WITH THE FRENCH AT THE FRONT
“It’s all over but the shouting, fellows!” cried Giraffe, holding the
boat steady in the current by means of his push-pole, while with his
companions he watched to see what was transpiring over on the further
shore.
The shells from the French battery continued to burst amidst the rapidly
scattering Uhlans, showing the wonderful accuracy of the gunners’ aim.
Knowing that it would be simple madness to attempt a further advance in
the face of such a raking fire, the Germans had done the only possible
thing under the circumstances. This was to scatter like a flock of sheep
into the midst of which a wolf has suddenly leaped.
The four scouts no longer found any reason to fear those riders; in
fact, the shoe was on the other foot now, and the Uhlans were fleeing
from the peril that lay in French shells.
Giraffe clapped his hands excitedly and indulged in some of his
characteristic sayings as he applauded the fine work of their friends a
quarter of a mile away, it might be.
“Oh! look!” cried Bumpus, “there’s some one swimming across the river
below us!”
“It’s our friend, the driver of the caisson!” snapped Giraffe
immediately. “Glad he escaped being hit with any of his own shells when
he let her go bang. Say, this is something like it now. It makes a heap
of difference whose ox is gored, they tell us. And mebbe those Uhlan
lancers don’t feel so stuck up, with all that chasing across fields to
get away from the shells. Oh! did you see that one burst right alongside
a rider—and he’s down, sure he is!”
“Isn’t it frightful, though?” exclaimed Bumpus, whose face had as usual
lost all its customary color.
“Let’s get ashore,” suggested Thad, for there might always be a chance
that one of the fugitive riders would appear on the bank, determined to
get even with the boys in the boat, under the impression that they had
served as stalking horses to lure himself and his mates into a trap.
Giraffe started to make use of his pole again, and as Thad also
manipulated the oar they quickly made land. Allan was the first to jump
ashore. He immediately began to draw the bow of the flat-bottom boat up
on the little shelving beach they fortunately found waiting for them.
Then the others tumbled out, Bumpus and his bag being the last to
debark.
About this time the firing ceased as abruptly as it had commenced.
Evidently the one in charge of the field battery considered that it was
useless to expend any more valuable ammunition on such a scattered
detachment on the enemy, especially since the demoralized remnant of the
large Uhlan force was fleeing madly and no longer to be feared.
The driver of the destroyed caisson had by this time managed to crawl
out of the water. He shook himself much after the manner of a big dog
after a swim, and then came toward the boys, who happened to be near the
road leading away from the former bridge.
They met him in a spirit of genuine boyish enthusiasm, each fellow
insisting on shaking hands with the Frenchman, which act caused him to
smile with pleasure. Then the little party started along the road,
hoping to come in contact with the battery before fresh orders caused it
to change positions again.
In this they were successful, and before long they found themselves
surrounded by men in the French blue, who acted in a most friendly
fashion. The one in command exchanged a few sentences with the driver.
Thad, listening, had reason to believe that he was commending the
discretion of the man in destroying his charge rather than take chances
of having it fall into the hands of the enemy.
Then came their turn. In a few short sentences Thad managed to explain
who they were and how they happened to be there. It was fortunate that
the French captain of the guns could speak English.
“We would be under great obligations to you, M’sieu the Captain, if we
were allowed to ride on one of the caissons further, in case you may be
going on,” Thad wound up with.
He must have made a very pronounced impression on the soldier, for it
was really an unusual request, and one that under normal conditions
could not very well be granted. But after a brief period of
consideration the officer nodded his head in the affirmative, much to
the secret delight of Bumpus in particular.
“We are about to start for a new position,” was what the captain said,
briefly; “and no doubt room may be found for you on a couple of the
caissons. You must be good friends to France to be made a target for
Uhlan guns. Yes, after all, it is but a little thing, and no harm can
come of it. So find your seats, young Messieurs, for we are off
immediately.”
The gunners and the drivers of ammunition carts were eager to
accommodate. Somehow it seemed as though they looked on Thad and his
three chums as allies. Possibly this came of their having shared dangers
of the driver who blew up his store of ammunition lest it fall into the
hands of the invading foe.
Thad and Bumpus were given seats on one caisson while the other boys
found room on a second. The driver who had no longer a charge also
secured a lift, for it turned out there was another seat vacant on a
gun; and the fact that one of the other men had a bloody bandage wrapped
around his left arm told the story of the shrapnel that had burst
overhead.
So they were soon on the road, the horses again galloping under the
incentive of both voices and lashes. Thad took note of the fact that
their progress was in a southerly direction. From this he knew that by
degrees the battery would manage to swing around until it reached a
location much nearer the spot where that furious boom of great guns told
of a battle in progress.
The boys all knew that they were yielding to the great temptation that
had waylaid them. By rights they should be heading directly for Paris
instead of allowing themselves to be tempted to follow along the course
of the French army. Bumpus, if given the opportunity, might have taken
that course, but it was a case of three against one, and he had no
choice in the matter but to keep right along with the balance of the
company.
In fact, to tell the truth, much as Thad and Allan and Giraffe would
like to please such a beloved chum as Bumpus, they just could not resist
the yearning to try and see more of the tremendous historical events
that were transpiring on those battlefields of France, so near the
capital that the boom of the big guns might almost be faintly heard
there, if the wind proved favorable.
Discretion was thrown to the winds. Such a grand chance to witness the
making of history came but once in a life-time, and they would be silly
to deliberately cast it aside when it was offered to them for the
taking.
All they had to do was to sit there and allow themselves to be carried
along to the new location of the fast-moving field battery, evidently
now scheduled to take a more active part in the day’s engagement.
