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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..87a998b --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #68497 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68497) diff --git a/old/68497-0.txt b/old/68497-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f5feaf2..0000000 --- a/old/68497-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2651 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Boy Scout pathfinders, by George -Durston - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Boy Scout pathfinders - -Author: George Durston - -Release Date: July 10, 2022 [eBook #68497] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Roger Frank, Al Haines and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS *** - - - THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS - - - - - TWELVE VOLUMES - - THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL - THE BOY SCOUTS AFLOAT - THE BOY SCOUTS IN CAMP - THE BOY SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE - THE BOY SCOUT FIREFIGHTERS - THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS - THE BOY SCOUT AUTOMOBILISTS - THE BOY SCOUT AVIATORS - THE BOY SCOUTS’ CHAMPION RECRUIT - THE BOY SCOUTS’ DEFIANCE - THE BOY SCOUTS’ CHALLENGE - THE BOY SCOUTS’ VICTORY - - - - -[Illustration: They sent the message quickly, accurately.] - - - - - THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS - - By - GEORGE DURSTON - - - THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY - Chicago AKRON, OHIO New York - Made in U. S. A. - - - - - Copyright, 1921 - By - The Saalfield Publishing Co. - - - - - CHAPTER I - - THE IRON BOX - - -Two members of any staff, even though they are only boys, cannot -disappear as though the earth had swallowed them without a suspicion -of foul play. - -In the office above the chamber which had witnessed the stirring -events narrated in “The Boy Scout Firefighters,” in which both Beany -and Porky Potter had been actors, there had been great anxiety. When -General Pershing received the report, he at once sent couriers and -scouts to every station where the boys might have gone. The sentries -one and all declared that the boys had not been seen outside of the -building. This resulted in a combing out of every cranny that could -possibly hold a boy alive or dead. - -The hours dragged on. There was a continual passing to and fro for -hours until at last there seemed to be absolutely nothing more to do -until morning. The tired staff threw themselves into the office -chairs, while the General, at the typewriter, commenced a letter. -Out of respect to him, there was a complete silence in the room. - -On and on clicked the typewriter while the waiting men dozed or -smoked or thought of home. - -“What’s that?” said one of them suddenly, listening intently. - -The General stopped writing and looked at the speaker. - -“What’s what?” questioned a captain, frowning. - -“That tapping,” said the first speaker. “Sounds like _code_.” - -“You have been asleep,” said the captain, grinning. - -“I hear it,” said the General. - -There was a general gathering up of forces, as the whole room tried -to place the faint, monotonous tapping. - -“The call for help!” said the first speaker triumphantly. “I _knew_ -I heard it. The code is my native language almost. It sounds as -though some one was calling from below the floor.” - -“Send an answer, Lieutenant Reed!” ordered the General. - -The young officer obeyed, while his hearers listened breathlessly. -Tap-tap went the spurred heel, dash and dot, dash and dot in many -combinations. - -The reply followed swiftly. The Lieutenant, rather pale, turned to -the General. “It’s the boys!” he reported. “They are together, in a -closed chamber,--a dungeon, I take it--right below us. They are in -danger. Don’t say what. Something about spies and dynamite. Want -help instantly.” - -“How?” asked the General. - -“There’s a secret door in the oak panel in the hall. They gave -directions for opening it.” - -“Go at once, six of you--you six nearest the door!” The officers -designated rose. - -“Rush!” said Lieutenant Reed crisply. For the moment he was in -command. He alone knew how to open the panel. They hurried outside, -where Reed felt swiftly but carefully in the place described by -Porky. Twice he went over the heavy carving, pushing here and there -unavailingly. Then without a sound the secret door opened and before -any one could enter the passage that yawned in inky blackness before -them, there was a rush of running feet and the two boys, carrying -Beany’s coat between them, bolted into the hall. Porky made a motion -for silence, and listened. - -There was no sound. - -“Somebody chased us!” he panted. “Somebody was close behind us in -the dark!” - -“Men?” asked an officer in an excited whisper. - -Porky wanted to say “No, sir, _rabbits_!” but he knew that every one -felt nervous and edgy and, besides, he did not want to be -disrespectful to the officer who had spoken. - -“They came in through the other door,” he said. “A door at the other -end of the passage that is on the other side of the two big rooms -down below there.” - -“Let’s go down,” said one of the men, loosening his revolver. - -“Please don’t try it!” begged Beany. “We could never get down -without light and then they would have the drop on us. It’s no use -now. Besides, they could go out of that outside door without the -least trouble after they had shot us all up.” - -“The kid is right,” said Lieutenant Reed. “He knows how the land -lies down there. Come up to the General, boys, and make a report. He -will tell us what he wants done.” - -Sliding the panel shut, the Lieutenant called a guard and, leaving -the hallway patrolled by a couple of stalwart Americans, the group -surrounding the two boys entered the office and saluted the General. - -General Pershing bent his serious, keen gaze on the boys, then a -bright, sudden smile lighted the strong, handsome face that had -grown sad and still in the troubled, anxious months at the front. - -“Always up to something, boys,” he said. “Well, your friend the -Colonel warned me how it would be. Now suppose you tell me all about -it.” - -Beany with a sigh of relief lifted his blouse and deposited it on -the table. It struck the surface with a clank and as he pulled the -cloth away a regular flood of gold pieces covered the papers where -the General had been writing. - -“Part of the story, sir,” said Beany. And then talking together, or -taking turns, as the spirit moved them, the boys pieced out the -account of their adventures. The part that Beany kept harking back -to was the presence of the prisoners in the big room. He described -carefully and accurately the appearance of the young soldier and -told as well as he could about the limp, unconscious girl who had -been carried out into the dark garden. Beany shuddered as he spoke. - -“I am sure the girl was dead, sir. She laid there for hours, I -guess, and she never moved at all, never batted an eyelash. And she -was white.... I never saw anybody so white. It was as though all her -blood had been drained out of her.” - -“Was she wounded?” asked the General. - -“She must have been, sir,” answered Beany. “I saw blood, just a -little of it running down her wrist under her sleeve. She had nice -clothes on, and I had a hunch all the time that I ought to know who -she was; but I couldn’t tell. Wish we knew what they did with them. -When it comes light, General, I can show you just where the door is. -I am sure I know where it opens.” - -“It is light now,” said the General, pointing to the window. Every -one looked. Sure enough, the whole sky was a mass of pale gold and -pink and greenish blue, as lovely and soft and joyous as though the -distant rumble of the big guns was not shaking the casement as they -spoke. It was light; morning had come. - -The General ordered coffee and rolls and insisted on both boys -eating something. They were tired and heavy eyed but excited at the -thought of unraveling perhaps a little more of the mystery of the -past night. - -When at last the General dismissed them with a few terse orders, -they sped ahead of their escort through the silent garden, fearless -and curious and unconscious of the careful marksmen who followed, -protecting each foot of their advance. - -Beany had spoken the truth. With the sureness of a young hound he -took his way through a wilderness of stones and bricks and beams and -plaster through the tangled, torn old garden, and round to a spot -marked by what seemed to be a clump of dense bushes like low growing -lilacs. Approaching this, Beany parted the branches and peered in. -Then he drew back with a cry of horror. - -“Look!” he whispered. - -It was indeed the ambush set over the outside entrance to the -dungeons. Down in the depths of the hole that yawned under the -encircling bushes something was tumbled in a pitiful, distorted -heap. Eagerly a half dozen men leaped down and with careful hands -straightened out the two forms lying in the bloody ooze. One after -the other they were lifted to the surface. - -The man was quite dead but the girl still lived, though breathing -feebly. - -Placing her on an improvised stretcher, a couple of the men hurried -away with her to the hospital while a couple more knelt beside the -dead boy and searched carefully through his torn and blood-stained -clothing for papers, letters--anything that could be used as clues to -his identity. There was not a scrap left to guide them. The young -officer’s pockets had been turned inside out. Even the hems in his -tunic and breeches had been slit and the soles had been torn from -his shoes. If there had been papers of any sort secreted about him, -they were gone--carried away by the ruthless hands that had slain -him. - -Leaving a guard beside the body, the others leaped boldly into the -shallow pit and lifted the heavy bar which held the massive -nail-studded oaken door. It opened inward, and Beany led the way -through the passage into the chamber where he had sat bound, gagged -and waiting for the relentless hands of the clock to reach the -moment of his doom. He showed the device, and then, lighting the -stubs of candles, they went into the inner room. The dungeons were -dark as midnight, even in the clear morning light. - -A careful search was made of the rooms. They stamped on the floors, -rapped on the walls with pistol butts, ripped up the silken covers -and the thick mattresses, but found nothing. The men finally stopped -their search, and gathered in a group around the massive table. -Beany, sitting on the edge of the table, jounced up and down and -thought that he had never seen a piece of furniture quite so solid. -He took out a penknife and tried to whittle the edge but the keen -blade scarcely made an impression on the ironwood seasoned for ages. -Porky, watching his brother, listened to the conversation. - -“Somewhere down here there is a hiding place for papers or money, or -perhaps both,” said one of the officers, a keen-faced, thoughtful -man, studying the room as he could see it in the flickering light of -the two candles which, now burned down to the merest stubs, afforded -a dim, uncertain light. - -“We have given it a pretty thorough combing over,” said another -officer, frowning. - -“I can’t help it,” stubbornly answered the other. “It is in just -such places as this where valuable secrets are often hidden.” - -“What about the dynamite?” demanded some one else. “It does not seem -as though they would hide anything of any value to themselves in a -spot that they were willing to blow up.” - -“A bomb that size would not have wrecked this room. Did you notice -the thickness of the walls?” - -The talk went on while Beany whittled and pried away industriously -at the table edge. He found a crack in the wood and pried his knife -blade into that. The blade entered in a tantalizing manner, slipped -smoothly along, then struck metal. Beany pushed. Porky, who was -watching, came closer and peered down the crack. Beany pushed -harder, pushed as hard as he could, and suddenly felt himself flung -off the table as the big top flew up and hurled him aside. - -Powerful springs had opened the two heavy slabs of oak that formed -the table. Two pieces now stood open like a pair of doors and within -lay a long, flat box which completely filled the space. The box was -of iron, heavily barred and padlocked. Four soldiers pried it from -its place and, escorted by the whole party, it was carried to -General Pershing, still working at his desk. - -Once more the boys had unearthed a mystery. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE CELLAR’S SECRET - - -Porky and Beany were too tired to care what happened next and, -taking quick advantage of a brief smile and nod of dismissal from -the General, they made their way to their quarters and soon were as -sound asleep as though they were lying on the softest down. They -slept and slept, losing all track of time, and by the General’s -orders were undisturbed. When they finally woke, really wide awake, -they found that a whole day and a night had passed since the early -dawn when they had staggered off to bed. - -They woke at the same instant, as was their habit, and sitting bolt -upright, stared unblinkingly at the young officer sitting at the -window writing. - -“Morning, Lieutenant,” said Porky, rubbing his eyes. - -“What’s the time, sir?” said Beany, looking curiously at his wrist -watch. - -“Yours stopped too?” asked Porky. “Mine has. Funny!” - -“Not so very funny,” said Lieutenant Parker, closing his writing -tablet. “You have been asleep since yesterday morning, and I imagine -the watches ran down.” - -“Yesterday morning!” gasped Porky. “Why didn’t some one call us?” - -“General’s orders,” said the Lieutenant. He laughed, “Gee, I wish he -would order _me_ to bed for a week. You can bet I would go!” - -“Well, it makes me mad to sleep like this,” said Porky in -irritation. “What all have we missed, anyhow?” - -“Nothing much,” said the Lieutenant. “The biggest drive of the war -is on and to-morrow General Pershing with his staff will make the -trip along the front line trenches. I hope he counts me in on that.” - -“You liked to be in the trenches, didn’t you?” asked Porky, stooping -to lace his puttees. - -“You are right I did,” said Lieutenant Parker, wrinkling his smooth -young forehead. “I came over to fight, and it was just my luck to -get this measly scratch on my head, and blamed if they didn’t put me -here in this office doing paper work!” - -“Well, you got to give your skull time to get well, haven’t you?” -asked Beany. “It was cracked, wasn’t it?” - -“No, just a piece scooped out of it,” said the Lieutenant in a bored -tone. - -The boys grinned. Lieutenant Parker was one of the best friends they -had, and they had learned that nothing teased him like being quizzed -about the deep, palpitating scar that creased his dark head, the -truth being that he had received the wound in an encounter that had -won him the coveted French war cross with the palms. Porky and Beany -considered modesty in others little less than a sin. They were -always so thirsty for tales of blood and glory that they could not -see why _any one_ should hesitate to tell every possible detail of -any adventure. It happened, strangely enough, that they did not -apply the same rule to their own conduct. To get details out of the -Potter twins was, as their own father said, like drawing nails out -of a green oak board, accompanied by screeches of protest. The boys -had had the Lieutenant’s story, however, and they harked back to the -news of the day. - -“I am going on that hike,” said Porky, standing up and stamping -himself comfortably into his clothes. - -“So’m I,” said his brother, likewise stamping. - -“Try for something else, kid,” said the Lieutenant. “You can’t get -in on this. It is strictly staff.” - -“Watch me!” said young Porky, the cocksure. He hurried to the door -and disappeared, while Beany, a trifle slower in his dressing, -roared, “Wait for me!” - -A muttered response of some sort was the only satisfaction given. - -Beany grinned. “He is always so sudden!” he complained, addressing -the Lieutenant. - -“Might as well stay here until he comes back. I never like to butt -in on Porky’s talky-talks. He most generally knows what he wants to -say, and he don’t need any help in getting it out of his system. I -certainly hope we can go with the General. You are always yelling -about that old silver plate you have on your topknot. Look at us: -seems like we just can’t get into a trench. Honest Injun, I’m so -sick of this old chateau--” - -“I never did see such a pair!” said Lieutenant Parker. “Didn’t you -have enough of an adventure the other night to last you two or three -days?” - -He was going on, when Porky burst into the room. He threw up his -hat. - -“Better, much better than I ever hoped,” he crowed. - -“Hand it out!” demanded Beany anxiously. - -“Why, I was going to give the General a great line of talk, and I -didn’t have a chance to do a thing but salute. He was talking to a -French officer and the minute he went out, the General just said, -‘All right to-day, young man?’ I said, ‘Yes, sir,’ and he said, ‘No -time to talk! Report in the courtyard to-morrow morning five-thirty, -field equipment, for special duty with my staff.’ - -“I saluted again and turned to come out, and the General said, -‘Potter, this is in the way of a reward for that little affair in -the dungeons,’ and I said, ‘Thank you, sir, but the pleasure was all -ours, sir,’ and he said, ‘No, not quite all; because some of the -papers you unearthed _WILL HELP TO TURN THE TIDE_.’ How’s that, old -Beans, _will help to turn the tide_. Gosh! you did it with your -little penknife, didn’t you?” - -“Well, never mind that,” said Beany, wriggling. “Don’t you know -anything about this trip to-morrow?” - -“Nary word,” said Porky, “but why should _we_ worry? Main fact is -clear, we are going to be among those present.” - -The boys spent a restless day getting their traveling equipment in -order and taking it apart again to put it together in some way they -fancied would make an eighth of an inch difference in some of its -dimensions. They strutted a little perhaps. It was truly a wonderful -thing to go with General Pershing on a trip of that sort. They -marveled at their good luck. - -That good luck had hinged entirely on their ability to keep their -own counsel. That desire some have to tell all they know, a lot that -they guess, and a few things that they fear, did not exist in the -Potter twins. They could keep a secret without being told to, and -that’s some test. Whatever they overheard was safe. When they saw -things that were not intended for their eyes, they ignored them, or -made an effort to forget all about them. This high sense of what was -honorable and right was noticed immediately by the General as well -as by others whom they met daily. - -So they spent the long day patting each other on the back, and -wondering at their great good fortune. - -They kept closely to the rooms frequented by the officers. As Porky -pointed out to his brother, there was one old lady at least who was -not wasting any love on them, and they didn’t want to give her a -chance to turn a key on them and spoil all their fun. They had at -least gained a little caution, but how very little the trip was -going to show. - -It was barely five next morning when Porky and Beany, like two -shadows, slipped from their quarters and went silently down to the -courtyard. Several automobiles stood ready, heavily guarded, and a -couple of mechanics were busily tightening nuts and testing various -parts of the machinery. No one spoke. The boys crossed the open -space, and in accordance with an agreement made previously, sat down -back to back on a ledge of the broken fountain. They were taking no -risks of surprise or attack from the rear. Silently the minutes -passed. The steady tramp of the sentries and the grating of metal on -metal as the mechanics worked quietly on the cars made so little -sound that distant noises were loud and acute. - -The guns of the enemy had been silent for twelve hours. Even Porky -and Beany sensed something big and terrible in the air. - -“Want to bet something?” asked Porky, poking his brother with a -backhand jab in the ribs. - -He never found out whether Beany was game to bet or not for the door -of the chateau opened and a group of officers came out. General -Pershing led the group. The boys leaped to salute, the sentries -stopped and presented arms. Even the mechanics straightened to their -feet. There was perfect quiet, however, and five minutes later they -started away full speed in the darkness. On and on they went, -passing first through a country which showed very little of the -effects of war. It was a sort of spur that had escaped the enemy’s -assaults in the beginning of the struggle, and which, since the -arrival of millions of Americans, had been lying too far behind the -lines to suffer. - -The sun rose: it was day. They stopped in the shelter of a dense -grove and breakfasted on the provisions put up for them by the cooks -back at headquarters. While they ate the drivers of the cars watched -the clear morning skies for airplanes. The sandwiches and coffee, -boiling hot in big thermos bottles, tasted good to the hungry boys, -although they were eaten in silence, and in silence the journey was -continued. Now they commenced to see signs of the frightful -struggle. First great shell craters, then trees uprooted or hacked -down, and village after village lying a mere mass of wreckage. There -were worse things too; sad reminders that made the boys turn pale -with horror. - -The stop for dinner was made the occasion of a careful examination -of all the parts of the cars, as any accident in the next few miles -might be most dangerous and disastrous. One of the aides announced -to the several groups of officers that a start would not be made -under two hours so the boys wandered about, looking at the ruined -landscape and picking up here and there sad little mementoes of -friend and foe. Buttons, scraps of jewelry, mostly cheap rings that -girls might have worn and given to their departing sweethearts. -There were dozens of crushed and stained pictures too, so many that -the boys did not bother to pick them up after the first dozen or so. -Pinned to one picture of a chubby child was a little sock. Across -the back of the picture was written, “A year old to-day. My son. -Wish I could see him.” - -“Gosh,” said Beany, “I sure do hope he didn’t get his! Perhaps this -just fell out of his pocket.” - -“Why didn’t he sign it?” demanded the practical Porky. - -“Well, I suppose he didn’t have a hunch we would want his address,” -said Beany. “I’m going to keep this and send it back home to one of -the papers. They will be glad to copy the picture of the fat little -geezer, and p’raps it will get back to his folks.” - -The boys wandered on. Coming from a country rich in magnificent old -maples and elms, the ruin, so cowardly and so ruthless, of the great -trees seemed one of the most terrible aspects of the war. Not only -were they torn by shells, but mile after mile stood dead and dying -from the effects of the gas attacks of the enemy. The gas seemed to -be as fatal to the trees as it was to human beings. Not only had the -leaves curled up and fallen, but the trunks themselves were -blackened and dead looking. It was like a country in a nightmare, -everything in the way of buildings flat on the ground, literally not -one stone left on another. The dead and dying trees, leafless and -twisted, let the sunshine down upon it all with scarce a shadow. - -The boys reached the site of what had evidently once been a fine -farm. It was a total ruin. They went clambering over the loose -heaped-up stones of what had once been a fine old dwelling, and sat -down for a moment on a flat block that had made the broad and -generous doorstep. - -“Gee, this must have been an old place,” said Porky. “See the way -the edge of this stone is worn--and it is granite at that.” - -“Look at the size of it, too,” said Beany. - -They sat studying the stone when a faint feeble wail was heard. They -looked at each other, startled. - -“Aw, gee, there’s a kitten shut up some place,” said Beany, jumping -up. “Let’s find it.” - -“Sure we will,” said Porky, “but we can’t take it along. I don’t -suppose General Pershing would want to add a cat to his traveling -party.” - -“It sounded most dead,” said Porky. “Kitty, kitty! Here, kitty,” he -called in his most persuasive voice. - -Another little cry answered him and gave them the direction. “It’s -the cellar,” said both boys together, and with one accord they -seized a couple of stout timbers and commenced to pry away part of -the wreckage in what seemed the likeliest entrance to the pitch -black hollow under the bent and broken floor timbers, on which still -rested masses of stone. - -Suddenly, in response to their efforts, a huge stone, mate to the -one they had been sitting on, tipped sidewise and slowly slid down -into the darkness, followed by a shaft of light. - -There was a sharp cry from below, and the boys looked at each other, -a sort of horror on each face. - -“That’s no kitten!” gasped Beany. - -For answer Porky slid feet first in the wake of the big stone, -landed on it, and stepped off into a gloomy chamber now feebly -lighted from above. In a moment his eyes were accustomed to the dim -light, and he stepped aside, making way for Beany, who came -helter-skeltering down behind him. - -What they saw was a room that had been used as a store-room for the -farmhouse. By some trick of fate the falling walls, while they had -made a tight prison of it, had spared the most of the shelves of -provisions, and rows of preserves and tins of fruit still stood -safely in their places. - -A thin, emaciated figure lay in the corner on a pile of dirt over -which a cloak had been spread. The sunken eyes fixed themselves on -the two boys, but there was no recognition in their glassy depths. -What looked like two little piles of rags were huddled close, and as -the boys came nearer, the dying woman, for it was a woman and she -was close to death, clutched them convulsively. The bundles stirred, -and a couple of small heads were raised. Two children, tousled and -covered with dirt, lifted frightened eyes and clung frantically to -the prostrate figure. - -Porky crossed swiftly and dropped on his knees by the dying woman. -Very gently he slipped an arm under her heavy head and lifted her a -little on his strong young arm. - -“Get a move on!” he flung at Beany, and that young man scrambled up -the pile of debris where the big stone had fallen and instantly -disappeared. Porky, left alone with the woman and the two terrified -children, who tried frantically to burrow out of sight under the -mother’s nerveless arm, could think of nothing better to do than -clasp the woman closely to him in an effort to give her some of his -own heat and vitality. She seemed already stone cold. - -Almost at once Beany returned with some of the officers. They came -down and with tender hands lifted the sufferer out of the chilly -dampness of the cellar, and laid her on a pile of coats and -cushions. Some one carefully fed her a few drops of the hot coffee -still left in the thermos bottles. It was very evident, however, -that her moments were numbered. - -One of the French officers in the party knelt beside her. Softly, -tenderly, pityingly, he spoke to her in her native tongue. - -The weary eyes opened, and rested on his face. