BACK WITH FRIENDS
There was no doubt of it. So dramatic had been the circumstances under
which they had first seen this strange man that the boys would never
forget his face. He was dressed differently now--in an unmistakable
uniform of the Germans--but it was the same man.
"What in the world is he doing here?" demanded Bob.
"There can be only one answer to that question," said Jimmy, and his
voice was low and intense.
"And what is the answer?" Roger wanted to know.
"He's a German spy!" was the declaration.
"When he saved us at the burning mill he was in an American uniform.
And now he is in German uniform. He's a spy!"
"He's in German uniform all right, there's no question of that"
declared Bob. "But what makes you think he is a spy--I mean a German
spy, Jimmy?"
"Because he was within our lines, or close to them, in a uniform that
was calculated to appear like one of ours. And, instead of going back
with us to help us find our own command, he hiked off in the direction
of the Huns. And now he's here again."
"But maybe he's a regular German, though he didn't talk much like
one," suggested Bob. "I mean the time he saved us at the mill. He
might be a decent, human sort of German--and he couldn't bear to
see us roasted to death. Maybe that's why he saved us. Of course, I
remember he acted queerly, and--"
"I don't know why he saved us," declared Jimmy. "But I believe he's
a German spy, and he was close to, if not actually within, our lines,
trying to get information. And if he's a spy he ought to be hanged for
it--that's the punishment of all spies."
"Yes, hanging isn't any too good, for a German spy," agreed Roger.
"And if we ever get the chance we'll denounce this fellow," went on
Jimmy. "We can tell how we saw him in an American uniform, or part of
it, near the red mill, and now he wears a German outfit. Hanging won't
match his crime."
"And yet," said Bob slowly, "it would be sort of hard to denounce
him." "Why?" asked Jimmy quickly.
"Because he saved our lives," was the quick answer. "Of course, we'll
have to denounce him, fellows, if we get the chance. But it will go
hard. He saved our lives!"
Jimmy was silent a moment, as he gazed out amid the trees in the
direction of the German searching party and the officer seated,
looking over some papers. Then Jimmy said, slowly:
"Yes, he saved our lives!"
The three hardly knew what to do. And yet, now, there seemed to be but
one thing--they must make all haste in the direction of the American
lines. At any moment the searching squad might come back, or another
might make its appearance, for the Germans would not let the inmates
of the prison camp get away without an effort to bring them back.
"Well, this Captain Dickerson has an American name all right, and
he may be a German spy," said Bob. "But he isn't within the American
lines just at present, so he has a right to wear a German uniform I
suppose. Remember how he hesitated about giving his name? Maybe he
made one up."
"He won't wear that uniform long if any of our boys catch him!"
declared Jimmy. "Look here, fellows. His saving of our lives was a fine
thing, and we can never forget it. But, at the same time, duty is duty,
and our highest duty is not to the man toward whom we feel so grateful,
but toward our own army and the boys of the Five Hundred and Ninth.
If we ever get back to our friends we'll have to denounce Captain Frank
Dickerson, or whoever that fellow it. That's all there is to it"
"I--I guess you're right," agreed Bob, slowly. "It's tough, but it has
to be done!"
"If we get the chance!" added Roger.
"Of course! If we get the chance," agreed Jimmy. "Mind, I don't say
that we actually have to give him up, or capture him," he added. "That
would be too much. But it's our duty to tell what we have seen."
The others nodded their heads.
"We haven't a chance to capture him now." Jimmy resumed. "He's armed,
and we're not. Besides, even if we three could overpower him, he might
signal to the Germans who were just here. No, all we can do is to wait
and see what happens. And the first thing we'd better do is to get out
of this neighborhood. It isn't healthy!"
They looked once more in the direction of "Captain Frank Dickerson,"
as he had called himself. He had folded up his papers and was about to
rise from the log.
"Duck, fellows! He's looking this way!" hoarsely whispered Bob, and
the boys dropped behind a fallen tree.
The officer in the German uniform did, indeed, look toward the woods,
but he made no advance that way, and presently walked off in the
direction taken by the searching party which had been so close to the
three former captives, evidently without knowing it.
"And now we'll make tracks the other way," decided Jimmy, and they
put some distance between themselves and the man they believed a spy
before they halted to eat.
"I'm glad I didn't have my five thousand francs with me when we fell
into the hands of the Germans," said Sergeant Jimmy, as they sat and
rested after the rather meager meal.
"Why?" asked Bob. "Maybe you could have bought some food, by bribing a
guard."
"Not a chance!" was the answer. "The Huns would have taken every cent.
No, I don't mind Maxwell having it--even if he's skipped with it,
or if he's missing with it in his pockets. That's better than having
German jailers take it. But I guess we'll never see the sergeant or
the money again."
