THE END OF THE CONSPIRACY.
When Chester opened his eyes to the world again he was propped up on
General Givet's own bed, and the Belgian commander and a Belgian surgeon
were leaning over him.
"Awake at last, eh?" said General Givet, with a smile, as Chester opened
his lips to speak. "You had a narrow squeak, and no mistake. And to think
that a young lad like you should be the means of saving my life!"
"You have indeed rendered a great service to Belgium," broke in the
surgeon. "But how do you feel?"
"A little weak," replied Chester, with a faint smile. "But Captain
Bassil? Where is the traitor?"
"Dead," was the Belgian commander's laconic response.
Chester shuddered involuntarily.
"Never mind," said the general; "it was his life or yours, and mine too,
for that matter."
"But it makes a fellow feel awfully queer," said Chester. "In battle it
would have been different. But to shoot--"
He broke off and was silent.
"And the conspiracy?" he asked, after a brief pause. "You have taken
steps to catch the Germans in their own trap?"
"I have," said the general grimly. "They will wish they had attempted to
take Louvain in some other manner. Thinking us unprepared, they will be
too confident. If they fall into our trap--and I am positive they
will--they will be annihilated."
Chester was struck with a sudden idea.
"General," he said, "why can't we round up all the conspirators that are
in the city?"
"In what way?" asked the commander.
Chester's reply was another question:
"Has your attempted assassination been kept a secret, or is it
generally known?"
"It has been kept quiet," was the general's reply. "Were it generally
known our coup might fail."
"Exactly as I thought," said Chester. "Now I am almost positive that the
conspirators will gather for one more session before the German advance,
if only to make sure that nothing has gone amiss. We can surround the
house and capture them red-handed."
"An excellent idea!" exclaimed the general. "It shall be acted upon.
I will give orders to that effect immediately," and he turned to
leave the tent.
But before he should step outside, Chester jumped out of bed and ran
after him.
"And how about me, sir?" he demanded. "Am I not to be allowed to take
part in the capture?"
"You!" exclaimed the general. "You are in no condition to move about. You
shall stay here in bed."
"Please, general," pleaded Chester. "This is my discovery; it should be
my capture, too."
The general stood wrapped in thought for some moments.
"So it should," he said at length, "and so it shall be, if you feel equal
to the task."
"I am perfectly strong again," said Chester eagerly.
"So be it, then," replied General Givet. "How many of the conspirators
did you say there are?"
"About twenty-five, I should judge."
"Good! I shall place one hundred men at your disposal, and leave entirely
to you the manner in which you make the capture."
Chester was jubilant. So great was his eagerness to be at his work that
he could hardly wait for his men to be selected. But at last everything
was ready and it was time to start.
A short distance from the rendezvous of the conspirators, Chester divided
his men into four groups of twenty-five each, so that they could approach
from all directions at once.
With his men concealed from view, Chester bethought himself of the best
manner to entice the conspirators out into the open. Finally he hit
upon a plan. Calling three of his men, he walked with them to a spot
directly in front of the conspirators' rendezvous. Here the four
started a heated argument.
Suddenly there was the sound of a door opening, and a moment later the
well-known voice of the chief of the conspirators exclaimed:
"It is the spy! Come, men, we must capture him. Shoot down the soldiers!"
A moment later and the entire number of masked conspirators were in
the street. Then, at a signal from Chester, the Belgian troops sprang
upon them.
There was the sound of a pistol shot, followed by many more, and a bullet
whistled by Chester's ear. Two of the Belgian troopers fell, and several
others groaned. It was plain that the conspirators, trapped as they were,
would not give up without a fight.
"Fire!" cried Chester, and a death-dealing volley was poured into the
little knot of men huddled together in the street, surrounded by
Belgian soldiers.
The fighting became desperate. The conspirators were giving a good
account of themselves, and here and there Belgian soldiers were falling.
Now the conspirators turned and made a dash toward their retreat. But
five Belgian troopers sprang forward and barred the door, firing as they
did so. The ranks of the conspirators were considerably thinner now, and
to continue the fight would mean slaughter. This fact the chief
recognized.
He hurled his revolver at his foes with a fierce imprecation, and then
raised his hands above his head. His followers did the same.
"I surrender!" said the chief.
Chester went up to him.
"The tables are turned, I see," the chief greeted him. "Well, a man can't
be on top all the time. But I was a fool not to have stayed and seen you
properly shot."
"I am glad you didn't," was Chester's reply, "for I guess you would have
made a good job of it. But enough of this. I am commanded to take you
before General Givet."
Surrounded by Belgian troopers, the conspirators were marched to the
headquarters of the commanding general. There a court-martial was called
to sit at once. Its work was brief. The prisoners were ordered taken out
and shot as spies and traitors to Belgium.
