A MASTER STROKE
With fresh arms at the oars, they hit up a rapid gait, which in that
unknown passage was not without its dangers. The darkness was so
intense that they could not see a foot ahead of them, and they dared
not use the flashlight for fear it would betray their location to their
pursuers.
“Let’s hope this tunnel is straight all the way through,” muttered Tom.
“If there’s a winding in it and we bring up against the sides it may
send us all to kingdom come.”
“Right you are,” returned Frank, “but there’s no help for it. We’ve got
to take our chance.”
He had scarcely gotten the words out of his mouth when what Tom had
feared came to pass. The boat smashed head on into the rocky wall
where the tunnel described a curve. There was a grinding of oars, a
splintering of planks and a startled exclamation from the Army Boys.
Luckily Frank and Tom had been sitting in the stern of the boat, and,
though they were badly shaken, escaped the full force of the blow.
Billy and the corporal were thrown from their seats into the bottom of
the boat. The bow was smashed in, and a great jagged hole in the side
opened the way for a flood of water that rushed in. In a moment the
boat had sunk to the gunwales. Another moment and she had gone under
the surface and the four occupants found themselves floundering in the
water.
All were expert swimmers, and the ducking meant nothing in itself. But
the loss of the boat might well mean the loss of their liberty or their
lives.
They swam to the rocky side nearest them and clambered up on the bank.
The path along the canal was a narrow one and the wall of the tunnel
rose up perfectly smooth on the further side of it, affording no
opportunity of concealment.
The corporal gathered them around him. It was time for quick thinking
for the sound of oars had grown plainer and the enemy would soon be
upon them.
“We’ll have to run for it,” Wilson whispered. “We ought to be able to
keep ahead of them until we reach the other end of the tunnel. It would
be easy enough if we could see where we were going, but we’ll have to
feel our way and make sure we don’t tumble into the canal. We’ve got
the chance that they may make the same mistake that we did and smash
into the canal wall. But then again they may know more about the way
the canal runs and steer clear of it. Come along, now. I’ll lead the
way and you fellows keep close behind me.”
They started off at as rapid a pace as they dared in the pitch
blackness and soon had the satisfaction of noting that the sound of
oars had grown fainter, thus indicating that they were outdistancing
their pursuers.
They had kept this up for perhaps ten minutes when they caught sight
of something that seemed like a star in the distance. But as they drew
nearer they saw that it was a fire that had been built on the canal
bank, and soon they could detect the figures of men moving about it.
They stopped short for consultation.
“There’s a patrol of some kind there,” said the corporal, as he
strained his eyes, “and it isn’t likely that it’s anybody we care to
meet. Sheldon, your eyes are the best. See if you can make out those
uniforms.”
“I think they’re Huns,” judged Frank, after a moment’s intense
scrutiny. “But we’ll have to get a trifle closer before I can be sure
of it.”
They moved a hundred feet closer and then conjecture gave way to
certainty.
“No doubt about it,” pronounced Frank. “They’re Huns, as sure as
shooting. And there are twenty of them if there’s one. They’re right
in our path and there’s no getting around them.”
It was grave news, and their pulses quickened as they recognized their
peril.
The corporal pondered a moment before reaching a decision.
“We’re between two fires,” he said. “It would be suicide to go forward
with our numbers and our scanty ammunition. With the fellows in the
boats we’ve still got a chance. We’ll have to double on our tracks and
try to get past the boats. When we hear them coming close, we’ll lie
down flat on the path and trust to their passing us without seeing us.
The only thing that will queer us will be if they happen to flash a
light when they’re abreast of us.”
The young soldiers followed him as he turned and started on the return
journey, listening as they went for tokens of the enemy’s approach.
Soon the sound of oars grew distinct. The corporal gave a whispered
command and they flattened themselves on the bank as far away from the
edge as possible.
Nearer and nearer came the boat. They listened in vain for the second
craft. It was evident that it was either far behind or perhaps had been
left at the mouth of the tunnel to trap them when they should try to
emerge.
Closer, still closer the boat came, and the Army Boys lay like so many
statues, holding their breath lest the slightest sound should betray
them.
Now they knew that the boat was almost abreast, as they could hear the
labored breathing of the men tugging at the oars.
But just then the leader of the Huns turned a flashlight in their
direction, revealing the four figures. There was a shout, a sharp
command in guttural tones, a dropping of oars and a click of rifles as
the men raised them to their shoulders.
But quick as they were, Frank was quicker.
Lithe as a panther, he sprang to his feet and hurled the grenade that
he had been holding in his hand full at the boat.
There was a blinding flash, a terrific explosion and the air was filled
with flying bodies and debris. Frank himself was thrown to the ground
by the shock, but scrambled to his feet again, none the worse except
for a few bruises.
It was too dark to see the effects of the explosion, but the dead
silence that followed told its own story. There was nothing more to be
feared from that special group of enemies.
His own comrades gathered around Frank, themselves too dazed and shaken
by the suddenness of the whole affair to understand fully just what had
happened.
“What did it?” asked Billy.
“That was the grenade I was telling you fellows about a few minutes
ago,” replied Frank. “I thought of it again just when I dropped to the
ground. I figured that I might have a chance to smash their boat with
it, so I got it out and had it ready in my hand.”
“Great stuff, Sheldon,” said the corporal warmly. “It did the work all
right. It’s lucky we only had one boat to deal with. But now we’ve got
to make tracks for the mouth of the tunnel.”
