THE TABLES TURNED
But even Dick, for all the wild mood of anger that had held him since he
had had Hallo in his power, had to consent to a halt now. If the
Servians planned not only to inflict a severe blow on the Austrians by
the destruction of war material, but to spread terror as well, they
succeeded admirably. For there was not one explosion alone; there was a
series of explosions. And fire spread from the arsenal, too.
"The shells are going off, you see," said Dick, a little awed. "They're
exploding in all directions. I suppose there will be a good deal of
damage. And those cartridges must be sending an awful lot of bullets
around promiscuously."
"I don't think many people will be hurt," said Hallo. Like Dick, he was
awed by the spectacle, and the terrible magnificence of it for the
moment seemed to have driven from his mind all thought of anything but
the explosion itself. "There are very few houses about the arsenal; they
are mostly public buildings of one sort and another. It's not the sort
of neighborhood people choose to live in. Even in time of peace there
may be an accident in an arsenal at any moment--and just as bad an
explosion as this one."
But then, suddenly, Hallo seemed to remember his position.
"You will pay for this!" he cried. "It is your doing, because if you had
let me go I should have stopped that! You are in league with the Servian
spies who have been working here for months, who planned the murder of
the Archduke in Serajevo--"
"Why don't you say I killed him?" suggested Dick. "Forward march, again!
The show is over!"
"Oh, your time will come--and you will cry to me for help then! The
police only had suspicions before, but now they will have facts, and all
the consuls and ambassadors in the world won't be able to help you! It
won't be a matter for the police at all, my lad! It will be a
court-martial that will try you."
"Perhaps. We shall see. Hello, what's this?"
Dick had just been thinking to himself that it was highly fortunate that
they had passed the settled district to the northeast of Semlin before
the explosion, since he could easily imagine the outpouring there must
have been into the streets at that terrific sound. But now there was a
sound of rushing feet, and around a corner, perhaps a quarter of a mile
in front of them, a body of men appeared--troops, coming at the double
quick.
"Here, this way!" said Dick, sharply.
He pointed to a clump of trees beside the road, and forced the reluctant
Hallo to go in before him. The pistol was giving him fine support for it
was very evident that Hallo did not mean to take chances. Dick did not
know, as a matter of fact, whether he would be able to fire if the
necessity arose. To shoot even Mike Hallo in cold blood, and when the
man was helpless to all intents, was something he could not contemplate
without a shudder.
In fact it was partly because Hallo was his enemy that he felt that he
was likely to hesitate, and at a moment when hesitation was likely to be
dangerous, if not fatal.
"I'd feel differently if I didn't have anything against him,
personally," said Dick to himself. "As it is, I'd never be sure, if I
shot him, whether I was doing it in self-defence or because it was a
good chance to get even with him for the things he's done to me and to
my family."
Fortunately, however, Hallo did not put him to the test. Dick realized
that it was a dangerous minute. The seconds that elapsed while the
soldiers were passing in the road were the longest he had ever spent. A
single shout from Hallo would have settled matters. In such times, and
with a reminder of the dangers of the situation such as the destruction
of the arsenal, there would have been an immediate investigation, and,
whatever happened to Hallo himself, Dick would be in a bad case, and he
fully realized his situation.
Dick allowed plenty of time for the soldiers to pass. It did not take
long, as a matter of fact, and he decided that there could have been
only a small detachment, not more than a company of infantry probably.
Hallo might have told him that there were comparatively few troops in
Semlin, and that the greater part of the Austrian forces along the
border were placed at two points, Schabatz, on the Save, and Losnitza,
on the Drina, since it was at those two points that the invasion of
Servia was to be begun, according to the plan of the Austrian General
Staff.
The bombardment of Belgrade was not intended to cover a subsequent
attack, but to serve as a feint, in the hope that a large number of
Servian troops would be retained for the defense of the capital.
Belgrade was of no use to the Austrians. By holding Semlin they could
cut the railway and had every advantage that the occupation of Belgrade
could have given them, except the sentimental value of having
possession of the enemy's capital. Later in the war the Austrians were
to make the grave mistake of occupying Belgrade for just such
sentimental reasons, and the mistake was to be proved by the sacrifice
of an army.
"All right, we can go back to the road again," said Dick, when he had
allowed more than enough time for a rear guard to pass. "Your friends
have held us up. See if you can't move a little faster to make up for
the delay!" and he prodded him with his revolver for emphasis.
Dick had scattered his corn steadily and now, as they went back to the
road, he kicked the kernels that marked their digression aside, since he
knew that Stepan and the others, if they were following, would only
waste time by following the detour into the woods. He had brought a
plentiful supply, and he was glad of it, since he was traveling further
with Hallo than he had thought it at all likely that he could. For some
time he had been listening eagerly for some indication that Stepan and
his friends were approaching, but there had been none. He was not ready
to be worried about them yet, however dangerous as he knew their work
had been, since it was easy to imagine a dozen trifling things that
might have delayed them.
