AT THE FORD OF THE RIVER MARNE.
"Oh! did you hear that?" exclaimed Hanky Panky, all excitement; "it was
a sure-enough moan. Rod, Josh, there's been some poor fellow down there
all this while; and we never dreamed of it when we pulled that bucket of
water up!"
Saying this Hanky Panky leaned far over the edge of the well curb, and
attempted to see into the murky depths. Rod cast a quick look in the
direction of Josh, who gave him a sly wink, but kept a straight face.
"I can't see anything, for a fact," complained Hanky Panky in great
distress; "but it was a groan, I'm sure--there it goes again, and worse
than before. Oh! Rod, do you believe some poor chap tried to hide in the
well when he saw all those awful Germans coming, and hasn't been strong
enough to climb up again since?"
"Why, that might be possible, of course," replied Rod, "though just how
he could stay down there this long is more than I can understand."
"What do you say, Josh?" demanded the sympathetic one.
"Oh! me?" remarked Josh, with a shrug of his shoulders, and not even
offering to change his position; "if you asked me straight off the
handle now I'd say that it might be only the wind sighing through the
trees, or something like that. Don't stand to reason that anybody could
be down there in that well."
When Hanky Panky met with opposition he always became more positive;
possibly the sly Josh knew this full well, and allowed the fact to
govern his actions.
"But we all heard the groans, didn't we?" demanded Hanky Panky; "and I
guess I know one when it hits my ears. There certainly is some one down
there. Listen to that, will you; isn't it just fierce the way he keeps
going on, though?"
Indeed, the sounds had once more commenced to well up from the dark
depths, and in a most agonizing fashion too. Even Rod felt a thrill,
although he could give a pretty good guess concerning the nature of the
poor unfortunate who was the contributing cause for those dismal groans.
"No use talking, fellows!" declared Hanky Panky presently, after they
had listened again to the suggestive sounds that seemed to spell human
misery; "I just can't stand this any longer. Something's got to be done,
that's what. I've a good notion to slip down the rope myself, and find
out what it means."
"But that'd be going a whole lot, just to satisfy your curiosity,
wouldn't it?" asked Josh, cunningly, for he knew that he was taking just
the course to further aggravate the other's intention to act.
"Well, you don't seem to care much what happens to a poor chap who's
made a fool of himself, and got caught down in a well; but I do,"
asserted Hanky Panky, proudly. "I don't think I could ever sleep decent
again if I had the nerve to ride away from here, and never even try to
get him out."
He deliberately started to remove his coat, showing that his mind was
made up. Rod looked at Josh, but received in turn a pleading glance, as
though the other begged to be let alone, and turn his trick. The chance
to "get one" on Hanky Panky was too good to be lost, Josh evidently
believed.
So those amazing groans continued to well up out of the depths,
increasing in pathos if anything as they proceeded.
"Take care not to slip, Hanky," advised Rod, "or we'll have the job of
drying a chum out before we can go on our way."
"And say, that well water's awful cold in the bargain," remarked Josh,
carelessly; "keep a tight hold on the rope. We'll look after this end,
and when you say the word pull you out."
Accordingly the determined one started to lower himself into the haunted
well, showing a most commendable spirit, Rod thought. It was really too
bad to allow the joking Josh to play this trick on so gallant a fellow;
but possibly there would be no harm done in the end, and at least it
served to break the terrible monotony of seeing sad sights on the road
through the devastated country.
Presently the shaking of the rope ceased, and the voice of the explorer
came up from the depths.
"This is certainly a queer deal I'm getting," he said, complainingly.
"What's the matter now?" asked Josh, tantalizingly.
"Why, I tell you there's nothing down here," replied Hanky Panky. "My
eyes have got used to the dark, and I can see perfectly well. All around
me is the stone of the well, the water is just under my feet, but high
or low I can't see a single sign of anybody."
"Didn't I tell you so?" asked Josh, laughing harshly; "the old well must
be a haunted one, I reckon. If that was really a groan we heard it was
given by a ghost, or a goblin, and not a living being."
