THE UHLAN HOLD-UP.
Bumpus was heard to give a big sigh.
"I can see our finish, boys," he remarked, calmly, as though he had
resigned himself to the inevitable. "I'm ready to cry quits, and hold up
my hands. Holland looks pretty good to me just now."
"Let's wait and see what happens," said Thad, though he secretly
rejoiced to hear Bumpus admit this, for the fat scout had more at stake
than the rest of them, in that his sick mother was waiting and watching
in the city of the Schelde.
The Uhlans came swiftly along. If they noticed the old car drawn to one
side of the road, out of the way, they gave no evidence of the fact
until the leaders had arrived almost abreast of the spot.
Then a bugle sounded, and the whole squadron halted, causing the dust to
mount up more furiously than ever.
A score of troopers gathered around the car, most of them officers, Thad
could see, although the dust covered them so completely that it
concealed the insignia of their rank to some extent.
"Giraffe, it's your turn," said Thad to the lanky scout; "air what
German you know, and tell them we're American Boy Scouts; also ask if
one of them can converse with me in English."
"There is no need to ask that, because most of us are familiar with your
tongue," said the stout officer who seemed to be in chief command, much
to the satisfaction of the scouts. "But we must take that assertion of
yours with a grain of allowance. We even suspect that you are English
boys, bent on getting through our lines with valuable information for
the enemy, which we cannot allow, you understand."
Thad was not surprised. He realized that at such a time every one who
spoke the English language must come under the ban with the Teuton race.
Already he had discovered that this stout man was inclined to be a
martinet, and possibly ruthless in dealing with those whom he had reason
to suspect.
"I assure you, sir," he hastened to say, respectfully but firmly, "that
we are every one of us native-born Americans. We were making a cruise
down the Rhine and when we arrived at Cologne news that war had broken
out gave us a shock. One of my comrades here has a sick mother in
Antwerp, under the care of a specialist. That is why we are trying to
make our way there."
"Where did you get this car?" asked the officer, sternly.
"In Cologne, or rather near there, buying it from a man we met. I have
the bill of sale here. It is a terrible car, and has broken down with us
many times. That is why we were allowed to keep it."
"But if, as you say, you were in Germany when the Kaiser's troops
crossed over into Belgium, how happens it you are here? They would not
let you come by way of Aachen, where the glorious army crossed the
border?"
Thad, of course, did not mean to tell how they had been hotly chased by
German troopers, and just managed to elude them by reaching the Dutch
guards in time. He fancied that such an account would hardly be likely
to influence this stern looking Uhlan leader in their favor.
"We figured that there would be all sorts of difficulties in trying to
cross at that point, sir," the boy explained, simply; "and so we
arranged to pass over into Holland where it is very narrow, and from
there reach Belgium. That is what we have done."
"Yet you have been allowed to proceed this far in peace, it seems?"
observed the Prussian, as though he considered this a very significant
fact.
"Oh! we have had all sorts of troubles besides our poor car breaking
down," Thad continued. "Yesterday from a hilltop we witnessed the fight
for a bridge that was defended by a Belgian battery. The Germans charged
bravely, and would have carried the bridge, but it had been mined, and
was blown up just as they reached it."
The Uhlan officers exchanged glances. Thad was of the impression that
possibly they may have been having a tragic little experience themselves
in connection with the ingenuity shown by the Belgians in setting traps
at bridge-heads. He remembered how he and his chums had been told by
those Belgian soldiers that they had fixed it so the bridge they guarded
would fall as soon as troopers started to swing across it, carrying some
of them down in the ruins.
He heard them talking among themselves in German. Giraffe was listening
eagerly to what he could catch, and when he found a chance he whispered
to Thad what he was able to make of it.
"They say a breathing spell for the men will do no harm, and you can see
their horses are sweating something fierce, Thad. But somehow all you've
said doesn't seem to have convinced that head officer. He must hate
everything English like the mischief, for some reason or other. He's
telling them that perhaps we're cunning spies after all, smart
Britishers playing a game, and pretending to be neutral Americans. I'll
keep on listening and see what they mean to do, Thad."
Meanwhile, now that most of the dust had settled, Thad found a chance to
glance along the line, and notice what a sturdy, well-set lot those
Uhlan raiders were. As a rule they seemed to be fair-haired young chaps,
with clear eyes and ruddy cheeks. Thad was more than a little surprised.
Like many others, he had imagined that all Uhlans, having such a
reputation for daring and recklessness, must be grim-looking men, after
the type of the Russian Cossacks. These fellows were not at all what he
had pictured them.
They sat their saddles like men who were born to ride hard. And the
horses were a picked lot, capable of standing great fatigue, Thad also
noticed. After all he believed he would always be glad he had come in
contact with these Uhlans; for he had wanted to see them at close
quarters; and on that other occasion the moonlight did not allow of much
scrutiny.
Presently the chief officer turned again to the boy in the car.
