THROUGH THE LINES
For a moment Frank's heart sank, but suddenly, a hoarse laugh surprised
him and revived his spirits. It was the Uhlan. He was laughing at them.
"Kinder!" he said, deep down in his throat.
"Nothing so alarming in this," thought Frank, experiencing quick relief,
and awaiting the Uhlan's next words.
"I have my way lost," he said, in a guttural English. "Kannst du
Englisch sprechen?"
"I am an American," said Frank, at the same time nudging Henri, and
hoping that he would understand it as a signal to keep still. "Where do
you want to go?"
"That matters not," said the German, cautiously. "Only tell me, which
way from here is Amiens?"
They told him.
"And where does the road to St. Quentin turn off from this one?"
"It is the next turn, to your left," said Frank, truthfully.
"Good! Then I will be going. Go home, kinder. You will get into trouble
if you stay hereabout."
He vaulted upon his horse, and the next moment they heard hoofs
clattering along the hard road, and, looking after him, could see the
sparks as the iron clashed with the flint of the road's surface.
"That was easy!" said Frank, with a gasp of relief.
"He was alone," said Henri.
"Carrying despatches, I expect," said Frank. "He wouldn't tell us where
he was going, naturally, but I bet he's looking for those other troops
we saw. Dangerous work, too. But I wonder where he came from. If there
are more Uhlans in front, we may get into trouble."
"Suppose we hide the bicycles near here and go along through the
fields? Don't you think that will be better, Frank?" was Henri's
cautious suggestion.
"Yes, I suppose it will, though it will be slower, too."
"Of course. But if we are going to be stopped all the time along this
road, we'll really save time in the end by doing it."
So they made a cache, as Frank told Henri it should be called, hiding
their wheels so that they would have a chance of recovering them if they
came back this way. They marked the spot not only by landmarks, but by
the stars, which were beginning to dot the sky now.
"There may be fighting here," said Frank. "And if there is, this place
may look very different before we see it again. If there is a battle the
trees will go, and the fences, and all the houses for if they are not
burned deliberately, the shells will destroy them."
"Look, Frank, what is that?"
Henri had turned and was pointing now to the north. There a stream of
white light shot into the air, then dropped, and left only its
reflection. But in a moment others joined it, and the whole sky to the
north was brilliantly lighted. It was like a display of Northern Lights,
only nearer and even more brilliant.
"Searchlights, of course," said Frank. "They can throw them on the
trenches--and they're good to guard against aeroplanes and dirigibles,
too. At night, you see, there'd be a chance for aeroplanes to fly very
low and do a lot of damage."
"Can't they hear the engines from the ground?"
"Not always. They have mufflers on a good many aeroplane motors now, so
that they don't make any more noise than a quiet automobile."
"I didn't know that. Well, there's one good thing about the
searchlights. We know which way to go. Come on."
"All right. The more I think of it, the better it is not to be on the
roads. Here in the fields we're a lot less likely to run into stray
parties. And I'd just about as soon meet Germans as allies. If they're
retreating and having trouble, they might hold us up as long as the
Germans would. They wouldn't believe we really had despatches."
For a time they made good, steady progress. The roar of artillery fire
in front of them had been resumed, and now it filled the air, proving
that they were much closer to the battle. The great waves of sound beat
against their ears, making their heads swim at first, but gradually they
grew used to it, and could hear other and more trivial sounds--the
chirping of night insects and the occasional hooting of owls.
"I don't hear the rifle fire," said Henri, after a time. "Only once in a
while, that is. Why is that, I wonder? Are the big guns drowning it?"
"No. Because if that were the reason, we wouldn't hear it at all. I
think they don't do that at night. It's just a case of trying to find
the places where the enemy's troops are massed, and keeping up a steady
fire of shells to drive them out. Maybe the searchlights help. They've
been fighting all day, you know, and even soldiers have to have some
rest. They have to eat and sleep or they can't keep up the work."
