multitude who +understood English. + +His hope was not in vain. A man told him that it was the King of Saxony +returning to his capital and palace. John then drew away in some +distaste. He did not see why the whole population of a city, even though +they were monarchists, should go wild over the coming home of a +sovereign. Doubtless the King of Saxony, who was not so young, had come +home thousands of times before, and there must be something servile in a +people who made such an old story an occasion for a sort of worship. + +He pushed his way out of the crowd and returned to the terrace. But the +noise of the shouting and the singing reached him there. Now it was +mostly singing, and it showed uncommon fervor. John shrugged his +shoulders. He liked such an unreasonable display less than ever, and +walked far along the river, until no sound from the crowd reached him. + +When he returned toward the hotel everybody had gone, save a few +policemen, and John hoped that the king was not only in his palace, but +was sound asleep. It must be a great tax upon Saxon energy to +demonstrate so heavily every time he came back to the palace, perhaps +from nothing more than a drive. He found that Mr. Anson, having +exhausted the newspapers, had gone to his room, and pleasantly weary in +both body and mind, he sought his own bed. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE THUNDERBOLT + + +John and Mr. Anson ate breakfast not long after daylight, as they +expected to take an early train for Prague. They sat by a window in a +small dining-room, overlooking pleasant gardens, and the Elbe, flowing +just beyond the stretch of grass and flowers. The weather of the fickle +valley had decided once again to be good. The young sunshine gilded the +surface of the river and touched the gray buildings with gold. John was +reluctant to leave it, but he had the anticipation, too, of fresh +conquests, of new cities to be seen and explored. + +"We'll be in Prague tonight," he said, "and it will be something very +different, a place much more medieval than any we have yet visited." + +"That's so," said Mr. Anson, and he trailed off into a long historical +account of Prague, which would serve the double purpose of instructing +John, and of exhibiting his own learning. The waiter, who could speak +English, and with whom John, being young, did not hesitate to talk at +times, was bent over, pouring coffee at his elbow. + +"Pardon me, sir, but where did you say you were going?" he asked almost +in a whisper. + +"To Prague?" + +"I shouldn't go there, sir, if I were you." + +"Why not?" + +"You'll run into a war." + +"What do you mean, Albrecht?" + +But Albrecht was already on the way to the kitchen, and he was so long +in returning that John dismissed his words as merely the idle talk of a +waiter who wished to entertain Herr Simmering's American guests. But +when they went to an agency, according to their custom, to buy the +railway tickets to Prague they were informed that it would be better for +them not to go to the Czech capital. Both were astonished. + +"Why shouldn't we go to Prague?" asked Mr. Anson with some indignation. +"I've never heard that the Czechs object to the presence of Americans." + +"They don't," replied the agent blandly. "You can go to Prague without +any trouble, but I don't think you could leave it for a long time." + +"And why not. Who would wish to hold us in Prague?" + +"Nobody in particular. But there would be no passenger trains during the +mobilization." + +The eyes of John and Mr. Anson opened wider. + +"Mobilization. What mobilization?" asked the elder. + +"For the war that Austria-Hungary is going to make on Servia. The +various army corps of Bohemia will be mobilized first." + +"A war!" exclaimed Mr. Anson, "and not a word about it beforehand! Why +this is a thunderbolt!" + +John was thoughtful. The agent had made an amazing statement. It was, in +truth a thunderbolt, as Mr. Anson had said, and it came out of a +perfectly clear sky. He suddenly remembered little things, meaning +nothing at the time, but acquiring significance now, the curious actions +of Captain von Boehlen, the extraordinary demonstration at the return of +the Saxon king to his palace, and the warning words of the waiter. He +felt anew their loss in not knowing the language of the country and he +gave voice to it. + +"If we'd been able to speak German we might have had some hint of this," +he said. + +"We'll learn German, and be ready for it the next time we come," said +Mr. Anson. "Now, John, in view of what we've heard, it would be unwise +to go to Prague. Have you anything else in mind?" + +"Let's go straight to Vienna. It's a great capital, and it has so much +railroad communication that we could certainly get out of it, when we +want to do so. Besides, I'm bound to see the Danube." + +"And your uncle, the Senator, is there. Well, we'll chance it and go to +Vienna. Can we get a train straight through to that city?" + +"One leaves in an hour and is due at nine tonight," replied the agent to +whom he had addressed the question. + +They bought the tickets, and when the Vienna express left the station +the two with their baggage were aboard it. John was by the window of +their compartment, watching the beautiful country. He loved rivers and +lakes and hills and mountains more than either ancient or modern cities, +and as they sped along the valley of the Elbe, often at the very edge of +the river, his mind and his eyes were content. His absorption in what +was flitting by the window kept him for some time from noticing what was +passing in the train. A low, but impatient exclamation from Mr. Anson +first drew his attention. + +"I never saw such crowding before in a European train," said he. "This +compartment is marked for six, and already nine people have squeezed +into it." + +"That's so," said John, "and there are men sitting on their valises in +the corridors. An enormously large proportion of them are officers, and +I've noticed that great crowds are gathered at every station we pass. +The Austrians seem to get a lot of excitement out of a war with a little +country like Servia, in which the odds in their favor are at least +twenty to one." + +"The Austrians are a polite, agreeable, but volatile race," said Mr. +Anson. "They are brave, but in war they are usually beaten. Napoleon +made his early reputation out of the Austrians. They are--wait a minute, +John, and I will read you more about them from this excellent book on +Austria that I bought in Dresden." + +"Excuse me this time; won't you, sir. We're coming to another station, +and the crowd is bigger than ever. I want to see if they cheer us more +than they did at the one a few miles back." + +When they were beyond the town John turned his attention to the +occupants of the compartment who had now increased to ten. They did not +differ from ordinary travelers, but his attention was held longest by a +young man, not much above his own age. He was handsome and blonde with a +fine open face, and John put him down as a Viennese. He knew that the +Viennese, although fellow Germans, were much unlike the Berliners, their +souls being more akin to those of the French. + +He could not remember at what station the young man had boarded the +train, but it was evident that he was already weary, as his head rested +heavily against the cushion and his eyelids drooped. "A good fellow, I'm +sure," said John to himself. "I'd like to know him. I hope he's going on +to Vienna with us." + +They were well across the Austrian border now, and an officer came +through the train, asking for passports. Luckily, John and Mr. Anson had +provided themselves with such documents, not because they believed them +of any value, but, as John said, they always ran true to form, and if +any official paper were offered they meant to have their share of it. +Now they found these documents, considered worthless hitherto, very +useful. The Austrian officer smiled when he looked at them. + +"Amerikanischer," he said, showing his large, even white teeth. "I haf a +cousin leeving in New York." + +"I've no doubt he's a fine fellow," said John, as the officer passed on, +"and I wish I knew him. I believe it's true, Mr. Anson, that we +Americans are the spoiled children of the world." + +"It's so, John, although I object to the adjective, 'spoiled' and it's +so because we're far away, and mind our own business. Of course a +democracy like ours does many foolish things, and often we make +ourselves look ridiculous, but remember John, that we're an honest, +straight-forward people, and it's foreign to all our nature to tread on +the weak or cower before the strong." + +John thought little of the words then, Mr. Anson preached so +much--although he was to remember them later--because his attention was +diverted to the young stranger whom the officer was now asking for his +passport. The youth--he was little more than such--raised his head +languidly from the cushion and without wholly lifting his weary lids +produced his passport from the inside pocket of his coat. John could not +keep from seeing the name on it, "August Wilhelm Kempner." + +"Ah, from Vienna," said the examining officer, "and your occupation is +described here as that of a painter." + +"Yes," said the weary youth, "but I fear that it is no occupation at all +in times like these." + +As he spoke in German John did not understand him, but he knew that he +was making some sort of explanation. He also saw that the officer was +satisfied, as, smiling with the courtesy common to the Austrians, he +passed into the corridor, and entered the next compartment. John, by and +by, spoke to young Kempner, using good French--he remembered that many +Austrians understood French--and the young man promptly replied but in +broken and fragmentary French. + +The two managed to carry on a more or less connected conversation, in +which several people in the compartment joined freely with scraps of +English, French and German, helping out one another, as best they could, +and forming a friendly group. It seemed to John that something of the +ordinary stiffness prevailing among strangers was relaxed. All of them, +men and women, were moved by an unusual emotion and he readily +attributed it to the war, although a great state like Austria-Hungary +should not become unduly excited over a struggle with a little one like +Servia. + +But he let Mr. Anson do most of the talking for America, and by and by +began to watch through the window again. The green of the rich country +rested both eye and brain, and, a war between Austria-Hungary and Servia +was not such a tremendous affair. There was always trouble down in that +Balkan region. Trouble there, was far less remarkable than the absence +of it. As for himself he wanted to see the Danube, which these careless +Viennese persisted in calling the Donau, and the fine old capital which +had twice turned back the Turks, but not Napoleon. + +He soon saw that they would reach Vienna long after the destined time. +The stops at every station were long and the waiting crowds thickened. +"I did not know so many people were anxious to see our entry into the +capital," said John. + +"They are numerous, but not more so than we deserve," replied Mr. Anson +in the same vein. + +It was midnight when they reached Vienna. John bade farewell to Kempner, +his companion of the journey to whom he had been strongly attracted, and +after the slight customs examination drove away with Mr. Anson to a +modest hotel. + +It was so late and he was so tired that he thought he would sleep +heavily. But sleep passed him by, and it was such a rare thing that John +was troubled greatly. What was the matter with him? It could not be all +those sounds of shouting and singing that were floating in at the open +window! He had slept many a time at home, when the crowds were cheering +continuously on election night. + +The noise increased, although it was at least two in the morning. He had +always heard that Vienna was a gay city, and never slept, but he had +scarcely expected such an ebullient night life, and, his curiosity +aroused, he rose and dressed. + +From his seat at the window he heard the singing much more plainly, and +far down the avenue he saw columns of marching men. He could not +understand the words they sang, but he knew from the beat of the music +that they were Austrian and German patriotic songs, and his curiosity +increasing, he went down into the street, nodding to the dozing porter +who stood at the door. + +He found the streets thronged with a multitude constantly growing +larger, and vivid with a pleased excitement. He had no doubt that it was +the war with the little Balkan state that caused it all, and he could +not refrain from silent criticism of a great nation which made so much +ado over a struggle with a country that it outnumbered enormously. But +he recalled that the Viennese were a gay, demonstrative people, and +their excitement and light-heartedness were certainly infectious. + +He was sorry again that he could not speak German, and then he was glad, +when he saw young Kempner leaning against a closed window watching the +parades. "I suppose that like me you couldn't sleep," he said in French. + +Kempner started. He had not seen John's approach, and, for the moment, +John almost thought that the look he gave him was not one of welcome. +But it passed swiftly. Then he stretched out his hand and replied. + +"No, I couldn't. If you who come from across the sea wish to witness the +enthusiasm of my countrymen how much more would it appeal to me?" + +"Has anything definite happened?" + +"Yes, Austria-Hungary declared war on Servia today. It had to come. As +our Viennese will tell you the Servians are a race of murderers. They +murdered their own king, and now they have murdered our Archduke and +Archduchess, heaping another sorrow upon the head of our aged emperor. +We will finish them in a week." + +John remembered some words of Burke about no one being able to indict a +whole nation, and he was about to quote them, but second thought kept +him silent. He must not argue with a people, perhaps justly infuriated +about what was no business of his. He remained with Kempner, but +sensitive and quick to receive impressions he soon concluded that the +young Austrian wished to be alone. Perhaps he, too, was going to the +war, and would soon have to tell his people good-by. That might account +for his absent manner. + +John, as soon as he conveniently could, gave an excuse and turned away. +Kempner was polite, but did not seek to detain him. The American +returned to his hotel, but at the first crossing looked back. He saw the +form of Kempner disappearing into a narrow alley. "Taking a short cut +home," said John to himself, "and it's what I ought to do, too. I've no +business wandering about a strange city at such a time." + +The same sleepy porter nodded to him, as he passed in and asked him no +questions. Now slumber came quickly and he did not awake for breakfast, +until Mr. Anson had pounded long and heavily on his door. + +"Get up, John!" he cried. "Here's your uncle to see you, and you a +sluggard, lying abed this late!" + +John sprang up at the announcement of his uncle's presence. Sleep still +lay heavy on his eyelids, and he was in a mental daze, but by the time +he reached the door he had come out of it. They had not looked for his +uncle the night before, owing to the lateness of the hour, although they +were sure that he was stopping at the same hotel. + +"Just a moment," he exclaimed, and without waiting to dress he opened +the door, admitting the stalwart figure of the Senator, who hurried in +to greet his favorite nephew. + +"Jackie, my lad," he cried in a loud voice which had become oratorical +from much use on the stump. "The sight of you is good for weak eyes. I'm +always glad to see any American, any member of the finest race on God's +earth, but I'm particularly glad to see you--they do say you look like +me when I was a boy--although I'm bound to tell you that you're more +than half asleep, on this your first morning in Vienna." + +"I slipped out late to hear the shouting and singing and see the crowds, +Uncle Jim. I haven't been in bed more than three or four hours. The city +was so much awake that I had to stay awake, too." + +"Well, don't you do it again. Always get your sleep, especially when you +are on foreign travel. It's as hard work as political campaigning in the +states, and that, Jackie, my boy, is no soft snap, as I ought to know, +having done it more than thirty years." + +Senator James Pomeroy, a western man, was something past sixty, of +medium height, portly, partly bald, but heavy of mustache and with a +short pointed beard. His eyes were gray, his face full, and he was of +great physical strength. He was self-made and the job was no discredit +to him. His nature was simple and open. America was the finest country, +had the finest government and the finest people on earth, and the state +of which he was the senior Senator was the choicest flower of the +flowery flock. + +"There was enough to keep a fellow awake," he said, "but I always sleep +well. You must learn to do it, if you expect to achieve a success of +life. When I was making my first campaign for the Lower House of our +state, and I was barely old enough to be eligible, I lay awake and +fretted over the votes that might be lacking to me when election came. I +at last said to myself: 'Don't do it! Don't do it!' You may roll and you +may tumble, but it won't win you a single vote. It's the smooth work +you've done before that brings 'em in. Now, hustle on your clothes, +Jackie, lad, and we'll have breakfast, not one of these thin continental +affairs, but a real breakfast, if I have to go in the kitchen myself and +seize it." + +"What about this war, Uncle Jim?" + +"A small affair, soon over. We came very near having one, too, with +Mexico, but luckily we've got a president who doesn't play to the +gallery, and he sat hard on the war-maniacs. I think I was of some +little assistance to him myself in that crisis. But, my boy, Europe is +the pet home of war scares. They're always coming across the Atlantic by +mail and wire. 'War clouds in the Balkans!' 'Eastern question sets +Europe by the ears!' 'France plots to get back Alsace-Lorraine and +Germany arms!' 'German Kaiser warns Austrian Kaiser against Triple +Entente!' Bang! Boom! everybody going to war in the next five +minutes--but they don't. You'll find 'em all a half hour later in the +cafés, eating and drinking. Europe can't fight, because there isn't time +between meals. They eat five times a day here, and they eat long at a +time. How could they possibly sandwich in a war. I'm sixty-two years +old, and as far back as I can remember European war clouds have been +passing like little summer clouds, and they will continue to pass long +after you're an old man, Jackie. I make that statement deliberately, and +I challenge successful contradiction." + +He expanded his great chest, and looked around with an air of defiance. +It was his favorite oratorical manner, now grown into a habit. But no +one challenged him, and they went to a bountiful breakfast, for which +the Senator paid willingly, demanding no greater return than the +attention of the others while he talked. + +Later in the day the three drove together in the grounds of Schönbrunn, +and John's thoughts passed for a while to the great Corsican who had +slept there, and who had led his army to victory over this the +haughtiest of European monarchies, and perhaps for that reason the +weakest. The tremendous convulsion upon which Napoleon had ridden to +such dazzling heights seemed to him impossible: it was clearly +impossible according to all the rules of logic, and yet it had occurred. +That was the most startling period in the history of the modern world, +and, forgetting what was about him, he tried to evoke it from the past. + +He was recalled to the present by their driver, an eager Austrian, who +asked them in broken English if they wished to see the old emperor +arrive home from Ischl. He pointed with his whip to an open space, +adjoining the Schönbrunn grounds, where people were already gathering. + +"Of course, my good man," replied Senator Pomeroy in oratorical tones. +"We will go to see the emperor, but only as an object of curiosity. Far +be it from me to pay any homage to the representative of a decayed +system. I look on, merely as a free American citizen, no better and no +worse than the millions whom I strive to the best of my ability to +represent in our National legislative halls. Get us in as close as you +can, driver." + +John was frankly eager. He disliked the military monarchies as much as +the Senator did, but he wanted to see the old emperor at whom fate had +shot so many cruel arrows. His carriage was to come down a certain +street from the railway station, and their skillful driver maneuvered +them to the very edge of it. The crowd was immense, and it was electric +with excitement. It was no ordinary occasion and all the emotions of the +excitable Viennese had been aroused. + +As far as John could see the multitude ran, and the packed heads seemed +to rise and fall like waves of the sea. Troops in magnificent uniforms +of the most vivid colors were everywhere. The day itself seemed to be +ablaze with their gorgeousness. If John had been asked to define the +chief difference between Europe and America he would have replied that +it was a matter of uniforms. + +The crowd which seemed already to fill every space nevertheless grew +larger, and waves of emotion ran through it. John did not think they +could be defined in any other way. At home people differed in their +opinions, every man to his own, but here they appeared to receive them +from somebody higher up, and the crowd always swayed together, to this +point or that, according to the directing power. + +He had never before seen so much emotional excitement. Vienna's thrill, +so obvious the night before, had carried over into the day, increasing +as it went along, and it was a happy intoxication, infectious in its +nature. He began to feel it in his own veins, although his judgment told +him that it was no business of his. Yet the brilliant uniforms, the +shimmer of steel, the vast shifting crowd of eager faces, the deep and +unbroken murmur of anticipation would have moved an older and dryer +mind. + +Anticipatory shouts arose. They were in German, but John knew that they +meant: "He comes!" Nevertheless "he," which was the Emperor, did not yet +come, and the crowd thickened and thickened. He saw the people +stretching along leafy avenues, and in the distance they were wedged +into a solid mass, faces and figures running together, until they +presented the complete likeness of the waving sea. + +"A strange sight and highly interesting," said the Senator oratorically. +"It must take generations of education to teach a people to make a +symbol of one man. And yet if we could get at the reality we'd surely +find him a poor and broken creature." + +"Man doesn't always grow according to his nature, he's shaped by +continual pressure," said Mr. Anson. + +John scarcely heard either of them, because he saw far down the avenue +that the waves of the human sea were rolling higher than before. An +increasing volume of sound also came from that solid sheet of faces, and +it seemed to part slightly in the center, as if a sword had been thrust +between. Carriages, automobiles and the flame of uniforms appeared in +the cut. A roar like thunder arose from two hundred thousand people. + +John knew that the Emperor, in truth, was now coming. Such a spontaneous +outburst could be for nothing else, and, in spite of every effort of the +will, his own excitement increased. He leaned forward for a better view +and just in front of their carriage he saw a slender upright figure that +looked familiar. A second glance told him that it was Kempner. + +"Oh, Kempner!" he called, full of friendly feeling. "Come here with us. +You can see better!" + +Kempner glanced up, and John distinctly saw a shadow come over his face. +Then he looked at them as one looks at strangers with a blank, +uncomprehending gaze, and the next instant slipped with extraordinary +agility into some crevice of the crowd and disappeared. + +John flushed. Kempner's conduct was both rude and strange. He glanced at +his uncle and Mr. Anson, but they, absorbed in the coming of the +Emperor, had neither seen nor heard, and he was glad. His own attention +now turned to the event of the moment, because the mighty roar was +increasing in volume and coming nearer, and down the opening lane a +carriage followed by others was speeding. Along either side of the lane +the soldiers were packed so closely that they formed a living wall, but +John, standing up in their own carriage, saw over their heads. + +He saw an old, old man in splendid uniform, sitting by the side of an +impassive officer also in a splendid uniform. The old man's cheeks were +sunken, and the heavy-lidded eyes stared straight before him. He sat +erect, but whether it was his own strength or the arrangement of the +seat John could not tell. His hand flew up, forward, then down, and up +forward and down again in automatic salute. + +He was so near presently that it was only a spear's length over the +heads of the soldiers. Then John saw how truly old he was, and suddenly +his heart revolted. Why should this old, old man, broken by appalling +sorrows, be dragged out to have wars made in his name? The schemers and +plotters, whoever they were might let him rest in peace. + +The carriage flashed on, and behind it came the others as fast. They +would not linger, to give a chance for bombs and knives. In an instant +the emperor was gone through the gates of Schönbrunn, and first the +soldiers and then the roaring crowd closed in behind. + +The Senator gave the order, and their carriage drove slowly away, the +three discussing what they had seen while the happy driver exulted over +the glorious show, so dear to the heart of a Viennese. But John once +more thought the excitement was not warranted by a little war with a +little country like Servia. + +They devoted three or four days to Vienna, a capital, they had often +heard, as gay as Paris, and certainly splendid in appearance, but +pleasure seemed to hang fire. There was a cloud over the city, the +cheering and singing parades went on all through the nights, but at +times in the day the spirits of men seemed to droop. + +John told himself over and over again that this heavy change in the +atmosphere was not justified by the size of Servia. The three of them +once more and often bewailed their lack of German. People talked all +around them and they heard nothing. Austrians who hitherto had a fair +knowledge of English forgot it entirely, when they were asked questions. + +The Senator in the privacy of their rooms thundered and thundered. He +hated all this secrecy. He wondered what those men were doing at +Schönbrunn in the name of the old Emperor. As for himself he liked the +arena of public life in the United States, where you rolled up your +sleeves--such was his metaphor--and told what you were for and what you +were against, without fear or favor. Democracies did wrong or rather +foolish things, but in them it was impossible for a few military +leaders, hid in a palace, to play with the lives of hundreds of +thousands. + +John, although saying nothing, agreed with him fully. The last three or +four days had depressed him in a manner unusual in one so young. His +silent rebuff by Kempner had hurt his spirit to an extent far beyond the +nature of the incident, and, realizing it, he wondered why. He kept a +sharp watch in the streets for the young Austrian, but he did not see +him again. + +At last there came a time when the greatest of all thunderbolts fell. It +was the simple hand of a waiter that caused it to fall. The others had +finished their coffee and rolls at breakfast and had gone out, leaving +John alone at the table. + +"What is the matter with Vienna?" he said casually to the waiter, who he +knew could speak English. + +The man hesitated, then he leaned over and said in a fearful whisper: + +"It's not a little war. It's not just a war with Servia which we can +finish in a week, but it's to be such a war as the world has never +seen." + +John started, looked up at the man. His face was intensely earnest. How +should one in his humble calling have news of such import? And yet at +Dresden he had been warned by another waiter, and warned truly. + +"Are you sure?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir, they're all going into it. Europe will be covered with +armies!" + +"When?" + +"In a few hours! Now, sir! Oh, I can't say any more!" + +He hurried away, leaving John convinced that he told the truth. It was +stunning, appalling, unbelievable, impossible, but he believed it +nevertheless. There were underground channels of communication and true +news might come by the way of the kitchen as well as the palace. He was +absolutely convinced that he had heard a fact. Now he knew the cause of +that heaviness and depression in the atmosphere. Well the clouds might +gather, when such a thunderbolt as a general war was going to fall! + +He immediately hunted up his uncle and Mr. Anson who had not yet left +the hotel, and told them what he had heard. Conviction seized them also. + +"It's come at last, this European war! after a thousand false alarms, +it's come!" said the Senator, "and my boy, Vienna is no place for three +honest Americans who do not work in the dark. I say it, and I say it +without fear of contradiction, that it behooves us to flee westward with +all the speed we can." + +"You won't hear any contradiction from me," said Mr. Anson. "Vienna is a +fine city, but nothing becomes it more than our leaving it. Which way do +we go?" + +"There's a train in two hours for Salzburg and Munich," suggested John. + +"Hurried packing," said the Senator, "but we can do it. Get ready the +baggage you two and I'll pay the bills. We'll go to Salzburg and sleep +there tonight, and tomorrow we'll reach Munich. The more I think about +this the less I like it. Why didn't we read all those signs earlier! I +suppose it's because we'd heard the false cry of wolf so many dozens of +times." + +John and Mr. Anson made all speed with the baggage while the Senator +paid the bills, and, as they drove in their cab to the station, the +three felt more than ever the need of haste. The clouds seemed to be +shutting down completely on Vienna. John felt that it was hard to +breathe, but he knew it was the effect of the imagination. He was +oppressed by a sense of an impending and appalling catastrophe, +something more tremendous than anything that the world had yet +experienced. He had an impression that he had come to the end of an era, +and the impression was all the more powerful because it had been made so +suddenly. + +They passed through an excited station filled with a swirling crowd, and +secured places on a train, they scarcely knew how. Here people sat and +stood upon one another, and, as the train sped westward, they knew that +the storm was bursting with terrific violence. The nervous people around +them no longer restrained themselves. Europe was to be swept with fire +and sword, but above all the Germans and Austrians were going to smash +up France. They dwelt most upon that. The French and the French Republic +must go. There was no longer a place for them in the world. + +To John's modest wish that France would not come into it they gave a +stare and frown of disapproval. France had to come in, she must come in, +the two German powers would see that she was smitten down as a nation +was never overwhelmed before. Oh, no, Britain would do nothing. Of +course she wouldn't. She'd stay behind her barrier of the sea, and, +perhaps, at the last when the spoils of war were to be snatched from the +exhausted combatants, she'd step in and snatch them. No, they needn't +consider Britain, and Germany and Austria could easily dispose of France +and Russia. + +Much of this was said in English and French to the three travelers and +John's heart sickened. Poor France! Why should she be smashed up! Why +should the French nation be exterminated? He did not forget that France +was a republic like his own country. She had been beaten once by +Germany--and the victor's terms were hard--and whatever her faults had +been that was enough. He did not like Frenchmen personally any better +than Germans, but at that moment his sympathies went to the French and +he felt a great pity for France. + +The train crept along, and, after double the usual time, they reached +Salzburg, where they passed an uneasy night, and, the next day, boarded +another train which was to cross the German border and take them to +Munich. It, too, was packed with an excited mass of humanity, and as +John passed along the corridor he saw Kempner in one of the +compartments. + +Remembering his previous rebuffs he intended to take no notice, but the +young Austrian nodded at him and smiled. + +"I see that you flee," he said in his broken French, "and you do well to +flee. Europe is aflame." + +"That's so," said John, "and, since it's no fire of ours, we Americans +mean to be on the Atlantic foam, as soon as we can." + +As there was a vacant seat in the compartment and Kempner seemed very +friendly now, John sat down to talk a little. He longed occasionally for +companionship of his own age, and his heart warmed again to the young +Austrian. + +"I see that you're running, too," said John. + +"Yes," smiled Kempner. "I'm a man of peace, a painter, or rather I would +be one, and as my heart is a little weak I'm not drawn for military +service. I'm on my way to Munich, where I mean to study the galleries." + +"I'm going to Munich, too," said John. "So we can travel together." + +"Then if we expect to reach Munich we'd better jump out now. Quick!" + +"What for?" + +"It seems that this is the Austrian border, and trains are not crossing +it now, owing to the mobilization. A German train has come to meet us. +Look, most of the passengers have transferred already!" + +John saw his uncle and Mr. Anson standing on the steps of the German +train and looking about vainly for him. There had been no announcement +of the change, and, annoyed, he ran down the corridor and sprang to the +ground, closely followed by Kempner. + +"Passporten! passporten!" shouted some one, putting a strong hand on his +arm. + +John saw his uncle and Mr. Anson going into the German train, evidently +thinking that he was inside, and his alarm increased. + +"Amerikanischer! Amerikanischer!" he said to the Austrian officer, who +was holding his arm and demanding his passport. The officer shook his +head and spoke voluble German. John did not understand it, but he knew +that the man at such a time would insist upon seeing his passport. +Kempner just behind him was in the same bad case. + +The whistle of departure sounded from the train, and John, in despair, +tore at the passport in an inside pocket. He saw that the officer would +never be able to read it in time, and he endeavored to snatch himself +from the detaining grasp. But the Austrian hung on firmly. + +As he fairly thrust the document in the face of the official he saw the +wheels of the coaches moving. + +"I'll come on the next train!" he shouted to the air. + +The officer looked over the passport deliberately and handed it back. +The train was several hundred yards down the track. + +"Now, yours," he said to Kempner, and the young man passed it to him. + +"August Wilhelm Kempner," said the officer, and then he added, looking +the young man squarely in the eye: "I happen to know August William +Kempner who lives in Vienna and he bears no resemblance to you. How do +you happen to have his passport?" + +"That I won't explain to you," said the false Kempner, and suddenly he +struck him a stunning blow on the temple with his clenched fist. + +The officer, strong though he was, went down unconscious. + +"Run! Run! Follow me!" exclaimed the young man. "They'll think you were +my comrade and it may mean your death!" + +His action had been so violent, and he spoke with such vehemence that +John was mentally overborne. Driven by a powerful impulse he followed +the flying man. + +Kempner, for so John still called him, darted into a narrow street not +wider than an alley, leading between two low houses. He had had no +opportunity hitherto to observe the border place in which they had +stopped. It was small, but like many of the old European towns it was +very closely built, and some of its streets were scarcely wide enough +for two abreast. + +The fugitives ran swiftly. Kempner evidently knew the place, as he +sprang in and out with amazing agility, and the sounds of pursuit died +in a minute or two. Then he darted between two buildings that almost +touched, entered a small churchyard in the rear of a Gothic church and +threw himself down behind a great tombstone. And even as he did so he +pulled John down beside him. + +As they lay close, still trembling from exertion and excitement, Kempner +said to John, and now he spoke in perfect French: + +"Since I got you into this trouble I think it my duty to get you out of +it again if I can. Of course the people of the town saw us running, and +I rushed through that narrow passage in order to evade their sight." + +His tone had a dry and quaint touch of humor and John, despite his +exhaustion and alarm, could not keep from replying in a similar vein. + +"If I don't owe you thanks for the first statement I do at least for the +second. I don't know German, and so I couldn't understand what you and +that Austrian officer said, but I fancy your name is not Kempner." + +"No. It's not, and I'm not an Austrian. I'm a Frenchman, for which I +return thanks to the good God. Not that Americans are not great and +noble people, but it's a fortunate thing that so many of us are +satisfied with our birth." + +"I was thinking so when you announced with such pride that you were a +Frenchman." + +The other laughed softly. + +"A fair hit," he said, "and I laid myself open to it." + +"Now since you're not August William Kempner, and are not an Austrian, +will you kindly tell me your name and your nation, as in any event I am +no enemy of yours and will betray you to nobody." + +"My race, as you might infer from the beauty and purity with which I +speak my native language, is French, and my name, which I no longer have +a motive in concealing from you, is Philip Lannes. I'm a collateral +descendant of Napoleon's great marshal, Lannes, and I'm willing to boast +of it." + +"Occupation--I will risk another inference--is something like that of a +spy." + +The Frenchman looked keenly at the American and again laughed lightly. + +"You're not far wrong," he said. "It was the passport of another man +that I carried, and I happened to meet an official who knew better. It +was mere chance that you were with me at the time and would have been +taken for my comrade. Didn't you know that a great war was going to +burst?" + +"I've just learned it." + +"And one of the objects of those who are making the war is to smash my +country, France. How could one serve her better than by learning the +preparations and forces against her? Oh, I've been among the Austrians +and I've been watching them! They've made some terrible mistakes. But +then the Austrians always make mistakes. There's an old saying that what +the Austrian crown loses by war it wins back by marriage. But I don't +think royal marriages count for so much in these days. Lie close! I +think I hear soldiers in the alley!" + +John hugged the earth in the shadow of the great tombstone. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE REFUGE + + +John Scott, in those moments of hiding and physical exhaustion, had +little time to think, yet he was dimly conscious that he, an American +who meant to meddle in the business of nobody, had fallen into a most +extraordinary situation. By a sudden mischance he had lost in a few +moments his uncle and the man who was at once his comrade and tutor, and +now he had been running for his life with a stranger. + +Yet he obeyed the warning words of Lannes and fairly tried to burrow +into the earth. The name, Lannes, had exerted at once a great influence +over him. The career of Napoleon had fascinated him, and of all his +marshals the brave and democratic Lannes had appealed to him most. And +now he was hiding with one who had in his veins kindred blood of this +great and gallant figure. + +Despite his anxiety John turned a little and looked at the young +Frenchman who lay beside him. Lannes was but a year or two older than +the American. Tall, slender, narrow of waist, and broad of chest and +shoulders he seemed built for both agility and strength. He was fair of +hair and gray of eye. But those gray eyes were his most remarkable +feature. They were intensely bright, and the light in them seemed to +shift and change, but no matter what the change might be they were +always gay and merry. John surmised that he was one of the few, who by a +radiant presence, are born to be a source of joy to the world, and time +was to confirm him in his opinion. + +"Luckily the big tombs of dead and forgotten Germans rise on either side +of us," whispered Lannes, "and the chances are good that we won't be +discovered, but we must keep on lying close. We're on the German side in +this town and the Germans will look longer than the Austrians. They're +at the end of the alley now, not thirty feet away." + +John heard them marching. The thump, thump of solid German feet was +plainly audible. It was a sound that he was to hear again, and again, +and never forget, that heavy thump, thump of the marching German feet, a +great military empire going forward to crush or be crushed. Even in +those moments he was impressed less by his sense of personal danger than +by his feeling that a nation was on the march. + +"They've turned," said Lannes, and John heard the thump, thump of the +feet passing away. But he and the young Frenchman lay still, until the +last echo had died. Then Lannes sat up and peeped over the edge of one +of the tombs. + +"They'll search elsewhere," he said, "but they won't come here again. +We'll have to be cautious, however, as they'll never stop, until they've +gone all through the town. Trust the Germans for that. Now aren't you +glad I brought you among the tombs? Could we have found a better hiding +place?" + +His manner was so gay and light-hearted that John found it infectious. +Yet, he was resolved not to yield entirely. He had been dragged or +pushed into too desperate a quandary. + +"Suppose they don't find us now, what then?" he asked. "It may be all +right for you, but as for me, my uncle and my friend are on the way to +Munich, and I'm marooned in a land, the language of which I don't +understand." + +"But you're with me!" + +"So I am, but you're a stranger. You belong to a country with which +Germany is at war or going to war. You're a spy, and if you're caught, +which is highly probable, you'll be hanged or shot, and because I'm with +you they'll do the same to me." + +Lannes plucked a grass stem and chewed it thoughtfully, although his +eyes at no time lost their cheerful twinkle. + +"I do seem to have plunged you into a whole lake of trouble," he said at +length. "I'll admit that my own neck is in the halter, and it behooves +me to escape as soon as I can, but don't think I'll ever neglect you. I +mean to see that you get to Munich and rejoin your friends." + +"How?" + +"It's a secret for the present, confined to me. But trust me! can't +you?" + +His speech had glided from French into English so good that it was +colloquial, and of the vernacular. Now he looked directly into John's +eyes, and John, looking back, saw only truth in their gray smiling +depths. There are some things that we feel, instinctively, and with +overwhelming power, and he knew that the young Frenchman would be as +true as steel. He held out his hand and said: + +"I believe every word you say. I'll ask no questions, but wait for what +happens." + +Lannes took the outstretched hand and gave it a grasp of extraordinary +power. The joyous lights in his wonderful gray eyes shifted and changed +with extraordinary rapidity. + +"I like you, John Scott, you Yankee," he said. "You and I will be the +best of friends and for life. Thus does the great American republic, +which is you, pledge eternal friendship with France, the great European +republic, which is me." + +"You put it well, and now what are we going to do?" + +"Graveyards are good places, my old--my old, being as you know, a +translation of _mon vieux_, a term of friendship, becoming to you +because of your grave demeanor--but it's not well to stay in them too +long. You've noticed doubtless that the skies are darkening over the +spur of the Alps toward Salzburg?" + +"And what then?" + +"It means that we must seek quarters for the night, and night is always +friendly to fugitives. I promised that I'd take you to your friends in +Munich--I can't do it in an hour or even in two, although I'll lead you +to food and a bed, which are not to be despised. But we must wait a +little longer." + +"Until night comes fully?" + +"Truly, until it's complete night. And, fortunately for you, it will be +very dark, as I see plenty of clouds sailing in this direction from the +mountains." + +John, who was lying on his back, looked toward the south, and saw that +the crests of the peaks and ridges were already dim with somber masses +floating northward and westward. The air was growing cooler, and, in a +half hour, the ancient churchyard was sure to be veiled in darkness. For +the present Philip and he relapsed into silence, and John's thoughts +traveled anxiously toward his uncle and Mr. Anson. What would they think +had become of him? He knew that the Senator who was very fond of him +would be alarmed greatly, and it was a bad time in Europe for any one to +be missing. + +But there was stern stuff in John Scott, and knowing that they must wait +he put anxiety from him as much as he could and waited. + +The heavy clouds, although they did not give forth rain, swept up, and +brought black darkness with them. The white tombstones became pale, and +the town beyond was invisible. Lannes rose and stretched himself +deliberately, limb by limb. + +"Are you willing, John Scott?" he asked, "to follow me and ask no +questions?" + +"Yes, Philip Lannes, I am." + +"Well, then, John--I think I'll call you that because you and I are +friends, and you may say Philip, too, which will save time--I'm going to +lead you to temporary safety and comfort. I'll tell you, too, enough to +assuage your curiosity. There's a little Huguenot quarter to this town. +Louis Quatorze, as you know, drove many good people out of France. Some +went to your own new land, but the majority settled in the surrounding +countries. They've intermarried chiefly with themselves, and, after more +than two hundred years on foreign soil, many of them still have French +hearts in French bodies." + +"Lead on then. I think I'd like to meet these good Huguenots. I'm +growing tremendously hungry, Philip." + +"Hunger is frequent in a great war. You'll grow used to it." + +His manner took away any sting that his words might have contained. John +could yet see those wonderful gray eyes shining through the twilight, +and his heart warmed anew to the young Frenchman. If he were to be cast +away in this strange German town Lannes was just the comrade whom he +would have chosen. + +"We're resurrected," continued Lannes, "and we'll leave our graveyard. +May it be a long time before I enter another! And yet with a world going +to war who can tell?" + +But the touch of gravity was only for an instant. The joyous note +quickly returned to his voice. + +"Keep by my side," he said, "and walk in the most careless manner, as if +you were a native of the town. If anybody asks question let me make all +the replies. God gave me one special gift, and it was an easy tongue. +It's not work for me to talk. I like to do it." + +"And I like to hear you," said John. + +"Which leaves us both satisfied. Now, it's lucky for us that our old +European towns are so very old. In the Middle Ages they built with +narrow streets, and all sorts of alleys and passages. Leading from the +cemetery is just the sort of passage that you and I need at this time. +Ah, here it is, and luckily it's empty!" + +They had crossed the narrow street beyond the cemetery, and were looking +into a dark tunnel between two low stone houses. No one was in sight. +Lannes stepped without hesitation into the tunnel. + +"Keep with me," he said, repeating his injunction, "and we'll soon be +under shelter." + +His manner was so cheerful, so confident that John instinctively +believed him, and walked boldly by his side into the well of darkness. +But as his eyes grew used to it he made out the walls crumbling with age +and dripping with damp. Then the sound of heavy feet came thundering +down the passage. + +"Some one leading a horse," whispered Lannes. "There's a stable on our +right. It's nothing. Seem not to notice as you pass." + +The thunder of the feet, magnified in the confined space, increased, and +presently John saw a boy leading one of those huge-footed horses, used +for draft in Europe. The animal stepped slowly and heavily, and the boy +was half asleep. John and Philip, hovering in the shadow of the wall, +passed him so lightly that doubtless he was not conscious of their +presence. + +The Frenchman turned into a tributary alley, narrower and darker than +the other, and Lannes knocked at a heavy oaken doorway, before which a +small lantern cast a dim light. John had good eyes, and accustomed to +the heavy shadows, he saw fairly well. + +He concealed an imaginative temperament under a quiet manner, and he was +now really back in the Middle Ages. It must have been at least four or +five hundred years since people lived up little alleys like this. And +the door with its heavy iron bands, the shuttered window above it, and +the dim lantern that lighted the passage could belong only to long ago. +The house and its neighbors seemed to have been built as much for +defense as for habitation. + +Lannes knocked again, and then John heard inside the soft tread of feet, +and the lifting of heavy bars. It was another mediæval touch, and he +swung yet further back into the past. The door was opened slightly and +the face of an elderly woman appeared at the crevice. + +"It's Philip Lannes with a friend, Mother Krochburg," said the young +Frenchman in a whisper, "and friend as you've often been to me I never +needed the friendship of you and your house more than I do now." + +She said something in German and opened the door wider. Lannes and John +pressed in, and she instantly closed it behind them, putting the heavy +bars in place. They stood in complete darkness, but they heard her +moving about, and presently she lighted a small lamp which did not +dispel the shadows beyond the range of a few feet. + +But as she stood in the center of the beams the woman was outlined +clearly for John. She was at least sixty, but she was tall and strong, +and bore herself like a grenadier. She was looking at Lannes, and John +had never beheld a gaze of more intense, burning curiosity. + +"Well?" she said, and to John's surprise she now spoke in French. Lannes +gave back her gaze with one fully as concentrated and burning. + +"Angelique Krochburg, wife of Paul Krochburg, descendant of the +Krochburgs, rightly called the Crochevilles," he said, drawing himself +up and speaking with wonderful distinctness, "it has come at last." + +"The war! The great war!" she said in a sharp whisper. John noticed that +her strong figure trembled. + +"Yes, the great war!" returned Lannes with dramatic intensity. "Germany +declares war today on Russia. I know it. No matter how I know it, but I +know it. She will make war on France tomorrow, and it will be the first +object of her princes and military caste to destroy our republic. They +reckon that with the aid of Austria they will rule the whole continent, +and that in time the tread of their victorious armies will be heard all +over the world." + +The woman drew a breath so deep and sharp that it made a hissing sound +between her teeth. John saw the lamp in her hand trembling. + +"Then Philip Lannes," she said, "which is it to be--the peoples or the +kings?" + +Lannes drew himself up again--John recognized the dramatic quality in +him--and replied in words that he shot forth like bullets: + +"The peoples. Armies can be defeated, but nations cannot be put down. +Our Napoleon, despite his matchless genius, found it so in his later +empire. And they have reckoned ill at Berlin and Vienna. The world in +alarm at military domination will be against