[Illustration: HE MADE A LONG LEAP FORWARD, BRINGING THE GUN-BUTT DOWN
DIRECTLY ON THE HEAD OF THE GERMAN.--_Page 98._]
Dave Porter Series
DAVE PORTER’S WAR
HONORS
OR
AT THE FRONT WITH THE FIGHTING
ENGINEERS
BY
EDWARD STRATEMEYER
Author of “Dave Porter at Oak Hall,” “Old Glory Series,”
“Colonial Series,” “Lakeport Series,” etc.
_ILLUSTRATED BY R. EMMETT OWEN_
[Illustration]
BOSTON
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
Published, April, 1919
COPYRIGHT, 1919,
BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
_All rights reserved_
DAVE PORTER’S WAR HONORS
Norwood Press
BERWICK & SMITH CO.
NORWOOD, MASS.
U. S. A.
PREFACE
“Dave Porter’s War Honors” is a complete story in itself, but forms the
fifteenth volume in a line issued under the general title, “Dave Porter
Series.”
As my old readers know, this line was begun years ago by the
publication of “Dave Porter at Oak Hall,” in which I introduced a
wide-awake American boy at a typical American boarding-school. This
was followed by “Dave Porter in the South Seas,” and then by “Dave
Porter’s Return to School.” After that we had “Dave Porter in the Far
North,” where the lad went on a long journey looking for his father;
“Dave Porter and His Classmates,” in which the hero was put to a most
severe test; and then by “Dave Porter at Star Ranch,” where a number of
strenuous adventures befell him.
Leaving the West, Dave returned again to school, as related in “Dave
Porter and His Rivals.” Then came a remarkable voyage, as narrated in
“Dave Porter on Cave Island”; following which he taught some of his
school friends a much-needed lesson, the particulars of which were set
forth in “Dave Porter and the Runaways.”
It was not long after this that we again found our hero in the West,
as related in “Dave Porter in the Gold Fields,” where he helped to
relocate a lost mine. Coming back, he put in a grand vacation in the
Adirondack Mountains, many of the particulars of which are told in
“Dave Porter at Bear Camp.”
Graduating from school, our hero took up the study of civil
engineering. This at first took him to the Mexican Border, as related
in “Dave Porter and His Double,” and then out to Montana, as we learn
in “Dave Porter’s Great Search.”
The great war in Europe was now on, and the entrance of our country
into the contest caused Dave to become an army engineer. He went to
France and there had some decidedly strenuous adventures, as told in
“Dave Porter Under Fire.”
In the present volume Dave is still with the “fighting engineers” on
the war-scarred battle-fields of France. His adventures are thrilling
in the extreme, but no more so than have fallen to the lot of many a
young American in this epoch-making conflict.
Again I thank my many readers for the interest they have shown in my
books; and I trust that the reading of the present volume will inspire
all with an added love for our country.
EDWARD STRATEMEYER.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I NEAR THE FIGHTING FRONT 1
II THE GAS ATTACK 12
III THE FINDING OF ROGER 21
IV LETTERS 30
V NEWS FROM HOME 41
VI A BATTLE IN THE AIR 52
VII THE GERMAN AVIATOR 62
VIII THE PERILS OF ROAD BUILDING 73
IX IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT 83
X DAVE SHOWS HIS BRAVERY 94
XI IN THE HOSPITAL 104
XII WHAT NAT POOLE SAID 115
XIII THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL 125
XIV THE MACHINE-GUN NESTS 136
XV LIEUTENANT PORTER 146
XVI A PERSONAL AFFAIR 156
XVII AT THE TRENCHES 166
XVIII THE GERMAN PRISONER 175
XIX AT THE BROOK 186
XX ATTACKED IN THE DARK 196
XXI IN THE ABANDONED MINES 205
XXII LOOKING FOR DAVE 215
XXIII A PRISONER OF THE ENEMY 227
XXIV TRYING TO ESCAPE 238
XXV THE ENCOUNTER ON THE RIVER 249
XXVI DEEP IN THE WOODS 259
XXVII WHAT DAVE’S CHUMS DID 269
XXVIII THE GERMAN HEADQUARTERS 280
XXIX THE LAST FIGHT 289
XXX CAPTAIN DAVID PORTER--CONCLUSION 298
ILLUSTRATIONS
He made a long leap forward, bringing the gun-butt
down directly on the head of the German (page 98) _Frontispiece_
FACING
PAGE
Immediately afterward came a tremendous explosion 28
As well as he was able, he put out his uninjured arm and
Dave grasped it 66
Upon the breast of the young sergeant was pinned a
Distinguished Service Medal 132
There came down on their heads a perfect shower of dirt 162
One of them held him at the point of a bayonet 228
Dave took a long breath and then made the leap 252
With a quick move he gathered in the maps and documents 288
DAVE PORTER’S WAR HONORS
CHAPTER I
NEAR THE FIGHTING FRONT
“Phil, where is Roger?”
