THE END OF LABENSTEIN
How long they lay entombed in the German tunnel the moving picture boys
did not know. They must have been unconscious for some time.
Joe was the first to regain his senses. Telling about it later, he said
he dreamed that he had been taking views in Earthquake Land and that,
somehow or other, a volcano had fallen on his chest. He had difficulty
in breathing, and no wonder, for as he came to his senses he found that
a great rock and a pile of earth were across him.
Slowly at first, fearing to move much because he might bring down more
débris on himself, Joe felt about. He found that his arms and hands were
comparatively free, though partly buried in earth.
"I say!" he called, and his voice sounded strange in that dark and
broken tunnel, "is any one here but me? Blake! Charlie! Are you alive?"
No one answered, and then, feeling his strength coming back, Joe
ventured to move. He found that he could manage to emerge from the pile
of earth and stones that had fallen on him, fortunately none over his
head. When he ventured to stand upright he tried to pierce the darkness
and find out what had become of his chums.
But he could see nothing until he thought of his pocket lamp and, taking
it in his hand, flashed it about him. The light revealed to him the
figures of Blake and Charlie, lying not far away and covered with débris
as he had been.
He set the little light on a rock, leaving the switch on, and by the
intense but limited glow, he set to work to free his companions. Blake's
head was bleeding from the cut of a sharp rock, but he, like Joe and
Charlie, had fallen in such a way, or rather, the cave-in had taken
place in such a manner, that their heads and faces were comparatively
free from dirt, else they would have been smothered.
Joe worked feverishly to free his chums and at length succeeded in
freeing his assistant, who, of the two, was less covered by the débris.
Charlie opened his eyes and looked about him, asking:
"What happened? Where am I?"
"Don't stop to ask questions now," directed Joe. "Help me with Blake.
I'm afraid he's hurt!"
The two together got their chum cleared of the débris finally, and then
Joe, taking a flask of cold coffee from his pocket, gave his now
half-unconscious chum some to drink. This served further to rouse Blake,
and it was soon found, aside from a painful cut on the head, that he was
uninjured except for bruises, such as they all had.
"But what happened?" asked Charlie, as they sat down to rest on some
rocks and took turns finishing Joe's limited supply of coffee.
"The tunnel caved in on us after a big explosion of some kind," Joe
said. "I guess we're going to have trouble getting out, too."
"Let's have a look," suggested Blake. "We can't stay in here much longer
or more of the roof and sides may cave in. Can we get out?"
"I haven't looked," answered Joe. "I wanted to get the dirt off you
fellows. I'm afraid we're caught, though."
And they were. An examination, made with the pocket lights, showed them
that the way back was blocked by a mass of rock and earth and that no
progress ahead could be made for the same reason.
"I guess we'll have to dig our way out," said Joe.
"What with?" asked Charlie.
"Some of the broken boards that held up the tunnel," was the answer, and
Joe pointed to pieces of timber that had been splintered and shattered
by the cave-in.
"Yes, it's the only way out," agreed Blake, who, now that his cut had
been bound up with bandages from the first-aid kits the boys carried,
felt better. "We'll have to dig out." And after a short rest they began
this work.
A terrible fear was upon them, a fear greater than that caused by their
capture by the Germans with the possibility of being shot as spies. It
was the fear of a horrible death--buried alive.
They dug as best they could for some time with the broken boards, their
hands becoming cut and bruised by the rough edges. And yet, with all
their efforts, they could not see that they had gained much.
They were digging back along the way they had come in, for, as Blake
said, they knew how long the tunnel was in that direction, but they did
not know how far it extended the other way.
"Is it of any use to continue?" asked Joe wearily, when they had been
digging for what seemed several hours, though really it was not as long
as that.
"Of course we've got to continue!" declared Blake, half savagely. "We
can't give up now--and die!"
"We may die anyhow," said Joe.
They were resting in the darkness after strenuous digging. In the dark
because, to save the battery, they had switched off the electric light
by which they had been working.