them. They say the English +won't fight and will keep out. But Mother Krochburg or Crocheville--I +prefer the sound of Crocheville--we French know better. A thousand years +of our history say that the English will fight. We have Agincourt and +Cressy and Poitiers and La Belle Alliance to say that they will fight. +And now they will fight again, but on our side. The bravest of our +ancient enemies will stand with us, brothers in arms, shoulder to +shoulder against an arrogant foe!" + +"Do you know this, Philip Lannes, or is it some dream of that hopeful +brain of yours?" + +"It's not a dream. I know it. It hasn't been long since I was among the +English. They will have to join us. The German threat will force them to +it. Blinded by their own narrow teachings the generals at Berlin and +Vienna cannot see the storm they've let loose. Ah, Madame Crocheville, +it's more than two hundred years since any of your people have lived in +France, but you are as true a Frenchwoman as if your feet had never +pressed any but French soil!" + +"There is truth in that wild head of yours." + +"And the time of France and the French is coming. The republic has +restored us. The terrible year of 1870 will be avenged. French valor and +skill will bloom again!" + +John had stood on one side, while they talked or rather allowed their +emotions to shoot forth in words. But he was watching them intently, +bent slightly forward, and, like Parsifal, he had never moved by the +breadth of a single hair. The woman now glanced toward him. + +"He can be trusted?" she asked Lannes. + +"Absolutely. His head is in the German noose. He must do as we bid or +that noose will close." + +The gay ring had returned to Lannes' voice and a faint smile crossed the +face of Madame Crocheville. + +"It's the best of securities," she said, and John, compelled to +acknowledge its truth, bowed. + +"Who are pursuing you," she asked. + +"Nobody at present," replied Lannes. "I'd have passed the border safely, +but a pig of an Austrian officer happened to know the man whose passport +I have. It was one chance in a thousand, and it went against me. My +friend here is an American, and, as he was dragged into it, we must save +him." + +"It's likely that you need both food and rest as well as concealment." + +"We do, and thank you for what we know we are going to receive." + +She smiled again faintly. John surmised that she had a warm place in her +heart for Lannes. Who would not? He was as light-hearted now as if he +had come to a ball and not to a refuge. His eyes moved about the room +and he seemed pleased with all he saw. + +"Food and a little of the good wine that I've found here before would be +indeed most welcome," he said, "and I speak for my new American friend +as well as myself." + +"Come!" she said briefly, and the two followed, as she led the way into +a passage not more than wide enough for one, and then up a stone +stairway into a room ventilated by only a single narrow window. + +"Wait here," she said. She closed the door and John heard the huge +German key turning in the lock. But the slit of a window was open, and +he saw in the room two beds, a table, two chairs and some other +furniture. The ceiling was low and sloping and John knew that they were +directly under the eaves. + +Lannes threw himself into one of the chairs and drew several mighty +breaths. + +"We're locked in, John," he said, "but it's for our good. Nobody can get +at us, while Madame Crocheville holds the key, and she'll hold it. More +than two hundred years on German soil, and still French, heart and soul. +There must be something great and true in France, when she can inspire +such far-flung devotion. That isn't a bad place, John. As the French +general said in the Crimea, _'J'y suis, j'y reste'_ and I'm resting +now." + +"She knows all about you, I take it?" + +"Of course. I've been here before, often. That little window looks out +into a tiny court, and you'd probably be amazed at the amount of luxury +to be found in this place. This old Europe of ours is often far better +than it looks." + +"I didn't see the man of the house." + +"Oh, yes you did. Frau Krochburg or Madame Crocheville, if you wish +secretly to call her so, is very much the man of the house. There is a +Herr Krochburg, but he won't come in our way now. Madame will do +everything for us at present. I've touched a spark of fire to her soul, +and it has blazed up. Those Huguenots of long ago were really +republicans, and it's republican France now, for the success of which +she prays with every breath she draws." + +"She's locked us in pretty securely. I heard that big German key turn." + +"To keep others from getting at us. Not to keep us from getting out. +Now, I hear it turning again, and I'll wager that she's coming back with +something that will rejoice us to the core." + +The door opened and Madame Crocheville walked into the room, bearing a +large tray which she placed upon a chair until she could close and lock +the door again. Then she bore it to the table and John looked at it with +great longing. He was young, he was healthy and he had a digestion +beyond criticism. + +"I told you so," exclaimed Lannes triumphantly, "and look, Madame +Crocheville has brought us her best--a bottle of the light, white wine +made in this very district, and good! You can dismiss your American +scruples--it's very mild--filet of beef, tender, too, baked potatoes, +salad, bread and butter and cheese. It is truly fit for a king. Madame +Crocheville, two young and starving souls, thank you." + +A smile lighted up her stern, almost masculine features. Then her face, +in truth, looked feminine and tender. + +"You're wild and reckless, but you're a good boy, Philip Lannes," she +said, "and I know that you'd willingly lay down your life for the France +that I've never seen, but which I love. You say again that the great war +is at hand." + +"It has come. In a few days four hundred million people will be in it, +and I know that France will come out of it with all her ancient glory +and estate." + +"I hope and pray so," she said fervently, and then she left them. + +The two ate and drank with wonderfully keen appetites, but they did not +forget their manners. John noticed that Philip was extremely fastidious +at the table, and he liked him the better for it. And the food was +wonderfully good. John felt new life and strength flowing into his +veins. + +"I suppose we stay here tonight," he said. + +"Yes it would be dangerous for us to leave so soon. Madame Crocheville +will take good care of us tonight and tomorrow, and tomorrow night we'll +leave." + +"I don't see just how we'll go," said John. "There are German troops in +this town, as we know, and even if we could get out of it, where then +would we be. I want to go to Munich, and you, I take it, want to reach +France. We can't go by land and we can't go by water. How then can we +go?" + +"No, we can't go by either land or water, but we'll go in another way. +Yes, we'll surely do it. This filet is certainly good. Take another +piece. You haven't tasted the tomato salad yet, and it's fine. No, I +won't tell you how we're going, because in every affair of life there's +always a possible slip. You just wait upon the event, and learn +patience. Patience is a wonderful quality to have, I ought to know. I've +seen how much it does for others, and how often I've suffered from the +lack of it." + +"I'll wait, because I have to. You're right about the filet. It's good. +I think I'll take some more of it." + +"You can't have it. Pig of an American, it would be your third piece." + +"But it would be your third, too!" + +"I know it, but I saw its merits first. So, I get a discoverer's third +as a reward. Feel a lot better, don't you, John?" + +"I feel like a general now. Where did you learn such good, every-day +English." + +"Studied it ten years at school, and then I lived two years in that +great, splendid unkempt country of yours. Mind your step! Good-by, +little girl, good-by! We must get the men higher up! Tariff for Revenue +only! Hurrah for the Goddess of Liberty! Our glorious American eagle +bathes one wing in Lake Superior and the other in the Gulf of Mexico! +Our foreign commerce would be larger if it were not for our grape-juice +diplomacy! Now for the Maxixe and the Hesitation all at the same time!" + +He sprang from his chair and whirled and jerked about the room in a kind +of wild Apache dance. John laughed until his eyes grew wet. + +"You've been there," he said, as Lannes sat down again, panting. "You've +proved it, and I no longer wonder at your fine colloquial English." + +"I like your country and I like you Americans," said Lannes seriously. +"You are the favorite children of the world, and I say children +purposely, because you are children. You think you are terribly wicked, +but you're not wicked at all. You're mere amateurs in vice compared with +the hoary and sinful nations of Europe. We're more quiet about it, but +we practice tricks that you never dream of. We've made you think you're +dollar-worshipers, but while the dollars are dropping through your +fingers, John, we're hanging on to the francs, and marks, and shillings, +and rubles and gulden and pesos and kronen with a grasp that death +itself often fails to break." + +John did not know whether to be pleased or displeased, but finally +concluded to be pleased. + +"Perhaps you're telling the truth," he said. + +"I know I am. But here comes Madame Crocheville for the dishes. She will +also say: 'Good night my wild and reckless but gallant Philip, and the +same to you young American stranger.'" + +"How do you know?" + +"Never mind how I know. I know." + +Madame Crocheville came in and she looked at the two with satisfaction. +Their appearance had improved greatly under the ministrations of her +good food and drink. She put the dishes on her tray and went to the +door. When she had turned the key she looked back and said: + +"Good night, my wild and reckless but gallant Philip, and the same to +you, young American stranger." + +Then she went out, closed the door, and the two heard the big key +turning again in the lock. The young Frenchman looked at the young +American and smiled in content. + +"How did you know so exactly?" asked John. + +"Just call it an uncommonly accurate guess. Now, I think I'll put out +the lamp. The light from the window is sufficient for us, and we don't +want to take any unnecessary risk." + +He blew out the light, but John went to the window, and looked out on +the tiny court or place, on the far side of which ran a street so narrow +that it would have been called an alley at home. + +He could not see much owing to the thick darkness, and it had begun to +rain also. The air was chill and heavy with damp. John shivered. Fate +had played him a weird trick by causing him to lose his train, but she +had atoned for it partly by giving him this brave young Frenchman as a +comrade. It was wonderfully snug and comfortable in the house of Madame +Crocheville, called by her fellow townsmen and townswomen Frau +Krochburg. + +"I'm glad it's not a part of your plan for us to escape tonight, +Philip," he said. + +"And what's the cause of your gladness." + +"It's raining, and it's as cold as winter. I like this place, and I +think I'll go to bed." + +"A good plan. Everything is ready for us." + +There was a little adjoining room, in which they found water, towels and +could make all the other preparations for the night, and John, feeling a +sudden great weariness, made ready. When he was in bed he saw Lannes +still at the window. + +"Better crawl in, too, Philip," he called. "This is a fine bed, and I +fancy the other is just as good." + +"I'll join you in slumber land soon. Good night." + +John closed his eyes, and in a few minutes he was sleeping soundly. He +was first to awake the next morning, and he saw that it was a gray day. +The rain had ceased, but there was no one in the little court or street +beyond. Philip slept soundly, and, as it was early, John did not awake +him. But he rose and dressed shortly before Madame Crocheville came with +breakfast. + +"You have slept well, I hope," she said. + +"Never better," replied Lannes for them both. + +"I hear from others that which you told me last night. Germany has +declared war upon Russia, and the mightiest of the German armies marches +today against France. Philip! Philip! Poor France will be crushed!" + +"Not so, Madame! France is not ready and the German armies will go far +toward Paris, but France, the republic, will not fall. I am young, but I +have heard, and I have seen. French valor is French valor still, and +Germany is creating for herself a ring of foes." + +"You make me believe! You make me believe, Philip, in spite of myself," +she said. + +"We shall see what we shall see," said Lannes with confidence. + +The day passed and they did not seek to stir from the room. Madame +Crocheville brought them food, but talked little. Time was very heavy. +John did not dare to go much to the window, for fear of being seen. The +night at last came again, and to their great joy it was dark without +either moon or stars. + +"Now we'll go," said Lannes. + +"I'm ready," said John, although he did not have the remotest idea how +they were going. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE THRILLING ESCAPE + + +Madame Crocheville brought them supper, and they ate with strong +appetites. John was all courage and anticipation. He was chafing over +his compulsory day and night in one room, despite its comfort and +safety, and he was ready for any risk. He wanted to reach his uncle and +Mr. Anson, knowing how great must be their anxiety. Lannes was as eager +to be away, for other reasons. + +"Don't make the risks too great," said Madame Crocheville, as she paused +with the tray of empty dishes. + +"We will not," replied Lannes earnestly. "It is not a time for folly." + +He went out with Madame, leaving John alone in the room, but he returned +in two or three minutes, and thrust an automatic pistol in the young +American's hand. + +"Put this in your pocket," he said, "and here's a little bag of +cartridges that you can drop into another pocket." + +"But it's not my war," said John, "I don't want to shoot at anybody." + +"No, it's not your war, but it's forcing itself upon you, and you may +have to shoot. You'll be wise to take what I offer you." + +Then John took them, and an hour later they stole out of the house, +carrying with them the earnest hopes of Madame Crocheville. The house, +doubtless, had other inmates, but she was the only one whom John had +seen, and her competency gave the impression that no other was needed. + +"We're going out into the country," said Lannes. + +"Show the way." + +"Don't you feel any curiosity about it?" + +"A lot, but, remember I promised to ask no questions." Lannes laughed. + +"So you did," he said, "and I knew that you were a man who'd keep your +word, as you're doing. We're going to leave this town and the country +about it, but I'll say nothing about the way it's to be done. There's +some danger, though, and I'm armed just as you are." + +"I'm not afraid of a little danger." + +"I knew you were not. Here we are in the passage again, and it's as dark +as a well. Mind your step, and, when we come out into the broader +street, walk as if you had lived here all your life. But the town is +half deserted. All the younger men have gone away to the war." + +They came into the street and walked carelessly along, passing only an +occasional old man or woman. The wonderful German mobilization, like a +net, through which nothing slipped, was going on, and the youthful +strength of the town was already departing toward the French border. + +"No notice of us will be taken until we come to the outskirts," said +Lannes, "but there they have sentinels whom we must pass." + +It was on the tip of John's tongue to ask how, but he refrained. He was +willing to put his trust in this young Frenchman who was proving himself +so trustworthy, and he continued in silence by his side. It did not take +them long to reach the area of scattered houses. Walking swiftly among +them they entered a vegetable garden, and John saw beyond the metals of +a railway track, a bridge, and two soldiers, gun on shoulder, guarding +it. + +"We're going to pass under that bridge," said Lannes. + +Now John could not refrain from asking how. + +"It crosses a canal and not a river," said Lannes. "It's an old disused +canal, with but little water in it, and we'll go down its bed. Come on, +John." + +The canal flowed at the foot of the garden, and they lowered themselves +into the bed, where they found a muddy footing, between the water and +the bank, which rose four or five feet. + +"We'll bend over and hug the bank," said Lannes. "In the darkness we may +be able to go under the bridge, unseen by the two sentinels. At any rate +we must chance it. If they fire on us the odds are at least twenty to +one against our being hit. So, don't use the automatic unless the need +is desperate." + +A chill ran along John's spine. He had never fired at anybody, and +nobody had ever fired at him. A week ago he was a peaceful tourist, +never dreaming of bullets, and now he was fairly hurled into the middle +of a gigantic war. But he was one who accepted facts, and, steadying +himself for anything, he followed Lannes who, bent almost double, was +walking rapidly. + +They were within twenty yards of the bridge now, and John distinctly saw +the two sentinels. They were stout Bavarian lads, with heavy, unthinking +faces, but he knew that, taught in the stern German school, they would +fire without hesitation on Lannes and himself. He devoutly hoped they +would not be seen, and it was not alone their own safety of which he was +thinking, but he did not want to use the automatic on those kindly +Bavarian boys. + +As they came within the shadow of the bridge they bent lower and went +much more slowly. Strange thrills, the product of excitement and not of +fear, ran down John's back. This was no play, no game of make-believe, +he was running for his life, and a world which had been all peace a few +days ago was now all war. It was impossible, but it was happening and it +was true. He could not comprehend it all at once, and he was angry at +himself because he could not. These emotions went fleeting by, even at +the moment, when they passed under the bridge. + +They paused directly beneath the superstructure, and hugged the bank. +John could see the two sentinels above, one at either end. Lannes and he +had come thus far in safety, but beyond the bridge the shadows were not +so deep, and the banks of the canal were lower. + +"I think that luck has favored us," whispered Lannes. + +"I hope it will continue to do so." + +"It will. It usually goes one way for a little while. Come!" + +They passed from the shelter of the bridge and ran down the old canal. +Luck favored them for forty or fifty yards, and then one of the +sentinels caught a glimpse of John's figure. Hastily raising his gun he +fired. + +John felt a rush of air past his face, and heard the thud of the bullet +as it buried itself in the soft bank. A cold chill ran down his spine, +but he said nothing. Lannes and he increased their speed. The sentinels +did not fire again. Perhaps they thought imagination had been tricked by +a shadow. + +A hundred yards farther on, and the canal passed through woods, where it +was so dark that one could not see far. Lannes climbed the bank and +threw himself down among the trees. John imitated him. + +"Are you hit?" asked Lannes. + +"No, but I felt the wind from the bullet." + +"Then you've had your baptism of war, and as it was a German bullet that +was seeking you you're one of us now." + +John was silent. + +Both lay a while on the grass in the dense shadow of the trees, until +their panting passed into regular breathing. The darkness did not +decrease, and no sound came from the fields. It was evident that they +had not been followed. John felt that all his strength had returned, but +he waited patiently for Lannes to lead the way. + +The Frenchman rose presently and went to the edge of the grove. + +"The coast is clear," he said, "and we might as well depart. Come, +Monsieur John. You've shown great power over your curiosity, and I'll +ask you to show it a little longer. But I'll say this much. You can +barely make out a line of hills across those fields. Well, they are five +or six miles away and we're going toward them at a leisurely but fairly +rapid pace." + +"All right. Show the way. I think I'm in good shape for a canter of +several miles." + +They walked steadily more than an hour, and the night lightened +somewhat. As they approached the hills John saw that they were high, +rough, and covered with dark green foliage. It was possible that Lannes +was seeking a refuge among them, but reflection indicated that it was +not probable. There could be no secure hiding place in a country so +thickly populated, and in a region so far away from France. Lannes must +have something else in view. + +When they came to the first slope Lannes led boldly upward, although he +followed no path. The trees were larger than one usually sees in Europe, +and there was some undergrowth. At a point two or three hundred feet up +they stopped and looked back. They saw nothing. The town was completely +hidden by the night. John had a strong feeling of silence, loneliness +and awe. He would have insisted upon knowing where Lannes was leading +him, but the young Frenchman had shown himself wholly trustworthy. + +The way continued upward. Lannes was following no path, but he advanced +with certainty. The night lightened somewhat. A few stars came out, and +an edge of the moon showed, but the town was now shut off from sight by +the foliage on the hills, and they seemed absolutely alone in the world. + +John knew that they were not likely to see houses, owing to the habit +the rural people had on the continent of living in villages, but they +might pass the hut of a stray woodcutter or charcoal burner. He had no +mind to be taken back to the town and his hand slipped down to the butt +of the automatic. + +"You've plenty of courage, John," said Lannes, "and you've a very steady +nerve, too. Courage and steady nerve don't always go together. You'll +need both." + +"For our escape?" + +"Yes. It's scarcely possible to walk out of Germany because the borders +are guarded everywhere. The land is closed to us, nor can we go by water +either. As an American they might have passed you on, if you had not +become so strongly identified with me, but borrowing one of your English +expressions we are now tarred with the same brush. But, as I told you +before, we shall leave Germany nevertheless." + +John's curiosity was intense, but pride still kept him from asking any +questions. In silence he followed Lannes, who was traveling upward. The +region now became utterly dreary, steep, stony and rain-washed. + +Not even the thrifty European peasant could have drawn any part of a +living from those blasted rocks. + +They came at last to the crest of the hills, or rather low mountains, +and passed into a depression which looked to John like some age-old +crater. Then he heard Lannes draw a deep breath, almost a sigh, and he +knew it was caused by relief of the mind rather than of the body. + +"Well, we're here," said Lannes, sitting down at the stony edge of the +crater. + +"Yes, we're here," said John, also sitting down, "and being here, where +are we?" + +Lannes laughed. It was a pleased and friendly laugh, and John recognized +it as such. + +"Wait until we draw about a hundred long breaths apiece," said Lannes, +"and then we'll have action." + +"Suits me. That was a big climb." + +As they rested, John looked down with renewed interest at the crater. He +saw that the center of it was quite level, and evidently the soil on +that spot was rich, as it was covered with thick long grass. Nearer by, +among the stones, lay faggots, and also smaller pieces of wood. + +"John," said Lannes, at the end of a few minutes, "you'll help me with +these billets, won't you?" + +"Of course. What do you want to do?" + +"To build a fire. Aren't you cold?" + +"I hadn't thought about it. I'm not likely to notice either heat or cold +at such a time." + +Lannes laughed. It was a low laugh of satisfaction, but wholly without +irony. + +"You're not cold," he said, "nor am I, and if we were we wouldn't build +a fire to keep us warm. But we're going to build one." + +They laid the faggots and smaller pieces together, and then cut off dry +splinters with their clasp knives. Lannes set fire to the splinters with +a match, and the two stood away. The blaze spread rapidly, and soon +crackled and burned at a merry rate, sending up high flames. + +"Aren't you afraid the fire will warn some one?" asked John. + +"I hope so," was the startling reply. + +Lannes threw on more wood. He seemed anxious that the flames should rise +higher. They obeyed his wish, shooting upward, and sending streams of +sparks far above. Then he stepped back, and, sitting down on a stone, +began to look into the skies, not a stray glance, but a long, unbroken +anxious gaze. + +The heavens were yet brightening. More stars sprang out, the segment of +the moon broadened and shone like burnished silver. The last cloud was +gone, leaving the skies a vast vault of dusky blue. And Lannes never +took his eyes from the great arch, although they traveled from horizon +to horizon, searching, searching, searching everywhere. + +The young Frenchman's action and manner had an indescribable effect upon +John. A warning thrill ran down his back, and there was a strange, +creeping sensation at the roots of his hair. Without knowing why, he, +too, began to gaze steadily into the skies. The little town from which +they had escaped and the possibility of the wandering woodcutter or +charcoal burner passed from his mind. His whole soul was in his eyes as +he stared into the heavens, looking for he knew not what. + +The gaze of Lannes turned chiefly toward a range of mountains, to the +south, visible only because of the height on which they stood. Anxiety, +hope, belief and disbelief appeared on his face, but he never moved from +his seat, nor spoke a word. Meanwhile the flames leaped high and +crackled, making the only sound heard in all that desolation and +loneliness. + +How long they sat there, watching the skies John never knew, but the +time seemed hours, and throughout it Lannes did not once take his gaze +from above. Now and then, he drew a sharp breath, as if a hope had +failed, but, in a moment or two, hope came back to his eyes, and they +still searched. + +John suddenly felt a great thrill again run down his spine, and the +roots of his hair quivered. He was looking toward the mountains in the +south, and he believed that he saw a black dot hanging in the air above +them. Then another dot seemed to hang beside it. So much looking could +make one see things that were not, and he rubbed his eyes. But there +hung the dots, and they were growing larger. + +John looked long and he could not now doubt. The black dots grew +steadily. They were apparently side by side, and they came fast toward +the hill on which Lannes and he stood. He glanced at his comrade. He had +never before seen a face express so much relief and exultation. + +"They come! they come!" said Lannes, "I knew they would!" + +John looked back. The black dots were much nearer, and he began to make +out dim shapes. Now, he knew. The full truth burst upon him. They were +aeroplanes, and he knew that Lannes had summoned them out of the black +ether with his fire. He felt the great thrill along his spine again. It +was magic; nothing less. Flights in the air were yet too novel to allow +of any other feeling. + +"They're coming to us!" said John. + +"Yes," said Lannes, pride showing in his tone. "I called them and they +came. I told you, John, that we'd escape, neither by land, nor by water, +but that we would escape. And so we will. We go by air, John. The +heavens open and receive us." + +He rose and stretched out his arms, as if to meet the coming black +shapes. The dramatic instinct in him was strong, and John could well +pardon it as he saw that his emotion was extraordinary. + +"The heavens open a path for us!" he cried. + +The two aeroplanes were now circling over their own hill, and John could +discern human shapes in them. They began to descend gently, as the +operators skillfully handled the steering rudders. + +"Well done! well done!" said Lannes to himself rather than to John. +"They couldn't be managed better." + +Presently the machines began to loop and make spirals, and then both +sank gently upon the grassy turf in the center of the glade. A man +stepped forth from the seat in each machine and saluted Lannes, as if he +were a commander. Lannes returned the salute promptly and gracefully. + +"We saw the fiery signal, lieutenant," said one of the men in French, as +he took off his great glasses, "and we came as fast as we could." + +"I knew that you would do so, Castelneau," said Lannes, "and I knew that +Méry would be as prompt." + +The two aviators bowed with evident gratification, and Castelneau said: + +"We are proud of praise that comes from the most daring and skillful +airman in France, which means in this case the world. We thank you, +Lieutenant Lannes." + +Lannes blushed and said: "You overrate me, Castelneau." + +John glanced at him. And, so this youth with the easy manner and the +wonderful eyes was the greatest of all flying men! John's own mind was +not mechanical, but his glance became a gaze of admiration. What a +mighty achievement it was to cleave the air like a bird, and leave the +whole solid earth beneath. One, in fact, did leave the world and hang in +space. For the moment, he thought more of the wonder than of its bearing +upon his own fortunes. + +He glanced down at the machines resting on the grass. Their motors were +still throbbing, and in the dimness they looked like the rocs of Arabian +mythology, resting after a gigantic flight. In truth, everything had +taken on for John an aspect of unreality. These men were unreal, Lannes +and he were unreal, and it was an unreal world, in which nothing but +unrealities moved. + +"My new friend is an American," said Lannes, "and he's to be trusted, +since his own life as well as ours is at stake. Monsieur John Scott, +Messieurs Gaston Castelneau and August Méry. John, these are two +skillful and valued members of the French flying corps. I want you to +shake hands with brave men." + +John gladly shook their gloved hands. + +"Castelneau, and you, Méry, listen," said Lannes, and again his voice +took on that dramatic ring, while his figure seemed to swell in both +size and stature. "It is here! It has come, and the whole world will +shake beneath its tread!" + +"The war!" they exclaimed with one voice. + +"Aye the war! The great war! the world war! The planet-shaking war! +Germany declared war today on Russia and tomorrow she declares war on +France! Never mind how I know! I know, and that's enough! The strength +and weight of a Germany that has devoted its best mind and energy for +nearly half a century to preparation for war will be hurled at once upon +our poor France! We are to be the first and chief victim!" + +"It will not be so!" said Castelneau and Méry together. + +"No, I think not. Republican France of 1914 is not Imperial France of +1870. There I think Imperial Germany has made her great mistake. And we +have friends, as Imperial France had not! But every son of France must +be prepared to shed his blood in her defense!" + +Castelneau and Méry bowed gravely. John could tell little about them, +except they were short, thick men, apparently very strong. They wore +caps, resembling those of a naval officer, heavy, powerful glasses, and +baggy clothing, thick and warm. John saw that they paid Lannes great +deference, and he remembered the words of Castelneau that the young +Frenchman was the greatest airman in France. And he had a vague +impression, too, that France led in flying. + +"Can France win against Germany, my lieutenant?" asked Méry, who had not +spoken hitherto. "The Germans outnumber us now in the proportion of +seven to four, and from a time long before we were born they've thought +war, dreamed war, and planned war." + +"We'll not have to fight Germany, single handed, my good Méry," replied +Lannes. "We'll have friends, good friends, powerful friends. And, now, I +suppose that you have extra clothing with you?" + +"Enough for two, sir. Your friend goes with you?" + +"He does unless he wishes to remain here and be shot as a spy by the +Germans." + +Lannes did not glance at John as he spoke, but it was a calculated +remark, and it met with an instant response. + +"I'll go with you in the machine," he said. + +And yet it took great courage to make the resolve. The three Frenchmen +were practised aviators. They traveled in the air as John would have +traveled on the water. He had never been in a flying machine in his +life, and his mind did not turn to mechanics. + +"We must not waste time in delay," said Lannes. "Mr. Scott and I will go +in the first machine, and we will start straight for France. John, I +promised to take you to Munich, but I can't do it now. I'll carry you to +France. Then you may cross over to Switzerland, and communicate with +your people in Munich. It's the best that can be done." + +"I know," said John, "and I appreciate the effort you're making for me. +Nor would I be in your way at a time when you may be able to do so much +for your country." + +"Then we go at once. Castelneau, we take the _Arrow_." + +He pointed to the smaller of the machines. + +"Yes, my lieutenant," said Castelneau, "it is the better for a long +flight." + +"I thought so. Now, Castelneau, you and Méry return to the hidden +station in the mountains, while Mr. Scott and I take flight for France. +John, here are your clothes." + +John hastily put on the heavy garments, which seemed to him to be made +of some kind of oilskin, thrust his hands into heavy gloves, and put on +the protecting glasses. But as he did it his pulses were beating hard. +The earth on which he now stood looked very good and very solid, and the +moonlit ether above him was nothing but air, thin, impalpable air, +through which his body would cleave, if he fell, with lightning speed. +For a moment or two he was afraid, horribly afraid, but he resolutely +put the feeling down. + +Lannes was also clothed anew, looking like a great baggy animal, but he +was rapid and skillful. John saw at once that the praise of Castelneau +was justified. + +"Here is your seat, John," said Lannes, "and mine is here. All you'll +have to do is to sit still, watch the road and enjoy the scenery. We'll +give her a shove, and then you jump in." + +There was some room on the grass for the preliminary maneuver, and the +four shoved the machine forward and upward. Then Philip and John, +quickly releasing their grasp, sprang into their seats. + +Lannes' eyes behind the heavy glasses were flashing, and the blood was +flying through his veins. The daring strain, the utter defiance of death +which appears so often in French blood was up and leaping. He was like a +medieval knight, riding to a tournament, confident of victory, only +Philip Lannes was not any conqueror of narrow lists, the vast space in +which the whole universe swings was his field of triumph. His hand +sought the steering rudder, and the machine, under the impulse of the +strong push it had received, rose into the air. + +John's sensation as he left the earth for the very first time in his +life was akin to seasickness. The machine seemed to him to be dipping +and gliding, and the throbbing of the motor was like the hum of a ship's +machinery in his ear. For a few moments he would have given anything he +had to be back on that glorious solid earth. But again he put down the +feeling of fear. + +He turned his head for a last look at Castelneau and Méry, and, to his +amazement, he could barely make them out standing by the other machine, +which looked like some great, vague bird poised on the grass. Directly +below him he saw the tops of trees, and at that moment they looked to +his excited fancy like rows of glittering spear points, poised to +receive him. + +"Look up! Look up!" said the sharp voice of Lannes in his ear. "It's +always the fault of beginners to look down and see what they've left." + +His tone was more than sharp, it was peremptory, commanding. John +glanced at him and saw his steady hand on the rudder, and his figure +loose and swinging easily like that of a sailor poised on a rolling +deck. He knew that Lannes' manner was for his own good, and now he +looked straight up at those heavens, into which they were ascending. + +The motor throbbed, and John knew that the machine was ascending, +rising, but not at a sharp angle. The dizzy feeling began to depart, and +he longed to look down again, but did not do so. Instead he kept his +eyes upward, his gaze fixed on the dusky blue heavens, which now looked +so wide and chill. He knew that the little distance they had come from +the earth was nothing to the infinity of the void, but by some mental +change the stars seemed to have come much nearer, and to have grown +hugely in size. There they danced in space, vast and cold. + +The machine dipped a little and rose again. John dared another glance at +Lannes, who was swaying easily in his seat, feeling all the exaltation +of a confident rider who has a swift horse beneath him. + +"I'm better now," said John above the purring of the motor. + +Lannes laughed deep down in his throat, and with unction. + +"Getting your air-legs, so to speak," he said. "You're learning fast. +But don't look down at the ground, at least not yet. By and by you'll +feel the thrill, which to me is like nothing else on earth--or rather +above it. You've noticed, haven't you, that it's growing colder?" + +"Not yet. I suppose the excitement has made my blood flow faster than +usual, and that keeps me warm." + +"It won't much longer. We're up pretty high now, and we're flying fast +toward that beautiful country of mine. Can't you feel the wind rushing +like a hurricane past your ears?" + +"Yes, I do, and in the last minute or two it's acquired an edge of ice." + +"And that edge will soon grow sharper. We're going higher." + +John felt the upward swoop of the plane. The sensation that a ship gives +a passenger when it dips after a swell returned, but it quickly passed. +With it went all fear, and instead came a sort of unreasoning +exhilaration, born of a strange new tincture in his blood. His ears were +pounding and his heart had a more rapid beat. He hoped that Lannes would +go yet higher. Yes, his comrade was right. He did feel the wind rushing +past, and heard it, too. It was a pleasant sound, telling of trackless +miles through the ether, falling fast behind them. + +Those moments were filled for him with a new kind of exaltation. Despite +the cold heights the blood still flowed, warm, in his veins. The +intangible sky was coming nearer and its dusky blue of the night was +deepening. The great, friendly stars looked down, meeting his upturned +gaze, and still danced before him. + +Now, he dared to stare down for the second time, and his heart took a +great leap. Far beneath him, somber and dark, rolled the planet on which +he had once lived. He had left war and the hate of nations behind. Here +was peace, the steady throb of the motor in his ear was soothing music. + +"I see that you've got your air-balance, John," said Philip, "you learn +fast. I think that Castelneau and Méry would approve of you. Since +you've learned to look down now with steady eyes take these glasses." + +He handed him a pair of powerful glasses that he took from under the +seat, and John, putting them to his eyes turned them downward. It gave +him a strange tingling sensation that he from some unknown point in +space should look at the earth as a distant and foreign planet. + +But the effect of the glasses was wonderful. The earth sprang forth in +the moonlight. He saw forests, fields, villages, and the silver ribbon +of a river. But all were racing by, and that, even more than the wind +rushing past, gave him an idea of the speed at which they were going. He +took a long, long look and then returned the glasses. + +"It's tremendous," he said. "I confess that at first I felt both fear +and physical ill. But I am getting over it, and I feel instead the +thrill of swift motion." + +"It's because we have a perfect piece of track." + +"There's no track in the air!" + +"Oh, yes, there is. If you'd thought a moment you'd have known it, +though I'll admit it's a shifting one. When you stand on the ground and +turn your eyes upward all the sky looks alike. But it's far from it. +It's full of all kinds of winds, currents and strata, pockets, of which +all aviators stand in deadly fear, mists, vapors, clouds of every degree +of thickness and complexion, and then you have thunder and lightning, +just as you do on land and sea. It's these shifting elements that make +the navigation of the air so dangerous, John. The whole question would +be solved, if there was nothing but stationary air, growing thinner in +exact proportion as we rise. But such a condition of aerial peace could +not be reached unless we could go up fifty miles, where there is no air, +and that we'll never be able to do." + +"How high are we now?" + +"About three thousand feet. Draw that collar more closely about your +neck. You may not feel cold, because of the new fire in your blood, but +you are cold, nevertheless. Now, see those whitish streams below us. +They're little clouds, vapor mostly, they don't contain rain. You've +read the 'Arabian Nights,' haven't you, John?" + +"Yes, and I know just the comparison you're thinking of." + +"What is it, then? See if you're right." + +"The roc, great, fabled bird, flying through the air with those old +Arabs perched on its back." + +"Right! He guessed right the very first time. That's one of your +Americanisms, isn't it? Oh, I know a lot of your choicest expressions. +Hit it up lively! That's what we're doing. He's full of pep! That's what +we are; aren't we, John? Come across with a double play! And we're doing +that, too." + +"I don't know that your baseball metaphor is exactly right, Philip, but +your heart is certainly in the proper place. When do we get to France?" + +"Don't talk about that yet, because it's impossible to approximate. This +smooth track will not go on forever. It's lasted longer than usual +already. Then, we'll have to eat, later on. There's food here in a tiny +locker that you can't see, but it may be better for us to drop down to +the earth when we eat. Besides, while we're sailing through the sky, I'd +like to observe as much as I can of this German mobilization and take +the news of it to France. That, of course, leaves you out of +consideration, John, but I'm bound to do it." + +"Don't regard me. I've no right to ask anything of you. I'm a guest or a +prisoner, and in either capacity it behooves me to take what comes to +me." + +"But I got you into it, and so I feel obligations, but, heavy as they +are, they're not heavy enough to keep me from seeing what I can see. I +told you that we were going toward France, but we're not taking the +direct course. I mean to fly over the ancient city of Nuremburg, and +then over Frankfort-on-the-Main. Look out, now, John, we're going to +drop fast!" + +The machine descended rapidly in a series of wide spirals, until it was +within seven or eight hundred feet of the earth. + +"Look down now," said Lannes, "and without the glasses you can see a +town." + +But he had taken the glasses himself, and while he held one hand on the +steering rudder he made a long and attentive examination of the place, +and of low works about it, which he knew contained emplacements for +cannon. + +"It's a fortified town and a center for mobilization," he said. "All day +long the recruits have been pouring in here, responding to the call. +They receive their uniforms, arms and ammunition at that big barracks on +the hill, and tomorrow they take the trains to join the giant army which +will be hurled on my France." + +John heard a sigh. Lannes was afraid after all that the mighty German +war machine, the like of which the world had never seen before would +crush everything. + +"It will be hard to stop that army," he could not keep from saying. + +"So it will. The Germans have prepared for war. The French have not. +John, John, I wish I knew the secrets of our foes! For more than forty +years they've been using their best minds and best energies for this. We +don't even know their weapons. I've heard strange tales of monster +cannon that the Krupps have sent out of Essen, and of new explosives of +unimagined power, I don't know whether to believe these tales or not. +But I do know that the Germans will be ready to the last cartridge." + +"But something in the machine may go wrong, Phil." + +"That's our hope. We've got to smash some of the wheels, or rods or +levers. If we compel them to change their plan they won't have time to +organize a perfect new one." + +"The old simile of the watch, I suppose. It'll run a hundred years if +all the works are kept right. But if a single one of them goes wrong +it's done forever." + +"It's as you say. Sit steady, now. We're going to take another upward +swoop. I've seen enough of that town and its forts, and I don't want to +linger so close to the earth that they'll see us." + +The machine rose like a mighty bird, but shortly after it reached the +top of its flight John felt a slight jerk. It was a sudden movement of +Lannes' hand on the steering rudder that had caused it. + +"John," he said, and the voice shook a little, "take the glasses. Look +off there in the northwest, and see if you can't make out a black object +hanging in the sky?" + +John took the glasses and put them to his eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FIGHT IN THE BLUE + + +John turned his glasses toward the northwest, where cloud wrack hung. At +first he could see nothing, as the dark blue sky was obscured by the +darker mists and vapors, but he presently discovered in the very midst +of them an object that looked jet black. It was moving, and slowly it +took the shape of an aeroplane. He wondered at the keenness of Lannes' +vision, when he was able to pick out so distant an object with the naked +eye. + +"What do you make of it?" asked Lannes. + +"It's an aeroplane, or some other kind of flying machine." + +"And which way do you think it's going?" + +"The same way that we are. No, it seems to be nearer now." + +"Likely it's running parallel with us in a sense; that is we two are +moving down the sides of a triangle, and if we continue long enough we'd +meet at the point." + +"Perhaps it's Castelneau and Méry in the other plane?" + +"Impossible! They would certainly stay on the mountains far behind us. +They would never disobey orders. We're back into a bank of fine air now +and the machine almost sails itself. Let me have the glasses a moment." + +But he looked many moments. Then he calmly put the glasses away in the +tiny locker and said: + +"It's not a French machine, John, and it's not a friend's. It's a German +Taube, and it's flying very fast. I think the man in it has seen us, +which is unfortunate." + +"And there's another!" exclaimed John in excitement. "Look! He's been +hidden by that long, trailing sheet of vapor off toward the north. See +it's close to the other one." + +"Aye, so it is! And they are friends, twin foes of ours! Two Taubes, but +only one man in each, while there are two in this tight little machine! +They have certainly seen us, because they're bending in rapidly toward +us now!" + +"What do you intend to do? Meet them and fight?" + +"Not unless we have to do it. I've news for France which is worth more +than my life, or yours either for that matter--or more than my honor or +yours. No, John, we'll run for it with all our might, and the _Arrow_ is +one of the prettiest and sweetest little racers in all the heavens!" + +Lannes' hand pressed upon the steering rudder, and the machine, curving +from its western course, turned toward the south. The motor throbbed +faster and louder and John became conscious almost at once that their +speed was increasing. Although the heavy cap was drawn down over his +ears he heard the wind whistling as it rushed past, and it was growing +much colder. In spite of himself he shivered, and he was sure it was the +cold, not fear. + +John's nature was sensitive and highly intellectual, but his heart was +brave and his will powerful. He remembered that while two planes were in +pursuit only one man was in each pursuer while there were two in the +pursued. His gloved hand slipped down to the butt of the automatic. + +He had no idea how fast they were going, but he knew the speed must be +terrific. He grew colder and colder. He wondered how Lannes, taut and +strained, bent over the steering rudder, could stand it, but he recalled +the words of Castelneau that he was the best flying man in the world. + +Lannes, in truth, felt neither stiffness nor cold, then. The strain of +daring in the French nature which the Anglo-Saxon would call +recklessness responded fully and joyfully to the situation. Not in vain, +while yet so young, was he a king of the air. Every pulse in him +thrilled with the keen and extraordinary delight that comes only from +danger, and the belief in victory over it. His hand touched the rudder +as the fingers of a pianist touches the keys of a piano, and in either +case it was the soul of an artist at work. + +Oh, it was a beautiful machine, the _Arrow_, strong, sinuous, graceful! +Sure like the darting bird! It answered the lightest pressure of his +hand upon the rudder, and he drew from it harmonies of motion that were +true music to him. + +But while the hand on the rudder did its work his eyes swept the heavens +with a questing gaze. Had he been alone in the _Arrow_ he could have +left the German Taubes far behind, but the extra weight of the passenger +was a terrible burden for so light and delicate a machine. Yet he was +glad John was with him. Already Lannes had a deep liking for the young +American whose nature was so unlike his own. + +That questing gaze lingered longest on the southern heavens. One who +flees on the land must pick his way and so must one who flees through +the skies. Now, the mind of the flying man was keyed to the finest +pitch. He thought of the currents of air, the mists, the vapors, and, +above all, of those deadly pockets which could send them in an instant +crashing to the earth far below. No engineer with his hand at the +throttle of a locomotive was ever more watchful and cautious. + +John, too, was looking into the south, where he saw a loom of cloud and +haze. It appeared that the heavens had drawn a barrier across their way, +and he saw that Lannes was turning the _Arrow_ again toward the west, as +if he were seeking a way around that barrier. + +Then he looked back. The Taubes, beyond a doubt, were nearer, and were +flying in a swift true line. + +"Are they gaining?" asked Lannes, who kept his eyes on the "country" +ahead, seeking to choose a way. + +"Considerably. They have been flying close together, but now they're +separating somewhat; at least it seems so, although my eyes are tricky +in an element so new to me." + +"They're probably right in this instance. It's their obvious course. +It's impossible for us to fly perfectly straight, and whenever we curve +one or the other of their machines will gain on us. I've heard that a +troop of lions will adopt this method in pursuing an antelope, and that +it's infallible." + +"Which means that we can't escape?" + +"There's a difference. The antelope can't fight back, but we can. Don't +forget the automatic I gave you." + +"I haven't. Not for a second." + +"But it won't come to that yet, and may not at all. See, how those +clouds and vapors are stretching. They hem us in on the south, and now +they're curving around in our front on the west, too. We can't lose the +Taubes, John, here on this lower level, as we're not more than two +thousand, perhaps not more than fifteen hundred feet above the earth, +but we may be able to do it higher up. Steady, now! We're going to rise +fast!" + +The machine tilted up at an angle that made John gasp, but he quickly +recovered himself and resisted a desperate inclination to grasp anything +he could reach and hold on with all his might. He knew that the strap +passed about his body held him so firmly that he could not fall out. +Still, it shortened his breath and made his pulses bound, rather than +beat. + +Up! up they went into the thinner air, the nose of the _Arrow_ again +turned toward the south. Lannes did not look back. His mind and soul +were absorbed in