Thad knew that he was doing a very rash thing. His conscience also
reproached him whenever he thought of poor Bumpus, for it was really a
pity that the stout chum, who did not have much stomach for fighting and
exciting adventures, should be dragged into their midst. Thad tried to
salve his conscience by telling himself that they might run across a
chance whereby they could make themselves useful in some capacity,
perhaps by assisting the ambulance corps connected with the Red Cross.
Sooner or later he knew there would be many Americans enlisted in this
humane work, and it would at least give them a valid excuse for being
there on the field of battle.
Now they came on other detachments of the French army, men working big
guns that seemed to fairly shatter the surrounding atmosphere each time
they were fired. The enormous missiles that they sent for a distance of
miles must have torn terrible holes in whatever they struck.
The enemy could not be seen at all, which the boys considered most
remarkable. But Thad knew how the commanders made use of artificial eyes
in the shape of powerful field-glasses; and besides, there were several
aeroplanes darting back and forth above in the blue heavens, the
operators of which doubtless continued to send valuable information down
by means of a prearranged system of signals.
Still they kept moving on along the encircling road. Evidently they had
not yet come to their appointed station, where an attack was expected,
and scores of field guns would be needed to mow down the grayish-green
clad lines of the Germans before they came within reach of the
rapid-fire pieces.
All the time the boys noticed that they were passing through heavy
masses of troops eager for action. Temporary trenches had been thrown
up, a mere shadow of an excuse when compared with the wonderful concrete
creations that later on became such a part of warfare along the Aisne.
Behind these ridges of earth the soldiers in blue lay, watching and
waiting for the coming of their enemies, and ready to do their duty with
gun and bayonet after the customary gallant French style.
Many curious glances were cast in the direction of the four boys in
khaki who sat with the drivers of the caissons. Perhaps they were taken
for English lads, as had happened more than once before, and in some
fashion connected with the new alliance that was being formed between
France and her neighbor across the Channel.
Then the battery came to a pause. Thad guessed what it meant, so that he
hardly had need to discover the captain making motions to him. They must
jump down now and take care of themselves.
According, Thad left his seat, in which action he was speedily followed
by the other three boys. Bumpus even grinned a little, as though
pleased. It had been a regular nightmare for a time for the fat boy,
clinging desperately to some frail support alongside, as the ammunition
wagon bowled recklessly along the rutty road, and jolting the breath
from his body with fits and starts.
So they saw their good friends leave them, still heading for their
appointed position in the long line that waited for the coming of the
gray hosts of the Kaiser. The boys discovered the driver waving his hand
back to them, and as one they sent an answering signal. They never set
eyes on him, or any of his comrades again; and if they actually survived
the horrors of the amazing Battle of the Marne the fact remained a
mystery to Thad and his comrades. Still, in times to come, they would
often delight to recall their adventure of the road and the river, and
wonder what became of the French caisson driver who blew up his
ammunition wagon rather than yield his charge to the foe.
What they should do now was a question. No doubt their presence on the
firing line would not long be tolerated. Thad expected some officer to
come along at almost any minute and demand to know who they were and by
what right they were at the front, when all boys of their age should be
far in the rear. He was also prepared to do anything that military
authority might decree, though cherishing a vague hope that by some
means they might be able to secure glimpses of the battle destined to
decide the fate of Paris.
Men were around them chattering in French and looking curiously at the
cluster of lads in khaki. Had it been a German camp they would very
likely have been under a volley of gruff questions as to the reason of
their presence; but the French are by nature exceedingly polite, and so
far no one had ventured to question their right to be there.
All about them could be heard the thunderous discharge of the big guns
that were shelling depots of the enemy and trying to delay the
inevitable advance of the German army corps threatening the capital from
the northwest. The air at all times throbbed with these mighty shocks.
Shells, too, from enemy guns could be heard exploding here and there,
showing that it was a game of “give and take” on both sides.
About this time Thad noticed that they were beginning to be the centre
of a considerable crowd. Men passing by stopped to observe the four lads
and comment in their voluble way. Still, there were no unfriendly
glances cast upon them, which was one comfort. In good time, no doubt,
an officer would bustle up and proceed to ply them with questions. Thad
hoped he could satisfy the demands that would be made upon them. Bumpus,
on his part, was secretly wishing that the French commander might be so
taken with their looks that he would be pleased to invite them to join
him in a jolly little dinner shortly, for Bumpus had lately become aware
of the fact that he was decidedly hungry.
“Here he comes now, Thad,” remarked Giraffe, noticing a sudden movement
further along, where the soldiers hastened to fall back and make way for
a number of advancing men in uniform.
Yes, Thad could himself see that one of these bore the insignia of rank
that stamped him at least a colonel. He had made up his mind just what
to say in order not to bore the officer, and at the same time create a
favorable impression on his mind.
Another look caused Thad to begin to feel some uneasiness. He fancied
that the old officer with the white imperial, who had such a decidedly
military air about him, also looked very severe. And that other party at
his side, who was doing considerable talking it seemed, why did he take
it upon himself to point his finger toward the four boys in that
aggressive manner?
Straight up to where the scouts stood came the little party. Thad raised
his hand in respectful salute, in which act he was copied by his mates.
To the astonishment of them all, at a word of command from the officer,
two soldiers stepped forward and laid rough hands on poor, astounded
Giraffe, who stood there with his mouth open, simply staring at the
stern colonel.
Thad, listening, heard a word that gave him a nasty shock. It was spoken
by the man in the company of the officer, and had been hissed with much
vehemence.
“Spy!”