“I don’t know, Dave. I haven’t seen him for the last quarter of an
hour.”
“You don’t suppose he got lost somewhere in that gully we crossed?”
continued Dave Porter, with an anxious look on his bronzed face.
“It wouldn’t be surprising, Dave,” answered Phil Lawrence. “I almost
got lost myself, the tangle of underbrush was so thick.”
“Yes, and don’t forget that we had to hide once or twice when the
Boches sent over those big shells,” broke in another member of the
engineering party, that was working its way through some scrub timber
not a great distance back of the American fighting front in France.
“I’m not forgetting that,” answered Dave grimly.
He well remembered how he had heard the whining of a shell, had
dropped down into a shell crater, and then heard the missile explode
some distance away. His left shin had been barked, and likewise his
shoulder, but to these small hurts he was just then paying no attention.
“We might set up a call for him,” said another of the army engineers, a
rather stout individual.
“No, don’t do that, Buster!” cried Dave hastily. “Some of those Boches
may be closer than we imagine. I heard a report from somebody yesterday
that they thought the Germans had some machine-gun nests in the upper
end of this wood.”
“Say, talking about machine-guns puts me in mind of a story I heard
last night,” broke in a tall, lanky-appearing engineer. “Two men of a
gun company had a--”
“For the love of beans, Shadow! don’t start to tell a story now,” broke
in Phil Lawrence. “Keep those for to-night, when we get back to our
shelter.”
“It wasn’t a very long story,” grumbled the would-be story-teller.
“However, it will keep,” he added resignedly. “But say! it sure is
funny about Roger. The last I saw of him he was crossing that gully
about a hundred feet away from where I was.”
“You saw him go down, I suppose, Shadow,” remarked Dave. “But did you
see him come up?”
“I did not. I was busy looking out for myself. I was afraid the minute
I showed myself some sharpshooter or machine-gun crowd would fire on
me.”
“It’s too bad we couldn’t go forward and finish that road we started,”
said another of the young engineers, Ben Basswood. “I don’t understand
it at all.”
“Well, orders are orders, Ben; and they must be obeyed,” answered Dave,
with a smile. He was now a sergeant and in command of the detail which
was making its way through that section of the wood on the American
front.
“Oh, I know that!” responded Dave’s former school chum quickly. “I
suppose there must be a good reason for stopping the work. By the way,
it looks to me as if a storm was coming up.”
“Gee! we’ve had nothing but storms lately,” grumbled Phil Lawrence. “At
least five in the last two weeks! You’d think there wouldn’t be any
more water left in the sky.”
Over to the eastward a heavy mass of clouds had appeared. There had
been but little wind, but now the leaves began to stir, and then a
breeze sprang up, while the heavens began to grow dark rapidly. Far
off to the north there had been a constant booming of heavy artillery,
punctuated occasionally by the rattle of smaller firearms. Now the
booming of the cannon on the German, front commenced to extend
southward.
“Say, that sounds as if we might get in the direct line of fire before
long!” cried Phil.
“Perhaps that’s the reason we were ordered to go back,” answered Dave.
“Come, boys, we’ll have to hurry a bit. Hike up.”