the flight of his machine, and his heart throbbed with +exaltation as he knew that it was flying beautifully. But he called upon +John to note the pursuers. + +"They're curving up, too," said John. "They're very steady, and I think +they're still gaining." + +"Daring men! Yes, the Germans have good flyers, and we'll have a hard +time in shaking them off. Still, we may lose them among the clouds." + +"I think they're rising at a sharper angle than we are." + +"Trying to get above us! Ah, I know what that means! Why did I not think +of it at first? We must not permit it! Never for a moment!" + +"Why not?" + +But Lannes did not reply. Apparently he had not heard him, and John did +not repeat the question. + +"Watch! John! Watch!" said Lannes, "and tell me every movement of +theirs!" + +"You can depend on me!" + +The nose of the _Arrow_ was still tilted upward, and John knew that they +had come to a great height, as the cold struck to his very bones. The +air also was darker and damper, and he saw that they were in the region +of mists of vapors. Mentally he already used terms of land as terms of +the air. Before them lay banks of cloud which were the same as +mountains. + +"One Taube is directly behind us and it seems to me a little higher," he +announced. "The other has cut off to the right and also a little higher, +if I see right." + +"Then we must rise fast! We can't let them get above us!" + +The nose of the _Arrow_ tilted up yet farther, and shot into colder and +darker regions. John saw mists and vapors below, but the earth was +invisible. He was truly hanging between a planet and the stars, and this +was the void, dark and thin, cold and infinite. + +"Steady again!" said Lannes. "We're going to descend for a while." + +The nose of the _Arrow_ dropped down many degrees, and then they seemed +to John to slide through space, although they slid like lightning. The +air felt damper and thicker, and the area of vision contracted fast. +They had plunged into a bank of vapor, and search as he would with both +eye and glass he could see no sign of the Taubes. + +"We've lost them for the time at least," he said. + +"I hoped for it," said Lannes. "That's why I made for this area of +vapor. It's exactly like a ship escaping in a fog from a fleet--only we +haven't escaped yet." + +"Why not?" + +"We can't hang in here. If we do they'll explore for us, and if we go on +and through it they'll follow. Yet we can hope for a gain. Isn't it a +beautiful machine, John, and hasn't it behaved nobly?" + +He patted the _Arrow_ as a man would a horse that had saved his life +with its speed. + +"We'll go slowly here, John. Have you got good ears?" + +"Yes. Why?" + +"Then uncover them and listen. In case one of the Taubes draws near you +can hear its humming and throbbing. My hearing may be deadened a little +for the time by my tension in sailing the _Arrow_, so you're our +reliance." + +John listened intently, and in a few minutes the sound they feared came +to his ears. + +"I hear it," he said suddenly, "and as sure as we live it's directly +over our heads!" + +"Then we must mount at once!" + +Up shot the _Arrow_, and passing through the vapor it flew again with +nothing above it but the clear, cold stars. John looked down, but his +vision was lost in the mass of floating mist. He exulted. They had lost +the Taubes! But joy lasted only a moment. Out from the bank shot a dark +shape. It was one of the machines, and in two minutes the other +appeared. + +"They've come through the mist, too, and they see us," he said to +Lannes. "They seem to be trying to rise above us." + +"I thought it would be their plan, if we didn't lose 'em. We've got to +make another dash. We're pointing toward Switzerland, now, John, and +maybe if we have luck we can descend in a neutral country. But I don't +want to do it! I tell you I don't want to do it!" + +He spoke with uncommon energy, but relapsed afterward into complete +silence. The humming of the motor increased, and the icy wind rushed +past John's ears in a perfect hurricane. He drew his cap down further +and sank his neck and ears deeper in his collar. Nevertheless he thought +he would freeze. The fingers that still clasped the butt of the +automatic felt stiff and bloodless. + +"What are they doing now, John?" + +"They are gaining again--Ah, and there's a change!" + +"What's that change?" + +"One machine seems to have dropped a little lower than we are, while the +other is rising higher." + +"And that has come, too! I expected it. This, John, is what you might +call an attempt to surround us. I'm surprised that they didn't attempt +it sooner. Watch the Taube that's rising. Watch it all the time, and +tell me everything it does!" + +He spoke with the most intense energy and earnestness, and John knew +that he had some great fear in regard to the upper Taube. So, he never +took his eyes from it, and he noted that it was not only rising fast, +but that its gain was perceptible. As it was his first flight it did not +occur to him in those moments of excitement that his own weight was +holding back the _Arrow_, and Lannes had been willing to risk death +rather than tell him. + +"They're coming very fast," he said to Lannes, "and the upper machine +seems to be the swifter of the two." + +"Naturally. That's the reason why it's now the upper one. Is it above us +yet?" + +"No, but in fifteen minutes more it will be, at the present rate of +speed." + +"About how much higher above us do you think it is?" + +"A thousand feet maybe, but I never calculated distances of this kind +before." + +"Likely it's near enough. Let me know when it's about to come directly +over us, and on your life don't fail!" + +John watched with all his eyes. He saw the hovering shape, and he caught +a glimpse of the arm of the man who steered. But it became to his fancy +a great bird which, with its comrade below, pursued them. That name, +Taube, the dove, called so from its shape, was very unfitting. + +While he was watching he saw the Taube swoop down at least five hundred +feet, and at the same time make a burst of speed forward. + +"It will be over us! almost directly! within a minute!" he shouted to +Lannes. + +The _Arrow_ swerved to on side with such suddenness that John reeled +hard against his seat, despite the strap that held him. At the same +moment he caught a glimpse of some small object shooting past the +_Arrow_. + +"What was it? what was it?" he cried. + +"A bomb," replied Lannes. "That was the reason why I didn't want either +of the Taubes to get above us. I was sure they had bombs, and if one of +them fell upon us, well, nobody would ever find our pieces. Hold hard +now, we're going to do a lot of zigzagging, because that fellow probably +has more bombs, where the one he just dropped came from." + +John's interest in what followed was, in a measure, scientific. He +realized afterward that he should have been terribly frightened. In +fact, he felt more fear later on, but at that moment the emotions that +produce fear were atrophied. The extraordinary nature of his situation +caused instead wonder and keen anticipation. + +The _Arrow_ shot to the right and then to the left. It dipped, and it +rose, and then it darted on a level line toward the south. + +John wondered afterwards that the delicate fabric was not torn to +pieces, but Lannes was not a supreme flying man for nothing. Every +movement was part of a plan, executed with skill and precision. Once +more his hand played upon the rudder, as the fingers of a great pianist +play upon the keys. + +"Is the fellow directly above us yet, John?" he asked. + +"Not at this moment, but I think he must have been several times. He has +dropped at least three more bombs." + +"Then his supply is probably getting small, and he'll be extremely +careful with what's left. It's no easy task, John, to drop a bomb from a +height, and hit a small target, moving as swiftly as the _Arrow_. Let +him alone for the present, and look out for the fellow below. See what +he is doing." + +John looked down quickly. He had almost forgotten the existence of the +second Taube, and he was surprised to find it beneath them and close at +hand. The dark, hooded face of the man in the seat looked up at them. As +well as John could judge he was using the superior speed of his Taube to +keep up with the _Arrow_, and, at the same time, to rise slowly until +they approached the point of contact. His apprehensions were quickly +transferred from the upper to the lower Taube. + +"The second machine is under us and rising," he said. + +"And the second attack is likely to come from that point. Well, he can't +drop bombs on us. That's sure, and we can meet him on his own ground or +rather in his air. John, did you ever shoot at a man?" + +"Never!" + +"You're going to do it very soon. The automatic I gave you is a powerful +weapon, and when the fellow rises enough you must shoot over the side at +him. Take good aim and have no compunction, because he'll be shooting at +us. But you've the advantage. You're free, while he has to steer his +Taube and fire at the same time." + +John drew the big automatic. He felt a shiver of reluctance, but only +one. He and Lannes were in desperate case, and he would be fighting for +the lives of both. + +Clutching the powerful weapon in a firm hand he looked down again. The +Taube had come much nearer, and he heard suddenly a crack sharp and +clear in the thin air of the heights. A bullet sang by his ear. The man +in the lower machine had a pistol or perhaps a rifle--John had not seen +him raise any weapon. + +Lannes glanced at John, whose face had hardened, but he said nothing. +John pulled the trigger of the big automatic, and he saw the Taube waver +for a moment, and then come on as steadily as ever. + +"I don't think I hit him," he said, "but I believe the bullet flattened +on his machine." + +"You're getting close. Give him another. There went his second. I felt +its wind past my face." + +John pulled the trigger again, but marksmanship at such an immense +height, between two small machines, flying at great speed was almost +impossible. Bullet after bullet flew, but nobody was hit, although +several bullets struck upon the _Arrow_ and the Taube, doing no serious +harm, however. + +"I'm doing my best," said John. + +"I know it," said Lannes. "I notice that your hand is steady. You'll get +him." + +John looked down, seeking aim for his fifth bullet, when he suddenly +heard an appalling crash, and the Taube, a flying mass of splinters, +disappeared in a flash from view. It had happened so quickly that he was +stunned. The machine had been and then it was not. He looked at Lannes. + +"The fellow above us dropped another bomb," said Lannes in a voice that +shook a little. "It missed us and hit his comrade, who was almost +beneath." + +"What a death!" said John, aghast for a little while. Then he pulled +himself together and looked up at the other Taube. It was hovering +almost over them like a sinister shadow. As John looked something +flashed from it, and a heavy bullet sang past. + +"He has a rifle! Give him what's left in the automatic!" shouted Lannes. + +John fired and he knew that his bullet had struck one of the exposed +arms, because a moment later a drop of blood fell almost on his face. + +"You've winged him," said Lannes. "Look how the Taube wobbles! You must +have given him a bad wound in the arm. He'll have all he can do now to +save himself. Good-bye to the pursuit. Luck and your skill, John, have +saved us." + +John, feeling faint, leaned against the seat. + +"I think I'm air-sick," he said. + +"It'll pass soon, but you're tremendously lucky. It's not often a fellow +gets into a battle in the air the first time he goes up. See what's +become of the Taube." + +"It's descending fast. I can see the man struggling with it. I hope +he'll reach the ground all right." + +"He did his best to kill us both." + +"I know, but I hope he'll get down, anyway." + +"He will. He's regained control of his machine, but he can use only one +arm. The other hangs limp. And now for a glorious flight in this brave +little _Arrow_ of ours." + +"Will you return to our original course?" + +"I think we'd better not. The German flying men are out, and we might +have another fight, from which we would not emerge as well as we have +from this. No one must ever underestimate the Germans. They're organized +to the last detail in every department. I, a Frenchman, willingly say +this. I'll make our flight more southerly. We'll come down in +Switzerland. I'd like to go on to France, but we must make a descent +soon. We're both cold and overstrained, and it won't be a real violation +of neutrality just to touch Switzerland once." + +The _Arrow_ now sank to a much lower level, and that planet, which they +had left came again into view. It was not much more than a dark shadow, +save for the sheen of high mountains in the south, but John was glad to +see it again. It was like the return of an old friend. It was the fine +Earth, not one of the great planets, but the only planet he knew. + +He felt a great weakness, but they had descended so much that the +intense cold was going away. The thicker and warmer air lulled him, and +he sank into a sort of stupor from which he soon roused himself with +anger. He considered it a disgrace to him that he should sleep, while +Lannes still picked their way through the currents, and pockets and +flaws of the heavens. + +"You might sleep if you feel like it," said Lannes. "You did all the +fighting, and I ought to do all the flying, especially as it's my +business and I've had lots of experience. Go ahead, old man. It'll be +all the better for us if you get back your strength." + +Under Lannes' urging John leaned back a little more in his seat, and +closed his eyes. It was true that he was horribly tired, and his will +seemed to have weakened, too. Flying was new to him, and now the +collapse after so much tension and excitement had come. In a few minutes +he slept, but the _Arrow_ sailed swiftly on, mile after mile. + +John's sleep was sound, but not long. When he awoke it was still night, +although the dark bore a suspicious tint of silver in the east. The +physical and mental weakness had departed, but he was singularly cold +and stiff. When he sought to move, something firm and unyielding about +his waist restrained him. + +His eyes opened slowly and he looked around. On three sides space met +his vision, just dusky blue sky with floating banks and wisps of vapor. +But far off to the south, rising like mighty battlements, he saw a dim +line of mountains clad in snow. Then it all came back to him. He was +aloft in the _Arrow_, the first time that he had ever awakened in the +void between the stars and his own planet. + +There was Lannes at the rudder, looking a little bent and shrunken now, +but his hand was as delicate and true as ever. The machine hummed softly +and steadily in his ears, like the string of a violin. + +"Philip!" he cried in strong self-reproach, "show me how, and I'll sail +the _Arrow_ for a while and you can rest." + +Lannes shook his head and smiled. + +"You're an apt student," he said, "but you couldn't learn enough in one +lesson, at least not for our purpose. Besides, I'll have plenty of rest +soon. We're going to land in an hour. Behold your first sunrise, seen +from a point a mile above the earth!" + +He swept his free hand toward the east, where the suspicion of silver +had become a certainty. In the infinity of space a mile was nothing, but +all the changes were swift and amazingly vivid to John. The silver +deepened, turned to blue, and then orange, gold and red sprang out, +terrace after terrace, intense and glowing. + +Then the sun came up, so burning bright that John was forced to turn his +eyes away. + +"Fine, isn't it?" said Lannes appreciatively. "It's good to see the +sunrise from a new point, and we're up pretty high now, John. We must +be, as I said, nearly a mile above the earth." + +"Why do we keep so high?" + +"Partly to escape observation, and partly because we're making for a +cleft in the mountain straight ahead of us, and about on our own level. +In that cleft, which is not really a cleft, but a valley, we'll make our +landing. It's practically inaccessible, except by the road we're taking, +and our road isn't crowded yet with tourists. Look how the light is +growing! See, the new sun is gilding all the mountains now with gold! +Even the snow is turned to gold!" + +His own wonderful eyes were shining at the tremendous prospect, +outspread before them, peak on peak, ridge on ridge, vast masses of +green on the lower slopes, and now and then the silver glitter of a +lake. The eyes of him who had been so stark and terrible in the battle +were now like those of a painter before the greatest picture of the +greatest master. + +"The Alps!" exclaimed John. + +"Aye, the Alps! Hundreds of thousands of you Americans have come all the +way across the sea to see them, but few of you have ever looked down on +them in the glow of the morning from such a height as this, and you are +probably the only one who has ever done so, after an all-night fight and +flight for life." + +"Which makes them look all the better, Philip. It's been a wonderful +night and flight as you call it, but I'll be glad to feel the solid +mountain under my feet. Besides, you need rest, and you need it badly. +Don't try to deny it." + +"I won't, because what you say is true, John. My eyes are blurred, and +my arms grow unsteady. In that valley to which we are going nobody can +reach us but by way of the air, but, as you and I know, the air has our +enemies. Do you see any black specks, John?" + +"Not one. I never saw a more beautiful morning. It's all silver, and +rose and gold, and it's not desecrated anywhere by a single German +flying machine." + +"Try the glasses for a longer look." + +John swept the whole horizon with the glasses, save where the mountains +cut in, and reported the same result. + +"The heavens are clear of enemies," he said. + +"Then in fifteen minutes the _Arrow_ will be resting on the grass, and +we'll be resting with it. Slowly, now! slowly! Doesn't the machine obey +beautifully?" + +They sailed over a river, a precipice of stone, rising a sheer two +thousand feet, above pines and waterfalls, and then the _Arrow_ came +softly to rest in a lovely valley, which birds alone could reach before +man took wings unto himself. + +The humming of the motor ceased, and the machine itself seemed fairly to +snuggle in the grass, as if it relaxed completely after long and arduous +toil. It was in truth a live thing to John for the time, a third human +being in that tremendous flight. He pulled off his gloves and with his +stiffened fingers stroked the smooth sides of the _Arrow_. + +"Good old boy," he said, "you certainly did all that any plane could +do." + +"I'm glad you've decided the sex of flying machines," said Lannes, +smiling faintly. "Boats are ladies, but the _Arrow_ must be a gentleman +since you call it 'old boy.'" + +"Yes, it's a gentleman, and of the first class, too. It's earned its +rest just as you have, Philip." + +"Don't talk nonsense, John. Why, flying has become my trade, and I've +had a tremendously interesting time." + +John in common with other Americans had heard much about the "degenerate +French" and the "decadent Latins." But Lannes certainly gave the lie to +the charge. If he had looked for a simile for him in the animal kingdom +he would have compared him with the smooth and sinuous tiger, all grace, +and all power. Danger was the breath of life to him, and a mile above +the earth, with only a delicate frame work holding him in the air he was +as easy and confident as one who treads solid land. + +John unbuckled the strap which had held him in the _Arrow_, stepped out +and fell full length upon the grass. His knees, stiff from such a long +position in one attitude, had given way beneath him. Lannes, laughing, +climbed out gingerly and began to stretch his muscles. + +"You've something to learn yet about dismounting from your airy steed," +he said. "You're not hurt, are you?" + +"Not a bit," replied John, sitting up and rubbing his knees. "The grass +saved me. Ah, now I can stand! And now I can move the rusty hinges that +used to be knees! And as sure as you and I live, Philip, I can walk +too!" + +He flexed and tensed his muscles. It was a strange sight, that of the +young American and the young Frenchman capering and dancing about in a +cleft of the Alps, a mile above the valley below. Soon they ceased, lay +down on the grass and luxuriated. The heavy suits for flying that they +had worn over their ordinary clothing kept them warm even at that +height. + +"We'll rest until our nerves relax," said Lannes, "and then we'll eat." + +"Eat! Eat what?" + +"What people usually eat. Good food. You don't suppose I embark in the +ship of the air like the Arrow for a long flight without provisioning +for it. Look at me." + +John did look and saw him take from that tiny locker in the _Arrow_ a +small bottle, two tin cups, and two packages, one containing crackers, +and the other thin strips of dried beef. + +"Here," he said, shaking the bottle, "is the light red wine of France. +We'd both rather have coffee, but it's impossible, so we'll take the +wine which is absolutely harmless. We'll get other good food elsewhere." + +He put the food on a little mound of turf between them, and they ate +with hunger, but reserve. Neither, although they were on the point of +starvation would show the ways of an animal in the presence of the +other. So, their breakfast lasted some time, and John had never known +food to taste better. When they finished Lannes went back to the locker +in the Arrow. + +"John," he said, "here are more cartridges. Reload your automatic, and +keep watch, though nothing more formidable than the lammergeyer is ever +likely to come here. Now, I'll sleep." + +He rolled under the lee of a bank, and in two minutes was sleeping +soundly. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ABOVE THE STORM + + +John had slept well in the Arrow, and that fact coupled with his +extraordinary situation kept him wide-awake. It was true that he had +returned from the dizzy heights of the air, but he was still on the +dizzy side of a mountain. + +He stood up and tensed and flexed his muscles until he was sure of his +physical self. He remembered the weakness in his knees that had sent him +down like a little child, and he was so ashamed of himself that he was +resolved it should not happen again. + +Then he walked to the edge of the little valley which in the far +distance had looked like a cleft in the side of the mountain. It was +rimmed in by a line of stunted pines, and holding to a pine with each +hand he looked over. He saw that sheer stone wall which he had beheld +first from above when he was in the Arrow, and far below was the ripple +of silvery white that he knew to be the river. To the north lay rolling +hills and green country melting under the horizon, the old Europe that +men had cultivated for twenty centuries and that was now about to be +trodden to pieces by the iron heel of tremendous war. + +John understood it. It seemed at the moment that his mind expanding to +such an extent could comprehend the vastness of it all, the kingdoms and +republics, the famous and beautiful old cities, and the millions of men +who did not hate one another involved in a huge whirlpool of +destruction. And yet, expand as his mind did, it could not fully +comprehend the crime of those who had launched such a thunderbolt of +death. + +His eyes turned toward the south. It was perhaps not correct to call +that little nest in which the Arrow lay a valley. It was a pocket +rather, since the cliffs, unscalable by man rose a full half mile above +it, and far beyond glimmering faintly in the sunshine he saw the crest +of peaks clad in eternal snow. + +Truly his view of the Alps was one of which he had never dreamed, and +Lannes was right in saying that no man had ever before come into that +valley or pocket, unless he had taken wings unto himself as they had +done. They were secure where they were, except from danger that could +come through the air. + +He took the glasses, an uncommonly powerful pair from the locker and +examined every corner of the heavens that he could reach. But he saw +none of those ominous, black dots, only little white clouds shot with +gold from the morning sun, floating peacefully under the blue arch, and +now and then some wide-winged bird floating, aslant, from peak to peak. +There was peace, peace everywhere, and he went back from the dizzy edge +of the precipice to the side of the Arrow. Lannes still slept heavily, +and John appreciated his great need of it, knowing how frightful his +strain must have been during that long night. + +He felt that he was wholly in Lannes' hands, and he did not know the +young Frenchman's plans. He might wish to get away early, but John +resolved to let him sleep. Whatever they undertook and wherever they +went strength and steadiness must be of the utmost importance, and +Lannes alone could take them on their flight. + +John leaned against a little hillock and watched the country that rolled +northward. For the first time in hours he thought of his uncle and Mr. +Anson. And yet he was so filled with wonder at his own translation into +another element that he did not worry greatly about them. They would +hear of him soon, he felt sure, and in a time of such vast anxiety and +fear for half a world brief apprehension about a single person amounted +to but little. + +He dozed a short while, and then awoke with a start and an effort of the +will. Lannes still slept like one dead. He felt that the young Frenchman +and the _Arrow_ were in his care, and he must fail in nothing. He stood +up and walked about in the pocket, shaking the dregs of sleep from his +brain. The sun doubled in size from that height, was sweeping toward the +zenith. The radiant sky contained nothing but those tiny clouds floating +like white sails on a sea of perfect blue. The gold on the snow of the +far peaks deepened. He was suffused with the beauty of it, and, for a +little space the world war and the frightful calamities it would bring +fled quite away. + +Lannes awoke about noon, stood up, stretched his limbs and sighed with +deep content. He cast a questing glance at the heavens, and then turned +a satisfied look on John. + +"No enemy in sight," he said, "and I have slept well. Yea, more, I tell +you, Yankee that you are, that I have slept magnificently. It was a +glorious bed on that grass under the edge of the cliff, and since I may +return some day I'll remember it as one of the finest inns in Europe. +Have you seen anything while I slept, Monsieur Jean the Scott?" + +"Only the peaks, the hills, the blue sky and three or four big birds +which I was unable to classify." + +"Let their classification go. When we classify now we classify nothing +less than armies. Do you think the _Arrow_ has had sufficient rest?" + +"A plenty. It's a staunch little flying machine." + +"Then we'll start again, and I think we'll have an easy trip, save for +the currents which are numerous and varied in high mountains." + +"What country are we in now?" + +"A corner of Switzerland, and I mean for us to descend at a neat little +hamlet I've visited before. They don't know war has begun yet, and we +can get there provisions and everything else we need." + +They launched the Arrow, and once more took flight, now into the maze of +mountains. Their good craft frequently rocked and swayed like a ship at +sea and John remembered Lannes' words about the currents. Reason told +him that intervening peaks and ridges would make them break into all +forms of irregularity, and he was glad when they hovered over a valley +and began to descend. + +He saw about half a mile below them a small Swiss village, built on both +sides of a foaming little river, and, using the glasses as they dropped +down, he also saw the whole population standing in the streets, their +heads craned back, staring into the skies. The effect was curious, that +of the world turned upside down. + +"The place has four or five hundred inhabitants, and it is a good +village," said Lannes. "I have been here four times before, and they +know me. Also they trust me, though through no merit of mine. They have +seen flying machines often enough to know that they are not demons or +monsters, but not often enough to lose their curiosity concerning them. +We shall descend in the midst of an audience, inquisitive but friendly." + +"Which you like." + +Lannes laughed. + +"You judge me right," he said. "I do love the dramatic. Maybe that's one +reason why I'm so fond of flying. What could appeal to the soul more +than swimming through the air, held up on nothing, with a planet +revolving at your feet? Why a man who is not thrilled by it has no soul +at all! And how grand it is to swoop over a village, and then settle +down in it softly and peacefully like some magnificent bird, folding its +wings and dropping to the ground! Isn't it far more poetical than the +arrival of a train which comes in with a clang, a rattle, and smoke and +soot?" + +John laughed in his turn. + +"You do put it well for yourself, Philip," he said, "but suppose our +machine broke a wing or something else vital. A mile or a half mile +would be a long drop." + +"But you'd have such a nice clean death. There would never be a doubt +about its completeness." + +"No, never a doubt. Have you picked your port?" + +"'Port' is a good enough place. We'll land on that little park, squarely +in the center of the population." + +"You're truly in love with the dramatic. You want an audience whenever +it's safe." + +"I admit it. There is something about the old Roman triumph that would +have made a mighty appeal to me. Think of a general, young, brilliant, +garlanded, coming into Rome along the Appian Way, with the chariots +before him, the captive princes behind him, miles of beautiful young +girls covered with roses, on either side, and then the noble villas, and +the patricians looking down from the porticoes, the roar of Rome's +thunderous million acclaiming him, and then the Capitoline with the +grave and reverend senators, and the vestals and the pontifex maximus, +and all the honors for the victory which his brain and courage have won +for the state." + +"I'm not so sure that I'd like it, Philip." + +"'De gustibus non disputandum,' as somebody wrote, John. Well, here we +are, settling down gently in the place something or other, and just as I +told you all the people are around it, with their eyes and mouths wide +open." + +The aeroplane settled softly upon the grass amid great and sincere +cheers, and John looked about curiously. He had returned to the world +from space, a space inhabited only by Lannes, himself and the two +Germans, one of whom was now dead. That pocket in the mountain had not +counted. It was like a bird's nest in a tree, and this was the solid, +planetary world, upon which he had once dwelled. + +An elderly man of fine appearance, and with a long brown beard, reaching +almost to his waist, stepped forward. Lannes lifted the cap and glasses +that hid his head and face and greeted him in French. + +"It is I, Philip Victor Auguste Lannes, Heir Schankhorst," he said +politely. "You will remember me because I've dropped out of the skies +into your village before. The young gentleman with me is one of those +strange creatures called Yankees, who come from far across the ocean, +and who earn money by the sweat of their brows in order that we may take +it from them." + +There was such a mellow tone in his voice, and the friendly gleam in his +eyes was so wonderful that neither Herr Schankhorst nor his people could +resist him. It seemed that most of them understood French as they raised +another cheer, and crowded around the two men of the sky, plainly +showing their admiration. None mentioned the war, and it was clear that +the news of it had not yet penetrated to that remote valley in the high +mountains. Lannes introduced John by his right name and description to +Herr Schankhorst who was the burgomaster and then, still followed by the +admiring crowd, they hurried away to the little inn, two stalwart youths +being first detailed to keep watch over the Arrow. + +"They're proud of their trust and they'll guard it as they would their +lives," said Lannes in English to John. "Meanwhile we'll have dinner in +this inn, which I know from experience to be the best, and we'll have +the burgomaster and the Protestant clergyman to dine with us. This is +German-speaking Switzerland, but these people fear the Germans and they +don't fear us. So, we're welcome." + +The inn was small, but the food and drink were of the best. John was +well supplied with gold, and he did not hesitate to spend it for the +burgomaster, the Lutheran clergyman, Lannes and himself. + +"No you can't pay your share," he said to Lannes, "because you haven't +any share. Remember, I've been a free passenger in the Arrow, which +belongs to you, and it's my time to settle the bill." + +"Have your way," said Lannes. + +They had been speaking in English, and Lannes politely explained to +their guests that his comrade was an obstinate Yankee, a member of a +nation, noted for its stubborness, but the most delightful of people +when you let them have their way, which after all was a way that +generally harmed nobody. + +The burgomaster and the clergyman smiled benevolently upon John and John +smiled back. He had noticed already that Americans were popular among +the great masses of the people in Europe. It was only those interested +in the upholding of the classes who frowned upon them and who tried to +write or talk them down. He was keen enough too, despite his youth, to +deduce the reasons for it. + +Here in this little town he was looked upon with favor because he was +from America, and soon he was busy answering questions by the +burgomaster and clergyman about his own land. + +They made no reference to any war or approaching war, and he surmised +that they had no thought of such a tremendous catastrophe--Lannes +informed him later that they had neither telegraph nor telephone--and +John following the cue of his comrade made no reference to it. They ate +with sharp appetites, but an end had to come at last. Then Lannes went +out into the town to buy his supplies, leaving John to entertain the +guests. + +John felt deeply that little period of rest and kindly simplicity and +the time was soon to come, when he would look back upon it as the +greenest of green spots in the desert. + +Lannes returned in an hour and announced that they were ready for +another flight. They went back to the _Arrow_ which the stalwart youths +were still guarding, proud of their trust. + +"Must you really go?" said the burgomaster to Lannes. "Why not stay with +us until tomorrow? Look, the clouds are gathering on the mountains. +There may be a storm. Better bide with us till the morrow." + +"We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness," said +Lannes, as he and John took their seats, "and under any other +circumstances we would stay, but Herr Schankhorst there is a call for +us, a call that is sounding all over Europe, a call louder than any that +was ever heard before on this old continent." + +Lannes raising his voice spoke in clear, loud tones, and he had the +impressive manner that he knew so well how to assume. The crowd, eager +and expectant, pressed nearer, all about the Arrow. John saw that the +dramatic instinct, always alive within his partner, had sparkled into +flame. + +"And there is reason for this call," continued Lannes, raising his voice +yet further, until the most distant were sure to hear every syllable. +"The trumpet is sounding throughout Europe. You may well thank the good +God that you dwell here in your little valley, and that all around you +the mountains rise a mile above you. There were many trumpets when the +great Napoleon rode forth to war, but there are more now." + +A gasp arose from the crowd, and John saw faces whiten. + +"All Europe is at war," continued Lannes. "The nations march forth +against one another and the continent shakes with the tread of twenty +million soldiers. But stay here behind your mountain walls, and the +storm will pass you by. Now push!" + +Twenty youths shoved the _Arrow_ with all their might and the plane +rising gracefully in the air, soared far above the village. John looked +down and again he saw the whole population with heads craned back and +eyes turned upward, but he knew now that they were swayed by new and +powerful emotions. + +"Lannes," he said, "I never saw such an actor as you are." + +"But think of the opportunity! How could I overlook such a chance! They +knew absolutely nothing of the war, did not dream of it, and here was I +with the chance to tell them the whole tremendous truth, and then to +shoot suddenly up into the air far beyond their hearing. It was the +artistic finish that appealed to me as much as the announcement. Tell +your great news and then disappear or become silent. Don't linger over +it, or you will mar the effect." + +"We're leaving the valley out of sight, and I judge by the sun that our +course is northwesterly." + +"Right my brave aviator, but I don't think you'll be able to use the sun +much longer for reckoning. The worthy burgomaster was right. Look behind +you and see how the clouds are gathering!" + +John gazed at the vast mass of the Alps, stretching their tremendous +rampart across the very heart of Europe. The _Arrow_ had gone higher, +and deep down in the south he saw the ridges and sharp peaks stretching +on apparently to infinity. But it was a wild and desolate world. Even as +he looked the far edges dropped away in the gloom of advancing clouds. +The gray of the horizon became black and sinister. + +But he looked on, his gaze held by the sublimity of the mountains and +the powerful spell, cast by an historic imagination. He was not only +gazing upon the heart of Europe, but upon the heart of great history. +There, where that long black line led through the clefts the army of +Hannibal was passing. He shut his eyes and he saw the dark Carthaginian +with his deep eyes, his curly perfumed beard, a scarlet robe wrapped +around him, its ends dropping upon his horse, his brothers and the +captains riding just behind him, and behind them the Carthaginian sacred +band, the Spaniards, the Gauls, the Celts, the wild Numidians shivering +on their barebacked horses, the monstrous elephants, the women, and all +the strange and heterogeneous elements which the fire and genius of the +great leader fused into an army unconquerable by the bravest and best +soldiers of antiquity, a great man holding a great nation at bay for +half a life time. + +Mind and eye ran down the long line of the ages. He saw Goths and +Vandals, Germans and Gauls pouring through the passes upon Italy, and +then almost in his own time he saw that other, the equal of Hannibal, +almost exactly the same age, leading another army over the mighty +mountains into the rich plains below. He watched the short figure of +Napoleon, and behind him the invincible French youth, born of the +republic, dragging their cannon through the snow to victory. + +"Open your eyes, John, are you going to sleep?" + +"I was never further from sleep, and my eyes were so wide open that I +saw more than I ever did before in my life." + +"And what did you see, my wise John?" + +"I saw generals and nations crossing the mountains down there. I saw +through a space of many centuries, and the last I saw was your Napoleon +leading his troops over the Great St. Bernard to Marengo." + +Lannes' eyes flamed like stars. + +"And the great marshal whose name I bear was there with him," he said. +"It was near Marengo that he won his Dukedom of Montebello. Napoleon +cannot come back, but victory may perch again on the banners of France." + +John understood him. He knew how Frenchmen must have writhed through all +the years over Gravelotte and Sedan and Metz. He knew how deeply they +must have felt the taunt that they were degenerate, and the prediction +of their enemies that they would soon sink to the state of a second +class power. He knew how Americans would have felt in their place, and, +while he had never believed the sneers, he knew they had been made so +often that some Frenchmen themselves had begun to believe them. He +understood fully, and the ties that were knitting him so strongly to +Lannes increased and strengthened. + +"They were really republicans who won the victories of Napoleon," he +said, "and you have been a republic again for forty-four years. +Republics give life and strength." + +"I think they do, and so does a liberal monarchy like that of England. +Freedom makes the mind grow. Well, I hope we've grown so much that with +help we'll be able to whip Germany. What's become of the Alps, John?" + +"The clouds have taken 'em." + +There was nothing now in the south but a vast bank of gray, and +presently John felt drops of rain on his face. Besides, it was growing +much colder. He did not know much about flying, but he was quite sure +that in the midst of a great storm of wind and rain they would be in +acute danger. He looked anxiously at Lannes, who said reassuringly: + +"We'll go above it, John. It's one of the advantages of flying. On earth +you can't escape a storm, but here we mount so high that it passes +beneath us. After you get used to flying you'll wonder why people trust +themselves on such a dangerous place as the earth." + +John caught the twinkle in his eye, but he was learning fast, and his +own heart thrilled too as they swung upward, rising higher and higher, +until the thin air made the blood beat heavily in his temples. At last +he looked down again. The earth had vanished. Vast clouds of gray and +black floated between, and to John's startled eyes they took on all the +aspects of the sea. Here the great swells rolled and tumbled, and off +far in the north stretched a vast smooth surface of tranquility. But +beneath him he saw flashes of light, and heard the heavy mutter as of +giant guns. High above, the air was thin, cold and motionless. + +A troubled world rolled directly under them, and the scene that he +beheld was indescribably grand and awful. The clouds were in +conjunction, and thunder and lightning played as if monstrous armies had +crashed together. But here they sailed steadily on a motionless sea of +air. He shared the keen pleasure that Lannes so often felt. The _Arrow_ +suddenly became a haven of safety, a peaceful haven away from strife. + +"Aren't you glad you're not down there?" asked Lannes. + +"Aye, truly." + +"The winds that blow about the world, and the clouds that float where +the winds take them appear to be having a terrible commotion, but we are +safe spectators. Monsieur Jean the Scott, I wonder if the time will ever +come when we'll have a flying machine that can manufacture its own air +to sail in. Then it could rise to any height." + +"Phil, you're dreaming!" + +"I know I am but I'm not dreaming any more than you were just now when +you saw Napoleon and his army crossing the Alps. Besides who can +forecast the achievements of science? Why, man who was nothing but a +savage yesterday is just getting a start in the world! Who can tell what +he'll be doing a million years from now? Think of going on, and on in +the void, and maybe arriving on Venus or Mars!" + +"In that case we'll find out whether that Mars canal story is true or +not." + +Lannes laughed. + +"I come back to earth," he said, "or rather I come back to a point a +safe distance above it. How's our storm making out?" + +"It seems to be moving westward." + +"And we're flying fast toward the north. We'll soon part company with +the storm, and then we'll drop lower. But John, you must take the +glasses and watch the skies all the time." + +"Which means that we'll fly near the French border, and that I've got to +be on the lookout for the Taubes and the dirigibles." + +"And he guessed right the very first time. That's more of your American +slang. Yes, John, the hosts of the air are abroad, and we must not have +another encounter with the Germans. Before night we'll be approaching +the battle lines, and the air will be full of scouts. Perhaps it will be +better to do the rest of our traveling at night. We might drop down in a +wood somewhere, and wait for the twilight." + +"That's true Philip, but there's one question I'd like to ask you." + +"Go ahead." + +"Just how do you classify me? I belong to America, which has nothing to +do with your gigantic war, and yet here I am scouting through the air +with you, and exposed to just as much danger as you are." + +"I don't think I could have answered that question about classification +yesterday, John, but I can without hesitation today. You're an Ally. And +you're an Ally because you can't help it. Germany represents autocracy +and France democracy. So does England who is going to help us. You've +risked your life over and over again with me, a Frenchman, one who would +look upon the defeat of the German empire as almost the millennium. You +may like the German people, but all your principles, all your +heart-beats are on our side. When we get to some convenient place you'll +write to your uncle and friend at Munich that you've joined England and +France in the fight against German militarism. Oh, you needn't protest! +It's true. I know you. You're quiet and scholarly, but your soul is the +soul of adventure. I've seen how you responded to the thrill of the +Arrow, how you're responding at this very moment I know with absolute +certainty, Monsieur Jean the Scott, that you'll be fighting on the side +of England and France. So you'd better make up your mind to stick to me, +until we reach the French army." + +John was silent a moment or two. Then he reached out and grasped Lannes' +free hand. + +"I was thinking of doing the things you predict," he said, "and to keep +you from being a false prophet, Phil, old man, I'll do them." + +Lannes returned his strong grasp. + +"But if the English come into the war on your side," continued John, "I +think I'll join them. Not that I'm overwhelmingly in love with the +English, but they speak our American language, or at least variations of +it. In the heat of battle I might forget the French word for, retreat, +but never the English." + +Lannes smiled. + +"You won't be running, old fellow," he said. "You're right of course to +join the English since they're close kin to you, but I have a feeling, +John Scott, that you and I will see much of each other before this war +is over." + +"It may be so. I'm beginning to think, Phil, that lots of things we +don't dream about happen to us. I certainly never expected a week ago to +be in the middle of a great war." + +"And you expected least of all, Monsieur Jean the Scott, to be sailing +smoothly along in the air far above the clouds, and with a terrific +storm raging below." + +"No, I didn't. If a man had predicted that for me I should have said he +was insane. But I think, Phil, the storm is leaving us or we've left it. +That big ball of darkness giving out thunder and fire is moving fast +toward the west." + +"So it is, and there's clear air beneath us. And the Alps are +reappearing in the south." + +"Right you are, Philip. I can see a half dozen peaks, and there is +another, and now another. See, their white heads coming out of the mists +and vapors, whole groups of them now!" + +"Don't they look from here like a friendly lot of old fellows, John, +standing there and nodding their snowy pates to one another, just as +they've done for the last million years or more!" + +"You hit the nail on the head, Phil. Understand that? It's one of our +phrases meaning that you've told the exact truth. There goes that wicked +storm, farther and farther to the west. Soon the horizon will swallow it +up." + +"And then it will go on toward Central France. I hope it won't damage +the vineyards. But what a fool I am to be talking about storms of +weather, when the German storm of steel is about to sweep over us!" + +"You don't talk very hopefully, when you speak of a German invasion at +once." + +"But I am hopeful. I expect the invasion because we are not ready. They +accuse us French of planning a surprise attack upon Germany. What +nonsense, when we're not even prepared to defend ourselves! The first +sound of this war will show who was getting ready to attack. But John +we'll drive back that invasion, we and our allies. I repeat to you that +the French of 1914 are not the French of 1870. The Third Republic will +command the same valor and devotion that served the First. But here I am +talking like an old politician. Get the glasses, John, and look at our +field of battle, the heavens. It's all in the light now, and we can't +afford another encounter with the Taubes." + +John took a long look. The passage of the storm had purified the air +which was now of dazzling clearness, a deep, silky blue, with a sun of +pure red gold that seemed to hang wonderfully near. Lannes permitted the +_Arrow_ to drop lower and lower, until the earth itself sprang up into +the light. + +John saw again the green hills, the blue lakes and the streams, neat +villages and splendid country houses. It was his planet, and he was glad +to come once more where he could see it. + +"It was fine up there above the clouds," he said to Lannes, "but after +all I've got a very kindly feeling for the earth. It's like meeting an +old friend again." + +"Comes of use and habit, I suppose if we lived on Venus or Mars we'd +have the same kind of attachment. But like you, John, I'm glad to see +the earth again. The scenery is more varied than it is up in the +heavens. What do you see through the glasses, John? Don't miss anything +if it's there. It's too important." + +"I see in the north just under the horizon four black specks. It's too +far away for me to tell anything about 'em, but they move just as those +two Taubes did before their shape became clear." + +"More Taubes. That's certain. And it's time for us to get away. We're +almost on the border John and the German aeroplanes and dirigibles are +sure to have gathered." + +"There's a forest a little to the right of us. Suppose we go down +there." + +Lannes examined the forest. + +"It seems fairly large," he said, "and I think it will make a good +covert. But whether good or bad we must drop into it. The German +airships are abroad and we can take no chances." + +The _Arrow_ descended with increased speed. John still used the glasses, +and he searched every nook of the forest, which like most of those of +Europe had little undergrowth. It contained no houses at all, but he +picked out an open space near the center, large enough for the landing +of the Arrow, which he pointed out to Lannes. + +"I suppose you'd call it a respectable forest," said John. "I see some +trees which are at least a foot through, near the ground. Luckily it's +summer yet and the foliage is thick. If I were one of you Europeans I'd +never boast about my trees." + +"Some day I'm going to run over to that America of yours, and see +whether all you tell me about it is true. Steady now, John, I'm about to +make the landing, and it's my pride to land more gently every time than +I did the time before." + +They slid down softly and alighted on the grass. Lannes' triumph was +complete, and his wonderful eyes sparkled. + +"The best I've done yet," he said, "but not the best I will do. John, +what time is it?" + +"Half-past five." + +"With our long evenings that makes considerable daylight yet. Suppose +you take your automatic, and examine the woods a little. I'd go with +you, but I'm afraid to leave the _Arrow_ here alone. Leave the glasses +with me though." + +John, after regaining his land legs, walked away among the woods, which +evidently had been tended with care like a park, bearing little +resemblance, as he somewhat scornfully reminded himself to the mighty +forests of his own country. Still, these Europeans, he reflected were +doing the best they could. + +The region was hilly and he soon lost sight of Lannes, but he threshed +up the wood, thoroughly. There was no sign of occupancy. He did not know +whether it lay in Germany or France, but it was evident that all the +foresters were gone. A clear brook ran through a corner of it, and he +knelt and drank. Then he went back to Lannes who was sitting placidly +beside the Arrow. + +"Nothing doing," said John in the terse phrase of his own country. "At +imminent risk from the huge wild animals that inhabit it I've searched +all this vast forest of yours. I've forded a river three feet wide, and +six inches deep, I've climbed steep mountains, twenty feet high, I've +gone to the uttermost rim of the forest, a full half-mile away on every +side, and I beg to report to you, General, that the wilderness contains +no human being, not a sign of any save ourselves. Strain my eyes as I +would I could not find man anywhere." + +Lannes smiled. + +"You've done well as far as you've gone," he said. + +"I could go no farther." + +"You said you saw no sign of man." + +"None whatever." + +"But I do." + +"Impossible!" + +"Not impossible at all. Why don't you look up?" + +John instantly gazed into the heavens, and he was startled at the sight +he beheld. The population of the air had increased suddenly and to a +wonderful extent. A score of aeroplanes were outlined clearly against +the sky, and as he looked the distant drumming noise that he had heard +in Dresden came again to his ears. A monstrous black figure cut across +his vision and soon sailed directly overhead. + +"A Zeppelin!" he said. + +"A huge fellow," said Lannes. "The aeroplanes are German too, or there +would soon be trouble between them and the Zeppelin." + +"Should we take to flight?" + +"No, it's too late. Besides, I think we're safe here. The foliage is so +dense that they're not likely to see us. This forest must lie in +Germany, and I judge that the heads of their armies have already passed +to the west of us. The planes may be scouting to see whether French +cavalry is in their rear. Do you hear that? I say, John, do you hear +that?" + +From a far point in the west came a low sound which swelled gradually +into a crash like thunder. In a few moments came another, and then +another and then many. They could see no smoke, no fire, and the very +distance lent majesty to the sound. + +John knew well what it was, the thudding of great guns, greater than any +that had been fired before by man on land. Lannes turned ashy-pale. + +"It's the cannon, the German cannon!" he said, "and that sound comes +from France. The Kaiser's armies are already over the border, marching +on Paris. Oh, John! John! all the time that I was predicting it I was +hoping that it wouldn't come true, couldn't come true! You Americans +can't understand! In your new country you don't have age-old passions +and hates and wrongs and revenges burning you up!" + +"I do understand. It must be a serious battle though. All the planes are +now flying westward, and there goes the Zeppelin too." + +"Which leaves us safe for the present. Besides, the twilight is coming." