JOSH MAKES A DISCOVERY.
Rod soon fixed the transportation part of it, just as his confident
chums felt sure he would be able to do. He quickly selected a certain
outfit that had stopped on the border of the ford for a minute or so,
while a loose portion of the harness was tightened.
Entering into conversation with the sergeant, who seemed to be in
authority, Rod explained in a measure who they were and how they came to
be loose on the battle lines at such a time as this.
Then he made his request, and with such simplicity, accompanied by a
winning smile, that the dapper Frenchman could not have refused his
modest request even had his heart not warmed toward these young friends
of France from across the sea.
"We must get over the river, because it is necessary that we find Andre
D'Aubrey if he is yet alive," Rod had gone on to say ingenuously; "and
since it would be unpleasant for us to continue our ride if we were
soaked to the waist, perhaps M'sieu le Sergeant would permit us to climb
up with him on the caisson, and accompany him over the ford?"
"Indeed, it would be a pleasure to have you along with me," hastily
replied the non-commissioned officer of the battery, "and as the harness
is now repaired, make yourselves at home here, if you can find a
lodgment where your feet will be out of the reach of the water."
Gladly then did the trio of lads accept of his friendly offer. Trust
them for finding a perch where they would be beyond the reach of the
river, unless the soldier astride one of the horses managed to lose the
shallow line of the ford and stray into the depths.
Luckily this did not happen. The water did come close to their feet so
that Hanky Panky was impelled to draw himself up into something of a
knot in the fear of getting wet; but the worst was over, so that
presently the gun caisson emerged from the Marne, and the boys were able
to jump down.
Rod looked about him. It was indeed a stirring picture taken in all, for
everywhere the French had occupied the ground so tenaciously defended by
the German rearguard.
Hundreds of soldiers were moving this way and that, with the officers
gathering as if for a council of war.
Other batteries could be seen coming on the gallop toward the captured
ford, as though the birdmen aloft may have sent the signal along to tell
them that now the coast was clear they could make the passage in safety.
Some of these were heavier guns than any the boys had as yet seen,
showing that the French were hurrying all their available resources
forward in order to strike the enemy hard while yet in retreat.
"Now what, Rod?" asked Josh.
"We'll look around a bit so as to get our bearings," he was told. "It's
true we came here on a mission, but perhaps it might be wise not to
bother the commander-in-chief in too big a hurry. He's certainly got his
hands full as it is, and can't be worried with our private affairs."
"I guess that's about so, Rod," agreed Hanky Panky. "To us Andre's
business may seem mighty important, but why should a general waste a
precious minute of his time with any one's affairs, when he's got to map
out his movements, with a beaten but still fighting foe ahead?"
"Look there, fellows!" exclaimed Josh just then; "unless I miss my guess
that must be the hero of the battle they're fetching in right now."
"See how the men take their caps off, will you?" said Hanky Panky
reverently; "I'd feel like doing the same myself if he came near me,
because it was his work that really made the passage of the ford
possible. They all know it too, and just now they fairly worship that
lucky chap."
"Oh! I hope it doesn't mean he's dead!" exclaimed Josh with a tinge of
deep regret in his voice; "that'd be too everlasting bad, you know,
after he'd won his promotion, and the cross these Frenchmen prize so
much."
"No, he is still alive, because I saw him wave his hand feebly just then
when he passed that group of cheering soldiers," said Rod quickly.
"Bully for that!" exploded Josh exultantly; "somehow or other I just
seem to be taking a personal interest in that brave chap, as if he might
be a friend of mine, though of course I wouldn't know him from Adam. But
a thousand pair of eyes saw what he did, and the army of France knows
how to honor such a hero. We must find out his name before we leave
here, Rod, that's sure."
"I'll not forget to ask it!" declared the other positively, "because
we'll want to write it down in our log. Whatever his name turns out to
be it's bound to go down to posterity as belonging to one of the heroes
of the Battle of the Marne."