The young civil engineers were well loaded down, not only with full
soldier kits, including guns, but also with various tools, including
picks, shovels and axes. Consequently, to “hike up” over the uneven
ground and through the scrub timber and rank undergrowth was by no
means easy.
“This traveling sure does get a fellow’s wind,” grumbled Buster, as he
stopped for a moment to catch his breath and run the perspiration from
his forehead with the side of his finger. “Talk about exercise--this
beats anything I ever did in the Oak Hall gym.”
“Wow! wouldn’t old Oak Hall look good to us now?” cried Shadow,
his eyes shining. “Think of that comfortable mess-hall, with those
beautiful tables all set with clean linen and chinaware, and the
smoking hot meat, not to say anything about the mashed potatoes, green
corn, lima beans, and that beautiful pie, and--”
“Say! if you keep on talking that way, I’ll drown you in the first
shell-hole full of water we come to!” burst out Phil. “I’m hungry
enough now without your making me worse.”
“Never mind, boys, I guess there will be a good hot mulligan waiting
for us when we get to camp,” said Dave, with a grin.
The detail of which Dave Porter was in command consisted of twelve
army engineers. The majority of them were young men, four of whom were
Dave’s personal friends and old school chums. All had been tramping
through the wood for the best part of an hour, trying to reach their
headquarters, located among some hills farther to the southward.
“Say, Dave, did Roger tell you anything about his gas mask?” questioned
Phil, while the two were walking side by side, with the others behind.
“He told me yesterday that he didn’t think it was in very good working
order,” was the reply. “He said he wanted to have it fixed when he got
back to camp.”
“Well, he tried to fix it himself this morning, and in doing it broke
the mouthpiece.”
“Didn’t he get it fixed at all?” questioned the young sergeant of the
engineer quickly.
“I don’t think he did. He didn’t have time.”
“That’s too bad! He ought to have taken time. It’s dangerous to be out
in this neighborhood without a mask that is in good working order.”
“That’s what I told him. But he said he guessed it would be all right.”
The young civil engineers now reached a portion of the wood where the
ground was very uneven and interspersed with many jagged rocks. Here,
in some places, the shell-fire of a former battle had thrown up the
ground and the growth in violent fashion, so that they were often at a
loss how to progress. Once Dave stepped into some undergrowth and went
down into a hole up to his knees, and a moment later came a stifled cry
from Buster Beggs.
“Hello! there goes Buster!” cried Shadow.
“Where did he go?” questioned Dave, turning around.
“Slid off through those bushes on the left.”
“Help me! Somebody pull me out, or I’ll drown!” called the hapless
engineer.
Working their way through the bushes, the others saw Buster floundering
around in a shell crater which was about ten feet in diameter and of
unknown depth. It was almost filled with dirty water, and in this
the young engineer was struggling, the load on his back dragging him
downward.
Standing on the edge of the shell-hole, Dave extended the stock of his
gun, and Phil did likewise, and, grasping both of these, Buster was
dragged to the edge of the hole, and then willing hands assisted him
once more to his feet.
“What’s the matter, Buster? Didn’t you see the hole?” questioned Dave.
“I did, when it was too late,” was the answer. “The ground on that
side is all wet and slippery, and I went down on it like on a
toboggan-slide. Say! I’m some wet and muddy, eh?” and he looked at
himself dolefully.
“Never mind. You’ll not mind the storm that is coming up,” remarked
Dave. “Unless I miss my guess, we’ll all be soaked to the skin in a few
minutes.”
To the rumble of the distant guns was now added the rumble of thunder.
Then came several sharp flashes of lightning, and the wind came rushing
through the wood.
“It’s coming, all right enough!” cried Phil.
“Come! Hike up and follow me!” cried Dave. “I think I know where we can
get a little shelter if it becomes too bad.”
Carrying their heavy packs and engineering implements as best they
could, the engineers hurried along through the wood at Dave’s heels.
The young sergeant was headed for a small hill, to one side of which
was something of a cliff that he thought might offer at least slight
protection from the on-coming storm. He had visited the cliff some days
before, and had noticed that there was more or less of a hollow beneath
it, a hollow screened by a number of trees and some dense underbrush.