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE ZEPPELIN + + +The brilliant sunlight faded into gray, but the European twilight +lingers, and it was long before night came. John and Lannes stood beside +the Arrow, and for a while neither spoke. They were listening to the +thunder of the great guns and they were trying to imagine how the battle +was swaying over the distant and darkening fields. The last of the air +scouts had disappeared in the dusk. + +"The sound doesn't seem to move," said Lannes, "and our men must be +holding their own for the present. Still, it's hard to tell about the +location of sound." + +"How far away do you think it is?" + +"Many miles. We only hear the giant cannon. Beneath it there must be a +terrible crash of guns and rifles. I've heard, John, that the Germans +have seventeen-inch howitzers, firing shells weighing more than two +thousand pounds, and France furnishes the finest roads in the world for +them to move on." + +He spoke with bitterness, but in an instant or two he changed his tone +and said: + +"At any rate we haven't made a god out of war, and that's why we haven't +seventeen-inch cannon. Perhaps by not setting up such a god we've gained +something else--republican fire and spirit that nothing can overcome." + +The twilight now deepened and the darkness increased fast in the wood, +but the deep thunder on the western horizon did not cease. John thought +he saw flashes of fire from the giant cannon, but he was not sure. It +might be sheaves of rays shot off by the sunken sun, or, again, it might +be his imagination, always vivid, but stimulated to the last degree by +the amazing scenes through which he was passing. + +After a while, although the throb of the great guns still came complete +darkness enveloped the grove. It seemed now to John that the sound had +moved farther westward, but Lannes had just shown such keen emotion that +he would not say the Germans were pushing their way farther into France. +However, Lannes himself noticed it. Presently he said: + +"The battle goes against us, but you may be sure of one thing, Monsieur +Jean the Scott, we were heavily outnumbered and the German artillery +must have been in caliber as four to our one." + +"I've no doubt it's so," said John with abundant sympathy. + +"The fire seems to be dying. Probably the night is too dark for the +combat to go on. What do you think we ought to do, John?" + +"You're the airman, Phil. I'm only a raw beginner." + +"But a beginner who has learned fast. I think the sound of that battle +in France has weakened my nerve for the moment, and I want your advice. +I ask for it again." + +"Then suppose we stay where we are. This isn't a bad little forest, as +forests go in Europe, and in the night, at least, it's pretty dark. The +enemy is all around us, and in the air over our heads. Suppose we sleep +here beside the Arrow." + +"That's a good sound Yankee head of yours, John. Just as you think, it +would be dangerous for us to run either on land or in the air, and so +we'll stay here and take the chances. I secured two blankets at the +village, and each will have one. You go to sleep, John, and I'll take +the first watch." + +"No, I'll take the first. You need rest more than I do. You've been +sailing the Arrow, and, besides, your nerves have been tried harder by +the echo of that battle. Just for a little while I mean to boss. 'Boss,' +I'll explain to you, means in our American idiom a commander, a +Napoleon. Now, stop talking, wrap yourself in your blanket and go to +sleep." + +"I obey. But keep your automatic handy." + +He fell asleep almost instantly, and John, lying near with his own +blanket about him, kept watch over him and the Arrow. He did not feel +sleepy at all. His nerves had been keyed to too high a pitch for rest to +come yet. His situation and the scenes through which he had passed were +so extraordinary that certain faculties seemed to have become blunted. +Although surrounded by many dangers all sensation of fear was gone. + +The blanket was sufficient protection even against the cool European +night, and he had found a soft and comfortable place on the turf. The +wood was silent, save for the rustle of a stray breeze among the leaves. +Far in the night he heard twice the faint boom of the giant cannon deep +down on the western horizon. For all he knew the sounds may have come +from a point twenty miles away. + +He walked a little distance from the Arrow, and listened intently. But +after the two shots the west was silent. The earth settled back into +gloom and darkness. He returned to the _Arrow_ and found that Lannes was +still sleeping heavily, his face pale from exertion and from the painful +emotions that he had felt. + +John was sorry for him, sorry from the bottom of his heart. Love of +country was almost universal, and it must be almost death to a man, +whose native land, having been trodden deep once, was about to be +trodden again by the same foe. + +He went once more to the little stream and took another drink. He sat by +its banks a few minutes, and listened to its faint trickle, a pleasant +soothing sound, like the almost unheard sigh of the wind. Then he +returned to his usual place near the Arrow. + +Dead stillness reigned in the grove. There was no wind and the leaves +ceased to rustle. Not another note came from the battle of the nations +beyond the western horizon. The _Arrow_ and its master both lay at peace +on the turf. The stillness, the heavy quiet oppressed John. He had been +in the woods at night many times at home, but there one heard the +croaking of frogs at the water's edge, the buzzing of insects, and now +and then the cry of night birds, but here in this degenerate forest +nothing stirred, and the air was absolutely pulseless. + +Time began to lengthen. He looked at his watch, but it was not yet +midnight, and Lannes was still motionless and sleeping. He had resolved, +as most of the strain had fallen upon his comrade, to let him sleep far +beyond his allotted half, and he walked about again, but soundlessly, in +order to keep his faculties awake and keen. + +The night had been dark. Many clouds were floating between him and the +moon. He looked up at them, and it seemed incredible now that beyond +them human beings could float above the thunder and lightning, and look +up at the peaceful moon and stars. Yet he had been there, not in any +wild dash of a few minutes, but in a great flight which swept over +nights and days. + +His early thoughts were true. A long era had ended, and now one, charged +with wonders and marvels, had begun. This mighty war was the signal of +the change, and it would not be confined to the physical world. The mind +and soul would undergo like changes. People would never look at things +in the same way. There had been such mental revolutions in the long +past, and it was not against nature for another to come now. + +John was thoughtful, perhaps beyond his years, but he had been subjected +to tremendous emotions. The unparalleled convulsion of the old world was +enough to make even the foolish think. Event and surmise passed and +repassed through his mind, while he walked up and down in the wood. +Hours crept slowly by, the clouds drifted away, and the moon came out in +a gush of silver. The stars, great and small, danced in a sky that was +always blue, beyond the veil. + +He came back for the third time to the brook. He was thirsty that night, +but before he knelt down to drink he paused and every muscle suddenly +became rigid. He was like one of those early borderers in his own land +who had heard a sinister sound in the thicket. It was little, a slight +ring of steel, but every nerve in John was alive on the instant. + +Still obeying the instincts of ancestors, he knelt down among the trees. +His vivid fancy might be at work once more! And then it might not! The +ringing of steel on steel came again, then a second time and nearer. He +slid noiselessly forward, and lay with his ear to the earth. Now he +heard other sounds, and among them one clear note, the steady tread of +hoofs. + +Cavalry were approaching the grove, but which? German or French? John +knew that he ought to go and awake Lannes at once, but old inherited +instincts, suddenly leaping into power, held him. By some marvelous +mental process he reverted to a period generations ago. His curiosity +was great, and his confidence in his powers absolute. + +He dragged himself twenty or thirty yards along the edge of the brook +toward the tread of hoofs, and soon he heard them with great +distinctness. Mingled with the sound was the jingling of bits and the +occasional impact of a steel lance-head upon another. John believed now +that they were Germans and he began to creep away from the brook, toward +which the troop was coming directly. It was not possible to estimate +well from sound, but he thought they numbered at least five hundred. + +He was back thirty yards from the brook, lying flat in the grass, when +the heads of horses and men emerged from the shadows. The helmets showed +him at once that they were the Uhlans, and without the helmets the face +of the leader alone was sufficient to tell him that the Prussian +horsemen had ridden into the wood. + +The one who rode first with his helmet thrown back a little was Rudolf +von Boehlen, the man with whom John had talked at Dresden, and who had +made such an impression upon him. He had known the scholarly Prussian, +the industrial Prussian, and the simple good-natured Prussian of the +soil, but here was the Prussian to whom the first god was Mars, with the +Kaiser as his prophet. It was he, and such as he, who ruled the +industrious and kindly German people, teaching them that might was +right, and that they always possessed both. + +John saw through the eyes of both fact and fancy. Von Boehlen was a +figure of power. Mind and body were now at the work for which they had +been trained, and to which the nature of their owner turned them. + +Despite his size and weight he sat his horse with lightness and grace, +and his cold blue eyes searched the forest for victims rather than foes. +John saw in him the product of ceaseless and ruthless training, helped +by nature. + +But von Boehlen, keen as his eyes were, did not see the figure of the +watcher prone in the grass. He let his horse drink at the brook, and +others rode up by his side, until there was a long line of horses with +their heads bent down to the stream. It occurred to John then that their +only purpose in entering the wood was to water their animals. He saw von +Boehlen take a map from his pocket, and study it while the horse drank. +He was not surprised at the act. He had no doubt that the brook, tiny +though it might be, was marked on the map. He had heard that the Germans +foresaw everything, attended to the last detail, and now he was seeing a +proof of it. How was it possible to beat them! + +He did not consider the danger great, as he listened to the long lapping +and gurgling sound, made by so many horses drinking. It was likely that +the whole troop would ride away in a few minutes, and only a possible +chance would take them in the direction where the _Arrow_ and Lannes +lay. But the trees grew thickly in the circle about them, and that +chance was infinitely small. + +The Uhlans, under the lead of von Boehlen, turned presently, and rode +back through the edge of the wood into a field, but they went no +farther. John, following a safe distance, saw them unsaddle on the grass +and make their camp. Then he hurried back to Lannes and awoke him +gently. + +"What! what is it?" exclaimed Lannes. "The Germans in Paris! The capital +fallen, you say!" + +"No! No! Not so loud! Come out of your dreams! Paris is all right, but +there are Uhlans just beyond the edge of the wood, and some scouts of +theirs may come tramping here." + +Lannes was thoroughly awake in another instant. + +"You did not wake me when my time came, John," he said. + +"I didn't because you needed the rest more than I did." + +"Where did you say the Uhlans were?" + +"In a field at the eastern edge of the wood. They are Prussians led by +an officer, von Boehlen, whom I saw at Dresden before the war began. +They rode into the wood to water their horses, but now they've gone back +to make a camp." + +"You've certainly watched well, John, and now I suppose we must run +again. They follow us in the air and they follow us on the ground. This +is a bad trap, John. Suppose you go to von Boehlen, tell him who you +are, how you were kidnapped in a way, and throw yourself on his mercy. +You'll be safe. The Germans want the friendship of the Americans." + +"And desert you at such a time? Philip Lannes, you're not worthy to bear +the name of the great Marshal!" + +Lannes laughed in an embarrassed manner. + +"It was merely an offer," he said. "I didn't expect you to accept it." + +"You knew I wouldn't. Come, think quick, and tell us what we're going to +do!" + +"You fit fast into your new role of what you call boss, Monsieur Jean +the Scott!" + +"And I mean to be boss for the next five minutes. Then you will have +decided how we're going to escape and you'll resume your place." + +"As I said we won't abandon the Arrow, so our passage will be through +the air. John, I mean that we shall run the gantlet. We'll pass their +air fleet and reach our own." + +He spoke in low tones, but they contained the ring of daring. John +responded. With the ending of the era, the changing of the world, he had +changed, too. Shy and sensitive the spirit of adventure flamed up in +him. Those flights in the air had touched him with the magic of +achievements, impossible, but which yet had been done. + +"Suppose we launch the _Arrow_ at once," he said. "I'm ready to try +anything with you." + +"I knew that, too. One thing in our favor is the number of clouds +hanging low in the west, where their air fleet is. It's likely that most +of the planes and dirigibles have gone to the ground, but they'll keep +enough above to watch. The clouds may enable us to slip by." + +"If I had my way I'd wrap myself in the thickest and blackest of the +clouds and float westward with it." + +"We'll have to go slowly to keep down the drumming of the motor. Now a +big push and a long push. So! There! Now we're rising!" + +The Arrow, the strength and delicacy of which justified all of Lannes' +pride, rose like a feather, and floated gracefully above the trees, +where it hung poised for a few minutes. Then, as they were not able to +see anything, Lannes took it a few hundred yards higher. There they +caught the gleam of steel beyond the wood, and looked down on the camp +of Uhlans. + +With the aid of the glasses they saw most of the men asleep on the +ground, but twenty on horseback kept watch about the field. + +"One look is enough," said Lannes. "I hope I'll never see 'em again." + +"Maybe not, but there are millions of Germans." + +"That's the worst of it. Millions of 'em and all armed and ready. John, +I've chosen our road. We'll go north by west, and I think we'd better +rise high. During the night the German machines are likely to hang low, +and we may be able to pass over 'em without detection. What do you think +of those clouds?" + +"They're not drifting much. They may hide us as a fog hides a ship at +sea." + +The _Arrow_ began to soar. The Uhlans and the grove soon faded away, and +they rode among the clouds. John's watch showed that it was about three +o'clock in the morning. He no longer felt the chill of the air in those +upper regions. Excitement and suspense made his blood leap, warm, +through his veins. + +Lannes, after his long sleep, was stronger and keener than ever. His +hand on the steering rudder knew no uncertainty, and always he peered +through the clouds for a sign of the foe, who, he knew well, was to be +dreaded so much. John, glasses at eye, sought the same enemy. + +But they heard and saw nothing, save the sights and sounds of the +elements. A cold, wet wind flew across their faces, and the planet below +once more turned in space, invisible to eye. + +"One could almost think," said John, "that we don't turn with it, that +we hang here in the void, while it whirls about, independent of us." + +"I wish that were so," said Lannes with a laugh. "Then we could stay +where we are, while it turned around enough beneath us to take the +Germans far away. But don't you hear a faint buzzing there to the west, +John?" + +"Yes, I was just about to speak of it, and I know the sound, too. It's +one of the big Zeppelins." + +"Then it's likely to be much below. I judge from the presence of the +trees that, we must be somewhere near the German outposts." + +"I wish that we dared to descend enough to see." + +"But we don't dare, Monsieur Jean the Scott. We'd drop into a nest of +hornets." + +"Better slow down then. Their scouting planes must be somewhere near." + +"Good advice again. Oh, you're learning fast. And meanwhile you're +committing yourself more and more deeply to our cause." + +"I've already committed myself deeply enough. I've told you that your +prediction about my joining a British force is true." + +"But you'll have to stay with us French until the British come. John, is +it my imagination or do I hear that buzzing below us again?" + +"You really hear it, and I do, too. It's a big Zeppelin beyond a doubt, +and therefore we must not be far from a German base. You know they have +to build huge sheds in which to keep the Zeppelins." + +"No doubt they have such a station near enough on their side of the +border. But, John, I'm going to have a look at that air-elephant. In all +this thick darkness they'd never know what we are. Are you ready for +it?" + +"Ready and anxious." + +The _Arrow_ dropped down toward the buzzing sound, which rapidly grew +louder. John had heard that a silencer had been invented for Zeppelins, +but either it was a mistake or they apprehended a hostile presence so +little that they did not care to use it. + +He was rapidly becoming inured to extreme danger, but his heart throbbed +nevertheless, and he felt the chill of the high damp air. At the +suggestion of Lannes, who called him the eyes of the ship, he retained +the glasses, and, with them, sought continually to pierce the heavy +masses of cloud. He could not yet see anything, but the heavy buzzing +noise, much like the rattling of a train, increased steadily. The +Zeppelin could not be very far beneath them now. + +John felt a sudden rush of wind near him and a dark object swung by. +Lannes swiftly changed their own course, and darted almost at a right +angle in the darkness. + +"A Taube?" whispered John. + +"Yes, one of the armored kind. Two men were in it, and most likely they +carried rifles. They're on watch despite the night. Maybe they fear some +of our own planes, which must be not many miles in front. Oh, France, is +not sleeping, John! Don't think that! We are not prepared as the Germans +were, but we've the tools, and we know how to use them." + +He corrected the course of the _Arrow_ and again dropped down slowly +toward the Zeppelin. John's eyes, used to the darkness, caught a glimpse +of Lannes' face, and he was surprised. He had never before seen one +express such terrible resolution. Some dim idea of his purpose entered +the American's mind, but he did not yet realize it fully. + +But his sense of the weird, of acting in elements, hitherto unknown to +man, grew. The Arrow, smooth, sleek and dangerous as death, was feeling +its way in the darkness among a swarm of enemies. Its very safety lay in +the fact that it was one among many, and, wrapped in the dark, the +others could not tell its real character, fifty feet away. + +John could truthfully say to himself afterwards that he did not feel +fear at that time. He was so absorbed, so much overwhelmed by the +excitement, the novelty and the cloud of darkness hiding all these +actors in the heavens that no room was left in him for fear. + +Lower and lower they dropped. The Zeppelin, evidently not far above the +earth, was moving slowly. + +John was reminded irresistibly of an enormous whale lounging in the +depths of the ocean, which here was made up of heavy clouds. In another +minute by the aid of the powerful glasses he made out two captive +balloons, and a little farther westward three aeroplanes flying about +like sentinels pacing their beats. He also saw beneath them lights which +he knew to be the fires of a great camp, but he could not see the men +and the cannon. + +"The German camp is beneath us," he said. + +"I thought you'd find it there," returned Lannes bitterly. "It's where +our own camp ought to be, but our men were defeated in that battle which +we heard, and here the Germans are." + +John did not see him this time, but the look of pitiless resolve in the +eyes of the young Frenchman deepened. That the Germans should come upon +the soil of France and drive the French before them overwhelmed him with +an agony that left no room for mercy. + +"There goes another of the Taubes," he whispered, as a shadow flitted to +the right "They're cruising about in lively fashion. If anybody hails us +don't answer. I'll turn away in the darkness, pretending that we haven't +heard." + +The hail came almost as he spoke, but the Arrow veered to one side again +at an angle, and then, after a few minutes, came back to a point, where +it hovered directly over the Zeppelin and not far away. John saw beneath +them now the huge shape, ploughing along slowly through the heavy bank +of air. It loomed, in the darkness, a form, monstrous and incredible. + +"Are we just over the thing, John?" asked Lannes. + +"Exactly. Look down and you can see." + +"I see." + +Then his arm flashed out, and he hurled something downward with all the +concentrated force of hate. There came a stunning crash mingled with +rending and tearing sounds and frightened cries, and then the monstrous +shape was gone. The place where it had hung in the heavens was empty and +silent. + +John's heart missed a dozen beats. His jaw fell and he stared at Lannes. + +"Yes, I intended it from the first," said Lannes, "and I haven't a +single compunction. I got that bomb, and three others in the Swiss +village when I left you at the inn. I did not tell you of them +because--well, because, I thought it better to keep the secret to +myself. It's war. The men in that Zeppelin came to destroy our towns and +to kill our men." + +"I'm not accusing you. I suppose, as you say, it's war. But hadn't we +better get away from here as fast as we can?" + +"We're doing it now. While we were talking I was steering the _Arrow_ +westward. Hark, do you hear those shots!" + +"I hear them. It can't be that they're firing at random in the air, as +they would be more likely to hit one another than a slim and single +little shape like the Arrow." + +"They're signaling. Of course they're organized, and they're probably +trying to draw all the planes to one spot, after which they'll spread +out and seek us. But they won't find us. Ah, my sleek Arrow! my lovely +little Arrow, so fast and true! You've done your duty tonight and more! +We've run the gantlet, John! We're through their air fleet, and we've +left a trail of fire! They won't forget this night!" + +John sat silent, while Lannes exulted. Meanwhile the Arrow, piercing the +low clouds, rushed westward, unpursued. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE FRENCH DEFENSE + + +They flew on in the darkness, and both remained silent. John at first +had felt resentment against Lannes, but he reflected that this was war, +and it was no worse to kill with a bomb in the air than with a shell on +land. It was hard, however, to convince oneself that destruction and +death were sovereigns in Europe. + +After a long time Lannes pointed to the east, where a thin gray was +showing. + +"The sun will soon be up," he said, "and it will drive the last cloud +before it. We're going to have a fine day. Look down at this, our +France, Monsieur Jean the Scott, and see what a beautiful land it is! +Can you wonder that we don't want the armed feet of the Germans to tread +it down?" + +The darkness was shredding away so fast that John got a clear view. He +was surprised, too, to find how low they were flying. They were not more +than a hundred yards above the tops of the trees, and the glorious +country was all that Lannes had claimed for it. + +He saw woods heavy in foliage, fields checkered in green and brown, +white roads, neat villages and farm houses, and the spires of churches. +It seemed impossible that war should come upon such a land. This word +"impossible" was often recurring to John. It was impossible that all +Europe should go to war and yet the impossible was happening. The world +would not allow twenty million men to spring at one another's throats, +and yet they were doing it. + +Lannes suddenly uttered a deep "Ah!" and pointed with a long forefinger. + +"Our camp," he said. "On the hill about five miles to the left. The +planes have seen us. Three are coming to meet us." + +John saw the camp distinctly through the glasses, a long intrenched +position on a low, broad hill, many guns in front and many horses in the +rear, with the banners of France floating over the works. + +"We'll be there soon," said Lannes joyfully. "Here, John, wave this!" + +He took a small French flag from the locker and John waved it with +vigor. The fastest of the planes was soon beside them and Lannes called +out gayly: + +"The Arrow, Philip Lannes at the rudder, and John Scott, an American, +who is going to fight with us, as passenger and comrade!" + +Thus they flew into the republican camp, and a great crowd came forward +to meet them. Lannes stepped out of the Arrow, saluted an officer in the +uniform of a captain, and asked: + +"What corps is this?" + +"That of General Avillon." + +"Then, sir, would you be so good as to conduct me to his headquarters? I +have been in both Berlin and Vienna in disguise, and on service for our +government. I have information and minute maps." + +"Come with me at once," said the officer eagerly. + +"I ask you to make my comrade comfortable while I am gone. He is an +American, John Scott, whom an accident threw with me. He is the bravest +of the brave and he's going to serve with us." + +Lannes was dramatic and impressive. Again he was the center of a scene +that he loved, and, as always, he made the most of it. John reddened at +his high praise, and would have withdrawn farther into the crowd, but +enthusiastic young officers about him would not let him. "Vive +l'Américain!" they shouted and patted him on the shoulders. + +Lannes went at once with the captain, and John was left with his new +friends. Friends, in truth they were, and their enthusiasm grew as he +told of their extraordinary flight, their battle with the Taubes, and +the destruction of the Zeppelin by Lannes. Then their applause became +thunder, and, seeing it in the distance and the perspective, John became +more reconciled to the throwing of the bomb. War was killing and one +could not change it. + +While they heard his story and cheered him the French did not neglect +his comfort. Young officers, many of whom were mere boys, insisted upon +entertaining this guest from the air. It was so early that they had not +yet had their own breakfasts, and while different groups fought for him +he finally sat down beside a fire with a dozen lieutenants of about his +own age. + +The food was abundant and good, and, as he ate and drank, he was +compelled to tell their story over again. + +"I'm glad Lannes got that monster, the Zeppelin," said one of the young +lieutenants. "God knows we've had little enough success so far. They say +we were ready for war, and had planned to strike. But it was the Germans +who struck. That proves who had done the planning. They say that our +officers were in Belgium, making ready for the French army to march +through that country, and yet when the Germans pushed into Belgium they +found no French. The accusation refutes itself." + +"Are the Germans in Belgium?" asked John, astonished. + +"With a great army, and England has declared herself. She is sending a +force to our help. You will not lack for comrades who speak your own +tongue." + +"We thought we heard last night the sounds of a battle." + +"You thought right. It was we who were fighting it, and we were +defeated. We were driven back many miles, but we were not beaten, man to +man. With even numbers we could have held them, but they were three or +four to one, and they have monster cannon which far outrange ours." + +"It was one of those giant guns I heard, because we heard nothing else. +Are the Germans coming forward for another attack?" + +"We don't know. Our aeroplanes report no movement in their camp, but the +sun has scarcely risen yet. Still we all think they'll come. We know +it's their plan to make a gigantic rush on Paris. Our spies report that +their most frequent boast is: 'Ten days to France and twenty days to +Paris.' Well, the first part of it is more than fulfilled." + +Silence and sadness fell over the group of brave young men. John's heart +was filled with sympathy for them. His nature was one that invariably +took the part of invaded against invaders, and the invaders had already +struck a mighty blow. But it was he, as yet a stranger among them, who +restored cheerfulness. + +"I've been with one Frenchman through adventures and dangers, of which I +never dreamed," he said. "Never once did his hand or eye waver. I know +that there are hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen like him, and such men +can't fail." + +"Thank you," one of them said simply. "We Frenchmen of the Third +Republic shall try to fight as well as the Frenchmen of the First +Republic, and we'll pray that our allies, the English, may come soon." + +John was silent. He knew even better than they how necessary was the +arrival of the English. He had been in Germany and he had seen something +of the mobilization. He knew that the planet had never before borne +anything comparable to the German war machine which was already rolling +forward upon France and Belgium. Would the invaded, even with the help +of England, be able to stop it? + +The breakfast finished, he lay down in one of the tents on a blanket, +and, despite the noises of the camp, soon slept. But he was awakened by +Lannes two or three hours later. + +"I've found a way for you to send telegrams through Switzerland, and +then to Munich, telling your people where you are and what you are going +to do," he said, "and now I'm going to leave you for a while. I'm going +on another scout in the Arrow, but I go alone. You, I take it, will do +your fighting now on land. But, John Scott, I've been proud to know you +and to have had such a flight with you. I don't suppose that any other +beginner has ever had such a lively start as yours, but you've gone +through it like a veteran. I want to shake your hand." + +He pulled off his aviator's glove, and the two hands met in a powerful +clasp. Then his dramatic instinct keenly alive he turned and sprang into +the waiting Arrow. The young officers gave it a long push, and, rising +lightly and gracefully, it soared over the army, far up into the blazing +sunlight. Its strange navigator waved one hand to those below, and then +the Arrow, true to its name, shot away toward the north. + +"There goes the bravest man I ever saw," said John. "Give him air to +float in, and I believe he'd try for the sun." + +"All those flying men are brave," said a young officer, "but Lannes is +the bravest of them all, as he is also the most skillful. As a scout he +is worth ten thousand men to us." + +"I must look for those English of whom he spoke," said John, "I have +trespassed upon your courtesy here long enough. I wish to join them and +serve with you." + +"They're not all English by any means. Fully half of them are your own +countrymen, Americans. The English and Americans quarrel much among +themselves, but they unite against any foe. My own name is Creville, +Louis Creville, and I'll take you to this company, The Strangers, as +with pride they call themselves." + +Creville led the way, and John followed toward another wing of the +French force. The young American observed the French soldiers closely. +They did not look either so stalwart or so trim as the Germans. Their +long blue coats, and baggy red trousers had a curious effect. The color +scheme seemed to John more fitted to a circus than to an army, but they +were lively, active men, their faces gay and their eyes full of +intelligence. He knew from his history that they had looked just the +same way and had acted just the same way when they followed the +victorious banners of Napoleon into nearly every capital of Europe. + +"We're almost at the camp of the Strangers," said Captain Creville. +"None could ever mistake it, because their debate this morning upon +their respective merits is uncommonly spirited. Listen!" + +"I tell you, Wharton, you Yankees have no discipline. By Gad, sir, your +lack of it is startling." + +"We don't need it, Carstairs, because we were always able to lick you +English without it." + +"Lick us, you boasters! Where did you ever lick us?" + +"Wherever we were able to find you." + +"My histories tell me that you never looked for us much." + +"But those histories were written by Englishmen. I'll lay you a good +five-dollar bill against one of your shilling-short pounds that I beat +you into Berlin." + +"As a prisoner, yes. I've no doubt of it." + +"Gentlemen," said Creville, as he took a step forward, and looked into a +little dip, "I bring you a new comrade." + +Within the dip lay at least two hundred youths and young men. Nearly all +were fair, and they were unmistakably Americans and English. The two who +had been carrying on the violent controversy were stretched flat on the +grass almost at the feet of Creville. But they sat up, when they heard +him, and John saw that they were uncommonly handsome and athletic, their +age about his own. They stepped forward at once, and extended to John +the hand of fellowship. Captain Creville made the introductions. + +"He wishes to enlist with you," he said. + +"He'll be welcome, I know," said the Englishman, Carstairs. "Our +commander, Captain Colton, is not here at this moment, but we expect him +in a half hour. How did you arrive, Mr. Scott?" + +"He dropped down," replied Creville for John. "Dropped down. I don't +understand you, Captain?" + +Creville pointed straight up into the heavens. + +"He came like the bird," he said. "He sailed through the air, seeking +his nest. As soon as he saw us he said: 'Here is the perfect place; here +I can dwell with the kindest and best people in the world; and down he +swooped at once.'" + +"I suppose you mean that he's an airman and that he came in a flying +machine," said the American, Wharton. "Carstairs will arrive at that +conclusion, too, if you give him time, but being an Englishman, time he +must have." + +"But when I arrive at the conclusion it will be right," said Carstairs. + +"It's true that Mr. Scott came by machine," said Captain Creville, who +was now speaking in excellent English. "He arrived with our great young +aviator, Philip Lannes, and he has had many and thrilling adventures, of +which he will tell you later. I suppose you will take your part in these +English and American controversies, Mr. Scott, but your new captain will +have nothing to do with them." + +"Is he an Englishman or an American?" + +"You can decide that for yourself. He was born in England. His mother +was American and his father English. He was taken to America when he was +three years old, and was educated there, but, after finishing at +Harvard, he spent a year at Oxford. It seemed to all of us that his +appointment as captain of this troop was most happy. The English are +sure that he's English, the American know that he's American, he himself +says nothing, and so all are happy. Ah, here he comes now, ahead of +time!" + +Daniel Coulton, a tall fair young man with a fine, open face, entered +the dip, and Captain Creville at once turned John over to him. + +"We're glad to have you, Mr. Scott," said Colton, "but the service will +be hard and full of danger." + +"I expect it, sir." + +"These young men are serving France for love, and nearly all of them are +privates. Carstairs and Wharton are in the ranks and you'll have to take +a place with them." + +"I accept gladly, sir." + +"The right spirit. Wharton, you and Carstairs get him a uniform and +arms, and he'll stay with you until further orders." + +Then Captain Coulton hurried away. Captain Creville bowed and also +withdrew. + +"Come on, Scott," said Carstairs. "We've an extra uniform, and it'll +just about fit you. A rifle, cartridges and all your other arms are +ready, too." + +John was equipped promptly, and then many introductions followed. It was +a little Anglo-American island in the midst of a French sea, and they +gave a joyous welcome to a new face. John noticed that many of them bore +slight wounds, and he soon learned that several others, hurt badly, lay +in an improvised hospital at the rear. + +"The Germans are pressing us hard," said Wharton. "They whipped us +yesterday afternoon, and they're sure to come for us again today. +There's Captain Colton now standing on the earthwork, watching through +his glasses. In my opinion something's doing." + +Nearly all the Strangers went forward. From a hillock, John with his two +new friends looked toward the forest, miles in their front. The forest +itself was merely a blind mass of green, but overhead swung aeroplanes +and captive balloons. + +"Look up!" said Carstairs. + +John saw a half dozen aeroplanes hovering some distance in front of +their own lines. + +"I think they're signaling," said Carstairs. "One of those monster guns +must be getting ready to disgorge itself." + +"The forty-two centimeter?" said John. + +"Yes, and I'm right, too. I saw a flash in the forest, and here comes +the little messenger!" + +There was a roar and a crash so tremendous that John was almost shaken +from his feet. An enormous shell burst near the earthworks, sending +forth a perfect cloud of shrapnel and steel fragments. It resembled the +explosion of a volcano, and as his ears recovered their power after the +shock John heard the cries of many wounded. + +"I think this force carries only one such gun with it," said Carstairs, +"and it will be some time before they can fire it again. We have nothing +to equal it, but the French seventy-five millimeter is an awful weapon. +The gunners can time them so the shells burst only fifteen or twenty +feet from the ground, and then they rain death. I think it likely that +we have out now a flanking force that will get within range." + +"There's cover to the right," said Warton, "if the French batteries +advance at all, it will be that way." + +They were ordered to stand to their arms, but it did not keep them from +watching, as at present there was nothing for them to do. A second shot +came presently from the forty-two centimeter, but the shell burst too +far away to do any harm. John and his comrades turned their attention +back to the right, where a line of woods ran. + +Ten minutes more of waiting and they saw a succession of flashes among +the trees. The French field guns far in advance of the main force were +at work. + +"Well done," said Carstairs. "The French artillery is fine, Scott. I +believe their medium guns can beat any others of the same class in the +world. Look how those woods flame with their fire! It scares me to go up +in the air, but I'd like to be in one of those aeroplanes, where I could +see the effect of the cannonade." + +"There goes 'Busy Bertha' again," said Wharton. + +"What's 'Busy Bertha'?" asked John. + +"Oh, it's merely a nickname we've given to the Krupp monster. The French +started it, I believe, but it's spread to the Strangers. It's aimed at +our field guns this time! There the shell has burst in the forest! I +wish I knew what it had done!" + +"Not much, I judge," said Carstairs, "because the French guns are +replying with as much fervor as ever. The woods are fairly blazing with +their fire!" + +[Illustration] "A second shot came presently from the forty-two +centimeter." + +"And yonder," said John, "are the Uhlans. Look at that mass of steel on +the far edge of the plain!" + +An immense force of German cavalry was issuing from the forest directly +in their front, and was forming in a long line. The distance was great, +but the August sunshine was so clear that all objects were magnified and +made more vivid. The three clearly saw the great mass of German horsemen +defiling toward the French right. Captain Colton of the Strangers +reappeared and stood near them, watching through a pair of powerful +glasses. John knew that he was anxious, and, although his experience of +war was only three or four days old, he well knew the reason why. + +"I've glasses myself," said Carstairs, who was holding a pair to his +eyes. "Take a look, Scott." + +John accepted them eagerly. They were strong, and the German cavalry +seemed to come very near. Then he saw how numerous they were. They must +be thousands and thousands, and the front files, which had wheeled, were +already disappearing in the forest on the French right. In America most +forests would have been impracticable for cavalry, but it was not likely +to be so here, where there was little or no undergrowth. + +John turned the glasses back to the point in the woods where the French +field guns were posted. There he saw rapid flashes and the steady +rolling crash continued. Evidently the seventy-five millimeter French +cannon were all that was claimed for them. But he knew that the German +cavalry must now be protected largely by the forest, and his heart beat +heavily with apprehension for the French guns and their gunners. + +"There goes 'Busy Bertha' again!" exclaimed Wharton. + +John remembered nothing clearly for the next minute or two. There was a +vast rushing sound, a crash of thunder, and, although he was not +touched, he was thrown from his feet. He sprang up, dazed, cleared his +eyes and looked around. The monstrous shell, weighing more than a ton, +had burst almost in the heart of the French army, killing or wounding at +least three hundred men, and spreading awe among the others. Nothing so +capable of destruction and made by man had ever before been seen in the +history of the world. And the shot had come from a point at least ten +miles away, where the giant lay invisible. + +The glasses had not been hurt in the fall and he handed them back to +Carstairs. No harm had been done among the Strangers, although he was +not the only one who had been thrown to the ground. But they were bold +hearts and they jested among themselves. + +"I hope they won't aim that pop-gun so well again," said Wharton. + +"After all, Scott," said Carstairs, "you were perhaps safer with Lannes +a half mile up in the air. The forty-two centimeter couldn't reach you +there." + +"Maybe not," said John, "but I'm one of the Strangers now, and I'll take +my chances with them. I'm most alarmed about the Uhlans who have gone +into the woods on our right." + +"To cut off our field guns, of course. And look! Here comes the German +army in our front to support their flanking movement!" + +The fire in the wood increased in intensity, and John saw a great body +of French troops advancing to the support of their artillery. Evidently +the French leader meant to maintain his fire there and also to protect +his field guns against capture. + +"I told you, Wharton," said Carstairs, "that the Germans would give us +no rest, that they would advance at once to a new battle." + +"You didn't have to tell it to me. I knew it as well as any Englishman +could possibly know it, perhaps better, but I'm modest, and I didn't +talk about it." + +"If you only kept your ignorance as well as your knowledge to yourself, +Wharton, you'd have a greater reputation for wisdom. Look out!" + +A shell that failed to explode in the air struck near. Carstairs threw +himself upon Wharton, and, at the imminent risk of his own life, dragged +him down just in time, as the shell burst and threw fragments over their +heads. + +"Thanks, Carstairs," said Wharton. "Your first name is Percy, but you +don't act like a Percy." + +"Expect the same from you, old fellow, when the time comes." + +"I'll do my best." + +John was absorbed now in the tremendous panorama of war, carried on with +all the mighty machines of death that man had invented. A heavy German +force appeared on their left also. It was yet distant, but it was nearer +than the great mass in the center. Untrained as he was he knew +nevertheless that the Germans, with their greatly superior numbers, were +seeking to envelop the French. But the defensive guns on the right in +the wood were maintaining a swift and terrible fire. They were pouring +showers of shrapnel not only on the Uhlans, but upon the gray masses of +infantry crossed the wide intervening fields. + +The Strangers were now drawn up by one of the earthworks, but it would +be a long time before they went into action. That heaving gray sea of +Germans could not come within range of the rifles for an hour yet. +Meantime the artillery would carry on the battle over a space of miles. +While he waited he could look on and see it all. + +More and more guns were coming into action. Batteries were sent off to +the left to meet the second German flanking force there, and soon the +heaviest of the French cannon in the center were able to reach the +advancing enemy directly in their front. + +The scene became tremendous and full of awe. There was little smoke, but +along two vast semi-circles, one convex, and the other concave, flashes +ran like continuous lightning, while the whole earth grumbled and +roared. The air seemed surcharged with death, and John suddenly found it +hot in his lungs as he breathed. + +Through the roar of the guns he heard all the time the malicious +shrieking of the shrapnel. It was falling among the defenders, killing +and wounding hundreds, and John knew that the storm beat also on the +great gray circle that was ever coming nearer. Now and then a crash, +louder than all the rest, came from the forty-two centimeter, and +whenever the shell struck true it tore everything about it to pieces, no +matter how strong. + +The thunder of the guns was so steady and so near one note that the +Strangers could talk almost in an ordinary tone. + +"It's our guns on the right that are in the most danger," said John. + +"Correct," said Wharton. "The Uhlans are trying to cut them off, because +those guns are doing great damage. Take the glasses again, and you can +see their shells tearing through the German lines." + +"I don't know that I want to see." + +"Oh, look! This is war, and you'll have to get used to it!" + +Then John looked and he saw that the German lines were not unbroken, as +they had seemed to the naked eye. The shrapnel were tearing through +them, making great holes, but the massive German columns never faltered +for an instant. The gaps in their ranks were filled up, and they came on +at an even pace, resolved to capture or destroy the French force. And +they carried with them the memories of Gravelotte, Sedan and Metz. They +would do as well as the men of old von Moltke had done. + +John felt a thrill of admiration. The great military monarchy had built +its machine well. It seemed at the moment resistless. It was made of +steel rather than human flesh and blood, and it would roll over +everything. Nothing had yet stopped that mighty concave curve of gray, +although more and more French cannon were coming into action, and from +right to left, and from left to right, they showered it with unceasing +death. + +But the German artillery, far more numerous and powerful than the +French, were supporting their infantry. Shells were poured fast upon the +hasty earthworks. Hundreds and hundreds of the defenders fell. The roar +was now so stupendous that John could scarcely hear, and the air, before +golden in the sunshine, turned a livid fiery hue. + +All the Strangers were now formed in one of the trenches, and then +wisely knelt low. John heard the shrieking, whining noise incessantly +over his head, and it made his blood run cold. Instinctively he pressed +hard against the side of his trench, but his curiosity was so keen that +from time to time he raised his head above the edge to see how the +battle fared directly in front. The gray Germans were much nearer, +marching with the solid tread that seemed able to carry them across the +world, while their gigantic artillery on the flanks and in the intervals +flamed and roared without ceasing. + +John knew that the loss among the French must be great, and he knew, +too, that when the huge machine struck them they would be shattered. He +wondered that the French leader did not order the retreat, but while he +was wondering a trumpet suddenly sounded a shrill clear note audible +amid the roar of the great guns, and he saw Captain Colton beckon to the +Strangers. + +John knew they were going into battle, but he felt relief because their +long waiting was over. His senses had become dulled to danger. He felt +the surge and sweep of tremendous conflict, and relief came with action. + +As they stood up he obtained a better view of the field. The Germans +were yet nearer now, and, seen through the blazing light of the cannon, +they were magnified and increased. Although yet too distant in the +center, the flanks were near enough to open fire with the rifles, and +their crash in scores of thousands was added to the tremendous roar of +the cannon fire. + +Captain Colton beckoned again to the Strangers, and joining a heavy +infantry force they crept out toward the right, and then among the +trees. John divined at once their mission. They were to support and save +the French field batteries which had gone into the wood and which had +done so much damage to the German army. + +They could not mistake their destination. The flash and crash came from +a point directly in front of them, and the whole forest was lighted up +by the blaze of the guns. Farther to their right John heard the heavy +tramp of horsemen in thousands. There he knew were the Uhlans, circling +to cut off the French guns. + +The wood opened out, leaving wide clear spaces, and then John saw the +countless helmets of the Uhlans, as they charged with a deep-throated +German roar. It seemed that they were to be ridden into the earth, but +he found himself kneeling with the others and firing his rifle as fast +as he could pull trigger into the charging mass. + +John felt like a man sending bullet after bullet into some huge wild +beast, seeking to devour. For the moment the Uhlans were blended into +one mass, a single entity. He had a vision of the wild faces of men, of +the huge red eyes of horse, and of their open slavering mouths, +disclosing rows of cruel white teeth. It was those white teeth that he +saw clearest, and often he fired at the horses rather than their riders. + +Nearer came the Uhlans. The earth resounded with their tread. The cruel +white teeth of the horses flashed almost in John's face. He began to +have a horrible fear that they could not stop these ruthless horsemen, +but the French relieving force had brought with it light guns, which +were now pushed up, opening almost point blank on the Uhlans. + +The hail of steel drove directly in the faces of horses and men, and +they reeled back. Men might stand such a fire, but horses could not. +They bolted from it by hundreds, knocked down and trampled upon one +another, creating a vast turmoil and confusion among the Germans. + +John was conscious that he had sprung to his feet, and was advancing +again with his comrades directly upon the Uhlans. They were still +reloading and firing as fast as they could, and the light artillery, +between the spaces, was cutting a perfect harvest of death. As the +Uhlans were driven back out of the open and among the trees their +difficulties increased. It was impossible to fall into any kind of +formation and charge such a formidable infantry defended by guns. + +The riflemen pressed closer and closer and poured upon them such a +deadly fire that after many vain efforts to hold their ground the +trumpets sounded the recall, and all those who were able to ride +retreated. + +The French set up a tremendous cheer and swept forward to meet their +field guns which were slowly retiring, sending heavy volleys into the +German masses as they withdrew. Yet their escape was a narrow one. +Without the sortie from the fort they would certainly have been cut off +by the Uhlans. + +John found himself shouting in triumph with the French. He shared their +feelings now because their danger had been his danger, and he was fast +becoming the same in spirit. + +"Just in time!" shouted Wharton in his ear. "See how the Germans come +on, and come without ending!" + +The great German mass in the open was now almost abreast of them. Their +numbers seemed endless. Their huge cannon filled the air with +projectiles which poured upon the French earthworks, and, captive +balloons and aeroplanes hanging over them, directed their fire. The +sight, magnificent in some aspects, was terrible nevertheless, and for a +moment or two John was appalled. + +"We've got to get back quick as we can," shouted Carstairs, "or they'll +be on us, too!" + +"Right! old man!" shouted Wharton, agreeing with him for once. + +They were already retiring, and the field artillery was going with them. +But the deadly seventy-five millimeter guns were not idle, although they +were withdrawing. They sent shell after shell, which hung low over the +German ranks, and then burst in a whirlwind of steel fragments and +splinters. Death was showered upon the gray masses, but they never +flinched, coming on steadily, with the deep German cheer, swelling now +and then into thunder. + +The battle was so near that the Strangers could no longer hear one +another, although they shouted. Their company luckily had suffered +little, but now the bullets began to search their ranks, and brave young +Americans and brave young Englishmen gave up their lives under an alien +flag. + +John was conscious of neither elation nor despair. The excitement was +too great. His heart hammered heavily against its walls, and the red +mist before him deepened until it became a blazing glare. Then the rush +of hoofs came again. The Uhlans had reformed and made a second charge. +The riflemen beat it off, and, still protecting the guns, joined the +main French force. + +But it was evident there that the French must retreat again. The +powerful artillery of the Germans had cut their defenses to pieces. The +earth was torn by the great shells as if mining machinery had been at +work, and the ground was covered with dead and wounded. Valor against +numbers and long preparation was unavailing. + +"If we don't go we're lost," shouted Carstairs. + +"And if we go today we can come back and fight another day!" said +Wharton. + +The French leader gathered together his army, beaten for a second time, +and slowly retired across the hills. The French character here showed +itself entirely different from what popular belief had made it. John saw +no signs of panic. The battered brigades closed up and withdrew, turning +a steady and resolute face to the enemy. Their deadly artillery +continually swept the front of the advancing Germans, and at intervals +their riflemen sent back withering volleys. + +John's excitement did not abate. Again he loaded and fired his rifle, +until its barrel grew hot in his hand. The tumult was fierce and +deafening beyond all description. He shouted to his comrades and his +comrades shouted to him, but none could hear the sound of a human voice. +The roar of the explosions was mingled without ceasing with the whining +and shrieking of shrapnel and bullets. + +Yet the retreating army defeated every attempt to close with it. The +rifles and cannon mowed down the flankers to both right and left, and +their powerful guns drove the pursuing center to a respectful distance. +Toward night they came to a higher range of hills spreading to such a +distance that they could not be flanked, and, turning there, they sat +down, and waited, confident of their position. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE RIDE OF THREE + + +The battle, including the fighting retreat, had lasted a long time and +it had proved even to inexperienced John that the French force could not +stand before the superior numbers of the Germans, and their tremendous +equipment. And yet the French officers had shown much skill. They had +inflicted great losses, they had drawn off all their artillery, and they +had defeated every effort of their enemy to surround and destroy them. + +John felt that not everything was lost as they sat down on the hills and +began to fortify anew. There was no time for him to rest. He was only a +private soldier, and, armed with a spade, he worked at a trench with all +the strength and energy he could command. But his immediate friends of +the Strangers were of no higher rank than himself and they were beside +him engaged in the same task. "I'm only a new soldier," he said, "but it +seems to me we did pretty well to get off with our army and our guns." + +"So we did," said Carstairs. "I fancy the chief part of our occupation +will be retreating until the British come up." + +"There it goes," said Wharton. "Every Englishman has a fatal disease. +You can never cure him of being an Englishman. If a million French and a +hundred thousand English were to win a battle Carstairs would give all +the credit of it to the hundred thousand English." + +"I'd give it to 'em, because it belonged to 'em. Keep your fool Yankee +head down, Wharton. Didn't you hear that shell whistle?" + +"I heard it, and I heard a dozen others too," said John, who could not +keep from shivering a little. "Why do they keep on bothering us, when +we're now in too strong a position to be attacked, and the night too is +at hand?" + +"Oh, you'll get used to it," said Wharton. "They won't attack tonight, +but they want to keep us disturbed, to create terror among us, and then +we'll be easier, when they do come again." + +"I don't hear the giant any more." + +"You mean the forty-two centimeter. I fancy it's far in the rear. They +have to have roads on which to drag it, and then, so they say, it has to +be placed in a concrete bed before they can fire it." + +"At any rate their fire is dying," said Carstairs, "and I'm jolly glad +of it. I didn't get any sleep last night, and I want some tonight. I +need it, after this back-breaking work." + +Fortunately the trench was soon finished, and the long range firing +ceased entirely. The night came on, hiding the two armies from each +other, and fires sprang up in the French camp. Their light was ruddy and +cheerful. Then came the glorious aroma of food, and, the Strangers +called from their labors to the banquet, sat down and ate. + +John had heard all his life what cooks the French were, but nothing that +he had ever tasted before was like the food he ate and the coffee he +drank that night. Incessant marching and fighting gave a savor that +nothing else could impart. + +While they still sat around the cooking fires they saw dim shapes in the +heavens, and John, out of the depths of his experience, knew that they +were the flying machines. Carstairs and Wharton saw him looking up. + +"You may want to be there," said Wharton, "but I don't. I'd grow so +giddy I'd jump right out of the machine. This sound and rolling earth +suits me. I like its green grass, its rivers, its lakes and its +mountains, and I don't want to go off, prospecting for other planets." + +"It's lucky," said John, "that this army has flying machines of its own. +If it didn't the Germans would be raining bombs upon us." + +Carstairs shuddered. + +"There's something heathenish and uncanny about it," he said. "Soldiers, +by Jove, have to watch nowadays. If you're on the ship looking for an +enemy of your size the little submarine down under the water may blow +you to pieces, and if you're on the land holding your own against +another army a little aeroplane away up in the sky may drop a bomb that +will shatter you into seven million pieces." + +"It's a hard world, Carstairs," said Wharton, "but I think discomfort +rather than danger will come out of the sky tonight. The clouds are +piling up and there'll be heavy rain. John, you little old flying man, +won't that stop the Taubes?" + +"They wouldn't venture much in a heavy rain, and I think we're safe from +them, but you know that what their fliers can do ours can do too." + +"That being the case I'll settle myself for rest and sleep. The French +show us a lot of consideration as we've volunteered to fight for them, +and there are tents for the Strangers. You're to have a place in ours." + +John was grateful and said so. The strain of the last few days would +have overpowered him, but luckily he was exceedingly strong and +tenacious. Yet he was so tired that he could scarcely walk, and he was +very very glad to go into the tent with Carstairs and Wharton. He +received two blankets, and, putting one under him and the other over +him, he lay near the open flap, where he could get a good view of much +that was going on outside. + +He soon saw that it was to be no storm of thunder and lightning, but a +heavy soaking rain. The air too had turned colder, and he was grateful +for the blankets. He was becoming inured to hardship so fast that they +and the tent were as luxurious to him as a modern hotel would have +seemed two weeks before. + +Carstairs and Wharton, after a short combat in words, fell sound asleep, +but John lingered a little. He saw the fires burning smokily, and French +soldiers passing before the blaze. From where he lay he could also see +far out upon the plain that lay before them. But everything there was +veiled in heavy mists and low clouds. Although an army of perhaps a +hundred thousand men was only a short distance away the night disclosed +no trace of it. + +The rain began to fall soon, coming down as John had foreseen in a +strong, steady pour. The sound on the heavy canvas was so soothing that +his nerves relaxed and he slept. He was awakened at an unearthly hour by +the strong hand of Captain Colton pulling at his shoulder. + +As soon as John realized that it was his commanding officer he sprang to +his feet and saluted, although his eyes were yet heavy with sleep. It +was still raining and the water poured from a heavy cape coat that +Captain Colton wore over his uniform. Carstairs and Wharton were already +on their feet. + +"You three are chosen for a mission," said Captain Colton, "and I'll +tell it to you as briefly as I can. We've received news tonight that +another German force is coming from the northeast. If it gets upon our +flank we're lost, but there is a French army, and perhaps an English +force with it or near it to the west. If they can be brought up in time +they will protect our flank and save us--and also themselves. But we +must have trusty messengers. The flying machines can do little in the +storm. So we fall back on the ancient agencies. Can you ride, Mr. +Scott?" + +"Yes sir." + +"Then you three are to go at once. Other messengers will ride forth, but +I should feel very proud, if it were the Strangers who brought help." + +The little appeal was not lost on the three. He rapidly gave them +instructions about the point, at which the second French force was +supposed to be, and told them to ride for it as hard as they could, +giving to them sealed despatches also. Their own army would be falling +back meanwhile. + +"Both Carstairs and Wharton know this region and the roads," he said to +John, "and you keep with them. Are you ready?" + +"Yes sir," answered the three together. + +They stepped out into the rain, but forgetful of it. An orderly was +holding three horses. In an instant, they were in the saddle and away. +They passed through the lines and came out upon one of the splendid +French roads, the three abreast. The rain was beating in their faces, +but the orderly had tied cloaks to their saddles, and now they wrapped +them about their bodies. + +But John minded neither darkness, cold nor rain. Sensitive and quiet +there was some quality in him that always responded to the call of high +adventure. His mind was never keener, never more alert, and all his +strength of body had returned. Wharton and Carstairs rode on either side +of him, and he felt already as if they had been friends of years, +knitted to him by a thousand dangers shared. + +He looked back once at the intrenched camp, but the descent and curve of +the road already hid it in the darkness. He saw nothing but the black +outline of the hills, and low clouds floating across the whole horizon. +Ahead was a blank. He was in one of the most thickly populated regions +of the world, crowded with cities, but in the darkness and storm it +looked like a wilderness. + +Neither of his comrades spoke for a long time. He stole a look at his +watch, and saw that it was three o'clock in the morning. They crossed +two small rivers, foaming like torrents, and at the bridges reined into +a walk, lest the hoof-beats be heard too far. But they did not meet any +human being. Save for the road and the bridges the aspect of a +wilderness was complete. John knew that numerous villages lay near, but +in such a world war the people would put out their lights and keep close +in their houses. + +They turned after a while into a smaller road, leading more toward the +north. + +"The Uhlans may be in our rear," said Carstairs. "They seem to be +everywhere, and we don't want to be cut off just at the beginning of our +ride." + +"Rein in," said Wharton. "I hear cavalry passing on the road we've just +left." + +"Speak of Uhlans, and they appear," whispered John. + +They were Uhlans, no doubt. John recognized the helmets, but the men +were riding back toward the armies. He and his two comrades kept their +horses in the shadow of the bushes, and were in dread lest some movement +of their animals betray them, but the droning of the rain was the only +sound made. The Uhlans, about forty in number, rode on and the darkness +swallowed them up. + +"Since they've gone about their business we'd better go about ours," +said Wharton. + +"Those are the first wise words I've heard you speak in a half hour," +said Carstairs. + +"It's the first time I've spoken at all in a half hour," said Wharton. + +"Which way do we go now?" asked John. + +"Over a hill and far away," replied Carstairs. "To be more explicit +we're coming to the hill now, and about daylight we'll reach a little +village, where I think we'd better get food and news. You'll like the +country, John, when it stops raining and the sunlight comes. Oh, it's a +fair land, this land of France." + +"I've seen enough of it to know that," said John. "Lead on, and I'll be +glad to reach the next village. A wind has set up, and this rain cuts +cruelly." + +Carstairs rode in front, and for more than an hour they breasted the +storm almost in silence. They climbed the hill, passed down the other +side, crossed numerous brooks, and then saw reluctant daylight appearing +through the rain. + +John with the new caution that he had learned looked up. But the clouds +were so heavy that he saw nothing there, not a dirigible, not a Taube, +nor any form of aeroplane. Traveling, even on the business of an army, +was still better on land. + +"There's our village," said Wharton, pointing to a pleasant valley in +which tiled roofs and the spire of a church showed. + +"And there we'll be in fifteen minutes," said Carstairs. "I'm full of +enthusiasm for the mission on which we ride as you two are also of +course, but it will fairly overflow after I have a good warm breakfast." + +Despite the earliness of the hour peasants were up and they watched with +curiosity the three horsemen who approached. But enough of the uniform +of the strangers showed, despite their cloaks, to indicate that they +belonged to the French army, and they were welcome. An old man with a +scythe, pointed toward an inn, and the three, increasing their speed, +rode straight for it. + +"I hope they'll have good coffee," said John. + +"And fine bread," said Carstairs. + +"And choice bacon," said Wharton. + +"And plenty of eggs to go with the bacon," said John. + +It was but a little village, forty or fifty houses, set among the hills, +but in times of peace many people must have gone that way, because it +had one of the best road inns that John had ever entered. They were +early but the landlord soon had the flames going in a wide fire-place, +before which the three stood, warming themselves and drying their +clothes. And the heavy aromas arising promised that the coffee, bacon +and all the rest would be everything they wished. + +A boy held their horses near the main door which stood open that they +might see. The three were a unit on this precaution. If by any possible +chance their horses were lost their mission in all likelihood would be +lost too. John, new recruit, nevertheless felt the full importance of +watching. He stood with his back to the fire, where he could see the +sturdy French boy, the reins of the three horses in his hands. + +But he did not forget how good that fire felt. The great cape had not +been able to protect him wholly from the rain, and, despite the +excitement of their ride, he had become conscious that he was cold and +wet. Now the grateful warmth penetrated to his bones, and vitality +returned. + +As he remained there, turning about a little before the fire but always +keeping his eyes on the door, he saw the villagers come down in the rain +and look in, some at the open door and some at the windows. None of them +spoke, but all gazed intently at the three in French uniform who stood +before the fire. + +John knew why they had come and he was singularly moved by their silent, +pathetic stare. They were hoping to hear good news, at least one little +bit of it--these good French villagers whose soil was trodden again by +an enemy who seemed invincible. Just as the breakfast was being laid +upon the table the landlord said to them: + +"Have you nothing for these brave people of ours, who, as you see, wait +at the windows? They are the old men, the very young and the women. All +the others are gone to the war. Yesterday we heard the sound of guns for +a long time. Have you no success to report for France?" + +The three shook their heads sadly and Wharton replied for them. + +"Not yet," he said. "We belong to the French army engaged in the battle +that you heard yesterday. But it was driven back again. The Germans come +in overwhelming force, and we cannot withstand their numbers, but we +were able to draw off with all our guns and leave them no prisoners." + +The landlord said nothing in reply, but presently all those wistful and +waiting faces disappeared. Then the breakfast was ready, and a fourth +traveler, wet and cold as they had been, arrived. John saw him give the +reins of his horse to the waiting boy before he came to the door, where +he stood a moment, awaiting the landlord's welcome. + +The stranger was in a French uniform, faded and dripping so much water +that he must have been in the rain a long time. He was about thirty, +medium in height, his face covered with much black beard, and John saw +that he was staggering from weakness. But Monsieur Gaussin, the +landlord, a man of kindly heart, had perceived that fact also, and he +stepped forward quickly. + +"Thank you for your arm, good host," said the stranger. "I am weak, but +if I am so it is because I've ridden all night in the rain for France." + +"A French soldier," said Monsieur Gaussin, opening wide his heart, "and +you ride for France! Then you are not alone on such errands. Behold the +three young men who are about to honor me by eating a breakfast, for +which I shall take no pay." + +Gaussin too was not without a touch of the dramatic instinct, and he +proudly waved his arm, across which the white napkin lay, toward John, +Carstairs and Wharton. + +"When you have warmed and dried yourself a little and have drank a glass +of this fine old liquor of mine," he said benignantly, "you shall join +them." + +"And we shall welcome you as a comrade," said Wharton. "We are not +French--two Americans and one English--but we fight with the French and +their cause is ours. My friends are Carstairs and Scott, and my own name +is Wharton." + +"And mine is Weber," said the man, "Fernand Weber, an Alsatian, hoping +and praying that Alsace and all Alsatians may now be restored to +France." + +The good Monsieur Gaussin murmured sympathetically. + +"But we must suffer and do much before we regain our lost provinces," +Weber said. + +"Will you not join us at the table?" asked Carstairs politely. + +"Gladly, as soon as I have removed this wet coat," replied Weber. + +As soon as he took off the outer garment they saw a stain of red across +his left sleeve, and the good Monsieur Gaussin again murmured +sympathetically. + +"It's nothing," laughed Weber. "The Uhlans are abroad, as you may have +discovered for yourself. They ride over the whole country, and in the +night I was chased by them. The bullet creased my arm, but I carry the +emergency bandage. One, two, three, I made it fast, and here we are." + +There was something attractive in his manner, his frankness, and the +light way in which he dismissed his adventure. The hearts of the three +warmed toward one who rode perilously for France as they were doing. + +"Come," said John, "you must be starving to death. We certainly are, and +if I'm kept any longer from this heavenly coffee there'll be a +rebellion." + +Annette, the neat maid who was serving them smiled, and Monsieur Gaussin +smiled also. But Weber did not keep them waiting. He slid into the +fourth chair that had been placed, and, for a little space, gastronomy +of the most harmonious kind prevailed. + +"From which direction do you come?" asked Carstairs. + +"North," replied Weber flashing a smile from gray eyes. + +John thought his eyes good, but all the lower part of his face was +concealed by the beard. + +"I hope you're doing better there than we are on the east," said +Carstairs. + +"Have you, then, had bad luck?" asked Weber. + +"I'd scarcely blame any part of it on luck. Jove, but it's just a plain +case of the other side being ready, while we are not." + +"And you ride then for help?" + +"Something of that kind, although of course we couldn't tell anybody +where we are going." + +"And I shall not dream of asking you. I know a soldier's duty too well. +I ride on an errand myself, but I shall not refuse to tell you anything +because you are not going to ask me." + +All four laughed. John liked Weber better and better. He saw that he was +a cheerful man, with a touch of humor, and he heartened the other three +mightily. + +Weber told that the French were now well ahead with their preparations, +the English were beginning to stir and presently the Germans would find +the armies before them much more powerful. + +"On what road did you receive your wound?" asked John. "You won't mind +telling us this, I hope, because that will be a good road for us to +avoid." + +"The Uhlans may have passed on," replied Weber, shrugging his shoulders, +"but it was the road from the north. I encountered them about fifteen +miles from here. It was so dark that I couldn't see very well, but I +don't think they numbered more than half a dozen." + +"We were going on that road," said Carstairs rising, "but perhaps we'd +better take the western one for the present. We have to hurry. Good-by, +Mr. Weber, we're glad we met you, and we hope that transfer of the title +deeds of Alsace real estate will take place." + +Weber's gray eyes beamed. + +"It's good of another race to help us," he said. All three shook hands +with him, said friendly farewells to the benignant Monsieur Gaussin and +the neat Annette, and hurried to their horses. + +"A good fellow that Weber," said Carstairs as they swung into their +saddles. "I hope we'll swing Alsace and Lorraine too, back into France +for him." + +"If it's done," said Wharton, "England will claim that she did it." + +"A perfectly justifiable claim." + +Wharton turned upon John a look of despair. + +"Can you ever change a single idea of theirs?" he asked. "They're quite +sure they've done everything." + +"There's one race," said John, "to whom they yield." + +"I never heard of it." + +"Oh yes, you have. When Sandy of the long red locks comes down from the +high hills London capitulates at once. Don't you know, Wharton, that +Great Britain and all her colonies are ruled by the Scotch?" + +Carstairs broke into a hearty laugh. + +"You have me there, Wharton," he said. "Certainly we're ruled by the +Scotch. We have to let them do it or they'd make the country so +disagreeable there'd be no living in it. Jove, but I wish I could hear +the bagpipes now and see a hundred thousand of their red heads coming +over the hills. It's such fine country around here that they'd never let +the Germans have it." + +"I like them too," said John. "They're brave men and they speak a sort +of English." + +Carstairs laughed. + +"Don't criticize their English unless you want a fight," he said. "A man +is often proudest of what he lacks." + +"Just so, Carstairs, and I've often wondered too why so few of the +English can speak their own language." + +"Shut up, Scott! You've joined Wharton and two against one is not fair. +Confound this rain! I wish it would stop! I'm getting wet and cold +again. Here the road forks, and Weber said he came down from the north." + +"And since he got a bullet in the arm the northern road is bad for us," +said Wharton. "If you two agree we'll turn to the west." + +"The west for us," said John and Carstairs together. + +The country was hillier and more wooded than usual, but they saw little +of it, as it was enveloped in a cloud of rain and mist. Nor did they +meet any other travelers on the road, a fact which did not surprise +them, as the whole region was now almost deserted by everybody save +soldiers. + +The high spirits they had accumulated at the inn were soon dissipated. +It was impossible to remain gay, when one was sodden through and +through. The rain came down, as if it meant to do so forever, and all +the valleys were filled with mists and vapors. But the road clean and +well paved led straight on, and Wharton and Carstairs seemed to know it +well. + +"Another inn would suit me," said John who was the first to speak in +more than an hour. "I shouldn't want to stop because I know we haven't +time for it, but I'd like to look in at the window, as I rode by, and +see the fire blazing." + +"You'll see nothing of that kind before one o'clock in the afternoon," +said Carstairs. "Then we come to another neat little village, and +another good inn. We'll have to stop there for our horses to feed, as we +gave them nothing this morning. So you can do more than look at the +window and see the blazing fire." + +The road led now between high hedges, and they heard a report some +distance to their right. Wharton who was in front suddenly pulled back +his horse. + +"What's the matter?" the other two exclaimed together. + +"A bee stung me," replied Wharton grimly. + +He held up his left hand. The blood was flowing from a thin red line +across the back of it. + +"A bullet did that!" exclaimed Carstairs. + +A second report came, and John felt a rush of air past his face. + +"Gallop, boys, gallop!" exclaimed Wharton. "Somebody has ambushed us, +Uhlans, I suppose, and we've got to run!" + +"They must be in the fields!" said Carstairs, as the three urged their +horses at once to their utmost speed. Luckily, they had been coming at a +slow pace and their mounts were strong. + +John thought rapidly. The modern high-powered rifle carried far, and he +judged by the faintness of the reports that the bullets had been fired +from a point several hundred yards away. They had done under impulse the +very thing they ought to do, and their present speed would soon leave +the raiders behind. + +The three rode neck and neck and as they galloped on two more bullets +whistled near them. + +"An ambush," said Carstairs coolly, "but we've rushed through it." + +"Anyway, our luck is better than Weber's," said Wharton. "He was pinked +in the arm and we're unhurt. At least I think so. How are you, Scott?" + +"Well but scared." + +"I believe the first statement, but not the second And you Carstairs." + +"Well but annoyed." + +"I believe both your statements." + +"Is it your recollection that these hedges continue far, Carstairs?" +asked Wharton. + +"Five or six miles at least." + +"That's mine too, but I hoped I was wrong. It gives those bushwackers an +advantage. With the hedges right beside us we can't see well over them, +but they on the hills at a distance can look down on us." + +"You Yankees are sometimes right, Wharton, and this is one of the times. +Those fellows, whoever they are, will probably get a few more shots at +us. I'll lay you two to one they don't hit us." + +"I never bet against my sympathies. Ping! didn't you hear it! There was +a bullet, five seconds after you offered to bet." + +"Yes, I know it. Here's the lock of hair it cut from my head." + +He took the hair from his coat, where it had fallen, and let it flutter +away. He did not show any alarm. Already it had become the pride of the +three never to betray apprehension. John's face was like a mask, +although his heart was beating hard. A whistle over his head showed that +a bullet had passed there and he heard its plunk as it buried itself in +a tree on the other side of the road. + +He remembered with some consolation that the modern, small, high-powered +rifle bullet, unless it killed, did not do so very much harm. It went +through one so fast that it did not tear flesh or break bones, and the +wounds it made were quick to heal. + +Ping! Ping! and once more ping! They reached the crest of the hill and +went swiftly down the other slope. + +"I think we'll leave them behind here," said Carstairs. "We gain, as +we've the open road, while they're obstructed in fields." + +"I hope you're a true prophet, Carstairs," said Wharton. "I'm growing +reconciled to an army shooting at me, but I would hate to be picked off +by an ambushed sharpshooter." + +Carstairs was a true prophet in this case. No more shots came and as +they entered flat country with open fields, in which they could see +everything they slowed to a walk, and not too soon, for the horses were +breathing heavily, their mouths covered with foam. Then in order to +spare their tired animals the three dismounted and walked a mile, +leading them by the bridles. + +"I'd never have thought the Uhlans were in the rear of our army," said +Carstairs. + +"I'm not at all surprised," said John. + +"Why not?" + +"Because I shall never be surprised at anything the Germans do. You +English have fallen into the bad habit of thinking that what you haven't +done nobody else does." + +"I see," said Carstairs with a laugh. "Hit the poor old Britisher. You +Yankees are so used to it that you can't get out of the habit, even here +and now, when you and I are allies." + +"But it's the truth, the real vital truth," said John earnestly. "The +Germans are ahead of you. They're like a medieval knight clad in steel +and armed from head to foot, going out to fight a peasant in homespun. +And you're the peasant in homespun, Carstairs." + +"England is slow, I admit, but when she once takes hold she never lets +go." + +"Unless she takes hold, when there's something to take hold of it's no +use." + +"Stop quarreling with him, Scott," said Wharton. "That's my job, and you +can't take it from me. I've set two tasks for myself, one to defeat the +German army and one to change Carstairs, and I tell you confidentially, +John, that I think the defeat of the German army will prove the easier +of the two." + +"Look how those banks of fog are rolling up," said Carstairs. "The rain +is decreasing, but in a quarter of an hour we won't be able to see a +thing twenty yards away." + +"We shall welcome the fog," said John, who was beginning to feel now +that he was on equal terms with the other two. + +"So, we should," said Carstairs, "but does fog conduct sound well?" + +"I don't know," replied John. "Why?" + +"Because I think I hear a noise a long distance to the right. It has a +rolling, grinding quality, but that doesn't help me to tell what makes +it." + +The three stopped, and with all their senses alert listened. Both John +and Wharton heard the sound, but they were unable to tell its nature. +The fog meanwhile was closing in, heavy and almost impenetrable. + +"I think," said John, "we ought to see what it is. The thing is +projecting itself squarely across our path. We've got a mission, but the +more news we take the better." + +Wharton and Carstairs agreed with him, and finding a low place in the +hedge that ran beside the road they forced their way through it. They +were remounted now, and the rest had made the horses fit for either a +fight or a race. + +They rode across the field and then through a belt of open forest, but +the fog was so dense they were compelled to keep close together lest +they lose one another. The rolling sound increased and now other notes +came with it. A little farther and they saw dim lights in the fog. + +"An army," whispered Carstairs, "and the torch-bearers are showing the +way through the fog. Now what kind of an army is it?" + +"German of course," said Wharton. "We know well enough that no French +force is near here. It's a part of the flood that's bearing down on +France and Belgium." + +"There are more trees here to the right," said John. "Let's enter them +and get a better view. Even if we were seen we could escape anybody in +this fog." + +"Good idea," said Carstairs. "I'm as anxious as you to know more. This +fair land of France is bearing strange fruit now." + +Keeping a wary eye for Uhlans who must be somewhere near they rode with +all the courage of youth into a clump of trees that grew upon a hillock +close to the road. There, in the shelter of the foliage, they looked +down upon what was passing. + +"Busy Bertha!" said Wharton. + +John beheld a giant cannon, one of the mighty howitzers which he had +treated as a fable, a soldier's idle dream, until he had heard it +booming in the night. But here was another drawn by a powerful motor. +Its monster mouth was turned up at an angle toward the sky, and in the +fog lighted only by the torches the thing became alive to John, huge and +misshapen, dragging itself over the ground, devouring human beings as it +went, like the storied dragons of old. + +He glanced at his comrades and saw that the monster had taken hold of +them in the same way. They were regarding it with a kind of awe, and yet +it was not alone. Its sinister shape merely predominated over everything +else. It was preceded and followed by many other cannon, giants +themselves, but overshadowed by the mammoth. + +Motors drew most of the great guns, and there were thousands more +carrying soldiers, arms and various kinds of equipment. Behind them came +vast masses of gray infantry, marching with the steady German tread. The +heavy fog, which the torches lighted but dimly, magnified and distorted +everything, and the sight was uncanny and terrifying. + +John had the deepest respect for German arms. He knew the strong and +tenacious German nature, and he had had some insight into the mighty +preparations of the empire. Now he saw them rolling down every road upon +France, and, for a little while he did not see how they could be beaten, +not though all the world combined against them. The mammoth cannon +moving slowly on through the fog typified their irresistible advance. + +"I think we've seen enough," said Wharton. "We'd better be up and away." + +"Too much for me," said Carstairs. "My eye what a gun!" + +"It looks more like a dragon to me," said John. + +They wheeled and rode away over the wet ground, which gave back but +little sound of hoofs, and soon they were again on their own road, +bearing to the west. They were very thoughtful, but their own risks of +the morning from the hidden bullets were forgotten. The mind of every +one of the three turned forward. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE DRAGONS OF THE AIR + + +About mid-morning the rain ceased, the fog rose, and was soon scattered +by a powerful sun. The beautiful country, fresh and green, reappeared. +It was the fair land of France again and John rejoiced. His uniform +dried fast upon him, and his spirits rose steadily. He saw the ruddy +glow return to the cheeks of his comrades, and the horses seemed to grow +stronger. The sky, washed by the rain, was a solid blue, and the air was +crisp with the wine of life. + +"It's good to breathe and live!" exclaimed Wharton joyously. + +"You Yankees talk too much," said Carstairs. + +"And you English talk at the wrong time." + +"Generally we let our deeds talk for us." + +"Then you don't say much." + +John laughed. The pleasant way in which they quarreled always amused +him. + +"I promised not to take the side of either of you at any time," he said. +"You seem to be about evenly matched, and of course it wouldn't be fair +for me in such a case to help my countryman." + +"Two to one against us are about the odds we English like," said +Carstairs. + +"Boaster," said Wharton. "Position and army equal we could always whip +you, man for man." + +"Boaster yourself. Whenever we didn't whip you you'd always say that the +position and arms were not equal." + +"Stop long enough to look at those birds in the heavens," said John. + +"Yes I see them," said Carstairs. "There are four but they're flying +very high." + +"No, they're five," said Wharton. "There's one on the left detached from +the others." + +"You're both wrong," said John, smiling from the depths of his superior +knowledge. "They're not birds at all." + +"Then what under the sun can they be?" + +"Aeroplanes. Flying machines." + +"Well you ought to know your kind of carriage. You've been up in one of +them. Whose are they, I wonder?" + +"I can't tell, they're so high, but I'd judge from the shape that +they're the German Taubes." + +Carstairs and Wharton looked grave. + +"They're far over French territory," said Carstairs. + +"So they are," said John, "but you're likely to see them much farther." + +"I should think that if they went on they'd meet the French flyers," +said Wharton, "and then there'd be some lively scenes up in the shining +blue." + +"They're ready to take the risks," said John. "I believe the Germans are +willing to dare anything in this war. They think the world is against +them and has resolved to crush them because the other nations are +jealous. Their men higher up, the princes and the big military leaders +have made them think so, and nothing on earth can ever shake them in the +belief." + +"You're probably right," said Wharton, "but our German birds seem to be +gathering for something. Look how close together they hover now." + +"And they're almost directly over our heads!" said John, a thrill of +alarm shooting through him. "And see they're dropping down fast!" + +"Which means?" + +"Which means that they've seen us, that they've noted our French +uniforms through powerful glasses, and that they're getting ready to +swoop." + +"Let 'em come!" said Wharton defiantly. "I never thought to take part in +this kind of dove hunting, but if the Taubes will attack they must take +the consequences." + +He eased his rifle across his saddle bow. All three of them carried the +modern, high-powered rifle which could kill at a tremendous range. +Neither Wharton nor Carstairs yet felt any apprehension, but John knew +better. + +"Those are armored machines," he said, "and unless our bullets are very +lucky indeed they'll glance off their steel sides." + +"Armored flying machines!" exclaimed Carstairs. "I never heard of such +things!" + +"No, but you're hearing now. These Germans will teach you a lot! Why +they even have Taubes that carry light machine guns." + +"What ought we to do?" + +John by reason of his brief experience in the air had suddenly become +the leader, and the others recognized it. + +"We must leave the road and make for those trees. They'll give us some +protection!" + +He pointed to a little grove two hundred yards away. The three sent +their horses crashing through the hedge and galloped for it. Overhead +the aeroplanes swooped lower and lower, like gigantic birds, darting at +their prey. + +It was John who came nearest to a full realization of their danger. His +experience with Lannes had shown him the power of the flying machines +and the skill and daring of the flying men. In the brief gallop toward +the wood a succession of terrifying emotions flowed through his mind. + +He remembered reading in some old book of primeval man and his constant +menace from vast reptilian monsters clad in huge scales, as thick and +hard as steel. It had never made much impression upon him. It was too +far away and vague, but now it all came back with amazing detail and +vividness. + +He and his comrades were primeval men, and these swooping planes, shod +with steel, were the ancient monsters seeking their prey. The air too +was filled then with gigantic birds, enormous of beak and claw, from +which man could find refuge only in caves or thick, tangled woods, and +just such birds were seeking them now. + +[Illustration] "Overhead the aeroplanes swooped lower and lower like +gigantic birds." + +But two hundred yards to the grove and yet it seemed two miles! His +powerful imagination could already hear over his head the rush of the +aeroplanes, like the swoop of monster wings, and he felt himself bending +low in the saddle, lest his head be struck by an iron beak. + +A rifle cracked in the air, and a bullet struck the ground between two +of the horses. Then came a sinister burr-r-r and shots rained near them. +It was a machine gun in one of the aeroplanes, flying so low now that +the angle at which it was fired was not acute. + +John was brave and his will was so strong that it had great control over +his sensitive and imaginative mind. Yet he was never in his life more +terrified. That vivid picture of primeval man fleeing with all his might +from monsters of the air, grew more vivid every moment. He was fairly +drenched in terror, as his dim ancestor must have been in like case, nor +was he ashamed of it. He had one look each at his comrades, and their +faces were ghastly white. He knew that his emotions were theirs too. + +The bullets flew thicker, but aim is uncertain, when one is flying from +a moving machine in the air, at speeding targets, and most of the +bullets flew wide. Carstairs was grazed on the shoulder, and Wharton's +horse was touched lightly on the flank, but gasping, both horses and +riders, they plunged into the wood, reckless alike of trees and +undergrowth, desperately seeking safety from the winged terrors that +pursued them. + +It was fortunate for the three fugitives that it was not the ordinary +European wood, trimmed and pruned like a park. It was heavy with +foliage, and there was much undergrowth, in which the horse of Carstairs +tripped and fell, throwing him. But he did not begrudge that, as the +vines and bushes not only broke his fall, but meant safety. + +"Since you're down Carstairs," said Wharton, "it's the duty of a comrade +to join you." + +He sprang off his own horse and stood, rifle in hand, among the bushes. +John also dismounted, although in more leisurely fashion. His heart had +ceased to beat so heavily when they entered the wood. The immediate +anger of being snapped up by those giants of the air passed and the +revulsion of feeling came. His pulses were still drumming in his ears, +but he heard a louder throbbing above the trees. The angry and +disappointed monsters were hovering there, still seeking their prey. + +Bullets pattered on the leaves and twigs, but they went wide. The three +horses shivered in terror, and the one that had been touched on the +flank uttered a shrill neigh of distress. John took the lead. + +"The undergrowth is thicker on our right," he said. "We must take our +horse into it. They won't be able to get more than glimpses of us +there." + +"Right!" said Carstairs, "I think I can walk that far now. The strength +is coming back into my knees, and I don't think they'll double under me. +I don't mind telling you fellows that I was never before in my life so +scared." + +"Your confession is mine too," said Wharton. + +They reached the new refuge without harm, although more shots were fired +from the planes. The density of the bushes there was due to a small +stream flowing through the wood, and while the horses were still +exposed, in a measure, they found almost complete cover for themselves. +The three lay down in the thicket and pointed upward the muzzles of +their rifles. + +The throbbing and droning over their heads had never ceased, and through +the leaves they saw the armored planes hovering about not far above the +tops of the trees. But the fugitives in their screen of leaf and thicket +had become invisible. + +"We'll have to chance it with our horses," whispered Wharton, "but for +ourselves we may be able to give back as good as we send. Scott, are you +a sharpshooter?" + +"I'm a pretty good marksman, and I think I could hit one of those things +if it should slow down." + +"I suggest," said Carstairs, "that when one of us fires he immediately +move away at least six or eight yards. Then they won't be able to locate +us by the shots." + +"Good for you old Britisher," said Wharton, "you do have moments of +intelligence." + +"Wharton, I'd like to say as much for you." + +Both laughed but the laugh was uneasy and unnatural. It was merely the +force of habit, compelling them to seek some sort of relief through +words. + +The planes had come together in a group for a few moments, but afterward +they made a wide separation and flew about swiftly in irregular circles. +John knew that it was meant to disturb the aim of those below, because +the flying men had certainly seen that they carried rifles. + +John crouched under a bush, and with the muzzle of his high-powered +rifle turned upward, continually sought a target through the leaves. In +those moments of danger and fierce anger he did not have left a single +scruple against taking the life of man. They had hunted him +remorselessly in a strange and terrific way. His first illusion that +they were gigantic birds of prey remained, and he would be doing a +service to the world, if he slew them. + +A rifle cracked almost in his ear and Wharton uttered a little cry of +disappointment. + +"I heard the bullet thud on the metal side of that Taube," he said. "It +isn't fair fighting us this way." + +Then he and John, following the suggestion of Carstairs, promptly moved +to another point in the bushes. Three bullets from the Taubes struck +near the place they had just left. But John still watching had caught +sight of a head and body, the two hands grasping a rifle projecting over +the side of a Taube. Quick as a flash he fired, and with an aim that was +literally as sure as death. + +The man in the Taube heaved up, as if wrenched by an electric shock, +then plunged head-foremost over the side and fell clear, his rifle +dropping before him. John caught a swift vision of a falling figure +sprawled out hideously, and then he heard the rending crash of twigs and +branches followed by a heavy thump. His heart thrilled with horror. +Those were human beings after all, up there in the air, and not primeval +birds of prey. + +"That one!" said Wharton. "Good shot, Scott!" + +John's horror passed. He was still fighting for his life, and it was the +men in the air who had attacked. He moved away again and by chance he +came to the tiny brook, on which the bushes were strung like a thread. +Lying flat on his face he drank, and he was astonished to find that he +was so thirsty. Rising to his knees he glanced at his comrades and at +the hovering aeroplanes. They had flown high out of the reach of +bullets, and had drawn together as if for council. One of the horses +rearing and threshing with fright had been killed by shots from the +aeroplanes, but John did not notice it, until this moment. The other two +tethered by their bridles to bushes had tried to break loose, but had +failed. Now they were trembling all over, and were covered with +perspiration. John felt sorry for them. + +But the water had refreshed him wonderfully. He had not known before how +hot and dry his throat had become. He invited his comrades to drink too, +and they followed his example. Then they lay on their backs, and watched +the council in the air. They could even hear the distant drumming of +their motors. The machine, out of which John had shot the aviator, had +carried two men, because there it was in the group with the others. + +John's old and powerful feeling that he was at the end of one era and at +the beginning of another, involving many new forces, returned with +increased strength. To be besieged by enemies overhead was one of them, +and, for the present at least, he saw no way of escape from the grove. + +The sun was now in the zenith. The clouds, having gone away, made a +clean sweep of it. There was not a fleck of dusk in the burning blue of +the sky. The aeroplanes were outlined against it, as clearly as if they +had been pictures in oil on canvas. The sun, great and golden, poured +down fire, but it did not reach the three in the thicket. + +"I wish I knew what those fellows were planning," said Carstairs. "At +least they give us a rest, while they arrange for our destruction." + +"But we're not destroyed yet, and you don't think it either, Carstairs," +said Wharton. "Whatever I've said against you Britishers, I've never +said you lacked courage." + +"And if you had said it I'd have known that you didn't mean it." + +Then the two shook hands in silence. Wharton closed his eyes and +pretended to be asleep. + +"What are they doing, John?" he asked presently. + +"Still in council. A plane heavier than the others, evidently the one +that has the machine gun is in the center. I judge therefore that it +also carries the commander of the fleet." + +"Acute reasoning. Wake me up when they seem to be starting anything. +Meanwhile I can't be bothered, because a few aeroplanes choose to use +our heavens." + +He stretched himself, and breathed deeply and peacefully. But John knew +well enough that he was not asleep. His rifle lay by his side, where it +could be snatched up in a moment, and now and then his eyes opened to +watch through the bushes the foe circling aloft. Carstairs also lay down +bye and bye, but John remained sitting, the thick boughs of a bush +covering him. + +"Something has happened," he announced after awhile. "One of the planes, +the smallest, I think is flying away toward the east." + +The others sat up. The aeroplane, high in air, was going at tremendous +speed. The others remained over the grove, swinging about lazily in +circles, but too high for the rifles. + +"Now, Carstairs," said Wharton, "you English pretend to omniscience. So, +tell us at once what that means." + +"If anybody had omniscience it would be we British of course, but I +confess, Wharton, that this is beyond me. That aeroplane is certainly +going fast. Now it's as big as my hand, now it's the