FIERCE FIGHTING
Jimmy's astonishment at seeing the man they had called a German spy
was duplicated by his companions. With one accord they halted and
stood staring at the captain who had saved their lives. On his part
he did not see them, apparently. He stood there talking with other
officers as calmly and coolly as though nothing worried him.
"There he is!" exclaimed Bob.
"No question about it!" said Roger.
"The dog!" fairly hissed Franz. "And to think he's going to betray our
secrets to the Huns!"
"Not if I can help it!" declared Jimmy, and there was firm resolve in
his voice.
"What are you going to do?" asked Roger, though he could almost guess
the answer of his chum.
"Come over here," said Jimmy Blaise to the otter Brothers. It was time
they should be marching up on their way to the front to take part in
the big advance. But there was also vital necessity of action at this
juncture. And so many soldiers and officers were hurrying along that
the temporary halt of Jimmy and his bunkies would not be noticed.
"Don't we to fight go?" asked Iggy, somewhat puzzled by the halt. "I
mine gun haf und many bullets. To fight it is my idea, yes."
"You've got the right idea!" declared Bob. "We'll be fighting soon
enough. But Iggy, do you see that fellow over there?" and he pointed
to Captain Dickerson.
"Sure I see him. Him was the man what saved us at the fire."
"Exactly. And he went over toward the Germans, didn't he?"
"I thinks me he did," admitted Iggy.
"When did you see him last?" asked Franz, as if this was a trial and
he had the examination of witnesses in hand.
"We saw him between our lines and the German forces, and he wore a
German uniform," declared Bob.
"And now he wears an American outfit," added Roger.
"That settles it!" declared Roger. "The verdict is unanimous. Captain
Dickerson, as he calls himself, is a spy, and it's our duty to
denounce him!"
"Yes," said Sergeant Jimmy, "he saved our lives--there's no doubt
about it. But he's a spy. It breaks my heart to do it, but duty is
duty! We'll have to expose him!"
He looked at Roger and Bob. Solemnly and mournfully they nodded their
heads in assent.
"I don't know as much about it as you three fellows do," said Franz,
"but it sounds as though you'd have to. Tough luck, but it's got to be
done."
"How about you, Iggy?" asked Bob.
"I fights mit youse," said the Polish lad simply, "and what you says I
say!"
"That ends it!" went on Jimmy. "I'd rather lose ten times five
thousand francs than do this, but--well, let's get it over with, and
then we'll jump into the fight and try to forget it."
He walked up to the group of officers, in the midst of which still
stood the captain. Jimmy saluted Major Wrightson, the senior officer
then present, and when the latter looked at the lad, seeing that he
had something to say, Jimmy spoke:
"My comrades and I," he said, indicating his four Brothers, "wish to
denounce that man as a German spy!" He spoke quietly, and pointed an
accusing finger at Captain Dickerson.
"What's that?" cried the major, in great surprise.
Jimmy repeated his statement, and as he did so he kept his eyes on the
face of the accused. The latter smiled faintly, but did not seem at
all alarmed.
"Have you any evidence to support this amazing statement?" asked the
major.
"Plenty," answered Jimmy, and then, briefly, he told what he and his
chums had seen. During the dramatic recital, which was corroborated
at several points by Roger and Bob, as well as Franz and Iggy, the
captain never said a word. He continued calmly smoking a cigarette he
had lighted.
"Can this be possible?" exclaimed a lieutenant, and he seemed to
shrink away from Captain Dickerson.
"Have you anything to say regarding the accusation of these lads,
Captain Dickerson?" asked the major, at length.
The accused flicked away the end of his cigarette. He looked at the
boys, smiling cynically, and then answered calmly:
"No, I have nothing to say!"
"It is my duty--my painful duty--to order you under arrest then,"
said the major. "And it breaks my heart to do it. You were once my
lieutenant and--"
Emotion overcame him, but he signaled to a captain, who summoned two
orderlies, and in charge of these Captain Dickerson was led away under
arrest.
"This matter will be taken up later, Sergeant Blaise," said the major.
"It will have to wait until after the battle. He might better have
been killed in action a dozen times than have this happen," he added
rather ambiguously. "This is terrible!"
"It was hard to do this, after he had saved our lives," said Jimmy,
"but it had to be."
"Yes," assented the major brokenly, "it had to be. And now let's
forget it in giving battle to the Huns! It's up to us to redeem
whatever wrong he may have done," and he nodded in the direction of
the captain, who had been led away under arrest.
"He took it calmly enough," remarked Bob, as the five Brothers marched
away.
"Never turned a hair," added Roger. "But you've got to have nerve to
be a spy."
"I suppose they'll shoot him," observed Franz. "They don't have time
for hanging any more. He'll face a firing squad all right."
"It's too bad!" declared Jimmy. "But it had to be. I'll say this for
him--he's a brave man to venture back here, when he might be sure he'd
be exposed--if not by us by some one else. Yes, he's a brave man!"
It was with no very light hearts, at first, that Jimmy and his chums
marched on toward the front lines where they had been ordered to take
their places for the general advance. The scene of the last half-hour
preyed on their minds. But they were satisfied that they had done
their duty.
"What's the program, sir!" asked Jimmy, as he reported to his second
lieutenant.
"Well, we're going forward just as soon as our barrage gets in working
order," was the answer. "I expect that will be any minute, now. See to
it that every man in your squad has his gas mask, his pick and shovel,
his canteen and mess gear. We may be several days under fire, and the
supply wagons won't be able to get up if the Huns start shelling the
roads, as they're likely to."
"Yes, sir," answered Jimmy, saluting. Then he and his chums put in
several busy minutes.
Jimmy, Roger and Franz, as sergeants, would each have charge of a
squad to lead into the fight, and in Jimmy's squad were Bob and Iggy,
the corporals.
"Everything in readiness here?" asked the young lieutenant who had
given Jimmy, Roger and Franz their orders. He came along the trench,
glancing now and then at his wrist watch to note the approach of the
hour set for the beginning of the barrage.
"Everything ready, sir," reported Jimmy, and Roger and Franz repeated
this.
"Very good. You won't have long to wait now."
The lieutenant passed on, making his observations. The five Brothers
were talking in low tones, speculating on many things. They talked
of what they had gone through in the past, for each one realized that
there might be no future for him after this great battle that was
pending. And they talked of the spy captain, of the missing Sergeant
Maxwell, and other matters.
"If we live through this," Jimmy was saying, "I'm going to get leave
and see if I can't find Maxwell. It isn't so much for the sake of the
money as it is for him. He was a good friend to me."
"To all of us," declared Bob.
"Well, I can't imagine what has become of him," said Roger. "If he--"
There was no chance for further words, for at that moment it seemed
as if all the thunderstorms from the beginning of the world to the
present time had broken loose at once.
"It's our barrage!" cried Jimmy. "Get ready to go over and fight!"
And ten minutes later the five Brothers were in the midst of the most
desperate struggle in which they had had a part since the start of the
World War.