HUGH HAS AN IDEA
"What's what?" demanded Hugh, peering in the direction Bob indicated.
"Look!" cried Bob.
"I am looking. What is it?" The tone of his friend's voice had alarmed
him greatly, though he did not know what it was that Bob saw.
"Can't you see? Right down there!"
"Where? Where?" pleaded Hugh. "Tell me, Bob."
"Down under the track. I see sparks."
"It's a bomb," cried Hugh suddenly catching sight of the little flashes
of light. "It's a bomb that man planted there."
"What shall we do?" cried Bob, acting as if he was ready to turn and run.
"Go and get it," said Hugh instantly. "Come along," and he started
towards the spot of danger. Spurred on by his comrade's show of courage,
Bob followed.
Their hearts were in their throats and terror held them in its grasp as
they hurried along. The little sparks still appeared, and the sputtering
of the fuse could be heard distinctly as they ran forward. The footing
was dangerous and who could tell but that at any moment the bomb might
explode and blow them into eternity.
Hugh reached the spot first. He was outwardly calm, but had the sun been
shining his face would have shown white and frightened. A second later
Bob arrived and stood beside him.
"There it is," he gasped. "It's a bomb all right."
"Pinch the fuse," cried Hugh excitedly. "Put it out."
Both boys reached for it, but Bob was first. He had completely recovered
his nerve now and was perhaps even more self-possessed than Hugh.
Bob grasped the lighted part of the fuse between the thumb and forefinger
of his right hand. He squeezed it tightly, but quickly withdrew his hand
with a cry of pain. The fuse still sputtered.
"Let me!" almost sobbed Hugh. "Let me try."
He repeated Bob's performance, except that he held on in spite if the
pain he suffered. With tight-shut lips and set jaw he pinched the fuse
with all his strength. Finally he could stand it no longer and let go.
"It's out," cried Bob. "No, it isn't either," he exclaimed a second
later as the fuse once more showed red and the tiny sparks again made
their appearance. "We'd better run for it, Hugh. What's the use in our
being blown up along with the bridge?"
"Get out of the way!" ordered Hugh, and Bob obeyed at once. There was
something in the tone of his friend's voice that made him hasten to do
as he said.
Hugh knelt on the ties and leaned down over the bomb.
"Here comes a train," cried Bob suddenly. "On this track too."
Hugh paid no attention to this warning. He picked the bomb up in his two
hands and staggering under its weight, carried the spitting and
sputtering engine of death to the edge of the bridge. With a supreme
effort he hurled it from him. A moment later a splash told that it had
landed in the river below.
"That'll never do any more harm," he gasped faintly.
"Stay there, Hugh!" shouted Bob. "Look out for the train!"
The two boys crowded close against the side of the bridge and a moment
later a heavy train thundered past them. Through the lighted windows
could be seen crowds of passengers, and Hugh and Bob shuddered as they
thought what might have happened to the train with its load of precious
human freight had the bomb exploded. They felt faint and weak after their
experience and presently sat down until their shattered nerves should
have recovered somewhat from the shock.
The night was cool, but Bob mopped his perspiring brow. "Whew," he
gasped. "That was a close call."
"I should say it was," echoed Hugh. "What luck that you should have
seen those sparks when you did! There was only a couple of inches of
fuse left."
"Lucky you were with me too," said Bob soberly. "If I'd been alone I
think I would have run for home."
"Haven't you two gone home yet?" demanded a voice, and the two boys
looked up to see Harold standing over them.
"Not yet," said Bob.
"Well, you'd better skip," Harold advised. "You'll get in trouble
around here."
"There'd been more trouble if we hadn't been here," said Bob quietly.
"What do you mean?"
Bob related the story of the bomb to his brother.
"Say!" exclaimed Harold in an awestruck voice. "That was pretty good work
of you two. A train came along on that track too."
"Hugh got the bomb out just in time," said Bob.
"Say," repeated Harold. "Say," he said again, completely overcome.
"Do you think they'll let us enlist on the strength of what we did?" Hugh
asked hopefully.
"I doubt it," said Harold. "I'll certainly speak to the captain about
you though."
"We might as well go home now, I guess," said Bob. "You don't want to see
your canoe tonight, do you?"
"No," replied Hugh grimly. "I've lost all interest in canoes for
the present."
They said good night to Harold and started homeward. They still felt
a little shaky as a result of the bomb episode, but before long the
walk and the crisp night air had refreshed them and their spirits
once more revived.
"I wonder what they'll do to that German," exclaimed Bob.
"Harold said they had locked him up for over night, and I guess when they
hear what he tried to do, they'll keep him longer than that."
"They'll send him to jail probably."
"I hope so," said Hugh. "Any man who would try to blow up a bridge and
kill crowds of people deserves worse than jail."
"They'll give him five or ten years all right," said Bob.
"Yes, and when they try his case we'll have to act as witnesses I
suppose."
"I wouldn't mind that," Bob exclaimed. "It might be a lot of fun."
"Aren't these plotters silly?" said Hugh. "They may be able to blow up a
plant or a bridge here and there, but they'll lose more than they gain."
"Why so?"