size of an egg, now +it's a dot and now it's gone." + +"Perhaps it's seeking help," said John. + +"I don't see why," said Wharton. "Enough are left to hold us in this +grove. Their only difficulty is in getting at us. Even if they brought +more the trees and the foliage would still be here to protect us." + +"That's true," admitted John. "Then it may have been damaged by some of +our bullets." + +"But it left like a racer. I don't know how these machines are built, +but I'd wager from the way it flew that not a wheel or spring or screw +or rivet in it was damaged." + +"The others are evidently waiting for it to come back." + +"How do you make out that?" + +"Because they merely float about beyond our reach and don't try anything +against us. The day's passing, and if they didn't have some plan +dependent on the machine that left, they'd be at work now trying to +shoot us up." + +Carstairs reached over and patted John on the head. "You talk sense, +Scott," he said, "if it weren't for your accent you could pass for an +Englishman." + +"Then I'll see that he never changes his accent," said Wharton. + +"I think I'll take a nap," said Carstairs, "and I really mean it. The +grass and the bushes were heavy with rain when we came in here, although +we didn't notice it, but the fine sun up there has dried everything now, +and I've a good bed." + +He lay very comfortably, with his head on a mound of turf, but he did +not close his eyes. The lids were lowered but nevertheless he watched +the heavens. + +"Sorry for those poor horses of ours," he said. "One's killed and the +other two, I suppose, will be scared to death before this thing's over." + +"And then we'll have to walk," said Wharton. + +"But we'll go on just the same." + +"We can buy new horses, at the next village. No more walking for mine +than I can help." + +John was intently watching the eastern horizon. He was longing now for +Lannes' powerful glasses. Nevertheless his eyesight was good, the best +of the three, and presently the great pulse in his throat began to leap. +But he did not say anything yet. He wanted to make sure. He waited a +minute and then he said: + +"A black dot has reappeared in the eastern sky. It's so tiny you +couldn't see it unless you swept your eyes around the circle until they +met it." + +Carstairs sat up. + +"Where?" he asked. + +"Begin as I told you and sweep your eyes around the circle." + +"Ah, I see it now! Or maybe it's just a mote in the dancing sunbeams." + +"Oh no, it's not. Watch it grow. It's an aeroplane, and I'd wager +everything against next to nothing that it's the one that left a little +while ago. Whatever it went to do it's done." + +"Upon my soul, I think you're right. It is growing as you say. Now the +dot becomes a black spot as big as an egg, now it grows to the size of +your hand, and now the shape of a flying machine, coming at terrific +speed, emerges. The whole process of departure is reversed." + +"And it's making straight for that overhanging group," said Wharton. + +John watched the big birds of prey await the messenger, and again he +longed intently for Lannes' powerful glasses. The returning machine was +received by the others which formed a circle about it, and for some +minutes they hung there in close company. + +His nerves began to quiver again with excitement. He was sure that it +was a menace. The small aeroplane would not have gone away on a mission +without some excellent reason. Sure of his leafy covert he stood up, and +watched the group which now circled almost exactly over their heads. +Carstairs and Wharton stood beside him, and again they turned to him as +the leader, now that it was an affair of the air. + +"What do you make of it?" asked Carstairs, anxiously. + +"It means harm, some new method of attack," said John, "but for the life +of me I can't guess what it is." + +"Then we've merely got to wait," said Wharton. + +The three were standing close together, and a chill seemed to pass from +one to another. That great danger threatened not one of the three +doubted, and its mysterious character made it all the more formidable. + +The aeroplanes drew apart a little and again circled about lazily. John +began to have a hope that nothing would happen after all, when suddenly +he saw a flash in the thickets and heard a stunning roar. A piece of +metal whistled past his head, and leaves and twigs fell in a shower. + +Acting partly from reason and partly from impulse he seized both Wharton +and Carstairs and dragged them to the ground. + +"A bomb!" he cried. "I had forgotten about bombs, although I've seen +them used before. They had none with them and the little aeroplane went +back to a hangar somewhere for a supply! They'll drop more and we'll be +safer lying down!" + +"You're right of course," said Wharton. "It's all as simple as day now. +There goes the second!" + +Came another flash and roar, but this time the bomb fell farther away, +and the metal fragments flew high over their heads. A third followed +with the same result, and they began to feel encouraged. + +"Of course they have to drop them at random," said John, "and throwing +down bombs from an aeroplane high in air is largely an affair of +chance." + +"Still," said Wharton, "I feel as if I would like to burrow in the +earth, not merely for a foot or two, but for at least a hundred feet, +where the biggest bomb ever made by the Germans couldn't reach me." + +Carstairs uttered a cry of joy. + +"What can you find to be glad about in a situation like this?" asked +Wharton. + +"I've been poking through the bushes and I find just beside us a deep +gully." + +"A trench made and ready for us! Come, we'll be the boys in the +trenches!" + +They passed through the bushes and dropped down in the gully which was +in truth a great natural help to them. It was certain that in time a +bomb would strike near, but unless it dropped directly on them they +would be protected by their earthen walls from its flying fragments. And +the odds were greatly against a bomb falling where they lay. The +revulsion of feeling was so great that they became jovial. + +"You've never agreed with me more than once or twice, Carstairs," said +Wharton, "but I don't think you'll dispute it, when I say this is a +fine, friendly little ravine." + +"The finest I ever saw. I'm an expert in ravines. I made a specialty of +'em all through my boyhood, and I never saw another the equal of this." + +"Now, they're guessing badly," said John, as a bomb burst in the far +edge of the grove, some distances away. + +"I wish we could find shelter for our horses," said Carstairs. "Those +fellows in the air undoubtedly have glasses, and, not being able to see +us, they may choose to demolish our remaining two beasts." + +"There goes one now!" exclaimed John, as another bomb burst and a shrill +neigh of pain followed. + +A horse had been struck by two fragments, and wild with pain and terror +it reared, struggled, finally broke its bridle, and galloped out into +the fields, where it fell dead from loss of blood. + +"Poor beast," muttered Carstairs, "I've always loved horses, and I'd +like to get a little revenge." + +"Maybe we can get it by waiting," said John, who was rapidly developing +the qualities of leadership. "They can't possibly see us here in the +gully which is lined thickly on either side with bushes." + +"And you think if we lie quiet," said Wharton, "that they'll come down +lower to see what damage they've done." + +"That's my idea." + +"You do seem to have a good head on you for a Yankee," said Carstairs. + +They were silent a long time. Two more bombs were dropped but they did +not strike near them. John heard the remaining horse straining at his +bridle, and threshing among the bushes, but he did not succeed in +breaking loose. + +He was very comfortable among some leaves in the gully, but he was on +his back, and he did not cease to watch the aeroplanes, drifting lazily +between him and the heavens. It was hard to judge distances in the air, +but he had watched them so long and so closely that they seemed to him +after a while to be flying lower. Patient as the Germans were, they must +see sometime or other whether their bombs had destroyed the fugitives in +the grove. + +"They're coming down toward the tops of the trees," he whispered. "Since +they haven't heard from us for so long they've probably concluded that +their bombs have finished us." + +"They'll soon find out better," said Carstairs savagely. "That last +horse they killed was mine, and the poor brute was torn horribly by +pieces of the bomb." + +John looked at him curiously. + +"War is war," he said. + +"I know it," replied Carstairs, "and that's why I shall be so particular +to take good aim, when they drop within range. Confound it, I wish they +didn't have those armored machines." + +"Still they're bound to expose themselves now and then," said John, "or +they can't see us." + +They now knelt in the gully waiting for the Taubes, which were softly +sinking lower and lower. All three were sharpshooters, and they had +anger and the love of life to wing their aim. + +"Suppose we pick our men," said John. "The heavy plane near the center +of the group is undoubtedly the one that carries the machine gun, and so +it's our most dangerous antagonist. It's not likely to have more than +two men--otherwise the weight would be too great--one to steer and one +to handle the gun." + +"Excellent," said Carstairs. "You're undoubtedly the best marksman, +Scott. Suppose when the machine tilts enough to give us aim you say: +'fire,' you taking the man at the rudder, while Wharton and I shoot at +the one with the gun." + +"All right, if you say so." + +"Then it's agreed?" + +"Agreed it is." + +The muzzles of three rifles were now thrust through the bushes, ready to +fire at an instant's notice. In those moments of intense excitement and +with their own lives to save not one of the three had a single thought +of mercy, Kindly in ordinary times war had taken complete possession of +them for a space. + +John concluded that the Germans were now sure of their success. It had +been quiet so long in the grove that the fugitives must be dead. +Moreover the afternoon was waning, and night would help the defenders, +if they still lived. But he never took his eyes from the big aeroplane, +floating easily like a great bird on lazy wing. Lower and lower it +dropped and it came within easy range of the high-powered rifles. Now it +slanted over on its side, still like a huge bird and the two men it +carried came into view. + +"Fire!" cried John, and there was one report as the three rifles cracked +together. Never had bullets been sent with a more terrible aim. When the +dead hand fell from the steering rudder the great machine turned quite +over on its side. The two men and the machine gun were shot out, as if +they had been hurled by a catapult, and crashed among the trees of the +grove. The machine itself, still keeping its likeness to a huge bird, +but wounded mortally, now fluttered about wildly for several minutes, +and then fell with a tremendous crash among the trees. The other +aeroplanes, obviously frightened by the fall of their leader, rapidly +flew higher and out of range. + +The three did not exult at first. Instead they were appalled. + +"We certainly shot well!" said John at last. + +"Oh I don't care!" said Carstairs, shaking himself, defiantly. + +"They were after us, and we were bound to hit back!" + +A bomb exploded in the woods, but they were not hurt. It stirred them to +wrath again, and all their compunctions were gone. Instead, they began +to feel a pride in their great sharpshooting. + +"They've had enough of it for the present," said Wharton. "Look, the +whole flock is mounting up and up, where our bullets can't reach 'em! +Come down you rascals! Come down out of the sky and meet us face to +face! We'll whip the whole lot of you!" + +He stood at his full height and shook his rifle at the aeroplanes. John +and Carstairs shared his feelings so thoroughly that they saw nothing +odd. + +"While they're so high," said John, "suppose we go and look at the +fallen machine." + +They found it among some trees, a part of the frame imbedded in the +earth. It looked in its destruction a sinister and misshapen monster. +The machine gun, broken beyond repair, lay beside it. They knew that two +other shattered objects were somewhere near in the bushes, but they +would not look for them. + +"A great victory for the besieged," said Wharton, "but it leaves us +still besieged." + +"However the aspect of the field of battle is changing," said John. + +"In what way?" + +"The twilight is coming and the sky is our foe's field of battle." + +The increase in their own chances became apparent at once. The obscurity +of night would be like a blanket between them and the flying men, and +its promise now was for speedy arrival. The glory of the sun had faded +already in the east, and the sky was becoming gray toward the zenith. + +"If that flock expects to achieve anything against us," said John, "they +must set about it pretty soon. In an hour they will have to come close +to the ground to see us, and I fancy we can then leave the grove." + +"Yes," said Wharton, "it's up to them now. We can stand here waiting for +them until the darkness comes. Now, they've begun to act!" + +A bomb burst, but the obscuring twilight was so deceptive that it fell +entirely outside the wood and exploded harmless in a field. + +"Poor work," said Carstairs. + +"As I told you it's exceedingly hard to be accurate, dropping bombs from +a height," said John, "and the twilight makes it much more so." + +Nevertheless the aeroplanes made a desperate trial, throwing at least a +half dozen more bombs, some of which fell in the wood, but not near the +three defenders, although the last horse fell a victim, being fairly +blown to pieces. + +Meanwhile the sun sank behind the earth's rim, and, to the great joy of +the three, clouds again rolled along the horizon, showing that they +would have a dark night, a vital fact to them. In their eagerness to +strike while it was yet time the aeroplanes hovered very low, almost +brushing the tops of the trees, exposing themselves to the fire of the +three who after spending eighteen or twenty cartridges on them moved +quickly to another part of the wood, lest an answering bomb should find +them. + +They did not know whether they had slain any one, but two of the planes +flew away in slanting and jerky fashion like birds on crippled wings. +The others remained over the grove, but rose to a much greater height. + +"That was the last attack and we repelled it," said Carstairs, feeling +the flush of victory. "Here is the night black and welcome." + +The aeroplanes were now almost invisible. The darkness was thickening so +fast that in the grove the three were compelled to remain close +together, lest they lose one another. Under the western horizon low +thunder muttered, and there was promise of more rain, but they did not +care. + +They resolved to leave the grove in a half hour, and now they felt +deeply the death of their horses. But all three carried gold, and they +would buy fresh mounts at the next village. Their regret at the loss was +overcome by the feeling that they had been victorious in the encounter +with the aeroplanes when at first the odds seemed all against them. + +They waited patiently, while the night advanced, noting with pleasure +that the mutter of thunder on the western horizon continued. Overhead +two aeroplanes were circling, but they were barely visible in the dusk, +and rescuing their blankets and some other articles that the horses had +carried, the three, with their rifles ready, walked cautiously across +the fields. + +A hundred yards from the grove, and they looked up. The aeroplanes were +still circling there. Wharton laughed. + +"They probably think we haven't the nerve to leave the shelter of the +trees," he said. "Let 'em watch till morning." + +"And then they'll find that the birds have metaphorically but not +literally flown away," said Carstairs, a tone of exultation showing in +his voice also. "In this battle between the forces of the air and the +forces of the earth the good old solid earth has won." + +"But it may not always win," said John. "When I was up with Lannes, I +saw what the aeroplane could do, and we are bound to admit that if it +hadn't been for the grove they'd have got us." + +"Right-o!" said Carstairs. + +"True as Gospel," said Wharton. + +"Do you know where the road is?" asked John. "Now that our horses are +gone we've got to do some good walking." + +"Here it is," said Carstairs. "Seven miles farther on is the little +hamlet of Courville, where we can buy horses." + +"Then walk, you terriers, walk!" said Wharton. + +The three bending their heads walked side by side toward the hamlet of +Courville, which they were destined never to reach. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE ARMORED CAR + + +The three talked, because they were in the dark, and because they felt +great joy over their escape. The clouds, after a while, floated away, +and the thunder ceased to mutter. It seemed that the elements played +with them, but, for the present, were in their favor. The walking itself +was pleasant, as they were anxious to exercise their muscles after the +long hard waiting in the grove. + +But as the clouds went away and the stars came out, leaving a sky of +blue, sown with stars, John could not keep from looking upward often. +The aeroplanes and the daring men who flew them had made a tremendous +impression upon him, and he constantly expected danger. But he saw none +of those ominous black specks which could grow so fast into sinister +shapes. He heard instead a faint rumbling ahead of them on the road to +Courville, and he held up his hand as a warning. + +"What is it?" asked Carstairs, as the three stopped. + +"I don't know yet," replied John, "but the sound seems to be made by +wheels." + +"Perhaps a belated peasant driving home," said Wharton, as he listened. + +"I don't think so. It appears to be a volume of sound, although it's as +yet far away. I hear it better now. It's wheels and many of them." + +"French reinforcements." + +"Maybe, but more likely German. We've seen how ready the Germans are, +and we know that they're spreading all over this region." + +"Then it's safer for us out of the road than in it." + +There was a hedge on either side of the road, but the three slipped +easily through the one on the right, and stood in tall grass. The +rumbling was steadily coming nearer, and John had no doubt it was made +by Germans, perhaps some division seeking to get in the rear of the +French forces with which he had fought. + +There was a good moon and they saw well through the thin hedge. In ten +minutes cyclers, riding six abreast, appeared on the crest of a low hill +in the direction of Courville. The moonlight fell on their helmets and +gray uniforms, showing, as John had expected, that they were Germans. +Again he was beholding an example of the wonderful training and +discipline, which had been continued for decades and which had put +military achievement above everything else. Day and night the German +hosts were advancing on France. + +The cyclers, carrying their rifles before them, advanced in hundreds and +hundreds, the files of six keeping perfectly even. Again the sight was +unreal, productive of awe. Armies had never before gone to battle like +this. The files close together, like a long, grayish-green serpent, +moved swiftly along the road. + +But it was not the wheels that had made the rumble. They instead gave +out a light undulating sound, something like that of skaters on ice, and +the three waited to see what was behind, as the rumbling grew louder. + +The cyclers passed, then came the strong smell of gasoline, puffing +sounds and the head of a great train of motor cars appeared. Most of the +motors were filled with soldiers, others drew cannon and provision +wagons. They were a full hour in passing, and at the rear were more than +a hundred armored cars, also crowded with troops, some of them carrying +machine guns also. + +"I wish we were in one of those armored cars," said John, "then we +wouldn't miss our horses." + +"Well, why not get in one of them," said Carstairs. + +"While we're about it why not wish for everything else that we can think +of?" + +"I mean exactly what I say. I didn't speak until I saw an opportunity. +One of the cars seems to have something the matter with it and is +drawing up by the side of the road not fifteen feet from us. The others +have gone on, expecting it of course to catch up soon." + +"Do you really mean what you suggest, Carstairs?" asked Wharton. + +"I certainly do." + +"Then what an Englishman suggests Yankees will perform." + +"But with the help of the Englishman. Jove, what luck! There are only +two men with the car. One is standing beside it, and the other is +crawling under it. The machine is almost in the shadow of the hedge, and +if we're smooth about it we can slip through, and be upon it, before +we're seen." + +"We must time ourselves. What's the plan?" asked Wharton. + +"We'll assume when the man comes out from under the machine that he's +fixed it. Then we'll make our rush, knock down the other fellow, jump +into it and away. I'm an expert chauffeur, and I don't ask a better +chance. Oh, fellows, what luck!" + +"It's certainly favoring us," said Wharton, "and we must push it. It +would be a crime to quit with such luck as this leading us on." + +They slipped noiselessly through the hedge, and stood in its heavy +shadow only a few feet from the car. They heard the man under it tapping +with metal on metal. The other standing with his back to the three said +a few words and the man replied. + +"He says it's only a trifle, and it's all right now," whispered +Carstairs, who understood German. "He's coming out from under the car. +Now, fellows, for it!" + +John struck the man standing beside the car with the butt of his rifle, +but he did not make the blow hard--he could not bring himself to kill +anybody in that manner. But the man fell senseless, and, just as his +partner came from beneath it, the three leaped into the car, Carstairs +threw on the speed, whirled about on air, it seemed to John, and left +the German in the road, staring open-mouthed. + +But the German recovered quickly and uttered a shout of alarm, drawing +the attention of the armored motors, the rear files of which were not a +hundred yards away. + +"Down, you fellows!" cried Carstairs, who now took the lead. "Have your +rifles ready to fire back, and enjoy what is going to be the greatest +ride of your lives!" + +Some wild spirit seemed to have taken hold of the Englishman. An expert +driver, it may have been the touch of the wheel under his hand at such +an exciting moment, and then it may have been the shots from the German +cars that, in an instant, rattled upon the steel sides protecting the +car. + +"Hold fast, you fellows!" cried Carstairs, who bent low over the wheel, +his flashing eyes now seeking to trace the road before them. "We are +going to eat up the ground!" + +The car gave its last dizzy lurch as it completed its circuit and shot +ahead. John and Wharton had been thrown together, but they held on to +their rifles and righted themselves. Then John noticed beside him the +body and barrels of a machine gun, mounted and ready for use. He was the +sharpshooter of the three and that gun appealed to him, as the car had +appealed to Carstairs. + +"Move over a little!" he shouted to Wharton. + +"What are you going to do?" + +"I'm going to fight that pursuing German army." + +In an instant the machine gun began to crackle like a box of exploding +crackers, sending back a hail of bullets which rattled upon the pursuing +cars or found victims in them. But they, crouching down, were completely +protected by the armor, and their careering machine made but a single +target while they could fire into the pursuing mass. + +Carstairs bent lower and lower. He had gone completely wild for the +moment. Millions of sparks flew before his eyes. All the big and little +pulses in his head and body were beating heavily. They had just scored +two great triumphs. They had defeated the efforts of the masters of the +air, and they had taken from their foe one of his most formidable +weapons in which they might escape. His soul flamed with triumph, and +that old familiar touch of the wheel filled him with the strength not of +one giant, but of ten. He saw the road clearly now. There it lay ahead +of them, long, white and sinuous, and he never doubted for a moment his +ability to guide the armored car along in it at a mile a minute. + +John in his turn was filled with the rage of battle. It was not often +that one in his situation had a deadly machine gun at hand, ready to +turn upon his enemies. While Wharton fed it from the great supply of +ammunition in the car he turned a perfect stream of balls upon the +pursuing motor, spraying it from side to side like a hose. Wharton +looked up at his white strained face, in which his eyes burned like two +coals of fire, and then he looked at the bent back and shoulders of +Carstairs. + +"Two madmen," he muttered. "A Britisher and a Yankee, mad at the same +time and in the same place, and I'm their keeper! Good Lord, did a man +ever before have such a job!" + +Once he pulled John down a little as the machine guns in the pursuing +car were getting the range, but behind the armored sheath of their car +they were safe, for the present at least. Wharton regained his coolness +and retained it. But he held to his belief that he rode a race with +death, with one madman in front of him and another by his side. + +Now and then the car took a frightful leap, and Wharton expected to land +beneath it, but it always came down right, with Carstairs driving it +faster and faster and Scott pouring balls from the machine gun and +talking to it lovingly, as if it were a thing of life. + +It was Wharton's grim thought that he was about to die soon, but that he +would die gloriously. No common death for him, but one amid the crash of +motors, machine guns and cannon. Meanwhile steel rained around them, but +they were protected by the speed of their flight, and their armor. It +was hard for the Germans to hit a fleeting target in a curving road, and +the few balls or bullets that struck true fell harmless from the steel +plates. + +Wharton's own blood began to leap. The two with him in the car might be +madmen, but they showed skill and vigor in their madness. The car sprang +in the air, but it always came down safely. It whirled at times on a +single wheel, but it would right itself, and go on at undiminished +speed. + +And the other madman at the gun did not neglect precautions. He kept +himself well hidden behind the steel shield, and continued to spray the +pursuing line from right to left and from left to right with a stream of +projectiles. + +On flew the car, down valleys and up slopes. It thundered across little +ridges, and fled through strips of forest. Then Wharton amid their own +roar heard the same deep steady rumble that had preceded the coming of +the first German force. The sound was so similar he knew instinctively +that it was made by a second detachment, advancing along the same road, +but miles back. Their own headlong speed would carry them directly into +it, and, as he saw it, they were completely trapped. + +He leaned over, put a hand on the shoulder of Carstairs, and shouted in +his ear: + +"A second army of the enemy is in front, and we're going into it at the +rate of a mile a minute!" + +"Never mind!" Carstairs shouted back. "I know a little road not far +ahead, leading off from this almost due westward. I'm going to take it, +but it's a sharp turn. Hold tight you two!" + +"For God's sake, Carstairs, slow up a little on the curve!" + +But Carstairs made no answer. He did not even hear him now. He lay +almost upon the wheel, and his eyes never left the track in front of +him. He was the jockey riding his horse to victory in the greatest of +all races. + +Wharton ceased to feed the machine gun. The use for it had passed now. +They were rapidly gaining on the pursuit, but the same speed was +bringing them much nearer to the second force. He wondered if Carstairs +really knew of that branch road, or if it were some wild idea flitting +through his mad brain. As it was, he laid his rifle on the floor of the +car, and commended his soul to God. + +"Now!" suddenly shouted Carstairs, and it seemed to Wharton that they +were whirling in a dizzy circle. Carstairs boasted afterwards that they +made the curve on one wheel, but Wharton was quite sure that they made +it on air. + +They shot into a narrow road, not much more than a path leading through +woods, and when Wharton looked back the pursuit was not in sight. They +were now going almost at a right angle from either force, leaving both +far behind, and Wharton suggested to Carstairs that he slow down--John +had already ceased firing, because there was nothing to fire at. But his +words were in vain. Carstairs would not yet come out of his frenzy. As +John had talked to his gun he was now talking to his machine, bestowing +upon it many adjectives of praise. + +Wharton gave up the task as useless and sank back in his seat. He must +let the fever spend itself. Besides he was gaining supreme confidence in +the driving of Carstairs. The Englishman had shown such superb skill +that Wharton was beginning to believe that he could drive the car a mile +a minute anywhere save in a dense forest. So, he sank back in his seat, +and relaxed mind and body. + +They fled on over a road narrow but good. They passed lone farm houses +sitting back in the fields, but Wharton had only a glimpse of them. A +tile roof, a roar from the car and they were gone. + +Yet the fever of Carstairs slowly burned itself out. They had long since +been safe from any pursuit by the Germans in the main road, and now the +young Englishman realized it. He took one hand from the wheel, and +dashed back a lock of hair that had fallen over his brow. Then he slowed +down quickly, and when they were going not more than seven or eight +miles an hour he said like one coming out of an ecstasy. + +"Don't the Germans build splendid cars?" + +"And fine machine guns, too?" said John, in a high-pitched unnatural +voice. + +"Now here is where I take command," said Wharton firmly. "You two have +been madmen, as mad as anybody can be, although it's true that your +madness has saved us. But you've done your great deeds, sanity is +returning, and you're in a state of exhaustion. Carstairs, give me the +wheel at once. I'm not much of a driver, but I can take the car along +safely at a rate of five miles an hour, which is all we need now." + +Carstairs, the fires within him burned out wholly now, resigned the +wheel to his comrade, and sank limply into a seat beside John. + +"Now you two rest," said Wharton, sternly, "and if I hear a word out of +either of you in the next hour I'll turn the machine gun on you." + +They obeyed. Each was a picture of physical collapse. Wharton did not +know much about automobiles. In the driver's seat he felt as if he were +steering a liner, but in such case as his one readily takes risks, and +he sent the machine along slowly and with fair success. + +It was beginning to lighten somewhat, and he looked for a village. They +must have food, a fresh supply of gasoline, and news of their own army. +They bore letters which they meant to deliver or die. + +The same beautiful country, though less hilly, stretched before them. +Many clear little streams flowed through the valleys, and here and there +were groves free from undergrowth. Wharton believed that they were far +toward the west, and near the British troops--if any had yet been +landed in France. + +"Are you two still in a convalescent stage?" he asked, glancing back. + +"Getting along nicely, doctor, thank you, sir," said John. "I began to +pick up just as soon as we left those German armies out of sight." + +Then he turned to the comrade, sitting beside him. + +"Carstairs, old man," he said, "I don't know what you are, at home, but +here you're the greatest chauffeur that ever lived! I believe you could +drive a car sixty miles an hour all day long on a single wheel!" + +"Thanks, old man," said Carstairs, grasping his hand, "I didn't have +time to look back, but I knew from the sounds that you were working a +machine gun, as one was never worked before; fast enough by Jove to +drive off a whole hostile army." + +"You two have organized the greatest log rolling society in existence," +said Wharton, "but you've been brave and good boys. Now let's take a +look at this glorious car of ours which we had specially built for us in +Germany." + +The light in the east was increasing, and for the first time they made +an examination of their capture. Despite the armor and presence of the +machine gun it was upholstered in unusual style, with cushions and +padded sides in dark green leather. There were many little lockers and +fittings not to be found often in a car intended for war. On a tiny +silver plate under the driver's seat a coat of arms was engraved. John, +who was the first to catch sight of it, exclaimed: + +"This car belongs to some duke or prince. Carstairs, you're a subject +and not a citizen, and you ought to be up on all kinds of nobility +worship. What coat of arms is this?" + +"I don't know," replied Carstairs, "and I'm as free a man as you are, +I'd have you to know." + +"Breaking the treaty already," chuckled Wharton. "It doesn't matter +whether we know the coat of arms or not. It's likely that the man +standing in the road, the one whom John hit over the head with +the gun was the duke or prince. Oh, if the Germans ever get you, +Scott, they'll break you on the wheel for such an extreme case of +_Majestätsbeleidigung!_" + +"And if you pronounce that word again you'll break your jaw," said John. +"Let's open all these lockers. We may find spoils of war." + +It seemed a good suggestion, and taking the monkey wrench they broke +open every locker. They found a pair of splendid field glasses, shaving +materials, other articles of the toilet, and a tiny roll of fine tissue +paper. + +"I've an idea that we have something of value here," said John, as he +held up the little roll. "It's in German, which I don't understand. Take +it, Wharton." + +There were six small sheets, and as Wharton translated them aloud and +slowly they realized that in very truth they had made a precious +capture. They contained neither address nor signature, but they notified +the commander of the extreme German right wing that a British force +would shortly appear near the Belgian border, on the extreme allied +left, that it would be a small army, and that it could be crushed by a +rapid, enveloping movement. + +"The prince or duke whom you hit over the head, John," said Wharton, +"was carrying this. He did not put it in his pocket, because he never +dreamed of such a thing as the one that happened to him. But one thing +is sure: our obligation to reach the allied force in the west is doubled +and tripled. We three, obscure as we may be, may carry with us the fate +of an army." + +"He called us two madmen," said John, nudging Carstairs. "Now look at +our good sober Wharton going mad with responsibility." + +Wharton did not notice them. He was turning over and over the sheets of +tissue paper, and his eyes glowed. His hands trembled, too, as he +handled the precious document, but he did not let a single page fall. + +"Glorious! splendid! magnificent!" he exclaimed. "By our capture, by our +own courage and skill, and by ours alone we'll save the allied left wing +from destruction." + +The timeliness of their exploit, the wonderful chance had gone to +Wharton's head. He forgot for the time his comrades, the motor, and the +morning sun over the fields and the forest. He thought only of their +arrival in the allied camp with those precious documents. + +John and Carstairs exchanged glances again. They had come quite back to +earth, but there could be no doubt that Wharton was taking an ascension. + +"We'll treat him kindly," said Carstairs. + +"Of course," said John. "Old friend of ours, you know. Been with us +through the wars. But I want to tell you, Carstairs, and I hope I won't +hurt your feelings, you being a monarchist, that I'm glad I hit that +prince such a solid smash over the head. It will always be a pleasure to +me to remember that I knocked out a royalty, and I hope he wasn't any +mediatized prince either." + +"Don't apologize to me. He was only a German prince, and they're so +numerous they don't count British princes are the real thing." + +"Stop talking foolishness you two!" exclaimed Wharton. "You ramble on, +and we carry the fate of Europe in our hands! My God, we've wasted a +quarter of an hour here talking! Carstairs, get back in the driver's +seat, and I don't care how fast you drive! Scott, take your place at the +machine gun, and shoot down anything that opposes us!" + +"Mad! Quite mad!" John and Carstairs said together, but they obeyed with +amazing promptness, and in a minute the car was spinning down the road +at a great rate. But Wharton leaning forward and looking with red eyes +in black rims, saw nothing they passed. He had instead a vision of the +three arriving at some point far away with the prince's dispatches, and +of English and French generals thanking those who had come in time to +save them. + +Carstairs drove with a steady hand, but he was his normal self now. He +had seen that their supply of gasoline was sufficient to last a while, +and he was content for the present with a moderate rate of speed. If +they were pursued again then he could make another great burst, but he +did not consider it likely that a third force of the foe would appear. +They must be getting beyond the vanguard of the German invasion. + +John sat beside Wharton. The machine gun was at rest, but he kept his +rifle across his knee. Nevertheless he did not anticipate any further +danger. He felt an immense satisfaction over their achievements, but the +danger and strain had been so great that rest seemed the finest thing in +the world. He hoped they would soon come to another of those neat French +inns, where they would surely be welcome. + +But Wharton was not thinking of inns and rest. He took out the +dispatches and read them a second time. Then he folded them up +triumphantly and put them back in his pocket again. His soul burned with +ardor. Their fights with the aeroplanes and the armored cars were alike +forgotten. They must get forward with the prince's dispatches. + +The sun came over the slopes, and the day grew fast. John fell asleep in +his seat with his rifle across his knees. He was aroused by the stopping +of the car and the murmur of many voices. He sat upright and was wide +awake all in a moment. + +They had come to the village for which they had wished so ardently and +they were surrounded by people who looked curiously at the car, the +heavy dents in its armor, the machine gun, and, with the most curiosity +of all, at the three occupants. + +But their looks were friendly. The three in the car wore the French +uniform, and while obviously they were not French, it was equally +obvious that they were friends of France. John smiled at them and asked +the burning question: + +"Is there an inn here?" + +They pointed across the street. There it was snug and unimpeachable. +Carstairs drove slowly to the front of it, and he and John meanwhile +answered a torrent of questions. Yes, they had been in a fight with +Germans, and, after seizing one of their armored cars, they had escaped +in it. But it was true that the Germans were coming into France by all +the main roads, and the people must be ready. + +There were many exclamations of dismay, and the questions they asked +John and Carstairs never ceased. But they said nothing to Wharton. His +stern, absent expression did not invite confidences. He was looking over +their heads at something far away, and he seemed merely to be going into +the inn, because his comrades were doing so. + +The three found the breakfast good as usual. Gasoline could be obtained. +It was not for civilians, but as they were soldiers serving France they +were able to buy a supply. The news that they desired was scarce, +although there was a vast crop of rumors which many told as facts. John +was learning that war was the mother of lies. He believed only what men +had seen with their own eyes, and but little of that. It was incredible +how people described in detail things they had witnessed, but which had +never occurred. + +Had a British army landed? It had. It had not. Where was it? It was in +Belgium. It was in France. It was at the training camps in England. +There was plenty of information, and one could choose whatever he liked +best. John and Carstairs looked at each other in dismay. They had a car, +but where were they to go. At least they carried dispatches for a +British army which some of the French believed to be in France. But +Wharton took no notice of the difficulty. He was silent, and preoccupied +with their triumphant arrival that was coming. + +John asked the most questions, and at last he found a woman whose words +seemed to be based upon fact and not imagination. She had a cousin who +was employed in the telegraph, and her cousin told her, that British +troops had landed, that some of them at least had reached Paris, and +then had gone north toward Belgium, the region of Mons or Charleroi, she +believed. She spoke quietly and with much detail, and John believed that +she had a mind able to tell the truth without exaggeration. + +He held a brief conference with Carstairs, who had now replenished the +gasoline, and who had also put stores of food in the car. Carstairs +agreed with him that the statement was probably correct, and that at any +rate they ought to govern themselves in accordance with it. They did not +consult Wharton, who they knew was thinking only of the papers. + +John took the wheel. Like Wharton he did not know much about driving, +but it was a time when one had to do things. Carstairs soon fell asleep, +but Wharton sat rigidly erect, staring before him. + +John had felt the emotion of triumph strongly that morning, but now much +of it was departing. The country was growing more beautiful than ever. +He had never seen any outside his own to match it. This had the +advantage of age and youth combined. Buildings were gray and soft with +centuries, but the earth itself was fresh and eternal with youth. But he +knew beyond any shred of doubt that it would soon be torn to pieces by +the fighting millions. + +There was no occasion for haste now, as they must feel the way, and they +were beyond the German advance. While Carstairs slept and Wharton stared +ahead he examined the country. Once they passed near a town of +considerable size, and he saw on a hill, in the center of it a great +gray cathedral, its fine stonework glittering like tracery. + +Then he saw the graybeards, the women, and the young boys and girls +coming into the fields to work. All the men of fighting age were gone. +He had seen the same in Germany, but it struck him anew with painful +force, this turning of millions of workers upon one another, weapons in +hand. + +John stopped beside the fields once or twice and talked with the +peasants. The old men could tell him nothing. They were stolid and +stoical. Yes, there was war, but it was not any business of theirs to +find where the armies were marching, and his heart went out more +strongly than ever to the people, over whom military ambition and the +folly of kings were driving the wheels of cannon. + +It was well toward midday before he secured any real information. They +encountered at the crossing of a brook a small French patrol under a +lieutenant, an intelligent man, whom by lucky chance Carstairs had met +two weeks before. + +He told them that going at a moderate rate they could reach by the next +morning a large French army which lay north and west. Some British +troops--he did not know how many--had come up, and they were on the +extreme left of the allied line. More were expected. In front of them +were great masses of the Germans. + +They gave him their own news, and then with mutual good wishes they +drove on, Carstairs now at the wheel, and their pace increased. It was +agreed that they should hasten much more, as soon as they were +absolutely sure of the way. Wharton, for the first time, took part in +the talk. + +"When we have a definite point to aim at," he said, "we must take every +risk and race for it. If we don't deliver these documents promptly to +the generals we ought to be shot." + +"We won't be shot for the lack of trying, Wharton," said John, "but if +we go racing along the wrong road we'll be that much farther from our +right direction." + +"We ought to see more patrols soon," said Carstairs. "They'll surely be +watching all through this region." + +"Likely enough we'll find 'em in that wood ahead," said John, pointing +to a long stretch of forest that clothed a group of hills. "It's just +the place for 'em. From the top of that highest hill they can see for +miles." + +Carstairs increased their speed, and the car shot forward. It was a fine +motor, John thought, and the bombardment it had received had not hurt it +much. That German prince certainly knew how to select a car, and he had +fortified it in a splendid manner. + +John was smiling to himself again in satisfaction, as they dipped down +the valley and entered the forest, which in that country they would +certainly call a great one. Its shade was pleasant, too, as the beams of +the sun were now vertical and hot. + +"Nice region," said John approvingly. "See that old castle off there to +the left." + +An ancient castle, decayed and abandoned, crowned a little hill. Around +it was a moat dry for generations, and one of the Norman towers had +fallen down. It was a somber picture of lonely desolation. + +"I suppose some fine old robber of a baron lived in that," said John, +"and preyed upon the country, until he reached the hunting grounds of +other robbers like himself." + +"Deucedly draughty and uncomfortable they must have been," said +Carstairs. "We've some of 'em in my country, but they must have been +pretty hard living for my lord and my lady." + +"I don't see that we have much advantage over those old fellows," said +John thoughtfully. "They were little robbers, and here are all the +countries of Europe trying to tear one another to pieces. After all, +Carstairs, I'm beginning to think the Americans are the only really +civilized people." + +Carstairs grinned. + +"You can't do it, Scott," he said, "you can't take Wharton's place. I'll +argue with him about the merits of Briton and Yankee. It's his +time-honored right, but I'll have no dispute with you." + +Wharton smiled a stern assent. + +"Then we'll let it go," said John, "but do you notice that this is a +real forest. It must cover a half dozen square miles. I suppose that in +your country they would call it the Royal Forest or by some such +high-sounding name." + +"Never you mind what we'd call it," rejoined Carstairs, "but whatever it +is it's evident that something violent is going on within its shades! +Listen!" + +John started upright in his seat, as he heard the crackle of three or +four shots so close together that they were almost in a volley, and then +the sound of feet running swiftly. They stopped the machine, and a +figure, stained, bleeding and desperate, emerged from the forest. + +"A fugitive!" exclaimed John. + +"But from what?" said Carstairs. + +"The Germans, of course!" said Wharton. + +The man, stained with blood, ragged and dirty came at great bounds, and +before any one could put out a detaining hand he sprang into the car. + +"Help, for God's sake!" he cried. "I'm a spy in the service of France, +and the Uhlans are coming down through the wood after me!" + +"Help you!" exclaimed Carstairs. "Of course we will! Any friend of +France is a friend of ours!" + +He bent low over the wheel once more in his old speeding attitude, and +the car shot forward like an arrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE ABANDONED CHÂTEAU + + +John glanced back toward the point from which the shots had come, but it +was already hidden by the curve of the hill. Moreover, the car was going +so fast now that the Uhlans would be left as if standing still, and he +turned his attention to the man who had crumpled at his very feet. + +The stranger lay in a heap on the floor of the car, his breath coming in +short gasps from sobbing lungs. There were red stains on the arms and +right shoulder of his coat. John felt a great pity and dragged him into +one of the seats. Then he uttered a cry of surprise. The features under +their mask of blood and dirt were familiar. + +"Weber!" he exclaimed. + +Weber stared back. + +"You, whom I met at the inn!" he said, "and your friends!" + +"Yes, we're all here," said John cheerily. "This is indeed a singular +chance!" + +"A most fortunate one for me," said Weber, straightening himself, and +endeavoring to arrange his clothing--it appeared that his pride was +returning. "After this I shall think that Providence is watching over +me. A man on foot seeking to escape has little chance against horsemen. +I saw the automobile moving slowly and I sprang into it, intending to +make the appeal which has been successful." + +"Look who's here," said John to his comrades. "We've rescued Weber, the +Alsatian, from the Uhlans. Battered a bit, but still in the ring and +good for many another escape." + +"So it is," said Carstairs, reaching back a hand. "We happened along +just in time, Weber. It's a way we three have. I've no doubt that we'll +rescue you at least a half dozen times more." + +Weber grasped the proffered hand and shook it eagerly. Wharton bowed in +a friendly manner, but he was still preoccupied. His hand rested on that +point in his coat, beneath which the papers lay, and his thoughts were +not with the fourth arrival in the car. + +"Your wounds!" said John. "This is an automobile of princes, and for the +present we are the princes. I've no doubt we can find in these lockers +and drawers material of which to make bandages." + +"They're slight. They don't matter," said Weber. "Pay no attention to +them at a time like this. I know that you must be going toward the main +French army, and time is of value. My strength is coming back now, and +my courage, too. I will admit I was frightened. I thought my time had +come. Perhaps that may seem a disgraceful confession, but it's true." + +"Not disgraceful at all," said John sympathetically. "I haven't been a +soldier more than a few days, but it's been long enough to teach me that +brave men are often scared. What were you doing and how did you happen +to come so near to being caught?" + +"I've been inside the German lines. Oh, they're not so far away! And I +was slipping out I had passed all, but a body of Uhlans, under a +captain, von Boehlen, an uncommonly shrewd man. If I had been caught by +him I would now be singing with the angels in Paradise." + +He smiled faintly. + +"I've met von Boehlen," said John, "and if he suspected you, you acted +wisely to run with all your might. I saw him in Dresden on the eve of +the war, and I've seen him since, though at some distance." + +"We'll forget my narrow escape now," said Weber cheerfully. + +"One can't remember such things long in these times." + +"They're tremendous times." + +"So tremendous that as soon as you've made one escape with your life +you're due for another." + +"You haven't heard of any Germans on this road?" + +"No, but they're raiding far and wide, and von Boehlen will attempt +anything." + +"We've had uncommon luck so far, and I think it will continue. I see +you're admiring our automobile. I wasn't jesting, when I told you it +belonged to a prince." + +"It's rather small for an armored car. They usually have seven or eight +men in them." + +"Yes, and it's fortunate for us that it's small. I told you luck was +running our way. But as it is, it's a pretty heavy strain on the man at +the wheel, although Carstairs there is an expert." + +"I'm a pretty good chauffeur," said Weber, "and whenever Mr. Carstairs +wishes it I'll relieve him at the wheel. Besides I know the country +thoroughly, and I can take advantage of every short cut." + +"I'll call on you soon," said Carstairs. "A lot of my enthusiasm for +speeding has gone out of me. My arms ache all the time, but I'm good for +another hour yet." + +Weber did not insist. John understood why, as it was patent that he +needed rest. He made himself comfortable in the seat, and the others +left him in peace. The machine rolled on swiftly and smoothly. It was +one of the beautiful roads so common in France, and John felt scarcely a +jar. A full