“And we can’t do it any too quick either,” said Tom, as the sound of a
commotion rose behind them. “Those fellows round that fire have heard
that explosion and they’ll be coming on the double quick to see what’s
up.”
There was a growing din behind them that hastened their steps as they
hurried along. Once, Billy going too near the edge nearly fell into
the canal, from which he was saved by Tom’s quick grab of his arm. At
intervals the corporal used his flashlight on the narrow road ahead of
him but he did not dare to do it very often, for fear that the light
might be seen by Huns who might be lying in wait at the tunnel’s mouth.
Soon they were conscious from the increasing freshness of the air that
they were nearing the entrance. They slackened their steps a little,
for the noise in the rear had died down. They did not interpret this
as meaning that their adversaries had given up the chase, but thought
it more likely that they had halted at the scene of the explosion to
try to fathom its meaning.
“Now,” said the corporal, when they were within a few yards of the
entrance, “I’m going to scout ahead and see whether that other boat is
hanging about. If it isn’t we’ll have an easy time in swimming to the
bank. If it is, we’ll have some fighting before we win out.”
He stole away like an Indian, but almost before the boys realized that
he had gone he was back again.
“They’re out there all right,” he reported. “The boat is lying about
twenty feet from the mouth. I couldn’t see it, but I located it from
some low talking that was going on. There’s nothing to do but make a
sudden dash, catch them unawares and get to the other side before they
recover. Now here’s how I figure we may do it,” and he outlined his
plan hurriedly while the young Army Boys listened intently.
“It sounds good,” said Frank. “And there’s another reason why we’ve got
to do it anyway,” he added, as a sound of hurrying feet behind them
told them that the Hun patrol had again taken up the pursuit.
They followed the corporal to the tunnel’s mouth. For an instant they
stood there listening, until they had located the position of the boat.
“Now!” shouted Wilson.
Their revolvers spoke at the same moment and there were cries from the
boat that told that the bullets had found a mark. Then they hurled
their revolvers into the mass that the light of their shots had
revealed, dived into the water, and struck out for the further side.
There was a wild commotion in the boat that had been so suddenly
attacked. The inmates had been taken totally by surprise and the
confusion was indescribable.
Those who had not been wounded and still retained their wits sprang
to the oars and tried to turn the boat in the direction of the boys.
Others seized their weapons and sent a scattering volley after the
fugitives. But the shots were fired at random and went wild, although
one or two struck the water uncomfortably close.
It was a case of surprise and audacity winning out against odds. All of
the Americans could swim like fish, and as the distance to the shore
was not great, it was only a matter of two or three minutes before they
struck the bank and clambered up its sides. A moment more and they had
crossed the path and reached the shelter of the trees on the further
side. Only then did they pause to take breath.
“A close call,” gasped Frank, as he shook the water from his face and
hair.
“Closer than I care for,” remarked the corporal, “but we’ve come off
scot free, or at least I hope we have. Any of you fellows wounded?”
“Never touched me,” grinned Billy.
“Same here,” echoed Frank and Tom jubilantly.
“Good,” said the corporal. “I think our officers will be satisfied with
the night’s work. We’ve got a lot of information, and we’ve accounted
for quite a number of Huns while we were getting it. Now we’ll go
straight to headquarters.”
There was no occasion for secrecy now, as they were in their own lines,
and they made good time past the sentinels and to the section where the
old Thirty-seventh lay. Their officers were poring over maps in earnest
consultation, but Captain Baker and Major Willis came forward when the
party appeared.
The corporal saluted and made his report. Then each of the Army Boys
was questioned in turn as to his share in the night’s events. The
information they had gained was of marked value for the coming day’s
operations, but by far the greatest importance was given to the paper
that Frank had so cleverly extracted from the German officer’s pocket.
A general laugh went round when they heard the story of how it had
been done, but amusement was soon lost in excitement as they scanned
the paper.
“Why,” exclaimed Major Willis, “it’s a complete plan of the defenses of
the Jager Brigade, the one that’s right opposite our part of the line!
The Germans would rather have lost a million dollars than to have had
that paper fall into our hands.”
“The beauty of it is,” replied Captain Baker, “that they don’t know
we’ve got it. If they did, they’d change their plan. But it’s ten to
one they’ll think it’s lying around in their own lines somewhere and
they’ll just give the officer a reprimand for carelessness and let it
go at that.”
“You have done very well, Sheldon,” said Major Willis, turning to
Frank. “It was an excellent piece of work. The names of all of you will
be mentioned in the order of the day and there may be other rewards in
store for you. You made no mistake, Corporal, in picking out your men,”
he continued, turning to Wilson. “You were fortunate in your helpers
and they were worthy of their leader. You may go now.”
They saluted and retired, tired and almost exhausted with the strain
they had been under, but happy in the commendation of their officers
and the consciousness that they had played their part well.
“There’s just one thing lacking,” said Frank, as they were getting
ready to turn in, “and that is that poor Bart wasn’t along.”
“Good old Bart,” said Billy regretfully. “How he would have enjoyed
that scrapping. He’ll feel cheated when he hears of it.”
“That boy would rather fight than eat,” was Tom’s tribute to their
absent friend. “I’d give a lot to know just how he’s getting along with
that broken head of his.”
“We’ll go over to the hospital the first thing in the morning and find
out,” said Frank, as he rolled himself in his blankets.