minute, so guns in hand he turned and faced his foes.
"Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!"
His automatics spoke angrily and all four bullets found human targets.
Hal, meanwhile, safely over the trench, looked around for Chester. When
he failed to see him he realized on the instant what had happened.
"What shall I do?" he asked himself. "Duty says to hurry to a place of
safety, but friendship says help Chester."
He wasted little time in thought.
He scrambled back to the top of the earthen embankment and took in the
sight about him.
There Chester stood at bay, his automatics held in steady hands. Hal
drew his own weapons.
"Jump up here quick, Chester!" he called. "I'll cover you."
"Don't bother about me," Chester called back. "Get away from here.
Remember you must get through. I'll hold 'em off."
"Don't be a fool," shouted Hal, discharging his revolver at a big German
who was about to shoot Chester down with his rifle. "Come up here."
Chester paid no further heed to his chum.
Hal gritted his teeth, dropped one revolver in his pocket, and reaching
down grasped Chester by the shoulder.
"Come on," he called.
Chester shook off his chum's hand.
"Let me alone." he shouted angrily. "I'll get a few of these boches
before they down me."
His revolvers spoke as he talked, and two Germans dropped.
Meanwhile bullets were striking on all sides of the two lads, and it
seemed a miracle that they were not touched.
Hal considered the situation in a flash.
"There's one chance," he said.
Deliberately he sheathed his other revolver, thus leaving himself
unarmed in the face of his foes. Then, bracing himself as best he could
on the embankment, he reached down and seized Chester by both shoulders.
Putting forth all his strength, Hal heaved mightily, and drew his chum
to the top of the embankment with him. There he released him and drew
his revolvers again.
Came a cry of rage from inside the trench as the Germans saw their prey
about to escape. Two men dropped on their knees and sighted their
rifles carefully.
But before they could fire Hal had accounted for one and Chester for the
other.
Again a howl of rage went up from the German trench.
"Kill them! Kill them!" screamed the German colonel. "What a lot of
dunderheads! Can't you shoot?"
He seized a revolver from a young officer close by and dashed forward
himself.
Hal, in the act of tumbling from the embankment, smiled slightly and
faced the colonel, unmindful of all other dangers.
"So you're the man responsible for those blows a moment ago, eh?" he
muttered. "Well, you'll never do it again. Take that!"
He sighted carefully and fired.
The German colonel staggered in his onward rush, reeled crazily, threw
up his arms, casting his revolver a dozen paces away, then fell to the
ground.
"So much for you," Hal muttered. "You won't bully another American,
I'll bet on that."
"Come on," said Chester, who had stuck close to his chum all the time.
"It's too warm here. Let's move."
"Right. Suits me," said Hal quietly.
"Down we go, then," said Chester.
He rolled rather than leaped to the ground on the outside of the trench.
Hal did likewise.
Both lads were slightly bruised by this method of descent, but they were
not injured seriously. They scrambled to their feet.
"Now, let's see you run!" shouted Hal to Chester.
They ran.
*CHAPTER XIV*
*THE CLOSING OF THE NET*
Bullets flew thick and fast after the two lads as they clashed for the
shelter of the American lines beyond. Fortunately, however, none
touched them.
The Germans, it appeared, were so bewildered by the suddenness of
Chester's appearance, single-handed attack and the flight of the two
chums that followed, that they forgot all about their searchlights,
which would have made it possible for them to have picked off fugitives
at will; or else they had no searchlights in that section of the field.
Zig-zagging from right to left, the lads ran at top speed. For a time
bullets whistled unpleasantly close, but soon they became few and far
between.
Hal slowed down. Chester followed his example.
"Whew!" said Chester. "Pretty close, but we're safe enough now, I
guess."
"By George! I hope so," declared Hal. "But there is just one job that
I would have liked to complete before getting away from there."
"What's that?" demanded Chester.
"I would like to have let a little lead into that big German lieutenant
who battered me up with his fist."
"Don't blame you," said Chester. "I'd like a shot at him myself."
"Well," said Hal, "I left my mark on his throat, and that's some
satisfaction. Also, I disposed of the colonel who was responsible, and
there's more satisfaction there, too."
"I saw you," replied Chester. "It was a neat shot."
