ON THE AISNE.
The prisoner was in a quandary. To raise a cry of warning, he felt
sure, would mean his instant death; and yet, should he remain silent if
he was asked any questions concerning his companions he might also get
into trouble.
"Good evening, Captain," said the officer who had accosted him. "Are you
going far?"
The pressure of the revolver against the German's back increased, and
he replied:
"I am accompanying my friends to the bank of the Aisne. They wish to have
a look at the enemy on the opposite shore."
"You might invite them to go with us when we cross the next time," was
the laughing rejoinder. "When we cross again we shall stay."
The prisoner also forced a laugh.
"I am likely to go across sooner than I expect," he said.
"What do you mean?" demanded the other. "Are you going on a scout?"
"Well, you might call it that. Anyway, I am going across."
Both lads were forced to smile to themselves at this. In their minds
there was no doubt that the prisoner was going across the Aisne at once.
"Well, I wish you luck," said the second German officer, as he continued
on his way.
"Thanks," replied the prisoner briefly.
The lads, with the man still between them, started on again.
After some walking they made out in the distance a stream of water.
It was the Aisne, and the lads, realizing that upon the opposite side lay
safety, increased their pace.
Some distance back, on both sides of the stream, the opposing armies
were drawn up in force. Occasional raids had been made by first one side
and then the other, but there had been no real change in the situation
for days. Now the French, by a bold assault or a night attack, would
gain a foothold upon the German side, only to be driven back again; and
now the Germans would gain a foothold on the French ground by a bold
attack, but would also be forced to retire. This give-and-take game had
continued for weeks.
Feeling secure in the company of their prisoner the lads did not
hesitate, but marched straight through the German line to the very edge
of the river. The German officer spoke to several others, as they made
their way along, but Chester kept his revolver pressed against him, and
he did not once offer to raise an alarm.
The three descended the sharp incline to the water's edge. There they
were fortunate enough to find a small motor boat, apparently having
suffered much usage by the Germans in their travels forward and backward
across the river. Into this they forced their prisoner to climb, and then
quickly jumped in after him.
"Head down the river, Chester," ordered Hal. "If we put off straight
for the opposite shore they are likely to suspect something and open
fire on us."
Chester, at the wheel, guided the boat down the stream, keeping close to
the German shore.
But this plan also was fraught with danger, for a French sentry on the
opposite side, espying the boat, opened upon it with his rifle.
The first shot attracted others to the scene, and several more rifles
were brought into action. The Germans, seeing the boat with a German
officer and apparently two friends in it, immediately opened upon the
French. The latter turned from the boat and opened upon these new foes.
"Great Scott!" exclaimed Hal. "This is more than I bargained for. We'll
have to get out of here, or we shall wind up at the bottom of the river."
Seeing that the French and Germans were too busy with each other to pay
much attention to the little boat, Chester steered quickly to the center
of the river. There, as the bullets sped overhead, he felt safer.
Turning to view the scene, Hal for a moment relaxed his vigilance over
the prisoner, and in that moment the latter sprang upon him. He launched
himself in a desperate spring, and Hal, taken unprepared, was borne back
to the bottom of the boat, almost being hurled overboard.
Chester immediately released his hold upon the wheel and sprang to Hal's
assistance.
The boat, now with no guiding hand upon the wheel, staggered crazily
about, heading first in one direction and then in the other, as the
struggling figures gave it impetus, first toward one shore and then
toward the other.
As the boat heeled over, Chester hurled himself upon the German, who had
succeeded in clutching Hal by the throat and was slowly strangling him.
He seized the German by both shoulders, and, putting his knee in his
back, pulled with all his strength.
The pain was unbearable, and the man was forced to loosen his grip on
Hal's throat. But so fierce had been the pressure of his fingers, that
for a moment Hal was unable to go to Chester's assistance, and lay
panting and gasping for air.
The German, who was much larger and more powerfully built than Chester,
turned upon his second opponent. By a quick shift of position, he grasped
the lad's throat with his left hand and with his right aimed a hard blow
at his face. This the lad struck up with his left arm, and before the
German could repeat the blow, let drive with his right.
There was a loud smack, as his right first crashed into his opponent's
face, and a stream of blood poured from the German's nose. Hal now had
regained his wind, and jumped to aid his chum.