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - A VEXING PROBLEM - - -The boys, who had attained a good working knowledge of the French -language, listened breathlessly. The gentle questions of the officer -were easy to follow, but without pressing too close to the sad group -they were unable to hear the whispered, broken replies of the woman. -That the story was a sad one, one of the uncounted tragedies of the -invasion of a cruel and heartless enemy, they could easily guess by -the break in the French officer’s voice and the unashamed and manly -tears that filled his eyes. Slowly, painfully she told her story, -the two tiny children clutching her closely the while. Fainter and -fainter grew the feeble voice. Porky and Beany knew instinctively -that they were standing in the presence of death; not the glorious -and gallant passing that the soldier finds on the battlefield, but -the coming of release from a long and undeserved agony. As the -little group watched, one bloodless hand reached up and drew the -thin shawl away from her breast. There was a wound there; a cruel -death wound that she had stanched as best she could and had covered -from the eyes of the two babies. As though her story was all ended, -the pitiful eyes fixed themselves on the face of the officer who -held her. Rapidly he made the sign of the cross, then with his hand -held high, he spoke to the dying woman. It was enough. A smile of -peace lighted the worn face, one long look she bent on the two -children, and turning her head as if for protection toward the blue -tunic against which she rested, she closed her eyes, sighed, and was -still. - -Reverently laying down his burden, the officer rose to his feet. And -while the group stood with bared heads, he told the story as he had -just heard it. - -The dead woman’s name was Marie Duval. For two hundred years her -people had lived in simple ease and comfort on the well-tilled farm. - -In rapid, thrilling sentences, he sketched the story of their happy, -blameless lives, through Marie’s innocent childhood, her girlhood, -and up to the time of her meeting with young Pierre Duval. Pierre -had a good farm of his own down the valley, and there they lived in -simple happiness and prosperity. Three children were born, the two -little creatures crouching before them and one a little older, now -dead. - -When the war broke out, Pierre put on his uniform and went away. For -a while, like other heroic women, she tilled the little farm until -one night when a small scouting party of Huns swept down, burning -and destroying all that lay in their path. She escaped with her -children under cover of the darkness and made her way back to her -father’s house. For a long time they escaped the tide of war, and -lived on and on from day to day, the old, old father and mother and -the young mother waiting for news from Pierre. It came at last.... -He was dead. - -“Then,” said the French officer, “then her heart seemed to die too, -but she knew that she must live for the sake of the little ones. -Already she could see that the agony and terror of it all was -killing the aged parents. Four sons were fighting, and one by one -they followed Pierre to death. - -“Nearer and nearer came the German lines until one awful day a horde -of heartless warriors swept over them. - -“Sirs, you know the rest,” said the French officer, his fine face -twitching with emotion. “It is the same old story, the old man -ruthlessly tortured and killed, his old wife kept alive just long -enough to see him die. The oldest grandchild was with her. He too -was tortured while his mother, hidden and imprisoned in a portion of -the cellar under the smoking ruins of the farmhouse, heard his -childish screams of agony. - -“She tried frantically to free herself from the ruins. A soldier saw -her, brought the fainting child almost within reach of her hand and -killed him. Then with the same weapon he made a savage thrust for -her heart, but could only reach close enough to inflict a deep -wound. Then making sure that she could not escape from the cellar, -he rode away after his troop. She became unconscious, and for days -the two little children must have lived on the vegetables stored -about them. When she regained consciousness she found strength to -drag herself to the shelves where the family provisions were stored. -All that was not spoiled she fed to the children, but they were -without water save for the rainwater that dripped down upon them. -She felt herself growing steadily weaker as the untended wound grew -worse. The whole neighborhood seemed abandoned, and their feeble -cries brought no help. The children pined, and suffering as they -were from shock, soon gave way to the cold dampness and insufficient -food. - -“Marie herself lived solely through her determination not to leave -the two helpless babies to their fate. She prayed that they might -die first, and she was glad to note their failing strength, so -fearful was she of leaving them alone to a horrible, lingering -death. - -“She herself grew so weak that much of the time she lay almost -unconscious with the little ones huddled against her. She commenced -to see visions. Pierre came and comforted her and promised that she -should soon be free to be with him. The little martyred son clasped -her in his loving little arms, assuring her that he no longer -suffered. The old mother and father sat beside her and told her to -be brave and patient. But with all her courage she felt that her end -was near. She could not endure much longer.” - -The French officer bowed his head. - -“Then came deliverance,” he said softly, “deliverance from all her -pain and anguish. She has been released. She is with Pierre!” - -One of the officers stepped forward and tenderly covered the still -figure with his cloak. He took the younger child in his arms, but it -screamed and struggled while the other one fought off the friendly -hands stretched down to it. The French officer spoke to them -pleadingly, but they only stared stupidly at him. - -“They are almost done for,” said one of the officers. “We have got -to get them away from here and right away.” He made another effort -to take the older child but the little fellow fought with the fury -of a little wildcat. One after another tried in vain to get hold of -the terrified little fellow, who grew more and more frightened. - -Porky and Beany, standing modestly in the rear of the group, watched -the proceedings with growing uneasiness. Finally Porky stepped -forwards, saluting as he did so. - -“Will you please let us try?” he asked, and taking a worried nod -from the Captain for answer, he sat down beside the dead mother, and -for a long time, as it seemed to the watching group, stared idly -ahead, without so much as a glance at the trembling children. - -Then he turned, nodded as though he had just noticed them, and -taking a cake of chocolate from his pocket, bit off a piece and then -broke off a small corner for each child. It was only a taste, but as -the delicious morsel melted on their tongues, they crept to Porky -like a couple of starved kittens. He showed them the rest of the -chocolate and hitched off a few feet. Beany came after. The children -followed, and Porky broke off another small bit for each. Some one -brought water from the cars for them to drink and in fifteen minutes -the thing was done. Porky and Beany, each with a little skeleton in -their arms, wandered well away from the spot where unaccustomed -hands were awkwardly digging a grave for the dead young mother. - -“This,” said Porky, as the child in his arms sagged on his shoulder -and seemed to sleep, “this is the worst thing yet!” - -“You bet!” said Beany dismally. “Say, did you see me cry back there? -I did!” - -“Well, what of it?” demanded Porky. “Didn’t everybody? I’d like to -know how they could help it!” - -“I wasn’t looking,” said Beany. “Oh, gosh, they didn’t have to do -things like this.” - -“Who, the Huns?” asked his brother. “Why, it’s _all_ like this and a -million times worse!” - -“Well, I wish I was grown up,” mourned Beany. “To think we can’t do -much of anything! I want to get even! I want to look some of those -fellows in the face!” - -“What’s your idea? Want to tell him what you think?” Porky laughed -unpleasantly, as he shifted the weight of the child. “What’s -worrying me now is what is going to be done with these poor little -kids. Isn’t the one you have a pretty little thing? Even all the -dirt and hunger can’t hide her looks. I suppose they will have to go -into some asylum!” - -“I don’t see why,” said Beany suddenly. “Do you remember Mom and Pop -said they wished if we brought them anything from across, it would -be something good and worth while? They didn’t want German helmets -and junk like that. What do you suppose they would say to a couple -of dandy little kids like these?” - -“For the love of the board of health!” said his brother solemnly. -“It’s a great thought, sonny, but do you suppose Mom _wants_ to -start in bringing up another lot of children? You know if she ever -started, she would make a good job of it; you know how thorough she -always is.” - -“Yes, she is thorough, all right!” grinned Mom’s son. “Look at us!” - -“She did the best she could with us, anyhow,” retorted Mom’s other -son solemnly, “and I think, no, I _know_ she would be tickled to -death to do something as real and important as taking these two -little chaps to bring up. And we could help support them if we had -to, later.” - -“That’s silly,” said Porky. “You know Dad has made a lot of money. -And he could afford to bring up six of them if he wanted to.” - -“Well, all _he_ ever wants is what Mom wants,” said Beany. - -“I guess that’s so too,” said Porky, “but perhaps some of those -officers will have some other plans for them.” - -He looked down at the child on his arm. Already he felt a tenderness -for the starved, sickly little creature who had trusted him. - -“One apiece,” he said, looking at Beany. - -“One’s a girl, though,” said Beany. - -Porky wanted to be fair. - -“That’s so,” he said. “Well, we can draw straws to see which has to -take her.” - -“Straws nothing!” said Beany. “She came to me, so she is mine. -Darned if I know what to do with a girl, though! Can’t teach her to -play ball or marbles, and besides that she can’t be a Boy Scout.” - -“Well, she can be a girl one. You know they have ’em, and if she -can’t play ball she can learn to swim and dive and ride and shoot, -and it will be pretty handy to have her round the house when it -comes to buttons and things. Mother must get tired sewing for three -of us.” - -“Wonder how long it takes ’em to grow up to button size,” said -Beany, studying the tiny bundle in his arms. - -“Don’t know,” said Porky. He looked anxiously at his brother. His -generosity in accepting the care of the little girl worried him. He -had to watch Beany, who was always more than generous and -self-sacrificing. - -“Why can’t we both have both kids?” he asked. “I don’t want you to -be stung with a girl all the time. It isn’t fair.” - -“Stuck with a girl!” said Beany. “Why, Porky, I _like_ it! I never -could see why when any one has a baby, everybody says, ‘Gee, it’s a -boy! Isn’t that bully?’ or else ‘Huh, it’s a girl, too bad!’ I never -could see it. Course when they get _our_ size they mostly are silly -pills, but if _I_ have a hand in bringing up _this_ girl, why, you -just watch her, that’s all! I bet when she’s fifteen she won’t look -cross-eyed at a boy. I bet she knocks their blocks off! She is going -to have some sense!” - -“Looks as though you mean to make a scrapper of her,” laughed Porky. - -“No, she has got to grow up just as much like Mom as she can.” - -“Well, Mom likes boys all right,” was Porky’s reminder. - -“Yes, but I bet when she was young she never googled at ’em or -passed notes or accidentally sat down in the same seat with them or -any of that. She isn’t that kind. You can _see_ she isn’t.” And -Beany, whose wavy hair and clear blue eyes had already caused him to -suffer, nodded his head vigorously. - -“Go ahead!” said Porky, “I think it’s great having an assortment, -only I didn’t want you to feel as though you had the worst end of -the bargain.” - -“Not a bit of it!” said Beany. “Not a bit, and I’ll lend you my girl -to look at or play with whenever you want.” - -“Much obliged,” said Porky, “but I can’t help thinking it might be a -good plan to break the news to somebody.” - -“Your kidlet is asleep, so he won’t notice. Suppose you go back -there and see what they are doing.” - -“I can see from here,” said Porky with a slight shudder. “They are -sort of boarding up a place to put the youngster’s mother. They have -no way of getting a casket or even a box for her.” - -“It will be fixed all right,” said Beany. “The Captain does -everything all right. He will fix it just as well as ever he can. -I’d like to go over and see just what they are doing.” - -“Better not; you might wake the baby, and we don’t want her to see -her mother again.” - -“Well, anyhow, one thing is settled. The pair is ours,” said Porky -with a sigh. - -“They are ours if we can have them,” said his brother. - -“You watch me!” said Porky grimly. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - DECIDING DESTINIES - - -Tired of carrying the children about, the two boys sat down on a -bench beside what had once been a large barn. The destructive fire -started by the invaders had apparently been checked by a heavy -rainfall as the half burned structures and charred timbers -testified. There was still a chance to rebuild and save enough from -the wreckage to enable the owners to start their lives afresh. But -alas, of those owners but two were left--the two tiny, terrified, -war-racked creatures in the arms of the two Boy Scouts. While their -little charges slept, the boys continued their talk in a low tone. -Their arms, unaccustomed to such burdens, were tired and stiff by -the time one of the officers left the distant group and approached -them. - -“Why don’t you lay the poor little cubs down somewhere?” he asked, -looking round vainly for a fit place. - -“No place to put ’em, sir,” said Porky, “and every time we start to -move them, they clutch us and start to scream. As long as we sort of -keep ’em hugged up tight, they sleep.” - -“It’s awful--awful!” said the officer. “I wish I knew what to do with -them now. There’s not an asylum of any sort, not a place fit to -leave them within miles and miles, and what’s to become of them _I_ -don’t know. Every orphan asylum in France is crowded.” - -“Oh, that’s all right,” said Porky. “We don’t intend they shall go -to any asylum. Our mother has adopted them.” - -“Your what?” asked the captain after a prolonged stare. - -“Our mother,” repeated Porky. - -“Your mother has _WHAT_?” said the captain. “Just repeat it all.” - -“Our mother has adopted them,” said Porky patiently and distinctly. -The captain pushed back his cap and stared. - -“Where is your mother?” he asked. - -“Home,” said Porky. - -“New York state,” added Beany. “She wanted something to remember the -war by, so we are going to take her these. She didn’t want any -German helmets or anything of that sort. She said she didn’t want -ever to be reminded of helmets, so we will take her these instead.” - -“But, good heavens!” said the officer. “You ought not do anything -like that! She would have to bring them up.” - -“That’s all right, too,” said Porky. “Mom has had experience. She -has had us, and one of these is a girl. Girls ought to be easier -than boys.” - -“No, she won’t mind and, anyhow, we are going to do all the hard -work ourselves. Teaching them swimming and baseball and all that.” - -“The girl will like that,” said the officer dryly. - -“Course she will!” said Beany, looking proudly down at the future -baseballess. - -“It’s like this,” said Porky. “Our people always trust us, and we -know it will be all right. I do hope you can fix it for us, -Captain.” - -“It would be a wonderful thing for those poor little orphans,” mused -the Captain. “But how would you get them home?” - -“That’s easy,” said Porky. “Our time is up pretty soon. You see we -were only allowed a limited stay. That was the agreement when we -came, and we can take the kids over with us. Won’t you _please_ get -General Pershing to fix it up for us? There will be some woman on -board to tell us what they ought to eat, and when to put ’em to bed -and all that.” - -“It would be a wonderful thing,” said the Captain again. “If you are -sure about your mother. It’s a good deal to wish off on her.” - -“Feel in my left pocket,” said Porky. “Feel that letter? Now take it -out and read it. It’s all right. She wouldn’t mind, and I’m proud of -mother’s letters.” - -The Captain drew out the letter which was much thumbed and soiled, -and read: - - “_My own dear boys_: - - “It was good to hear from you both again after the long - time between letters. A whole month, in which we - received not so much as a post card. But something told - me that you were safe and well, so I did not worry. You - know, dears, I am not the worrying kind when it comes to - that. Your dad, who boasts continually that he never - worries over _any_thing, does all the fussing for the - whole family, but as long as he doesn’t know it, and we - never tell him, why, I suppose it is all right. - - “I wrote you a long letter yesterday, telling you all - the news of the neighborhood, and this is only a note to - acknowledge your letter at once because in my letter I - said that we had not heard in a long time. - - “Well, dears, it will not be very many weeks now before - we will hope to see our boys again. I am counting the - very days. I wonder what souvenir of the war you will - bring me. It will be something I will love to have, I - know, and not a horrid helmet or anything of that sort. - Of course the thing I would like best you can’t possibly - bring me, and that is a house full of those poor pitiful - little Belgian refugees. When I think of our big house, - this splendid home we have built since you went away, - when I think that soon it will be finished, and we will - be in it, just we four, I can scarcely bear it. So - _many_ little children homeless! - - “Well, some day, boys, we must manage to do something - for some of those suffering little ones. I know of no - other way in which to thank God for our two boys and our - many, many blessings. Your father is prospering more and - more in his business, and we both feel that we must all - four unite in doing for those less fortunate than we. - - “However, I know I can’t hope for a couple of Belgians - just at present. After the war, we will go and collect a - few! - - “Take care of yourselves always for the sake of the two - who love you so well. - - “Your always loving - “Mother.” - -“Well, I declare!” said the Captain as he finished the clearly -written page. - -“Doesn’t that about fix it?” asked Porky triumphantly. “Of course -these are French, but I guess she won’t mind that. They couldn’t be -worse off in the way of parents or more destitute, no matter _what_ -they were.” - -“Mother will be in her glory,” Beany cut in. “I hope they don’t get -fat before we get them home.” - -“I should say not! The thinner, the better as far as mother is -concerned. She snaked a private right out of the camp hospital last -summer and took him home. He had had pneumonia and looked like a -sick sparrow. Mother fed him and nursed him and he gained seventeen -pounds in three weeks.” - -“Well, it does beat all!” said the Captain. “Of course, you -understand there may be some reason that will make it impossible for -you to take these children out of the country.” - -“All I can say is, there hadn’t _better_ be,” said Porky, thrusting -out his square jaw. “Think I want to give up my kid after it came to -me and I lugged it around for an hour?” - -“And do you suppose I want anybody but mother and me to bring up -this girl?” said Beany, awkwardly hugging the sleeping mite in his -arms closer. - -“Besides,” said Porky, “what about mother? It’s up to us to bring -her what she likes best, and you read that letter. What she wants is -_orphans_, and she’s _got_ to _have_ ’em if we _steal_ ’em! So long -as we are around, mother has got to have what she wants.” - -“I should think that nearly settled it,” said the officer. He -laughed but there was a queer gleam in his eyes that looked -suspiciously like tears. “I am going to report this to the General -now,” he said. “Of course we cannot take the children with us, and -some way must be found of sending them back to headquarters. I don’t -see just how it is to be done, as it would be a pity to make you go -back with them when this trip is only beginning and will be a -wonderful thing for you.” - -“No, we hate to lose the trip,” said Porky wistfully. “I don’t -suppose two other Boy Scouts in the whole world ever had such a -chance and we sort of earned it.” - -“Stay here,” said the Captain, “and I will be back presently.” - -He walked away, and the two boys, holding the two children, sat -quietly on the old bench planning in low tones for the future. - -“This girl is going to be a peach,” said Beany proudly. “See the way -her hair crinkles up? She is rank dirty, but you wait till mother -gets her cleaned up.” - -“My word!” said Porky. “She’s got to be washed before _that_! Why, -they have to have a bath right off as soon as we get hold of a nurse -or some woman who understands enough about kids to do it.” - -“Yes, it’s an awful job,” said Beany. “All the soap gets in their -eyes and nose, and there’s the mischief to pay. And I want an expert -to wash this kid. It makes their eyes red to get soap in ’em, and I -don’t want hers spoiled.” - -“Wonder what their names are,” said Porky. - -“Oh, they are named all right. I suppose we didn’t get ’em soon -enough to attend to that, but we can call ’em what we like. Don’t -you know how it is with a registered dog? Don’t you remember the two -collies Skippy Fields has, one named Knocklayde King Ben and the -other Nut Brown Maiden, and Skippy’s folks called ’em Benny and -Nutty. I bet they each have about thirteen names apiece, but while -I’m bringing her up, this girl’s going to be called Peggy.” - -“And this is Bill,” said Porky without the least hesitation. “Bill. -Just _Bill_ so you can yell at him good and easy.” - -They went on planning while behind them, over the soft, uneven -ground the staff approached unheard and stood watching the little -group. - -Presently, still unheard and unnoticed by the boys, they turned -away. - -“And there are those,” said General Pershing solemnly, “who do not -believe that a special Providence watches over children! The boys -_shall_ take those two orphans home to that good mother of theirs, -if it takes an Act of Congress. You say,” he continued, talking to -the French officer in his own musical tongue, “you say that poor -woman said that all her people were gone?” - -“All dead, all lost in this war,” answered the Frenchman. - -“Well, if this was only in a movie show,” said the great General, -“we would presently see a car headed for the rear, coming around -that bend ahead, and we would be able to--well, I declare,” he -exclaimed, as one of the officers laughed and pointed. “That’s -positively _too_ much!” as the group laughed with him. - -A large car _was_ coming along around the bend, it _was_ headed for -the rear, and in the tonneau sat a couple of nurses in their snug -caps and dark capes! - -The General himself halted it, and in a few words explained the -situation. A couple of the officers, accompanied by the nurses, went -over to the boys and at once the children, still sleeping the heavy -sleep of exhaustion, were transferred to arms more accustomed to -holding them, and carried back to the car. Almost before they -realized it, the car was off and Porky turned to the General, -saluting. - -“Out with it, young man,” said the kindly General, smiling down into -the eager and troubled face. - -“We will get ’em back, won’t we, sir?” he asked. “They can’t work -some game on us, so we will lose ’em!” - -“We lost a pup that way once,” said Beany dolefully, also coming to -salute. - -“Well, you won’t lose your orphans,” the General promised. “I wish I -could see your mother’s face when your little party appears.” - -“Why, we will write you what she says if you will let us, sir,” -Porky volunteered. - -“She will be crazy over Bill and Peggy,” added Beany, looking fondly -after the car vanishing with their new possessions. - -“Beel ant Pekky!” groaned the Frenchman. - -“Wee, Mussoo, we have named them already,” said Porky proudly. “We -know they have some other names, kind of names, they were registered -under, but that kid has to have _something_ easy to yell at him when -he makes a home run, and Beany picked on Peggy right off.” - -“That about settles it,” laughed the General. “We must be off if we -reach our first sector by nightfall.” - - - - - CHAPTER V - - WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT - - -It was nine o’clock when