THE ADVANCE CONTINUES
The queer-looking litter, as Bowers termed it, came suddenly to life.
The quartet of Germans tumbled in a sprawling, jerking heap. One sprang
in the air, raising and overturning the litter as he did so. The gray
blanket which had covered it fell off and Bowers' suspicions were
confirmed. It was a machine gun the "Red Cross" counterfeits had been
carrying away.
"Good job there, sir," Bowers called to Hal.
The lad nodded grimly to himself.
"So that's the way they play the game, eh?" he said. "Well, I'll be
prepared for them when they try another trick like that."
The tank jangled on.
Out of a hole in the ground, partially hidden by a tangle of old wire,
suddenly popped a German boy in soldier's uniform. His appearance was so
unexpected that Bowers stopped the tank abruptly.
The German's hands were raised high in the air.
"Kamerad!" he cried. "Kamerad!"
He was so near the tank that Hal could see the tears streaming down his
cheeks.
"I haven't got the heart to shoot him," Bowers called to Hal. "Climb
out, sir, and see what he has to say."
Hal knew as well as any soldier in the Allied armies that tanks,
British, French or American, were not expected to make prisoners unless
the infantry was in immediate support, and for this reason he understood
what Bowers meant when the marine said he couldn't shoot the German boy
down in cold blood.
The reason may be readily understood, for the crew of a baby tank is
composed of only two men. Only now and then is it possible to shepherd
prisoners ahead of a tank and it is always bad practice for either of
the crew to leave his steel fortalice. In this case, however, Hal took
into consideration the youth of the prisoner.
"Better be careful, sir," Bowers called as Hal opened the door and
crawled out. "Remember the Boche who called 'Kamerad' to me awhile
back."
"But this is only a boy," replied Hal, "and he's crying at that."
"Can't help that, sir. They're all bad actors and none is to be
trusted."
"I guess I'm safe enough," declared Hal, as he advanced.
"Got your gun?" called Bowers.
Hal shook his head.
"I don't need any gun for this Boche," said he.
"Maybe not," grumbled Bowers to himself, "but I guess I'll just crawl
out after you."
As Hal approached the boy, the German's face changed. He saw that Hal
was unarmed, while at his side hung a handsome Luger pistol. He stopped
his cry of "Kamerad" and began jerking at the fastenings of his weapon.
The flap of the American holster fastens with a leather button, which
facilitates hasty action, while the German holster is buckled down.
Before the German could get the buckle unloosed, Hal had him by the
throat. The German fought in despairing silence now, one hand plucking
at the fingers that were choking him and the other still fumbling with
the gun. At this juncture Bowers, also unarmed, closed in.
In spite of his youth, the German was of powerful build and he struggled
so furiously that for a moment Hal and Bowers were unable to quiet him.
In the struggle, Bowers caught sight of a long, thin stiletto which the
German wore at his left side. His right hand shot out and clasped the
handle. The weapon flashed aloft.
"Hold on!" cried Hal. "He's only a kid!"
Bowers caught himself just in time. With a mumbled imprecation, he cast
the stiletto away from him.
"Good thing you yelled," he said to himself.
Hal had now possessed himself of both the German's hands and his
adversary was unable to fight further. Nevertheless, the struggle would
have been at a deadlock had it not been for Bowers, who now approached
and relieved the German of his pistol.
"All right, you can let him go now, sir," the marine said.
Hal released his hold and stepped back, at the same time covering the
German with the Luger.
"Sit down," said Bowers.
It is doubtful if the young German understood Bowers' words, but he
certainly caught their import, for he sat down in front of the tank.
Bowers turned to Hal.
"You see, they're all alike, sir," he said. "They're not to be trusted."
"So I see." said Hal. "Well, I won't be caught napping again. And this
is the second one that has tried that 'Kamerad' trick on us in the same
day."
"Almost within the same hour, you might say," replied Bowers. "But what
are we going to do with him?"
"That's a hard question," was Hal's reply. "We can't make him prisoner
and I'm not disposed to let him go scott-free in view of his actions.
Guess we might as well tie him up and leave him here."
"Suits me, sir."
A few moments later the German was lying on the ground, his hands bound
with portions of his own clothing.