"Because it'll make the people mad. When they once get angry they'll
fight and work much harder to defeat Germany. Half the people in this
country don't seem to realize that we are at war now, but when a few of
them get blown up we'll begin to do something."
They discussed the war and the possibility of sending American troops to
France. Hugh wanted to go into the aviation corps when he was old enough
but Bob thought the infantry and solid ground under his feet would be
good enough for him.
Presently they came near home. Hugh lived two blocks farther down
the street than Bob and consequently he had to pass the Cooks' house
on his way.
"There's the Wernbergs'," said Bob. "A light in the second story back
window, and two automobiles in front."
"Do you suppose they're up to anything?" exclaimed Hugh.
"I suspect them all right, but how can we prove it?"
"I have an idea," Hugh exclaimed suddenly. The two boys were standing on
the opposite side of the street from the Wernbergs' house, regarding it
curiously.
"What is it?"
"Can you get your automobile?"
"I guess so, if Heinrich hasn't taken the family out."
"Let's get it and follow one of those machines. In that way we can see
where the people live who are at the Wernbergs'. Maybe we can learn
something about them if we know who they are."
"A good scheme," exclaimed Bob readily. "We'll have to be awfully
careful though; if they ever found out we were following them it might
go hard with us."
"We'll be careful all right," said Hugh grimly. "Come ahead, we want to
be ready to start and they may leave at any time."
The two boys walked quickly up the street, taking care to keep on the
opposite side from the Wernberg home. When they arrived in front of the
Cooks' they darted across the street and hurried along the driveway
until they came to the garage. The door was shut and locked. Bob
knocked loudly.
There was no reply. Bob looked at his watch under the light of a match
which Hugh struck. It was twenty minutes of eleven.
"That's queer," he muttered. "Heinie is usually in bed long before this."
"Maybe he is now, and is asleep," Hugh suggested.
Bob glanced up at the second story window. "I don't think so," he said.
"The window is closed in the room where he usually sleeps, and I know he
is a crank on fresh air."
"Throw some gravel at it," said Hugh. "That'll get him up if he's there."
This plan was followed, but with no success.
"He's out," said Bob finally. "What'll we do?"
"Is the car there?"
"Yes, but what good will it do us if we can't get in?"
"Haven't you got a key to the garage up at the house?"
"Father has one, but I don't dare wake him now." Bob glanced at the house
and the absence of lights on the first and second floors convinced him
that his family were all in bed. A single light shone from a window on
the third floor where Lena, the cook, slept.
"Maybe we can force a window," suggested Hugh. "You can open the door
from the inside, can't you?"
"Oh, yes," said Bob. "Let's try a window anyway."
They went around the corner of the garage and the first window they tried
yielded immediately. A moment later both boys had clambered inside, and
presently Bob found the electric light button. As the light flooded the
garage Heinrich's angora cat rose sleepily from the tonneau of the
automobile and stretched himself. A cloth covering over the parrot's cage
kept that garrulous bird quiet. Percy lay stretched out in the water
which filled his tub.
"The dog must be out with Heinrich," said Bob.
He seated himself in the driver's seat of the car, and Hugh lifted the
drowsy cat to the floor. Bob pushed a button, put his foot on the
self-starter and the engine started. Heinrich always backed the car into
the garage so that it was headed in the right direction as it stood. Hugh
undid the spring catch on the door and rolled the door back. They were
now ready to start.
"I'll go down by the street and watch the Wernbergs," said Hugh. "I hope
they haven't gotten away while we have been fooling around here."
"I guess not," said Bob. "When they start you whistle twice and I'll be
with you right away."
"All right," agreed Hugh. "You'd better run with your lights dimmed."
"I shall, don't worry."
Hugh hurried away. Bob was left alone in the car and he presently shut
off the engine. He had wished to warm up the motor so that it would start
readily when the time came; he was convinced that it would do so now.
He thought over the events of the day, and for the first time he realized
that he was tired. Excitement had spurred him on and the intense interest
he took in the war had made him forget all else. He wondered if he and
Hugh were starting off on a wild goose chase now. What particular reason
had they to suspect the Wernbergs anyway? True, all Germans were more or
less under suspicion just then, but why the Wernbergs any more than the
others? He recalled his fight with Frank that morning, and his father's
remarks. Perhaps it was just as well to go out that night after all.
Bob thought of the war and the terrible things the Germans had done. What
brutes and beasts they were! The Germans had been busy in the United
States too. The big factory at Eddystone had been blown up that day, with
the loss of a hundred and twenty-five lives, mostly of girls. That
showed what the American people had to guard against.
"I hate them all!" muttered Bob angrily. He took that back a moment
later, however, as he thought of Heinrich. Surely their chauffeur was as
faithful and kindly a soul as ever lived; his love for animals proved
that. Then there was Lena, their cook, a buxom woman of forty who had
never been heard to utter a cross word in her life.
Heinrich was capable of getting mad, however, particularly about the car.
Bob wondered what he would say if he should arrive home now, and find him
preparing to go out in it and perhaps get it dirty.
His reverie was suddenly interrupted by the sound of two whistles. A
moment later the motor was purring softly, and with the headlights
dimmed, the big sixty horse-power car slid out of the garage and started
silently down the driveway.