they reached the first post of observation -in their journey, an outpost on the top of a densely wooded hill -where they were to remain as long as the General wished to stay. It -was a splendid post of observation. A vast battle-torn valley -stretched below them for miles and miles. From their vantage point -they could see it brilliantly lighted at short intervals by the -flares of the enemy. The flares lit the trenches--black, ragged -gashes running along the earth--and beyond, where the awful -desolation of No-Man’s-Land stretched, peopled only with its dead. -Seen with field glasses, the plain drew near and they could see the -torn surface and the tumbled groups here and there. A great battle -had been fought and both sides were resting. Rest was absolutely -necessary. The Allies had advanced three miles, pushing back a foe -that stubbornly contested every step of the way. The Germans had -brought vast numbers of reserves into action but even then the -whirlwind tactics and savage rushes of their oversea foe had driven -them back rod by rod. - -Porky and Beany looked on and trembled with excitement. There ahead, -hidden in the darkness, were the Huns. There were the barbarians who -had shown a civilized world how men can slip back into worse than -savagery. Wasted lands, ruined homes, orphaned and mutilated little -children, butchered old people. All the unspeakable horrors of war -trooped through the boys’ minds, a hideous train of ghosts, as they -looked across the valley. Ahead lay the heartless and ruthless -killers, wolves that had come to worry and tear the sheep, but -behind in the darkness, the boys knew with a thrill, every possible -mode of transportation was swiftly bringing up the reserve American -troops, thousands and thousands of them; men in their prime and -beardless boys grim, determined, yet light-hearted, ready to fight -as only Americans can fight. Men from the farms, farms in the east -where fifty well-tilled acres was a fine homestead; farmers from -that great and spacious west where a man called miles of land his -own. Professional men, clerks, divinity students, adventurers, all -welded by this great need into a common likeness. Eager for life, -yet fearlessly ready to die if need be, a mighty army was on its -way, was drawing nearer and nearer to the tired troops below. -Overhead an adventurous plane or two hummed in the darkness. - -“And we can’t help!” said Porky mournfully. “Not a thing we can do, -not a thing!” - -“Oh, well, we are doing all we can,” said Beany. “I don’t just see -what _more_ we can do. We can’t help our age.” - -“No, but if we are not told just _where_ to stay, and _where_ to go, -I mean to take a little stroll around to-night,” said Porky. - -The boys went over to the General, who stood looking across the -valley and saluted. He looked, and gravely returned the salute. - -“Good-night, boys,” he said. - -“Good-night, sir,” said the boys, and then as an afterthought, “May -we walk around a bit, sir?” - -The General was busy studying the vast field below him as the -flashes of light revealed it. - -“Yes, if you don’t get lost,” he said absently, “and be on hand at -eight to-morrow morning. I may be ready to go on then.” - -“Yes, sir,” said both boys cheerfully. What luck! The General -certainly didn’t know what he was getting himself into. - -“The whole night to ourselves, and no bounds, and only we mustn’t -get lost!” chuckled Porky. - -“Peach pie!” murmured Beany. “Let’s be off! Where will we go first?” - -“Down there,” said Porky, waving a hand widely over the valley. - -“That’s where I thought. But we can’t get into any scrape on account -of the General. You know he wasn’t thinking about us at all when he -spoke, and, besides, there would be an _awful_ fuss if we got into -any trouble. It would be good-by to our little trip. We would be -sent back quicker than they sent Bill and Peggy.” - -“Who wants to get into any scrape?” said Porky. “All I want to do is -to see--to see--well, to see just what I _can_ do.” - -“Well, come on,” said Beany mournfully. “I bet we are in for some -fun, because when we look for things we generally find ’em.” - -“What hurts me,” said Porky, “is not carrying weapons of any sort. -It’s a good safe rule for the Boy Scouts, but I’d be glad of some -little thing like a sling shot or a putty blower.” - -“I don’t need anything,” said Beany, “I’ve got the neatest thing you -ever _did_ see.” Quite suddenly he drew something from his hip -pocket and shoved it under his brother’s nose. Porky sidestepped. - -“Ha!” said Beany. “It works!” He showed Porky his weapon. It was a -monkey wrench from the auto tool chest. In his hand it looked like a -revolver. - -“Pretty neat,” said Porky. “Is there another one in the box?” - -“Yes, I saw another,” said Beany. “I don’t see any harm in this. Any -one might carry a monkey wrench,” and replaced it carefully in his -pocket. - -“Sure thing,” said Porky, making for the car, followed by his -brother. “Didn’t the Reverend Hannibal Butts get up to preach one -Sunday, and dig for a clean handky to wipe his face with and come up -with a bunch of waste and use it before he saw what he was doing?” - -“I remember that,” said Beany. “I thought I’d die! And so did -everybody else. It ’most broke up the meeting.” - -“Well, when you flashed that monkey wrench I thought it was a -revolver sure enough. But it was only an innocent little wrench, and -here is the mate to it!” He pocketed the tool, and slipping -cautiously out of sight of the group of officers, they went -scrambling noiselessly down the steep trail into the valley. -Reaching the foot of the hill, they struck cautiously out toward the -entanglements, dropping on their faces whenever a flare went up. -Presently Beany, a little in the rear, pulled his brother’s leg. -Porky stopped, and waited for Beany to wriggle up. He muttered, -“What?” but did not turn his face. He knew too well that a face -turned upwards in the darkness can be seen by an observant watcher -overhead in some prowling plane. - -“Men whispering over toward the right,” said Beany of the marvelous -ears. - -“No business for any one to be there,” said Porky, listening -intently. “We are well on our side yet.” - -“It’s over there on that little hillock,” said Beany positively, -“and I think they are whispering in German.” - -“Why, they _can’t_ be, Bean,” said Porky. “We are away inside our -lines, and we wouldn’t have men out there and, besides, they -wouldn’t be whispering German or anything else. When our men are -supposed to keep still, they _keep still_!” - -“I can’t help it,” said Beany. “They are whispering in German.” - -“All right,” said Porky, reluctantly turning toward the spot -indicated by Beany. “We’ll go over and see what it is, and if there -are any Germans holed up around here, we’ll sick on a few troops.” - -They did not stand up again, but slowly and with the greatest -caution approached a small hillock that stood slightly away from the -steeper hills. It was not wooded enough to afford any shelter, nor -was it high enough to be a good spot for a gun. For that or for some -other reason, the enemy had failed to shell it. - -On the side toward the Allies a pile of high boulders was tumbled. -The rest was grass grown. Beany, whispering softly in his brother’s -ear, insisted that the voices came from this place. - -“Then they are underground,” whispered Porky in his turn. - -Slowly, ever so slowly they crept up to the little hill and lay in -the darkness, listening. Certainly through the grass and stones of -the mound came the muffled sound of cautious voices. If they had -been speaking English, it is probable that even Beany’s wizard ears -would not have caught the sound. But the harsh guttural German, even -when whispered, seemed to carry far. - -“I don’t see how you heard ’em,” breathed Porky. “It’s hard enough -to believe now. What do you suppose it all means?” - -“Search me!” Beany breathed in return. - -“What they doing over on our side?” wondered Porky. - -“It’s a good place all right,” said Beany against his brother’s ear -as they lay close to the grass. - -They were silent for a while, when the unbelievable happened. It was -so amazing, so stunning, that both boys at first could not believe -that they heard aright. They heard a sound like a windlass or crank -turning, a few clods tumbled down on them, and a voice once more -whispered hoarsely three words: - -“Gee, it’s hot!” - -“_Gee, it’s hot!_” said the German voice and the simple words seemed -to the astounded boys to ring across the valley! On the contrary, -they were spoken in a low whisper. - -Another voice replied. “He won’t like it if you speak English, you -know.” - -“I can’t help it,” said the first speaker. “We are two to one -anyhow, and I am tired of talking that lingo. I’m a good German all -right, but I wasn’t brought up to _speak_ German and it comes hard. -And this is the hottest place I ever did get in. I don’t like it. Do -you know what will happen about to-morrow? I’ll tell you. We will -find ourselves miles behind the Allies’ lines, and then what do you -propose to do, Peter?” - -“Bosh!” said the man called Peter. “You think because a handful of -Americans are here that the tide has turned. Be careful what you -think. I tell you _no_. What can a few hundred of these fellows do -against the perfect, trained millions of the Fatherland?” - -“You don’t know them,” said Fritz. - -“Yes, I do,” said the man Peter. “Now let me tell you. For years I -was in England; sent there to study those foolish bull-headed people -and to create all the unrest I could. It was _so_ easy. I saw these -Americans there, crazy, loud-mouthed, boasting, always boasting. -They talked fight, they told wild tales about the bad men of their -west, always boasting. So I tried them. I am a big man, Fritz, and -strong; I was not afraid of a little fight, me, myself. I tried -them. I slurred their government, sneered at their president, -laughed at their institutions. What think you? They laughed. They -_laughed_! Quite as if I said the most kindly things. I said, ‘What -I say is true, is it not?’ and they said, ‘Perhaps, but it is so -funny!’ That is what they said, ‘_so funny_!’ They should have slain -me where I stood.” - -“They don’t care what you say or what the rest of the world says,” -whispered Fritz. “They are too big. Their country is too big. When -they fight.... Wait until you have seen them fight! They fight with -grunts and gasps and bared teeth. They do not need trenches, they -will go over the top with a shout. You will see, friend Peter. They -are back there in the darkness now. I feel them!” - -“A few of them, only a few,” said Peter. “This little castle of sod -and stone is getting on your nerves, my friend. Look you! Do you -think the Highest would deceive us? Never, never! There is nothing -to this talk of the Americans coming over here. To be sure, they -have declared war, but what of it? They are no good. They have no -army. All their boasted possessions, all their harbors, all their -wealth, yet they have no army. No army! That shows how inefficient -they are. Never fear, my Fritz. Not a hundred thousand will reach -this soil. I have it from our commanding officer himself.” - -“Then here’s hoping for a quick release from this hole,” said Fritz -bitterly. - -“To-morrow,” said Peter; “to-morrow our hosts will sweep across this -valley, and we will be with our own again.” - -“Oh, I hope for some release. It’s the hardest duty I have ever been -given.” - -“But think how we have been able to guide our guns, talking as we -can to the airplanes through the clever arrangement of our three -little trees on top of our delightful little hill.” He laughed. “How -clever it all is! And no one will ever suspect!” He paused again to -chuckle, and Porky quite suddenly shoved a sharp elbow into Beany’s -ribs. - -“Well, I’m sick of it,” said Fritz still in his low, hoarse whisper, -and seemed to move away from the side of the hill where he had been -standing. - -The boys with the greatest caution wriggled away. - -“Now what do you think of _that_?” said Porky when they were in a -position where they could talk in safety. “_What do you think of -that?_” - -“Anyhow,” said Beany, “they aren’t spies. I’m sort of fed up on -spies. I can stand for most anything else.” - -“No, they are not spies. I can’t make out just what their little -game is. It’s important, though; you can see that. And we have got -to stop it somehow.” - -“That ought to be easy enough. Just go back and get the bunch and a -few soldiers, and take ’em.” - -“What’s the time, anyhow?” asked Porky. He answered his own question -by fishing his wrist watch out of his pocket. He had put it there -for fear the luminous dial might be seen. - -“Only eleven,” he said. “Plenty of time.” He sat staring into the -darkness. There were very few flares now, although the night was -usually kept bright with them. - -“Wonder why that is,” Porky said. - -“Something to do with our little mud house, don’t you think so?” -said Beany. - -“Yes, I do,” answered his brother. “I wish I could make it out. Give -us time, give us time!” - -“Well, come on! I want to get some one on the job,” said Beany. “I -feel fidgety.” - -“Sit still,” said Porky. “I want to think.” - -“What you got in your head now?” said Beany. His voice sounded -anxious. - -“We are going to take those men prisoners with our own little -wrenches and just by our two selves.” - -“Three of them?” gasped Beany. - -“Three of them!” said Porky. “Come on!” - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - TAKING THREE PRISONERS - - -“Come nothing!” said Beany slangily. “You stay right here until we -can talk this thing over, and make some sort of a plan. I don’t -propose to go into something we can’t get out of.” - -“Well,” said Porky, “the only plan I have is so crazy that I’m sort -of afraid to tell you about it. But it would certainly be sort of -nifty to take those men ourselves instead of running back to the -bunch for help. It would kind of put a little gilt on things and -would be something to tell Bill and Peggy about when they grow up a -little.” - -Beany was impressed. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he said. “Looks -like we haven’t much to tell them about, nothing but the submarine -and the secret passage and that sort of thing.” - -“And the spies back home,” added Porky. “No, we ought to wind up -with something else. Beside, if I don’t get hold of a Hun or two -after what we saw and heard back at the Duval farm, I don’t think -I’ll ever live.” - -“Well, I’m with you,” agreed Beany. “Now let’s plan. We sure have -got to get a prisoner or two our own selves. What’s next?” - -For twenty minutes the boys, heads close together, whispered -rapidly. Then they rose and went noiselessly toward the false -hillock. - -The last hundred yards they crept, lying flat and motionless -whenever a flare lit the sky. They were not frequent, however, and -the boys made good progress. When they reached the mound, Porky, who -was the best climber, crept to the top. He used the most infinite -caution, and there was not a sound to betray his slow, sure -progress. Gaining the top, he found what he had expected to find. A -sodded opening, like a double trap door, operated from the inside, -was slightly opened for air. So cleverly was it arranged with small -bushes and grass growing on the trap doors, that it would have been -impossible to detect it. Porky felt cautiously about the edges. Then -he listened. From below came an unmistakable sound--the noise of a -couple of men snoring. The sound was so muffled by the thick steel -walls, the earth and stones and sod outside them, that they were -able to sleep without fear of detection. Porky shook his head -admiringly. He was forced to acknowledge that the ingenuity of the -foe seemed to know no bounds. Again he tried the trap doors. They -were balanced to a hair and moved upward at his touch. He felt in -his pocket, arranged something in either hand, then swung the doors -both upward. - -It would be untrue to say that a flash of doubt did not pass over -the reckless boy at that instant. He thought of the General and of -the way in which that great man trusted them to do their part in -keeping out of trouble. He had surmised that there were three men -below. There was room for a dozen. He had taken it for granted that -he and Beany could pull off a stunt that instead might end in their -immediate death or worse. But there he was, perched on the top, the -heavy trap doors swinging wide, and below in the dense darkness the -sound of men snoring. Porky took time to listen. There were snores -from two, that was clear, and still another man talked and muttered -fretfully in his sleep. Porky could hear no others. - -He took a long breath, leaned over the opening, and turned a -flashlight below. - -As though electrified, three big men sat up and blinked in the glare -of the flashlight. - -Two of the men cried, “Kamarad!” and instantly held up their hands. -The third said calmly, “Thank the Lord! I surrender!” and stood up. - -“Not so fast!” said Porky in his deepest tones. He fiddled with the -button on his flashlight. The light wavered. Porky kept his face to -the men and called back over his shoulder: - -“Sergeant, something’s wrong with my flash. Send up another!” - -“Yes, sir!” answered Beany as gruffly as possible from below. He -waited a moment, then scrambling up passed his flash to his brother. -Porky put his in his pocket, and bent the light on the men below. An -ax stood in one corner with a coil of rope. In another corner was a -rough table loaded with strange instruments that Porky did not -understand. - -“Turn out your pockets!” he commanded, and three revolvers were -tossed up, one after the other. - -“See that rope?” demanded Porky, pointing his flash directly at the -man who had spoken English. “You tell those other fellows to tie you -up quick, and tell them to make a good job of it!” - -“I surrender,” said the man Fritz. “Please don’t tie me up, sir!” - -“You hear!” said Porky grimly. He called back over his shoulder. -“Forward ten paces, Sergeant!” - -“Yes, sir,” said Beany, and Porky almost giggled as he heard his -brother scuffling violently around trying to sound like a squad. But -he dared not look away from the men below, who were hastily tying up -the man called Fritz. They did a good job, eager to make good with -the unseen and most unexpected captors. If the officer above with -the boyish voice wanted Fritz tied up, tied up he would be so he -could not move. When they finished, the bulky form looked like a -mummy. - -“Is that a door in the side?” Porky demanded of Fritz. - -“Yes, sir,” said Fritz. - -Porky waited a little. The worst was coming now. - -“Tell those men to open that door, and step outside, and if they -value their lives, to keep their hands up.” - -Fritz spoke rapidly in German. What he said was, “These are -Americans, you fools! The officer says to step outside, and keep -your hands up. You had better do it, if you want to live. They would -rather shoot than eat. I know them! Obey, no matter what they tell -you.” - -When he had finished, one of the men, lowering one hand and keeping -the other well up in the air, pressed a long lever and a narrow door -opened, dislodging a little shower of stones and earth as it moved -outward. - -“Vorwarts zwei!” cried Porky, making a wild stab at German. - -It was understood however. Fear makes men quick, and the two walked -briskly out and stood side by side. One of them had stepped through -a loop of the rope, and it came trailing after him. - -“Tie those men’s hands and tie them together, Sergeant,” said Porky. -He watched, cold with a fright he would never have felt for himself, -while Beany, keeping as much out of the light as possible, tied the -men, and sawed off the end of the rope. - -“Close the door!” demanded Porky. - -Beany did so. - -“Don’t leave me here, sir,” cried the man below suddenly. “If the -Germans find that we have allowed this spot to be discovered, they -will shoot me. If the enemy comes I shall be shot. I will come -quietly. I am glad to surrender.” - -“That’s all right,” growled Porky. “You are safe for a while. I am -leaving a guard here. We want a few English-speaking prisoners, so -you are quite safe for a while.” - -“One of those men outside speaks English also,” cried Fritz. - -“All right,” said Porky. “I advise you to keep still. Sergeant, -detail a guard for this place with orders to shoot him at the first -outcry.” - -“Yes, sir,” said Beany. He retreated under cover of the darkness, -thoughtfully going around the corner of the mound as a flare -brightened the sky, and he remembered, in the nick of time, that it -wouldn’t do to let the two men, carefully bound as they were, see -him roaring directions at an imaginary squad. He returned in a -minute and saluted, although his form was only a darker shadow in -the darkness of the night. - -Above, Porky closed the trap doors, and as he did so, cut the ropes -by which they were opened and closed. Not even with his teeth could -the trussed up prisoner below open them. - -Beany had already shut the door in the side and wedged it with a -broken piece of gun-carriage. - -“Come with me, Sergeant,” said Porky, for the benefit of the -English-speaking prisoner. “Vorwarts!” - -It was a strange group that gave the password a half hour later and -advanced to the General’s tent. The tent, hidden from observation by -blankets and thick masses of boughs, was brightly lighted. General -Pershing seemed to scorn sleep. Surrounded by his staff and a group -of officers from the lines below, he sat puzzling over the reports -they had made. Information was steadily leaking across. Every move -they made was reported correctly. Only that very night as soon as it -was definitely decided that no attack would be made, the flares from -the enemy’s lines almost ceased and their guns were silenced, as -though they were glad to be assured of a few hours of peace. The -positions of the American guns, no matter how cleverly camouflaged, -were speedily discovered and gun fire trained on them. - -The thing had assumed a very serious look. Losses were piling up. -The General listened in worried and puzzled silence. - -It was at this moment that the flap of the tent was suddenly opened, -and two Germans, their hands tightly bound, stumbled blinkingly into -the light. Behind them stood the two boys. There was a moment of -surprised silence broken by the older prisoner, as he accustomed his -eyes to the light. He glanced about the group, then his eyes rested -curiously on his captors. - -A look of fury and amazement crossed his face. - -“Kinder, kleine kinder!” he muttered scornfully. - -The other man was silent. - -General Pershing gave a sigh. - -“Those twins again!” he said. The boys saluted. “Where shall we -leave these, sir?” said Porky respectfully. “We left another back -there.” He waved into space. _Back there_ might have been anywhere -on the continent, as far as his direction showed. “It’s sort of a -queer place, sir, and we would like some one to see it, because we -can’t tell what it’s all for, and we don’t know that we could make -the other fellow tell. He speaks English.” - -Rapidly the General gave the necessary orders. The two men were led -off a short distance and placed under close guard. An escort, with a -couple of captains and an expert electrician, was named for the -boys, and without a question from the General, who knew how to bide -his time, the little party filed out of the tent and went back down -the trail. - -When they were out of hearing, the General laughed and spoke. - -“I often wonder,” he said, “how those two boys pass the time in -their own home. I don’t mind trying to run an army, but running -those twins is a bigger task than I like to tackle. I am glad they -don’t know just how glad I will be to hear the story they will tell -us when they get the job finished. Three prisoners, and they want an -escort of officers and an electrician! Well, they are on the trail -of something, I’ll be bound! I would like to question those -prisoners but I won’t spoil the boys’ innocent pleasure in what they -are doing. But I _must_ say that I want one of you to keep an eye on -them every second now until we return to headquarters. They are to -be shipped home from there with a special passport, and I will be -able to sleep better.” - -“They came with General Bright, did they not?” asked a Captain. - -“Yes, and when he was called to Paris, I foolishly offered to let -them stay at headquarters. I thought they would play around and kill -time until Bright came back. That’s what I get for overlooking their -records. Things are bound to happen wherever they go.” - -“All boys are like that more or less, but this is a lively pair,” -said the Captain. “They seem to want to know everything. They are -studying all my books on the French and English guns now, and I -heard one of them say the other day that he had some good ideas on -airplanes.” - -“I hope he takes them home then,” said the General. “They are good -youngsters, and I’ll be glad to get a receipt from their parents for -them. They are perfectly obedient, and strict as any old regular -about discipline, but no matter _what_ good care we try to take of -them, they are always getting into tight places.” - -“Their coming over here seems a strange thing,” said one of the -officers. “Sort of irregular.” - -“There _is_ a reason,” said the General. “They don’t know it -themselves. They were sent across because it seemed a good thing to -have a boy’s point of view for the boys over there of things over -here. When I say they were sent, I do not mean that their expenses -were paid. The Potters are amply able to spend money, but it was a -good and patriotic thing for them to risk the lives of a fine pair -like Porky and Beany. I don’t even know their real names. Not that -it matters. They would make themselves felt if they were called -Percy and Willie. They are that sort.” - -Talk drifted to other things and time passed until a stir and -footsteps outside made it evident that the expedition had returned. -The door flap opened and the party filed in, the remaining prisoner -in their midst. - -The General glanced at him, then bent a steady, steely look on the -man’s face. - -“You!” he