"Guess he won't bother about yelling 'Kamerad' again," said Hal.
"Well, we're all here," said Bowers with a smile. "So where do we go
from here, sir?"
At that moment, far back, came the crash of infantry fire. Turning, Hal
and Bowers perceived the foremost line of advancing Americans in the
distance.
"Wow!" cried Bowers, and his trench helmet went sailing high in the air.
"Here they come, sir. Don't they look fine?"
"You bet they do, Bowers," Hal shouted, carried away by his own
enthusiasm.
Indeed, it was an inspiring sight, the long line of khaki-clad figures
which came sweeping forward at a slow run.
"They'll come up to us presently. All we have to do is wait," said Hal.
The long line came directly toward them. At the pace they were advancing
they would reach Hal, Bowers and their tank in fifteen minutes. But
suddenly the formation of the charging troops changed.
"Hey!" cried Bowers. "They're not coming this way after all."
It appeared to be true.
Still quite a distance away, the American infantry had wheeled sharply
to the right.
"Flank attack," said Hal briefly, "but it leaves us high and dry."
"Well," said Bowers, "I've heard that these contraptions," referring to
the tank, "carry signal flags."
"We'll hoist one," said Hal briefly. "They may see it."
He climbed back into the tank, reappearing shortly with a small flag
which he ran up on the turret.
"Now all we can do is sit down and wait."
"And pray that the Germans don't arrive in force first," Bowers added
dryly.
The two sat down in the sunlight and followed the course of the battle
in the distance. Gradually the American charge slowed down. From beyond,
Hal could see the ranks of the gray-clad hosts as they emerged from the
German lines farther back to charge the American infantry.
"They'll get all the fight they want," said Hal.
"And more," agreed Bowers.
Directly Hal caught the roar of wings coming toward them. He glanced
aloft. An American liaison plane was approaching.
Bowers let out a cheer.
The aeroplane approached close enough to see the signal on the turret of
the tank, and signalled back that reinforcements would be sent. Then it
flew away again.
"In which case," said Hal, "we might as well get busy again."
"My sentiments, sir," agreed Bowers.
They re-entered the tank, leaving their prisoner still tied on the
ground. The young German eyed them angrily as they disappeared within.
"Machine gun nest to the right, Bowers," called Hal, who again manned
the gun.
Without further words, Bowers headed the tank in that direction.
"They're firing explosive bullets, sir," called Bowers coolly a few
moments later as the earth flew high to one side of the tank.
Previous to this, the use of explosive bullets against tanks had been
questioned, but Hal was bound to believe the evidence of his own eyes.
In the instance where the use of explosive bullets had been reported
before, they had been effective in that they had set fire to gasoline in
the travel tanks lashed to the machine's sides. Hal, recalling the
details of that battle, was thankful that there were no tanks of
gasoline lashed to the tank in which he and Bowers were confined.
Now, it seemed to Hal and Bowers, they were in the center of a group of
machine-gun nests. Hal fired as rapidly as he could bring his gun to
bear.
But the Germans had developed wisdom. The machine gunners crouched down
in their holes whenever the tanks were turned on them, and let gunners
in other nests take up the fight. A surprising number of machine-guns
were developed around the tank. Evidently the gunners had kept under
cover during the previous activities of the tank and only popped up when
it seemed safe.
It began to grow uncomfortably hot in the tank. The backplace which
separated the engine compartment from the turret and steering room
became almost red hot.
Hal's eyes grew dim as he tried to bring the tank's gun to bear on the
enemy. He felt his senses leaving him, and his clothes began to scorch.
"Let's go," he called to Bowers. "I'm through."
They jerked open the little door in the tank nose through which men rise
in jack-in-the-box fashion and hurled themselves out. They struck the
ground upon all fours, but picked themselves up and ran.
Through all the noise of battle that now was drawing closer to them they
heard the machine-gun bullets twanging above their heads. In the
distance was a bit of ruined wall. Directly they gained its shelter.
Before leaving the tank they had seized their revolvers. These they now
carried in their hands. The German infantry bore down on them.
"We're in a bad way, Bowers," said Hal quietly. "What shall we do?"
Bowers tapped his revolver, affectionately it seemed to Hal.
"We've got our gats!" he said.