Charlie turned to look back. They had been piling the earth behind them
as they worked, but there was not much of it as yet. They had made but
small impression on the débris that hemmed them in. And as Charlie
looked he uttered a cry.
"What is it?" asked Blake.
"A light! Don't you see a light there?" Charlie demanded. "See! Back
there through the chinks in the rock. See, a flickering light!"
There was no doubt of it! There was a gleam of light, and it appeared to
come from a point where some fallen rocks were loosely piled.
Dropping their boards, which they had been using for shovels, the boys
climbed as near as they could to the hole. In the dark as they were, the
light showed plainly.
"Can you see anything?" asked Charlie of Joe, who was nearest.
"No, only some figures moving about. It seems like some sort of dugout
beyond there, and it hasn't caved in. Maybe it's the end of the tunnel."
"Did you say you can see somebody in there?" asked Blake.
"Yes; figures moving about."
"Call to them."
"Maybe they're Germans!" exclaimed Charlie.
"They probably are," Blake answered. "But we've got to be rescued from
here and take our chance with them. It's better than being buried alive.
Hello, there!" he shouted. "Help us get out!" and he began tearing at
the stones with his hands.
Seeing his object, his chums helped him. And then some one on the other
side of the rocky barrier also began pulling down the stones, so that in
a little while, the light becoming momentarily greater, the boys saw a
way of escape open to them.
But it was a strange way. For when the rocks had been pulled down
sufficiently to enable them to crawl through, they emerged into a
space--a small room, as it were--walled with solid logs. Logs also
formed the roof. It was a room lighted by a lantern, and on a pile of
bags in one corner lay a huddled figure of a man. Standing near him was
another man--a man in a ragged blue uniform--and at the sight of his
face Blake murmured:
"Lieutenant Secor!"
"At your service!" said the Frenchman, bowing slightly.
"No!" bitterly cried Blake. "Not at _our_ service--you traitor!"
The Frenchman seemed to wince, but at that moment a call from the
huddled man in the corner attracted his attention. He bent over him,
drew back the covering and revealed in the lantern's glow the face of
Labenstein.
The German raised himself on one elbow, and a wild look came over his
face. His eyes gleamed brightly for a moment.
"They--they here!" he murmured. "Well, perhaps it is better so."
"How better? What does he mean?" asked Blake. "Does he think----"
"Hush!" and the Frenchman spoke softly. "This is the end--of
Labenstein!" And even as he spoke the man fell back dead.
Lieutenant Secor seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, as though the death
of the other had brought a great release to him.
"Now I can speak," said the officer. "Now I can explain, and perhaps you
will again regard me as a friend," he said softly.
"Well," returned Blake, "you probably saved our lives by helping us get
out of the tunnel. But as for being friends with----"
"Please do not say it," begged the lieutenant. "I have had to play a
part. It is over now. I can again take my place with my comrades and
fight openly for France. For I have learned all his secrets and whence
the spy-leaks came. Now my unpleasant mission is over!"
"What--what do you mean?" asked Joe, beginning, as did his chums, to
have an inkling of the truth. "Aren't you two working together against
us and for Germany?"
"Never I!" cried the Frenchman. "I am a member of the French Secret
Service, and for months I have consorted with that dog!" and he pointed
at the dead man. "I but played a part to gain his confidence and to
learn from what sources Germany was getting her secret information about
our soldiers and yours. Now I know. I will explain. But come, we must
get out of here."
"Can we get out?" asked Blake.
"Surely, yes. The tunnel goes from here into the German trenches, and
the other end was not damaged by the explosion."
"But," exclaimed Joe, "the German trenches! We don't want to go there to
be captured again."
"Have no fear," said the Frenchman, with a smile. "I should, perhaps,
have said what _were_ the German trenches. They are now held by some of
your own troops--the brave Americans!"
"They are?" cried Charlie.
"That is true! You shall see!"
"Hurrah!" cried the moving picture boys, and their fears and weariness
seemed to depart from them in a moment.