sun tinted the green country with gold. + +The warmth was penetrating and soothing. John had lost so much sleep and +the nervous drain had been so great that his eyelids became heavy. They +came to a clear little brook, and decided to stop that all might have a +drink. Weber used the chance also to bathe his face and hands and get +rid entirely of blood, dirt and dust. He seemed then to John a rather +handsome man, having the touch of the scholar in his face. + +John walked about a little, stretching his arms, and thumping his chest +in order to make himself more wakeful. But when he returned to the +automobile, and sat down in the cushioned seat the old sleepiness +returned. The effort to keep the eyelids from going down was painful. +Carstairs in the driver's seat also yawned prodigiously. + +"All my strength has returned now, and my nerve has come with it," said +Weber. "Let me take the wheel. I see that you three are exhausted, as +well you may be after such tremendous energy and so many dangers. I +don't boast, when I say that I'm a good driver." + +"Take the wheel, and welcome," said Carstairs, yawning prodigiously and +retreating to a seat in the body of the car, beside John. + +It was evident that Weber understood automobiles. He handled the wheel +with a practised hand, and sent it forward with a skill and delicacy of +touch equal to that of Carstairs. + +"It is, indeed, a beautiful machine," he said. "Splendid work went into +the making of it, and I can well believe as you do that it belonged to a +prince." + +John's sleepiness increased. The motion was so smooth and pleasant! And +the absence of danger and strained effort lulled one to slumber. He +fought it off, and then concluded that he was foolish. Why shouldn't he +go to sleep? Carstairs was asleep already and Wharton, who felt such a +tremendous weight of responsibility, was nodding. His eyelids fell. He +raised them with a desperate effort, but they fell again and remained +closed. + +When John awoke a dimness over the western hills showed that the +twilight was advancing. Through sleepy eyes he saw Weber's back as he +bent a little over the wheel, steering steadily. The road now led +through forest. + +"Where are we, Weber?" he asked. + +"Ah, awake are you," said the Alsatian, not looking back. "You saved my +life, but it was most fortunate that you had the chance of doing it. +Otherwise all of you would have perished from lack of sleep." + +"Lack of sleep? What's that?" exclaimed Carstairs, waking up and hearing +the last words. "Why, I'm always lacking sleep. I believe the greatest +hardship of war is the way it deprives you of sleep. When I've helped +take Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and other important German cities, and this +war's over, I'm going back to England to sleep a month, and if anybody +wakes me before the right time there'll be a merry civil war in that +blessed isle." + +Wharton, who had been somewhat uneasy in his sleep, woke up in turn, and +his hand flew to his tightly buttoned coat. But he felt the papers +safely there and his heart resumed its natural beat. Yet he was angry +with himself. No man who carried perhaps the fate of a continent should +ever close his eyes a moment. + +"We're crossing a range of hills," said Weber, replying as soon as he +could to John's question. "We've been making good time. We ought to +strike the French line by midnight and then our journey will be over." + +"And I'll be glad when we get there," said Carstairs. "I love +automobiles, but I've had enough for the present even of such a fine +machine as this. I judge that we slept well, Mr. Weber." + +"I never saw two sleep better," replied Weber. "Mr. Wharton was a little +troubled in his slumbers though." + +"Oh, he's a very grave individual with great responsibilities," said +Carstairs. + +But he did not add anything about the dispatches. + +"A little farther back," said Weber, "I saw a biplane. Although it was +high in air I'm quite sure from its make that it was German." + +"Scouting," said John. "It was pretty venturesome to come this far +west." + +"The Germans shun no risks," said Weber, gravely. "The biplane flew back +toward the east. It did not alarm me greatly, but I saw another thing +that did. Just before you awoke I noticed a gleam in the valley to the +right, and I know that it was made by a sunbeam falling on the spiked +helmet of a Uhlan." + +The three stiffened with alarm, not so much for themselves as for their +errand. Wharton's hand moved again toward the pocket, containing the +papers, which had transformed him into a man with but a single thought. + +"Uhlans here close to this road!" exclaimed John. + +"Do you think it can be von Boehlen?" + +"It may be. On the whole I think it probable," replied Weber. "Von +Boehlen is a most daring man, and to scout along the skirts of the +French army would be the most natural thing for him to do. I'm going to +speed up a bit--that is, if you gentlemen agree that it's necessary." + +"Of course," said John, and the machine sprang forward. He had taken the +prince's glasses as his own share of the spoil. They were of great +power, and now he searched the forest with them for their enemies. He +soon found that Weber was right. He saw steel helmets on the right, and +then he saw them on the left. They were surely Uhlans, and evidently +they had seen the car. + +He quickly put away the glasses and snatched up his rifle. + +"You were right, Weber," he exclaimed. "They're German cavalry, and +they've begun to pursue us. Faster! Faster! This machine can leave any +horsemen behind!" + +Weber turned back a despairing face. + +"The car is doing its best!" he said. "Something has gone wrong with the +machinery!" + +He wrenched at the wheel, but he produced no such speed as that which +Carstairs had got out of the car, when they were fleeing from the German +automobiles. The two forces of Uhlans had now joined and were in the +road galloping in swift pursuit. Many of them carried lances, which +glittered in the late sun. The sight of the steel points made John +shiver. It would be horrible to feel one of them in his back. + +He turned to his machine gun. A touch of that old madness returned. The +sight of the Uhlans had set his brain on fire. + +"I'll teach you not to come too close, my fine lads," he said. + +He aimed the gun and undertook to start the mechanism, but nothing +moved. No shots came. He jerked at it widly, but it refused to budge. It +was jammed, and it would take a long time to put it in order. His heart +stood still and a cold perspiration came out on his face. How did it +happen? Was it possible that he had left it in such a condition? + +"What's the matter, John?" asked Wharton. + +"The machine gun's jammed, and I can't fire a shot. The car seems to be +breaking down, too. Don't you see that the Uhlans are gaining!" + +"So, they are," said Wharton. + +He and John snatched up their rifles and fired rapidly at the horsemen. +Some of the bullets struck, but did not impede the pursuit. Carstairs +pushed Weber out of the driver's seat, and seized the wheel himself. All +his pride and confidence were aroused, and he did not have time to be +polite. He could get the speed out of that machine and save them. + +But it did not obey his hand. It staggered along like a tired man. Weber +was right again. Something had gone wrong with the internal organism, +and one could not stop to right it with pursuing Uhlans only a few +hundred yards away. + +"What shall we do?" exclaimed Weber. "Shall we jump for it and run? We +may escape in the shelter of the forest?" + +"Not yet," replied Carstairs firmly. "Not yet for three of us, though it +may be best for you, since you'll be executed as a spy, when you're +taken." + +"If you don't go, I don't go either," said Weber. "We'll all stay +together." + +"Brave man!" said Carstairs admiringly. But he had time for no more +words. He was wrenching at the machine as a rider for his life would +pull at the mouth of a stubborn horse. Crippled as it was he managed to +drag a little increase of speed from it. The Uhlans had dropped back +somewhat and none of them fired. John believed that they refrained +because they were sure of a capture. Wharton suddenly uttered a cry. + +"A river," he exclaimed. "It's not more than five hundred yards ahead!" + +His cry was echoed by Weber, but its tone was very different. The +Alsatian's voice showed despair. + +"I had forgotten," he exclaimed. "The river is too deep for fording, and +the French have blown up the bridge! We're trapped!" + +A deep flush came into the face of Carstairs. As in the case of John a +touch of his first madness was returning. The three comrades were now +wild together. + +"Can you swim?" he shouted back to John. + +"Yes!" + +"And you?" to Wharton. + +"Yes!" + +"And you, too?" to Weber. + +"Yes, fairly well; but what do you mean?" + +"You wait two or three minutes and you'll see something. But when it's +time to swim all of you be ready for it!" + +A great shout came from the Uhlans, who had begun to gain again, and who +could not now keep from seeing the river that cut off the fugitives. But +Carstairs wrenched another pound or two of speed out of the automobile, +and it shot forward. + +"Stop! Stop for God's sake!" cried Weber. "You'll drown us all! It's +better to jump out and take to the woods!" + +"Never!" cried Carstairs, his daring flaming to the utmost. "We captured +the automobile of a prince, and we'll not give it back again! Ah, the +machine is returning to life! Look how much faster we're going! On, my +beauty! Your last and greatest run is before you!" + +The machine seemed to come out of its maimed and crippled condition, its +strength flaring up for the last burst of speed. The jarring and jerking +ceased and the road flew behind it. + +The river came near at an astonishing rate, and John saw that it was +wide and deep. He saw, too, the pillars of the ruined bridge, and he +heard another cry from Weber, who started to spring out, but drew back. + +Carstairs uttered a wild shout, and then the automobile, leaping far out +into the stream, where the bridge had been, sank beneath the deep +waters. John had prepared himself for the desperate stroke, and before +the machine touched the surface he had sprung clear. Then he struck out +desperately for the opposite bank, and his heart filled with gladness, +when he saw Wharton and Carstairs swimming almost by his side. + +They reached the shore before the Uhlans could come up, and darted into +the shelter of the forest, where they threw themselves down on the +ground and lay panting, every touch of wildness gone. + +"Is Weber here?" asked John. + +"No," replied Wharton, who felt of his papers again, and saw that they +were wet, but safe. + +"Did either of you see him?" + +"Not after the auto made its jump." + +"Then he must have been drowned. Poor fellow! But I'd rather be drowned +than be executed as a spy." + +It saddened them. They had learned to like Weber, and, having saved him +once, they were sorry they could not save him twice. But one could not +mourn long at such a time. The more daring of the Uhlans would certainly +swim the river and continue the pursuit, and it was for the three to +hide their trail as soon as possible. John rose first. + +"Come, boys," he said. "Our clothes will dry faster while we're +running." + +"Put it that way if you like," said Carstairs. "At any rate I'm going to +toddle." + +They had lost their rifles, but they had their automatic pistols which +might be of service in spite of their dips, but they wished to avoid the +need of their use. They already heard the splashes as the Uhlans made +their horses leap into the river, and they ran at their best speed +through the forest, coming presently to a vineyard, which they crossed +between the rows of vines, finding a high wire fence on the other side. +As they darted between the strands they recognized that they could have +no better barrier between them and pursuing horsemen. + +Near them on the left was a large château, with a flower garden in front +and a kitchen garden behind. They resisted the inevitable temptation of +man to run to a roof for shelter and protection, and sped instead into +the dense foliage and shrubbery that spread away toward the fields. +There they threw themselves down again and panted for the breath that +came so hardly through their exhausted lungs. + +But they did not hear the sinister tread of the Uhlans, nor did they +notice the presence of any human being, a fact which for the present +failed to impress them, because the Uhlans filled their minds. Five +minutes, ten, fifteen passed and still no sound. + +"Perhaps they think we're drowned," whispered John. "They were not near +enough to see us swim away from the automobile." + +"I hope you're right, and maybe you are," said Wharton. "In any case I +don't think they'll hunt for us long. We're not important enough for +them to waste time on when they're so near the French lines." + +"I'm going to stay where I am until I hear the tread of hoofs," said +Carstairs. "I'm drying fast and it's comfortable lying here under the +vines. You didn't lose those papers, when we were in the river; did you, +Wharton?" + +"They're safe in my pocket," replied Wharton, "and I had them wrapped up +so thoroughly that they didn't have a chance to get wet." + +"If the Uhlans don't find us in the next half hour," said John, "it's +quite certain they won't find us at all. They won't spend more time than +that on us." + +Then they lay quite still, sheltered well under the vines. Their armored +car, the car of the prince was now lying at the bottom of the river, but +it had served them well. John was sure that they would find some other +means of reaching the Franco-British army. He was fast learning that +ways nearly always opened to daring and persistence. + +The half hour passed, and no Uhlans appeared. They had crossed the +river, as the splashes indicated, but, doubtless, finding no trail of +the fugitives, they had believed them pinned under the car at the bottom +of the river, and had gone away on some other more profitable quest. + +But the three waited another half hour for the sake of precaution, and +then came from under the vines. Twilight was now at hand, and they +realized that they were physically weak after so much excitement and +exertion. + +"I might be able to limp along through the night," said Wharton, "but I +doubt it." + +"I know I can't," said Carstairs. + +"Why try to go on?" said John. "Here's a house. Being in France it must +be inhabited by French sympathizers. They'll shelter us and give us +food." + +"I think we'd better try it," said Carstairs. + +"I agree with you," said Wharton, "but I think it strange that we've +seen nobody attached to this place. So large a house and grounds must +have at least twenty people about, and an affair like ours would +certainly attract their attention. Yet, we see nobody." + +"That's so," said John. "Suppose we wait a bit--it's darkening fast--and +see what's happened." + +They still stood among the vines, and, as the night was coming on and +their clothing was only partially dried, they shivered with chill. The +tile roof of the château, showing among the trees looked attractive. But +no light appeared in any of the windows, and not a sound came from the +house itself, nor any of the buildings about it. + +The windows glittered like fire with the last rays of the sun, and then +the darkness soon swept down, heavy and thick. The three holding their +automatics, and shivering in the chill wind of the night, approached the +silent château. John felt a little awe, too. Chance certainly was taking +him into strange places, and he was devoutly glad that he had two good +comrades by his side. + +They passed out of the vineyard and entered the grounds, which were +large, adorned with ancient trees, several statues, and a fountain, in +which the water was still playing. The moonlight, coming out now, gave +to the château an appearance of great age. + +"I fancy that some old noble family lived here," he said. "It must have +been quite a place once." + +"Whoever they are, evidently they have no welcome for us," said +Carstairs, "but I'm going in, anyhow. Whew, this wind cuts to the bone!" + +"I'm just as cold as you are," said John, "and I'm just as much resolved +as you are to find shelter here, whether I'm asked in or not. It may +belong to a noble family, but I'm a nobleman myself, a king, one of a +hundred million American kings." + +"Then, king, you lead," said Carstairs. "It's your place. Go right up +those steps." + +A half dozen marble steps led to the great central door, and John walked +up boldly, followed closely by the others. He lifted a huge brass +knocker, and beat heavily with it again and again. No sound came back +but its echo. + +"Push, king," said Carstairs. "Any door will open to royalty. Besides +your majesty has been insulted by the refusal to answer your summons." + +John pushed hard, and the great door swung back slowly, quivering a +little, but with the automatic in his hand, he walked into a hall, the +other two at his shoulders. They closed the door behind them and stood +there for a little space, accustoming their eyes to the dusk. + +It was a long hall with tall windows, through which a faint light +filtered. To the right was a stairway, on the first step of which was a +figure, of complete medieval armor. Several faded pictures of ancient +knights hung on the walls. + +"It's old, very old," said Carstairs, "but its owners, whoever they are, +have left with all their people. There's nobody to dispute our claim to +lodgings, but did you ever see anything more lonesome?" + +"There's a double door, leading into the interior of the house," said +John. "Let's explore." + +They entered a large apartment which John took to be the drawing-room. +It was at once splendid and dignified, furnished in a style at least two +centuries old. John liked it, and thought what it would be when it was +filled with light and people. + +A magnificent chandelier hung from the ceiling, and there were +ornamented sconces about the walls, all containing many candles. +Evidently the owner of this château scorned such modern lights as gas +and electricity. + +"We might light a candle or two," said Carstairs. "Doubtless we can find +matches about." + +"No! No!" exclaimed Wharton. "I'm not at all sure that we're safe here +from intrusion!" + +"Think you're right," said Carstairs. "Let's explore further." + +"Then I vote that we go downward," said John. "I've gathered from my +reading that in the big European houses the kitchens are below stairs, +and just now a kitchen will be much more welcome to me than a +drawing-room." + +True to John's reading the kitchen and storerooms were in the basement. +Nothing had been disturbed, and they found ample food. Carstairs +discovered a wine cellar, and he returned with a bottle of champagne. + +"It's an old and famous vintage," he said, "and there'll be no harm in +taking one." + +"Here's a furnace in the cook-room," said John, "and billets of wood. +Suppose we make a fire, and dry ourselves thoroughly while we eat and +drink. It's too far down for the reflections of the flames to be seen +outside." + +The others promptly agreed with him. All wanted to get rid of the wet +chill which struck so deeply into their bodies. A search disclosed +matches, and John built the fire which was soon burning redly in the +furnace. What a glorious warmth it threw out! It created them anew, and +they realized that light and heat were the great vital elements of the +world. + +They drew a table before the fire, and put upon it the food and the +bottle of champagne. + +"We've been made welcome here after all," said John. "The souls of the +absent owners have provided these things for us." + +"That's dreamy sort of talk, John," said Wharton. + +"Maybe, but I'll go further and say that the house itself invited us to +come in. I've an idea that a house doesn't like to be abandoned and +lonely. It prefers to be filled with people and to hear the sounds of +voices and laughter. These old European houses which have sheltered +generation after generation must be the happiest houses of all. I'd like +to live in a house like this and I'd like for a house like this to like +me. It would help life a lot for a house and its occupant to be +satisfied with each other." + +"We feel that way in England about our old country houses," said +Carstairs, "and you'll come to it, too, in America, after a while." + +"No doubt, but will you have a little more of this champagne? Only a +half glass. I don't believe the owner, who must be a fine French +gentleman, would ever begrudge it to us." + +"Just a little. We're rather young for champagne, we three, but we've +been doing men's work, and we've been through men's dangers. I wonder +what they're doing along the Strand, tonight, John!" + +"The same that they've been doing every night for the last hundred +years. But you listen to me, Carstairs, old England will have to wake +up. This war can't be won by dilettantes." + +"Oh, she'll wake up. Don't you worry. It's not worth while to get +excited." + +"To take a serious view of a serious situation is not to grow excited. +You Britishers often make me tired. To pretend indifference in the face +of everything is obviously an affectation, and becomes more offensive +than boasting." + +"All right, I won't resent it. Here, John, take another piece of this +cold ham. I didn't know they had such fine ham in France." + +"They've a lot of splendid things in France," retorted John, in high, +good humor, "and we'll find it out fast. I'm thinking the French +soldiers will prove a good deal better than some people say they are, +and this château is certainly fine. It must have been put here for our +especial benefit." + +"Now that we've eaten all we want and our clothing is dried thoroughly," +said Carstairs, "I suggest that we put out the fire. There isn't much +smoke, but it goes up that flue and escapes somewhere. Even in the night +the Germans might see it." + +"Good advice, Carstairs," said Wharton. "You're as intelligent sometimes +as the Americans are all the time." + +"Pleasant children you Americans." + +"Some day we'll save the aged English from destruction." + +"Meanwhile we'll wait." + +They extinguished the fire, carefully put away all the dishes they had +used, restored everything to its pristine neatness, and then the three +yawned prodigiously. + +"Bedrooms next," said Carstairs. + +"Do you propose that we spend the night here," said Wharton. + +"That's my idea. We're worn out. We've got to sleep, somewhere. No use +breaking ourselves down, and we've found the château here waiting for +us." + +"What about the Germans?" + +"We'll have to take our chances. War is nothing but a chain of chances, +so far as your life is concerned." + +The other two wanted to be persuaded, and they yielded readily, but John +insisted upon one precaution. + +"Old houses like this are likely to have isolated chambers," he said. +"Some of them I suppose have their secret rooms, and if we can find such +a place, lock the door on ourselves, and go to sleep in it we're not +likely to wake up prisoners of the Germans." + +Wharton and Carstairs approved of his suggestion, and they examined the +house thoroughly. John concluded from the presence of all the furniture +and the good order in which they found everything that the departure of +its owners had been hasty, perhaps, too, with the expectation of a +return on the morrow. + +The room that they liked best they found on the third floor, not a +secret chamber, but one that chance visitors to the house would not be +likely to see. A narrow stairway starting near it led down through the +rear of the house, and the door was fastened with a heavy lock in which +the key remained. + +It contained only some boxes, and John surmised that it was a storeroom. +But it seemed to suit their purpose admirably, and, bringing blankets +from one of the bedrooms, they made their beds on the floor. + +John was the last to go to sleep. The others were slumbering soundly +before he lay down, but he stood a little while at the single window, +looking out. The window was closed ordinarily with a heavy shutter, +which was now sagging open. The boughs of a great tree waved almost +against it. + +The night was clear, but John saw nothing unusual outside. The château, +and all its buildings and grounds were bathed in clear moonlight. The +only sound was the soothing murmur of leaves before a light wind. It was +hard to realize that a great war was sweeping Europe, and that they were +in the thick of it. + +But utter exhaustion claimed him, too, and soon three instead of two +were sleeping soundly. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +ON THE ROOF + + +John was awakened by the measured thud of heavy boots. It resembled the +goosestep of the German army, and he turned over in order to stop the +unpleasant dream. But it did not stop, and he sat up. Then it was +louder, and it also had an echo. + +His heart thumped wildly for a moment or two. The tread was inside the +house, and it was made by many men. He slipped to the window, and his +heart thumped more wildly than ever. The lawn was covered with German +troops, most of them on horseback, the helmets of the Uhlans glittering +in the moonlight. Officers stood on the steps at the main door, and at +the edge of the vineyard were cannon. + +John thought at first that they were lost. Then he remembered their +precaution in securing an obscure and isolated room. The Germans might +not trouble themselves about ransacking an abandoned house. At least +there was hope. + +He awoke his comrades in turn, first clasping his hands over their +mouths lest they speak aloud. + +"We have fellow guests," he said. "The Germans are sharing the house +with us." + +"Yes, I hear their boots on the steps," said Wharton. "What are we to +do?" + +John again resumed the leadership. + +"Do nothing," he replied. "Do nothing as hard and continuously as we +can. Our door is locked. It's natural that it should be so, only we must +slip out the key, so it will appear that the owners having locked the +door, took the key away with them. Then we'll lie quiet, and see what +happens." + +"It's the thing to do," said Carstairs, "because we can do nothing else. +But I don't believe I can go to sleep, not to the chorus of German boots +on the steps." + +John slipped the big key from the lock and put it in a corner. Then he +lay down again beside the other two. They could hear better with their +ears to the floor. It was a solid and heavily built house in the +European fashion. Nevertheless they heard the tread from many parts of +it, and the sound of voices also. + +"It's an invasion," whispered Carstairs. "They're all over the shop." + +"Looks like it," said John, "but I've a notion that we're safe here +unless they conclude to burn the house. The German advance is so rapid +it doesn't seem likely to me they'll stay longer than tonight." + +"Still I can't sleep." + +John laughed to himself. He was becoming so thoroughly hardened to +danger that the complaint of Carstairs amused him. + +"They've got an affection for the top of the house," said Wharton, "You +can hear them pounding through the upper rooms, and even on the roof." + +"But nobody has tried our door yet," said Carstairs, "and it's a +consoling thought." + +They lay a long time, and heard the continual thump of feet about the +place. It suggested at first the thought of plunder, but when John +peeped out he did not see anybody bearing things from the house. He +beheld instead a sight that caused him to summon the others. A young man +had ridden up, and, as he dismounted, all the officers, several of whom +were in the uniform of generals, paid him marked deference. + +"It's a prince," whispered Carstairs. "It may be the Crown Prince +himself, but I can't say, the light isn't good enough." + +"And there are other princes behind him," said Wharton. "See the +officers still kotowing. I didn't suspect that we had taken a room in a +royal residence." + +"I'd give a lot to know what they're about," said Carstairs. "Something +big must be afoot." + +"They're still moving about the house," said John. "We've got to wait. +That's all." + +They went back to their places on the floor, and waited as best they +could, but they heard the sounds for a long time. After an interminable +period they went back to the window and saw the prince and the cavalry +riding away. The cannon too departed. A dozen Uhlans however remained +posted on horseback about the house. The noises inside ceased. + +"I can't make it out," whispered Carstairs. "Why should they go away and +leave those Uhlans there guarding the house?" + +"There must be something inside very precious to them," replied John. + +"But what is it? Apparently the house itself is abandoned by all save +ourselves." + +"I don't know the answer, but my watch tells me it's far in the night. +We've had our sleep and rest, and we must try to slip by the Uhlans and +get away. Now's the time too." + +"Right you are, John," said Wharton, as he felt once more of his +precious pocket. "We can't linger, and risk being caught in a trap +here." + +"But I hear somebody still moving about the château," said Carstairs. +"Wait a minute, boys." + +He looked through the empty keyhole, and announced that he saw a faint +light or the reflection of a light in the hall. + +"Something's on foot," he said. "If their officers are sleeping here I +should think they'd take the lower rooms, but it seems to me that +they're fond of the top of the house, overfond of it." + +John who was peeping out at the window once more announced that the +Uhlans were still keeping a vigilant watch. They were riding slowly back +and forth, and he had no doubt there were others in the rear of the +château. + +"But I repeat we mustn't linger," said Wharton. "Suppose we hold our +automatics ready and slip out." + +"Suits me," said John, and he cautiously unlocked the door. The three +with their hands on their weapons stepped into the hall, where they +noticed the faint glimmer of light, of which Carstairs had spoken. They +stood there silently for a moment or two, pressing themselves against +the wall, where they would be in the shadow. + +"I think the light comes from above," said Carstairs. "You'll notice +that the little stairway leads upward, apparently to the roof." + +Wharton held up his hand, and the three were so still they scarcely +breathed. + +"Don't you hear it?" whispered Wharton. "That sound from the roof, the +sputtering and crackling." + +"I do hear it," said John, listening with all ears. "It's a faint sound, +almost like the light crackling of fire. What does it mean Wharton?" + +"The wireless." + +"The wireless?" + +"Yes, while we were sleeping the Germans were installing a wireless +outfit on the roof, and it's talking. I tell you, boys, it's talking at +a great rate, and it's saying something. You mayn't have noticed it, but +the château stands on a hill, with a clear sweep, and our wireless here +is having a big talk with distant stations. We've been sleeping, but the +Germans never sleep." + +"I suppose you know what you're talking about, Wharton, and you're sure +it's a wireless outfit," said John. + +"It's impossible for me to be wrong. I could never mistake the sound of +the wireless for anything else." + +"And it's there on the roof of this château, which belongs to us by +right of occupancy, chattering away to German forces elsewhere!" said +Carstairs in an indignant whisper. + +"It's doing a lot more than chattering," said Wharton. "They wouldn't +install a wireless on the roof of a house at this time of the night, +merely for a little idle summer conversation. You saw that a prince and +generals came here, and undoubtedly they ordered it done." + +"Whatever they're talking about," said Carstairs, "it's not likely +they're talking about us, so now is our chance to slip away." + +"I'm not going to leave the château just now," said Wharton. + +"Then what are you going to do?" + +"I'd like to see the wireless on the roof and the man who is working +it." + +John glanced at Wharton. The light was very dim, but he noticed a spark +in Wharton's eye, and he knew that something unusual was working in the +back of his head. + +"I think I'd like to have a look at the roof myself," he whispered. + +"If you chaps are bent on going up there," said Carstairs, "I'm bound to +go with you. But we'd better keep our automatics in our hands." + +They emerged from the shadow of the wall, and reached the foot of the +stairway that led to the roof. The door at the top was open, as the +moonlight was shining down, and Wharton boldly led the way, walking on +tiptoe, his automatic in his hand. At the open door John and Carstairs +crowded up by his side, and three pairs of eyes peeped out at once. + +They saw two men on the roof both with their backs turned to them. One +was the operator of the wireless, sitting on a camp stool, working the +instrument. The other, in an officer's uniform, was dictating messages. +John surmised that they were talking with a station to the eastward, +where some lofty ranges of hills ran. + +But Wharton was the most deeply stirred of the three. The spark in his +eye was enlarging and glowing more brilliant, and a great resolve had +formed in his mind. + +"There's nothing that we can do here," said Carstairs. "We'd better go +at once." + +"We're not going," said Wharton in a fierce whisper. "I can use the +wireless, and that's just the instrument on which I wish to exercise my +skill. I've heard enough to know they're not talking in code." + +"Wharton, you are mad!" said John. + +"If so, I'm mad in a good cause. Inside of ten minutes some German +general will be hearing remarkable news from this station." + +"I tell you again you're mad." + +"And I tell you again I'm not. I'm a crack wireless operator and this is +my chance to prove it. I'm going up there. All who are afraid can turn +back." + +"You know that if you're resolved to go mad we'll go mad with you. What +do you want us to do?" + +"John, club your automatic, and hit that officer on the back of the head +with it. Hit hard. Don't kill him, but you must knock him unconscious at +the first blow. Carstairs and I will choke all but a spark of life out +of the operator." + +The three emerged from the stairway upon the flat portion of the roof +where the wireless plant had been installed not more than four or five +feet away. They made not the slightest sound as they stole forward, but +even had they made it the two Germans were so deeply absorbed in their +talk through the air that they would not have heard it. + +John felt compunctions at striking an unsuspecting enemy from behind, +but their desperate need put strength in his blow. The officer fell +without a cry and lay motionless. At the same instant Wharton and +Carstairs seized the operator by the throat, and dragged him down. He +was a small spectacled man and he was only a child in the hands of two +powerful youths. In a minute or two and almost without noise they bound +him with strips of his own coat, and gagged him with a handkerchief. +Then they stretched him out on the roof and turned to John's victim. + +The man lay on his face. His helmet had fallen off and rolled some +distance away, a ray of moonlight tipping the steel spike with silver. A +dark red stain appeared in his hair where the pistol butt had descended. + +The figure was that of a powerful man, and the set of the shoulders +seemed familiar to John. He rolled him over, and disclosed the face of +von Boehlen. Again he felt compunction for that blow, not because he +liked the captain, but because he knew him. + +"It's von Boehlen," he said, "and I hope I haven't killed him." + +Carstairs inserted his hand under his head and felt of the wound. + +"You haven't killed him," he said, "but you struck hard enough to make +him a bitter enemy. The skull isn't fractured at all, and he'll be +reviving in a few minutes. He's a powerful fellow, and we'd better truss +him up as we have his friend here." + +While Carstairs and Wharton were binding and gagging von Boehlen, John +went to the railing about five feet in height that surrounded the +central or flat part of the roof, the rest sloping away. The railing +would hide what was passing there from the Uhlans below, but he wanted +to take a look of precaution. + +The men were riding up and down with their usual regularity and +precision, watching every approach to the house, and making the ring of +steel about it complete. This little wheel of the German machine was +Working perfectly, guarding with invincible thoroughness against the +expected, but taking no account of the unexpected. He came back to his +comrades. + +"All well below," he said. + +Von Boehlen and the operator, the big man and the little man, were lying +side by side. Von Boehlen's face was very pale, but his chest was +beginning to rise and fall with some regularity. He would become +conscious in three or four minutes. The operator was conscious already +and he was staring at the three apparitions. + +But Wharton was paying no attention to the captives. His soul fairly +leaped within him as he took his seat at the instrument which was +sputtering and flashing with unanswered questions. + +"Is that the Château de Friant?" came the words flashing through the +air. + +"Yes this is the Château de Friant," replied Wharton, learning for the +first time the name of the house, in which they had made themselves at +home. + +"Then why don't you answer? You broke off suddenly five minutes ago and +we couldn't get another word from you." + +"Something went wrong with the instrument, but it's all right now. Go +ahead." + +"Is Captain von Boehlen still there?" + +"At my elbow." + +"Take from his dictation the answers to the questions I ask you." + +"At once, sir. He is ready to dictate." + +"Have you seen anything of British troops, Captain von Boehlen?" + +"I have sir. I saw them marching northward this afternoon." + +"In what direction?" + +"Toward Mons." + +"What seemed to be their purpose?" + +"To effect a junction with the main French army." + +Wharton improvised rapidly. His whole soul was still alight. It had +seldom been granted to one man, especially one so young as he to have +two such opportunities, that of the papers, and that of the wireless, +and he felt himself ready and equal to his task. + +"Were they in large force?" came the question out of the dark. + +"Larger than any of us expected." + +"How many do you think?" + +"About one hundred and fifty thousand men." + +For two or three minutes no other question came, and Wharton laughed +silently. "I've created a hostile force of a hundred and fifty thousand +men," were his unuttered words, "and they don't like it." + +"Is it possible for our advance column to get in between them and the +French?" finally came the next question. + +"It's too late," went back the winged answer. "The column would be +destroyed." + +"This is not in accordance with our earlier reports." + +"No sir. But both the English and French have shown amazing activity. A +French force of more than one hundred thousand men, of which we have had +no report before, faces our right. It is prepared to strike our line +just where it is thinnest." + +Another silence, and Wharton's heart beat hard and fast. John standing +near him, did not know what was being said through the dark, but he knew +by the look on Wharton's strained face that it must be momentous. The +wireless was silent, and now he heard the measured tread of horses' +hoofs, as the Uhlans rode back and forth, guarding the wireless station +against the coming of any foe. + +Wharton listened intently at the receiver. Were they accepting all that +he said? Why shouldn't they? He had given them no answer which they +could know to be wrong. + +"You are entirely sure of what you say?" came the question. + +"Entirely sir. My Uhlans and I were able to ride under cover of a forest +to a point within a few hundred yards of the enemy. We saw them in great +masses." + +"And their field artillery?" + +"We were not able to count the guns, but they were very numerous." + +"Then it seems that we can't drive a wedge between the English and the +French." + +"I fear that we can't sir." + +"Send out a portion of the Uhlans under your best officers and report to +me again at daylight." + +"They shall go at once sir." + +"Then good night. Captain von Boehlen. I congratulate you upon your +energy and the great service that you have done." + +"Thank you sir." + +"We may call you again in the night." + +"I shall be here sir." + +"But I won't," said Wharton, as he stepped back and smashed the receiver +with the butt of his automatic. + +Then as he turned away he said: + +"Boys, I've been talking with the Emperor himself maybe, and if not with +some one very high in command. I'll tell you about it later, as we must +waste no time in escaping from this château." + +"I hope you told the Emperor that we are here, ready to defeat him," +said John. + +"I didn't tell him that exactly, but I told him or whoever it was +something which may help us. Now, fellows, we must be off." + +They crippled the instrument beyond hope of repair and started. As John +turned toward the stairway, he glanced at von Boehlen. The Prussian had +returned to consciousness and his eyes were wide open. They bent upon +John such a look of anger and hatred that the young American shuddered. +And yet, John felt von Boehlen had full cause for such feelings. Despite +himself he believed that they owed him an apology, and stooping a little +he said: + +"It's been a cruel necessity, Captain von Boehlen. War is violence." + +The Prussian's eyes glared back. A handkerchief in his mouth kept him +from speaking, but his eyes said enough. + +"I hope that you and your comrade will not suffer," said John. "Your +friends will find you here in the morning." + +Then he followed his comrades down the narrow stairway. + +"What were you saying to him?" asked Carstairs. "I was apologizing for +the blow I gave him from behind." + +"The decent thing to do." + +As they descended into the lower part of the house Wharton told them +more fully what he had said over the wireless, and Carstairs patted him +on the back. + +"Good old chap," he said. "You Yankees do have bright ideas sometimes." + +"The next bright idea is open to any one who can furnish it," said +Wharton. "It's to tell us how we're to get out of the château." + +"I think there's a vineyard just behind the house," said John, "and if +we can reach it we're safe. And we should be able to get there as the +Uhlans are watching for people who may come to the château, and not for +anybody going away." + +They explored the rear of the house and found a door opening upon a +narrow flagged walk, lined on either side with pines, and leading +straight to the vineyard about thirty yards away. They could make a dash +for it, and a Uhlan might or might not see them. + +"And if they should see us," said Carstairs, "we could probably get away +in the garden and the darkness." + +"But we don't want 'em to discover what's happened on the roof," said +Wharton. "Then they might send a new wireless. If we can slip away +without being seen maybe they won't know what's happened to the +wireless, until morning." + +"I think," said John, "that we'd better resort to the tactics, used long +ago by the borderers in the American wilderness, and creep along the +walk until we reach the vineyard." + +"Go ahead," said Carstairs, "I'm as good a creeper as you are. But, +since it's one of your Yankee tricks, you lead." + +They stepped outside and instantly dropped to their hands and knees. The +grass beside the walk was rather high and John led the way through it, +instead of on the walk, whispering to Carstairs who was just behind him +to do as he did, Carstairs in turn passing the word to Wharton. + +They advanced about ten yards, and then, John lay flat. The others did +the same. One of the Uhlans riding on his beat was passing near the +vineyard. He was a man of good eyes and he was watchful as became his +service, but it was impossible for him to see the three dark figures of +his enemies lying in the grass and he rode on. Then John rose to his +hands and knees again, and resumed his creeping advance with the others +close behind him. He could hear Carstairs muttering against this painful +mode of travel, but he would not alter it, and he knew that the +Englishman would be true to his word. + +Near the vineyard he flattened down a second time in the grass. The +Uhlan was riding back again on his beat, and the most critical moment +had come. He would certainly pass very near, and although the odds were +against it, his eye might catch a glimpse of the three figures in the +grass. Even then they might escape through the vineyard and across the +wire fence which would impede the horses, but John recognized as fully +as Wharton did the importance of the Uhlans believing until morning that +all was well on the roof of the château. + +The beat of the horse's hoofs came near. The Uhlan was young and blond, +a handsome fellow with a kindly face. John hoped that he would never +have to shoot at him. But he did not see the three prone figures. It was +likely that they blended with the shadows more thoroughly than John had +supposed. He passed on and the danger passed on with him. + +"Let's get up now and run," whispered Carstairs. + +"Not a step until we reach the bushes," replied John. "Not a step, even +if your knees and elbows are worn quite away." + +But it took only two or three minutes more to reach the vineyard, and +they rose to a stooping position, Carstairs expelling his breath in a +long sigh of relief. + +"I shall never stand up straight again," he whispered. + +They ran between the vines and gained the forest, where in spite of the +complaint Carstairs had made all three straightened up and began to +exchange rejoicings after the manner of youth. The house showed clearly +in its grounds, and they saw the dusky figures of two or three of the +Uhlans, but they were outside the ring and they knew they were safe from +that danger at least. But the creeping had been so painful they were +compelled to rest several minutes. Probably the most exultant of the +three was Wharton, although he said the least. He had sent the wireless +messages which would mislead at least a portion of the German army, +enabling the English and French to close up the gap between them, and he +carried the papers of the German prince, telling how other German armies +were advancing. His hand flew once more to his coat, and when it felt of +the priceless packet the blood seemed to tingle in his arm, and shoot +back in a stronger flood toward his heart. + +"And now Carstairs," said John, "you know this country better than we +do. Lead us toward the British army. And as we've lost our horses and +our automobile I suppose it's to be on foot now." + +"It shouldn't be much farther," said Carstairs, "and as we're all good +walkers we can make it yet." + +Under his guidance they left the wood and entered a road which led north +and west. Their sleep had refreshed them wonderfully, but above all they +had the buoyancy that comes from success and hope. They had triumphed +over every danger. Their hearts grew bolder and their muscles stronger, +as they sped on their journey. + +"I never knew before how good walking could be," said John. + +"It's a jolly sight better than creeping and crawling," said Carstairs. +"John, I don't think you'll ever get me to do that again, even to save +my life." + +"No, but the Germans may make you do a lot of it, if you don't get some +sense through your thick British head," said Wharton. + +"Is that you, Wharton, and are you still alive?" said Carstairs. + +"I'm here, all right." + +"Wasn't it your great president, Lincoln, who said you couldn't cross a +river until you got to it?" + +"He said something like that." + +"Well, that's what we British are doing. But we're bound to admit that +you've done great work for us tonight, old chap." + +Their hands met in the darkness in a strong and friendly grasp. + +"At least there's one advantage about walking," said John. "If we hear +or see Uhlans it's much easier to dodge on our own feet into the woods +or fields than it would be with horses or an armored car." + +"I'm thinking we've seen the last of the Uhlans for the time," said +Carstairs. "Another hour or two ought to take us well inside our own +lines. Now, what is that?" + +He was looking eastward where he saw a succession of white flashes on +the horizon. The three stopped and watched. The white flashes reappeared +at intervals for about ten minutes and they wondered. Then the solution +came suddenly to John. + +"Powerful searchlights," he said. "The Germans have everything and of +course they have them too. If necessary they'll advance in the night and +fight under them." + +"Of course," said Carstairs. "Why didn't we think of it sooner?" + +A certain awe seized the three. The reputation of the German military +machine had been immense throughout the world for years, and now real +war was proving it to be all that was claimed for it and more. A great +and numerous nation for nearly half a century had poured its best +energies into the making of an invincible army. Was it possible to stop +it? The three were asking themselves that question again as they watched +the searchlights flashing on the horizon. + +"It must be up and away with us," said Carstairs. "We're the champion +walkers of Northern France, and if we're to retain our titles we can't +linger here. In another hour the day will come." + +Daylight found them at a small river. The bridge was not broken down, +and they inferred that it was within the lines of defense. An hour later +they learned from a peasant that a British force was camped about +fifteen miles north and west, and they induced him with good gold to +drive them nearly the whole way in his cart. About a mile from the +roadside he insisted on their getting out and drove back rapidly. + +"He's afraid his cart and horse would be seized," said Carstairs. "We +could have forced him to go on, but we'll not set a bad example." + +The road now led over a hill and at its crest Carstairs took off his hat +and waved it proudly. + +"Don't you see?" he exclaimed. "Look! Look! The British flag!" + +"What British flag?" said Wharton. "You've a lot of your rags." + +"Never mind they're all glorious. See it, waving there by the tents!" + +"Yes, I see it, but why are you English so excitable? Any way it's +probably waving over valiant Scotchmen and Irishmen." + +"Wharton, you grumpy old Yankee, descendant of sour Puritan ancestors, +we've won our way through in face of everything!" + +He seized Wharton about the waist, and the two waltzed up and down the +road, while John laughed from sheer joy. + +"Bill come an' look at the crazy Frenchmen dancin' in the road," said a +voice that reeked of the Strand. + +Bill who was from London himself came out of some bushes by the side of +the road, and gazed with wonder at the whirling figures. John knew that +they belonged on the first line of the British outposts and he said +politely: + +"You're partly wrong. My friends are crazy right enough, but they're not +Frenchmen. One is an Englishman like yourselves, and the other is an +American, but regularly enlisted in the Franco-British service, as I am +too." + +Carstairs and Wharton stopped dancing. Carstairs took off his hat, and +made a deep bow to the astonished pickets. + +"I'm not bowing to you, though God knows you deserve it," he said. "I'm +bowing instead to the British nation which is here incarnate in your +khaki clad persons." + +"Touched a bit 'ere, Bill," said one of the men, putting his finger to +his forehead. + +"A bit off says I too, 'Arry. We used to get 'em sometimes on our 'bus +in the Strand. Speak 'em gentle, and they'll stop carrying on." + +Carstairs exuded joy and he extended a welcoming hand. + +"I take it that you were the driver and conductor of a 'bus in the +Strand." + +"Right you are sir," they replied together, and then one added: + +"If you'll go down to the foot of the hill you'll see the good old 'bus +itself with all the signs still on it. But I'll 'ave to ask you first, +sir, who you are and what do you want?" + +John had never thought before that the cockney accent would be so +grateful to his ear, but his pleasure at seeing the men was scarcely +less than that of Carstairs. They did not come from his own land, but +they came from the land of his ancestors, and that was next best. + +Carstairs and Wharton quickly showed their dispatches. Bill promptly +took them to a sergeant, and in a half hour they stood beside the +general's tent in the center of ten thousand men, the vanguard of the +British army. Dispatches have never been read more eagerly and when +Wharton, in addition, told the story of the château roof and the +wireless the general felt a great thrill of excitement. + +"I'm bound to believe all that you say," he said looking into the three +honest young faces. "Darrell, see that they have refreshment at once, +because we move in an hour." + +Darrell, a young aide procured them food and horses. Soon the whole +detachment was marching toward the main force, and the three true to the +promise of their Cockney friends saw London 'buses, still covered with +their hideous signs lumbering along as transports. At noon they joined +the chief British army, and the next day they were in touch with the +French. + +The preceding night the three received places in wagons and slept +heavily. By morning their strength was fully restored and pending the +arrival of the Strangers, with whom they intended to remain they served +as aides. + +Several days passed, but not in idleness. Incessant skirmishing went on +in front, and the Uhlans were nearly always in sight. John felt the +presence of vast numbers. He surmised that the British army did not +number more than a hundred thousand men, but multitudes of French were +on their right and still greater multitudes of Germans were in front. It +was a wonderful favor of fortune or skill that the British had not been +cut off and as the German hosts, fierce and determined, poured forward, +there was no certainty that it would not yet happen. + +John soon became at home among the English, Scotch and Irish. He found +many of his own countrymen in their ranks and he continually heard his +own language in more or less varied form. + +The thrilling nature of the tremendous spectacle soon made him forget to +some extent the awfulness of war. Riding with his comrades at night +along the front he saw again the flashing of the German searchlights, +and now and then came the mighty boom of the great guns. + +Belgian refugees told them that the advance of the Germans was like the +rolling in of the sea. Their gray hosts poured forward on every road. +They would be going through a village, for hours and hours, for a day, a +night and then the next day, an endless gray tide, every man perfectly +equipped, every man in his place, hot food always ready for them at the +appointed time, cavalry in vast masses, and cannon past counting. + +The knowledge lay upon John like a weight, tremendous and appalling, and +yet he would not have been elsewhere. He was glad to be on the battle +front when the fate of half a billion people was being decided. + +Many of the spectacular features afforded by earlier battles +disappeared, but others took their place. In the clear air they +sometimes saw the flashes of the giant cannon, miles away, and flying +machines and captive balloons sprinkled the air. An army could no longer +hide itself. Forests and hollows were of no avail. The scouts of the +blue, looking down saw every move, and they brought word that the menace +was growing heavier every hour. + +"We'll fight on the morrow," said John as he stood with Carstairs and +Wharton before a camp fire. "I feel that the Germans will surely attack +in the morning." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE GERMAN HOST + + +John was turning away from the camp fire with his friends, when he saw +something drop out of the dark, and disappear in a little valley near +them. + +"Another of those aeroplanes," said Carstairs. "I can't get wholly used +to the way they zigzag and spiral about at night like huge birds of +prey. They always give me a chill, even when I know they're our own." + +John had secured one good look at the machine as it swooped toward the +earth, and he asked his friends to walk with him toward the improvised +hangar, where it would surely be lying. + +They saw a man of slender but very strong build step from the aeroplane, +and throw back his visor, showing a tanned face, a somewhat aquiline +nose, and eyes penetrating and powerful like those of some bird that +soaring far up sees its prey on the earth below. It was an unusual, +distinctive face, and the red firelight accentuated every salient +characteristic. + +"Lannes!" said John joyfully. "I thought it was the _Arrow_ when I saw +you descending!" + +John stood in the shadow, and the young Frenchman took a step forward to +see better. Then he too uttered an exclamation of gladness. + +"It's Monsieur Jean the Scott, my comrade of the great battles in the +air!" he said. "It was my hope rather than my expectation to find you +here." + +He grasped the extended hand and shook it with great warmth. Then John +introduced him to his friends. Lannes and Carstairs surveyed each other +a moment. + +"Frenchman and Englishman have been on the same battle fields for a +thousand years," said Carstairs. + +"Usually the only ones there, and fighting each other," said Lannes. + +"Whichever side won, the victory was never easy." + +"You are a brave people. We French are the best witnesses of it." + +"We are always slow to start. We are usually the last to reach the +battle field." + +"Also, usually the last to leave it." + +"It seems fitting to me that the enemies of a thousand years should have +exhausted all their enmity and should now be united against a common +foe." + +"Without you we could not win." + +Lannes' wonderful eyes were sparkling. There is something deep and +moving in the friendships of youth. Moreover it made a powerful appeal +to his strongly-developed dramatic side. Foes of a thousand years were +bound to acknowledge the merits of each other. Carstairs, less +demonstrative, felt the same appeal. Then they too shook hands with +strength and enthusiasm. + +"I approve of this love-feast," said Wharton, "but don't fall to kissing +each other. Man kissing man is a continental custom I can't stand." + +"Don't be alarmed," said Lannes laughing. "It's passing out in France, +and I certainly would not do it. I've lived a while in your country. Now +will you wait here, my friends? I have a report to make, but I will +return in a half hour." + +When Lannes returned he handed a letter to John: "Your uncle and the +worthy Mr. Anson have managed to reach Paris through Switzerland," he +said. "I found them, and, on the chance that I might reach you, the +distinguished Senator, your uncle, gave me the letter that I now give to +you." + +Making his excuses to the others John read it hastily. His uncle wrote +in a resigned tone. He and Mr. Anson would remain in Paris a short time, +and then if the German forces came near, as he feared they might, they +would cross to London. He hoped that his nephew would leave the army and +join them there, but if contrary to all good advice, he insisted on +remaining he trusted that he would fight bravely and show the +superiority of Americans to the decadent Europeans. + +"Good old Uncle Jim," said John to himself, as he put the letter back in +his pocket. "Maybe it's a faith like his that will really make us the +greatest nation in the world." + +He did not see any great difference at that moment between the sublime +faith of Senator Pomeroy in the United States and the equally sublime +faith of Carstairs in the British Empire. The only difference was in +their way of expressing it. But he felt a great affection for his uncle, +and he knew very well that the chances were against his ever seeing him +again. A slight mist came before his eyes. + +"I thank you for bringing the letter, Lannes," he said. "My uncle and +Mr. Anson will remain a while in Paris, and then they will probably go +to London." + +He would not tell Lannes the Senator's reason for leaving Paris. + +"From what place have you come after leaving Paris, if it's no army +secret?" he asked. + +Lannes with a dramatic gesture swept his hand over his head. + +"From there. From the heavenly vault," he replied. "I have been +everywhere. Over forests and many cities, over the German lines and over +our own lines. I have seen the Germans coming not in thousands but in +millions. I thought once that the army of our allies would be cut off, +but it has joined with our own in time." + +"Is it true that we fight tomorrow?" + +"As surely as the rising of the sun." + +"In that case it would be better for us all to go to sleep," said +Carstairs phlegmatically. "We'll need our full strength in the morning." + +But John was not able to close his eyes for a long time. His rather +loose position as an aide enabled him to go about much with Darrell, the +young officer to whom he had been introduced first, and he saw that the +British army awaited the battle with eagerness, not unmixed with +curiosity. In John's opinion they held the enemy far too lightly, and he +did not hesitate to say so. Darrell was not offended. + +"It's our national characteristic," he said, "and I suppose it can't be +changed. This overweening confidence sometimes brings us defeats that we +might have avoided, and again it brings us victories that we might not +have won otherwise. Tommy Atkins is always convinced that he can beat +two soldiers of any other nation, unless it's you Yankees. Of course he +can't, but the belief helps him a lot." + +"Remember how you fared in the Boer war." Darrell laughed. + +"Tommy Atkins doesn't read history, and those who remember it have long +since convinced themselves that the Boer successes were due to strange +tricks or are merely legendary." + +John was not at all sure that Darrell was not a better born and better +educated Tommy Atkins himself. He, and all the other young officers whom +he met, seemed to be absolutely sure of victory on the morrow, no matter +how numerous the German host might be. + +After a while he lay down in the grass, wrapped in a blanket, near his +comrades and slept. But the August night was not quiet, and it was an +uneasy sleep. He awoke far before dawn and stood up. He heard distant +shots now and then from the pickets, and the powerful searchlights often +played on the far horizon, casting a white, uncanny glare. Darker spots +appeared in the dusky sky. The aeroplanes were already hovering above, +watching for the first movement of the enemy. + +He walked to the place, where the _Arrow_ was lying, and saw Lannes +standing beside it, fully clothed for flight. + +"I'm carrying dispatches to our own army on the right," said Lannes, +"and I don't think you will see me again for several days. You fight +today, you know." + +"And we shall win?" + +Lannes was silent. + +"All the English are confident of victory," continued John. + +"Confidence is a sublime thing," said Lannes, "but in a great war it +goes best with numbers and preparation." + +John felt the gravity of his tone, but he asked no more questions, +seeing that the young Frenchman was reluctant to answer them, and that +he was also ready for his flight. + +"You're in all senses a bird of passage, Philip," he said, "but I know +that whatever happens tomorrow or rather today we're going to see each +other again. Good-bye." + +"Good-bye," said Lannes, extending his gloved hand. "We're comrades, +John, and I hope sometimes to turn your little fraternity of three into +a brotherhood of four. Tell the Englishman, Carstairs, that France and +England together can't fail." + +"He'll think it mostly England." + +"If we only win, let him think it." + +Lannes stepped into the machine, it was shoved forward, then it rose +gracefully into the air and flew off in the usual spirals and zigzags +toward the east, where it was soon lost in the darkness. John gazed +toward the point, where he last saw it. It seemed almost a dream, that +flight of his with Lannes, and the fight with the Taubes, and the +Zeppelin. He was on the ground now, and the coming battle would be +fought on the solid earth, as man had been fighting from time +immemorial. He was about to return to his blanket when a glad voice +called to him and a figure emerged from the dark. + +"Mr. Scott," came a pleasant voice. "And you were not drowned after all! +I thought that I alone escaped!" + +It was Weber, paler than usual, but without a wound. John's surprise was +lost in gladness. He liked this man, whose manners were so agreeable, +and he had mourned his death. + +"Mr. Weber," he said, shaking hands with him, "it's I who should say: +'and you are not dead?' We thought you were drowned under the +automobile. Mr. Wharton, Mr. Carstairs and myself escaped uninjured +although we had a hard time afterward with the Germans. How did you +manage it?" + +"I _was_ under the automobile, and I _did_ come near being drowned, but +not quite. I'm a good swimmer, but I was caught by a strap. As soon as I +could disengage myself I swam rapidly down stream under water, came up +in the shadow, and crawled among some bushes on the bank. I saw the +Germans ride into the river, search the opposite shore, and after a +while go away. Then I emerged from the bushes, walked more hours than I +can count, and you see me here. I've brought information which I think +of value, and I'm on my way now to give it to high officers." + +John shook hands with him again. Weber's manner, at once frank and +cheerful, invited confidence. + +"Providence seems to watch over all four of us," he said. "It's quite +certain that none of us will ever meet his death by drowning." + +"Nor by hanging either I hope," said Weber. + +"Now I must hurry. If I'm not sent away immediately on another mission +it's likely I'll see you tomorrow." + +He disappeared almost at once. He seemed to John to have some mysterious +power of melting into the air, or of re-embodying himself. It was +terrifying for the moment, but John shook himself and laughed. +"Lightness of foot and silence are the two great assets in his trade," +he said to himself. + +He wrapped himself in his blanket and again sought sleep which came +readily enough despite the distant shots and the flashing white lights. +But he was awakened at the first upshoot of dawn, and the whole army was +soon on its feet, its front spreading a long distance across the green +country. They had hot coffee and good hot food, and then turned to their +duty, John at the same time telling them of the return of Weber, over +which both Wharton and Carstairs rejoiced. + +"It's a good omen," said Carstairs. "We'll take it that way and let it +point to our success today." + +"We need it," muttered Wharton, who was looking through glasses, "and a +lot more just as good. If I don't make any mistake the German nation is +advancing against us in a solid mass." + +Carstairs had observed the same fact. + +"They seem to be quite numerous," he said. + +"Now's your chance," said John, "to prove not only that one Englishman +is as good as any other two Europeans, but as good as four." + +"Looks like it," said Carstairs coolly. "I'm bound to admit that we can +get all the fighting we want. But our men are ready and willing. Listen +to the bagpipes of those Highlanders." + +"Sounds more like a dirge," said Wharton. + +"A dirge for the other fellows." + +"Do they keep their legs bare so they can run fast?" + +"Yes, after the enemy." + +John smiled. + +"You're true blue, Carstairs, old fellow," he said. "What do you see, +Wharton?" + +"Germans, Germans, and then more Germans. Germans on the right, Germans +on the left, and Germans in the center, always Germans. They're +advancing by kingdoms, grand dukedoms, dukedoms and principalities. The +whole circle of the horizon is gray with them." + +The three were mounted and ready for orders. Aloft swung the aeroplanes +and over the hostile front hovered those of the Germans also. John had +little to do, but; as he rode slowly back and forth with the others, he +heard the light talk and the jesting among these troops who spoke +English. Although he knew that they underrated the danger he was proud +of them, and he remembered that his transplanted blood and theirs were +the same. + +His eyes turned back to the gray sea, coming forward like the tide +across the open fields. It's edge was yet far away, but the sunlight was +so bright and the columns so deep that he saw them plainly. As in the +battle with the French they made upon him the impression of irresistible +strength. He saw too that their tremendous line would overlap the +British on both left and right, and he was assailed by a sudden and +deadly fear that they stood in the presence of the invincible. But his +strong will took command of his imaginative mind, and his face seemed +calm as he sat on his horse with the others and watched the advancing +foe. + +Rifles were already crackling in the valleys between, where the pickets +were seeking the lives of one another, and now came the deep, rumbling +thunder of the giant cannon as they threw their shells from a range of +eight or ten miles. When a shell burst there was a crash like that of a +volcano in eruption, great cavities were torn in the earth, and men fell +in dozens. Vast clouds of smoke from the monster guns began to drift +against the horizon, but nearer where the smaller guns were at work only +light white clouds appeared. + +The advancing German army was a semicircle of fire. From every point the +field batteries opened, making a steady crash so frightful and violent +that it seemed to rend the earth. But above their roar the eruption of +the colossal cannon in the rear could be heard now, and shells of +immense weight struck and burst in the English lines. Along the whole +British front the cannon were replying, and the roar reached incredible +proportions. Noxious fumes too filled the air. Gases seemed to be +released and the air was heavy and poisonous in the lungs. War had taken +on a new aspect, one more sinister and menacing than the old. + +The shock from the great guns became so terrific that John tore little +pieces from the lining of his coat and stuffed them in his ears, in fear +lest he should be made deaf forever. He did it surreptitiously, until he +saw others doing the same, and then he put in more. Many of the troops +were lying down now. Others were kneeling, but everywhere the officers +stood up or sat their horses, reckless of death. The rifle firing had +ceased, because the pickets and skirmishers of both were driven in, and +the masses on the two sides were not yet near enough to each other for +that weapon. + +But the cannon, hundreds and hundreds of them were pouring forth two +storms of death. The British position was raked through and through by +the fire of a thousand guns. Shrapnel seemed to rain from the clouds +scattering death and wounds everywhere. The air was filled with its +ferocious whine like that of a hurricane. + +John, having no messages to carry, continued to watch the German +advance. He had no doubt that thousands had already fallen before the +hostile fire, but he could see no break in that living gray line. It +came steadily on, solid, tremendous and, again he felt that it was +impossible to stay it. + +"The field telephone brings news that the French on our right miles away +are engaged also!" shouted Wharton. + +"That doesn't concern us!" John shouted back. "Look what's coming, a +million Germans at least!" + +The shrapnel whined terribly over his head and his horse fell, but he +sprang clear. + +"My horse is killed!" he cried. + +"So's mine," said Carstairs, as he picked himself from the grass. + +Wharton's was hurt by the same deadly shower and he dismounted to +examine his wound, but the horse maddened by pain and fright broke loose +and ran toward the German lines. Before he had gone far a shell swept +him away in fragments. + +John thought they were safer on foot, but his fear began to leave as the +madness of battle seized him. He had the curious but not uncommon +feeling in a soldier that the whole hostile army was firing at him +alone. His heart swelled with indignation, and his hair bristled with +anger. Snatching up the rifle of a fallen man he stood, ready to use it, +when the gray line came within fair range. + +Carstairs and Wharton shouted something to him, but he could not hear +the words. He merely saw their lips moving. The crash had become so +tremendous that voices were inaudible. John was now quite certain that +if he had not put the lint in his ears he would have become deaf +forever. But both Wharton and Carstairs seized him and dragged him down. +Wharton, through his glasses, had noticed that new German batteries were +coming into action, and their fire would converge upon the place, where +they stood. + +As they lay almost flat behind a little ridge the shrapnel began to +shriek over their heads with increased violence. Many men behind them +were killed and a stream of wounded dragged themselves toward the rear. +The giant shells also fell among them, spreading death over wide areas. +The hideous smell of fumes and gases spread. The air seemed poisoned. + +The rifles now opened fire, and the air was filled with singing steel. +The little bullets flew in millions, cutting down men, bushes, grass, +everything. John and his comrades using the ridge for shelter fired +their own weapons as fast as they could pull the trigger. He did not +know how Carstairs and Wharton had obtained their rifles, but plenty +were lying about for the taking. + +As the German lines drew nearer John saw the men falling in hundreds. +Their ranks were swept by shell, shrapnel and the unceasing storm of +bullets, but the gray hosts, a quarter of a million strong, passing over +the dying and the dead, always swept on, their generals eager to cut off +and destroy the English army where it stood. As they marched vast bodies +of troops thundered out "The Watch on the Rhine," or "A Mighty Fortress +is our God." Now and then a strain of the song came to John's ears on +the roar of the battle. + +The gray sea was coming nearer, ever nearer. Losses, however large, were +nothing to the Germans. Their generals led them on straight into the +face of the British fire, and John gasped as if all that tremendous +weight were about to be hurled upon his own chest. + +The British fire doubled, tripled. The German line wavered, steadied +itself and came on again. Then John saw a flash extending along their +own front, and he and his comrades sprang to their feet. He saw an +officer give an order and then with a tremendous shout the men, their +line bristling with steel, rushed forward. + +John heard the shrapnel and bullets shrieking and whistling among them, +but he was untouched. Whether there was any bayonet on the end of his +rifle he did not know, but he was running forward with the others, and +then he was in the center of a vast red whirlwind, in which the faces of +men shone and steel glittered. Cannon and rifles crashed, and there was +a great shouting, but the Germans at last reeled and gave back before +the bayonet. + +A tremendous roar of cheers came from the British line, and for a little +space there was a comparative lull in the thunder of the battle. John +heard a Highland brigade singing some wild song, and near him the Irish +were pouring forth a fierce, wailing note. Wharton and Carstairs were +still by his side, unharmed. + +"The bayonet after all is the weapon for close quarters! It takes a good +man to stand the cold steel!" shouted Carstairs. + +"So it does!" John shouted back, "but they've stopped for only a few +moments! They're gathering anew!" + +"And we're here waiting for them! But I wish there were more of us!" + +John echoed the wish. He saw the German army advancing again or at least +enough of it to know that it could overpower the defense. The Germans +were as brave as anybody and under their iron discipline they would come +without ceasing. He borrowed Wharton's glasses, and also saw the vast +overlapping lines to right and left. A great fear was born in his heart +that the German effort would succeed, that the British army would be +surrounded and destroyed. But he handed the glasses back to Wharton +without a word. + +The battle swelled anew. The German generals reformed their lines and +the hosts poured forward again, reckless of losses. The defense met them +with a terrible fire and charged again and again with the bayonet. + +For hours the battle raged and thundered over the hills and valleys, and +the British line still held, but it was cut up, bleeding at every pore, +and to right and left the horns of the long German crescent were slowly +creeping around either flank. John from his place on a hill saw well and +he knew that their position was growing extremely dangerous. It seemed +to him that the German threat would certainly be carried out, unless +help came from the French. + +[Illustration] "A vast red whirlwind in which the faces of men shone and +steel glittered." + +Late in the day he was on horseback again, carrying a message from a +general to any French commander whom he could reach, urging immediate +help. He had left Wharton and Carstairs on the battle line, and the +horse was that of a slain colonel. + +Gaining the rear, where the weight of the fire would not reach him John +galloped toward the right, passing through a small wood, and then +emerging upon a field, in which wheat had stood. + +As his blood cooled a little he slowed his speed for a moment or two, +and took a look at the battle which was spread over a vast area. He was +appalled by the spectacle of all those belching cannon, and of men +falling like grass before the mower. A continuous flash and roar came +from a front of miles, and he saw well that the German host could not be +stopped. + +He galloped toward the right, but it seemed to him that distance did not +cause any decrease in the crash and roar. Either his imagination +supplied it, or the battle was increasing in violence. He rode on, and +then a new sound greeted him. It was the thunder of another battle, or +rather a link in the chain of battles. He was approaching the position +of a French army which had been assailed with a fury equal to that from +which the British suffered. + +John was merely one of many messengers and the French commander smiled +grimly when he read his dispatch. + +"Look!" he said, pointing a long arm. + +John saw another vast gray host, rolling forward, crushing and +invincible. At some points the French had already lost ground, and they +were fighting a desperate, but losing battle. No help could come from +them, and he believed that the French armies farther east were in the +same mortal danger. + +John received his return dispatch. He knew without the telling what was +in it. The French would certainly urge the British to fall back. If they +did not do so they would be lost, the French line in its turn would be +crumpled up, and France was conquered. + +It was given to John, a youth, as he rode back in the red light of the +late sun, to know that a crisis of the world was at hand. He was +imaginative. He had read much and now he saw. It struck upon him like a +flash of lightning. Along that vast front in face of the French armies +and the British there must be a million troops, armed and trained as no +other troops ever were, and driven forward by a military autocracy which +unceasingly had taught the doctrine, that might is right. The kings, the +princes, the dukes and the generals who believed it was their right to +rule the world were out there, and it was their hour. By morning they +might be masters of Europe. + +He had all the clear vision of a young prophet. He saw the sword and +cannon triumphant, and he saw the menace to his own land. He shuddered +and turned cold, but in a minute warmth returned to his body and he +galloped back with the message. Others had returned with messages like +his own, and, giving up his horse, he rejoined his comrades. + +Carstairs and Wharton were gloomy. The ground that had been the front +line of the British was now under the German foot. The German weight, +irresistible in appearance, had proved so in fact, and far to left and +right those terrible horns were pushing farther and farther around the +flanks, John now saw the German army as a gigantic devil fish enveloping +its prey. + +"What did you find, John?" shouted Carstairs. + +"I found a French army pressed as hard as our own, and I heard that +farther to the east other French armies were being driven with equal +fury." + +"Looks as if we might have to retreat." + +"It will soon be a question, whether or not we can retreat. The Germans +are now on both our flanks." + +Carstairs' face blanched a little, but he refused to show +discouragement. + +"They're telling us to retire now," he said, "but we'll come again. +England will never give up. John, your own transplanted British blood +ought to tell you that." + +"It does tell me so, but when I was riding across the hills I saw better +than you can see here. If we don't get away now we never shall, and +England and France cannot regain what they will have lost." + +But the British army was withdrawing. Those terrible horns had not quite +closed in. They were beaten back with shell, bullets and bayonets, and +slowly and sullenly, giving blow for blow the British army retreated +into France. + +John and his comrades were with a small force on the extreme left, +almost detached from the main body, serving partly as a line of defense +and partly as a strong picket. They stopped at times to rest a little +and eat food that was served to them, but the Germans never ceased to +press them. Their searchlights flashed all through the night and their +shell and shrapnel searched the woods and fields. + +"It's no little war," said Carstairs. + +"And I tell you again," said Wharton, "that England must wake up. A +hundred thousand volunteers are nothing in this war. She must send a +half million, a million and more. Germany has nearly seventy million +people and nearly every able-bodied man is a trained soldier. Think of +that." + +"I'm thinking of it. What I saw today makes me think of it a lot. Jove, +how they did come, and what numbers they have!" + +A huge shell passed screaming over their heads and burst far beyond +them. But they did not jump. They had heard so much sound of cannon that +day that their ears were dulled by it. + +"It's evident that they haven't given up hope of cutting us off," said +Wharton, "since they push the pursuit in the night." + +"And they'll be at it again as hard as ever in the morning," said John. +"We'll see those horns of the crescent still pushing forward. They mean +to get us. They mean to smash up everything here in a month, and then go +back and get Russia." + +The firing went on until long past midnight. Toward morning they slept a +little in a field, but when day came they saw the gray masses still in +pursuit. All day long the terrible retreat went on, the defense fighting +fiercely, but slowly withdrawing, the Germans pressing hard, and always +seeking to envelop their flanks. There was continual danger that the +army would be lost, but no dismay. Cool and determined the defense never +relaxed, and all the time bent to the right to get in touch with the +French who were retreating also. + +It was a gloomy day for John. Like most Americans his feeling for France +had always been sympathetic. France had helped his own country in the +crisis of her existence, and France was a free republic which for a +generation had strictly minded its own business. Yet this beautiful land +seemed destined to be trodden under foot again by the Germans, and the +French might soon cease to exist as a great nation. French and English +together had merely checked the German host for a few hours. It had +swept both out of its way and was coming again, as sure and deadly as +ever. + +They did not hear until the next day that the French and English armies +were already in touch, and while still driven back it was not probable +that they could be cut apart, and then be surrounded and destroyed in +detail. John felt a mighty joy. That crisis in the world's history had +passed and by the breadth of a hair the military autocracy had missed +its chance. Yet what the German hour had failed to bring might come with +slow time, and his joy disappeared as they were driven back farther and +farther into France. Thus the retreat continued for days and nights. + +Carstairs was the most cheerful of the three. They had slipped from the +trap, and, as he saw it, England was merely getting ready for a victory. + +"You wait until our second army comes up," he said, "and then we'll give +the Germans a jolly good licking." + +"When is it coming up?" asked John. "In this century or the next?" + +"Be patient. You Yankees are always in too much of a hurry." + +"I'm not in such a hurry to get to Paris, but it seems that we'll soon +be there if we keep on at the rate we're going." + +"You could be in a worse place than Paris, It's had quite a reputation +in its time. Full of life, gayety, color. I'll be glad to see Paris." + +"So will the Germans, and if we don't do better than we've been doing +they'll see it just about as soon as we do." + +Carstairs refused to be discouraged, and John hoped anew that the armies +would be able to turn. But he hoped against what he knew to be the +facts. They were driven on mile after mile by the vast German force. + +Another night came, after a day of the desperate retreat and powerful +pursuit. John and his comrades by some miracle had escaped all wounds, +but they were almost dead from anxiety and exhaustion. Their hearts too +were sinking lower and lower. They saw the beautiful country trampled +under foot, villages destroyed, everything given to ruin and the +peasants in despair fleeing before the resistless rush of the enemy. + +"John," said Carstairs, "you know Unter den Linden, don't you?" + +"Yes, it's a fine street." + +"So I've heard. Broad enough for the return of a triumphal army, isn't +it?" + +"Just suited to the purpose." + +"Well, I don't know whether the Germans will go back to the old Roman +customs, but I want to tell you right here that I won't be a captive +adorning their triumphal procession." + +"How are you going to keep from it?" + +"I'll get myself shot first. No, I won't! I'll see that they don't have +a chance for any such triumph! I and a million others." + +"I feel like despairing myself sometimes," said John gravely, "and then +I say to myself: 'what's the use!' I don't mean to give up, even when +the Germans are in Paris." + +"Well spoken," said Wharton, who was lying on his back in the grass. +"All is not lost yet by a long shot. When our army drew out of their +clutches their first great stroke failed. Who knows what will happen to +their second?" + +They were still on the extreme left of the Allied line, forming a sort +of loose fringe there, but their comrades on the right were only a few +hundred yards away. They heard in front the scattered firing of the +pickets and skirmishers which continued day and night, while the +searchlights of the pursuers winked and winked, and, at far intervals, a +mighty shell crashed somewhere near. + +There was a pause in the retreat and John also lay down on the grass. At +first he was flat on his back, and then he turned over on his side. His +ear touched the earth, and he heard a sound that made him spring to his +feet in alarm. + +"Horses!" he cried. "It must be the Uhlans!" + +They saw lances gleaming through the dusk, and then with a rush and a +shout the Uhlans were upon them. + +John sprang to one side, dodging the sweep of a sabre, and firing his +rifle at the man who wielded it. He did not have time to see whether or +not he fell, because the little camp, in an instant, was the scene of +terrible turmoil and confusion, a wild medley of shouting men and +rearing horses. Instinctively he rushed to one side, dodging the thrust +of a lance, receiving a blow from the butt of another on his head, but +finally coming clear of the tumult. + +The lance blow had made him see stars, and he could not think or see +clearly now. He had dropped his rifle, but he remembered his automatic, +and drawing it he began to fire into the mass of horses and horsemen. +Then a lancer rode at him with poised weapon. He fired at him, leaped +aside and ran through some bushes, intending to come around on the other +flank. + +But the dizziness in his head increased and his sight became dimmer. The +whole world suddenly turned black, and he felt himself falling through +space. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE GIANT GUN + + +When John came back to the world he was conscious of a painful throbbing +in his head, and that he was lying in a very awkward position. He seemed +to be doubled up with his feet nearly as high as his head. Around him +were narrow, earthy walls, but above him was a sky full of stars. + +"Well, if I'm dead," he muttered, "they certainly didn't take the +trouble to bury me very well. I didn't know it was the fashion in this +country to leave tombs open." + +But he felt too weak and languid to "unbury" himself, and lay for a +little while in this awkward position. He saw the same circle of +peaceful sky, but he heard nothing. The Uhlans, whose rush he faintly +remembered, evidently had passed on. He rubbed his head where the +throbbing was most acute and felt a big lump there. + +But his skull was not fractured. He felt of it gingerly, and it seemed +to be as solid as ever. + +He lay a little while longer and made an effort. Slowly and painfully he +straightened himself out and stood up. His head rose considerably above +the edge of the hole, in which he had lain, and he saw a country free +from troops, where he stood. But he heard beyond him in the direction of +Paris the flashing and roaring which had been going on for days. The +German army had marched over him, and for some mysterious reason had +left him there. + +John looked at the hole in which he stood. It was not more than three or +four feet across and at the bottom lay his automatic, which he was glad +to find as he had plenty of cartridges left in his belt. But how had +such a queer place happened to be there? And how had he come to be in +it? + +He rubbed his hand several times across his face. The throbbing in his +head was becoming less acute. Evidently he had been there a long time, +as he saw a faint touch of daylight in the east. He drew himself out of +the hole, saw some pieces of metal lying near and then knew the truth. + +One of the giant shells striking there had made the cavity and luckily +for him he had fallen into it. The German cavalry riding by in the night +had passed him, unseeing. + +"I never expected one of those big shells to be so kind to me," murmured +John. + +He drew himself out of the hole, and flexed and tensed his muscles until +his physical vigor returned. The throbbing in his head continued to +decrease, and he felt confident and cheerful. He began to believe that a +special Providence was watching over him. If a giant shell, intended to +destroy his comrades and himself, merely made a safe hiding place for +him while the triumphant legions stalked past then he was indeed a +favorite child of fortune. + +It was early dawn and the air was very crisp and fresh. He drew deep +breaths of it, and continually grew stronger. Far to the southwest he +saw a long, white line of smoke, and beneath it the rapid flash of many +great guns. The horizon thundered. It was the pursuing German army, and +John sighed. "Still on the road to Paris," he murmured. + +He wondered what had become of his comrades in that wild charge of the +Uhlans in the night, but his was a most hopeful nature, and since they +had escaped he must have done so too. Moreover, fortune as he had +observed was watching over them as well as himself. Safe therefore in +supposition they slipped from his mind. + +He stood for a little space watching the line of battle, as it rolled +off toward the southwest and then he looked at the ground about him, the +lovely country torn to pieces by the armies. He had resented sometimes +that attitude of superiority assumed by Europeans, but, here was Europe +gone mad. Americans were sane and sensible. No military monarchs or +military autocracies could drag them into wholesale war. + +It was the spectacle spread before him that caused John to condemn +Europe for the moment. The armies had passed on, but all about him lay +the dead. Most of them had been torn horribly by shells and shrapnel, +while some had met a quick death from the bullets. + +He saw the gray of the Germans and the khaki of the English often close +together. Two or three shattered cannon also lay in the fields, and +abandoned guns were numerous. Here and there were overturned wagons and +in one of them he found food. + +After eating he sat down and considered. His momentary feeling of +revulsion had passed. He was heart and soul for the Franco-British +cause, and he meant to rejoin the army. If he could not find his own +company of the Strangers he would go with the British again. But the +direction in which he must go was obvious. To Paris. Everything was +going toward Paris now, because the German army was driving that way. He +resolved upon a great curve to the right which would take him around the +invading force, and then flight with the others to the capital. + +He knew that he must act quickly, his decision once taken. German +reserves or bands of cavalry might come up at any moment. He found a +rifle beside one of the fallen soldiers, and cartridges in his belt. He +did not hesitate to appropriate them and he walked swiftly toward a +little wood on his right, where he drank at a brook and bathed his face +and wound. + +He was never cooler, and his mind was never more acute. He calculated +that at the present rate of decrease his headache would all be gone by +night, and by that time also he would pass the right flank of the German +army. A man walking could not go so very fast, but at least he could go +as fast as an army, impeded by another army still intact. + +Choosing his course he followed it without swerving for a long time, +keeping as well as he could in the shadow of woods and hedges. The day +was as beautiful as any that he had seen, flecks of white on a +background of blue and a pleasant coolness. The inhabitants of the +villages had fled, but several times he saw small bands of Uhlans. Then +he would drop down in the trampled grass, and wait until they passed out +of sight. + +But he feared most the watchers of the sky. He saw monoplanes, biplanes, +Taubes, and every kind of flying machine soaring over the German army. +Once he heard the rattle of a Zeppelin, and he saw the monstrous thing, +a true dragon flying very close to the ground. Then he crept farther +under the hedge and lay flat, until it was miles away in the southwest. + +In the afternoon he found a cottage in the forest, still occupied by a +sturdy couple who believed that France was not yet lost. They gave him +food, made up more for him, putting it in a knapsack which he could +carry on his back, and refused to take any pay. + +"You are young, you are American, and you have come so far to fight for +France," the man said. "It would be a crime for us to take your money." + +They also dressed his bruise which the peasant said would disappear +entirely in a day or two, and then as John was telling them adieu the +woman suddenly kissed him on the forehead. + +"Farewell, young stranger who fights for France. The prayers of an old +woman are worth as much in the sight of God as the prayers of an +emperor, and mine may protect you." + +Late in the afternoon John saw the battle thicken. The earth quivered +under his feet with the roll of the cannon, and the German line moved +forward much more slowly. It allowed him to gain in his own great, +private flanking movement. At twilight he rested a while and ate supper. +Then he pushed forward all through the night, and in the morning he saw +flying just above the trees an aeroplane which he recognized as the +Arrow. + +Shouting tremendously he attracted at last the attention of Lannes who +dropped slowly to the ground. The young Frenchman was overjoyed, and, in +his intense enthusiasm wanted to embrace him. But John laughingly would +not allow it. Instead they shook hands violently again and again. + +But after the first gladness of meeting Lannes was mournful. + +"I have seen your friends Carstairs and Wharton," he said, "and they are +unhurt, but the German flood moves on. Only a miracle can save Paris. My +errand takes me there. Come, you shall have another flight with me, and +we shall see together, for perhaps the last time, that Paris, that city +of light, that crown of Europe, that fountain of civilization." + +"I, an American, still hope for Paris." + +"Then I do too." + +John put on the coat and visor that Lannes gave him, and they took their +seats. + +The _Arrow_ rose slowly, and John, with his visor and his clothing +adjusted carefully for speed and the colder air of the upper regions, +settled in his place. He felt an extraordinary sense of relief and +comfort. In the air he had a wonderful trust in Lannes, the most daring +of all the flying men of France, which perhaps meant the most daring in +the world. + +He leaned back in his seat, and watched the strong arm and shoulders and +steady hand of his comrade. Again Lannes in the _Arrow_ was a master +musician playing on the keys of a piano. The _Arrow_ responded to his +slightest touch, rising swooping and darting. John, after the long and +terrible tension of so many days, released his mind from all +responsibility. He was no longer the leader, and he did not have any +doubt that Lannes would take him, where he ought to go. His feeling of +ease deepened into one of luxury. + +They did not rise very high at present, and John could still catch +glimpses of the world below which was now a sort of blurred green, +houses and streams failing to show. + +They sailed easily and John told much of what had befallen him and his +comrades, Carstairs the Englishman and Wharton the American. + +"The British army came within a hair's breadth of destruction," he said, +"and I'm not so sure that it will escape yet." + +"Oh yes it will," said Lannes, "after it once formed the junction with +our own army and they were able to retreat in a solid line the great +chance of the Germans to strike the most deadly blow of modern times +passed. And I tell you again that the French Republic of 1914 is far +different from the French Empire of 1870. We have the fire, the +enthusiasm, and the strength that the First French Republic commanded. +We are not prepared--that's why the Germans are rushing over us now--but +we will be prepared. Nor is our nature excitable and despondent, as +people have so often charged. Even though our capital be removed to +Bordeaux we'll not despair. Using your own phrase, we'll 'come again.'" + +"What, has Paris been abandoned?" + +"They're talking of it. But John, look toward the east!" + +The _Arrow_ had dropped down low, toward a wood, until it almost lay +against the tops of the trees, blending with their leaves. Lannes +pointed with the finger of his free hand, after passing his glasses to +John. + +John saw puffs of flame and white smoke, and the dim outline of masses +of men in gray, moving forward. From another line farther west came the +blaze of many cannon. + +"Our men are making a stand," said Lannes. "Perhaps it's to gain time. +But whatever the reason, you and I hope it will be successful." + +"And we may save our Paris," said John. + +He was not conscious that he used the pronoun "our". He had become so +thoroughly identified with the cause for which he fought that it seemed +natural. The battle deepened in fury and volume. Although far away John +felt the air quivering with the roar of the great cannonade. They rose +somewhat higher and each took his turn at the glasses. John was awed by +the spectacle. As far as he could see, and he could see far, men, +perhaps a half million of them, were engaged in mortal struggle. The +whole country seemed to roar and blaze and innumerable manikins moved +over the hills and valleys. + +Above the thunder of this battle rose a mighty crash that sent the air +rolling in circular waves. The _Arrow_ quivered and then Lannes dropped +it down several hundred yards, in order that they might get a better +view. + +"It's one of their giant guns, a 42 centimeter," he said, "and it's +posted on that hill over to our right. I didn't think they could bring +so big a gun in the pursuit, but it seems that they have been able to do +so." + +"And it's plumping shells more than a ton in weight, right into the +middle of the Franco-British army." + +"It would seem so, and doubtless they're doing terrible destruction." + +John was silent for a moment or two. He had felt an inspiration. It was +a terrible and dangerous impulse, but he meant to act upon it. + +"Philip," he said, "have you any bombs with you?" + +"A good supply, John. But why?" + +"I propose that you and I fly over the mammoth gun and blow it up." + +Lannes turned a little in his seat, and stared at his comrade. + +"I hold that against you," he said. + +"Why?" + +"Because I didn't think of it first. I'm considered reckless, and it's +the sort of enterprise that ought to have occurred to me. Instead the +idea comes to you, a reserved and conservative sort of a fellow. But +John, you and I will try it. We'll either blow up that gun or die for +France. Search the heavens with the glasses, and see if any of the +German flyers are near." + +"There are some dots far off toward the east, but I don't think they're +near enough to interfere with us." + +"Then well try for the gun at once. We've got to sink low to be sure of +our aim, and for that reason, John, I'm going to ask you to drop the +bombs, while I steer. But don't do it, until I say ready because I mean +to go pretty close to the 'Busy Bertha.'" + +"Good enough," said John, as Lannes passed him the bombs. His hand was +perfectly steady and so was that of Lannes on the steering rudder, as +they made a gentle curve toward the point, from which the mighty crash +had come. John knew that the bombs would not make a destructive +impression upon those vast tubes of steel, but he hoped to strike the +caisson or ammunition supply behind, and blow up one or two of the +shells themselves, involving everything in a common ruin. But to do so +he knew that they must fly very low, exposing themselves to the danger +of return fire from the Germans. + +"I can see the gun now," said Lannes. "The gunners are all around it, +and infantry with rifles are near, but I'm going to make a swoop within +five hundred feet of it. Whenever we're directly over it drop two of the +bombs. It may be, it's most likely in fact, that neither will hit, but +I'll swoop down again and again, until we do, unless they get us first." + +"I'm ready," said John, who had steeled every nerve, "and I'll do my +best." + +He felt the rush of air as the _Arrow_ increased her speed, and shot +downward in a slanting curve, and he heard also a shout from below, as +the sinister shadow of the aeroplane showed black between the gunners +and the sky. + +He leaned over and watched. He saw hundreds of eyes turned upward, and +he heard the crackle of many rifles, as they sent their bullets toward +the Arrow. Some whistled near, but the darting target, high in air, was +hard to hit and none touched it. + +John paid no heed to the bullets, but watched the huge cannon with its +monstrous mouth upturned at a sharp angle to the sky. When he thought +they were directly over it he hurled two of the bombs at the caisson, +but they missed. They struck among the men, and several were killed, but +the gun and its equipment remained unharmed. + +"Never mind," said Lannes, knowing that John felt chagrin. "You came +pretty close for a first trial. Now, ready, I'm going to swoop back +again." + +The second attempt was not quite as good as the first, and a bullet +tipped John's ear, drawing blood. Off in the east the black specks were +growing larger, and they knew but little time was left to them now. The +German aeroplanes were coming. + +The third swoop and with an eye and hand in perfect accord John threw +once and then twice. A terrific roar came from below. The giant cannon +had been blown from its concrete bed and lay a vast mass of shattered +steel and iron, with dead and dying men around it. + +"One mighty blow for France!" exclaimed Lannes, and exultant they flew +westward, dipping low, now and then behind the trees to hide their +flight. + +"Well consider it a good omen," said John. + +"Are any of the Taubes pursuing now?" said Lannes. + +"There's nothing in sight," replied John, after a long examination +through the glasses. + +"Then, they can't find us," exclaimed Lannes, joyfully, "and now for +glorious Paris!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GUNS OF EUROPE*** + + +******* This file should be named 33481-8.txt or 33481-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/3/4/8/33481 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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