As they advanced, Dave could not but think of his chum, Roger Morr.
“He should have kept close to us,” said Dave to Ben. “There is no use
in taking chances by straying away in such a dangerous locality as
this.”
“Maybe Roger was hit by a stray bullet and we never knew it,” was the
reply. “You know every once in a while some poor fellow is knocked out
that way.”
“Oh, don’t say that, Ben!” answered Dave, and then he became
exceedingly thoughtful. Roger was engaged to Dave’s sister, and what
would Laura say if the young civil engineer should be thus laid low?
The engineers came in sight of the cliff just as the first big drops
of the on-coming storm came beating down on the leaves. Without
hesitation, Dave led the way through some heavy underbrush until the
foot of the cliff was gained.
“Well, this is some shelter, but not a great deal,” remarked Shadow.
“Better than being out there in the open,” returned Buster.
He had scarcely spoken when there came a vivid flash of lightning,
followed by a deafening crash of thunder. Then came another crash not
a great distance away.
“Gee! that lightning struck a tree pretty close to us!” gasped one of
the engineers.
“There it is--right up on the top of the cliff!” exclaimed Phil.
“Look out! It’s coming down!” announced Dave. “Come in close to the
rocks, all of you!”
The engineers did as directed, and a moment later they heard the big
tree rolling and crashing through the underbrush some distance away.
Then came another crash of thunder, followed by a tremendous downpour
of rain.
Keeping close to the foot of the cliff, Dave and the others of his
party began to search around among the rocks. Presently one of the
young fellows set up a shout.
“Here is an opening! I don’t know how deep it is, but it looks to be
pretty roomy.”
Dave carried a pocket flashlight with him, and this was turned on to
dispel the gloom, for the sky was now completely overcast, and under
the cliff it was quite dark.
“It’s a regular cave,” announced the young sergeant, after a hasty
examination. “Here, Phil, give me your hand and I will let myself down
and look around.”
The opening under the cliff proved to be amply large to shelter all
of them, and the army engineers were glad enough to get into it and
relieve themselves of their packs. Then they sat down to rest and to
talk over the situation.
“I’d feel a good deal better if Roger were with us,” remarked Dave to
Phil, as he and his old school chum peered forth from the opening of
the cave-like shelter.
“You’ve said it, Dave!” was the low reply. “Gee! if anything happened
to Roger--” Phil did not finish, but shook his head gravely.
“I’m going out to look for him just as soon as the storm lets up.”
“You’ll let me go along, won’t you, Dave?” questioned the other
quickly. Phil himself was only a corporal, so he must obey any order
from a superior.
“Of course,” was the ready response.
The engineers had emergency rations with them, and they lost no time
in satisfying their hunger as best they could, building a small fire
for the purpose of making some hot chocolate and drying out Buster’s
water-soaked garments.
The rather scanty meal finished, Dave, followed by Phil, crawled out of
the shelter and walked forward to where the base of the cliff came to
an end. Here they could still hear the booming of the distant artillery.
“Looks to me as if the storm was letting up,” remarked Phil. “And the
wind is dying down, too.”
To this remark Dave made no answer. He was listening intently, and now
to hear better he placed his hand to his ear.
“What do you hear?” questioned Phil, after a moment of silence.
“Listen for yourself, Phil.”
The other young engineer did so, and then a look of alarm came into his
face.
“Is that a gas attack warning, Dave?”
“That’s just what it is, Phil! The Germans must be launching such an
attack!”
“That’s bad!”
“Notify the others at once, Phil. Tell the men I want them to take no
chances, but get their masks on and keep them on until they are dead
sure it is perfectly safe to take them off.”
“But what are you going to do?”
“I’m going out to look for Roger. If he’s lost in the woods, or if he’s
been wounded and is without a mask that will work, he’s in danger of
his life.”
“But you said I could go along!”
“All right, then, follow me. But warn all the others first,” answered
Dave; and then hurried off through the rain-soaked wood on the hunt for
his missing chum.