said. “A German prisoner, you--” - -The man’s face lighted. - -He stood erect and made an effort to salute with his bound hands. - -“Yes, sir,” he said in a low tone. “If I’m to be shot, sir, won’t -you let me tell you how it all happened?” - -The General glanced at his wrist watch. - -“It is three o’clock,” he said. He nodded toward the sergeant. “Take -this man in charge. To-morrow at seven o’clock bring him to my tent -and I will talk with him.” - -He turned away and did not glance again at the prisoner as he was -led away. - -“He knew you,” said a Captain. - -“He worked for me four years on my apple ranch in Oregon. The -foreman wrote me that he and seven others had left suddenly soon -after the beginning of the war. I think we will get some very -interesting information out of that young man. In the meantime,” he -turned to the two boys standing as stiffly at attention as their -fagged out bodies would permit, “in the meantime, boys, can you tell -your little story in half an hour? It is very late, and we have a -hard day before us to-morrow.” - -“It won’t take that long,” said Porky. “We just went down a little -ways, inside our own lines, General, so you wouldn’t worry, and -Beany, he hears things just like a cat, and there was a little hill, -with these men inside, and I climbed on top and talked to them -through the trap door, and Beany made believe he was a squad.” - -“And Porky had two of ’em tie up that Fritz fellow,” interrupted -Beany, “and made ’em come out the door, and we just made ’em think -the squad was guarding the hill, and we brought ’em up here, and -they came too easy. And we didn’t try to carry arms, General, we -just had a couple of monkey wrenches, and say, Porky, I’ve lost -mine! That chauffeur will murder me!” - -“A few details missing, however,” said the General. “However, that -will do for to-night. In the morning, if you like, you may be -present when I see the prisoner. Good-night!” - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - THE PRISONER’S STORY - - -Some three minutes later (so the boys thought), some one shook them -awake. It was morning. - -“Six o’clock!” said their tormentor, prodding them viciously. It was -the driver of their car. “Say, did youse have my monkey wrench?” he -demanded of both boys. - -“Sure!” said Porky quickly. “Here it is!” He handed out his wrench, -while Beany tried to pretend to sleep again. The chauffeur looked it -over. - -“Naw, that ain’t me wrench,” he declared. “Same size and shape but -it ain’t me wrench!” - -“Why not?” asked Porky. “One of us took your wrench last night, and -if this is the same size and shape, _why_ isn’t it the same wrench?” - -“Because it ain’t,” said the man. “That ain’t got the same feel as -my wrench. You can’t wish off any strange wrench on this guy! I -gotta have me own wrench! If General Pershing is goin’ to let youse -kids go stealin’ wrenches, I’ll--I’ll--well, you’ll _see_ what I’ll -do, discipline ner no discipline!” He glared at the boys and at the -unoffending wrench. - -Beany sadly allowed himself to wake up. - -“I had your old wrench,” he said, “and I guess I lost it. I will buy -you a new one if I can’t find it.” - -“You find it!” said the man. “I don’t want no new one! I know the -feel of me own tools, and no others need apply!” - -He went off grumbling, and the boys, now wide awake, watched him. - -“I told you how it would be,” groaned Beany. “He’ll never let up on -me. Wonder where I could have dropped it. In No-Man’s-Land probably, -where it would be as easy to find as a needle in a haystack, and -where we can’t go anyhow, now it’s light. Look there! Oh praise be, -I believe _he_ has found it himself!” - -It was so. The man suddenly pounced on an object lying on the -ground, took it up, examined it with a tenderer care than would -usually be bestowed on a tool, and with a scornful look turned and -waved it at the watching boys. “Got it!” he called. - -“Good!” said Beany affably. - -“No thanks to you!” called the chauffeur. He stalked away. - -“I would never let myself get so wrapped up in a little thing like -that,” said Beany. He threw himself back on his bed. - -“Don’t do that,” said Porky. “We are going to the General’s tent at -seven, you know, to hear what the Fritz person is going to say for -himself. I bet he tells the truth anyhow. If the General fixes his -gimlet eye on him once, he will tell the truth, the whole truth, and -nothing but the truth.” - -“I would in his place,” said Beany. “It wouldn’t seem just healthy -to lie to the General.” He commenced the simple process of dressing -as practiced by soldiers in the field. It consisted of very brief -bathing in a couple of teacups of water in a collapsible, and -usually collapsing washpan, made of canvas waterproofed, and after -that the simple drawing on of breeches, canvas puttees and shirt. A -soldier sleeps in his underwear, but sleeping in his outer garments -is very strictly forbidden, no matter how cold the weather may be. - -The boys reached the General’s tent at ten minutes to seven, and -although they knew that the great man had been up for a couple of -hours, they sat quietly outside until their watches told off the -very tick of the expected hour. Then, just as they saw the guard -bringing up the prisoner, they tapped on the tent flap, and at a -word of summons entered. - -The General, looking as though he had never stirred since the night -before, sat in his accustomed place at the head of the table, over -which a number of papers were strewn. He bade the boys good morning -and nodded them to seats. In another moment the prisoner entered. - -For a few moments the General took no notice of the man, keeping his -eyes on his papers, while the fellow shifted uneasily from one foot -to the other. - -Then General Pershing looked up. - -“Prisoner,” he said, “it is not customary to accord a prisoner of -war the sort of interview I am about to give you, but the -circumstances alter this case. I want the truth, and the whole -truth.” - -Porky and Beany nudged each other slyly. - -“I want some of the information that it is in your power to give me, -and I want it straight. You know you are in my power. There is -always a firing squad for men like you. But I want you to unravel -this puzzle. I want you to commence when you left the ranch--yes, -even before that.” - -The prisoner spoke eagerly. “I _will_ tell you the truth, sir. I am -glad to be here, no matter what you do to me. And I swear to tell -you the truth.” He held up his right hand, and the boys saw it -tremble. They commenced to believe him. It was evident that the -General did, for he nodded and the man plunged into his story. - -It held the boys breathless. - -“There were eight of us working for you, General, before America -went into this war. Eight men of German ancestry or birth. Most of -them were naturalized, but one night a man came to my house and -commanded me to meet him in a certain place. He was a German officer -and of course I was curious to know what he wanted. When I arrived -at the meeting place I found the others there. The officer, showing -credentials of his rank that we could not doubt, told us that we -were wanted as interpreters. Just that, General. He explained that -Germany was obliged to use all the men within her borders as -fighting men, and as they were most anxious to have no -misunderstanding with America, they were picking a German born, or -German bred man here and there as they could without rousing -suspicion. They were taking them from the farms rather than from the -cities. He said that several hundred would be needed. He assured us -that education was not necessary. It sounded very plausible, -General, and the salary we were promised was magnificent. We all -bit, General, and he took us away that very night in a couple of -automobiles.” - -“The foreman told me,” said the General, “that you went away in the -middle of the busy season without giving warning.” - -“Yes, we did, General. I am sorry, and I was sorry then, but the -pay--it was a _great_ temptation. We have been punished since. We -went down through Mexico and took ship. There were five hundred men -on board who were all going over to be ‘interpreters.’ And we never -guessed, poor fools, that ship after ship was bearing each a like -load. We never suspicioned the outcome. When we reached German soil, -we were scattered, two going one place, two another, and instead of -having any _interpreting_ to do, we were outfitted as soldiers and -attached to different regiments. Men kept coming day after day. I -dare not say how many thousands of Germans have been taken out of -the United States in this way. We were virtually prisoners. Of -course to the most of us it did not matter much. After all Germany -was our fatherland before America adopted us. As long as we were -fighting the French and English and the Russians, we did not care. - -“But then, when we were already very tired, came the news that -President Wilson had declared war. - -“General, it is not yet believed in Germany. All of them, the -highest officers, even the Emperor, on occasion, all have addressed -the troops and have explained that war was declared solely for -political purposes and that no troops were to be sent over sea.” - -“They know now, do they not?” asked the General. - -“Very few of them, General. They think that the English have adopted -the American uniform as a blind.” - -“What did you think, Fritz?” asked the General. - -“I saw them fight, and I knew,” said Fritz simply. “I know them; I -know how they fight. I told the others so. And when they came across -the plain I wanted to hurrah. I suppose I will be shot as a German -prisoner, but I could not help it. All my mistake was in the -beginning. I would have deserted if I could have done so. Why, -General, if those fellows over there behind the German lines knew -the truth, a third of them would walk right over here. They are lied -to again and again.” - -“How is the army faring as regards food?” asked the General. - -“There is not enough to feed a third of the men. All Germany is -dying slowly of substitutes. Substitutes for bread, for meat, for -tea, for sugar, for coffee, for milk. At first the army was fed -well, at the expense of the civilians. Now all suffer together, and -no man in the world works well or fights well on an empty and aching -stomach.” He groaned. - -“What were you doing out there in that hillock?” asked the General. - -“We were well behind the German lines a few days ago,” said Fritz, -“but whether they retired purposely or not, I cannot say. Since -then, however, we have been kept there to communicate with the -airplanes. It was possible to signal them by means of electric -flashes down on the floor of our hiding place, through the open trap -doors on top. Peter was in command. He took and sent the messages, -and repeatedly he crept out in the night. I was never allowed to do -anything, but if the Allies took the plain, and those ridges beyond -it, Peter said we would all go out in American uniforms and learn -what we could. We were expected to discover things too cleverly -hidden from the airplanes.” - -“This is interesting at least, Fritz,” said the General. “It would -be still more interesting to know just how true it is that the -German army in general does not know that we are seriously in the -war. There are two millions of us here now, Fritz, and more coming.” - -“Two millions!” echoed the astounded prisoner. “Two millions! When -they learn that, the war is over. But how will they ever learn it? -Your airplanes scattered leaflets along the front several times. Not -where I was stationed, but I heard the order that any man who saw -another stoop to pick up one of those leaflets, any man who was -caught reading one was to be shot dead by the nearest soldier, who -would receive the cross for doing it. I tell you, sir, they are -doing _every_thing they can to keep the army from learning that you -are in the fight.” - -“I wonder how true all this is,” mused the General. - -Porky and Beany watched him narrowly. They were sure he had some -plan, but it was clear that he wanted the prisoner to speak first. - -“It is _all_ true,” said Fritz. “General, won’t you let me earn my -life, set me free for two hours--only that? And I will prove it to -you.” - -“You will disappear just as you did from the ranch, I suppose,” -grated the General in a harsh voice. “Why should I give you any -chance?” - -“I don’t deserve it,” said the prisoner, “except that if my plan -fails, I will certainly be shot by the Germans.” - -“What do you propose?” asked the General. - -“Two, perhaps three hours of freedom!” begged Fritz. “And if I can -reach the German lines alive, I will return with twenty prisoners to -prove to you that every man who is told that the Americans are here -and are promised that they will not be shot, will follow me across.” - -“They are having a skirmish now,” said the General, listening, “and -a thunder storm is coming beside.” He was lost in thought. “Fritz, -make good!” he said. “I release you. You are but one man, no loss to -us, but you have told me a story of what amounts to kidnapping. I -would like to know if this is true. Just one thing. Prove it to me -by bringing twenty men back; but while you are there _set the word -free that the Americans have arrived_. Two millions, remember, -perhaps three.” He smiled. “And do not attempt to go or come until -nightfall. I will remain here until midnight to-night. You are under -guard until dark. You may go.” He rapped sharply on the table, the -guards entered and removed the prisoner. - -The General began to smoke. - -“What do you think, boys? Will he come back?” - -“Yes, sir,” said both boys together. - -“Why?” asked the General. - -“Why, he was telling the truth!” said Porky. - -“They don’t look like that other times,” said Beany. “He was -straight, all right.” - -“He will have to prove it,” said the General grimly. “Men who leave -a job without warning, no matter what the needs of the situation, do -not fill me with confidence.” - -“I guess he is sorry now, anyway,” said tender-hearted Beany. - -“We will hope so,” said the General. “Porky, you may typewrite these -letters for me, and you, Beany, may check up these lists. If you can -do this properly, it will release a man for other duty.” - -For two hours the two boys were too busy to know what went on in the -tent. When the task was done the General dismissed them with strict -orders that they were not to go more than thirty feet in any -direction from his tent. - -When the Germans had occupied that side of the valley, they had also -used the hill as a temporary headquarters. Porky and Beany, like a -pair of very restless and inquisitive hounds, went over the ground -inch by inch. They could not help feeling that something good must -be waiting for them within their screen of trees. The fighting miles -away went on all day, and the time dragged for the boys until about -three in the afternoon. - -And then Porky found it--a tiny piece of wire sticking out of the -ground under a root of the big tree under which they were sitting, -feeling like a couple of prisoners themselves. They had never been -on such close bounds before, and they didn’t like it. - -Porky started to pull the wire, when Beany fell on him with a yell. - -“A bomb!” he cried, flinging Porky on his back. - -“My word! You have scared me to death anyhow,” said Porky. - -Together they dug around the wire and followed it down and down -until they almost gave up. At last, however, they had their reward, -a square black tin box which they carried carefully to the General’s -tent. - -Even then the greatest care was taken in opening it, for fear of an -infernal machine of some sort. It opened easily, however, and -without harm and disclosed a mass of papers. So many that the German -officer who had been in charge of them, fearing capture, had -evidently buried them, thinking that with the turn of battle he -could easily reclaim them from the earth. - -Among the papers were several cypher keys, and one of them was found -to fit the papers found by Beany in the oak table in the dungeon at -the chateau back at headquarters. - -Even the General was delighted, as a little study disclosed the most -important plans of the coming campaign and a scheme for the expected -drive, which now could be met point for point. - -It was dusk before the General and his staff finished with an -examination of the papers, fitting the new keys to the papers -already in their possession. - -Porky allowed himself to crow. “Guess we are sort of little old -Handy-to-have-around!” he chortled. “Guess we get to go all the way -with _this_ distinguished mob!” - -“Looks so,” said Beany, “but you never can tell.” - -_And they couldn’t._ - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - ORDERS ARE ORDERS - - -Night fell dark and stormy. As soon as it was dusk Fritz begged to -be released and, receiving the General’s permission, slipped away. - -“I doubt if he comes back,” said the General, “but it will spread -the news at least. No, it is too much to expect that a man will -persuade a couple of men, to say nothing of twenty, to give -themselves into the hands of an enemy they have been taught to -believe is ruthless, but if he does, we will know that the -conditions in the German army are worse than we dream.” - -Time dragged away. The boys, still believing in Fritz, sat at the -head of the only trail, watching. They almost wore their watches out -looking at them, and trying them to see if they were wound. Time -seemed to stand still and yet, somehow, ten o’clock came, and eleven -and a quarter past. At half past the drivers prepared the cars for -their silent night journey to the next sector. The tents were down, -all but the screen of blankets behind which, with a closely shaded -light, the General sat. - -Ten minutes and the boys looked once more at the illuminated dials, -and sighed. - -“I’d have bet on that duck, if I was a betting man,” said Porky -sadly. “I bet he _meant_ to come.” - -“Hark!” said Beany, listening. - -Porky listened too. He could always hear what Beany heard, if Beany -called his attention to it. A soft tramp of feet could be heard. The -boys leaped to their feet. Tramp, tramp, scuffle, scuffle, up the -hill in the darkness! - -“They are coming!” gasped Beany. - -They were. - -A flash of lightning preceding the storm that had hung off all day -split the sky, and in its momentary glare the boys saw a small squad -of American soldiers come out into the little clearing. The boys -stood aside as they passed. Another squad brought up the rear, and -between them--yes, between them marched, or rather staggered, a -dismal company of twenty haggard skeletons headed by Fritz! - -He had kept his word. The men were evidently frightened badly and -Fritz kept talking to them as they advanced. The General came out of -his shelter and surveyed them by the light of his flash. - -“Here they are, sir,” said Fritz. “Ask them what you like.” - -The General spoke to the weary men and they replied rapidly in -harsh, hoarse voices. Porky and Beany stood in an agony of -curiosity, wishing that they had studied German instead of Latin in -high school. - -Finally the General took time to explain to the officers who did not -understand. - -He gave orders to have the prisoners fed, and soon the strange -little company wound off down the hill again on its way to the -prison camp. Fritz, as a sort of trusty, was given special -privileges. - -“It is quite true, gentlemen,” said the General. “The conditions in -the enemy’s army are most serious. They are only half fed, poorly -clothed and letters occasionally smuggled from home report a -frightful state of affairs--famine, disease and intense suffering -among the families of the soldiers. This alone you know will break -the morale of their troops. - -“And Fritz said he could have brought five hundred men as well as -this twenty, but they are taught that we torture them and always -shoot our prisoners sooner or later. That is why they fight so -desperately. - -“They think death awaits them in any case, and that death on the -battlefield is far preferable to that which we will mete out to them -if taken prisoners. - -“Fritz assured me that he had set the ball rolling, however, the -news of our millions of men in the field. This has been a surprising -experience but we are already late. We must be off!” - -Rapidly the party took their seats in the automobiles. The first was -about to start when a motor was heard in the darkness. It was -approaching, apparently from headquarters. - -“Word for the General!” was the whispered word, and sure enough, the -driver of the swift, low car had a letter for the General. He read -it and called the boys. - -“News for you, young men,” he said regretfully. “General Bright has -been recalled to the States, and you are to return with him. This -cuts your stay several weeks and, I regret to say, makes it -impossible for you to continue with us. You are to return in this -car.” - -The boys, desperately disappointed, hopped out, found their field -kits, and advanced to say good-by to the General. - -He shook hands heartily and patted each on the shoulder. - -“I shall miss you, boys,” he said. “You have certainly done your -bit! Some day, when we are all back in America, I shall expect you -to come and see how _real_ apples grow on a ranch in Oregon.” - -The boys thanked him. They could not say much. It was a great -disappointment. - -They settled back in the car which was to take them back to General -Bright. They heard the other cars glide quietly and swiftly away in -the distance. They too shot out at high speed. - -Soberly they stared into the darkness. Their thoughts flew forward -to the tiresome trip to the port of embarkation, the long ocean -voyage with its deadly inaction. They had been living in confusion, -danger, and uncertainty. They commenced to see before them their -home, their father and mother, the familiar fellows. - -“We have to get Bill and Peggy,” said Beany. - -“Yep!” said Porky briefly. - -They could just _see_ their mother, with oceans of love for them and -plenty for the two orphans beside. - -For the first time a great wave of homesickness swept over the boys. -That they were to have a pleasant, safe trip would not have -interested them if they could have been told of it. They were -homesick. Silently they rolled on and on in the dark. Presently -Beany slipped an arm around the hunched up shoulders of his twin. - -“Wish we were home _now_!” he said huskily. - -“Gosh!” said Porky. - - FINIS - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Boy Scout pathfinders</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: George Durston</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: July 10, 2022 [eBook #68497]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Roger Frank, Al Haines and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS ***</div> -<div class='section'> -<div class='ce'> -<h1>THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS</h1> -</div> -</div> -<div class='section'> -<div class='ce'> -<div>TWELVE VOLUMES</div> -</div> -<div style='text-align:center; margin-top:0.5em; margin-bottom:0.5em; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto'> -<div style='display:inline-block; text-align:left;'> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUTS AFLOAT</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUTS IN CAMP</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUT FIREFIGHTERS</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUT AUTOMOBILISTS</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUT AVIATORS</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUTS’ CHAMPION RECRUIT</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUTS’ DEFIANCE</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUTS’ CHALLENGE</div> -<div class='cbline'>THE BOY SCOUTS’ VICTORY</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class='section'> -<div id='ifpc' class='mt01 mb01 wifpc'> - <img src='images/illus-fpc.jpg' alt='' style='width:100%' /> - <p class='caption'>They sent the message quickly, accurately.</p> -</div> -</div> -<div class='section'> -<div class='ce'> -<div style='font-size:1.4em;margin-bottom:1em;'>THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS </div> -<div>By</div> -<div style='font-size:1.1em;margin-bottom:2em;'>GEORGE DURSTON</div> -<div>THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY</div> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;'>Chicago      AKRON, OHIO      New York </div> -<div>Made in U. S. A.</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class='section'> -<div class='ce'> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;'>Copyright, 1921</div> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;'>By</div> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;'>The Saalfield Publishing Co.</div> -</div> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chI' title='The Iron Box'> - <span style='font-size:1.0em'>CHAPTER I</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.2em'>THE IRON BOX</span> -</h2> - -<p>Two members of any staff, even though they are only boys, cannot -disappear as though the earth had swallowed them without a suspicion -of foul play.</p> - -<p>In the office above the chamber which had witnessed the stirring -events narrated in “The Boy Scout Firefighters,” in which both Beany -and Porky Potter had been actors, there had been great anxiety. When -General Pershing received the report, he at once sent couriers and -scouts to every station where the boys might have gone. The sentries -one and all declared that the boys had not been seen outside of the -building. This resulted in a combing out of every cranny that could -possibly hold a boy alive or dead.</p> - -<p>The hours dragged on. There was a continual passing to and fro for -hours until at last there seemed to be absolutely nothing more to do -until morning. The tired staff threw themselves into the office -chairs, while the General, at the typewriter, commenced a letter. -Out of respect to him, there was a complete silence in the room.</p> - -<p>On and on clicked the typewriter while the waiting men dozed or -smoked or thought of home.