THROUGH THE LINES
"Ready, Hal?"
"All ready."
Hal stretched up his hands, and Chester, leaning far over the pit, seized
them and pulled. Hal came slowly upwards.
Suddenly he gave a cry of pain and twisted and squirmed vigorously.
Chester became alarmed.
"What's the matter?" he asked quickly.
"One of those fellows bit me in the leg!" exclaimed Hal.
It was true.
As Hal had soared upward, one of the Germans had sprung forward, and
being unable to free his hands, had seized the fleshy part of Hal's leg
between his teeth. Evidently the gag had not been properly adjusted.
"Kick him loose!" cried Chester.
Hal obeyed instructions. The German uttered a loud cry--another sign that
the lads had gagged him too carelessly.
In kicking out at the German, Hal had used too much violence and had
jerked loose from Chester's hold. Down into the pit he plunged again.
Apparently believing that Hal had come back with the intention of
silencing him forever, the ungagged German gave vent to a series of
loud cries.
"Quick, Chester!" called Hal. "Pull me out of here before this fellow
brings down the whole German army."
Chester leaned over and again seized Hal by the hands and pulled. Once
more the German below sprang forward and attempted to sink his teeth in
Hal's leg. Hal, realizing what the man was about, kicked out suddenly
before the German could obtain his hold, and the lad's heavy shoe caught
the man squarely in the mouth. One more cry the German gave and then
toppled over.
"Quick Chester!" cried Hal, again.
With an effort Chester dragged Hal from the pit.
Hal stood up and both lads dusted the dirt from their clothes.
"Now the sooner we get away from this spot the better," said Chester.
They advanced directly west toward the extreme German front.
"We'll have to depend on boldness to take us through," said Hal. "It is
unlikely that we shall be questioned until we reach the outposts and then
we'll have to make a break for it."
"Suits me," said Chester.
They walked along leisurely, passing countless German soldiers standing
about; but little attention was paid to them. Occasionally a man nodded
to them and the lads returned the salutation.
Gradually they drew away from the main body of troops and neared the
outposts. Here German troopers were engaged in throwing up breastworks
against a possible attack by the French in the morning.
"Guess we won't have far to go if we can get beyond the outposts,"
muttered Hal. "These preparations indicate the Germans have just won this
ground. The French can't be far away."
Chester nodded in token of assent, and at that moment they came up to the
workers. Casually they stood and watched the German soldiers digging for
a few moments; then wandered in among them, keeping close together.
"When I give the word!" whispered Hal.
Chester nodded.
"Now!"
Hal gave the word suddenly.
Immediately the two lads took to their heels.
For a moment the Germans were stunned by the very audacity of the two
lads. Then entrenching tools dropped to the ground and the men seized
their rifles and fired a volley after the two boys. But in the time it
had taken them to lay aside their tools and pick up their weapons the
lads had disappeared in the darkness and now hurled themselves to the
ground, anticipating such a volley.
In the darkness the Germans could hope to hit them only by accident.
Springing to their feet again, the lads ran forward, bearing off slightly
to the north, and soon felt they were safe.
They slowed down and approached the French lines cautiously. Presently
they beheld the first French entrenchment. As they drew close a French
soldier poked up his head and levelled a rifle at them.
"Halt!" he cried. "Who goes there?"
"Friends!" returned Hal.
"Advance friends," came the soldier's next words while he still held his
rifle ready.
Hal and Chester advanced to the very edge of the trench. There the
soldier took a good look at their faces and noticed the German uniforms.
Up went his rifle again and he would have pulled the trigger with the gun
aimed squarely at Hal had not Chester leaped quickly forward and struck
up the weapon.
The two clinched.
"You fool!" cried Chester. "We are not Germans!"
Other soldiers now came running up. They gathered about the two figures
in German uniforms. An officer approached. Fortunately, he recognized the
two boys and waved the men away.
"These men are all right," he said.
