WAR
"They've come, then!" said Paul. "That means war. Look at his
uniform--I never saw a German soldier looking like that before."
It was true. The uniform seemed to melt into the landscape; it was
indeterminate, greenish gray in color. Even the spike of the helmet
did not catch the rays of the sinking sun; it was covered with the
dull, neutral colored cloth.
"I hope he isn't going to stay there," said Arthur. Their voices had
sunk to whispers. Though there was no chance that the vidette would
hear them, his very presence had the effect of quieting them. There
was a tremendous difference, somehow, between thinking of an invasion,
between realizing that it was inevitable that German troops should pour
into Belgium, and the actual sight of one of the enemy.
"I don't think he will," said Paul. "He's just scouting, I think.
Probably he will ride back soon. And they can't be very near--the main
body, that is. If they were we'd hear something of them."
Then before Arthur could answer, something happened. The air trembled,
and a dull sound, echoing again and again, came to them. The two
scouts stared at one another; then they turned, together, to look at
the Uhlan, and saw that he had heard it, too, and was listening
sharply. The light was full on his face, and they could see that it
wore an awed expression. And well it might! They had heard the sound
of the first heavy gun that was fired in anger in the war of the
nations!
"That gun was some distance away. I should think it might have been
fired at Fleron," said Paul. "The siege must have begun."
And now the air was full of sound. First from one side, then from the
other, batteries and forts joined in the chorus. All around them, it
seemed, the great voices of the guns were speaking. Soon individual
explosions ceased to stand out; everything was merged into a heavy,
dull roar that beat against their ears and filled the air with a
continuous tremor. Sometimes the roar rose in volume when a new
battery came into action. For a few minutes Paul and Arthur were
absorbed. They listened, spellbound, to the roar of the guns. There
was something unreal about it. It did not seem possible that those
guns were being fired to kill and destroy, for, as they looked out,
everything was peaceful still. Save when their eyes fell upon the
Uhlan, mounted on his horse. He sat in his saddle, stiff, erect, the
very type of the vast army of which he was a tiny, undistinguishable
part--as a rule. Now he was that army, for the two who watched him.
Still they stared while the shadows advanced, eating into the light
spaces that remained, until grey dusk settled over everything, and he
seemed to slip into it, and become a part of the landscape. Then his
horse moved; he turned, and cantered slowly out of sight.
His going somehow seemed to break a spell.
"Come! We must see what's going on back there," said Paul. "We can
see the battery, you know, if those crosses really mean that a battery
was to be located on the spot we had placed from the map."
They went to the other side of the little garage and looked out. And,
to the east, on a piece of rising ground, that would have been hidden
had the de Frenard house still stood, as it had stood before the fire,
they saw something that looked like a picture of an inferno.
There was a great gash in the woods, where trees had been cut down
ruthlessly. Against the background of the woods that had been spared,
a lurid glare threw everything into relief. Great arc lights had been
strung, so that a space of ground was as bright as day, and in the
light hundreds of men were working. In one place a great furnace was
blazing, and the ruddy glow from that cast a crimson light against the
cold, white radiance of the electric lamps. Steam cranes were at work;
huge cannon were being moved into place on the pedestals that had been
prepared for them in advance.
"We were right!" said Paul, exultingly. "That is to be a great
battery. They must be very powerful guns, too, or else they would have
been ready with the rest, and in action by this time. Ah! I'm glad I
thought of the telephone!"
"How fast they are working!" said Arthur. That was what caught his eye
in the strange, weird scene. There was no confusion, despite the
extraordinary efforts that were obviously being made to hasten the
work. Every man, as they could see, even at that distance, knew
exactly what he was to do. It seemed that the whole operation must
have been planned far in advance, even rehearsed. Such perfect team
work could not be the result of chance, nor even of unusually good
discipline. No, somewhere in Germany just such scenes must have been
enacted in time of peace, that when the grim, harsh test of real war
came there might be no delay, no lost motions, no trifling, unforeseen
hitch to render useless all the elaborate plan that had been made.
This might be war, but it was a grim, cold business, too.
"It's like going to see the steel works at Seraing at night," said
Paul. "Except that there's less glare from the blast furnaces, of
course."
"A good many of those men aren't in uniform," said Arthur, his keen
eyes taking in details as he grew more accustomed to the strange and
awe inspiring grandeur of the scene as a whole.
"They're probably workmen from Essen," said Paul. He had a pair of
binoculars out now, and was looking closely at every detail of the
scene.
"But why should they be there? This is a time for soldiers."