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” said one of them suddenly, listening intently.</p> - -<p>The General stopped writing and looked at the speaker.</p> - -<p>“What’s what?” questioned a captain, frowning.</p> - -<p>“That tapping,” said the first speaker. “Sounds like <i>code</i>.”</p> - -<p>“You have been asleep,” said the captain, grinning.</p> - -<p>“I hear it,” said the General.</p> - -<p>There was a general gathering up of forces, as the whole room tried -to place the faint, monotonous tapping.</p> - -<p>“The call for help!” said the first speaker triumphantly. “I <i>knew</i> -I heard it. The code is my native language almost. It sounds as -though some one was calling from below the floor.”</p> - -<p>“Send an answer, Lieutenant Reed!” ordered the General.</p> - -<p>The young officer obeyed, while his hearers listened breathlessly. -Tap-tap went the spurred heel, dash and dot, dash and dot in many -combinations.</p> - -<p>The reply followed swiftly. The Lieutenant, rather pale, turned to -the General. “It’s the boys!” he reported. “They are together, in a -closed chamber,—a dungeon, I take it—right below us. They are in -danger. Don’t say what. Something about spies and dynamite. Want -help instantly.”</p> - -<p>“How?” asked the General.</p> - -<p>“There’s a secret door in the oak panel in the hall. They gave -directions for opening it.”</p> - -<p>“Go at once, six of you—you six nearest the door!” The officers -designated rose.</p> - -<p>“Rush!” said Lieutenant Reed crisply. For the moment he was in -command. He alone knew how to open the panel. They hurried outside, -where Reed felt swiftly but carefully in the place described by -Porky. Twice he went over the heavy carving, pushing here and there -unavailingly. Then without a sound the secret door opened and before -any one could enter the passage that yawned in inky blackness before -them, there was a rush of running feet and the two boys, carrying -Beany’s coat between them, bolted into the hall. Porky made a motion -for silence, and listened.</p> - -<p>There was no sound.</p> - -<p>“Somebody chased us!” he panted. “Somebody was close behind us in -the dark!”</p> - -<p>“Men?” asked an officer in an excited whisper.</p> - -<p>Porky wanted to say “No, sir, <i>rabbits</i>!” but he knew that every one -felt nervous and edgy and, besides, he did not want to be -disrespectful to the officer who had spoken.</p> - -<p>“They came in through the other door,” he said. “A door at the other -end of the passage that is on the other side of the two big rooms -down below there.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s go down,” said one of the men, loosening his revolver.</p> - -<p>“Please don’t try it!” begged Beany. “We could never get down -without light and then they would have the drop on us. It’s no use -now. Besides, they could go out of that outside door without the -least trouble after they had shot us all up.”</p> - -<p>“The kid is right,” said Lieutenant Reed. “He knows how the land -lies down there. Come up to the General, boys, and make a report. He -will tell us what he wants done.”</p> - -<p>Sliding the panel shut, the Lieutenant called a guard and, leaving -the hallway patrolled by a couple of stalwart Americans, the group -surrounding the two boys entered the office and saluted the General.</p> - -<p>General Pershing bent his serious, keen gaze on the boys, then a -bright, sudden smile lighted the strong, handsome face that had -grown sad and still in the troubled, anxious months at the front.</p> - -<p>“Always up to something, boys,” he said. “Well, your friend the -Colonel warned me how it would be. Now suppose you tell me all about -it.”</p> - -<p>Beany with a sigh of relief lifted his blouse and deposited it on -the table. It struck the surface with a clank and as he pulled the -cloth away a regular flood of gold pieces covered the papers where -the General had been writing.</p> - -<p>“Part of the story, sir,” said Beany. And then talking together, or -taking turns, as the spirit moved them, the boys pieced out the -account of their adventures. The part that Beany kept harking back -to was the presence of the prisoners in the big room. He described -carefully and accurately the appearance of the young soldier and -told as well as he could about the limp, unconscious girl who had -been carried out into the dark garden. Beany shuddered as he spoke.</p> - -<p>“I am sure the girl was dead, sir. She laid there for hours, I -guess, and she never moved at all, never batted an eyelash. And she -was white.... I never saw anybody so white. It was as though all her -blood had been drained out of her.”</p> - -<p>“Was she wounded?” asked the General.</p> - -<p>“She must have been, sir,” answered Beany. “I saw blood, just a -little of it running down her wrist under her sleeve. She had nice -clothes on, and I had a hunch all the time that I ought to know who -she was; but I couldn’t tell. Wish we knew what they did with them. -When it comes light, General, I can show you just where the door is. -I am sure I know where it opens.”</p> - -<p>“It is light now,” said the General, pointing to the window. Every -one looked. Sure enough, the whole sky was a mass of pale gold and -pink and greenish blue, as lovely and soft and joyous as though the -distant rumble of the big guns was not shaking the casement as they -spoke. It was light; morning had come.</p> - -<p>The General ordered coffee and rolls and insisted on both boys -eating something. They were tired and heavy eyed but excited at the -thought of unraveling perhaps a little more of the mystery of the -past night.</p> - -<p>When at last the General dismissed them with a few terse orders, -they sped ahead of their escort through the silent garden, fearless -and curious and unconscious of the careful marksmen who followed, -protecting each foot of their advance.</p> - -<p>Beany had spoken the truth. With the sureness of a young hound he -took his way through a wilderness of stones and bricks and beams and -plaster through the tangled, torn old garden, and round to a spot -marked by what seemed to be a clump of dense bushes like low growing -lilacs. Approaching this, Beany parted the branches and peered in. -Then he drew back with a cry of horror.</p> - -<p>“Look!” he whispered.</p> - -<p>It was indeed the ambush set over the outside entrance to the -dungeons. Down in the depths of the hole that yawned under the -encircling bushes something was tumbled in a pitiful, distorted -heap. Eagerly a half dozen men leaped down and with careful hands -straightened out the two forms lying in the bloody ooze. One after -the other they were lifted to the surface.</p> - -<p>The man was quite dead but the girl still lived, though breathing -feebly.</p> - -<p>Placing her on an improvised stretcher, a couple of the men hurried -away with her to the hospital while a couple more knelt beside the -dead boy and searched carefully through his torn and blood-stained -clothing for papers, letters—anything that could be used as clues to -his identity. There was not a scrap left to guide them. The young -officer’s pockets had been turned inside out. Even the hems in his -tunic and breeches had been slit and the soles had been torn from -his shoes. If there had been papers of any sort secreted about him, -they were gone—carried away by the ruthless hands that had slain -him.</p> - -<p>Leaving a guard beside the body, the others leaped boldly into the -shallow pit and lifted the heavy bar which held the massive -nail-studded oaken door. It opened inward, and Beany led the way -through the passage into the chamber where he had sat bound, gagged -and waiting for the relentless hands of the clock to reach the -moment of his doom. He showed the device, and then, lighting the -stubs of candles, they went into the inner room. The dungeons were -dark as midnight, even in the clear morning light.</p> - -<p>A careful search was made of the rooms. They stamped on the floors, -rapped on the walls with pistol butts, ripped up the silken covers -and the thick mattresses, but found nothing. The men finally stopped -their search, and gathered in a group around the massive table. -Beany, sitting on the edge of the table, jounced up and down and -thought that he had never seen a piece of furniture quite so solid. -He took out a penknife and tried to whittle the edge but the keen -blade scarcely made an impression on the ironwood seasoned for ages. -Porky, watching his brother, listened to the conversation.</p> - -<p>“Somewhere down here there is a hiding place for papers or money, or -perhaps both,” said one of the officers, a keen-faced, thoughtful -man, studying the room as he could see it in the flickering light of -the two candles which, now burned down to the merest stubs, afforded -a dim, uncertain light.</p> - -<p>“We have given it a pretty thorough combing over,” said another -officer, frowning.</p> - -<p>“I can’t help it,” stubbornly answered the other. “It is in just -such places as this where valuable secrets are often hidden.”</p> - -<p>“What about the dynamite?” demanded some one else. “It does not seem -as though they would hide anything of any value to themselves in a -spot that they were willing to blow up.”</p> - -<p>“A bomb that size would not have wrecked this room. Did you notice -the thickness of the walls?”</p> - -<p>The talk went on while Beany whittled and pried away industriously -at the table edge. He found a crack in the wood and pried his knife -blade into that. The blade entered in a tantalizing manner, slipped -smoothly along, then struck metal. Beany pushed. Porky, who was -watching, came closer and peered down the crack. Beany pushed -harder, pushed as hard as he could, and suddenly felt himself flung -off the table as the big top flew up and hurled him aside.</p> - -<p>Powerful springs had opened the two heavy slabs of oak that formed -the table. Two pieces now stood open like a pair of doors and within -lay a long, flat box which completely filled the space. The box was -of iron, heavily barred and padlocked. Four soldiers pried it from -its place and, escorted by the whole party, it was carried to -General Pershing, still working at his desk.</p> - -<p>Once more the boys had unearthed a mystery.</p> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chII' title='The Cellar’s Secret'> - <span style='font-size:1.0em'>CHAPTER II</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.2em'>THE CELLAR’S SECRET</span> -</h2> - -<p>Porky and Beany were too tired to care what happened next and, -taking quick advantage of a brief smile and nod of dismissal from -the General, they made their way to their quarters and soon were as -sound asleep as though they were lying on the softest down. They -slept and slept, losing all track of time, and by the General’s -orders were undisturbed. When they finally woke, really wide awake, -they found that a whole day and a night had passed since the early -dawn when they had staggered off to bed.</p> - -<p>They woke at the same instant, as was their habit, and sitting bolt -upright, stared unblinkingly at the young officer sitting at the -window writing.</p> - -<p>“Morning, Lieutenant,” said Porky, rubbing his eyes.</p> - -<p>“What’s the time, sir?” said Beany, looking curiously at his wrist -watch.</p> - -<p>“Yours stopped too?” asked Porky. “Mine has. Funny!”</p> - -<p>“Not so very funny,” said Lieutenant Parker, closing his writing -tablet. “You have been asleep since yesterday morning, and I imagine -the watches ran down.”</p> - -<p>“Yesterday morning!” gasped Porky. “Why didn’t some one call us?”</p> - -<p>“General’s orders,” said the Lieutenant. He laughed, “Gee, I wish he -would order <i>me</i> to bed for a week. You can bet I would go!”</p> - -<p>“Well, it makes me mad to sleep like this,” said Porky in -irritation. “What all have we missed, anyhow?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing much,” said the Lieutenant. “The biggest drive of the war -is on and to-morrow General Pershing with his staff will make the -trip along the front line trenches. I hope he counts me in on that.”</p> - -<p>“You liked to be in the trenches, didn’t you?” asked Porky, stooping -to lace his puttees.</p> - -<p>“You are right I did,” said Lieutenant Parker, wrinkling his smooth -young forehead. “I came over to fight, and it was just my luck to -get this measly scratch on my head, and blamed if they didn’t put me -here in this office doing paper work!”</p> - -<p>“Well, you got to give your skull time to get well, haven’t you?” -asked Beany. “It was cracked, wasn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“No, just a piece scooped out of it,” said the Lieutenant in a bored -tone.</p> - -<p>The boys grinned. Lieutenant Parker was one of the best friends they -had, and they had learned that nothing teased him like being quizzed -about the deep, palpitating scar that creased his dark head, the -truth being that he had received the wound in an encounter that had -won him the coveted French war cross with the palms. Porky and Beany -considered modesty in others little less than a sin. They were -always so thirsty for tales of blood and glory that they could not -see why <i>any one</i> should hesitate to tell every possible detail of -any adventure. It happened, strangely enough, that they did not -apply the same rule to their own conduct. To get details out of the -Potter twins was, as their own father said, like drawing nails out -of a green oak board, accompanied by screeches of protest. The boys -had had the Lieutenant’s story, however, and they harked back to the -news of the day.</p> - -<p>“I am going on that hike,” said Porky, standing up and stamping -himself comfortably into his clothes.</p> - -<p>“So’m I,” said his brother, likewise stamping.</p> - -<p>“Try for something else, kid,” said the Lieutenant. “You can’t get -in on this. It is strictly staff.”</p> - -<p>“Watch me!” said young Porky, the cocksure. He hurried to the door -and disappeared, while Beany, a trifle slower in his dressing, -roared, “Wait for me!”</p> - -<p>A muttered response of some sort was the only satisfaction given.</p> - -<p>Beany grinned. “He is always so sudden!” he complained, addressing -the Lieutenant.</p> - -<p>“Might as well stay here until he comes back. I never like to butt -in on Porky’s talky-talks. He most generally knows what he wants to -say, and he don’t need any help in getting it out of his system. I -certainly hope we can go with the General. You are always yelling -about that old silver plate you have on your topknot. Look at us: -seems like we just can’t get into a trench. Honest Injun, I’m so -sick of this old chateau—”</p> - -<p>“I never did see such a pair!” said Lieutenant Parker. “Didn’t you -have enough of an adventure the other night to last you two or three -days?”</p> - -<p>He was going on, when Porky burst into the room. He threw up his -hat.</p> - -<p>“Better, much better than I ever hoped,” he crowed.</p> - -<p>“Hand it out!” demanded Beany anxiously.</p> - -<p>“Why, I was going to give the General a great line of talk, and I -didn’t have a chance to do a thing but salute. He was talking to a -French officer and the minute he went out, the General just said, -‘All right to-day, young man?’ I said, ‘Yes, sir,’ and he said, ‘No -time to talk! Report in the courtyard to-morrow morning five-thirty, -field equipment, for special duty with my staff.’</p> - -<p>“I saluted again and turned to come out, and the General said, -‘Potter, this is in the way of a reward for that little affair in -the dungeons,’ and I said, ‘Thank you, sir, but the pleasure was all -ours, sir,’ and he said, ‘No, not quite all; because some of the -papers you unearthed <i>WILL HELP TO TURN THE TIDE</i>.’ How’s that, old -Beans, <i>will help to turn the tide</i>. Gosh! you did it with your -little penknife, didn’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Well, never mind that,” said Beany, wriggling. “Don’t you know -anything about this trip to-morrow?”</p> - -<p>“Nary word,” said Porky, “but why should <i>we</i> worry? Main fact is -clear, we are going to be among those present.”</p> - -<p>The boys spent a restless day getting their traveling equipment in -order and taking it apart again to put it together in some way they -fancied would make an eighth of an inch difference in some of its -dimensions. They strutted a little perhaps. It was truly a wonderful -thing to go with General Pershing on a trip of that sort. They -marveled at their good luck.</p> - -<p>That good luck had hinged entirely on their ability to keep their -own counsel. That desire some have to tell all they know, a lot that -they guess, and a few things that they fear, did not exist in the -Potter twins. They could keep a secret without being told to, and -that’s some test. Whatever they overheard was safe. When they saw -things that were not intended for their eyes, they ignored them, or -made an effort to forget all about them. This high sense of what was -honorable and right was noticed immediately by the General as well -as by others whom they met daily.</p> - -<p>So they spent the long day patting each other on the back, and -wondering at their great good fortune.</p> - -<p>They kept closely to the rooms frequented by the officers. As Porky -pointed out to his brother, there was one old lady at least who was -not wasting any love on them, and they didn’t want to give her a -chance to turn a key on them and spoil all their fun. They had at -least gained a little caution, but how very little the trip was -going to show.</p> - -<p>It was barely five next morning when Porky and Beany, like two -shadows, slipped from their quarters and went silently down to the -courtyard. Several automobiles stood ready, heavily guarded, and a -couple of mechanics were busily tightening nuts and testing various -parts of the machinery. No one spoke. The boys crossed the open -space, and in accordance with an agreement made previously, sat down -back to back on a ledge of the broken fountain. They were taking no -risks of surprise or attack from the rear. Silently the minutes -passed. The steady tramp of the sentries and the grating of metal on -metal as the mechanics worked quietly on the cars made so little -sound that distant noises were loud and acute.</p> - -<p>The guns of the enemy had been silent for twelve hours. Even Porky -and Beany sensed something big and terrible in the air.</p> - -<p>“Want to bet something?” asked Porky, poking his brother with a -backhand jab in the ribs.</p> - -<p>He never found out whether Beany was game to bet or not for the door -of the chateau opened and a group of officers came out. General -Pershing led the group. The boys leaped to salute, the sentries -stopped and presented arms. Even the mechanics straightened to their -feet. There was perfect quiet, however, and five minutes later they -started away full speed in the darkness. On and on they went, -passing first through a country which showed very little of the -effects of war. It was a sort of spur that had escaped the enemy’s -assaults in the beginning of the struggle, and which, since the -arrival of millions of Americans, had been lying too far behind the -lines to suffer.</p> - -<p>The sun rose: it was day. They stopped in the shelter of a dense -grove and breakfasted on the provisions put up for them by the cooks -back at headquarters. While they ate the drivers of the cars watched -the clear morning skies for airplanes. The sandwiches and coffee, -boiling hot in big thermos bottles, tasted good to the hungry boys, -although they were eaten in silence, and in silence the journey was -continued. Now they commenced to see signs of the frightful -struggle. First great shell craters, then trees uprooted or hacked -down, and village after village lying a mere mass of wreckage. There -were worse things too; sad reminders that made the boys turn pale -with horror.</p> - -<p>The stop for dinner was made the occasion of a careful examination -of all the parts of the cars, as any accident in the next few miles -might be most dangerous and disastrous. One of the aides announced -to the several groups of officers that a start would not be made -under two hours so the boys wandered about, looking at the ruined -landscape and picking up here and there sad little mementoes of -friend and foe. Buttons, scraps of jewelry, mostly cheap rings that -girls might have worn and given to their departing sweethearts. -There were dozens of crushed and stained pictures too, so many that -the boys did not bother to pick them up after the first dozen or so. -Pinned to one picture of a chubby child was a little sock. Across -the back of the picture was written, “A year old to-day. My son. -Wish I could see him.”</p> - -<p>“Gosh,” said Beany, “I sure do hope he didn’t get his! Perhaps this -just fell out of his pocket.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t he sign it?” demanded the practical Porky.</p> - -<p>“Well, I suppose he didn’t have a hunch we would want his address,” -said Beany. “I’m going to keep this and send it back home to one of -the papers. They will be glad to copy the picture of the fat little -geezer, and p’raps it will get back to his folks.”</p> - -<p>The boys wandered on. Coming from a country rich in magnificent old -maples and elms, the ruin, so cowardly and so ruthless, of the great -trees seemed one of the most terrible aspects of the war. Not only -were they torn by shells, but mile after mile stood dead and dying -from the effects of the gas attacks of the enemy. The gas seemed to -be as fatal to the trees as it was to human beings. Not only had the -leaves curled up and fallen, but the trunks themselves were -blackened and dead looking. It was like a country in a nightmare, -everything in the way of buildings flat on the ground, literally not -one stone left on another. The dead and dying trees, leafless and -twisted, let the sunshine down upon it all with scarce a shadow.</p> - -<p>The boys reached the site of what had evidently once been a fine -farm. It was a total ruin. They went clambering over the loose -heaped-up stones of what had once been a fine old dwelling, and sat -down for a moment on a flat block that had made the broad and -generous doorstep.</p> - -<p>“Gee, this must have been an old place,” said Porky. “See the way -the edge of this stone is worn—and it is granite at that.”</p> - -<p>“Look at the size of it, too,” said Beany.</p> - -<p>They sat studying the stone when a faint feeble wail was heard. They -looked at each other, startled.</p> - -<p>“Aw, gee, there’s a kitten shut up some place,” said Beany, jumping -up. “Let’s find it.”</p> - -<p>“Sure we will,” said Porky, “but we can’t take it along. I don’t -suppose General Pershing would want to add a cat to his traveling -party.”</p> - -<p>“It sounded most dead,” said Porky. “Kitty, kitty! Here, kitty,” he -called in his most persuasive voice.</p> - -<p>Another little cry answered him and gave them the direction. “It’s -the cellar,” said both boys together, and with one accord they -seized a couple of stout timbers and commenced to pry away part of -the wreckage in what seemed the likeliest entrance to the pitch -black hollow under the bent and broken floor timbers, on which still -rested masses of stone.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, in response to their efforts, a huge stone, mate to the -one they had been sitting on, tipped sidewise and slowly slid down -into the darkness, followed by a shaft of light.</p> - -<p>There was a sharp cry from below, and the boys looked at each other, -a sort of horror on each face.</p> - -<p>“That’s no kitten!” gasped Beany.</p> - -<p>For answer Porky slid feet first in the wake of the big stone, -landed on it, and stepped off into a gloomy chamber now feebly -lighted from above. In a moment his eyes were accustomed to the dim -light, and he stepped aside, making way for Beany, who came -helter-skeltering down behind him.</p> - -<p>What they saw was a room that had been used as a store-room for the -farmhouse. By some trick of fate the falling walls, while they had -made a tight prison of it, had spared the most of the shelves of -provisions, and rows of preserves and tins of fruit still stood -safely in their places.</p> - -<p>A thin, emaciated figure lay in the corner on a pile of dirt over -which a cloak had been spread. The sunken eyes fixed themselves on -the two boys, but there was no recognition in their glassy depths. -What looked like two little piles of rags were huddled close, and as -the boys came nearer, the dying woman, for it was a woman and she -was close to death, clutched them convulsively. The bundles stirred, -and a couple of small heads were raised. Two children, tousled and -covered with dirt, lifted frightened eyes and clung frantically to -the prostrate figure.</p> - -<p>Porky crossed swiftly and dropped on his knees by the dying woman. -Very gently he slipped an arm under her heavy head and lifted her a -little on his strong young arm.</p> - -<p>“Get a move on!” he flung at Beany, and that young man scrambled up -the pile of debris where the big stone had fallen and instantly -disappeared. Porky, left alone with the woman and the two terrified -children, who tried frantically to burrow out of sight under the -mother’s nerveless arm, could think of nothing better to do than -clasp the woman closely to him in an effort to give her some of his -own heat and vitality. She seemed already stone cold.</p> - -<p>Almost at once Beany returned with some of the officers. They came -down and with tender hands lifted the sufferer out of the chilly -dampness of the cellar, and laid her on a pile of coats and -cushions. Some one carefully fed her a few drops of the hot coffee -still left in the thermos bottles. It was very evident, however, -that her moments were numbered.</p> - -<p>One of the French officers in the party knelt beside her. Softly, -tenderly, pityingly, he spoke to her in her native tongue.</p> - -<p>The weary eyes opened, and rested on his face.