"Hey! that's enough, Josh! Get me up out of here quick, I tell you!"
called Hanky Panky, shaking the rope vigorously; "you promised you
would, remember!"
Josh was chuckling at a great rate; nevertheless when Rod signalled to
him he condescended to lend a hand, and between the two of them they
speedily had Hanky Panky up safely, none the worse for his experiment,
but looking deeply puzzled.
"That's the queerest thing I've run across for many a day," he was
saying; "but you notice that it doesn't come any more now, since I went
down. Oh! thunder! I spoke too soon, didn't I?"
The sounds had indeed started in again with even more vigor than before.
Hanky Panky, catching what seemed like a chuckle, suddenly turned on
Josh.
"I've tumbled to your silly game at last, Josh," he said, pointing a
finger at the other in a stern fashion; "somehow I clean forgot how you
used to be such a smarty at throwing your voice, and aimed some day to
be a regular ventriloquist on the stage. Well, you _did_ fool me
all right, I own up; and I had my climb down into the old well for
nothing. Hope you're satisfied now. Let's take another drink all around,
and then get along."
Hanky Panky was one of those good-natured fellows who could laugh at a
clever joke even when himself the victim; so that he did not bear any
grudge for the way in which Josh had deluded him.
"But I'm glad anyhow that I didn't lose my grip, and drop into the
water," he went on to say; "because it was terribly cold down there."
"All's well that ends well!" croaked Josh, with a happy grin, for he
believed he had once more cleared the slate in the account with his
fun-loving comrade.
Soon afterwards they left the ruined place and once more started along
the road. Again they came upon scenes of desolation, with clusters of
natives standing by the ruins of their late possessions, to wave an
encouraging hand as the three boys sped past. Doubtless many of them
believed Rod and his mates must belong to some section of the brave
French army, for their khaki uniforms seemed to proclaim this. And every
little helped when the gigantic task of turning the invaders out of
France was considered, even the assistance of a trio of half-grown lads.
If things kept up as they were now going Rod confidently believed they
would be close to the battle line again inside of two hours. The roar of
the guns announced that severe fighting was going on not many miles
distant.
They were making only slow progress at this time, so many obstacles
impeded their way. Numerous stops were also made so that Rod could
exchange a few sentences with some of the people they came upon, so as
to pick up information that might prove of advantage to strangers in a
section of country new to them.
There was no time when right and left they could not see a myriad of
interesting things. Most of them pertained to warfare--marching troops;
strings of prisoners being led to the rear; broken caissons and
abandoned guns; wrecked bicycles, and even motorcycles cast aside when
of no further service to the retreating Germans; cooking outfits that
had been wonderful contrivances before being utterly smashed on their
late owners finding they could not be taken along; and other things too
numerous to mention.
Rod himself was of the opinion that the enterprising peasants might
manage to partly indemnify themselves for their losses by taking
possession of some of the various things abandoned, and renewing their
usefulness.
It was now getting well on toward noon. Hanky Panky had even been heard
to call out that he felt hungry, though Rod could see little hope of
appeasing their appetites in that country, so thoroughly cleaned out by
the enemy.
Suddenly there came an outburst of heavy firing close at hand. It was so
furious that the three boys involuntarily stopped short, and huddled
together to compare notes, so that they might decide upon the safest
course for them to pursue.
Smoke began to climb upwards above the trees not more than a mile away,
where Rod had reason to believe the Marne River ran.
"That's where the fight is going on, Rod, you can see!" shouted Josh,
eagerly, pointing as he spoke; "look at the French batteries wheeling
into position, would you? They mean to give the Germans a lot of
pounding, looks like. I wonder what it all means; can you give a guess,
Rod?"
Rod could, and lost no time in advancing his opinion.
"From what I heard when I talked with that last bunch of natives," he
called out, for the racket was growing more deafening with every
minute's passage, "there's a ford to the river right about that place.
Now like as not the Germans have determined to dispute the passage of
the crossing, and left a big force there to hold Joffre's men in check.
The battle for that ford is now starting up, and it will be a pretty
stiff fight unless all signs fail."