Upon orders issued by General Givet, the Belgian troops soon began to
move in accordance with the plan by which the Belgian leader hoped to
trap the Germans. Their movements were such as to lead the German
outposts to believe that they were retreating.
But instead of weakening his line where the Germans had planned to
attack, General Givet strengthened it heavily. The troops were ordered to
fallback a short distance, so that the German leader might believe the
force in front of him had been sent to another part of the field to repel
an attack that was believed imminent.
But the expected fall of Louvain by this piece of treachery was to prove
a bitter disappointment to the German commander. Instead of the weak
Belgian line he believed he was to encounter, he was sending his men
against a force that had been heavily reinforced and that was determined
to wipe out the insult.
As the Belgians gradually drew back, the Germans advanced, not too
swiftly, so as to indicate an attack in force, but gradually and slowly.
But continually larger and still larger bodies of Germans were sent
forward, until suddenly it was apparent to General Givet that the time
for the German surprise had come.
But when it did come the Belgian commander was ready. As the Teutons came
forward in a headlong charge, the Belgians checked their backward
movement and rushed forward.
A terrific volley greeted the charging Germans, and from the ambush, into
which the enemy had been lured, the artillery opened upon them. They
wavered slightly, but still they came on. But even as they sprang forward
once more, the Belgian cavalry swooped down on them, dealing out death on
every hand.
Stubbornly the Germans held their ground. Reinforcements were rushed to
their aid, and the battle became general all along the line.
It was evident by this time that the German commander realized
something had gone wrong with his plans; but now that the attack had
been made he was not the man to give up without doing all in his power
to go ahead. Now the Germans broke and began to retreat. With a wild
yell, squadron after squadron of Belgian horsemen charged down upon the
retreating Teutons.
Three times the German officers, bravely exposing themselves to the
leaden hail of death, succeeded in checking their straggling troops, and
three times the Germans coolly reformed under a terrific artillery and
rifle fire.
But it was no use. For now the Belgians began a concerted advance all
along the line. The German charge had spent itself, and the Teutons
gradually drew off.
But the retreat did not become a rout. The Germans fell back slowly,
contesting every inch of the ground. The aim of the Belgian gunners and
infantrymen was excellent, and the havoc wrought in the German lines was
terrible. The field was strewn with dead, but over these the Belgian
troops pushed on, pressing their advantage to the utmost.
Finally General Givet called a halt. The Germans were still retreating,
but the Belgian commander did not feel that he could afford to pursue
them farther. The danger of a surprise was over, and he did not wish to
risk another battle, particularly as he was unable to see the necessity
of extending his own lines.
Therefore, the Belgian troops fell back upon their line of defense and
the battle was over.
Chester, upon the express command of General Givet, had not been allowed
to take part in the battle. The Belgian commander had kept the lad close
to him, occasionally dispatching him to some near portion of the field
with some order. And now that the fighting was over, General Givet
announced that he would be pleased if Chester would dine with him.
But his work over and all his duties properly attended to, Chester
bethought himself of his wounded chum. He was anxious to see Hal and
relate what had happened and to make sure that his friend was being
properly taken care of.
He reminded the general of the latter's promise to have Hal sent to
Brussels, and received the commander's renewed assurances that he would
not forget. Then he set out for the place where he had left Hal.
He stopped on the way, however, to see Edna Johnson, knowing that she
would be interested in what had occurred since he last saw her and
learning that but for her the Belgian army in Louvain might have suffered
a terrible calamity.
Chester did not linger long with Edna, however, after relating his
experiences and a brief chat on other subjects, made his way to the house
where he had left his wounded chum, to whom he gave a detailed account of
all that he had done, and of the arrangements he had made for their
reaching Brussels.
"I would have been all right here," protested Hal.
"Maybe you would," replied Chester, "but there is likely to be more
fighting at any time, and you are in no condition to move about. You will
be better off in Brussels."
"I guess you are right," said Hal.
"I know I am right. I understand there are no German troops between here
and Brussels, so there will be no danger on the way."
Hal was silent for some moments, musing.
"We have had some fun here, haven't we, Chester?" he asked at length.
"We have," was the reply. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
"Nor I," returned Hal. "And, when I am well, we shall see more fighting.
The war has just begun."
Four days later Chester and Hal arrived in Brussels, where Chester
procured the services of a good physician for his friend, who had stood
the trip remarkably well, and the physician, after an examination,
announced that Hal would be able to get about in a short time.
"Quiet for a few days is all that is necessary," he declared.
And so Hal and Chester, comfortably housed in the Belgian capital, sat
down to await the time when they could again give their services to the
allied armies.
And here properly ends the story of "The Boy Allies at Liège," though not
the story of "The Boy Allies." Their subsequent adventures in the
greatest war of all history will be found in a sequel, "The Boy Allies on
the Firing Line; or Twelve Days' Battle on the Marne."