</p> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chIII' title='A Vexing Problem'> - <span style='font-size:1.0em'>CHAPTER III</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.2em'>A VEXING PROBLEM</span> -</h2> - -<p>The boys, who had attained a good working knowledge of the French -language, listened breathlessly. The gentle questions of the officer -were easy to follow, but without pressing too close to the sad group -they were unable to hear the whispered, broken replies of the woman. -That the story was a sad one, one of the uncounted tragedies of the -invasion of a cruel and heartless enemy, they could easily guess by -the break in the French officer’s voice and the unashamed and manly -tears that filled his eyes. Slowly, painfully she told her story, -the two tiny children clutching her closely the while. Fainter and -fainter grew the feeble voice. Porky and Beany knew instinctively -that they were standing in the presence of death; not the glorious -and gallant passing that the soldier finds on the battlefield, but -the coming of release from a long and undeserved agony. As the -little group watched, one bloodless hand reached up and drew the -thin shawl away from her breast. There was a wound there; a cruel -death wound that she had stanched as best she could and had covered -from the eyes of the two babies. As though her story was all ended, -the pitiful eyes fixed themselves on the face of the officer who -held her. Rapidly he made the sign of the cross, then with his hand -held high, he spoke to the dying woman. It was enough. A smile of -peace lighted the worn face, one long look she bent on the two -children, and turning her head as if for protection toward the blue -tunic against which she rested, she closed her eyes, sighed, and was -still.</p> - -<p>Reverently laying down his burden, the officer rose to his feet. And -while the group stood with bared heads, he told the story as he had -just heard it.</p> - -<p>The dead woman’s name was Marie Duval. For two hundred years her -people had lived in simple ease and comfort on the well-tilled farm.</p> - -<p>In rapid, thrilling sentences, he sketched the story of their happy, -blameless lives, through Marie’s innocent childhood, her girlhood, -and up to the time of her meeting with young Pierre Duval. Pierre -had a good farm of his own down the valley, and there they lived in -simple happiness and prosperity. Three children were born, the two -little creatures crouching before them and one a little older, now -dead.</p> - -<p>When the war broke out, Pierre put on his uniform and went away. For -a while, like other heroic women, she tilled the little farm until -one night when a small scouting party of Huns swept down, burning -and destroying all that lay in their path. She escaped with her -children under cover of the darkness and made her way back to her -father’s house. For a long time they escaped the tide of war, and -lived on and on from day to day, the old, old father and mother and -the young mother waiting for news from Pierre. It came at last.... -He was dead.</p> - -<p>“Then,” said the French officer, “then her heart seemed to die too, -but she knew that she must live for the sake of the little ones. -Already she could see that the agony and terror of it all was -killing the aged parents. Four sons were fighting, and one by one -they followed Pierre to death.</p> - -<p>“Nearer and nearer came the German lines until one awful day a horde -of heartless warriors swept over them.</p> - -<p>“Sirs, you know the rest,” said the French officer, his fine face -twitching with emotion. “It is the same old story, the old man -ruthlessly tortured and killed, his old wife kept alive just long -enough to see him die. The oldest grandchild was with her. He too -was tortured while his mother, hidden and imprisoned in a portion of -the cellar under the smoking ruins of the farmhouse, heard his -childish screams of agony.</p> - -<p>“She tried frantically to free herself from the ruins. A soldier saw -her, brought the fainting child almost within reach of her hand and -killed him. Then with the same weapon he made a savage thrust for -her heart, but could only reach close enough to inflict a deep -wound. Then making sure that she could not escape from the cellar, -he rode away after his troop. She became unconscious, and for days -the two little children must have lived on the vegetables stored -about them. When she regained consciousness she found strength to -drag herself to the shelves where the family provisions were stored. -All that was not spoiled she fed to the children, but they were -without water save for the rainwater that dripped down upon them. -She felt herself growing steadily weaker as the untended wound grew -worse. The whole neighborhood seemed abandoned, and their feeble -cries brought no help. The children pined, and suffering as they -were from shock, soon gave way to the cold dampness and insufficient -food.</p> - -<p>“Marie herself lived solely through her determination not to leave -the two helpless babies to their fate. She prayed that they might -die first, and she was glad to note their failing strength, so -fearful was she of leaving them alone to a horrible, lingering -death.</p> - -<p>“She herself grew so weak that much of the time she lay almost -unconscious with the little ones huddled against her. She commenced -to see visions. Pierre came and comforted her and promised that she -should soon be free to be with him. The little martyred son clasped -her in his loving little arms, assuring her that he no longer -suffered. The old mother and father sat beside her and told her to -be brave and patient. But with all her courage she felt that her end -was near. She could not endure much longer.”</p> - -<p>The French officer bowed his head.</p> - -<p>“Then came deliverance,” he said softly, “deliverance from all her -pain and anguish. She has been released. She is with Pierre!”</p> - -<p>One of the officers stepped forward and tenderly covered the still -figure with his cloak. He took the younger child in his arms, but it -screamed and struggled while the other one fought off the friendly -hands stretched down to it. The French officer spoke to them -pleadingly, but they only stared stupidly at him.</p> - -<p>“They are almost done for,” said one of the officers. “We have got -to get them away from here and right away.” He made another effort -to take the older child but the little fellow fought with the fury -of a little wildcat. One after another tried in vain to get hold of -the terrified little fellow, who grew more and more frightened.</p> - -<p>Porky and Beany, standing modestly in the rear of the group, watched -the proceedings with growing uneasiness. Finally Porky stepped -forwards, saluting as he did so.</p> - -<p>“Will you please let us try?” he asked, and taking a worried nod -from the Captain for answer, he sat down beside the dead mother, and -for a long time, as it seemed to the watching group, stared idly -ahead, without so much as a glance at the trembling children.</p> - -<p>Then he turned, nodded as though he had just noticed them, and -taking a cake of chocolate from his pocket, bit off a piece and then -broke off a small corner for each child. It was only a taste, but as -the delicious morsel melted on their tongues, they crept to Porky -like a couple of starved kittens. He showed them the rest of the -chocolate and hitched off a few feet. Beany came after. The children -followed, and Porky broke off another small bit for each. Some one -brought water from the cars for them to drink and in fifteen minutes -the thing was done. Porky and Beany, each with a little skeleton in -their arms, wandered well away from the spot where unaccustomed -hands were awkwardly digging a grave for the dead young mother.</p> - -<p>“This,” said Porky, as the child in his arms sagged on his shoulder -and seemed to sleep, “this is the worst thing yet!”</p> - -<p>“You bet!” said Beany dismally. “Say, did you see me cry back there? -I did!”</p> - -<p>“Well, what of it?” demanded Porky. “Didn’t everybody? I’d like to -know how they could help it!”</p> - -<p>“I wasn’t looking,” said Beany. “Oh, gosh, they didn’t have to do -things like this.”</p> - -<p>“Who, the Huns?” asked his brother. “Why, it’s <i>all</i> like this and a -million times worse!”</p> - -<p>“Well, I wish I was grown up,” mourned Beany. “To think we can’t do -much of anything! I want to get even! I want to look some of those -fellows in the face!”</p> - -<p>“What’s your idea? Want to tell him what you think?” Porky laughed -unpleasantly, as he shifted the weight of the child. “What’s -worrying me now is what is going to be done with these poor little -kids. Isn’t the one you have a pretty little thing? Even all the -dirt and hunger can’t hide her looks. I suppose they will have to go -into some asylum!”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why,” said Beany suddenly. “Do you remember Mom and Pop -said they wished if we brought them anything from across, it would -be something good and worth while? They didn’t want German helmets -and junk like that. What do you suppose they would say to a couple -of dandy little kids like these?”</p> - -<p>“For the love of the board of health!” said his brother solemnly. -“It’s a great thought, sonny, but do you suppose Mom <i>wants</i> to -start in bringing up another lot of children? You know if she ever -started, she would make a good job of it; you know how thorough she -always is.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, she is thorough, all right!” grinned Mom’s son. “Look at us!”</p> - -<p>“She did the best she could with us, anyhow,” retorted Mom’s other -son solemnly, “and I think, no, I <i>know</i> she would be tickled to -death to do something as real and important as taking these two -little chaps to bring up. And we could help support them if we had -to, later.”</p> - -<p>“That’s silly,” said Porky. “You know Dad has made a lot of money. -And he could afford to bring up six of them if he wanted to.”</p> - -<p>“Well, all <i>he</i> ever wants is what Mom wants,” said Beany.</p> - -<p>“I guess that’s so too,” said Porky, “but perhaps some of those -officers will have some other plans for them.”</p> - -<p>He looked down at the child on his arm. Already he felt a tenderness -for the starved, sickly little creature who had trusted him.</p> - -<p>“One apiece,” he said, looking at Beany.</p> - -<p>“One’s a girl, though,” said Beany.</p> - -<p>Porky wanted to be fair.</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” he said. “Well, we can draw straws to see which has to -take her.”</p> - -<p>“Straws nothing!” said Beany. “She came to me, so she is mine. -Darned if I know what to do with a girl, though! Can’t teach her to -play ball or marbles, and besides that she can’t be a Boy Scout.”</p> - -<p>“Well, she can be a girl one. You know they have ’em, and if she -can’t play ball she can learn to swim and dive and ride and shoot, -and it will be pretty handy to have her round the house when it -comes to buttons and things. Mother must get tired sewing for three -of us.”</p> - -<p>“Wonder how long it takes ’em to grow up to button size,” said -Beany, studying the tiny bundle in his arms.</p> - -<p>“Don’t know,” said Porky. He looked anxiously at his brother. His -generosity in accepting the care of the little girl worried him. He -had to watch Beany, who was always more than generous and -self-sacrificing.</p> - -<p>“Why can’t we both have both kids?” he asked. “I don’t want you to -be stung with a girl all the time. It isn’t fair.”</p> - -<p>“Stuck with a girl!” said Beany. “Why, Porky, I <i>like</i> it! I never -could see why when any one has a baby, everybody says, ‘Gee, it’s a -boy! Isn’t that bully?’ or else ‘Huh, it’s a girl, too bad!’ I never -could see it. Course when they get <i>our</i> size they mostly are silly -pills, but if <i>I</i> have a hand in bringing up <i>this</i> girl, why, you -just watch her, that’s all! I bet when she’s fifteen she won’t look -cross-eyed at a boy. I bet she knocks their blocks off! She is going -to have some sense!”</p> - -<p>“Looks as though you mean to make a scrapper of her,” laughed Porky.</p> - -<p>“No, she has got to grow up just as much like Mom as she can.”</p> - -<p>“Well, Mom likes boys all right,” was Porky’s reminder.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but I bet when she was young she never googled at ’em or -passed notes or accidentally sat down in the same seat with them or -any of that. She isn’t that kind. You can <i>see</i> she isn’t.” And -Beany, whose wavy hair and clear blue eyes had already caused him to -suffer, nodded his head vigorously.</p> - -<p>“Go ahead!” said Porky, “I think it’s great having an assortment, -only I didn’t want you to feel as though you had the worst end of -the bargain.”</p> - -<p>“Not a bit of it!” said Beany. “Not a bit, and I’ll lend you my girl -to look at or play with whenever you want.”</p> - -<p>“Much obliged,” said Porky, “but I can’t help thinking it might be a -good plan to break the news to somebody.”</p> - -<p>“Your kidlet is asleep, so he won’t notice. Suppose you go back -there and see what they are doing.”</p> - -<p>“I can see from here,” said Porky with a slight shudder. “They are -sort of boarding up a place to put the youngster’s mother. They have -no way of getting a casket or even a box for her.”</p> - -<p>“It will be fixed all right,” said Beany. “The Captain does -everything all right. He will fix it just as well as ever he can. -I’d like to go over and see just what they are doing.”</p> - -<p>“Better not; you might wake the baby, and we don’t want her to see -her mother again.”</p> - -<p>“Well, anyhow, one thing is settled. The pair is ours,” said Porky -with a sigh.</p> - -<p>“They are ours if we can have them,” said his brother.</p> - -<p>“You watch me!” said Porky grimly.</p> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chIV' title='Deciding Destinies'> - <span style='font-size:1.0em'>CHAPTER IV</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.2em'>DECIDING DESTINIES</span> -</h2> - -<p>Tired of carrying the children about, the two boys sat down on a -bench beside what had once been a large barn. The destructive fire -started by the invaders had apparently been checked by a heavy -rainfall as the half burned structures and charred timbers -testified. There was still a chance to rebuild and save enough from -the wreckage to enable the owners to start their lives afresh. But -alas, of those owners but two were left—the two tiny, terrified, -war-racked creatures in the arms of the two Boy Scouts. While their -little charges slept, the boys continued their talk in a low tone. -Their arms, unaccustomed to such burdens, were tired and stiff by -the time one of the officers left the distant group and approached -them.</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you lay the poor little cubs down somewhere?” he asked, -looking round vainly for a fit place.</p> - -<p>“No place to put ’em, sir,” said Porky, “and every time we start to -move them, they clutch us and start to scream. As long as we sort of -keep ’em hugged up tight, they sleep.”</p> - -<p>“It’s awful—awful!” said the officer. “I wish I knew what to do with -them now. There’s not an asylum of any sort, not a place fit to -leave them within miles and miles, and what’s to become of them <i>I</i> -don’t know. Every orphan asylum in France is crowded.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s all right,” said Porky. “We don’t intend they shall go -to any asylum. Our mother has adopted them.”</p> - -<p>“Your what?” asked the captain after a prolonged stare.</p> - -<p>“Our mother,” repeated Porky.</p> - -<p>“Your mother has <i>WHAT</i>?” said the captain. “Just repeat it all.”</p> - -<p>“Our mother has adopted them,” said Porky patiently and distinctly. -The captain pushed back his cap and stared.</p> - -<p>“Where is your mother?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Home,” said Porky.</p> - -<p>“New York state,” added Beany. “She wanted something to remember the -war by, so we are going to take her these. She didn’t want any -German helmets or anything of that sort. She said she didn’t want -ever to be reminded of helmets, so we will take her these instead.”</p> - -<p>“But, good heavens!” said the officer. “You ought not do anything -like that! She would have to bring them up.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, too,” said Porky. “Mom has had experience. She -has had us, and one of these is a girl. Girls ought to be easier -than boys.”</p> - -<p>“No, she won’t mind and, anyhow, we are going to do all the hard -work ourselves. Teaching them swimming and baseball and all that.”</p> - -<p>“The girl will like that,” said the officer dryly.</p> - -<p>“Course she will!” said Beany, looking proudly down at the future -baseballess.</p> - -<p>“It’s like this,” said Porky. “Our people always trust us, and we -know it will be all right. I do hope you can fix it for us, -Captain.”</p> - -<p>“It would be a wonderful thing for those poor little orphans,” mused -the Captain. “But how would you get them home?”</p> - -<p>“That’s easy,” said Porky. “Our time is up pretty soon. You see we -were only allowed a limited stay. That was the agreement when we -came, and we can take the kids over with us. Won’t you <i>please</i> get -General Pershing to fix it up for us? There will be some woman on -board to tell us what they ought to eat, and when to put ’em to bed -and all that.”</p> - -<p>“It would be a wonderful thing,” said the Captain again. “If you are -sure about your mother. It’s a good deal to wish off on her.”</p> - -<p>“Feel in my left pocket,” said Porky. “Feel that letter? Now take it -out and read it. It’s all right. She wouldn’t mind, and I’m proud of -mother’s letters.”</p> - -<p>The Captain drew out the letter which was much thumbed and soiled, -and read:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p style='text-indent:0'>“<i>My own dear boys</i>:</p> - -<p>“It was good to hear from you both again after the long time between -letters. A whole month, in which we received not so much as a post -card. But something told me that you were safe and well, so I did -not worry. You know, dears, I am not the worrying kind when it comes -to that. Your dad, who boasts continually that he never worries over -<i>any</i>thing, does all the fussing for the whole family, but as long -as he doesn’t know it, and we never tell him, why, I suppose it is -all right.</p> - -<p>“I wrote you a long letter yesterday, telling you all the news of -the neighborhood, and this is only a note to acknowledge your letter -at once because in my letter I said that we had not heard in a long -time.</p> - -<p>“Well, dears, it will not be very many weeks now before we will hope -to see our boys again. I am counting the very days. I wonder what -souvenir of the war you will bring me. It will be something I will -love to have, I know, and not a horrid helmet or anything of that -sort. Of course the thing I would like best you can’t possibly bring -me, and that is a house full of those poor pitiful little Belgian -refugees. When I think of our big house, this splendid home we have -built since you went away, when I think that soon it will be -finished, and we will be in it, just we four, I can scarcely bear -it. So <i>many</i> little children homeless!</p> - -<p>“Well, some day, boys, we must manage to do something for some of -those suffering little ones. I know of no other way in which to -thank God for our two boys and our many, many blessings. Your father -is prospering more and more in his business, and we both feel that -we must all four unite in doing for those less fortunate than we.</p> - -<p>“However, I know I can’t hope for a couple of Belgians just at -present. After the war, we will go and collect a few!</p> - -<p>“Take care of yourselves always for the sake of the two who love you -so well.</p> - -<p>“Your always loving</p> -<p style='text-align:right; font-variant:small-caps'>“Mother.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>“Well, I declare!” said the Captain as he finished the clearly -written page.</p> - -<p>“Doesn’t that about fix it?” asked Porky triumphantly. “Of course -these are French, but I guess she won’t mind that. They couldn’t be -worse off in the way of parents or more destitute, no matter <i>what</i> -they were.”</p> - -<p>“Mother will be in her glory,” Beany cut in. “I hope they don’t get -fat before we get them home.”</p> - -<p>“I should say not! The thinner, the better as far as mother is -concerned. She snaked a private right out of the camp hospital last -summer and took him home. He had had pneumonia and looked like a -sick sparrow. Mother fed him and nursed him and he gained seventeen -pounds in three weeks.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it does beat all!” said the Captain. “Of course, you -understand there may be some reason that will make it impossible for -you to take these children out of the country.”</p> - -<p>“All I can say is, there hadn’t <i>better</i> be,” said Porky, thrusting -out his square jaw. “Think I want to give up my kid after it came to -me and I lugged it around for an hour?”</p> - -<p>“And do you suppose I want anybody but mother and me to bring up -this girl?” said Beany, awkwardly hugging the sleeping mite in his -arms closer.</p> - -<p>“Besides,” said Porky, “what about mother? It’s up to us to bring -her what she likes best, and you read that letter. What she wants is -<i>orphans</i>, and she’s <i>got</i> to <i>have</i> ’em if we <i>steal</i> ’em! So long -as we are around, mother has got to have what she wants.”</p> - -<p>“I should think that nearly settled it,” said the officer. He -laughed but there was a queer gleam in his eyes that looked -suspiciously like tears. “I am going to report this to the General -now,” he said. “Of course we cannot take the children with us, and -some way must be found of sending them back to headquarters. I don’t -see just how it is to be done, as it would be a pity to make you go -back with them when this trip is only beginning and will be a -wonderful thing for you.”</p> - -<p>“No, we hate to lose the trip,” said Porky wistfully. “I don’t -suppose two other Boy Scouts in the whole world ever had such a -chance and we sort of earned it.”</p> - -<p>“Stay here,” said the Captain, “and I will be back presently.”</p> - -<p>He walked away, and the two boys, holding the two children, sat -quietly on the old bench planning in low tones for the future.</p> - -<p>“This girl is going to be a peach,” said Beany proudly. “See the way -her hair crinkles up? She is rank dirty, but you wait till mother -gets her cleaned up.”</p> - -<p>“My word!” said Porky. “She’s got to be washed before <i>that</i>! Why, -they have to have a bath right off as soon as we get hold of a nurse -or some woman who understands enough about kids to do it.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it’s an awful job,” said Beany. “All the soap gets in their -eyes and nose, and there’s the mischief to pay. And I want an expert -to wash this kid. It makes their eyes red to get soap in ’em, and I -don’t want hers spoiled.”</p> - -<p>“Wonder what their names are,” said Porky.</p> - -<p>“Oh, they are named all right. I suppose we didn’t get ’em soon -enough to attend to that, but we can call ’em what we like. Don’t -you know how it is with a registered dog? Don’t you remember the two -collies Skippy Fields has, one named Knocklayde King Ben and the -other Nut Brown Maiden, and Skippy’s folks called ’em Benny and -Nutty. I bet they each have about thirteen names apiece, but while -I’m bringing her up, this girl’s going to be called Peggy.”</p> - -<p>“And this is Bill,” said Porky without the least hesitation. “Bill. -Just <i>Bill</i> so you can yell at him good and easy.”</p> - -<p>They went on planning while behind them, over the soft, uneven -ground the staff approached unheard and stood watching the little -group.</p> - -<p>Presently, still unheard and unnoticed by the boys, they turned -away.</p> - -<p>“And there are those,” said General Pershing solemnly, “who do not -believe that a special Providence watches over children! The boys -<i>shall</i> take those two orphans home to that good mother of theirs, -if it takes an Act of Congress. You say,” he continued, talking to -the French officer in his own musical tongue, “you say that poor -woman said that all her people were gone?”</p> - -<p>“All dead, all lost in this war,” answered the Frenchman.</p> - -<p>“Well, if this was only in a movie show,” said the great General, -“we would presently see a car headed for the rear, coming around -that bend ahead, and we would be able to—well, I declare,” he -exclaimed, as one of the officers laughed and pointed. “That’s -positively <i>too</i> much!” as the group laughed with him.</p> - -<p>A large car <i>was</i> coming along around the bend, it <i>was</i> headed for -the rear, and in the tonneau sat a couple of nurses in their snug -caps and dark capes!</p> - -<p>The General himself halted it, and in a few words explained the -situation. A couple of the officers, accompanied by the nurses, went -over to the boys and at once the children, still sleeping the heavy -sleep of exhaustion, were transferred to arms more accustomed to -holding them, and carried back to the car. Almost before they -realized it, the car was off and Porky turned to the General, -saluting.</p> - -<p>“Out with it, young man,” said the kindly General, smiling down into -the eager and troubled face.</p> - -<p>“We will get ’em back, won’t we, sir?” he asked. “They can’t work -some game on us, so we will lose ’em!”</p> - -<p>“We lost a pup that way once,” said Beany dolefully, also coming to -salute.</p> - -<p>“Well, you won’t lose your orphans,” the General promised. “I wish I -could see your mother’s face when your little party appears.”</p> - -<p>“Why, we will write you what she says if you will let us, sir,” -Porky volunteered.</p> - -<p>“She will be crazy over Bill and Peggy,” added Beany, looking fondly -after the car vanishing with their new possessions.</p> - -<p>“Beel ant Pekky!” groaned the Frenchman.</p> - -<p>“Wee, Mussoo, we have named them already,” said Porky proudly. “We -know they have some other names, kind of names, they were registered -under, but that kid has to have <i>something</i> easy to yell at him when -he makes a home run, and Beany picked on Peggy right off.”</p> - -<p>“That about settles it,” laughed the General. “We must be off if we -reach our first sector by nightfall.”