"The great airship raid was a success," went on the Frenchman. "Our
troops and yours have made a big advance, and have captured many
prisoners. They would have had Labenstein, but he is beyond prisons now.
Let us go hence! Even dead I can not endure his company. I suffered much
on his account."
"Well, things are happening so fast I don't know which to begin to think
of first," remarked Joe. "But, on general principles, I presume it's a
good thing to get out of this tunnel. Come on, boys."
"One moment," interposed the lieutenant. "Perhaps you will like to take
these with you."
He stooped and lifted a pile of trench bags, and the boys saw the boxes
of moving picture films.
"Ours?" cried Joe.
"None else," answered the Frenchman. "I trust you will find them all
right."
"Not a seal broken!" reported Charlie, who had quickly examined the
cases. "This is great!"
Together, hardly able to believe their good luck, they made their way
out of the log-protected room--once a German bomb-proof dugout. As they
emerged into the trenches, carrying the films, the boys saw American
soldiers.
"The Stars and Stripes!" cried Charlie, as he noted the United States
flag. "Now we're all right!"
"Whew! We did make some advance!" added Blake, as they saw how the
battle lines of the French and Americans had been extended since they
had crawled into No Man's Land the night before.
The boys learned later that the airship raid was the forerunner of a big
offensive that had been carried out when they were held prisoners and in
the tunnel. The Germans had been driven back with heavy loss, and one of
their ammunition dumps, or storage places, had been blown up, which had
caused the collapse of the tunnel.
That the moving picture boys were welcomed by the soldiers, among whom
they had many friends, goes without saying. And the recovery of the
films was a matter for congratulation, for they were considered very
valuable to the army.
"Though it was Lieutenant Secor who really saved them for us," explained
Blake, when the story of their adventure was being told.
"And I am glad the time has come when Lieutenant Secor can appear in his
true light," said Captain Black. "Even I suspected him, and he lost many
friends who will come back to him, now that he risked all to serve his
country in a rôle seldom honored--that of getting secret intelligence
from the enemy."
For that is what the French lieutenant had been doing. Even while he was
in the United States, where the boys first met him, he had been playing
that part.
"But I assure you," he said to Blake and the others, "that the
destruction of your films by my auto was an accident. When I found you
believed it done purposely I let it go that way, as it helped me play my
part the better. Also, I had to act in a manner to make you believe I
was a friend of Labenstein. But that was all a part."
And it had not been an easy part for the French officer to play. He had,
in ways of his own, come to suspect Labenstein, who went under various
names, sometimes that of Karl Kooder. This man, who held forged
citizenship papers of the United States, was a German spy and had done
much to aid the Kaiser. But he accepted Lieutenant Secor as a co-worker,
on the latter's representation that he, too, was a friend of Germany, or
rather, as the Frenchman made Labenstein think, was willing to become so
for a sum of money. So the two seemingly worked together.
"And it was thus you knew us," said the lieutenant to the boys.
"Labenstein, to use one of his names, had orders to make all the trouble
he could for you when you reached France, and to prevent your getting
any pictures, if possible. Of course he could not do that, but he tried,
even to the extent of writing a false note in London that caused your
arrest. I had, seemingly, to help him, but all the while I was
endeavoring to find out where the leak was on our side that enabled him
to profit. And I found out. The leak will be stopped.
"I even seemed to join Labenstein in signaling the submarine, though
that night, had he really succeeded in calling her with your light, I
would have killed him where he stood. However, the depth charge solved
that question.
"I had to escape from the ship with him to lull his suspicions against
me. Then I went into the German ranks with him, being thought a
deserter! That was hard for me, but I had my duty to perform.
"The rest you know. It was by a mere chance that Labenstein, when I was
with him, came upon your films after the gas attack. He thought to
profit personally from selling them, which is why he did not turn them
over at once to his superiors. Ever since then he has been trying to
dispose of them to enrich himself. And I have been trying to find a way
to get them back to you without betraying myself and my mission.
"At last chance favored me. The big air attack came just after I had
secured all the information I wanted. I was about to go back to my
comrades and arrange for the capture of Labenstein if I could. He still
had the films and was about to sell them to another German--a traitor
like himself.