The soldiers drew off, satisfied, all but the man who would have fired
point blank at Hal. He stood there and eyed the lad sullenly. Then, for
the first time, Hal obtained a good look at him. The lad recognized him
instantly. He was the same man who had directed the hazing of young Jules
Clemenceau a short time before.
As the Frenchman leered at him evilly, Hal walked close to him.
"It's my belief you knew me all the time," he declared quietly.
"What of it?" the Frenchman demanded.
"Why," said Hal, "only that if I were sure, I'd pull your nose for you."
"Ha!" exclaimed the Frenchman. "I'd like to see you try it. You caught me
off my guard the other night. You can't do it again."
"I don't particularly care to do it," returned Hal, quietly, "because
you're not worth it; but if I start I'll probably go through with it."
Again the Frenchman sneered at him.
Further conversation was prevented by the appearance of a French
lieutenant who had observed the trouble.
"Matin!" he ordered. "Back to your post at once, sir."
The latter saluted respectfully enough, but he gave Hal another evil look
as he walked away.
"He's no friend of yours, that's sure," said the young French officer to
Hal, with a smile.
"I am glad to say he's not," replied Hal, quietly. "I don't believe I'd
care for a friend like that."
"I don't blame you," was the young officer's response. "Matin has a bad
reputation and I would advise you to keep your eye on him."
"Thanks," said Hal. "I shall remember that. By the way, can you tell me
just where we are?"
"Thiaumont farm," returned the French officer; "or, rather, I should say,
just east of Thiaumont farm. You two fellows look somewhat done up. If
you will go to the farm you will find a place to sleep in the farmhouse.
By some trick of fate the house and barn still stand, although everything
else in this vicinity has been knocked to pieces by the big guns."
"Thanks," said Hal, again. "We shall take your advice. We are pretty
tired and a sleep will help out. It's too far back to our own quarters
when there is a place to bunk so handy."
The two lads left the young officer and made their way to the farmhouse.
Here they found a number of French officers already installed, but the
latter gladly made room for them.
"No beds," said one with a laugh, "but there is plenty of room on
the floor."
"I guess a bed would be too much to expect," said Chester, also
laughing. "Besides, it's been so long since I slept in one I don't
believe I could rest."
"The floor is plenty good enough for me," Hal agreed.
"Help yourselves then. You can pick out your own room."
"Guess we'll go upstairs then," said Hal. "It'll probably be more quiet
up there. These fellows down here are having too much fun to care about
sleep," and he waved his arm toward one corner of the room, where a group
of young French officers were engaged in a game of cards.
The two boys made their way upstairs and found a room to their liking in
the rear of the house. Here they stretched themselves out on the floor
and were asleep immediately. There were no other occupants of the room.
Outside the moon was shining, and it cast a beam of light into the room
where the two chums lay asleep. Several hours after the boys had closed
their eyes in sleep, the figure of a man appeared in the window without.
After some experimenting he opened the window softly and came in. He
closed the window gently behind him.
Chester stirred in his sleep and the man shrank back against the wall in
the darkness. For perhaps five minutes he remained there, and then, as
there was no further move by the sleeper, he advanced into the center of
the room. The light fell upon his face, and had the boys been awake, they
would have recognized in the intruder, Matin, the man who had attempted
to shoot Hal a short time before.
Matin approached the two sleepers quietly, seeking to make sure which was
Hal. He examined each closely and then grinned as he stepped back a pace
or two, apparently satisfied.
From the next room there came the sound of footsteps and again Matin
shrank back against the wall. Directly the footsteps moved away and Matin
drew a breath of relief.
From his pocket now he produced a knife, examined it carefully and
grinned again. Looking carefully about to make sure that there was no one
in the room to observe him, he stepped forward.
Had he turned his head at that moment he would have seen a second figure
lowering itself just inside the room. But so intent was Matin upon the
dark deed ahead of him that, after his one observation of the room, he
did not look again.
The second figure was creeping after Matin now. He was not far behind,
but still he was not close enough to touch the first intruder. Matin took
two quick steps forward and raised his arm. Then he bent on one knee.
The arm flashed down!