All this time the battle between the two skirmish lines of the armies
continued. Both sides had perceived the struggle in the boat, but both
were fearful to fire for fear of wounding friend as well as foe--for the
very fact of the struggle proved that there were men of both armies in
the boat. Gradually the fire of both sides slackened, as the troops
peered intently toward the fighting figures in midstream.
The lads' prisoner, raising his left arm to ward off a blow delivered by
Chester, accidentally caught the lad under the chin with his fist. The
blow was a hard one, and, before the lad could recover his balance, the
prisoner had delivered another resounding smack, which caused Chester to
stagger back.
At that moment Hal leaped upon the German from behind. His right fist
struck the man a stunning blow on the back of the neck. The German
wheeled and clinched with his opponent, and for a moment they stood, arms
locked about each other, swaying upright in the boat.
Then Hal, putting forth every ounce of his strength, succeeded in
breaking his opponent's hold, and gave him a violent push. The German
staggered and tottered; but, in the very act of falling overboard, his
outstretched hand grasped Hal by the collar and both tumbled into the
river together.
Chester scrambled to his feet as the two pitched into the river. As they
went over the side, violently tipping the boat, it suddenly turned
turtle. Chester went flying through the air and disappeared beneath the
water with a loud splash.
Still locked in each other's embrace Hal and his opponent rose to the
surface. Both had one arm free and struck out blindly at the other's
face. Hal landed two short-arm blows, and the German sent one home.
Neither had an advantage, however, and they sank again.
At almost the same instant Chester's head appeared above the water. He
cast a quick look around, but could see no sign of the other two
occupants of the boat. Treading water, he remained close to the spot
where the water bubbled up. Two or three seconds later the heads of the
struggling pair again appeared above the water.
Chester acted promptly. Swimming rapidly up to them, he raised his right
arm and sent his fist crashing full into the German's face. The latter's
already white countenance turned whiter, and gradually his hold on Hal
relaxed. With a quick movement Hal freed himself, and the German sank
from sight.
Without waiting to see whether he would come up again both lads struck
out for the opposite shore.
But they were too late.
When the little motorboat had capsized, four French soldiers had run down
to the bank and thrown themselves into the stream. Almost at the same
time a squad of perhaps a dozen Germans had performed the same maneuver.
Now, from both sides of the river, men were closing in upon the almost
exhausted lads.
But the Germans were the best swimmers and overtook them first. One
grasped Hal by the arm and another seized Chester. In vain did the lads
try to shake off these opponents, striking out blindly at them, and
calling to the French to hurry to their assistance.
In spite of the superior numbers of the enemy the French swam rapidly
toward them. The first to arrive struck the man that grasped Hal a
stunning blow. Immediately the lad felt his arm freed, but it was
immediately grasped again by a second German, who held on while his
comrades swam on to drive back the French.
Knives were drawn and the battle in the water continued with desperation.
The four Frenchmen gave a good account of themselves, and two German
soldiers disappeared beneath the water to come to the surface no more.
But the weight of numbers told at last; and, when two of the French had
been severely wounded, the other two, realizing the futility of further
fighting in the face of overwhelming odds, drew off, and, supporting
their wounded companions, returned to the far shore.
Hal and Chester had put forth their best efforts to free themselves from
the hands of their captors, but in spite of their frantic struggles,
they were overpowered and were soon dragged back to the bank on the
German side.
A German trooper had dived beneath the water and succeeded in grasping
the collar of the boys' late prisoner and dragging him to shore, where
several men were now at work trying to restore him to consciousness.
The men who had captured the boys stopped to watch this operation. Soon
the German began to gasp for breath, and ten minutes later he was able to
sit up and look about. His gaze rested on the two lads.
He was a pitiful-looking object, but in spite of this the lads were
forced to smile as he glanced at them. The man arose and approached them,
leaning heavily upon the arm of a brother officer.
"So you didn't get away after all?" he said.
"No," said Hal quietly, "we are still here."
"And here you'll stay, if I have anything to do with it," was the
response. "You are tough customers, and no mistake, but I guess there are
enough here to keep you quiet now."
The German officer turned to his fellow-officer.
"I'll take charge of them," he said quietly. "Give me a couple of dry
guns; mine are no good."
The other did as requested, and, pointing his two weapons at the lads,
the German ordered:
"March!"