They crossed more than one road, but stuck to the fields, travelling in
a straight line as nearly as they could figure their course. When they
had decided to join the Boy Scouts, both had studied the stars, since a
knowledge of the heavens is one of the most important things about
scouting, and they found what they had learned very valuable now. Thus
they could keep their bearings, though owing to their desertion of the
roads, Henri confessed that he had very little idea of where they were.
"Along the roads one has landmarks," he said. "I have gone all through
here, over and over again. My father used to drive this way very often
in our automobile."
"Well, we can't go very far wrong," said Frank, cheerfully. "All we've
got to do is to follow the old German maxim, 'March on the cannon
thunder!' That was their one rule in 1870, you know and a very good
rule it proved too."
So they went on. And they still seemed to be a long way from the seat of
the heavy artillery firing when a challenge halted them, as they were
about to cross a road.
"'Alt! 'Oo goes there?" called a cockney voice sharply.
"Friends," cried Frank, instantly.
"'Alt, friends, while I 'as a look at you," said the sentry.
"Call your officer, please. We are carrying despatches," said Frank.
"I'll call 'im, all right. My word! You ain't nothin' but kiddies, you
ain't! 'Ere! Corporal of the guard! I sye! Corporal of the guard!"
He raised his voice in the shout, and a minute or so later a corporal
appeared.
"Came up to me, sir," said the sentry. "Said as 'ow they wanted me to
call the officer of the guard. Carryin' despatches, they sye they is."
"All right," said the corporal, briskly. "Come with me, my lads. Step
smartly when you're told or you may be shot," in a genial voice.
They followed him through a field that seemed deserted, then came to a
small cluster of tents, where they stopped.
"Wait here," said the corporal. "I'll bring the lieutenant."
They did not have long to wait before a young officer approached them.
"My word!" he said, when he saw how young they were. "What are you
youngsters doing here?"
"We're looking for headquarters, sir," said Frank. "We are carrying
despatches from Amiens."
"All right! Give them to me, and I'll see that they're forwarded, my
lads," said the officer, with a grin.
"We can't do that, sir," said Frank. "Our orders are to carry them to
headquarters--and to give the word Mezieres."
"Ah, that's different, now," said the officer. "Corporal, give me two
men to take these despatch-bearers through the lines," came the order.
The giving of the word had made a great change in his attitude. It was
plain that before that he had not taken them seriously, but had supposed
them to be playing some prank. Now, however, he looked at them
curiously.
"Boy Scouts?" he suggested.
"Yes, sir," said Frank. "Detailed to special duty, without uniforms."
"I see! Jolly plucky of you, I call it. I say, you're not French, my
lad, are you? How did you get here? Well, never mind! Here's your
escort. Be off with you, now."
Their troubles were over now. Within five minutes they were at
headquarters. There a weary staff officer received them. They saluted.
"Very well," he said. "Give me your despatches."
Each of them produced his handful of marbles from his pocket, and laid
them solemnly before the major. He stared, first at the marbles, then at
them.
"What sort of a silly prank is this?" he roared. "Do you think we've
nothing better to do than to waste time in jokes? If you were men--"
"We are obeying orders, sir," said Frank, quietly. "Those are the
despatches Colonel Menier at Amiens gave us to deliver. He said that
only one officer here would know what they meant, and how to get the
despatches."
"O, I beg your pardon," said the major. He took down his telephone. "Ask
if despatches are expected from Amiens," he said, into the instrument.
"And find out who is in charge."
"There is another matter, sir," said Frank. "We saw German troops as we
came here."
"Uhlans. Yes, they're all around behind us. One squadron of them was cut
up when it attacked a convoy. There aren't many of them."
"No, sir, I didn't mean Uhlans. There is a force of infantry--five
thousand men, we estimated--"
"What?" thundered the major, springing to his feet, "You must be
dreaming! Where did you think you saw them? And where were they?"
Frank explained.
"It sounds incredible," said the major, frowning. "Come! I'll take you
to General Smith-Derrien. If that's true, it's highly important news.
Here, show me on this map just the place where you say you saw them."
Frank and Henri pointed at once to the wood in which the German infantry
had vanished, then followed the major out of the room.