And yet he could think of more serious things, too. There might have
been a premature explosion of the mine, and he shuddered at the thought
of what the fate of the Servians must have been if that was what had
happened. Or they might have been caught as they emerged from the
tunnel. Or--but he shook off such ideas. There was no reason yet to
suppose that everything was not all right. And the important thing was
to get Hallo to the boathouse. It was absolutely vital, now that Hallo
knew about that refuge, and also the identity of his former office boy,
that Hallo should not escape to use his knowledge, since he could do
incalculable mischief to the cause that Dick had now made his own.
Hallo went along stumbling, groaning, growling. Finally Dick did begin
to feel sorry for him. After all, the man was in bad condition. He had
been painfully hurt by the crashing down of the big packing case, and
his fright and escape through the water had weakened and tired him, even
before that. Now he seemed to be in the last stages of exhaustion, and
when he began to plead with Dick on account of his weariness, rather
than with promises or threats, he was on the right track. Perhaps that
feeling threw Dick off his guard for a moment. At any rate, when Hallo
finally made his bid for freedom he chose the most, perhaps the only,
opportune moment.
Dick had taken his eyes off him for a moment, and had loosened his hold
on the butt of his automatic. And just then Hallo stopped suddenly,
whipped back his foot, and tripped Dick neatly and successfully. Dick
went down; before he could reach for the pistol, Hallo was on top of
him. Exhausted though he was, Hallo outweighed Dick still as much as
ever, and he was strong as well. Dick fought well, but the surprise had
been complete. As he reached for the pistol, Hallo seized his arm and
in a moment was twisting it around behind his back in a cruel hammer
lock hold--that deadliest of wrestling grips, that means a broken arm
for the victim unless he yields. The struggle was over in a moment, and
the positions were now completely reversed.
Hallo had the pistol, and he was in as absolute command as Dick had been
while he still held it.
"Ah!" said Hallo. "I said your time would come, Dick, my lad! And it
has! You're in my power now! I could kill you, do you know that?"
Dick did not answer; he was thinking too hard. And there was nothing for
him to say, anyhow. He had been neatly tricked, and, though he was badly
frightened and ready to admit it to himself, it was impossible not to
admire Hallo, so adroit had he been in seizing his one chance of escape.
"Yes, I could kill you easily enough," Hallo repeated. "And no one would
blame me. I have proof that you are a spy, and it is a praiseworthy
thing to kill a spy. But I shall not. I shall be generous to you, Dick,
even if you did not remember our old friendship. I shall take you back
with me, and turn you over to the soldiers, and they will try you
fairly, and let the American consul defend you, and then they will shoot
you."
A perfect frenzy of revenge seemed to seize the Hungarian as Dick
maintained his silence.
"Oh, they will know how to make you talk!" he cried. "Keep still, then,
if you like! I don't care! You would come here after me? You would try
to make me pay back the money you say I took? Well, then, I did take it!
And why not? I could use it better than your foolish family! Ah, Dick,
it does not pay to monkey with the buzz-saw, as your father used to say!
Does it? I am a buzz-saw--yes, that is what I am! Now, then, march! But
turn the other way!"
"I'm not afraid of you," said Dick, breaking his silence at last and
speaking in a contemptuous voice. "I think you're pretty brave, though,
Mike. I didn't think so a little while ago. I thought you were a great
coward. But if you have the courage to go to the army authorities after
the destruction of the arsenal, you are a brave man, and I respect you
for that, even if you are a thief!"
Hallo stared at him stupidly for a moment.
"Eh? What is that?" he said. "No matter! March! You are trying to bluff
me, as you Americans say, and you cannot do it! They will know the truth
when I tell them. They will believe me. They will not think that I had
anything to do with that."
"You say so--but you don't believe what you're saying yourself," said
Dick. "When they hear about how you have been going on, they will think
it funny that you did not know about this plot in time to warn them. Do
you think they will try us at the same time?"
But he stepped out, just the same, for Hallo was beginning to look
dangerous. He looked frightened, too, and Dick felt that it was not at
all certain that Hallo would force him to go all the way. When he had
had time to think for a little of what the attitude of the Austrian
commander was likely to be, Dick thought military headquarters in Semlin
would be about the last place that he would seek!
Even so, however, there did not seem to be much to make Dick hopeful.
For it was just as likely that Hallo would shoot him if he decided to
stay away from Semlin as that he would let him go.
But then there came just the interruption for which Dick had prayed.
Ahead of them appeared half a dozen figures walking swiftly, at their
head a smaller man or boy, his eyes on the ground. Dick's heart gave a
leap.
"Into the field there!" said Hallo, with a growl.
Dick obeyed, scattering the last kernels of corn. And five minutes later
a wild rush, led by Stepan Dushan, caught them. Once more the tables
were turned, and Hallo was a prisoner for the third time that night!