"There," continued Hanky Panky, "see, the general is going over himself
to see the wounded man now. Why, even he takes off his military cap. It
must be a proud time for the man who threw that bomb and wrecked the
German battery. He not only won the ford for his side, but like as not
saved the lives of scores of his comrades."
Rod was considering his plan of campaign.
"You can see that some of the officers are gathering under that shed
yonder," he went on to explain. "I reckon they mean to hold their
council of war there, because it looks like the best shelter around. I
wouldn't be surprised if the German forces had the same places for
headquarters before their retreat, because I can see a table there and
some camp chairs."
"Yes, and then, too, it seems to be out of range of the batteries that
were on the other side of the river; sort of protected as it were," Josh
observed, for he was quick to notice such things.
"All right," Rod wound up by saying; "our plan is to hang around until
the war council breaks up, and then try to find a chance to speak with
the commander-in-chief. All we want to do is to show him who and what we
are, and then ask about Andre. He may not have the time to bother with
it himself, but I hope he will put us in charge of some subordinate
officer who can tell us what we want to know, as well as take us to
Andre, if so be the poor fellow still lives."
While waiting they strolled around the immediate vicinity, being
considerably interested in all that was going on.
Josh in particular seemed disposed not to lose anything. He moved this
way and that, now watching the labors of a string of men dragging at a
rope by means of which they were helping the horses attached to a heavy
gun pull the same up out of the river; and a little later even observing
the field surgeon and his assistants binding up the grievous wounds of
scores of poor fellows who had been more or less injured in the battle.
Rod was seated on a stump and thinking seriously of their own affairs
when he suddenly became aware of the fact that his two chums were
hurrying toward him. He could also see that they looked both excited and
grave, as though something had happened to alarm them.
Of course the first thing that came into Rod's mind was bad news; he
feared that in some way they might have learned about the fate of Andre,
and were now hurrying to tell him all their efforts had been in vain,
for the husband of poor Jeanne could never sign his name to the paper
they carried.
"Is he dead, then?" was the way he addressed them as they came panting
up.
"Oh! it isn't about Andre, Rod!" gasped Hanky Panky.
"What then?" questioned the other, at the same time giving a sigh of
relief, for he had feared the worst.
"It's something Josh here hit on, that's given us both a bad shock;
he'll tell you, Rod," continued the other, who was trembling visibly.
"It's just this way, you see," Josh spoke up. "There's a German soldier
hiding close by, a wild-looking chap in the bargain. Whee! but he's got
staring eyes, and he makes me think of a crazy man."
"Oh! he must be one of their wounded," said Rod; "when they pulled out
in such a big hurry they couldn't take all with them, and some had to be
abandoned. This fellow in hiding that you've run across must be hurt in
the legs, and couldn't get away with the rest."
Josh shook his head with a vim.
"Excuse me, Rod, but I don't think you've hit the real secret," he went
on to say. "This man has stayed here _for a purpose_, and he's
about ready to lose his own life, I'd say, so as to carry it out. I
really and truly believe he must have a screw loose in the upper story."
"Go on," said Rod, seeing that Josh evidently knew more than he had as
yet explained.
"I just noticed him by the merest accident," explained the other. "He's
hiding in a hole in the ground. I happened to see him lift his head, and
noticed that he wore the dark green uniform of a German soldier. Then I
discovered something else, Rod, that gave me a cold feeling, and made
the chills run down my back."
"Go on, and hurry, too!" advised Rod.
"It was a wire, Rod, a wire that seemed to come up out of the ground,
and disappear by the side of a tree. It headed straight for the shelter
that used to be the headquarters of the German staff, and where the
French officers are gathering right now, waiting for the general to join
them."
"A wire, did you say, Josh?" demanded Rod, starting up, and looking
white.
"Yes, and ten chances to one there's a mine, planted under headquarters,
which he means to explode so as to blow up the French staff, general and
all."