"It doesn't look so," agreed Roger. "Well, it's the fortune of war, I
reckon. But have we any chance of seeing our friends again?"
"We'll make a big try," declared Jimmy.
Of the miseries of the next two days the Khaki Boys never like to
talk afterward. They ate all their food, and were still hungry. They
managed to find some raw turnips which they devoured, declaring,
in their hunger, that they were the best meal they had ever eaten.
Fortunately they managed to find water, though they had to drink it by
stealth for they were like hunted animals, making their way through a
country held and devastated by a cruel foe. They hid most of the day
and traveled by night, not knowing whether or not they were going in
the right direction.
But they kept moving, though, at times, Bob, who seemed worse off than
either of his chums, said he must give up. But Jimmy and Roger fairly
dragged him on.
One day, when it seemed that they must lie down in a field and give
up, they saw, coming over the top of the hill, a party of soldiers. It
was getting dusk, and they could hardly distinguish the uniforms.
"If it's Germans I'm too tired to run," said Bob, weakly. "Let 'em
take us!"
"I will not!" declared Jimmy fiercely. "I'll fight 'em with stones,
and die fighting, rather than go back to a prison camp!"
"I'm with you!" cried Roger, and this attitude on the part of his
chums seemed to rouse Bob.
Each one selected a large stone, though whether they really would have
used them in their desperation I can not say. But in a moment all was
changed.
The three figures, standing together in the field, attracted the
attention of the officer leading the party of soldiers. He gave a
sharp command, and at the sound of the words Jimmy cried:
"They're English! They're English! Hurrah, fellows! We're with friends
once more!" And he ran forward followed by his chums.
It was true. A party of English soldiers, sent out to get some
information, had come upon the three escaping prisoners, and, a little
later, Bob, Roger and Jimmy were being well cared for while they told
their story of what had happened.
"And so we blew their nasty dump to bits; eh, lad?" asked an English
lieutenant, or "leftenant," as they are called.
"Yes," assented Jimmy.
"A little bit of hall right, I call that!" commented a cockney
sergeant.
So weak and exhausted were our friends that they had to stay in the
English billets several days before they could be sent under escort to
their own command. And you may imagine better than I can describe it
the joy of Franz and Iggy when they welcomed their Brothers once more.
"It's like having you back from the dead," declared Franz, with tears
in his eyes as he held the hands of the three friends.
"Better even, for alife they is!" exclaimed Iggy. "I home a letter
will write saying not to read the other what I sent."
"What other?" asked Bob.
"Oh, he wrote one saying you had been captured and that he was going
to hike into German territory and find you the first chance he had,"
explained Franz.
"Sure I would go, but now not," declared Iggy. "I home write annudder
letter soon."
"It was good of you to think of us," said Jimmy. "And now tell us
about yourselves. Are you all right? Have you done any fighting, and
have you heard anything of Maxwell and our missing money?"
"Oh, have a heart!" laughed Franz. "You're worse than an intelligence
officer wanting to know the results of a trench raid. But we're all
right, as far as that goes."
"Except we wos of broken hearted yes for fears of you," put in Iggy.
"Sure we were worried to death," agreed Franz. "There didn't seem
to be a chance for you. As for fighting, well we haven't done much,
though I hear there's a big battle about to come off. And as for
Maxwell, we haven't heard a word."
It was one afternoon when the five Brothers were in a dugout, awaiting
orders to go on duty for the night, that Jimmy bethought himself of
the sight they had had of the mysterious captain.
"We didn't tell Franz and Iggy about him," he remarked to Roger and
Bob.
"No. Go ahead with the story," said Bob. "Maybe they can throw some
light on it."
But Franz and Iggy--though the latter did not say much--could offer no
explanation save that put forth by Jimmy and the two lads who had seen
what he had seen--that Captain Frank Dickerson was a German spy.
The night passed without incident of moment, except for two false
alarms that the Germans were starting a general engagement. And in the
morning, after breakfast, the long-looked-for word came.
"It's the advance!" was the general cry. "We're going forward and
pinch out the German salient!"
There was one on this sector--a salient, or wedge, driven into the
American line, or, rather, one that had existed since the Americans
had taken over this particular part of the country.
"Now for the big battle!" cried Bob.
"And may it soon bring the end of the war!" added Roger.
Jimmy marched along with his chums, going to take charge of a squad
that would be among the leaders of the advance. And, as he passed a
group of American officers, saluting as he did so, his heart almost
stopped beating. For standing in their midst, and conversing earnestly
with them, was Captain Frank Dickerson, and this time he wore the
uniform of an American officer, with the two bars denoting his
captaincy!