</p> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chV' title='Whispers in the Night'> - <span style='font-size:1.0em'>CHAPTER V</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.2em'>WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT</span> -</h2> - -<p>It was nine o’clock when they reached the first post of observation -in their journey, an outpost on the top of a densely wooded hill -where they were to remain as long as the General wished to stay. It -was a splendid post of observation. A vast battle-torn valley -stretched below them for miles and miles. From their vantage point -they could see it brilliantly lighted at short intervals by the -flares of the enemy. The flares lit the trenches—black, ragged -gashes running along the earth—and beyond, where the awful -desolation of No-Man’s-Land stretched, peopled only with its dead. -Seen with field glasses, the plain drew near and they could see the -torn surface and the tumbled groups here and there. A great battle -had been fought and both sides were resting. Rest was absolutely -necessary. The Allies had advanced three miles, pushing back a foe -that stubbornly contested every step of the way. The Germans had -brought vast numbers of reserves into action but even then the -whirlwind tactics and savage rushes of their oversea foe had driven -them back rod by rod.</p> - -<p>Porky and Beany looked on and trembled with excitement. There ahead, -hidden in the darkness, were the Huns. There were the barbarians who -had shown a civilized world how men can slip back into worse than -savagery. Wasted lands, ruined homes, orphaned and mutilated little -children, butchered old people. All the unspeakable horrors of war -trooped through the boys’ minds, a hideous train of ghosts, as they -looked across the valley. Ahead lay the heartless and ruthless -killers, wolves that had come to worry and tear the sheep, but -behind in the darkness, the boys knew with a thrill, every possible -mode of transportation was swiftly bringing up the reserve American -troops, thousands and thousands of them; men in their prime and -beardless boys grim, determined, yet light-hearted, ready to fight -as only Americans can fight. Men from the farms, farms in the east -where fifty well-tilled acres was a fine homestead; farmers from -that great and spacious west where a man called miles of land his -own. Professional men, clerks, divinity students, adventurers, all -welded by this great need into a common likeness. Eager for life, -yet fearlessly ready to die if need be, a mighty army was on its -way, was drawing nearer and nearer to the tired troops below. -Overhead an adventurous plane or two hummed in the darkness.</p> - -<p>“And we can’t help!” said Porky mournfully. “Not a thing we can do, -not a thing!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, we are doing all we can,” said Beany. “I don’t just see -what <i>more</i> we can do. We can’t help our age.”</p> - -<p>“No, but if we are not told just <i>where</i> to stay, and <i>where</i> to go, -I mean to take a little stroll around to-night,” said Porky.</p> - -<p>The boys went over to the General, who stood looking across the -valley and saluted. He looked, and gravely returned the salute.</p> - -<p>“Good-night, boys,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Good-night, sir,” said the boys, and then as an afterthought, “May -we walk around a bit, sir?”</p> - -<p>The General was busy studying the vast field below him as the -flashes of light revealed it.</p> - -<p>“Yes, if you don’t get lost,” he said absently, “and be on hand at -eight to-morrow morning. I may be ready to go on then.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” said both boys cheerfully. What luck! The General -certainly didn’t know what he was getting himself into.</p> - -<p>“The whole night to ourselves, and no bounds, and only we mustn’t -get lost!” chuckled Porky.</p> - -<p>“Peach pie!” murmured Beany. “Let’s be off! Where will we go first?”</p> - -<p>“Down there,” said Porky, waving a hand widely over the valley.</p> - -<p>“That’s where I thought. But we can’t get into any scrape on account -of the General. You know he wasn’t thinking about us at all when he -spoke, and, besides, there would be an <i>awful</i> fuss if we got into -any trouble. It would be good-by to our little trip. We would be -sent back quicker than they sent Bill and Peggy.”</p> - -<p>“Who wants to get into any scrape?” said Porky. “All I want to do is -to see—to see—well, to see just what I <i>can</i> do.”</p> - -<p>“Well, come on,” said Beany mournfully. “I bet we are in for some -fun, because when we look for things we generally find ’em.”</p> - -<p>“What hurts me,” said Porky, “is not carrying weapons of any sort. -It’s a good safe rule for the Boy Scouts, but I’d be glad of some -little thing like a sling shot or a putty blower.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t need anything,” said Beany, “I’ve got the neatest thing you -ever <i>did</i> see.” Quite suddenly he drew something from his hip -pocket and shoved it under his brother’s nose. Porky sidestepped.</p> - -<p>“Ha!” said Beany. “It works!” He showed Porky his weapon. It was a -monkey wrench from the auto tool chest. In his hand it looked like a -revolver.</p> - -<p>“Pretty neat,” said Porky. “Is there another one in the box?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I saw another,” said Beany. “I don’t see any harm in this. Any -one might carry a monkey wrench,” and replaced it carefully in his -pocket.</p> - -<p>“Sure thing,” said Porky, making for the car, followed by his -brother. “Didn’t the Reverend Hannibal Butts get up to preach one -Sunday, and dig for a clean handky to wipe his face with and come up -with a bunch of waste and use it before he saw what he was doing?”</p> - -<p>“I remember that,” said Beany. “I thought I’d die! And so did -everybody else. It ’most broke up the meeting.”</p> - -<p>“Well, when you flashed that monkey wrench I thought it was a -revolver sure enough. But it was only an innocent little wrench, and -here is the mate to it!” He pocketed the tool, and slipping -cautiously out of sight of the group of officers, they went -scrambling noiselessly down the steep trail into the valley. -Reaching the foot of the hill, they struck cautiously out toward the -entanglements, dropping on their faces whenever a flare went up. -Presently Beany, a little in the rear, pulled his brother’s leg. -Porky stopped, and waited for Beany to wriggle up. He muttered, -“What?” but did not turn his face. He knew too well that a face -turned upwards in the darkness can be seen by an observant watcher -overhead in some prowling plane.</p> - -<p>“Men whispering over toward the right,” said Beany of the marvelous -ears.</p> - -<p>“No business for any one to be there,” said Porky, listening -intently. “We are well on our side yet.”</p> - -<p>“It’s over there on that little hillock,” said Beany positively, -“and I think they are whispering in German.”</p> - -<p>“Why, they <i>can’t</i> be, Bean,” said Porky. “We are away inside our -lines, and we wouldn’t have men out there and, besides, they -wouldn’t be whispering German or anything else. When our men are -supposed to keep still, they <i>keep still</i>!”</p> - -<p>“I can’t help it,” said Beany. “They are whispering in German.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Porky, reluctantly turning toward the spot -indicated by Beany. “We’ll go over and see what it is, and if there -are any Germans holed up around here, we’ll sick on a few troops.”</p> - -<p>They did not stand up again, but slowly and with the greatest -caution approached a small hillock that stood slightly away from the -steeper hills. It was not wooded enough to afford any shelter, nor -was it high enough to be a good spot for a gun. For that or for some -other reason, the enemy had failed to shell it.</p> - -<p>On the side toward the Allies a pile of high boulders was tumbled. -The rest was grass grown. Beany, whispering softly in his brother’s -ear, insisted that the voices came from this place.</p> - -<p>“Then they are underground,” whispered Porky in his turn.</p> - -<p>Slowly, ever so slowly they crept up to the little hill and lay in -the darkness, listening. Certainly through the grass and stones of -the mound came the muffled sound of cautious voices. If they had -been speaking English, it is probable that even Beany’s wizard ears -would not have caught the sound. But the harsh guttural German, even -when whispered, seemed to carry far.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how you heard ’em,” breathed Porky. “It’s hard enough -to believe now. What do you suppose it all means?”</p> - -<p>“Search me!” Beany breathed in return.</p> - -<p>“What they doing over on our side?” wondered Porky.</p> - -<p>“It’s a good place all right,” said Beany against his brother’s ear -as they lay close to the grass.</p> - -<p>They were silent for a while, when the unbelievable happened. It was -so amazing, so stunning, that both boys at first could not believe -that they heard aright. They heard a sound like a windlass or crank -turning, a few clods tumbled down on them, and a voice once more -whispered hoarsely three words:</p> - -<p>“Gee, it’s hot!”</p> - -<p>“<i>Gee, it’s hot!</i>” said the German voice and the simple words seemed -to the astounded boys to ring across the valley! On the contrary, -they were spoken in a low whisper.</p> - -<p>Another voice replied. “He won’t like it if you speak English, you -know.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t help it,” said the first speaker. “We are two to one -anyhow, and I am tired of talking that lingo. I’m a good German all -right, but I wasn’t brought up to <i>speak</i> German and it comes hard. -And this is the hottest place I ever did get in. I don’t like it. Do -you know what will happen about to-morrow? I’ll tell you. We will -find ourselves miles behind the Allies’ lines, and then what do you -propose to do, Peter?”</p> - -<p>“Bosh!” said the man called Peter. “You think because a handful of -Americans are here that the tide has turned. Be careful what you -think. I tell you <i>no</i>. What can a few hundred of these fellows do -against the perfect, trained millions of the Fatherland?”</p> - -<p>“You don’t know them,” said Fritz.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I do,” said the man Peter. “Now let me tell you. For years I -was in England; sent there to study those foolish bull-headed people -and to create all the unrest I could. It was <i>so</i> easy. I saw these -Americans there, crazy, loud-mouthed, boasting, always boasting. -They talked fight, they told wild tales about the bad men of their -west, always boasting. So I tried them. I am a big man, Fritz, and -strong; I was not afraid of a little fight, me, myself. I tried -them. I slurred their government, sneered at their president, -laughed at their institutions. What think you? They laughed. They -<i>laughed</i>! Quite as if I said the most kindly things. I said, ‘What -I say is true, is it not?’ and they said, ‘Perhaps, but it is so -funny!’ That is what they said, ‘<i>so funny</i>!’ They should have slain -me where I stood.”</p> - -<p>“They don’t care what you say or what the rest of the world says,” -whispered Fritz. “They are too big. Their country is too big. When -they fight.... Wait until you have seen them fight! They fight with -grunts and gasps and bared teeth. They do not need trenches, they -will go over the top with a shout. You will see, friend Peter. They -are back there in the darkness now. I feel them!”</p> - -<p>“A few of them, only a few,” said Peter. “This little castle of sod -and stone is getting on your nerves, my friend. Look you! Do you -think the Highest would deceive us? Never, never! There is nothing -to this talk of the Americans coming over here. To be sure, they -have declared war, but what of it? They are no good. They have no -army. All their boasted possessions, all their harbors, all their -wealth, yet they have no army. No army! That shows how inefficient -they are. Never fear, my Fritz. Not a hundred thousand will reach -this soil. I have it from our commanding officer himself.”</p> - -<p>“Then here’s hoping for a quick release from this hole,” said Fritz -bitterly.</p> - -<p>“To-morrow,” said Peter; “to-morrow our hosts will sweep across this -valley, and we will be with our own again.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I hope for some release. It’s the hardest duty I have ever been -given.”</p> - -<p>“But think how we have been able to guide our guns, talking as we -can to the airplanes through the clever arrangement of our three -little trees on top of our delightful little hill.” He laughed. “How -clever it all is! And no one will ever suspect!” He paused again to -chuckle, and Porky quite suddenly shoved a sharp elbow into Beany’s -ribs.</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m sick of it,” said Fritz still in his low, hoarse whisper, -and seemed to move away from the side of the hill where he had been -standing.</p> - -<p>The boys with the greatest caution wriggled away.</p> - -<p>“Now what do you think of <i>that</i>?” said Porky when they were in a -position where they could talk in safety. “<i>What do you think of -that?</i>”</p> - -<p>“Anyhow,” said Beany, “they aren’t spies. I’m sort of fed up on -spies. I can stand for most anything else.”</p> - -<p>“No, they are not spies. I can’t make out just what their little -game is. It’s important, though; you can see that. And we have got -to stop it somehow.”</p> - -<p>“That ought to be easy enough. Just go back and get the bunch and a -few soldiers, and take ’em.”</p> - -<p>“What’s the time, anyhow?” asked Porky. He answered his own question -by fishing his wrist watch out of his pocket. He had put it there -for fear the luminous dial might be seen.</p> - -<p>“Only eleven,” he said. “Plenty of time.” He sat staring into the -darkness. There were very few flares now, although the night was -usually kept bright with them.</p> - -<p>“Wonder why that is,” Porky said.</p> - -<p>“Something to do with our little mud house, don’t you think so?” -said Beany.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I do,” answered his brother. “I wish I could make it out. Give -us time, give us time!”</p> - -<p>“Well, come on! I want to get some one on the job,” said Beany. “I -feel fidgety.”</p> - -<p>“Sit still,” said Porky. “I want to think.”</p> - -<p>“What you got in your head now?” said Beany. His voice sounded -anxious.</p> - -<p>“We are going to take those men prisoners with our own little -wrenches and just by our two selves.”</p> - -<p>“Three of them?” gasped Beany.</p> - -<p>“Three of them!” said Porky. “Come on!”</p> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chVI' title='Taking Three Prisoners'> - <span style='font-size:1.0em'>CHAPTER VI</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.2em'>TAKING THREE PRISONERS</span> -</h2> - -<p>“Come nothing!” said Beany slangily. “You stay right here until we -can talk this thing over, and make some sort of a plan. I don’t -propose to go into something we can’t get out of.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Porky, “the only plan I have is so crazy that I’m sort -of afraid to tell you about it. But it would certainly be sort of -nifty to take those men ourselves instead of running back to the -bunch for help. It would kind of put a little gilt on things and -would be something to tell Bill and Peggy about when they grow up a -little.”</p> - -<p>Beany was impressed. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he said. “Looks -like we haven’t much to tell them about, nothing but the submarine -and the secret passage and that sort of thing.”</p> - -<p>“And the spies back home,” added Porky. “No, we ought to wind up -with something else. Beside, if I don’t get hold of a Hun or two -after what we saw and heard back at the Duval farm, I don’t think -I’ll ever live.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m with you,” agreed Beany. “Now let’s plan. We sure have -got to get a prisoner or two our own selves. What’s next?”</p> - -<p>For twenty minutes the boys, heads close together, whispered -rapidly. Then they rose and went noiselessly toward the false -hillock.</p> - -<p>The last hundred yards they crept, lying flat and motionless -whenever a flare lit the sky. They were not frequent, however, and -the boys made good progress. When they reached the mound, Porky, who -was the best climber, crept to the top. He used the most infinite -caution, and there was not a sound to betray his slow, sure -progress. Gaining the top, he found what he had expected to find. A -sodded opening, like a double trap door, operated from the inside, -was slightly opened for air. So cleverly was it arranged with small -bushes and grass growing on the trap doors, that it would have been -impossible to detect it. Porky felt cautiously about the edges. Then -he listened. From below came an unmistakable sound—the noise of a -couple of men snoring. The sound was so muffled by the thick steel -walls, the earth and stones and sod outside them, that they were -able to sleep without fear of detection. Porky shook his head -admiringly. He was forced to acknowledge that the ingenuity of the -foe seemed to know no bounds. Again he tried the trap doors. They -were balanced to a hair and moved upward at his touch. He felt in -his pocket, arranged something in either hand, then swung the doors -both upward.</p> - -<p>It would be untrue to say that a flash of doubt did not pass over -the reckless boy at that instant. He thought of the General and of -the way in which that great man trusted them to do their part in -keeping out of trouble. He had surmised that there were three men -below. There was room for a dozen. He had taken it for granted that -he and Beany could pull off a stunt that instead might end in their -immediate death or worse. But there he was, perched on the top, the -heavy trap doors swinging wide, and below in the dense darkness the -sound of men snoring. Porky took time to listen. There were snores -from two, that was clear, and still another man talked and muttered -fretfully in his sleep. Porky could hear no others.</p> - -<p>He took a long breath, leaned over the opening, and turned a -flashlight below.</p> - -<p>As though electrified, three big men sat up and blinked in the glare -of the flashlight.</p> - -<p>Two of the men cried, “Kamarad!” and instantly held up their hands. -The third said calmly, “Thank the Lord! I surrender!” and stood up.</p> - -<p>“Not so fast!” said Porky in his deepest tones. He fiddled with the -button on his flashlight. The light wavered. Porky kept his face to -the men and called back over his shoulder:</p> - -<p>“Sergeant, something’s wrong with my flash. Send up another!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir!” answered Beany as gruffly as possible from below. He -waited a moment, then scrambling up passed his flash to his brother. -Porky put his in his pocket, and bent the light on the men below. An -ax stood in one corner with a coil of rope. In another corner was a -rough table loaded with strange instruments that Porky did not -understand.</p> - -<p>“Turn out your pockets!” he commanded, and three revolvers were -tossed up, one after the other.</p> - -<p>“See that rope?” demanded Porky, pointing his flash directly at the -man who had spoken English. “You tell those other fellows to tie you -up quick, and tell them to make a good job of it!”</p> - -<p>“I surrender,” said the man Fritz. “Please don’t tie me up, sir!”</p> - -<p>“You hear!” said Porky grimly. He called back over his shoulder. -“Forward ten paces, Sergeant!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” said Beany, and Porky almost giggled as he heard his -brother scuffling violently around trying to sound like a squad. But -he dared not look away from the men below, who were hastily tying up -the man called Fritz. They did a good job, eager to make good with -the unseen and most unexpected captors. If the officer above with -the boyish voice wanted Fritz tied up, tied up he would be so he -could not move. When they finished, the bulky form looked like a -mummy.</p> - -<p>“Is that a door in the side?” Porky demanded of Fritz.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” said Fritz.</p> - -<p>Porky waited a little. The worst was coming now.</p> - -<p>“Tell those men to open that door, and step outside, and if they -value their lives, to keep their hands up.”</p> - -<p>Fritz spoke rapidly in German. What he said was, “These are -Americans, you fools! The officer says to step outside, and keep -your hands up. You had better do it, if you want to live. They would -rather shoot than eat. I know them! Obey, no matter what they tell -you.”</p> - -<p>When he had finished, one of the men, lowering one hand and keeping -the other well up in the air, pressed a long lever and a narrow door -opened, dislodging a little shower of stones and earth as it moved -outward.</p> - -<p>“Vorwarts zwei!” cried Porky, making a wild stab at German.</p> - -<p>It was understood however. Fear makes men quick, and the two walked -briskly out and stood side by side. One of them had stepped through -a loop of the rope, and it came trailing after him.</p> - -<p>“Tie those men’s hands and tie them together, Sergeant,” said Porky. -He watched, cold with a fright he would never have felt for himself, -while Beany, keeping as much out of the light as possible, tied the -men, and sawed off the end of the rope.</p> - -<p>“Close the door!” demanded Porky.</p> - -<p>Beany did so.</p> - -<p>“Don’t leave me here, sir,” cried the man below suddenly. “If the -Germans find that we have allowed this spot to be discovered, they -will shoot me. If the enemy comes I shall be shot. I will come -quietly. I am glad to surrender.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right,” growled Porky. “You are safe for a while. I am -leaving a guard here. We want a few English-speaking prisoners, so -you are quite safe for a while.”</p> - -<p>“One of those men outside speaks English also,” cried Fritz.</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Porky. “I advise you to keep still. Sergeant, -detail a guard for this place with orders to shoot him at the first -outcry.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” said Beany. He retreated under cover of the darkness, -thoughtfully going around the corner of the mound as a flare -brightened the sky, and he remembered, in the nick of time, that it -wouldn’t do to let the two men, carefully bound as they were, see -him roaring directions at an imaginary squad. He returned in a -minute and saluted, although his form was only a darker shadow in -the darkness of the night.</p> - -<p>Above, Porky closed the trap doors, and as he did so, cut the ropes -by which they were opened and closed. Not even with his teeth could -the trussed up prisoner below open them.</p> - -<p>Beany had already shut the door in the side and wedged it with a -broken piece of gun-carriage.</p> - -<p>“Come with me, Sergeant,” said Porky, for the benefit of the -English-speaking prisoner. “Vorwarts!”</p> - -<p>It was a strange group that gave the password a half hour later and -advanced to the General’s tent. The tent, hidden from observation by -blankets and thick masses of boughs, was brightly lighted. General -Pershing seemed to scorn sleep. Surrounded by his staff and a group -of officers from the lines below, he sat puzzling over the reports -they had made. Information was steadily leaking across. Every move -they made was reported correctly. Only that very night as soon as it -was definitely decided that no attack would be made, the flares from -the enemy’s lines almost ceased and their guns were silenced, as -though they were glad to be assured of a few hours of peace. The -positions of the American guns, no matter how cleverly camouflaged, -were speedily discovered and gun fire trained on them.</p> - -<p>The thing had assumed a very serious look. Losses were piling up. -The General listened in worried and puzzled silence.</p> - -<p>It was at this moment that the flap of the tent was suddenly opened, -and two Germans, their hands tightly bound, stumbled blinkingly into -the light. Behind them stood the two boys. There was a moment of -surprised silence broken by the older prisoner, as he accustomed his -eyes to the light. He glanced about the group, then his eyes rested -curiously on his captors.</p> - -<p>A look of fury and amazement crossed his face.</p> - -<p>“Kinder, kleine kinder!” he muttered scornfully.</p> - -<p>The other man was silent.</p> - -<p>General Pershing gave a sigh.</p> - -<p>“Those twins again!” he said. The boys saluted. “Where shall we -leave these, sir?” said Porky respectfully. “We left another back -there.” He waved into space. <i>Back there</i> might have been anywhere -on the continent, as far as his direction showed. “It’s sort of a -queer place, sir, and we would like some one to see it, because we -can’t tell what it’s all for, and we don’t know that we could make -the other fellow tell. He speaks English.”</p> - -<p>Rapidly the General gave the necessary orders. The two men were led -off a short distance and placed under close guard. An escort, with a -couple of captains and an expert electrician, was named for the -boys, and without a question from the General, who knew how to bide -his time, the little party filed out of the tent and went back down -the trail.</p> - -<p>When they were out of hearing, the General laughed and spoke.</p> - -<p>“I often wonder,” he said, “how those two boys pass the time in -their own home. I don’t mind trying to run an army, but running -those twins is a bigger task than I like to tackle. I am glad they -don’t know just how glad I will be to hear the story they will tell -us when they get the job finished. Three prisoners, and they want an -escort of officers and an electrician! Well, they are on the trail -of something, I’ll be bound! I would like to question those -prisoners but I won’t spoil the boys’ innocent pleasure in what they -are doing. But I <i>must</i> say that I want one of you to keep an eye on -them every second now until we return to headquarters. They are to -be shipped home from there with a special passport, and I will be -able to sleep better.”