"Well," said Hal, "we've done something that a couple of other couriers
sent out by General Rhodes failed to accomplish--we have passed through
the German lines. The general's plans will not go wrong if we can help
it."
"Right," agreed Chester. "And I figure that the sooner we report to
General Lejeune the better."
"Correct as usual. But I don't know that I care to try and repeat the
feat of getting through. Besides, we have General Rhodes' permission to
stay here until after the big battle if we like."
"And I vote that we stay," said Chester.
"Think I'll cast my own ballot that way," declared Hal. "We'll stick,
unless something turns up to change our minds."
"Now for the American lines, then," said Chester.
They hurried on through the darkness and directly the dim outline of the
American trenches loomed up ahead.
"Here we are," said Hal. "Now to get over."
As they would have climbed up, however, the figure of a soldier appeared
above them. He saw them instantly and levelling his rifle cried:
"Halt! Who goes there?"
"Friends," said Hal briefly.
"Advance, friends, and be recognized," said the sentinel.
Hal and Chester obeyed and the sentinel scanned them closely.
"You look all right," he growled at last, "but I'm not sure of you."
"Do you think we'd be coming in here if we didn't belong?" demanded
Chester.
"I don't know about that; but I can't see any good reason why you should
be prowling around out in No Man's Land if you are not bent on
mischief."
"Don't be absurd, man," said Hal. "We come from General Rhodes with a
message for General Lejeune."
"A likely story," said the sentry. "How'd you get through the Germans?"
"Walking and running," said Chester. "But are you going to keep us
standing here all night? I tell you we bear an important message from
General Rhodes."
"What'd you both come for?" the sentry wanted to know.
"That," said Chester, thoroughly exasperated, "is none of your business,
my man! Will you call the sergeant of the guard, or shall I?"
"Oh, I'll call him," said the sentry, "but I'll tell you right now I
don't think it will do you any good. Kindly step up here, will you?"
Hal and Chester did so. Then, for the first time, the sentry saw that
they were officers in the American army. He looked flabbergasted.
"I--I--I beg pardon, gentlemen," he said. "I didn't know you were
officers. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't give us a chance," said Hal shortly. "Kindly summon the
sergeant of the guard."
The sentry argued no longer. He raised his voice in a shout that
brought the sergeant of the guard on the dead run.
"What's the matter with you, you bonehead?" demanded the sergeant as he
came lumbering forward. "Want to arouse the whole camp?"
"It's all right, sergeant," said Hal. "He only did as ordered. We have
come from General Rhodes with an important message for General Lejeune.
Will you direct us to his quarters?"
The sergeant saluted stiffly.
"Follow me, sirs," he said briefly.
Five minutes walk brought the three to the headquarters of the commander
of the Second American division. There the lads were accosted by a
member of the general's staff, Colonel O'Shea.
"We desire to see the general at once on a very urgent matter," said
Hal.
Colonel O'Shea scowled.
"The general left orders that he was not to be disturbed unless upon a
very important matter," he replied.
"But this is urgent," said Chester. "We are instructed by General
Rhodes to deliver the message at once."
"But how am I to know the matter is so urgent?" asked the colonel.
"Because I say so, sir," said Hal quietly. "I am not in the habit of
lying, nor of having my word doubted."
"Oh, is that so," said the colonel, though somewhat taken aback. "Well,
I'm not sure the general will care to be disturbed. You may deliver
your message, and then I shall consider whether your business is of such
importance as to justify waking the general."
"We were not instructed to deliver our message to you, sir," said Hal
simply. "I have to request again that we be given immediate audience of
General Lejeune."
The colonel hesitated. Apparently he was on the point of refusing to
arouse the general, but he thought better of it, shrugged his shoulders
and turned away.
"One moment," he said brusquely.
He returned a moment later, however, followed by a second figure,
attired in a suit of pajamas and rubbing sleepy eyes.
"General Lejeune?" asked Hal.
"Yes," was the sharp reply. "What is it?"
"We bear a message from General Rhodes, sir," said Hal.
"Well, let's have it, let's have it," exclaimed the general. "I've got
to get back to bed and get some sleep."
"First, sir," said Hal, "I must explain that we came through the German
lines where two or three other couriers lost their lives. General
Rhodes wishes you to understand, sir, that the success of the campaign
depends upon your acting in accordance with his message."
