PRISONERS
Immediately Hal had brought the car to a stop, he raised his hands high
above his head. Chester followed his example. A moment later the machine
was surrounded by a score of German soldiers, a lieutenant at their
head.
"What are you doing here?" demanded the German officer sharply of Hal.
"By Jove, Hal!" cried Chester in well simulated surprise. "They're
Germans. You've run right into a nest of the enemy."
"So it would seem," replied Hal, immediately falling in with Chester's
ruse. "Now that's what I call bad luck."
This conversation was carried on in English, but Chester had hopes that
the German officer or one of his men would understand it. Much to the
lad's delight, the next remark came from the German lieutenant.
"So you've run into our lines accidentally?" he said. "Well, so much the
worse for you. You're Americans, I take it?"
"We are," replied Hal, in German.
"I've always said," declared the lieutenant, "that you Americans would
make fools of yourselves over here. You're a couple of fair examples;
you can't even keep your sense of direction. Get out of that car."
Hal and Chester did as they were commanded, and as they alighted they
were immediately surrounded by the soldiers.
"Are you armed?" asked the German.
Hal tossed a single automatic toward the lieutenant. Chester followed
suit.
"There you are," said Hal.
For a moment the lad was afraid the enemy would search him and Chester
for further weapons, but the man apparently never even thought of such
action. Slyly Hal slipped his hand inside his coat and made sure that
his second revolver was secure. Chester also had concealed a second
revolver within his coat.
"Forward, march!" commanded the German officer, and Hal and Chester,
hemmed in by enemy soldiers, set off at a swift pace.
Both lads kept their eyes open as they were led along. Apparently the
position in which they found themselves was not well fortified, for it
showed the result of hasty intrenching.
There was no firing in this particular sector of the battlefield for the
moment, but to the north and south Hal and Chester could hear the rumble
of the big guns as the artillery duel continued on each flank.
"Where are you going to take us, lieutenant?"
"None of your business," was their captor's response.
"You're not a very civil sort of a fellow, are you?" demanded Hal.
"Hold your tongue, if you know what's good for you," was the response.
"We don't have time to bother with a pair of American pigs. You'll be
lucky if you are not ordered shot at once."
"Oh, I guess they won't shoot us," said Hal quietly. "We're prisoners of
war, you know."
"Well, you wouldn't be the first to be shot offhand," said the German
lieutenant.
"I've heard that you're a rather barbarous lot," returned Hal, "but I
didn't know you were as bad as that."
The German stepped close to Hal and shook his fist in the lad's face.
"That's enough out of you," he cried angrily.
"Don't make me laugh," said Hal, smiling.
For answer the man drew back his right hand and struck Hal a swift blow
in the face. Hal, throwing off the men who surrounded him, promptly
knocked the lieutenant down.
The man arose with blood streaming from his lips and an angry light in
his eye. With his right hand he drew his revolver, while he cried to his
men:
"Shoot him!"
To the German soldier, an officer's word was law. It was not for the
soldier to consider the merits of the case. An order had been given, and
German discipline said that it must be obeyed.
A dozen rifles covered Hal instantly.
But an interruption came from an unexpected source.
"Stop!" cried a commanding voice.
Instantly the rifles were lowered and the soldiers came to attention,
while the German lieutenant lowered his revolver and saluted stiffly.
Not ten paces away sat a German officer on horseback. He wore the
shoulder straps of a general of infantry, as both lads saw at a glance.
"What's the meaning of this?" demanded the general.
"One of these men knocked me down, sir," the German lieutenant replied,
"and I was about to have him shot."
"So," said the general, "and why did he knock you down, if I may ask,
lieutenant?"
The German stuttered and hung his head. It was Hal who replied.
"He struck me first, your excellency."
"As I thought," said the German general. "I've heard of your actions
before, Lieutenant Leffler. Do not let me hear of your offending again."
"But sir----" said the lieutenant.
"Enough!" was the general's stern command. "See that your prisoners are
made secure and then report immediately to me."