</p> - -<p>“They came with General Bright, did they not?” asked a Captain.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and when he was called to Paris, I foolishly offered to let -them stay at headquarters. I thought they would play around and kill -time until Bright came back. That’s what I get for overlooking their -records. Things are bound to happen wherever they go.”</p> - -<p>“All boys are like that more or less, but this is a lively pair,” -said the Captain. “They seem to want to know everything. They are -studying all my books on the French and English guns now, and I -heard one of them say the other day that he had some good ideas on -airplanes.”</p> - -<p>“I hope he takes them home then,” said the General. “They are good -youngsters, and I’ll be glad to get a receipt from their parents for -them. They are perfectly obedient, and strict as any old regular -about discipline, but no matter <i>what</i> good care we try to take of -them, they are always getting into tight places.”</p> - -<p>“Their coming over here seems a strange thing,” said one of the -officers. “Sort of irregular.”</p> - -<p>“There <i>is</i> a reason,” said the General. “They don’t know it -themselves. They were sent across because it seemed a good thing to -have a boy’s point of view for the boys over there of things over -here. When I say they were sent, I do not mean that their expenses -were paid. The Potters are amply able to spend money, but it was a -good and patriotic thing for them to risk the lives of a fine pair -like Porky and Beany. I don’t even know their real names. Not that -it matters. They would make themselves felt if they were called -Percy and Willie. They are that sort.”</p> - -<p>Talk drifted to other things and time passed until a stir and -footsteps outside made it evident that the expedition had returned. -The door flap opened and the party filed in, the remaining prisoner -in their midst.</p> - -<p>The General glanced at him, then bent a steady, steely look on the -man’s face.</p> - -<p>“You!” he said. “A German prisoner, you—”</p> - -<p>The man’s face lighted.</p> - -<p>He stood erect and made an effort to salute with his bound hands.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” he said in a low tone. “If I’m to be shot, sir, won’t -you let me tell you how it all happened?”</p> - -<p>The General glanced at his wrist watch.</p> - -<p>“It is three o’clock,” he said. He nodded toward the sergeant. “Take -this man in charge. To-morrow at seven o’clock bring him to my tent -and I will talk with him.”</p> - -<p>He turned away and did not glance again at the prisoner as he was -led away.</p> - -<p>“He knew you,” said a Captain.</p> - -<p>“He worked for me four years on my apple ranch in Oregon. The -foreman wrote me that he and seven others had left suddenly soon -after the beginning of the war. I think we will get some very -interesting information out of that young man. In the meantime,” he -turned to the two boys standing as stiffly at attention as their -fagged out bodies would permit, “in the meantime, boys, can you tell -your little story in half an hour? It is very late, and we have a -hard day before us to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“It won’t take that long,” said Porky. “We just went down a little -ways, inside our own lines, General, so you wouldn’t worry, and -Beany, he hears things just like a cat, and there was a little hill, -with these men inside, and I climbed on top and talked to them -through the trap door, and Beany made believe he was a squad.”</p> - -<p>“And Porky had two of ’em tie up that Fritz fellow,” interrupted -Beany, “and made ’em come out the door, and we just made ’em think -the squad was guarding the hill, and we brought ’em up here, and -they came too easy. And we didn’t try to carry arms, General, we -just had a couple of monkey wrenches, and say, Porky, I’ve lost -mine! That chauffeur will murder me!”</p> - -<p>“A few details missing, however,” said the General. “However, that -will do for to-night. In the morning, if you like, you may be -present when I see the prisoner. Good-night!”</p> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chVII' title='The Prisoner’s Story'> - <span style='font-size:1.0em'>CHAPTER VII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.2em'>THE PRISONER’S STORY</span> -</h2> - -<p>Some three minutes later (so the boys thought), some one shook them -awake. It was morning.</p> - -<p>“Six o’clock!” said their tormentor, prodding them viciously. It was -the driver of their car. “Say, did youse have my monkey wrench?” he -demanded of both boys.</p> - -<p>“Sure!” said Porky quickly. “Here it is!” He handed out his wrench, -while Beany tried to pretend to sleep again. The chauffeur looked it -over.</p> - -<p>“Naw, that ain’t me wrench,” he declared. “Same size and shape but -it ain’t me wrench!”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Porky. “One of us took your wrench last night, and -if this is the same size and shape, <i>why</i> isn’t it the same wrench?”</p> - -<p>“Because it ain’t,” said the man. “That ain’t got the same feel as -my wrench. You can’t wish off any strange wrench on this guy! I -gotta have me own wrench! If General Pershing is goin’ to let youse -kids go stealin’ wrenches, I’ll—I’ll—well, you’ll <i>see</i> what I’ll -do, discipline ner no discipline!” He glared at the boys and at the -unoffending wrench.</p> - -<p>Beany sadly allowed himself to wake up.</p> - -<p>“I had your old wrench,” he said, “and I guess I lost it. I will buy -you a new one if I can’t find it.”</p> - -<p>“You find it!” said the man. “I don’t want no new one! I know the -feel of me own tools, and no others need apply!”</p> - -<p>He went off grumbling, and the boys, now wide awake, watched him.</p> - -<p>“I told you how it would be,” groaned Beany. “He’ll never let up on -me. Wonder where I could have dropped it. In No-Man’s-Land probably, -where it would be as easy to find as a needle in a haystack, and -where we can’t go anyhow, now it’s light. Look there! Oh praise be, -I believe <i>he</i> has found it himself!”</p> - -<p>It was so. The man suddenly pounced on an object lying on the -ground, took it up, examined it with a tenderer care than would -usually be bestowed on a tool, and with a scornful look turned and -waved it at the watching boys. “Got it!” he called.</p> - -<p>“Good!” said Beany affably.</p> - -<p>“No thanks to you!” called the chauffeur. He stalked away.</p> - -<p>“I would never let myself get so wrapped up in a little thing like -that,” said Beany. He threw himself back on his bed.</p> - -<p>“Don’t do that,” said Porky. “We are going to the General’s tent at -seven, you know, to hear what the Fritz person is going to say for -himself. I bet he tells the truth anyhow. If the General fixes his -gimlet eye on him once, he will tell the truth, the whole truth, and -nothing but the truth.”</p> - -<p>“I would in his place,” said Beany. “It wouldn’t seem just healthy -to lie to the General.” He commenced the simple process of dressing -as practiced by soldiers in the field. It consisted of very brief -bathing in a couple of teacups of water in a collapsible, and -usually collapsing washpan, made of canvas waterproofed, and after -that the simple drawing on of breeches, canvas puttees and shirt. A -soldier sleeps in his underwear, but sleeping in his outer garments -is very strictly forbidden, no matter how cold the weather may be.</p> - -<p>The boys reached the General’s tent at ten minutes to seven, and -although they knew that the great man had been up for a couple of -hours, they sat quietly outside until their watches told off the -very tick of the expected hour. Then, just as they saw the guard -bringing up the prisoner, they tapped on the tent flap, and at a -word of summons entered.</p> - -<p>The General, looking as though he had never stirred since the night -before, sat in his accustomed place at the head of the table, over -which a number of papers were strewn. He bade the boys good morning -and nodded them to seats. In another moment the prisoner entered.</p> - -<p>For a few moments the General took no notice of the man, keeping his -eyes on his papers, while the fellow shifted uneasily from one foot -to the other.</p> - -<p>Then General Pershing looked up.</p> - -<p>“Prisoner,” he said, “it is not customary to accord a prisoner of -war the sort of interview I am about to give you, but the -circumstances alter this case. I want the truth, and the whole -truth.”</p> - -<p>Porky and Beany nudged each other slyly.</p> - -<p>“I want some of the information that it is in your power to give me, -and I want it straight. You know you are in my power. There is -always a firing squad for men like you. But I want you to unravel -this puzzle. I want you to commence when you left the ranch—yes, -even before that.”</p> - -<p>The prisoner spoke eagerly. “I <i>will</i> tell you the truth, sir. I am -glad to be here, no matter what you do to me. And I swear to tell -you the truth.” He held up his right hand, and the boys saw it -tremble. They commenced to believe him. It was evident that the -General did, for he nodded and the man plunged into his story.</p> - -<p>It held the boys breathless.</p> - -<p>“There were eight of us working for you, General, before America -went into this war. Eight men of German ancestry or birth. Most of -them were naturalized, but one night a man came to my house and -commanded me to meet him in a certain place. He was a German officer -and of course I was curious to know what he wanted. When I arrived -at the meeting place I found the others there. The officer, showing -credentials of his rank that we could not doubt, told us that we -were wanted as interpreters. Just that, General. He explained that -Germany was obliged to use all the men within her borders as -fighting men, and as they were most anxious to have no -misunderstanding with America, they were picking a German born, or -German bred man here and there as they could without rousing -suspicion. They were taking them from the farms rather than from the -cities. He said that several hundred would be needed. He assured us -that education was not necessary. It sounded very plausible, -General, and the salary we were promised was magnificent. We all -bit, General, and he took us away that very night in a couple of -automobiles.”</p> - -<p>“The foreman told me,” said the General, “that you went away in the -middle of the busy season without giving warning.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, we did, General. I am sorry, and I was sorry then, but the -pay—it was a <i>great</i> temptation. We have been punished since. We -went down through Mexico and took ship. There were five hundred men -on board who were all going over to be ‘interpreters.’ And we never -guessed, poor fools, that ship after ship was bearing each a like -load. We never suspicioned the outcome. When we reached German soil, -we were scattered, two going one place, two another, and instead of -having any <i>interpreting</i> to do, we were outfitted as soldiers and -attached to different regiments. Men kept coming day after day. I -dare not say how many thousands of Germans have been taken out of -the United States in this way. We were virtually prisoners. Of -course to the most of us it did not matter much. After all Germany -was our fatherland before America adopted us. As long as we were -fighting the French and English and the Russians, we did not care.</p> - -<p>“But then, when we were already very tired, came the news that -President Wilson had declared war.</p> - -<p>“General, it is not yet believed in Germany. All of them, the -highest officers, even the Emperor, on occasion, all have addressed -the troops and have explained that war was declared solely for -political purposes and that no troops were to be sent over sea.”</p> - -<p>“They know now, do they not?” asked the General.</p> - -<p>“Very few of them, General. They think that the English have adopted -the American uniform as a blind.”</p> - -<p>“What did you think, Fritz?” asked the General.</p> - -<p>“I saw them fight, and I knew,” said Fritz simply. “I know them; I -know how they fight. I told the others so. And when they came across -the plain I wanted to hurrah. I suppose I will be shot as a German -prisoner, but I could not help it. All my mistake was in the -beginning. I would have deserted if I could have done so. Why, -General, if those fellows over there behind the German lines knew -the truth, a third of them would walk right over here. They are lied -to again and again.”</p> - -<p>“How is the army faring as regards food?” asked the General.</p> - -<p>“There is not enough to feed a third of the men. All Germany is -dying slowly of substitutes. Substitutes for bread, for meat, for -tea, for sugar, for coffee, for milk. At first the army was fed -well, at the expense of the civilians. Now all suffer together, and -no man in the world works well or fights well on an empty and aching -stomach.” He groaned.</p> - -<p>“What were you doing out there in that hillock?” asked the General.</p> - -<p>“We were well behind the German lines a few days ago,” said Fritz, -“but whether they retired purposely or not, I cannot say. Since -then, however, we have been kept there to communicate with the -airplanes. It was possible to signal them by means of electric -flashes down on the floor of our hiding place, through the open trap -doors on top. Peter was in command. He took and sent the messages, -and repeatedly he crept out in the night. I was never allowed to do -anything, but if the Allies took the plain, and those ridges beyond -it, Peter said we would all go out in American uniforms and learn -what we could. We were expected to discover things too cleverly -hidden from the airplanes.”</p> - -<p>“This is interesting at least, Fritz,” said the General. “It would -be still more interesting to know just how true it is that the -German army in general does not know that we are seriously in the -war. There are two millions of us here now, Fritz, and more coming.”</p> - -<p>“Two millions!” echoed the astounded prisoner. “Two millions! When -they learn that, the war is over. But how will they ever learn it? -Your airplanes scattered leaflets along the front several times. Not -where I was stationed, but I heard the order that any man who saw -another stoop to pick up one of those leaflets, any man who was -caught reading one was to be shot dead by the nearest soldier, who -would receive the cross for doing it. I tell you, sir, they are -doing <i>every</i>thing they can to keep the army from learning that you -are in the fight.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder how true all this is,” mused the General.</p> - -<p>Porky and Beany watched him narrowly. They were sure he had some -plan, but it was clear that he wanted the prisoner to speak first.</p> - -<p>“It is <i>all</i> true,” said Fritz. “General, won’t you let me earn my -life, set me free for two hours—only that? And I will prove it to -you.”</p> - -<p>“You will disappear just as you did from the ranch, I suppose,” -grated the General in a harsh voice. “Why should I give you any -chance?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t deserve it,” said the prisoner, “except that if my plan -fails, I will certainly be shot by the Germans.”</p> - -<p>“What do you propose?” asked the General.</p> - -<p>“Two, perhaps three hours of freedom!” begged Fritz. “And if I can -reach the German lines alive, I will return with twenty prisoners to -prove to you that every man who is told that the Americans are here -and are promised that they will not be shot, will follow me across.”</p> - -<p>“They are having a skirmish now,” said the General, listening, “and -a thunder storm is coming beside.” He was lost in thought. “Fritz, -make good!” he said. “I release you. You are but one man, no loss to -us, but you have told me a story of what amounts to kidnapping. I -would like to know if this is true. Just one thing. Prove it to me -by bringing twenty men back; but while you are there <i>set the word -free that the Americans have arrived</i>. Two millions, remember, -perhaps three.” He smiled. “And do not attempt to go or come until -nightfall. I will remain here until midnight to-night. You are under -guard until dark. You may go.” He rapped sharply on the table, the -guards entered and removed the prisoner.</p> - -<p>The General began to smoke.</p> - -<p>“What do you think, boys? Will he come back?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,” said both boys together.</p> - -<p>“Why?” asked the General.</p> - -<p>“Why, he was telling the truth!” said Porky.</p> - -<p>“They don’t look like that other times,” said Beany. “He was -straight, all right.”</p> - -<p>“He will have to prove it,” said the General grimly. “Men who leave -a job without warning, no matter what the needs of the situation, do -not fill me with confidence.”</p> - -<p>“I guess he is sorry now, anyway,” said tender-hearted Beany.</p> - -<p>“We will hope so,” said the General. “Porky, you may typewrite these -letters for me, and you, Beany, may check up these lists. If you can -do this properly, it will release a man for other duty.”</p> - -<p>For two hours the two boys were too busy to know what went on in the -tent. When the task was done the General dismissed them with strict -orders that they were not to go more than thirty feet in any -direction from his tent.</p> - -<p>When the Germans had occupied that side of the valley, they had also -used the hill as a temporary headquarters. Porky and Beany, like a -pair of very restless and inquisitive hounds, went over the ground -inch by inch. They could not help feeling that something good must -be waiting for them within their screen of trees. The fighting miles -away went on all day, and the time dragged for the boys until about -three in the afternoon.</p> - -<p>And then Porky found it—a tiny piece of wire sticking out of the -ground under a root of the big tree under which they were sitting, -feeling like a couple of prisoners themselves. They had never been -on such close bounds before, and they didn’t like it.</p> - -<p>Porky started to pull the wire, when Beany fell on him with a yell.</p> - -<p>“A bomb!” he cried, flinging Porky on his back.</p> - -<p>“My word! You have scared me to death anyhow,” said Porky.</p> - -<p>Together they dug around the wire and followed it down and down -until they almost gave up. At last, however, they had their reward, -a square black tin box which they carried carefully to the General’s -tent.</p> - -<p>Even then the greatest care was taken in opening it, for fear of an -infernal machine of some sort. It opened easily, however, and -without harm and disclosed a mass of papers. So many that the German -officer who had been in charge of them, fearing capture, had -evidently buried them, thinking that with the turn of battle he -could easily reclaim them from the earth.</p> - -<p>Among the papers were several cypher keys, and one of them was found -to fit the papers found by Beany in the oak table in the dungeon at -the chateau back at headquarters.</p> - -<p>Even the General was delighted, as a little study disclosed the most -important plans of the coming campaign and a scheme for the expected -drive, which now could be met point for point.</p> - -<p>It was dusk before the General and his staff finished with an -examination of the papers, fitting the new keys to the papers -already in their possession.</p> - -<p>Porky allowed himself to crow. “Guess we are sort of little old -Handy-to-have-around!” he chortled. “Guess we get to go all the way -with <i>this</i> distinguished mob!”</p> - -<p>“Looks so,” said Beany, “but you never can tell.”</p> - -<p><i>And they couldn’t.</i></p> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - -<h2 class='nobreak' id='chVIII' title='Orders Are Orders'> - <span style='font-size:1.0em'>CHAPTER VIII</span><br /><span style='font-size:1.2em'>ORDERS ARE ORDERS</span> -</h2> - -<p>Night fell dark and stormy. As soon as it was dusk Fritz begged to -be released and, receiving the General’s permission, slipped away.</p> - -<p>“I doubt if he comes back,” said the General, “but it will spread -the news at least. No, it is too much to expect that a man will -persuade a couple of men, to say nothing of twenty, to give -themselves into the hands of an enemy they have been taught to -believe is ruthless, but if he does, we will know that the -conditions in the German army are worse than we dream.”</p> - -<p>Time dragged away. The boys, still believing in Fritz, sat at the -head of the only trail, watching. They almost wore their watches out -looking at them, and trying them to see if they were wound. Time -seemed to stand still and yet, somehow, ten o’clock came, and eleven -and a quarter past. At half past the drivers prepared the cars for -their silent night journey to the next sector. The tents were down, -all but the screen of blankets behind which, with a closely shaded -light, the General sat.</p> - -<p>Ten minutes and the boys looked once more at the illuminated dials, -and sighed.</p> - -<p>“I’d have bet on that duck, if I was a betting man,” said Porky -sadly. “I bet he <i>meant</i> to come.”</p> - -<p>“Hark!” said Beany, listening.</p> - -<p>Porky listened too. He could always hear what Beany heard, if Beany -called his attention to it. A soft tramp of feet could be heard. The -boys leaped to their feet. Tramp, tramp, scuffle, scuffle, up the -hill in the darkness!</p> - -<p>“They are coming!” gasped Beany.</p> - -<p>They were.</p> - -<p>A flash of lightning preceding the storm that had hung off all day -split the sky, and in its momentary glare the boys saw a small squad -of American soldiers come out into the little clearing. The boys -stood aside as they passed. Another squad brought up the rear, and -between them—yes, between them marched, or rather staggered, a -dismal company of twenty haggard skeletons headed by Fritz!</p> - -<p>He had kept his word. The men were evidently frightened badly and -Fritz kept talking to them as they advanced. The General came out of -his shelter and surveyed them by the light of his flash.</p> - -<p>“Here they are, sir,” said Fritz. “Ask them what you like.”</p> - -<p>The General spoke to the weary men and they replied rapidly in -harsh, hoarse voices. Porky and Beany stood in an agony of -curiosity, wishing that they had studied German instead of Latin in -high school.</p> - -<p>Finally the General took time to explain to the officers who did not -understand.</p> - -<p>He gave orders to have the prisoners fed, and soon the strange -little company wound off down the hill again on its way to the -prison camp. Fritz, as a sort of trusty, was given special -privileges.</p> - -<p>“It is quite true, gentlemen,” said the General. “The conditions in -the enemy’s army are most serious. They are only half fed, poorly -clothed and letters occasionally smuggled from home report a -frightful state of affairs—famine, disease and intense suffering -among the families of the soldiers. This alone you know will break -the morale of their troops.</p> - -<p>“And Fritz said he could have brought five hundred men as well as -this twenty, but they are taught that we torture them and always -shoot our prisoners sooner or later. That is why they fight so -desperately.</p> - -<p>“They think death awaits them in any case, and that death on the -battlefield is far preferable to that which we will mete out to them -if taken prisoners.</p> - -<p>“Fritz assured me that he had set the ball rolling, however, the -news of our millions of men in the field. This has been a surprising -experience but we are already late. We must be off!”</p> - -<p>Rapidly the party took their seats in the automobiles. The first was -about to start when a motor was heard in the darkness. It was -approaching, apparently from headquarters.</p> - -<p>“Word for the General!” was the whispered word, and sure enough, the -driver of the swift, low car had a letter for the General. He read -it and called the boys.</p> - -<p>“News for you, young men,” he said regretfully. “General Bright has -been recalled to the States, and you are to return with him. This -cuts your stay several weeks and, I regret to say, makes it -impossible for you to continue with us. You are to return in this -car.”</p> - -<p>The boys, desperately disappointed, hopped out, found their field -kits, and advanced to say good-by to the General.</p> - -<p>He shook hands heartily and patted each on the shoulder.</p> - -<p>“I shall miss you, boys,” he said. “You have certainly done your -bit! Some day, when we are all back in America, I shall expect you -to come and see how <i>real</i> apples grow on a ranch in Oregon.”</p> - -<p>The boys thanked him. They could not say much. It was a great -disappointment.</p> - -<p>They settled back in the car which was to take them back to General -Bright. They heard the other cars glide quietly and swiftly away in -the distance. They too shot out at high speed.</p> - -<p>Soberly they stared into the darkness. Their thoughts flew forward -to the tiresome trip to the port of embarkation, the long ocean -voyage with its deadly inaction. They had been living in confusion, -danger, and uncertainty. They commenced to see before them their -home, their father and mother, the familiar fellows.</p> - -<p>“We have to get Bill and Peggy,” said Beany.</p> - -<p>“Yep!” said Porky briefly.</p> - -<p>They could just <i>see</i> their mother, with oceans of love for them and -plenty for the two orphans beside.</p> - -<p>For the first time a great wave of homesickness swept over the boys. -That they were to have a pleasant, safe trip would not have -interested them if they could have been told of it. They were -homesick. Silently they rolled on and on in the dark. Presently -Beany slipped an arm around the hunched up shoulders of his twin.</p> - -<p>“Wish we were home <i>now</i>!” he said huskily.</p> - -<p>“Gosh!” said Porky.</p> - -<div class='ce'> -<div style='font-size:0.9em;margin-top:1.4em;'>FINIS </div> -</div> -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUT PATHFINDERS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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