"Not altogether, Arthur. I know--don't you remember what Uncle Henri
told us?--that a lot of the workmen from Seraing would have to be along
with some of the new field artillery pieces, because the secrets of
some things are kept even from the soldiers. Those are probably some
of the men from the Krupp works, brought here just to handle these big
guns."
"Well, they take their chances, just like soldiers, if they do that,
don't they?"
"Of course. They really are soldiers, just as much as the others, but
they have special work to do, that they're trained for. That's the
only difference."
"What are we going to do now?"
"We're going to try to spoil the little surprise these Germans are
preparing for Boncelles and Embourg," said Paul, gritting his teeth.
"You stay here by this window, Arthur. I'm going down to telephone to
Boncelles. If anyone comes near, tell me at once. It's awfully
important, you know, to keep them from finding out about our telephone
wire just as long as we can. And listen, in case I call to you. I'll
want a quick answer, if I do."
"All right, Paul."
Down Paul went, then, to the gasoline pit. Lying at full length, he
drew the telephone instrument from the cunningly devised hiding place
he and Arthur had arranged for it. He was fearful for a moment; there
was a chance, and more than a chance, that the German scouts might have
found and cut the wire; they would certainly have tried to cut every
telephone and telegraph wire in the neighborhood, as the first and most
obvious precaution. But after a brief delay he was delighted to hear
an answering voice.
Quickly he explained who he was, and found that his call had been
expected. In a moment an artillery officer, who said he was Lieutenant
Delaunay, was speaking.
"What information have you?" he asked, quickly. "I have your maps here
before me."
"Find the one that shows the Ourthe and the ground before Boncelles and
Embourg," said Paul.
"Right!"
"Mark the house of M. de Frenard, destroyed last night by fire."
"I have it!"
"Good! To the east of the house the ground slopes upward. It is well
sheltered from observation by the fort. Your searchlights would be
blocked by the woods between the fort and the house. But there is a
spot marked on the map by a group of crosses. Do you see it?"
"Right! We decided that would be a battery. The other forts report
that they have been fired on from points marked on the maps that you
supplied, and that by concentrating their fire on the points indicated
on these maps they have silenced a number of field guns."
"I am glad," said Paul, quietly. "I was sure that the information
would prove to be valuable. Well, then, this battery is not of field
guns. That is why you have heard no firing from it as yet. They are
working now, by electric light, and are placing heavy guns--not the
very heaviest, I should say, but far heavier pieces than would usually
be at the front so soon--probably seven inch mortars."
"Seven inch mortars! That sounds almost incredible!"
"None the less, it is true. You may open fire at once on the spots
marked on your map, and do great damage. We are in a position here to
tell you whether your shells land properly or not--we can see the
battery from here. Will you fire?"
"At once!" said Delaunay. "Go and watch for the shells--then report to
us, if you can, whether they were properly aimed. You will be of the
greatest service to us if you can do that. It is of the last
importance that that battery should not come into action against
us--these forts were not intended, when they were built, to withstand
the battery of such heavy guns as that!"
Thrilled by the knowledge that the risks he and Arthur had run the
previous night had not been in vain, Paul went upstairs and rejoined
Arthur. To the east, where the frantic efforts of the Germans to get
their heavy artillery into position for the opening attack were still
continued, there was no apparent change in the situation.
"No one has come near," said Arthur. "Was the wire working? What did
they say at Boncelles?"
Paul told him, and they settled down to wait It was nervous work, tense
and anxious. Two of the guns--they counted six of them, in all--were
already in position, and finishing touches were being put to them.
"Oh, why don't they hurry?" complained Arthur. "The Germans are not
going to wait for them to be ready to fire."
"Listen," said Paul. "The fire is slackening a little, I think. You
can see that what we did had some use--they have silenced a good many
German guns already, through knowing just where to aim."
"What's that?" exclaimed Arthur, suddenly.
Overhead a strange noise filled the air; a shrieking, whining,
whistling sound. It rose, as it came nearer, to a wild whistle, like
the blast of a factory signal, releasing the workers at the end of the
day's work. The two scouts stared at one another; then, without
knowing why, they turned to look at the busy scene to the east.
Suddenly, before their eyes, there was a flash; a puff of white smoke
rising in the ghostly radiance of the arc lamps, and, after a distinct
pause, a dull crash. Then, as the smoke cleared, and they still stood
awe stricken, they saw that the bursting shell had torn a great hole in
the ground. They saw men running; others were crawling, dragging
themselves painfully along. And others still lay very quiet.
For just a moment there was a scene of wild confusion. But then order
was restored, and a knot of men ran to the two guns that were uninjured
and ready. Paul dived down at once. Quickly he told what had
happened, then raced up again. Another whistling overhead, and then a
terrific explosion. The two guns lay overturned, ruined.