"Show me your passports!" he commanded, and if anything his voice and
manner were sterner than before.
Thad was only too glad of the opportunity to do so. He also gave up the
several letters so that the other could glance them over, which he
proceeded to do. All that time the look of suspicion did not leave his
set face. Every now and then he would eye the boys keenly.
"He just keeps on thinking we're sailing under false colors, Thad,"
muttered Giraffe, who had also observed the actions of the Uhlan
commander.
"Take out what letters the rest of you have had from home since coming
over," said Thad, hoping that this would convince the other, and bring
about their release; for should they be arrested as spies, and treated
harshly, he considered that would be the hardest blow of all.
Even when he had carelessly glanced at these the face of the officer
still wore that same frown, as though he could not get rid of his
suspicion that they were really English boys, and all this might only be
a cleverly arranged scheme to hide their identity.
Thad was almost ready to give up in despair. He felt that he had about
reached the end of his rope, and could do nothing more. Just how these
hard riders could hold them prisoners, and make them accompany them he
could not guess, unless they happened to have four empty saddles among
them. And it would be difficult to imagine Bumpus going at headlong
speed across country, keeping pace with such mad riders as these Uhlans.
Then all at once Thad remembered something. It was not that a verbal
plea would do any good, for he suspected the more he talked the stronger
would this martinet be inclined to hold them under the ban of his
displeasure.
The brief note written by the aviator whom they had aided--might not
that be of benefit to their cause?
It will be remembered that Thad had taken pains to conceal this under
the lining of his campaign hat, lest some Belgian eye read what the
Taube birdman had written over his signature, and charge them with being
German spies.
Taking off his hat he fumbled under the lining, and quickly produced the
paper, a bit crumpled, and lacking freshness, but with the penciled
writing plainly legible, which was all Thad cared about.
When he looked up he saw that many eyes had been following his motions,
as if the Uhlans had had their curiosity aroused.
"There is one incident connected with our trip through this part of
Belgium, sir, that I would like to speak of, hoping it will convince you
we are what we claim to be, only that and nothing more. Have I your
permission to tell you about this adventure, sir?"
"Proceed," the officer told him; "we are giving the horses a little
rest, which they sorely need, so a short delay will do no harm."
"We were coming along when we had an accident to the engine. While I was
making the necessary repairs one of my friends made an astonishing
discovery. We saw the figure of a man caught in the top of a tall tree.
He was moving his arm to us as if he hoped to attract our attention in
that way. When we hurried up to the tree we found, just as we expected,
the wreck of an aeroplane there!"
Thad purposely paused at that thrilling point so as to let them grasp
the full force of his assertion. He was not much surprised when the
officer demanded:
"Could you tell from the build of the aeroplane what sort of a machine
it may have been, boy?"
"Yes, for I had noticed them while over in Germany, sir," replied Thad.
"It was a Taube model. We climbed the tree at once, three of us, and
after some hard work managed to get the aviator safely down. He told us
how he had been scouting over the Belgian lines when both his machine
and himself were struck by shots. He tried to sail slowly to the ground
miles away from the fighting line, but by hard luck struck that tree,
and became caught there, his machine falling to the earth."
Again Thad stopped as though to get his breath, but it was really done
for effect and to give the officer a chance to ask a question, which he
immediately did.
"Then you claim that this man whom you aided was a German aviator, do
you?"
"He had a bad wound in his arm," proceeded the boy, promptly, "which we
had no trouble in binding up, because you may know, sir, that scouts are
taught how to treat all manner of wounds. I am sure he felt very
grateful on account of what little we were able to do for him. We were
only carrying out the principles of our scout organization. It did not
matter to us whether he was German, Belgian or French, he was in need of
assistance, and we gave it."
The officer in command swept a look around at his comrades, and Thad saw
that several of them nodded their heads as though they rather liked the
way the boy in khaki had put forward his ideas concerning strict
neutrality.
"Would you know the name of this German Taube operator if you heard it
again, boy?" asked the commander.
"Oh! he left a note with us, which he signed with his name," said Thad,
smilingly; "you see he said it might be of assistance to us in case we
came across any party of Uhlans on our travels. I supposed from that he
must be pretty well known, although of course none of us had ever heard
his name."
"Was it that note you just took from under the lining of your hat?"
asked the officer.
"Yes, sir, and here it is. You see, I felt that it might get us into
trouble if Belgian eyes saw it, for they would not like to know we had
saved the life of a German aviator who would have died in that tree,
perhaps."
The officer hastily took the piece of paper and read the few lines
written thereon by the man of the wrecked Taube. Thad saw that it seemed
to create something of a sensation among the Uhlans as it was passed
from hand to hand, and from this he felt satisfied that the aviator must
have been one of the leading airmen in the German flying corps.
Now the grim face of the Uhlan commander had relaxed. He even smiled on
the Scouts.
"I am convinced that you are what you claim, my brave boys; so shake
hands with me, one and all of you," he said.