"I have no doubt of it," said General Lejeune. "I have been unable,
since the German wedge was driven between our forces, to get into
communication with General Rhodes or other divisional commanders. I am
isolated here, but at the same time I consider my position impregnable,
so I am standing pat."
Hal and Chester bowed in understanding of the general's explanation, and
the commander of the Second division added:
"Come, sirs, what is the message you bring?"
"General Rhodes' message, sir," said Hal, "is that he requests you to
attack the enemy before Sedan in full force on the evening of November
6, the attack to begin precisely at 6 o'clock."
"Very well," said General Lejeune, "and just what is at the bottom of
this plan--what is to be gained by it?"
"That I do not know, sir," said Hal. "General Rhodes simply asked us to
carry that message. He said that the success of the campaign against
Sedan depended upon you doing your part."
"Well, I'll do it, never fear," said General Lejeune. "I've got one of
the best fighting units in France, and there's not a man in it who's not
dead anxious to get another chance at the Huns. You may take back word
to General Rhodes for me, that I shall act in accordance with his
wishes."
"If it is all the same to you, sir," said Chester with a slight smile,
"we're not going back--not, at least, until the battle of Sedan is
over."
"How's that? How's that?" asked the general in some surprise.
"Why, sir," said Chester, "General Rhodes gave us permission to stay
with you if we deemed it imprudent to try and pierce the enemy's lines
again."
"And you think it would be imprudent?" asked General Lejeune with a
slight smile.
"In view of the trouble we had getting here, yes, sir," replied Chester.
"Very well, then," said the general, "you may remain with us. Colonel
O'Shea, will you find quarters for these gentlemen? By the way, I did
not catch your names."
"Crawford, sir," said Chester.
"Paine, sir," said Hal.
"Very well," General Lejeune continued, "Colonel O'Shea, will you please
see that Major Paine and Major Crawford are provided with suitable
quarters? And will you both report to me at 8 o'clock in the morning,
gentlemen? I may have need of you. The Second division is an
hospitable unit, but you'll find that guests are required to work as
well as home folks."
"We shall be more than glad to do our parts, sir," said Hal.
"Very well. Now you have kept me out of bed long enough. I'll leave
you both to the good graces of Colonel O'Shea, and if he doesn't find
suitable quarters for you, you let me know and I'll have him
court-martialed."
With this, and a smile on his face, the good-natured commander took his
leave.
"By George!" said Hal, as the lads followed Colonel O'Shea from the
general's quarters, "he's the most lively commander I ever did see."
"Full of 'pep' eh?" said Chester with a laugh.
"Yes," Hal agreed, "and I'll bet he's full of the same old 'pep' when it
comes down to business."
And Hal was right.
*CHAPTER XV*
*THE CAPTURE OF SEDAN*
The American advance against Sedan was in full blast. All night the
fighting had raged. Promptly at 6 o'clock on the evening of November 6
General Lejeune had hurled the Second division forward in accordance
with the plans outlined by General Rhodes of the Forty-second.
Apparently the Germans had anticipated the attack, for they were braced
to receive it when the first Yankee troops began to move. The enemy
stood firm--and was continuing to stand firm almost twelve hours after
the assault was launched.
There was a slight chill in the early November air as it grew light.
The air was filled with shrieking shells and shrapnel. Rifle and
machine-gun fire rose even above the noise of the field and siege guns.
Shrill whistles punctuated intervals of seeming silence as American
officers gave orders to their men. In the midst of battle, whistles are
depended upon mainly for signals--also there are signals given with the
hands. The confusion is usually too great to permit verbal orders being
understood.
At the same time that General Lejeune attacked the enemy, General
Rhodes, to the south, also had advanced. But the enemy was holding
stubbornly in that section of the field also, and at 6 o'clock on the
morning of November 7 the American forces had made only slight progress.
However, they were still hammering hard at the German lines.
With a gallantry not exceeded in the annals of the war, the Second
division kept at its task. When one enemy machine-gun nest was
captured, they found themselves targets for others, whose gunners,
discovered, had withheld their fire until the moment when it would be
the most effective.
Another grand assault was ordered by General Lejeune.
The Germans made a determined resistance. They put in fresh troops and
subjected the American lines to a terrific artillery bombardment of high
explosives and gas shells. Directly in the path of the advancing
Americans was a large wood. Although the wood was not yet cleared of
the enemy, the American line here was farther advanced. Many prisoners
had been taken.
A third attack resulted in the capture of still more prisoners and many
machine-guns. In the meantime the Ninth infantry, on the right of that
part of the field where Hal and Chester found themselves, had advanced
its position to the northern edge of the Bois de la Jardin and was
digging in to beat off a possible counter-attack. In fact, the entire
Third brigade, assisted by a battalion of the Second engineers, was
strengthening its lines as well as possible under heavy enemy
machine-gun and artillery fire.
The defensive part played by this brigade was very difficult. Its
losses were heavy as a result of enemy shell fire and gas bombardments,
to which the Third brigade could not at the moment reply. Its duty now
was to hold its lines. Its present action was confined to a rifle and
machine-gun duel with the enemy.
To the south, the First brigade also was hotly engaged. It had advanced
in the face of a terrible artillery and machine-gun fire until at hand
grips with the foe. Then ensued one of the fiercest struggles of the
war.
As in other encounters, the Germans proved no match for the Yankees at
hand-to-hand fighting. They resisted desperately, but gradually were
driven back. The Americans, with wild cheers, pursued them closely.
General Lejeune's center, composed of the Second brigade, with an
additional battalion or two of artillery, also was meeting with greater
success than the Third brigade, which, for the moment, had been checked.
The advance was pushed with desperate energy, and the Germans could not
hold their ground in the face of the withering American fire. The
German center faltered, then broke.
Taking advantage of this success, General Lejeune pushed Brigadier
General Abernathy's Second division into the breach. Immediately, also,
he ordered the First brigade forward in an effort to break through to
the south, while orders were rushed to the hard-pressed Third brigade to
make a final effort.
The task of the Third brigade was easier now. Bereft of its supports,
the German center was obliged to yield ground to the Third brigade or
risk being cut off and surrounded.
The Germans gave ground slowly.
To the south, the First brigade also began to drive the foe more
swiftly. It appeared for a moment that the Germans would suffer a rout.
Under the direction of their officers, however, they braced perhaps half
a mile farther back, and again showed a determined front.
Trenches dug by the Americans were abandoned now as the Yankees poured
forth in pursuit of the enemy. Not a man in the whole Second division
who was not sure that the trenches would never be needed for defensive
purposes. No one knew better the morale of the American troops than did
the men themselves.
Nevertheless, the advance slowed down in the face of the resistance
being offered by the enemy. For a time it appeared that the fighting had
reached a deadlock.
The deciding touch to the battle was furnished by General Rhodes.
Sweeping up from the south, the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh brigades of the
Forty-second division bore off a trifle to the east and then turned
north again, thus catching the enemy on the left flank.
This maneuver, apparently, had not been anticipated by the enemy's
general staff, for it took the Germans by surprise. True, they received
warning in time to wheel machine-guns into position and to place big
guns to rake the Americans as they dashed forward. But the warning had
not been received in time to permit the general staff to alter its plan
of defense, and for this reason proved the blow that broke the backbone
of the enemy's resistance.
The enemy, closely pressed by General Lejeune, had no time to make
changes in his defensive plan necessitated by General Rhodes' sudden
attack. Reinforcements could not be sent to check General Rhodes without
weakening the front opposed to General Lejeune.
General Schindler, after a hasty conference with his staff, ordered a
retreat to the lines just before Sedan. The Germans fell back rapidly.
Neither General Rhodes nor General Lejeune was content to rest with this
advantage, but each decided to push on.
During all this time, the enemy had been successful in keeping a wedge
between the Second and Forty-second American divisions. General
Schindler realized that if he hoped to extricate his men from the trap
sprung by the Americans he must prevent a juncture of the Second and
Forty-second at all hazards.
Now, however, as the attack seemed on the verge of success, General
Lejeune decided that the German wedge separating him from General Rhodes
must be pierced.
Accordingly, without permitting the advance to slacken elsewhere, he
threw the First brigade against it.
For perhaps fifteen minutes the fighting was fast and furious. In vain
the Germans tried to stem the tide in khaki that rushed forward against
them. General Schindler further weakened his center to rush
reinforcements in order to retain the wedge intact.
But it was no use. The Americans were not to be denied. They fought
with the courage and desperation of lions. Little heed did they pay to
the hail of machine-gun bullets that swept them as they advanced.
Artillery and explosive shells failed to stop them. Rifle fire was no
more effective.
Suddenly from the German lines sallied a regiment of cavalry. The
American infantry braced to receive the charge.
At the same time Hal found himself before Colonel Taylor of the First
brigade with dispatches from General Lejeune. He had just delivered
them as the German cavalry sallied forth.
"Great Scott! What a chance to take!" the lad muttered under his
breath. "The Germans must be licked. This move can be for no other
purpose than to give infantry time to withdraw."
The American infantry stood firm as the German cavalry hurled itself
upon them. Not an inch of ground did they give. Horses and men fell in
heaps. Other chargers reeled back, throwing their riders beneath their
hoofs. At the same time the Yankee infantry poured in a hail of rifle
fire.
The Germans retired a pace, reformed and charged again. The result was
the same. Not an inch did the Americans give, and the execution in the
enemy's ranks was fearful to behold.
"I guess that will stop that," Hal told himself.
He was right.
When the enemy's cavalry withdrew a second time it did not reform for a
third charge. Instead, it fell back upon its infantry and artillery
supports, apparently fearing that the American infantry would pursue and
annihilate it.
"I thought so," said Hal.
In the meantime, the German retirement in other parts of the field had
become more rapid. The lines before Sedan were abandoned gradually and
at last there was nothing to keep the Americans from entering the city
save the cannonading of the German artillery from far to the rear of the
town.
But although the bulk of the German army had retired safely to the east
of Sedan, fortune had not been so kind to the two brigades which had
formed the wedge between the Second and Forty-second American divisions.
When General Lejeune's men had pushed back the cavalry attack, General
Rhodes, to the south, had gained an inkling of what was going on.
Accordingly he had ordered an attack upon the hard-pressed foes.
Caught thus between two fires, the Germans tried first to hold their
ground, and, finding this could not be done, to retreat orderly.
But they had delayed too long.
Three regiments of the First brigade of General Lejeune's division had
been hurried forward to cut off a movement, and the Germans, when they
found flight blocked, became disheartened. In spite of the fact that
they outnumbered the little force between them and the bulk of their
army, thousands of men threw down their arms and surrendered. This
forced the others to follow suit or be annihilated.
Less than two hours later, with German shells still falling among them,
American troops entered Sedan.
And the French population, virtual prisoners for many months, received
them with wild acclaim. It was a joyous day for the citizens, indeed.
*CHAPTER XVI*
*AN UNEXPECTED HONOR*
"Sedan at last! This settles the war."
It was Chester who spoke.
"Right you are," replied Hal. "The poor old kaiser's goose is cooked.
Even the most sanguine German can no longer hope for victory."
"I think the kaiser gave up hope a long while ago," said Chester.
"He--Hello, what's up now, I wonder?"
He broke off suddenly and pointed to a horseman who came galloping into
the town from the east, gesticulating excitedly as he rode along. Words
that he shouted as he dashed forward seemed to create great excitement
among the villagers, who, all day, had been parading the streets in
celebration of the American occupation of the city.
"Don't know," said Hal. "We'll try and get close enough to hear what he
says."
As the man drew close, the lads saw that he was a German cavalryman. It
appeared strange to both boys that he was thus permitted to ride free,
as the feelings of the villagers were very strong against the Germans.
But it soon became apparent that the message he brought secured him
immunity.
"What's that he said?" asked Chester, with hand to his ear.
"I didn't catch it," said Hal. "Here, get in front of him. We'll stop
his wild ride."
Chester needed no urging. The lads stepped directly in front of the
galloping horse. Hal produced his revolvers.
The rider checked his steed. Hal approached him.
"Dismount," said the lad in German.
The rider did so.
"Now," said Hal, "what's all the excitement? You seem to have something
on your mind. What is it?"
"Haven't you heard the news?" demanded the rider.
"I wouldn't be asking you if I had," said Hal. "What is it?"