The lieutenant saluted stiffly, but Chester noted an angry gleam in his
eye.
"Humph!" said the lad. "He apparently has no love for his general. Looks
like he would like to put a bullet through him."
The German commander, without further thought of his subordinate, had
wheeled his horse and was about to ride away. At that moment the German
lieutenant, with an audible snarl, suddenly whipped out his revolver and
covered his general.
But Chester was too quick for the man.
Taking a quick step forward, he sent the would-be assassin's revolver
spinning into the air by a sudden blow of his fist. The German
lieutenant, thus foiled in his purpose, turned and grappled with the
lad.
Hal sprang to his chum's assistance, while the German soldiers closed in
about him.
The German general, attracted by the sounds of the commotion but not
knowing what the trouble was about, wheeled his horse again and rushed
into the thick of the melee.
"Here! Here!" he cried. "Stop that!"
Immediately the soldiers drew off. The German lieutenant, however, was
too furious even to heed the order of his commanding officer. His
fingers sought Chester's throat.
But Chester, athlete that he was, was too quick for his opponent, and he
held the man off despite the fact that in strength he was hardly a match
for him.
The German lieutenant suddenly released his hold and stepped back. His
hand dropped to his belt, where hung a long sheath knife. The knife
flashed aloft and Chester staggered back quickly to avoid the descending
blow.
Before the man could strike again, Hal sprang forward and seized the
man's arm from behind. He twisted sharply and the knife fell to the
ground. The German whirled quickly, but Hal dropped him with a
well-directed right-hand blow to the point of the chin. The German
lieutenant lay still.
The German general by this time had dismounted and had been hurrying
forward even as Hal put his adversary down.
"Well done!" shouted the German commander in excellent English. "Well
done, I say! But what is all this commotion about?"
"If you please, sir," said one of the soldiers, stepping forward,
"Lieutenant Leffler was trying to shoot you when this American
officer"--and he indicated Chester--"interfered."
"So?" exclaimed the general in utter astonishment. "It has come to this,
eh? How dare a German soldier lift a hand toward his superior officer!"
He drew near and stirred the prostrate body of Lieutenant Leffler with
his foot. Then he turned to Chester.
"So I have to thank an enemy for saving my life, eh?" he said in a quiet
voice. "I am sorry that we are enemies, sir, for I have been in your
America. Well, I thank you. If there is anything I can do for you at any
time, call upon me. But what are you doing within our lines?"
In a few words Chester repeated the story told the German lieutenant a
few moments before.
"Lost, eh?" said the general. "Well, it's too bad, of course. I can't
send you back to your own lines, for you have been captured within ours.
That means that you are prisoners of war until the war ends, or until
you are exchanged--which is unlikely," he added as an afterthought.
He turned to one of the soldiers.
"What's your name, my man?" he demanded.
"Loeder, sir!" replied the man addressed, saluting.
"Very well, Loeder. I appoint you to make sure that the prisoners are
turned over to Colonel Ludwig. You will also take Lieutenant Leffler
there and confine him to his quarters, under arrest. A courtmartial
shall sit on his case in the morning. You are in command of this squad,
Loeder."
"Very well, sir," replied Loeder.
As Lieutenant Leffler was lifted to his feet at the command of Loeder,
the German general again mounted his horse. As he was about to put spur
to the animal, he seemed struck with a sudden thought, and with a
command to Loeder, halted the march of the party surrounding Hal and
Chester.
"A moment!" he called. "What are your names, sirs?"
Chester replied for both.
"I shall remember them," replied the German general quietly, "and if you
are ever in need while within our lines, I ask that you call upon me, I
am General von Mackensen!"
He wheeled his horse and rode rapidly away.
"Great Scott, Hal!" said Chester. "What do you think of that? I guess
we're safe enough while we're here."
"So we are," agreed Hal dryly, "as long as they don't know just why we
are here."
The lads about-faced with their captors and were led away.