"Then came the big explosion, and he was fatally hurt. We both took
refuge in the tunnel, Labenstein carrying with him the films, and you
came just as Labenstein died. Well, perhaps it is better so."
"Yes," agreed Blake, "I think it is."
"And we have the films back!" exulted Charlie.
"But, best of all, we know Lieutenant Secor is straight!" cried Joe.
"I'd hate to think anything else of him, after he saved our lives."
"Yes," agreed Blake softly.
"And now to get back on the job!" cried Joe, after a moment of silence.
And so the moving picture boys again took up their perilous calling.
They soon recovered from their slight injuries caused by the cave-in of
the tunnel, and, finding their cameras where they had left them in the
French house, resumed the turning of the cranks.
They filmed many stirring scenes, and the records they made now form an
important part of the archives of the War Office in Washington, the
films so strangely lost and recovered being considered most valuable.
Lieutenant Secor became one of the boys' firmest friends, and through
his help they were enabled to obtain many rare views. And now, having
seen them safely through some of their perils, we will take leave of
them.
THE END
[Transcriber's note: Some of the adverts appeared at the start of
the book and repeated at the end. The duplicates have been removed,
and the remaining series (Motion Picture Chums) have been added here.]
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS SERIES
By VICTOR APPLETON
12mo. BOUND IN CLOTH. ILLUSTRATED. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING.
Moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this
line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films
are made--the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures
to satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures of city affairs, life in
the Wild West, among the cowboys and Indians, thrilling rescues along
the seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage
beasts, and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of
earthquakes. The volumes teem with adventures and will be found
interesting from first chapter to last.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS
Or Perils of a Great City Depicted.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE WEST
Or Taking Scenes Among the Cowboys and Indians.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS ON THE COAST
Or Showing the Perils of the Deep.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
Or Stirring Times Among the Wild Animals.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN EARTHQUAKE LAND
Or Working Amid Many Perils.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AND THE FLOOD
Or Perilous Days on the Mississippi.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS AT PANAMA
Or Stirring Adventures Along the Great Canal.
THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS UNDER THE SEA
Or The Treasure of the Lost Ship.
THE MOTION PICTURE CHUMS SERIES
MOTION PICTURE CHUMS' FIRST VENTURE
MOTION PICTURE CHUMS AT SEASIDE PARK
MOTION PICTURE CHUMS ON BROADWAY
MOTION PICTURE CHUMS' OUTDOOR EXHIBITION
MOTION PICTURE CHUMS' NEW IDEA
MOTION PICTURE CHUMS AT THE FAIR
MOTION PICTURE CHUMS' WAR SPECTACLE
THE TOM SWIFT SERIES
By VICTOR APPLETON
12mo. CLOTH. UNIFORM STYLE OF BINDING. COLORED WRAPPERS.
These spirited tales convey in a realistic way the wonderful advances
in land and sea locomotion. Stories like these are impressed
upon the memory and their reading is productive only of good.
TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE
Or Fun and Adventure on the Road
TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT
Or The Rivals of Lake Carlopa
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP
Or The Stirring Cruise of the Red Cloud
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT
Or Under the Ocean for Sunken Treasure
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT
Or The Speediest Car on the Road
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE
Or The Castaways of Earthquake Island
TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
Or The Secret of Phantom Mountain
TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE
Or The Wreck of the Airship
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER
Or The Quickest Flight on Record
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE
Or Daring Adventures in Elephant Land
TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD
Or Marvellous Adventures Underground
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER
Or Seeking the Platinum Treasure
TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY
Or A Daring Escape by Airship
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA
Or The Perils of Moving Picture Taking
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT
Or On the Border for Uncle Sam
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON
Or The Longest Shots on Record
TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE
Or The Picture that Saved a Fortune
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP
Or The Naval Terror of the Seas
TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
Or The Hidden City of the Andes
=GROSSET & DUNLAP=, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK